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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
�
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<em>The College </em>(2001-2017)
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The St. John's College Communications Office published <em>The College </em>magazine for alumni. It began publication in 2001, continuing the <em>St. John's Reporter</em>, and ceased with the Fall 2017 issue.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The College" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=56">Items in The College (2001-2017) Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.
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St. John's College
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Annapolis, Md.
Santa Fe, NM
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The College, Winter 2008
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2008
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Volume 34, Issue 1 of <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Winter 2008. Misnumbered as volume 4.
Graduate Institute
The College
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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
�
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<em>The College </em>(2001-2017)
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Issue of <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Spring 2009.
The College
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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
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�{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
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�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
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{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
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�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.”
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�{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
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�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
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�{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
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The
College
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Virginia Woolf
And the Novel at St. John’s
S p r i n g
2 0 1 0
�O n Vi rg i n i a Wo o l f
T
he first time I came across her, I really disliked Virginia Woolf. I was a reluctant member of a seminar on Woolf in my senior year at a large university. (A
class on Shakespeare’s tragedies was full. Everything else was full.) The
graduate student who led the course was dismayed by those of us who
couldn’t summon compassion for Mrs. Dalloway, thought Mrs. Ramsay was a
loser, and were hopelessly baffled by The Waves.
Ten years later, I was ready to read Woolf, starting with “A Society,” a biting satire of
men and women and books. In the story, as a group of women are having tea one day, Poll
begins reading to them from a collection of books from the London Library. Declaring
each book to be awful, the women decide they left far too much to men while they were
busy raising children:
So we made ourselves into a society for asking questions. One of us was to visit a
man-of-war; another was to hide herself in a scholar’s study; another was to
attend a meeting of business men; while all were to read books, look at pictures,
go to concerts, keep our eyes open in the streets, and ask questions perpetually.
We were very young. You can judge of our simplicity when I tell you that before
parting that night we agreed that the objects of life were to produce good people
and good books. Our questions were to be directed to finding out how far these
objects were now attained by men. We vowed solemnly that we would not bear a
single child until we were satisfied.
By the time they conclude their investigations, at least one of the women regrets being
taught to read at all.
It’s an interesting story from a woman who educated herself by reading books. The boys
in her family were sent to school, but Virginia and her sister, Vanessa, were educated at
home. She roamed her father’s library, reading and translating Homer and Sophocles.
Surrounded by books, she determined at a young age to be a writer. “She scarcely needed
formal education,” wrote Nigel Nicolson in Virginia Woolf. “She was her own guide
through history and literature. She was learning all through her life.”
This issue of The College explores the place of the novel at St. John’s. It’s hard to
imagine not reading Dostoevsky or Jane Austen in seminar, but it’s interesting to imagine
what novels could occupy that special place on the seminar list in the future. (Cormac
McCarthy? Toni Morrison?) Moby-Dick lives in preceptorials, where authors such as
Borges, E.M. Forster, and García Márquez turn up. We polled alumni to ask what books
they enjoyed reading the most and what they’d like to see added to the reading list. And we
talked to a few tutors and alumni in academe about what they think makes a novel truly
great. Susan Stickney made me think of Woolf when she talked about seeing novels in a
whole new light when we read them again after many years, discovering something new in
them (or in ourselves).
Woolf turns up in language tutorial, where students in some classes read A Room of
One’s Own. Mrs. Dalloway is sometimes read in precept and tutorial as well. Santa Fe
seniors complete their St. John’s career with two seminars on To the Lighthouse. I’d love to
know what they think of the book if they re-read it 10 years from now.
Also in this issue, we look at an entirely modern phenomenon, Facebook, and how Johnnies feel about social media. We look back over the last five decades of St. John’s with two
long-serving tutors who are still very much a part of life at the college and we profile four
alumni who are bringing the ideals of St. John’s into special projects in their professional
and volunteer work.
—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
410-972-4511
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
Anna Perleberg (SF02)
Keileigh Rhodes (A13)
Deborah Spiegelman
Babak Zarin (A11)
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�Spring 2010
Vo l u m e 3 5 , I s s u e 2
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
12
What Makes
a Novel Great?
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
28
18
Friendship and Facebook
bibliofile
•
•
Tolstoy and Austen, Dostoevsky and
Twain–with few exceptions, the seminar
reading list hasn’t changed much when it
comes to novels. Should it? Alumni and
tutors consider the possibilities.
page
•
•
•
•
•
•
page 12
What would Aristotle say about social
media? Alumni find both perils and
pleasures in the world of Web 2.0.
•
22
Sam and Curtis
page
Two long-serving tutors look back over
six decades of St. John’s College, from
Barr and Buchanan and Jasha Klein to
the state of the college today.
30
A new book by Jon Hunner (SF74)
explores J. Robert Oppenheimer’s impact
on the West; Jehanne Dubrow (A97) pays
tribute to the Odyssey in a new book of
poetry that explores life as a military wife.
alumni
P RO F I L E S
page 22
30 From pre-K to MIT, four alumni bring
classical education to schools and
communities.
35 Pediatrician Mat Strickland (SF96) finds
purpose in the heart of the Navajo
Nation.
38 Philosophy Professor Steve Werlin (A85)
takes on microfinance in Haiti as the
country rebuilds.
40 Reformed hoarder Leah Fisch (SF98)
gives order to chaos.
26
Croquet
page
It all began in Freshman chorus: the
story behind a new St. John’s anthem.
44
Special Report: Alumni
Relations
from the bell towers
New admissions initiatives
How did you hear about St. John’s?
President as paper adviser
A global view in Santa Fe
A new dean in Annapolis
Reflections on being dean
ARIEL and Hodson interns
Kindles on campus
News and announcements
Letters
•
page
41
obituaries
48
st. john’s forever
page 26
There’s a bold new effort underway to
strengthen the ties between St. John’s
and its alumni.
on the cover
Virginia Woolf
Illustration by David Johnson
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
The Light-Bulb Factor in the YouTube Era
St. John’s adopts new approaches to recruit students
jennifer behrens
focus most of their commuOn a cool morning in early
nication and travel activities
April, Gabe Luzier (A10)
on top-tier prospects.
led two sets of mothers and
Admissions staff on the
their teenagers on a tour of
two campuses work closely
the Annapolis campus. He
together in this effort. Each
answered questions about
counselor in Annapolis has
mathematics, what the
a partner in Santa Fe. Each
dorm rooms were like, and
shares information about
of course, what St. John’s
students they’ve contacted
graduates do. Luzier, a
who may be interested in the
seasoned tour guide for
other’s campus. Together,
Admissions, took all the
staff plan receptions, travel,
questions in stride, but he
and conduct on-the-road
really lit up when one of the
interviews. Making
parents asked what brought
everything easer is a new
him to St. John’s.
collegewide database that
“All of the material I was
grants easy access to
getting from colleges
information about indilooked the same to me,”
vidual prospectives and
said Luzier, who is from
ensures that staff aren’t
Brandywine, Md. “When I
duplicating efforts.
read the booklet from
Finally, the college will
St. John’s, I knew it was
Tour guide Gabe Luzier (A10, center) knew St. John’s was right for him as
start reaching out to high
exactly what I was looking
soon as he learned of the college. A new admissions initiative—including
school students in their
for. I applied to Johns
new publications—will cast a wider net for students who are right for
St. John’s.
sophomore year and will
Hopkins as a safety school,
keep up the stream of
but my heart was already at
communications to willing
St. John’s.”
To recruit students, the college has always counted on the “light- students through the fall of their senior year. Prospectives will be
getting viewbooks and other brochures, but they’ll also be getting
bulb” factor: a student learns about St. John’s and is drawn to the
links to videos about academic and student life at the college.
college’s academic program immediately. No other college will do.
For the last 10 years, St. John’s has been using a suite of awardTo make sure St. John’s is reaching the high school students who
winning publications with an understated style that stood out
are awaiting that flash of insight, the college has tapped one of the
dramatically among the glossy color pamphlets that flooded
nation’s top admissions consulting firms, is revising admissions
student mailboxes. The college will continue to integrate its
material, and has begun incorporating new media and video into
favorite tagline, “The Following Teachers Will Return to St. John’s
electronic communication with prospective students.
Next Year,” into its publications and electronic media, but it will
In 2008 the college hired George Dehne and Associates to
introduce new print publications including a new four-color
evaluate recruitment efforts on both campuses and identify ways to
viewbook. There will be a multimedia virtual tour of the college
increase the college’s applicant pool. The firm’s recommendations
on the web and increased use of e-communications.
led to a new college-wide model for student recruitment.
The college isn’t moving away from a serious presentation of the
John Christensen, admissions director in Annapolis, explains
academic program; it’s simply placing it in the context of the whole
that the college shifted to a “prospect management” approach.
college experience, says Larry Clendenin, Santa Fe’s admissions
“Fundamentally, prospect management is an effort to identify and
director. “We have always managed to distinguish the college from
cultivate early in their high school careers those prospective
other institutions through our presentation of the Program, but we
students most likely to apply, be accepted, and ultimately enroll in
have never managed to capture fully what it is like to study and live
St. John’s,” he says. The college employs a point system based on
in the communities of learning on our two campuses,” says
the contact prospective students have with the college, and staff
Clendenin. “We hope that our new publications continue to attract
cultivate those students through personalized communications.
the core following we have always had among college-bound
Under the new model, counselors are assigned geographic
students, but we are extending our reach to prospective students
territories (usually states) selected by a market analysis of the
we may have missed in the past.” x
College Board’s Enrollment Planning Service. St. John’s tracks
applications to the college over the last 10 years and then sends
—Rosemary Harty
counselors to the most fertile ground. The counselors group the
prospective students in their states into three tiers by points and
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�3
{From the Bell Towers}
How did you hear about St. John’s?
We asked readers of
The College to tell us how they
learned about St. John’s—was it
the catalog, a teacher, a happy
accident?
Mortimer Adler
I was reading Mortimer Adler’s
book How to Read a Book, in
which he mentions St. John’s and
the great books. It took me
another year (with encouragement from others) to apply.
Richard Weigle came to San
Francisco on business and invited
me to meet him at the Sheraton
Palace, where he was staying.
I was accepted and offered some
modest scholarships and a job at
the library. St. John’s was a form
of “salvation” for me, as I was
then in my mid-20s.
–Jerry Milhollan (Class of 1958)
Discovery in the Stacks
I “heard” about St. John’s while
a student at the University of
Illinois. At some point I read
Mortimer Adler’s How to Read
a Book, where he says that SJC
is the only place to obtain a
liberal education. Some time
later, while working as a page in
the library, I was shelving
books towards the end of the
day when I realized that the last
book in my hands was the SJC
catalog. Since I had a little time
before the end of my shift, I sat
down on the floor of the stacks
in front of where I was
supposed to shelve the catalog,
and I read it from beginning to
end. When I finished reading,
I noticed a tear-out card to send
for more information. I sent in
the card, I went to St. John’s,
and I graduated.
– Mike Anthony (A69)
alumnus, Ben Moskowitz (class
of 1950), as one of my first
professors. He called us “Mr.”
and “Ms.” He gave us three
options for demonstrating what
we learned in his World History
class: take a test, write a paper,
or have a conversation with
him. He reminisced about a
small liberal arts college in
Annapolis where there were no
desks, no majors, and no
written exams. Everyone
studied the “great books.”
His father had asked him what
he intended to be with a
“liberal arts” degree, and he
answered, “An educated man.”
Decades later, I had the opportunity to visit the Graduate
Institute in Annapolis, and I
was hooked. Now, with my
Master of Arts in Liberal Arts,
I teach at a small college in
Pittsburgh. Thanks, Ben.
–Carol Brinjak (SFGI96)
A Positive Model
Like many others, I received
the famous 1962 Saturday
Review article about St. John’s
College in the mail during my
senior year in high school.
I remember reading the article
during English class and
thinking immediately: this is
where I want to go to school.
Although getting excellent
grades, I had been very angry at
how most of our education was
handled. But once I heard about
St. John’s, I knew that education could be better. That’s not
to say that St. John’s was easy
for me. In fact the adjustment
was very difficult, and I almost
left after the first semester.
But I struggled through and, in
retrospect, wouldn’t trade it for
anything.
–Rick Wicks (SF68)
An Educated Man
I was a nontraditional student,
having begun my undergraduate studies at age 35 in a small
college in Pittsburgh. I was
fortunate to have an SJC
A “Wacko” College
I was registered at Rutger’s
University in my senior year of
high school and had received
my eight-digit student number.
Caroline Sharkey
Something about those eight
digits left a bad taste in my
mouth. At the same time,
I received a phone call from a
good friend—also a senior—who
was laughing hysterically. He
had scored a perfect 1600 on
his SATs, so he received mail
from virtually every college and
university, and that day he had
received an application from
St. John’s. He was calling to tell
me about “this wacko college
where everyone takes the same
courses and they have this
Great Books program, and
there are only a few hundred
students, and you have to
complete this ridiculous
10-page application!” I was too
embarrassed to tell him it
sounded pretty cool to me, so I
called St. John’s as soon as we
hung up. When I worked up
enough courage, I called my
friend to tell him I was accepted
at St. John’s and was planning
to attend. It took a while to
convince him I wasn’t joking.
— Caroline Mandy Sharkey (A78)
Adler, Redux
I had joined the Marine Corps
after a disappointing year at a
liberal arts college in Los
Angeles. One day while
wandering through a post
library at Camp Pendleton,
I came across Mortimer Adler’s
How to Read a Book. Adler
writes, “There is one college
that I know of in this country
which is trying to turn out
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
liberal artists in the true sense.
That is St. John’s College in
Annapolis, Maryland.” I wrote
to Adler asking, since the book
was written in 1941, had not
other colleges, maybe closer to
California, seen the light and
reintroduced the classics and
the sciences in place of the
elective system? Adler kindly
wrote back that, no, there was
still only St. John’s. So I wrote
to the college for a catalog and
after discharge from active duty
was admitted.
—Joseph P. Baratta (A69)
A Classical Education
I was in my first year at a prep
school and hating pretty much
everything about it. Every so
often, a representative of some
college would stop by, trolling
for recruits. Such worries were
years ahead of me, so I didn’t
pay much attention to them.
Until a man from a small
college in Maryland spun tales
of a classical education, in an
atmosphere that seemed much
more cordial to me than the one
I was enduring. I even
remember, more than 50 years
later, that the recruiter was
Admissions director Jim Tolbert
(HA86), a wonderful man.
When it came to applying for
college, I remembered St.
John’s and Mr. Tolbert. But I
didn’t have the courage to
apply. So I stumbled around.
They call Tulane “the Harvard
of the South,” but I never hear
Harvard advertised as “the
Tulane of the North.” In any
case, the humidity got to me.
I regrouped at a junior college.
Finally, deciding that I had
nothing to lose, I applied to
St. John’s and was accepted. I
jumped at the chance [to participate] in the founding Santa Fe
class. Though I only lasted two
years—I failed enabling, but the
Army wanted me—I don’t regret
a minute of the time spent.
I learned a lot and grew enough
to know that I’d spend the rest
of my life growing.
—Todd Everett (SF68)
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
Presidential Advice
Being a paper advisor is a treat for a
busy president
guards in citizens who can ask
questions and make choices for
the good of society. Educated
citizens, he posited, were less
likely to “lose touch with the
pate in the life of the mind.”
Nelson’s busy schedule
meant arranging paper conferences weeks in advance, so the
two started meeting early in the
fall. Yet Mr. Stephens doesn’t
consider himself shorted in any
way. “Anyone who has spent
more than five or ten minutes
with Mr. Nelson knows that
he’s someone who is genuinely
jennifer behrens
When Josiah Stephens (A10)
settled on a question for his
senior essay (“What is the
benefit of a liberal education to
a free-market system?”), his
choice for a paper advisor
seemed a natural one.
Annapolis President Christopher Nelson (SF70) has been
writing and speaking about the
liberal arts for more than two
decades.
Stephens first came to know
the president away from the
campus because he docked his
28-foot sloop Doris at Nelson’s
house on the Severn River for
more than a year while he
slowly worked to make the boat
seaworthy. The two would talk
while Stephens worked. While
Doris still isn’t ready for a long
voyage, both Stephens and
Nelson—along with the allimportant essay committee—
thought the paper turned
out well.
Stephens read Adam Smith’s
The Wealth of Nations and
Theory of Moral Sentiments for
his essay. He first became interested in his topic at the start of
the greatest economic downturn in the United States since
the Great Depression. He
closely followed news about
proposed legislation to curb
abuses on Wall Street and
decided to explore how a liberal
education creates natural safe-
Though Nelson has served
on several committees for
senior orals, this was only the
second essay he has advised in
his 19 years as president. (The
first was by Arthur Allen, A06,
who wrote on the film Andrei
Rublev). Advising Stephens
gave him the opportunity to
revisit the two Smith works.
He found in The Wealth of
Advising Josiah Stephens (A10) on his senior essay gave Annapolis President Christopher Nelson a
chance to reconnect with the intellectual life of the college.
foundations upon which
their society was founded.”
Ultimately, less government is
needed in a society with people
equipped to ask questions
about virtue, morality, and
justice, he wrote.
Changes for the St. John’s Review
Annapolis tutor William Pastille is the new editor of the
St. John’s Review, the college’s scholarly journal. Pastille
takes on the role from Pamela Kraus, who has edited the
publication for more than 10 years. Kraus begins her term as
Annapolis dean July 1.
In addition, the publication is increasing its online
presence and expects to make back issues available online.
Find out more by visiting the college website: www.stjohnscollege.edu; click on Publications and St. John’s Review.
Nations, as Stephens did, a
parallel between Smith’s division of labor and a modern
higher education system that
funnels graduates into narrow
specializations.
Though early in his presidency Nelson was able to colead undergraduate seminars,
the demands of the job have
limited him to leading Executive Seminars and occasional
parents’ or community seminars. Being a paper advisor
helped him reconnect with the
Program: “Spending a
sustained amount of time with
a student, thinking through an
interesting problem and
reading Adam Smith—it was a
great opportunity to partici-
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
interested in the students and
their experiences here. It was
great to talk about issues that
exist outside the books and to
gain insight from his experiences. It made writing this
essay so much more
enriching.”
Nelson, too, will count the
experience among the highlights of his year. “For one
thing, it reinforces for me how
much the tutors do here to help
guide the students in their
work,” he says. “And secondly,
it was fun.” x
— Rosemary Harty
�{From the Bell Towers}
The World and St. John’s
Santa Fe President Mike Peters offers
students a global picture
Combine a president whose
career took him all over the
globe with a group of students
keenly interested in the most
critical issues affecting the
world today, and you have the
Foreign Policy Study Group on
the Santa Fe campus. One late
winter’s afternoon, the
students came to the seminar
table with their text (a Foreign
Affairs article on how to
finance and manage a more
secure global energy system),
ready for President Michael
Peters’ opening question:
“What is the problem the
authors are talking about?”
For the next hour or so, the
discussion embraces global
politics and historic precedent
while hovering close to the
text: “The New Energy Order,”
by David G. Victor and Linda
Yueh. One student teases out
the economic theory underpinning the article’s argument,
while another focuses on
ethical concerns. A third
student questions the feasibility
of the mechanism the authors
propose to solve the challenge
of global, environmentally
responsible investment in
energy resources. As they flip
through the article, the
students advance their way
through the authors’ arguments and point out perceived
gaps in the reasoning. While
the discussion stays close to the
text, Peters also encourages a
slightly broader exploration of
global political reality.
The issue, Peters offers, is
the shift in global power,
which, as one student suggests,
has historically led to conflict.
Thus, the discussion, which
took off from the point of
energy insecurity, returns the
idea that political instability in
resource-rich parts of the world
remains a serious international
threat.
“The study group was some-
thing I had in mind when I
came to the college, but actually some students came to me
and asked if I’d be willing to do
something like this, and of
course, I said ‘yes,’” Peters
recalls. Before he joined the
college in 2005, Peters served
as executive vice president of
the Council on Foreign Relations, where during his 10-year
tenure he helped develop
CFR’s National Program,
which sponsors seminars across
the country to encourage a
broader debate on international affairs and U.S. foreign
policy. Peters’ prior military
career—he is a graduate of the
United States Military Academy
and retired as a colonel—took
him to Vietnam, Panama, Saudi
Arabia, and Russia. Peters also
taught economics to cadets at
West Point, where he later was
chief of staff.
In addition to the study
group, about 10 to 15 students
join Peters in his office every
couple of weeks to gather
around his speakerphone for
the CFR’s Academic Conference Call series. Students at
colleges across the country
5
have the opportunity to ask
questions of a CFR Fellow or
Foreign Affairs author.
While Peters solicits ideas for
discussion topics and invites
students to suggest specific
readings, he usually selects the
articles, as Johnnies are
typically pressed for time.
Many who attend regularly are
interested in careers in international relations; some simply
want to understand issues that
affect citizens of the world. The
group has several regulars, and
others join in when time allows
or when they find the topic
particularly appealing. Some
students are notably tenacious
about the enterprise, says
Peters: “This year we have
several juniors who joined the
group as freshmen.”
In addition, some students
have drawn a direct line
between their study-group
participation and their postSt. John’s endeavors. One
student who graduated a
couple of years ago is now a
Foreign Service Officer, Peters
says. Several other participants
have gone on to pursue law
degrees with a focus in international relations. All benefit
from the perspectives of the
two dozen or so international
students on the Santa Fe
campus, some of whom take
part in the study group.
“One of the things that is
different this year and reflects
what’s happening in the college
is that we have a growing
number of international
students in the group,” says
Peters. “That adds a completely
different perspective.”
—Deborah Spiegelman
chris quinn
Santa Fe President Michael
Peters shares his international experience with
students through his Foreign
Policy Study Group.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
A New Dean in Annapolis
Kraus’ deep dedication to
the college has its roots in her
early career and was partly due
to the influence of her late
husband, Richard Kennington.
While teaching philosophy at
Catholic University in the
1980s (where Kennington was a
professor) she occasionally
attended Friday night lectures
at St. John’s. Her husband’s
support helped her decide to
join the St. John’s faculty in
1985. “Giving up a traditional
academic career is a big decision,” she says. “I could have
continued on a certain path to
research and publish, but I was
attracted to the breadth and
depth at St. John’s. You can
easily get into a narrow world
in traditional academia and talk
with colleagues only in the
field that they are in. Here at
St. John’s we talk
about ideas across
the spectrum. There
is a serious interest in
all kinds of books
and ideas.”
Her own wideranging interests have
been nurtured at
St. John’s. “I have a
deep, long interest in
poetry. Marianne
Moore, Elizabeth
Bishop, and Robert
Lowell are a few of the
poets whose work I
admire. I love literature, including Henry
James and of course,
Shakespeare. And
there is history,
philosophy, theater,
and fine art. I always
come home with a
painting by a student
from the community
art show at
St. John’s.”
When she was
looking at colleges,
Kraus didn’t know
Tutor Pamela Kraus is only the second woman to serve as dean on the
about St. John’s, and
Annapolis campus; Eva Brann (HA89) was the first.
as the daughter of a
patricia dempsey
Tutor Pamela Kraus will face
some tough challenges when
she becomes Annapolis dean
July 1, among them, new
admissions initiatives, tight
budgets, and the pressing need
to make sound choices for the
long-term future of the college.
Since her appointment was
approved earlier this year,
Kraus has been on a crash
course to learn everything
about one of the most complex
and important roles at the
college. As dean she will chair
the Instruction Committee,
which oversees the college’s
academic program. Hiring
tutors, dismissing students,
ensuring new tutors are
supported, inviting lecturers,
and dealing with parents are
just a few of her roles. As dean
she will also oversee Admis-
sions, the Registrar, Career
Services, and Greenfield
Library—all central to the
academic life of the college.
She’ll serve as a member of the
college’s Board of Visitors and
Governors. In the long run, she
has a bigger challenge: making
sure the college and its
academic program continue to
thrive.
“We need to bring the
importance of liberal arts
education to public attention,”
says Kraus. “It’s hard to make
people see the intangibles,
hard to convey the living,
working and learning that takes
place in the classroom. The
active learning here at St.
John’s is distinctive. It’s not the
books themselves so much as
the way we read them. It can be
life changing. ”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
coppersmith, she wonders if
she could have afforded the
tuition. Now, as dean, her job
will be to promote the college
and ensure accessibility
through financial aid. “I want
young people to know the
college exists, that St. John’s is
a seedbed for your thinking,”
she says. “There is a cumulative effect from this education.
This is an education that will
carry you through the rest of
your life and serve you well in
facing many challenges.”
As she prepares for her new
position, Kraus is meeting with
as many members of the
community as she can,
including staff, board
members, and alumni.
Learning to be dean isn’t
unlike the learning that
happens in the classroom at
St. John’s. “My door is always
open and I hope my mind is
too,” she says. “At St. John’s
you learn to try not to love your
own opinions so much that you
are stuck in them. The student
and tutor have to expose themselves to other ways of
learning. Would you normally
say, ‘I want to take a course on
electricity and magnetism?’
No. But here you are exposed to
it—and to so many other
perspectives.”
Tutor Nick Maistrellis, who
served on the dean selection
committee, says colleagues
recognize Kraus’ commitment
to the Program as well as her
administrative know-how (she
was editor of the St. John’s
Review for more than 15 years).
“She has intelligence, good
judgment, graciousness, and
style,” says Maistrellis. These
qualities will make her a good
leader of the college, and an
effective advocate for its
program of study. She will
always have the good of the
community in mind.” x
–Patricia Dempsey
�7
{From the Bell Towers}
On Being Dean
The role of dean at St. John’s is
unlike that at any other higher
education institution: chief
academic officer and guardian
of the Program, but also the
overseer of important functions
such as admissions, athletics,
the registrar, library, and financial aid. The College asked two
questions of several former
deans: What was most the most
difficult part of the job? And
what most surprised them
during their term as dean?
CURTIS WILSON (HA83),
ANNAPOLIS, 1958-1962 AND
1973-1979
“The most difficult thing about
being dean? I think it is the
responsibility that you have
(and are frequently reminded
that you have!) to every
member of the community, for
their welfare, for their having a
worthwhile experience of
learning at the college, and
generally just for getting things
to go well. I would hope the
curtain of charity might fall on
those incidents in which I
didn’t manage very well. The
most surprising thing about
being dean: Certainly the most
gratifying thing that happens at
the college is a student waking
up to the possibility of thinking
freshly and insightfully about
one of the questions arising in
our studies.”
EVA BRANN (HA89),
ANNAPOLIS, 1990-1997
“What was most difficult?
Keeping the balance between
the college as an efficient institution and as a humane place of
learning. What was most
surprising? That when people
asked me whether I was happy
being dean, I found myself
saying: ‘I wouldn’t know, I’m
too deep in.’”
HARVEY FLAUMENHAFT,
ANNAPOLIS, 1997-2005
“The most difficult thing was
having so little time for study.
The most surprising thing was
how very many good things
must be foregone or neglected
in order to be able to minister
to at least some matters of longterm importance—not because
money is lacking but because
urgencies are multitudinous
while resources of time, effort,
and attention are limited.”
DAVID LEVINE (A67),
SANTA FE, 2001-2006
“While there’s a lot of work to
do in the dean’s office—20
different things at the same
time—that is not the difficult
thing. The most difficult thing
is, in and amidst all the various
demands, to keep a clear sense
of who we are as a college. At
the end of my term a colleague,
Phil Le Cuyer, asked me what I
had learned as dean. My
response was even surprising
to me: ‘How much work it takes
to keep us who we are.’
We went through a number
of crises—presidential, student
life, admissions, etc.—and what
was wonderfully surprising was
that the unique structure of the
college proved strong: the
Program provided stability
through change, and with the
support of the faculty, we were
able to make significant
headway in addressing the
pressing issues standing in the
way of the college being a
genuine community of
learning.”
VICTORIA MORA, SANTA FE,
2006-PRESENT
“I’d rather talk in terms of
challenges rather than difficulties, as I’ve experienced the
former more than the latter.
One significant challenge has
to do with the nature of the
dean’s position itself. It is quite
intentionally configured so that
the dean is involved at every
level of the college; the dean
works with the board, the
management committee, the
campus officers, the faculty,
the staff, the students, the
Being dean involves making sure the Program is at the heart of
every decision made at the college, says Santa Fe Dean
Victoria Mora.
parents, and the alumni. This
configuration ensures that the
Program remains at the center
of every decision we make at
the college, which is to the
good. But it does mean that the
dean is challenged to work at
every level, often in the same
day, making recommendations
and decisions that affect the
college as a whole, constituencies within the college, and of
course individuals. The challenge is to be fully present at
each of these levels, bearing in
mind how the decisions at
each level affect the others.
It is, as Husserl would say,
an ‘infinite task.’
I’ve been surprised at how
satisfying it is to be able to
serve the college in this way.
This doesn’t mean that I’m not
looking forward to being back
in the classroom, but it does
mean that I have not experienced my service primarily as a
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
burden! Maybe my greatest
surprise is how indebted I have
become to my husband and
children for making my work
possible!”
MICHAEL DINK (A75),
ANNAPOLIS, 2005-2010
“It’s easy to say what the
hardest thing is: making the
decision that it is time for
someone to leave the college:
student, tutor, or staff member,
and communicating that decision. I was surprised by the
amount of supervisory work
involved and by the variety of
crises that are possible. I most
enjoyed the opportunity to get
to know and to work with the
whole range of the college
community, and I was most
disappointed that I didn’t find
ways to spend more time with
students.” x
�8
{From the Bell Towers}
Evolutionary Genetics and Emergency Medicine
Internships give Johnnies a glimpse of potential careers
Esme Gaisford:
Fruitflies and DNA
Last summer, Esme Gaisford
(SF10) worked in the University
of Chicago Evolutionary
Ecology Laboratories’ Krietman
Lab, thanks to Santa Fe’s ARIEL
(Award for Relating Intense
Education to Life) internship
program.
Gaisford had previously won
an ARIEL in 2008 to work at the
City of Hope cancer center in
Los Angeles in laboratories
headed by Dr. Stephen J.
Forman (A70). Her work in
Chicago took her into the realm
of evolutionary genetics. “It was
a huge thing to be in this kind of
research lab as an undergraduate,” said Gaisford.
An inspiring high school
science teacher piqued
Gaisford’s interest in cellular
biology. Gaisford remembers
him telling students, “I want you
to know what you are doing and
to understand why.” Surrounded
by brilliant researchers and
dedicated college interns in the
university laboratory, Gaisford
found her St. John’s background
to be an asset. She soon picked
up the specialized terminology
and was even helping her peers
with the lab work.
The work that occupied
Gaisford and her fellow interns
involved repeated procedures to
unzip and copy DNA, a technique called PCR. “You have to
be clean, you have to be careful,
you have to know what you’re
doing at the right temperature,”
she explains. The ultimate goal
of all the experiments is a
greater understanding of the
evolution of the fruit fly. For
instance, one researcher was
manipulating the size of flies’
eggs to understand how specialization occurs and discovered
interesting results about the
signaling differentiation in
embryo development, Gaisford
explained. “[The researchers]
want to understand evolutionarily how the on-off geneswitching mechanism works,”
she says.
“These guys were very into
what they were doing,” Gaisford
said of the researchers in the
University of Chicago labs.
“I think that when you get that
far into academia, that’s what
you do.” However, she suggests,
at the top labs there are people
like her mentor who can make
connections and take the
research to the next step.
In addition, she
observed that the
researchers were
constantly talking
and helping each
other. “It’s all
about conversation,”
she says.
—Deborah Spiegelman
Scott Weber:
Up Close in the
ER
Esme Gaisford spent her summer with
fruitflies last year.
As a medical scribe
in the Emergency
Department at Anne
Arundel Medical
Center, Scott
Weber (A09) has
been by the side
of physicians,
nurse practitioners and physician assistants as
they set broken
legs, stitched up
wounds, resuscitated some
patients, and lost
others.
Weber’s internship, which he
Scott Weber’s experience as a medical scribe
began with the
deepened his desire to be a doctor.
support of a
Hodson Internlaboratory or imaging studies.
ship in February of his senior
Scribes soon learn what studies
year, involved creating the
are necessary to evaluate a
medical and legal record of a
condition based on a patient’s
patient’s treatment. He
history, symptoms and
observed and documented
complaints. “I find that learning
procedures, test results, inforto take a good history is much
mation provided by patients and
like making a good argument in
their families, and other imporseminar,” says Weber.
tant aspects of patient treatSeeing patients die, Weber
ment.
says, is perhaps the more trying
“It is the best experience I
part of the job: “I can still
can imagine for any student
remember the name of the first
considering a career in clinical
patient I saw die. I was more
medicine,” says Weber, an
than a little shocked to see the
aspiring doctor. “And I’m
strangely ashen color of his skin
grateful to The Hodson Trust for
and the limp way his body moved
making it possible.”
as the nurses prepared him for
Weber completed the internhis family to see. Since then I
ship last year, but he continues
have seen more people die than I
to work as a scribe, one day a
care to remember; it is a sad but
week in the emergency room
ordinary occurrence. As a scribe
and four days a week for an
you will also confront some of
oncologist. Weber’s job is to
the nastier aspects of humanity.
accompany the physician to the
You will also see some patients
patient’s bedside, where he
filled with grateful relief and
records the exact nature of an
moments I can best describe as
illness or injury and documents
quiet dignity.”
the physical exam. He uses a
More than ever, Weber knows
handheld tablet computer that
a medical career is right for him.
allows him to record notes
“There is an infectious exciteefficiently.
ment to working on a good
A scribe also keeps an eye on
case—it’s an intellectual chalall the doctor’s patients and is
lenge with the supreme reward
often the first to alert the physiof being able to help someone
cian to important and sometruly in need.” x
times life-threatening results of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
Kant on a Kindle?
The college considers the impact of
digital readers
Kindles have been sighted at
the home of the great books: in
the coffee shop, in the dorms
and—gasp!—even in the library
in Annapolis. Their owners
love them, but the devices have
their detractors as well, and the
guardians of the college’s
academic program are
wondering what will happen
if students start toting them
to seminar.
For those who haven’t investigated, electronic readers such
as the Kindle are usually about
a quarter-of-an-inch thick and
come in a variety of sizes. The
screen is called “electronic
paper,” and because it uses no
backlight, it isn’t hard on the
eyes in the way a computer
screen is. They can come with
nice leather cases that make
them appear more book-like.
But of course, there are no
pages to turn, no corners to
fold over, no smell of paper,
no margins to write in, no dust
jacket—all those things that
charm book lovers.
Charles Cargal and Sarah
Pearlman (both A12) received
their Kindles as gifts. Since
getting his Kindle last summer,
Cargal says he’s reading more
than ever. Having an entire
stack of books with him everywhere he goes means that he
can read a page or two whenever he has a free minute.
The best thing about their
devices, say Cargal and
Pearlman, is that even though
the readers can cost up to $500,
e-books are much cheaper
(about $10 for a bestseller), and
texts including Shakespeare
plays can be acquired for
free.“The Kindle is not for
people who don’t love books,”
says Pearlman. “It is for people
who love books more than
anyone else.”
Naturally, some book-loving Johnnies are horrified by
the idea of e-books. “A book
can be shared,” notes Galen
certainly less fragile,” he notes.
“A book doesn’t lose all the
words if I drop it.”
For Pearlman, however, the
physical aspect of reading is not
as important as having access to
more books. “A lot of people
object to owning one in
general, or specifically object to
Johnnies owning them because
9
(A75). The committee agreed
that the college can’t
discourage students from using
them. “To my mind, the only
concern is the availability of
texts and the availability of ways
of locating where in a text you
are (page or line numbers).”
Santa Fe Dean Victoria Mora
has yet to spot a Kindle on her
Sarah Pearlman and Charles Kargal (both A12) are delighted with their digital readers, but they
don’t use them in seminar.
Cook-Thomas (A12). “If I have
a book, once I’ve read it, I can
give it to someone else to read.
With an e-book, the other
person has to have one too in
order to read the book.” CookThomas prefers to hold a real
book in his hands, not something that turns on and off.
“Books are prettier and
they worship the form of the
book. I don’t think that’s fair
because the good part of
reading is the way the book
transports you somewhere
else.”
The collegewide Management Committee has considered the issue of e-books, notes
Annapolis Dean Michael Dink
“I think we certainly prefer that
students take books to class.”
Santa Fe Dean Victoria Mora
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
campus. “I think we certainly
prefer that students take books
to class, but we have no policy
against [e-books] and probably
shouldn’t,” she says. “I think
we would not allow computers
where faces would be blocked if
a student were reading a text in
that way. The faculty has not,
however, talked this through.”
Pearlman can’t envision
e-books fully replacing paper
books. Cargal disagrees and
points to the example of the
phonograph and the iPod. It
won’t happen soon, says Cargal,
“but give it a hundred years and
books will be gone.”
—Keileigh Rhodes
�{From the Bell Towers}
News and Announcements
Santa Fe Students
Headed to Nepal
Harvard Fellowship
Jamaal Barnes (A10) has
received a Reynolds Fellowship
to study in the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The
Catherine B. Reynolds
patricia dempsey
A group of Santa Fe students
has received $10,000 in funding
from the Davis Foundation to
help combat water-borne
diseases in Nepal. The project is
one of 100 selected from
submissions by college students
across the country. St. John’s
students have submitted
winning proposals four years in
a row.
David McGee and Chris
Pataki (both SF10); Shishav
Parajuli, Prakash Pathak,
and Brain Woodbury (all
SF11); and Manish Thapa
(SF12) will spend this summer
in Nepal working to raise the
public health standard in rural
areas of a country recently
ravaged by civil war and highly
vulnerable to annual monsoons
that damage rudimentary sanitation facilities. Nearly a third of
the population lacks access to
sanitation and potable water.
The students will build a
temporary clinic to provide
basic medical care and also to
provide education about
hygiene and prevention of water
and sanitation-related illnesses.
In addition, the team plans to
construct low-impact, efficient
sanitation and water-treatment
facilities that are both inexpensive and sustainable.
For more information about
the project, “Founding Peace –
Building Peace and Health
Through Sanitation and Education,” visit the students website,
http://foundations4peace.word
press.com.
Johnnie-Mid Seminar
More than 60 midshipmen and four Naval Academy professors
strolled across the street to join about 30 St. John’s students
and five tutors for the annual Johnnie-Mid seminar, held this
year on March 23 in McDowell Hall. Ethan Brooks (A10)
organized the seminar and reception afterward, and chose the
reading, “Gooseberries,” a short story by Anton Chekov.
At the reception held in the Great Hall after the seminar, Johnnies, tutors, professors, and midshipmen mingled, discussing
everything from weekend plans and waltz parties to life at the
two schools, and questions raised in their seminars—until
curfew at the Naval Academy. x
Foundation
Fellowships in
Social Entrepreneurship are
designed to equip
individuals for
national leadership positions that
bring the realworld insights of
management and
entrepreneurship
to bear on social
problems.
Language
Scholarship
jennifer behrens
10
AnnMarie Saunders (A12) has
been selected for a
U.S. Department
of State Critical
Language Scholarjamaal Barnes (A10) is headed to Harvard.
ship to study
Korean in South
Korea this
athletic programs on the
summer. She will spend 10
Annapolis campus.
weeks in an intensive language
In addition to supporting the
institute and take part in
effort, alumni continue to share
immersion activities. The schol- Iglehart memories:
arship program is part of a
Mike Van Beuren (A75):
wider effort to dramatically
“I remember the fitness test
expand the number of Amerithat Bryce Jacobsen used to
cans studying and mastering
administer annually. One
critical-need languages. Saunelement was a quarter-mile run
ders hopes to pursue a career as
that was timed for individual
a professor of Korean Studies or
runners on the suspended
Korean Literature.
wooden track high in the
rafters. There were five laps to a
Tutor Honored
quarter mile. Two things were
In recognition of “outstanding
daunting: the optical illusion
professional accomplishments,”
that the overhead girders would
Annapolis tutor Peter Kalkavage hit you and the banked curves.
has been named an Alumni
Newtonian physics were out in
Fellow of Penn State University.
full force. It felt as though I’d fly
Kalkavage earned his bachoff the curve as I leaned away
elor’s, master’s, and doctoral
from the banked floor. Bryce
degrees from the university.
stood there impassively with the
Among other accomplishments,
stop watch. Time froze.”
the citation noted Kalkavage’s
Matt Carter (A95): “My
most recent book: The Logic of
senior year, we put together a
Desire: An Introduction to
club volleyball team and played
Hegel’s Phenomenology of
a few other Maryland teams,
Spirit.
including Hopkins, Washington
College and UMBC. It was the
Mind-Body Challenge
game against UMBC I
Fans of Iglehart Hall have
remember. They were big and
contributed $64,000 to date
seemed much more talented.
toward a $500,000 endowment
We were the basketball school,
to support the treasured gymna- not the volleyball school. In fact,
sium in Annapolis, as well as
the reason we had this team was
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
a lack of interest in volleyball at
the time.
It was a best-of-5 match. We
held a 2-1 lead before taking a
thumping in game 4. They had
the momentum. We seemed
headed for defeat. During game
5, the Temple really came into
play. We were used to the lowhanging beams and could serve
over, under and through them
with relative ease (an advantage
we finally exploited). The
UMBC team was frustrated by
multiple balls hitting those
beams and bouncing back to
them. We prevailed in what I
still consider one of the greatest
upsets in the history of American sports.”
Ray Cave (class of 1948):
“As was obvious to Eva Brann
and anybody else who bothered
to review my academic course
11
The banked track at Iglehart Hall intimidated some runners.
through St. John’s, the classroom that received the bulk of
my attention was Temple Iglehart. I learned how to turn on
the lights late at night and
studied jump shots by the hour.
The bleakest day in my St.
John’s career came when the
nurse had me banned from the
gym for three months out of
concern for the considerable
damage I was doing to my knees.
(It was during this bleak period
of my junior year that I discovered some of the books were
actually interesting.)
In the end I earned eight
blazers and have the octagonedged college seal to prove it.
Alas, you could only be awarded
two actual blazers. I had no
other coats. Two years after
graduation, I was still wearing
the blazer, now covering three
Baltimore police districts for the
Evening Sun. Not a trench coat,
but you go with what you got.” x
{Letters}
Poignant Pose
Thanks for the fine job you and
your staff do with our excellent
magazine. Someone deserves
extra credit for the “word”
photos! (Winter 2010).
I believe I recognize myself in
mid-back row of the aspiring
dancers in the archival photo.
I’m surer that my classmate
Augusta Goldstein (SF68) is
right in front of the teacher,
displaying her beautiful
posture! And the good-looking
guy to her right was . . . it will
come to me—another classmate.
No way could I even approximate such a pose now, so I
found it poignant to be
reminded of a time when I
could take a stab at it! Mind
you, I do a version of railroad
ballet everyday in work boots,
without a pointed toe. But my
knees rebel loudly at getting
down, and then up again, from
any floor.
Dancers on the Santa Fe campus strike a pose.
I’m guessing we were
sophomores, so that would
have been 1965-66.
Elsa Blum (SF68)
Editor’s note: The photos were
the work of Jen Behrens, art
director for The College.
One College,
Two Campuses
I must confess at the outset that
I am not a regular reader of The
College; being a current
student, I have picked it up only
in passing once or twice.
Anyway, I am writing to point
out that the atmosphere of the
Winter 2010 issue indicates an
immense tilt towards the
Annapolis campus of the
college. I realize that Annapolis
is the original campus, that it
has far more alumni, and that
most contributors to the magazine are also based there. Nevertheless, it is discouraging to see
the disproportionate efforts in
this regard.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
Specifically, I was very
pleased to read about the Storytellers group in Annapolis
(p. 6). We happen to have one
here too, and they also meet
Wednesday evenings. Wouldn’t
it have been a wonderful, more
comprehensive article to
include both? It would have
attested to the “one college, two
campuses” slogan of St. John’s,
apart from reaffirming the likemindedness of the students on
both locations.
In general, there seem to be
too many articles about the
Annapolis campus and too little
from Santa Fe. I understand
that there may be budgeting or
space issues involved. And,
again, I am not a terribly
regular reader of the magazine,
so my perceptions might be off.
Whatever the case may be, I
would simply like to draw your
attention to this fact.
Thank you very much. Keep
up the good work,
–Nareg Seferian (SF11)
�12
{The Program}
WHAT MAKES A
G R E AT NOV E L ?
And which ones deserve a place
on the Program?
by Rosemary Harty (AGI09)
F
or Santa Fe tutor Susan Stickney,
there’s a scene in Pride and Prejudice that provides a fitting analogy
for the deeper value of reading
fiction. It’s the morning after Elizabeth Bennet has just rejected
Darcy’s offer of marriage, and she
receives a long letter from him. His
words initially confirm Elizabeth’s
great dislike for Darcy—until she has a chance to read the
letter carefully and think about it for a while.
“The first time she reads it, she’s infuriated,” says
Stickney, a member of the college’s Instruction
Committee. “She’s so insulted that she can’t bear it. Then,
when she reads it again later and gains distance and
perspective, she uses the letter as a chance to reflect on
herself and her family. She’s able to re-envision things and
reorient herself.”
To some, Austen’s novel may not have the weight of a
work by Plato or Aristotle, Kant or Hegel. Yet fiction cannot
be seen as mere entertainment, Stickney says, and the
Program would be far poorer without it. “What I get from
reading literature, particularly novels, is the chance to look
at the whole human being in all its complexity. When I read
a novel, I have a chance to ask: can I see myself in this? And
what does that reflection look like?”
In a college devoted to cultivating skills in language,
novels turn our attention to the power of expression, she
says. “We work so hard to follow Kant’s argument, or Aristotle’s, that we barely have time to look at the words the
argument uses. The hope is that in literature, this aspect
comes more to the foreground and can increase our sensitivity to the expressive possibilities of language.”
Because of the roughly chronological design of the
Program, novels turn up on the reading list in junior year,
and—with some small deviations—a handful of novels have
pretty much been the mainstay for many years: Don
Quixote, Gulliver’s Travels, Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, The Brothers Karamazov, Huckleberry Finn, Heart
of Darkness, War and Peace, and various works by
Faulkner and Woolf in senior year.
Talking about fiction in seminar can be uncomfortable
for some students who would rather confront a political
treatise, a mathematical formula, or a scientific concept.
According to Annapolis tutor Judy Seeger, an Instruction
Committee member, that’s not a rare sentiment. “For one
thing, the novel is not laying out an argument for you. And
an author such as Austen may be particularly difficult
because she is so very subtle.”
That’s not to say that novels fail to offer truths for serious
H. Christian Blood (SF02) brought an “intense and fiery
connection” to literature with him to St. John’s.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{The Program}
“I have no desire to reform St. John’s.
But if I started a great books college,
it would have a lot more fiction on the reading list.”
H. Christian Blood (SF02)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
13
�14
{The Program}
consideration and discussion, Seeger explains, “but clearly
we can’t read a novel the way we read a philosophical argument.” Instead, we examine human nature in the context of
situations—from the ravages of war in Russia to the drawingroom life of an Austen heroine.
Students are sometimes quiet in seminar because it isn’t
easy to engage the novel on a level deeper than plot. (Elizabeth hates Darcy. Elizabeth loves Darcy. All ends well.) “If it
doesn’t speak to you in a way that’s genuine, it’s difficult to
get beyond a surface level of understanding,” says Seeger.
In those cases, the tutors can be helpful in guiding the
discussion. In her Austen seminar, co-led by tutor Amanda
Printz, the opening question—“what is the difference
between pride and vanity?”—led students into conversations about Jane’s virtue, the importance of social standing,
and the unthinkable concept of a loveless marriage.
Ruth Ann Brown (A11) loves reading novels, but she finds
philosophy and politics much easier to talk about in
seminar. She had already read Pride and Prejudice 11 times
by the night her junior seminar met this year to discuss the
work. To her, the topics in the George Eliot’s Middlemarch
seemed deeper, more universal than the conflicts in the
Austen novel. “Austen’s style of writing is such a pleasure to
read. There’s a way in which you feel like you’re sitting in
the room with her. But Pride and Prejudice just doesn’t have
the depth of Middlemarch.”
Several St. John’s alumni who came to the college loving
literature and who now read novels with their own students
suggest that, just as the laboratory must accommodate
modern science, the college may want to consider adding to
the seminar reading list works by modern American
writers, more contemporary international fiction, works
that reflect ethnic and racial diversity, and a
few more works by women.
H. Christian Blood (SF02), just completing
his doctorate in comparative literature at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, offers
this suggestion: “I have no desire to reform
St. John’s. But if I started a great books
college, it would have a lot more fiction on
the reading list.”
Defining greatness
jenny ellerbe
Since 1937, the criteria for whether a book
makes the seminar list have centered on the
work’s power to raise persisting questions, be
open to rich and varied interpretation, be
timeless, yet timely. For Jana Giles (A88),
when it comes to fiction, there has to be
more. Giles, assistant professor at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, believes a truly
great novel will have a puzzle of some kind:
“There are interpretations that are stable
that you can go through and prove that this is
how you come to a certain conclusion. But at
Jana Giles (A88) would like to see more works on
the Program that reflect ethnic and cultural
diversity.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{The Program}
15
“A good novel is a masterpiece of language.”
Tutor Judy Seeger
the center is a fundamental uncertainty. That’s probably
true of a lot of great novels.”
To illustrate her point, Giles points to Heart of Darkness
and a passage that she read many times before seeing its
importance: “It’s the passage where Marlow and his crew
have almost reached Kurtz. They’re on the river with the
so-called cannibal crew, though we don’t know if they are
actually cannibals. And Marlow has this realization: why
have they not eaten me? He sees that they’re hungry. He
realizes that these men are exercising, at least in his mind,
some kind of ethical restraint, but he doesn’t understand
what it is. They have restraint and Kurtz doesn’t, and that’s
the pivotal issue in the whole novel. Marlow is always
talking about how everything in Africa is indescribable; the
truth is he doesn’t need to actually understand the truth in
a discursive way for meaning to come home to him.”
Great novels have the power to move us through the
thoughts and actions of unforgettable characters, but they
also move us in relationship to themes and historical
events, says Giles. “Great novels mark their time,” she
adds. “They are commentaries emblematic of historical
processes.” For example, Giles included a lesser-known
novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton, in one of her
courses because she wanted her students to read about the
lives of mill workers during the Industrial Revolution and
understand the precedents for labor laws. “Everyone
knows that people don’t like being preached at,” she notes,
but a novel can help illuminate buried and unexamined
opinions just as effectively as a work of philosophy.
Carol Colatrella (A79), professor of literature and
cultural studies at Georgia Tech University, finds plot
secondary to character and setting. In a novel, she’s
seeking “a lot of intimate detail about character and
setting” and the opportunity to gain a glimpse of another
time and another place. Reading The Brothers Karamazov
and Emma at St. John’s were life-changing experiences for
her and helped set her on her path to academe.
Similarly, Stickney most values a novel that creates a
world with complicated people. Take the rich universe of a
novel such as The Brothers Karamazov. In books of this
scale, “people do surprising things, or they’re pained, or
they’re angered. It’s a place where I get to watch human
beings respond, and I have to make sense of it.”
For Christian Blood, a great novel is something that you
never leave behind no matter how many times you move,
because no matter how many times you read it, there is
something else to uncover. “You can spend your life
reading, studying, ruminating, turning it over in your soul
and your mind over and over, and then one day you reread a
passage and all of a sudden you catch a small detail that’s
never stood out before, and it’s as if you’ve never seen that
narrative before in your life even though you could recite
lengthy passages of it from memory.”
The Reading List
It’s always the same dilemma at St. John’s: Time marches
on. New works are written. But adding a novel to the
reading list means taking something off. And there’s also
the problem of epic proportions: seminars on long novels
have to be scheduled at the beginning of a semester or after
spring break. Preceptorials allow a tutor to offer any interesting novel students are willing to read. Although it’s not
on the reading list, Moby-Dick is frequently read in preceptorial. Joyce’s Ulysses and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s A
Hundred Years of Solitude have been recent choices.
Adding contemporary fiction to the seminar reading list
would be trickier, because of the question: what goes?
Santa Fe’s Stickney can’t imagine not reading Dostoevsky
(“he’s so good at the human soul”), though the choice
could be Demons, or The Idiot. As the juniors read Hobbes,
Locke, and Rousseau, they must be reading Jane Austen,
but Emma and Persuasion are good choices, too. “We’re
reading philosophers who are talking about human society
and how to organize a government, and there’s Jane Austen
portraying society in the drawing room.”
A great lover of fiction before he entered St. John’s,
Christian Blood left a little frustrated when it came to the
novel. “I knew I wasn’t getting the whole story,” he says.
“So I went to graduate school in comparative literature to
work on the question of the history of the novel.”
In many ways, Blood was more widely read than his peers
in grad school; no one else had read Ptolemy, for example.
But he was amazed at how much he didn’t know. “What was
immediately amazing to me upon arriving in grad school is
how much prose fiction there is from antiquity, the Middle
Ages and the Renaissance,” Blood says. “At St. John’s,
students sometimes get the impression that Greco-Roman
literature is history, epic and tragedy; that the Middle Ages
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�16
{The Program}
is Chaucer; the early-modern period is
Cervantes; and that novels are something
autochthonous to modernity. I was in for
such a shock when I realized what a small
slice of literary history the canon [at St.
John’s] really is.” Intending to write on
Rabelais for his dissertation, he instead
honed in on Greco-Roman literature.
Blood knows that the Program can’t be all
things to all people, yet he thinks the college
should take a look at Apuleius, Chariton,
Longus, Petronius, and others “whose narratives explicitly engage with Homer, Plato and
Virgil and uncannily anticipate the novel as
we know it.”
In addition to what novels are read, Blood
often thinks about how novels are read. “I
think that in some ways, St. John’s presents
literature as didactic; you read about a character and you learn how to be like him and
not to be like him. Those are the kinds of
questions we asked about Billy Budd at
St. John’s.”
Reading more American novels would give Johnnies a better sense of their own
It was hard for Blood to adapt to classes in culture and history, says Georgia Tech Professor Carol Colatrella (A79).
graduate school with colleagues who brought
Marxist and post-feminist interpretations to
too many “dead white men” on the Program. Having
the works they read, and the very idea of research took
grown up in New Mexico and studied in Santa Fe, Giles
some getting used to. “Any time I looked up something
suggests Native American novelist Leslie Marmon-Silko’s
about a work, I felt like I was cheating,” he says.
Ceremony, if not for seminar, then at least for precepts and
But sometimes he thinks knowing a little bit more about
tutorials. “It’s an emotionally and powerfully engaging
Virginia Woolf might add to an undergraduate’s grasp of a
novel.”
novel like The Waves, whose author stretched well beyond
Unless they read them in preceptorials or on their own,
the boundaries of the conventional narrative. “I underSt. John’s students can miss out on some great American
stood nothing of that book,” says Blood. “Maybe I was a
novels, Colatrella says. “When I’m teaching my own
distracted senior, but maybe I would have grasped more if
classes, I think about what kinds of experiences I want
someone had given me some inkling of what she was up to.”
students to be exposed to: novels where there are different
If Blood would add works from antiquity, Jana Giles
values and where there’s an immersive world with lots of
would like to see modern works that explore gender issues
details where students are learning about a different
and ethnic and cultural diversity. She focused on Heart of
culture, even if it’s America,” says Colatrella.
Darkness, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, and Forster’s
Huckleberry Finn addresses this in some respect, but
Passage to India for her dissertation, and considers the
there are also powerful novels about and by American
novels worthy of St. John’s. In fiction, there’s room for the
women. For example, Colatrella’s students read Edith
college to address the oft-heard criticism that that there are
Wharton’s House of Mirth. While they initially saw the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{The Program}
protagonist, Lily, as selfish and shallow, they viewed her
differently as they thought more about the narrow choices
for a woman with limited means during the Gilded Age.
Iola Leroy, by African-American writer Frances Ellen
Watkins Harper, explores slavery and racial identity, and
Their Eyes Were Watching God portrays the continuing
struggles of African-Americans in the Deep South.
St. John’s should consider more modern novels for the
Program, but at the same time, Colatrella laments that
Moby-Dick remains off the seminar list. “People who get to
read Moby-Dick with others are so lucky, because it really is
a book that needs to be talked about,” she says.
Although she has some suggestions for the reading list,
Colatrella appreciates the Program for what it is and should
always be. She wouldn’t have traded her laboratory classes,
math, music, philosophy—the full breadth of the Program—
17
for a different beginning to her career. “I came to college
with the feeling I shouldn’t cut off any pathways. I kept all
of my books from St. John’s, and I open them now for
different reasons.”
In future years, novels may come and go from the
Program, says tutor Judy Seeger, but whatever is read will
enrich the lives of students. “A good novel is a masterpiece
of language,” she says. “When we read a novel we really
have to take into account what is said as well as how it is
said. That isn’t always easy to do in seminar. But if you can
really learn that, then you really understand what it is to
read.”
“For the most part,” adds Susan Stickney, “I think the
novels we read at St. John’s teach us how to read novels.
Then, Johnnies can go out and eat up the whole rest of the
world of literature.” x
What was your favorite novel read in Seminar?
25
20
Eliot, Middlemarch
15
10
Thanks to the alumni who responded to our short poll
through Survey Monkey last winter, we have a slice of
Johnnie opinions about the novels read in the undergraduate
program. We received 671 responses. As far as the most
popular novels read, The Brothers Karamazov edged
Tolstoy’s War and Peace by a slim margin, but overall the
Russians emerged far ahead of third-place Don Quixote. One
Johnnie chided us: “Don’t you dare make me choose between
Dostoevsky and Austen.” Other write-in responses include
Mrs. Dalloway, The Tale of Genji, and The Magic Mountain.
What novels should be read in seminar that are not on the
list now? (Several on our list have been read in precepts,
language tutorial, and in the GI. “Most on the list are
dreadful or high school,” one Johnnie commented.)
Melville’s Moby-Dick came out ahead. We included Thackeray’s Vanity Fair because it was among one of the first
novels read on the New Program, but apparently Johnnies
are not keen to see it back. Write-ins for this question
included Wharton’s Age of Innocence, Hardy’s Jude the
Obscure, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Achebe’s Things Fall
Apart, Ford’s The Good Soldier, and Iris Murdoch’s The
Black Prince. We like to think the alumni who suggested
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins, The Little Engine that
Could, and Kujo were joking. x
5
0
The Russians Win
6.9%
Tolstoy, War and Peace
21.4%
Cervantes, Don Quixote
13.3%
Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
23.1%
Twain, Huckleberry Finn
7.0%
Austen, Pride and Prejudice
8.5%
Conrad, Heart of Darkness
3.3%
Swift, Gulliver’s Travels
3.9%
Woolf, To the Lighthouse
3.1%
Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
1.2%
Other
8.1%
What novel should be added to the reading list?
0
5
10
15
20
Melville, Moby-Dick
27.4%
Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
12.2%
Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
12.2%
Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Forster, A Passage to India
Dickens, David Copperfield
Thackeray, Vanity Fair
Proust, In Search of Lost Time
Other
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
25
8.7%
4.0%
3.0%
1.8%
8.6%
22.1%
30
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{ J o h n n i e s a n d Fa c e b o o k }
The Virtual Table
JOHNNIES SIGN
O N T O FAC E B O O K
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
“[T]hose who are . . . locally separated are
not performing, but are disposed to
perform, the activities of friendship;
distance does not break off the friendship
absolutely, but only the activity of it.”
(Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)
his morning, Aristotle
signed into Facebook: he
updated his status to “Lazy
day—think my rational soul
is still asleep”; wished
Alexander the Great a
happy
33rd
birthday
(“Many happy returns!”);
tagged himself hoisting an
amphora in Theophrastus’ photo album “WineDark Shindig”; added the Prime Mover application (he can move you, but you can’t move him);
and for the nth time, ignored a friend request
from Thomas Aquinas. Activities of friendship,
indeed.
T
The social networking site Facebook, created in 2004 by a
group of Harvard students, takes its name from the oncecommon (now, one suspects, obsolete) practice by college
administrators of distributing Xeroxed, stapled sheaves of
student ID pictures as a handy means of linking names with
faces. The social utility quickly expanded from Harvard to
other universities; in late 2005 it launched a high school
version, and since September 2006, it’s been available to
anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address. This is,
of course, a good chunk of the world, and indeed, were Facebook a sovereign nation, its population of 350 million unique
users would make it the third largest in the world. Seventy
percent of these users live outside the United States.
And while media continues to regard social networking in
general, and Facebook in particular, with a wry, “these kids
today” attitude, as of October 2009 one-fifth of folks on
FB were over 45.
So what is Facebook? Is it a means or an end? Is it an inane
waste of time or a revolution in communication? Does it
destroy or facilitate discussion, bolster or ruin relationships?
Is it a real solution, in a world where our friends are ever more
far-flung, to Aristotle’s requirement of proximity for perfect
friendship?
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{ Fa c e b o o k }
19
Profiles, Friending, and
The Wall
The first thing one does after signing up
for Facebook is create a profile: an online
identity, consisting mostly of lists and
affirmations. (My Neighbor Totoro is my
favorite movie. I was born October 1. I
graduated from St. John’s College, Santa
Fe, in 2002. Here’s a picture of my cats!)
But as Facebook’s interface has evolved,
argues Anne Page McClard (SF83), this
static, self-promoting element has faded
from prominence, in favor of many
different forms of interaction. In an
article she co-authored for Anthropology
News in March 2008, she attributes the
popularity of Facebook to its ability to
“[shift] identity-making on the Web away
from the individual to the collective in a
new way, enabling low-maintenance,
automatically generated, interactionbased content creation.” For Johnnies in particular, she says,
who “gain satisfaction through conversation, a collective
activity,” the constant stream of connection is intuitive and
comfortable.
These connections take a wide variety of forms.Through
Facebook one can invite people to a party or a concert, join
groups with common interests, declare fandom for TV shows
and philosophers, even play games ranging from old
standbys such as Scrabble to complex role-playing games
where one pretends to be a vampire or a farmer. The most
basic tie, of course, has led to the neologism “to friend” (and
its opposite, “to unfriend,” the Oxford English Dictionary’s
2009 Word of the Year). Here, with a single mouse click, one
Facebook user gains access to another’s entire profile:
personal information (the aforementioned lists and affirmations), register of other friends, and the all-important Wall.
The Wall is where most one-on-one Facebook contact
takes place; it’s a way to promulgate photos, videos, links,
and status updates (musings quotidian or epic, posted by a
user; e.g., “Anna Perleberg is not on Facebook right now,
because this article is due tomorrow”). Depending on
privacy settings, whatever gets posted on a person’s wall,
whether by that person or one of their friends, can be read by
any friend of the user. Wondering what I’ve been up to lately?
Head for my Wall and peruse reams of fascinating trivialities,
from what I had for dinner one Tuesday (black currant vodka
and duck pelmeni in Cointreau sauce) to what people you’ve
perhaps never met and perhaps never will meet think of
the meal.
But the genius (and arguably, the danger) of Facebook isn’t
its ability to link one friend to another; e-mail, telephone,
letter-writing, and actually speaking to one another get the
job done just as well. Facebook’s innovation over previous
means of communication lies in its distillation of Wall
content from potentially hundreds of friends (the average is
around 130, but a profile can have up to 5,000) into one flow
of content called the News Feed, a kind of online agora where
Wall activities galore appear on one page. Whereas keeping
up with dozens of acquaintances of various ages on various
continents via face-to-face interaction, or even a phone call,
would require vast funds and an exhausting travel schedule—
not to mention the social awkwardness of showing up on the
doorstep of someone not seen since high school—the Facebook News Feed does it all automatically. Interaction and
friendship become effortless, much to Aristotle’s delight.
Or maybe they don’t.
Community and Counterargument
The genesis of this article was, naturally, a Facebook group I
created. “Johnnies on Facebook” currently stands at
265 members; in comparison, the Johnnie Chair, which has
its own profile page, has close to 2,200 friends. (The official
St. John’s College page has about 2,400 and gets about 800
visits a week.) Most members who commented see no contradiction between the examined life and the jovial cacophony
of the Wall and the News Feed. Many feel that Facebook facilitates connection: Lauren Yannerella (SF03) thinks that part
of the reason she uses Facebook is because she went to
St. John’s. “Our alumni tend to cover the globe, and it can be
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�20
{ Fa c e b o o k }
very difficult to keep in touch and stay in the loop. I don’t
want to lose touch with the general student population, and
Facebook means I really don’t have to.”
For Ruth Johnston (A85), who is an invalid and “pretty
severely isolated,” Facebook has proved a boon. “I post lots
of history trivia. I always read with one eye open for what I
can use to amuse the Johnnies. Book illustrators mixed ear
wax into egg white to make book paint! The Black Death
started as an illness native to Asian groundhogs, known as
tarabagans!” She’s also enjoyed forming online friendships
with Johnnies previously unfamiliar: “I’ve picked up a range
of Johnnies I don’t know, as a reward for being interesting.
When I went to Homecoming last fall, a few people I wasn’t
sure I recognized told me, ‘Oh, I follow you on FB!’” And
while Santa Fe tutor Jacques Duvoisin doesn’t usually accept
friend requests from current students, he uses the site to
“hear from the few alums who really matter to me, as well as
all the others who may turn out to be interesting as time
passes.” Facebook’s not a threat to conversation, he says,
“since it primarily connects people who otherwise would not
be likely to converse at all because of time or space (how
Kantian!).”
Not all correspondents painted such a rosy picture. Alexis
Brown (SF00, EC03) uses Facebook primarily to chat with
non-Johnnie friends. “A few folks from SJC who graduated
around the same time as I did utilize a chat room to keep in
touch with one another on a regular basis (daily). It is very
intimate. Facebook is a networking site, and makes it easier
to stay in touch with people on a fairly impersonal level. But
Facebook is way too impersonal for real conversation.”
Where Anne Page McClard casts Facebook’s communal
nature as well-suited to seminar-trained thinkers, Brown
feels that “the individual, for me, was a key element in what
made a good or bad seminar. The individual is very much a
part of a discussion.”
Another alumna, Leila Khaleghi (SF05), highlights the
peculiar knots of etiquette a Facebooker can find herself in.
“People try to contact me on Facebook, we become friends,
yada yada. I assume that it’s just the ‘we went to the same
college’ thing and think nothing of it. Then they write me
messages like we know/knew each other and I literally have
no recollection of ever speaking a word to them. What do you
do in a situation such as this? Do I play along? I feel like Facebook is always getting me into strange and uncomfortable
scenarios.”
Brown’s assertion that “even if a discussion
starts to happen on FB, it falls apart quickly due
to limited space, time, format of the site, etc.” is
indeed borne out by the “Johnnies on Facebook”
group itself. An attempt by this intrepid reporter
to start a seminar-style discussion on the Aristotle quote above garnered a whopping two
responses (although several people had helpful
suggestions as to other Program texts that deal
with the concept of friendship). And while a
cursory search reveals a plethora of Johnnierelated groups—Johnnies Abroad, Johnnies in
Medicine, Johnnies in Chicago, Johnnies in
Public Policy, Johnnies Do It With Arete—
average membership is about 35. Compared with
the 400,000 members of the group “I Will Go
Slightly Out of My Way To Step On That
Crunchy-Looking Leaf,” that’s negligible, to say
the least.
Some Johnnies avoid the site altogether. Jamie
Bowman (SF99) confesses he has no logically
rigorous reason for his opposition, “besides a gut
reaction to anything that many people are so
excited about.” He’s not anti-Internet. “Since
2002, I’ve run a message board for Santa Fe
Johnnies from the mid-to-late ’90s. . . . It’s a
really cool board. It’s very active. I think Facebook is slowly killing it. The board (sfjohn-
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{ Fa c e b o o k }
nies3.yuku.com) is the local
Mom & Pop coffee shop and
Facebook is Starbucks.”
Besides its ubiquity, he
dislikes how Facebook can
dredge up tenuous associations. “I don’t need to
reconnect with the kid who
sat next to me in 10th-grade
English. I’ve heard many
stories of annoying people
wanting to be your Facebook friend and you have
to make up some excuse
why you don’t want to
meet them for lunch and
‘catch up.’”
Michael Sullivan (A02)
takes a moderate approach. He absented himself from the
site for more than six months because he thought it “debases
relationships by reducing them all to the lowest common
denominator.”
“All of the interactions, with friends I’d been in constant
contact with for 10 years or more and those I’d had no knowledge of since finding them on Facebook, seemed equally intimate and superficial,” he said. Recently, though, he resumed
posting, admitting that while Facebook is “no substitute for
conversation, it’s definitely a substitute for nothing. The fact
is that we no longer live in a polis, and if the technology
which has broken all familial and social ties by driving us to
the four winds doesn’t also bring us back together, then
nothing will. If the shallowness of the relationship-preservation that FB offers bothers me, so does the oblivion which is
the alternative.”
Facebook isn’t the only way Johnnies are reaching out in cyberspace. Many alumni are finding a voice in the blogosphere.
Here are just a few we’ve heard about:
Lisa Simeone (A79), a writer for Baltimore’s Style magazine as
well as a National Public Radio host, writes a lively blog called
“Glamour Girl.” Want to gain some tips on Jackie O’s simple,
but elegant style? Check out Glamour Girl at:
www.baltimorestyle.com/index.php/style/glamour_girl.
Alana Chernila (SF02) blogs about food and life and raising
kids. Every post includes a new recipe, as well as some spectacular photos of raspberries, rhubarb, and her campaign signs
(read the blog for more on that). The blog has a friendly,
21
Utopia or dystopia, Facebook is inhabited by
millions. And while a Google
search of the phrase “Facebook is destroying” generates 54,000 hits—crediting
the social network with
damaging the sanctity of
marriage, academic performance, the economy,
memory, America—it seems
prudent to reserve judgment
about
something
that
entered the public consciousness less than four
years ago. Perhaps Facebook
is the new Gutenberg press,
part of a paradigm shift in
the way human beings communicate. Perhaps it’s just a
diversion. Would that be so bad? Even Aristotle, a thinker
not given to frivolity, recognizes that friendship comes in
many forms, that “[o]ne cannot be a friend to many people in
the sense of having friendship of the perfect type with them.
. . . But with a view to utility or pleasure it is possible that
many people should please one; for many people are useful
or pleasant, and these services take little time.” x
Anna Perleberg (SF02) is a Brooklyn bookseller who checks her
Facebook two dozen times a day, but remains skeptical of Twitter.
Illustrator Caitlin Cass (SF09) recently paid tribute to St. John’s
in her collection of illustrations, Great Moments in Western
Civilization. Read more about Caitlin on her website:
www.greatmomentsinwesternciv.com
personable approach. Check out her recipe for herb dumplings
at www.eatingfromthegroundup.com.
Nate Downey (SF91), author of Harvest the Rain, writes a blog
on sustainability at www.backyarddigest.com. Downey is an
advocate for “gradual greening,” which starts with devoting 10
minutes a day to sustainable living. Read about his visits to the
farmer’s market, composting, and just getting outside.
Baltimore bloggers Lou Kovacs (A02) and Talley Scroggs
Kovacs (A01) borrowed the name of a famous book about the
Chesapeake Bay (Beautiful Swimmers) for a blog about “kitchen
exploits, urban adventures, country forays, and little one's
milestones.” (http://thebeautifulswimmers.blogspot.com)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�22
{History}
SAM AND CURTIS
Look Back on a Life Spent at St. John’s
by Rosemary Harty (AGI09)
ew people know the
college as well as Curtis
Wilson (HA83), tutor
emeritus and former
dean, and Samuel Kutler
(class of 1954), tutor
emeritus and former
dean. Wilson came to the
college in 1948 as a young
tutor, just after Barr and Buchanan departed.
Kutler was headed to the University of
Chicago until he learned of a college with
about 200 students where he could study
math and read philosophy. What’s most
remarkable about these two individuals is the
way they live the life of the mind. Both remain
active and involved in the college, and
intensely, intellectually curious. Until
recently, Kutler was still leading seminars in
the Graduate Institute, delivering lectures,
and working on a book about poetry and
mathematics. Wilson was awaiting the publication of his new book, The Hill-Brown
Theory of the Moon’s Motion: Its Coming-tobe and Short-lived Ascendancy (1877-1984).
They sat down together in Annapolis this
winter to share their memories from six
decades at St. John’s.
F
On choosing St. John’s
Curtis: I was in the history department at Columbia and was
having trouble with my dissertation. I was assigned to study a
15th-century Italian and do something like a previous student of
my advisor had done with another 15th-century Italian. This was
all on the premise that Galileo was only following things that
were already proposed and done in the Middle Ages—the thesis
of continuity. My gut feeling was that there had been a revolution sometime around there, and it was not continuity. A friend
suggested I attend lectures by Leo Strauss at the New School for
Social Research, so I went and listened to his lectures on Plato’s
Republic. These were wonderful to me because you studied the
text very carefully and then thought out possible interpretations. You didn’t try to fit the text into some historical theme
proposed by scholars. Then my friend suggested I should go
down to St. John’s and talk with Jacob Klein, and he added, “by
the way, when you’re there, ask for a job.” I’d had disappointing
interviews; people willing to hire me, but it meant imposing
some context on me. St. John’s was just—fresh air! We would
actually read the books you need to read in order to have opinions about history or to know that your opinions were not worthwhile.
Sam: I had wanted to go to the University of Chicago, but when
I read the St. John’s catalog, I said, “that’s what I want to do.”
That we studied the ancients was unbelievably important to me.
That we studied ancient mathematics before ending up in the
senior year with the calculus—that was priceless. You could see
the change Descartes and company brought about. Most people
think mathematics is one thing, but it isn’t one river like that.
On laboratory and language
Curtis: I was asked by [then dean] Raymond Wilburn to teach a
class in organic chemistry when I got here—to the whole senior
class, about 40 students. Scott Buchanan and Stringfellow
Barr’s departure was a towering fact, and the seniors effected a
pervasive melancholy. These were the after days; the glory days
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�23
jennifer behrens
{History}
were gone. A second fact of some import to me was that these
students knew no chemistry whatsoever. Teaching them organic
chemistry was a problem because of that, and it was made sort of
a crisis because the textbook was a cookbook, nothing more. We
started out by making cleaning solution that was potentially
lethal, and not used in college laboratories nowadays.
The students were totally skeptical of this enterprise and with
good reason. Somehow, in mid-course, I took them through an
elementary history of chemistry, to seek why and how the
atomic theory got established. I asked them to write papers
about that, and they did a good job. What had happened was that
the lab program had proved a difficulty for the college, and at
some point before I arrived, a decision was made to use ordinary
textbooks. This was not at all in accordance with anything
related to the Program, and with others I spent the next 10 years
working primarily in the laboratory to try to find ways of doing
things that might be more helpful to students.
Sam: Curtis was on sabbatical when I got here in 1950. We were
still making scary things in the laboratory. We called one the
universal solution, and the theory we had was that it would eat
through anything there is on earth if it got through glass. We
thought it could eat through us and right down to the center of
the earth!
There were also some really good discussions in the laboratory, so I found it a good experience. But then, and over the
Sam Kutler (left, class of 1954) knew Curtis Wilson (HA83) as
one of his tutors; later they served together as tutors. Both
men have served as dean, and both have stayed very involved in
the life of the college even after retiring.
years, it was tough for the poor students to fit laboratory into the
schedule. All the other classes were five days a week, and laboratories were only twice. You were preparing crazily to get your
language, mathematics, and laboratory done. I studied calculus
with Curtis, and it was really rigorous. We sure went through the
theory of everything. There were a group of young tutors here,
Robert Bart, Hugh McGrath, Curtis—they were a splendid
group.
Curtis: Hugh and Bob were especially concerned with language.
Latin had been taken out of the program and we got two years of
Greek. Then there was a thought that we could have some time
for English poetry, something a little different at the end of the
second year.
Sam: I didn’t benefit from that. We had two solid years of Greek,
and we translated every word of the Hippolytus of Euripedes.
When I came back as a tutor, then we worked English poetry in
the second terms of tutorials. But it still seems a shame to have
just a year and a half with the Greek language.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�24
{History}
The community was very small.
Not everything about that was
good, but you knew everybody and
when there was a play performed,
you expected every single faculty
member to be there and say that
you were very good, whether you
were or not. I was in The Winter’s
Tale, and that’s where I met my
wife (Emily, class of 1955).
Tutor Emeritus Curtis Wilson
served two terms as dean and was
one of the first faculty members
in Santa Fe.
On President
Richard Weigle
Curtis: He brought the necessary
attempts to raise funds. But there
was always a tension between him
and Jacob Klein; Jasha watched him
like a hawk, thinking something
dreadful was likely to happen. For
instance, Dick Weigle wanted to
institute having Phi Beta Kappa
here. It was derailed. Then there
were a lot of discussions before the
dedication of the new Mellon
building; certain people were to
be named honorary fellows of
St. John’s. Some people wanted
strongly to have Barr and Buchanan
so named—but not Adler!
On Dean Jacob Klein
Curtis: I visited the college
initially in April 1948, in the
spring, to talk with Jacob Klein
about my dissertation. I met him
first in what was then the Senior
Common Room. He was seated on
a red leather sofa, which I think is
still possessed somewhere at the
college. He smoked cigarettes and
his cigarette ash fell on his vest so
he would be perpetually wiping
away ash. I told him about the subject I was assigned and he said,
“nonsense, all nonsense.” I was at a stage where that seemed a
very gratifying statement. He really felt the responsibility of
being dean, and he took it very seriously. He talked to the whole
college and said, “The Golden Age of Athens is succeeded by the
Alexandrian period. We (St. John’s) are in the Alexandrian
period.” He was trying to address this pervasive melancholy
[post Barr and Buchanan], and what he was saying was, “we have
to get down to work.” I admired him tremendously.
Sam: He would appear in the Coffee Shop at lunchtime and
everybody would gather around him and he would start a discussion, even though he had work to do as dean. I remember once
when students tried to grab him and ask about Picasso. And he
said, “I’ll tell you about Picasso; he was always thinking.” And
whish! He was gone. As a student, I thought that he always had
been dean and he always would be dean. The main thing about
St. John’s was that we read old books, and we took them with
complete seriousness, and he helped enormously with that
because they were so important in his life, Plato and Aristotle.
And the college became settled around that.
Sam: As a student, I didn’t appreciate Dick Weigle. It was only
after he spent 32 years as president that I realized how lucky we
were to have him. He really cared about the good of the college
and he sure kept us alive. The college was concerned about
growing too big, and we thought 300 students was the perfect
number. One day, students burned Weigle in effigy because they
thought he wanted to make the college bigger. He did so by
creating the Santa Fe campus—it was very, very important to
him. And he brought us the women: the women saved us!
On Mortimer A dler
Curtis: He’s not enormously interesting in my opinion. He
influenced some people in his book How to Read a Book, and
many people learned of St. John’s because of it. He had the
opinion that he’d come every year to lecture, but that wasn’t
true. It was a picture he built up and believed.
Sam: It was true to me! When I was dean he would call me up
and tell me when he was free to come to lecture.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�25
{History}
Sam Kutler left a job as a mathematician at Johns Hopkins’
Applied Physics Laboratory to
join the college faculty.
Curtis: On one of the Adler occasions, the prank was to release
from the back of the auditorium
some thousands of marbles, which
then rolled downhill and gave a
most unnatural sound. Mr. Weigle
stood up at the time and apologized for it. A year or two later,
Adler had dinner in our dining
room, and I told him what that
sound had been. He said, “If I’d
only known, I could have said I
think I’ve lost my marbles!”
up, worried that the “special
thing” that his class had would
vanish from the earth since
they’d left St. John’s. Some like to
talk about a “Golden Age.” I
don’t know about the Golden Age
because when I came it had just
vanished. But I look back on my
times with members of Sam’s
class as a very special time. We
were having good conversations.
The students were learning, and I
was learning.
On being dean
Curtis: My first deanship was 195862. I found it difficult, and I was
discouraged sometimes, but we
did do a few things. We eliminated
German, got two years of French,
and instituted the preceptorials.
You can’t believe how much
discouragement and depression
was rampant in the upper levels of the student body at that time.
They’d been doing the same thing in so many ways. We needed
to stimulate intellectual excitement and interest. It seemed a
good idea to some of us that tutors should choose topics that
they themselves had some interest in pursuing and that allowed
for variety.
The Program is not a complete education for anybody. The
idea is—and always has been at St. John’s—that you’d better go on
learning after leaving the college, for 60 or so years, whatever is
available to you.
I think the dean’s opening lecture is enormously important.
Somehow or other, by example or engagement, the dean should
open up questions, inspire his or her audience with the ideal of
a life of inquiry. It needs to be fresh and unexpected. No, I didn’t
and don’t know how to do it! And I drove my family crazy in the
summers when I was trying to concoct my efforts in that genre.
On change and the college
Curtis: It’s natural for change to happen at St. John’s, and it’s
not something to be bemoaned. I remember I spent a semester
at the University of Toronto in the ’90s and met one of the
students I’d had the previous year. And he immediately spoke
Sam: What can’t change?
Imagine if we read only modern
books? Or even worse, only
ancient books? That interplay
between the two is one of the most important things that we do.
What St. John’s meant in your life
Curtis: It’s like asking a fish to explain how it is to be in the
water. I think my habit of questioning is potentially very good.
Not always! There are hostile circumstances in which questioning is not welcomed and as a consequence, not immediately
helpful. Then one must work quietly towards improving the
atmosphere. But we need potential whistleblowers in our
society. We need people to say: “We don’t get it—why are we
here?” It’s those people who are going to make the difference.
Sam: My student years at St. John’s—they were magic years for
me. I think I would have had greater tunnel vision had I not
come here, and the factors were my fellow students. And the
faculty. There are plenty of works I probably wouldn’t have read
if I hadn’t come to St. John’s: Platonic dialogues, Aristotle. And
I’ve read a lot of Shakespeare since coming to St. John’s. Could
you imagine not reading Shakespeare? x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�26
{Croquet}
“ W E A R E T H E DA N A A N S T O
YO U R T ROY ”
“St. John’s Fight Song”
O Johnnie, as you play croquet,
Defend our honor on this day.
Your battle cry: Let Middies kneel
To the form of Good reveal.
O hear us when we boldly say,
Defeat the Middies at croquet.
O ye who books do seldom read,
Your unexamined lives concede.
Beware each Middie girl and boy,
We are the Danaans to your Troy!
Defeat the Middies at croquet!
Amen.
doug plummer
O hear us when we boldly say,
Ben Hutchins (A10) greets Midshipman
n the fall of 2001, tutor Tom May
Amanda Howard before the start of the
noticed his students needed more
practice singing in four-part harmony annual match.
and that fewer students seemed to
have experience in singing hymns.
“Ms. (Tanya) Hadlock-Piltz (A05) came to
Casting about for something to sing,
me with the words, and after a few changes,
May came up with the Navy Hymn. “I
we printed them below the more familiar
couldn’t think of anything more appropriate, lyrics to sing at croquet,” May recalls. “The
and I thought we should sing it at Croquet.”
first year, there was no announcement. We
The Navy Hymn sung at the Academy is
sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ then the
adopted from Britain’s Royal Navy. The orig- Navy Hymn, and then we just vamped right
inal words were written as a poem in 1860 by into singing the St. John’s song. It was interWilliam Whiting, and the melody was by the
esting to watch the change of expression. By
Rev. John Bacchus Dykes, who originally
the time we got to the lyrics ‘beat the
composed the tune as a song called “Melita.” Middies at croquet,’ it was perfectly clear
As the students practiced the hymn for the
that we weren’t singing the Navy Hymn
croquet match, May wondered what else they anymore.”
could perform in honor of St. John’s.
This year, May was surprised by the
While the college has a fight song, May has
number of students and alumni singing
never been a fan: “It’s very dated, it’s all about along. He’d like to see even more Johnnies
the ‘men of St. John’s,’ and it sounds like a
join in, so clip out the words and be ready to
Franz Liszt reject.” Instead, he suggested to
sing next April! x
his students that they develop new lyrics for a
Johnnie version of the Navy Hymn.
I
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
Navy Hymn
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless
wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
�27
doug plummer
judy mcbride
The 28th annual croquet match against the
Naval Academy took place Saturday, April 18.
More than 2,000 spectators turned out for the
match, with the Johnnies prevailing, 5-zip.
That makes 23 St. John’s victories since the
match began. Fully embracing the misnomer
of St. John’s as “that basketball school,” Johnnies suited up in basketball uniforms and
headbands for their sound defeat of the
cardigan-clad Mids. x
doug plummer
sarah culver
judy mcbride
judy mcbride
{Croquet}
Clockwise from top left: Citali and Patrick
McDowell (A01); Luke Russell (A09); Fashionista and family; Spectacular hats were on
display; Picnics; Swing dancing.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�28
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
The Cold War, and the
Atomic West
by Jon Hunner (SF74)
Oklahoma University Press, 2009
In November 1942, a professor of
physics from Berkeley and an
Army colonel on a secret government mission drove through New
Mexico’s Jemez Mountains to an
isolated boys’ boarding school.
J. Robert Oppenheimer and
Col. Leslie Groves were evaluating
sites for a top-secret laboratory.
As Jon Hunner (SF74) recounts in
his book, J. Robert Oppenheimer,
The Cold War, and the Atomic
West, the Los Alamos Ranch
School was not an ideal site to build an
atomic bomb. But Oppenheimer, the
improbable civilian director of the
Manhattan Project, loved New Mexico:
“Even though Los Alamos did not fit the
selection criteria for the lab’s location,
Oppie wanted the site. He had lamented in
the 1930s that it was a pity he could not
combine two of the loves of his life—physics
and New Mexico. Los Alamos fulfilled his
dream,” Hunner writes.
Oppenheimer initially thought he would
need about half a dozen scientists to help
him develop the atomic bomb. “By the fall
of 1945,” Hunner writes, “approximately
5,000 men, women and children lived on
the Hill.” The work of these individuals,
who raised families and lived “normal” lives
while they worked to build a devastating
weapon, contributed to a new era in human
history. The West was transformed as a
burgeoning atomic industry took root.
Hunner, professor of history at New
Mexico State University, has long been
fascinated with Los Alamos. His dissertation at the University of New Mexico, a
social and cultural history of Los Alamos,
developed into his first book, Inventing
Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic
Community. He spent 14 years researching
and writing that book, yet still felt “I had
really just scratched the surface”
concerning Oppenheimer.
Hunner was eager to return to the
subject. Oppenheimer was an enigmatic
character whose life was filled with great
triumphs and staggering personal
tragedies. He grew up in a wealthy Jewish
family in New York City; his brilliance was
{Bibliofile}
recognized at a
young age. When
he became ill as a
young man, he
was sent west to
recover and fell in
love with New
Mexico. He later
bought a cabin in
the mountains
that would
become a lifelong
refuge for him and
his family. “I
definitely try to
understand the
impact of Los
Alamos on New
Mexico, but also
the impact of New Mexico on Los Alamos,”
Hunner explains. “A lot of people came
from Ivy League colleges, and they started
wearing cowboy boots. Oppenheimer was
right there with them.”
Oppenheimer earned his bachelor’s in
chemistry in Harvard in three years. He
spent a disastrous year in experimental
physics at Cavendish Laboratory at
Cambridge before moving to theoretical
physics at the University of Göttingen. After
he finished his doctorate, he had many positions to choose from, and in part because of
his attraction to the West, headed to
Berkeley.
As a professor, Oppenheimer was a great
theoretical physicist, but most of his
students couldn’t understand his lectures.
When word came that two German
scientists had split the atom, Oppenheimer
joined others in seeking to unlock the
secrets to developing atomic weapons. His
scientific acumen—
but perhaps more so
his naked ambition—
helped him stand out
among other candidates for the job as
civilian director of
the Manhattan
Project. Although he
had never even
managed a physics
department, Oppenheimer turned out to
be a successful
manager of the
project. Hunner
describes the city
that grew from the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
laboratory, as workers and scientists
brought their families, built schools and
hospitals and went about their lives, mostly
in ignorance of the laboratory’s work. He
describes the Trinity test, on July 16, 1945,
as well as Oppenheimer’s reaction: “Around
6:30 a.m., he commented: ‘My faith in the
human mind has been somewhat restored.’”
Hunner admires Oppenheimer in part for
his intelligence and charisma, but also for
“his attempt, after he opened up the
Pandora’s box of atomic weapons, to try to
figure out ethically what he could do” to
prevent the world from destroying itself.
The scientist joined others in a movement
called One World or None, which advocated
the creation of an international agency to
control atomic weapons.
While Oppenheimer’s downfall occurred
during the McCarthy era, he was more a
victim of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, of
former colleagues who were eager to
discredit him, and of his own bad decisions.
The hearing on Oppenheimer’s security
clearance ( which allowed him to play a key
role as an advisor on U.S. atomic policy) was
supposed to be secret. “But as soon as the
hearing was over, the head of the atomic
energy commission released a 1,000-page
transcript to newspapers,” Hunner points
out. “It was a well-orchestrated campaign to
discredit Oppenheimer because he was
starting to publicly question the official
policy. It was partly political, partly
personal vindictiveness, and it was also a
fork in the road for our atomic policy.”
Oppenheimer wanted a public, open
dialogue about atomic weapons. Those like
Teller, who would eventually prevail, advocated secrecy. Oppenheimer was also
growing increasingly concerned about the
potential consequences of
the military-industrial
complex in the United States.
After he joined
Princeton’s Institute for
Advanced Studies, Oppenheimer continued to try to
influence public policy.
He was a sought-after
lecturer and appeared on
television programs. During
the Kennedy years, his
reputation “was kind of
rehabilitated by the government,” says Hunner. Oppen-
Jon Hunner
�heimer died of cancer in 1967.
The interest in Los Alamos and Oppenheimer has roots in Hunner’s personal
history. He grew up in the 1950s and ‘60s in
Albuquerque, and his father administered
atomic weapons programs for the Air Force.
“We had photographs of atomic bomb
mushroom clouds hanging on our walls,”
Hunner recalls. “Then when I went to
St. John’s and started talking to my classmates, I realized that not everybody grew
up with photographs of atomic bombs, and
no one else’s parents worked with atomic
weapons. It was kind of a shock.”
His family history is one reason Hunner
considers Los Alamos and Oppenheimer
from a viewpoint other historians may not
share. His book details the devastation in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but he also tallies
the millions of lives lost in conventional
warfare in World War II. “I think when we
look at the morality of this weapon of mass
destruction, it’s easy to be pro or con, but
because my own father was involved with
administering nuclear weapons, it’s not so
black and white for me,” he explains. “I
don’t want to think of my father as someone
who was ready to blow up the world. I like to
argue that this is a horrendous weapon, and
it has horrendous implications for
humanity. But it also helped end the most
horrendous war in history.”
—Rosemary Harty
Stateside
by Jehanne Dubrow (A97)
Northwest University Press, 2010
Jehanne Dubrow’s latest volume of poetry,
Stateside, explores a timely theme: the
everyday lives of partners, spouses, and
families left behind when a loved one in
military service ships out to a war zone.
Dubrow wrote the poems before her
husband, Navy Lt. Jeremy Schaub (A97),
left last winter for an eight-month tour of
duty. Yet the poems are written from an
authentic viewpoint of uncertainty, fear,
loneliness—and at times, anger.
Inspired by the Odyssey, the volume is
divided into three sections: before, during,
and after a deployment. Military terminology is mingled with domestic images, a
civilian life contrasted with a life of military
service. In “O’ Dark Hundred” the writer
imagines her husband’s pre-dawn shift:
“My words are just reflections from the
shore, / and the page, imperfect mirror of
jennifer behrens
{Bibliofile}
Jehanne Dubrow
his ship, / where white lights blink above
each metal door.”
“Love in the Time of Coalition”
combines images of a lover’s attention to a
woman with sinister words such as “toxin,”
sarin,” and “plutonium.” “At the Mall with
Telemachus” portrays a harried military
wife dealing with a child’s temper tantrum
in the food court. And “Whiskey Tango
Foxtrot, ” coyly profane, describes the
moment when a wife first hears the news
that her husband is headed to a war zone.
When Dubrow and Schaub dated as
students in Annapolis, she couldn’t have
imagined she would one day be a Navy wife,
separated for months at a time without
definitive word on her husband’s whereabouts. After graduating, Dubrow stayed in
Annapolis, managed a coffee shop, read
Proust, and became serious about poetry.
The couple broke up, and Dubrow went on
to earn an MFA at the University of
Maryland and a PhD at the University of
Nebraska.
Although they had a “tragic, dramatic
breakup,” Dubrow knew that Schaub had
joined the Navy, and after 9/11, she got in
touch. They started e-mailing, got back
together, managed a long-distance relationship while she finished her doctorate, and
were married in 2005. Schaub is about five
months into an eight-month deployment
“on a ship somewhere”; Dubrow is an
assistant professor at Washington College
in Chestertown, Maryland.
When her husband first raised the idea of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
29
volunteering for deployment more
than a year ago, “the danger of his
work became very real to me,”
Dubrow explains. That’s when she
began writing poems about families
and the military, and she conducted
research on the military wife in literature. “What I quickly discovered
was that she’s almost an entirely
silent figure,” Dubrow says. “Basically, the only model we have is Penelope, who is a highly impractical
model for a woman in the 21st
century. She’s patient, she’s devout,
she’s chaste—basically, unimpeachable. The standards she sets are
impossible.”
While the book doesn’t mirror her
own experiences, Dubrow says the
poems allowed her to express her
views and frustrations: “I distrust
this pressure from the military for
women to be silent about their
misgivings and to not express when
things are difficult because that looks like
weakness or it looks unpatriotic.” Her
poems in Stateside seek to show that a
woman’s patriotic sacrifices are no less
heroic because they take place on the home
front.
Dubrow has always drawn from her own
life and her sense of identity for her poems.
Her first volume of poetry, The Hardship
Post (2009), explores her Jewish identity
through the experience of being a
diplomat’s daughter. Dubrow conducted
research for her second collection, From the
Fever-World, during a fellowship at the
United States Holocaust Museum. The
work is a collection of fragments written in
the voice of a Yiddish poet, the product of
Dubrow’s imagination.
Not quite finished with the themes she
explored in Stateside, Dubrow is now
writing a book of lyrical essays on being
married to the military. In addition, she’s
editing an anthology of modern Jewish
poetry and finishing up a volume of poems
exploring her adolescence in Eastern
Europe before and after the fall of the
Berlin Wall. The poems use “the oppressive
tyrannical language of Communism to
speak about the oppressiveness of the
adolescent body. Adolescence is a morbid,
embarrassing, naked time—it makes for
great poems.” x
— Rosemary Harty
�30
{Alumni}
Aristotle in New Orleans, Meditations in Maine
Like evangelists, alumni bring St. John’s ways to the world
by Rosemary Harty
B
efore they even had children,
Aaron Lewis (A95) and his
wife, Elizabeth, worked to get
their small parish school to
adopt a classical/traditional
curriculum. Kirsten Jacobson
(SF96) started a series of philosophy
seminars at a local high school, with her
undergraduate students serving as seminar
leaders. At Tulane University, Ryan
McBride (SFGI96) created a program that
seeks to make debate champions of middleschoolers, and Lee Perlman (A73) is part of
a new freshman program at MIT that brings
together humanities and the sciences.
Much like Scott Buchanan, who brought
great books to working adults in New York
City before he helped bring them to
St. John’s, these Johnnies believe classics
are for everyone.
Ryan McBride, Aristotle in
New Orleans
What is virtue? The students in Ryan
McBride’s undergraduate philosophy
classes at Tulane University are reading
about the concept in Aristotle and Plato,
but they’re also trying to be more virtuous
by working as volunteer debate coaches for
middle-school students in New Orleans
public schools. McBride, a postdoctoral
fellow at Tulane, created “Aristotle in
New Orleans” as a Tulane project that
combines academics with service learning.
In St. John’s terms, McBride explains, his
class is like a preceptorial on the Nicomachean Ethics, “with a lab mixed in where
we go out and take part in our community.”
His idea was simple: “Rather than just
talking about what virtue is, why don’t we
go out into the world and practice
generosity and courage and see how they
are components of the good life?”
McBride himself was never a debater.
But his interest in Aristotle led him to
Book VIII of the Topics, where Aristotle
describes gymnastic dialect, a type of
competitive exercise. He decided to create a
course based around these dialectical
battles. McBride’s students revived this
style of debate and used their experiences
as a basis for thinking about method in
Aristotle’s Ethics and Platonic dialogues.
Inspired by Aristotle and Quintilian, Ryan McBride (SFGI96), fifth from left, back row,
created a course that pairs philosophy with teaching middle school students how to debate.
Before moving to New Orleans, McBride
was a visiting assistant professor at
St. Norbert University. After graduating
from the GI, he taught English at the
University of Oregon, then earned his
doctorate at Marquette University. As a
grad student, McBride spent summers in
New Orleans, and he applied for the postdoc fellowship because he loves the city.
None of the three middle schools had a
debate team before McBride launched his
project last fall. With his department’s
approval, he required a mandatory 40 hours
of service from every student who signed
up for his course. His undergraduates
adjusted quickly to the younger students,
“although some of my students are a little
overwhelmed to be in a middle school,”
especially where students are from
economically disadvantaged families.
Studying the way words work for Aristotle
and Plato gives the Tulane students an interesting way to understand a debate. Quintilian helps by giving classical, yet practical,
advice. “Quintilian makes the pursuit of
becoming the ideal orator into a game,
something that should be fun,” he says.
In their first three debates, the middleschoolers have done quite well. “You can’t
believe how these kids—who were terrified
to speak in front of five or six kids—develop
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
the composure to be articulate and on the
ball in front of hundreds of people. They’re
fearless,” he says.
McBride plans to try to expand Aristotle
in New Orleans to reach more schools. He
can count on his undergraduates: of his
40 coaches who took his class last semester,
12 came back to continue as volunteers.
Lee Perlman, Concourse
Lee Perlman has been teaching in MIT’s
freshman alternative program, the Experimental Studies Program, for many years.
Now he’s pleased to be a part of a renewed
emphasis on integrating the sciences and
the humanities through a freshman
program called Concourse. The project’s
roots go back four years, when Perlman
began teaching a class with MIT Professor
Bernhard Trout on “The Philosophical
History of Energy,” which began with Aristotle and ended up with modern science.
“We got the idea of trying to start
another one of these freshman alternative
programs, a great-books-oriented program.
We went to the dean in charge and talked to
him, and it turned out a program already
existed, called Concourse.”
Several decades ago, the university
created the program to address concerns
raised over the division of the sciences and
�31
{Alumni}
humanities, as articulated by C.P. Snow in
his famous essay, “The Two Cultures.”
Over the years, says Perlman, “that mission
faded, and it became a teaching community,
with classes, a lounge, a kitchen, but no real
distinct character.”
This year, Trout and Perlman began
working to revive the original mission of
Concourse. Trout will be the new director,
and Perlman will teach yearlong courses in
the humanities. The program is starting out
slowly, with 60 freshman enrolled in yearlong courses each year, but he hopes to see
it grow to look more like a core texts
curriculum, open to more students.
Perlman earned a PhD at MIT and taught
at Swarthmore and Brown before returning
to MIT’s Experimental Study Group in
1994. Over the years, he’s taught courses
including a seminar on ancient Greek
mathematics and a class on the Philosophy
of Love. What is missing in this program,
however, is giving students the opportunity
to make connections across the disciplines.
“What I found after I started teaching
ancient Greek philosophy was that in the
end, it was really an ethics course. But put
that together with a course on how the
Greeks thought about mathematics and our
place in the universe and that gives you
surprising conclusions.”
Perlman is excited about the possibilities
for Concourse. “My goal is to re-create
St. John’s to the extent that it’s possible and
appropriate in a place like MIT,” explains
Perlman.
Kirsten Jacobson, Philosophy
across the Ages
For Kirsten Jacobson, teaching philosophy
is just one part of her job—getting students
to really talk about philosophical ideas and
their real-world applications is more important.
With that in mind,
Jacobson recently launched
a program called “Philosophy across the Ages,”
connecting University of
Maine undergraduates with
Orono High School
students through seminarstyle discussions of key
texts of philosophy. The
undergraduates lead
sessions by asking a wellcrafted opening question.
This semester, the students
started by reading Plato’s
Apology and Crito. Later in the year, they
took on
readings Descartes’ Meditations and
de Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity.
Jacobson thrived in the seminar setting at
St. John’s, having transferred from Middlebury. She earned her PhD at Penn State, and
specializes in 19th- and 20th-century continental philosophy. Her teaching style is very
much influenced by St. John’s. “A lot of my
students say, ‘your courses are so different
because you’re so committed to getting us
to talk,’” Jacobson says.
Currently about 10 high school students
are signed up; about three or four University
of Maine students take part in each seminar.
Jacobson and her students meet in advance
to discuss the major themes of a text and
choose an opening question. “I really
emphasize that I want them to think about
not instructing the students, but trying to
engage the text, lead the conversation, and
encourage discussion.”
Jacobson finds it amazing and significant
that teenagers want to read Plato and
Descartes, and she’s consistently surprised
by the depth of their thinking. For example,
in a seminar on the Apology, the students
talked about how important it is to question
authority, that there is a danger to society if
everyone blindly follows the rules. On the
other hand, another student pointed out
that anarchy would result if no one followed
the laws.
With the belief that “philosophy really is
for everyone,” Jacobson titled her program
“Philosophy across the Ages” with a
double-entendre in mind: “I hope we’ll be
having seminars with folks in local retirement communities soon. These conversations should be happening at all stages of
our lives.”
Aaron Lewis: Immanuel Lutheran
School
For many years, Aaron Lewis worked on
Capitol Hill; now he’s a marketing executive in D.C. But for the last decade, he’s
had a side pursuit: working with his
parish, Immanuel Lutheran, to bring the
trivium and quadrivium to the parish’s
school in Alexandria, Virginia. Now
that it’s firmly in place, he’s been
“gobsmacked” at how successful the
model has been.
Lewis and his wife, Elizabeth, worked to
get the curriculum accepted by the parish
before they started their own family. (They
now have three daughters.) Yet Lewis was
so convinced that a classical education was
right for the school that he worked to overcome the initial skepticism that some
parishioners felt about the enterprise.
Lewis served on the search committee for
the new principal, and his wife was on the
school board. “About six years ago, we
hired a principal who was strictly classical,” says Lewis. “He slowly converted
the curriculum from progressive to classical, hiring teachers that had experience
teaching a classical curriculum and
training Immanuel’s rostered teachers in
the ways of classical education.”
Lewis has enough political and
marketing experience to know how to gain
support for the idea. In an area where
private schools are sought after, and property values closely monitored, the Lewises
promoted the idea that school’s academic
program would be equally attractive to
parents and parishioners without children.
And finally, “since it’s a Lutheran school,
we sold it to the parish with the idea that
Martin Luther would have studied under a
similar curriculum.”
The Lewises couldn’t be
more pleased with the way the
school is thriving. Their oldest
daughter will start pre-school
there in the fall. “Once a liberal
education is in your bones, you
really have to pass it on,”
Lewis says. x
Kirsten Jacobson (SF96, right)
hopes her high school project
“Philosophy Across the Ages”
is the beginning of a series of
philosophy seminars in Orono.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�32
{Alumni Notes}
1946
In March, PETER WEISS spoke on
“The Goldstone Report: Does
International Law Really
Matter?” at the Church Center
for the United Nations. His
answer: “Yes, and the vicious
attacks on Justice Goldstone
prove it.”
1956
JOHN CHASE is a maverick who
doesn’t believe in “careers,” but
in following his heart. Following
his military service, he attended
acting school in England and was
a professional actor, teacher, playwright and director for several
years. He later lived on a farm in
Maine and had a house-painting
business in North Carolina. He
returned to Maine and ran a
charter sailing business out of
Friendship, a small lobstering
community. Now back in N.C.,
he devotes his time to reciting
poetry, writing, and observing
nature. He is currently employed
by the U.S. Census Bureau.
1958
JOHN BREMER has retired from
his endowed chair at Cambridge
College and is living peaceably in
Ludlow, Vt., with his marmalade
cat, Molly. Last year he gave the
commencement address at the
College of St. Joseph in Rutland,
Vt., and was awarded the
honorary degree of Doctor of
Humanities. He has just finished
a new version of the Iliad and
continues to write on Plato. He is
on the board of Black River
Academy Museum in Ludlow and
is writing a history of early
Ludlow for the museum; he has
also devised a celebration for
Shakespeare’s birthday for the
museum. His book Plato’s Ion
was nominated for the Steven
Runciman Award.
“’Tis to Another Sea”
R
ICHARD MOREHOUSE (A83) “was sailing along
fine as an art dealer in 20th-century photographs (morehousegallery.com) when the
recession came along and decimated my
clients.” Morehouse is grateful to the college
for preparing him for inevitable change. “I am
now working in sales for a company that makes the world’s
most scalable software for time series data and events
(osisoft.com). It used to be easier to describe my work! But
the new job is fascinating. I am lucky to be a re-trainable
member of the workforce at a time when jobs are disappearing, never to return. I credit St. John’s for distinguishing
tethered knowledge from untethered true opinion. We never
got any of the latter kind (none at least from the 21st century).
Therefore, by rejection of the absurd, we must have gotten
the former kind—the kind that gets one through recessions
and other turbulent times.” x
1962
DAVID W. BENFIELD reports that
Jim Forrester (class of 1962) and
his wife stopped by on their way
to and from Florida. “It is always
such a pleasure to reminisce
about our good old days with
DEAN WILSON (HA83) and
MR. OSSORGIN (HSF86) and
MR. SPARROW (HA93), among
other favorites! Remember folks,
2012 will bring an important
election in November and our
50th reunion in September! Soon
it will be time to book rooms and
make a seminar book choice.”
“It looks like my film of Anthony
Burgess’ novel A Dead Man in
Deptford, about Christopher
Marlowe, is finally going ahead,”
reports Michael Elias. “Shooting
is planned to begin in September
in England. I also adapted Robert
Silverberg’s classic sci-fi novel
The Man in the Maze. It is based
on Sophocles’ Philoctetes. In
Silverberg’s version the hero is
abandoned on a deserted planet
(Lemnos) in a city that is filled
with killing mazes and traps.
When Earth needs him, he
refuses to come out. Also
finishing a novel about the Incas
and working to get my play The
Catskill Sonata to New York.
Paul Mazursky directed it in Los
Angeles, where it ran for four
months.
1963
Since retiring from teaching
philosophy and literature, DAN
SHERMAN spends roughly half the
year at his house on Brittany’s
north coast, along with Sophie
the goat, the chickens, LuLu and
Chick, the two cats, Coca and
Cola, the miniature goat,
Moumoute, and the three
Haflinger ponies (with strange
Breton names). The rest of the
year he lives in Toronto.
DAVID MICHAEL TRUSTY, nicely
recovered from smashed ribs and
exploded collarbone, is ready to
saddle up and start riding again.
locate Tin City Hotel construction site on Jalan Sultan Idris
Shah.”
News from BART LEE: “My son
Christoffer Lee (and two partners) just won the world championship Negotiation Prize in
Leipzig. He is a second-year law
student at Hastings College of the
Law, San Francisco, and
interning for his second federal
judge. There does come a time
when one is more forthcoming
about the accomplishments of
progeny than one’s own!
Nonetheless, I am pleased to have
hornswoggled the AWA Review
into publishing yet another radio
intelligence-at-work article, this
one about the CIA operations on
Swan Island. The fall included a
week or so in Greece (fortunately
between riots), with visits to the
Mycenae of Agamemnon, the
Corinth of St. Paul, and then off
to Delphi for an Oracle. As good
as the Oracle’s intelligence
service was, and that is very good
indeed, it got the Persian War
wrong. Last spring, Australia
beckoned—my, what a big
country! I came to appreciate the
powers of mind required of
Aborigines to survive and thrive
in the Outback. The practice of
law continues to pay the rent,
barely.”
1969
LEE MCKUSICK (SF) is employed
as a para-educator, where she
works with severely disabled
youth. “Every day I get to work
with the fascinating puzzle of
what is learning, how does it
work, and how do I facilitate
learning with my kids.”
1968
DONALD BOOTH will be spending
a year and a half working on a
new, small hotel in Ipoh,
Malaysia, about two hours
northeast of Kuala Lumpur, on
the road to Penang. “It’s near the
mountains,” he reports. “Any
Johnnies who stop by Ipoh
will be welcome. Call me at
(6) 017-569-9588 or e-mail or
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
1970
“All is well in Paris,” writes JOHN
DEAN (A). “Never thought this
was where SJC would lead me, but
as Fats Waller used to say, ‘One
never knows, do one?’ Otherwise
I’m professor of Cultural History
at the University of Versailles, do
�33
{Alumni Notes}
a fair amount of public diplomacy
work across Europe; write (on a
rich variety of topics, most
recently articles on: ‘The Businessman as Artist’; ‘The Power of
Cool in U.S. Youth Culture’;
‘Adapting U.S. History to U.S.
Movies’; edit; teach; run conferences—most recently this last fall
2009 in a joint-venture with
American University in Paris on
the subject of ‘European Readings of Abraham Lincoln.’ Can’t
complain. Keepin’ busy.”
YEHUDITH “HUDI” PODOLSKY
(SF) lost her beloved husband,
Joe, of cancer in July 2007.
“But life is full of miracles, and
I’ve married a wonderful man
who had also lost a beloved
partner. We’re creating a
wonderful new family together,
full of children and grandchildren. My work is with high
schools and high school districts
in low-income communities,
mostly in California. These
schools are trying to restructure
in a way that will support richer
relationships between students
and teachers and within teacher
teams. The state of education in
these schools is pretty shocking,
but they’re all on paths that
should make some improvements.”
1971
1974
In November 2009, JOHN STARK
BELLAMY II (A) published his
eighth book, Cleveland’s Greatest
Disasters: 16 Tragic True Tales of
Death and Destruction, with Gray
& Co. Meanwhile, sporadic
excerpts from his lurid memoirin-progress entitled “Wasted on
the Young” have been recently
posted at the CoolCleveland.com
website.
SALLY BELL (SF) “finally decided
to write, first with some
wonderful/joyful news, in that
our daughter graduated this year
with her DVM from Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, after graduating
from Boston University with a
degree in biology summa cum
laude in 2005, then getting
married! She has worked toward
[being a veterinarian] since she
was six years old, unlike her mom
and dad who never figured out
what they wanted to do. Helping
Kath learn to care for her sheep,
rabbits, and chickens along the
way was the most like being at
St. John’s of anything I did.
I never thought I’d be raising
sheep, but after St. John’s,
I wasn’t afraid to try anything.
“Second, some unhappy news,
in that I have been diagnosed
with pulmonary arterial hypertension plus auto-immune hepatitis. I have been disabled and not
working since 2005, and this
brings my chronic illnesses up to
10. Life is terminal anyhow, so I
hope to be in touch with old
friends if I can, and I am grateful
for this warning and the time I
still have. Although Kath didn’t
go to St. John’s, I hope I passed
on to her the self-examination
and the precision of thought that
I learned to reach for. Maybe
someday she will go to SGI. I am
an indifferent correspondent—not
much energy—but anyone can
write at srbell@localnet.com.”
1972
HAROLD ANDERSON (A) is
working on ethnographic
research projects as an independent contractor and teaching
cultural and urban anthropology
at Bowie State University. “Most
interestingly, I am teaching
Cultural Documentation as a
member of the core faculty for the
new Master of Arts in Cultural
Sustainability Program at
Goucher College in Towson, Md.
Have a look at our program
www.goucher.edu/x33261.xml.
It’s really quite wonderful!
Also you can comment on our
cultural sustainability blog at:
http://blogs.goucher.edu/
culturalsustainability.”
Tell Jokes, Be Smarter
J
CAPPS (A91) has a serious day job as associate dean of
the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of
Technology. Yet his new book, You’ve Got to Be Kidding:
How Jokes Can Help You Think (Wiley 2009), explores
the lighter side of his discipline. Capps wrote the book
with his father, Donald Capps, a psychologist of religion
and professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary.
“The basic idea behind the book is that there’s a connection
between jokes and thinking critically,” John Capps explains.
“Jokes make us laugh because jokes are about people saying or
doing something irrational. Figuring out why we laugh is figuring
out why something is irrational—and that helps us avoid the same
mistakes. We came to write this book, first, because we like to
share jokes and, second, because it really did seem to us that jokes
are especially good at revealing what is rational and what is not
(an idea going back to Freud).” More on the book can be found on
the publisher’s website: wiley.com. x
OHN
ELLEN CHAVEZ DE LEITNER (SF)
and her husband, Hans, are no
longer empty-nesters: their two
daughters, with families, have
returned to live with them: “So
we have a 2-year-old grandson
and a 4-month-old granddaughter
to cheer our days. I now teach
violin at Northern New Mexico
Community College in Espanola
and play in the San Juan
Symphony in Durango, Colo.,
and Farmington, N.M. With
daughter Cecilia (MM Vocal
Performance, Yale), I opened
Santa Cecilia Music Studio for
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
teaching and rehearsing in Santa
Fe. Also, I’m still painting
retablos, participating in the SJC
Alumni Art Show in Santa Fe, as
well as the February Auction and
Spanish Art Market. Any SJC
alumni are welcome to visit me at
my home studio, SF music studio,
or the traditional Spanish Market
this summer. Violin and voice
students would be welcome, too,
as we still have openings. Please
contact me through my website:
www.chavezdeleitner.com.”
1975
“Still relaxing in relaxing Ohio,”
writes TINA BELL (A). “I have
started training to become a
volunteer for a local hospice
organization. I have always been
drawn to that kind of work. A lot
of it involves just listening to
people, being there for them, and
you can help the whole family
with respite care, counseling,
bereavement counseling. I am
looking forward to it. Since my
own parents died I feel I have
enough experience to start to
help others down the same road.
Emily Bell is a struggling young
writer in NYC, Tim going to
counseling school, ditto Joe, and
Julia has really begun to run
marathons a lot. A lot. But she
also has a new cat, Toby.”
1976
ISABEL CZECH (NEE
WERTHEIMER, A) is now the
executive director of ALPSP
North America. ALPSP is the
Association of Learned and
Professional Society Publishers.
She can be reached at:
isabel.czech@alpsp.org. She
continues to live in Philadelphia,
where she roots for the home
team: “Go Phillies!”
�34
{Alumni Notes}
A Mission to Mars
1985
MARSLETT (SF96) has been directing
movies since he graduated. To date, he has made
14 short films of his own, plus collaborative
work. In March, his first feature-length film
premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin,
Texas. “Mars,” done in an animation style
invented by Marslett specifically for the film, tells the story of
three astronauts on the first manned mission to the red planet.
An upbeat romantic comedy, “Mars” moves focus off of slapstick
humor and cataclysmic events. Says Marslett, “Hopefully, the
laughs come from [the characters’] very human responses to
remarkable events.” x
G
EOFF
1979
RICK KEMPA (SF) lives in Rock
Springs, Wyo., where he directs
the honors program at Western
Wyoming College. A book of
his poems, Keeping the Quiet,
was recently published by
Bellowing Ark Press
(www.bellowingark.org/). This
August, he will be the artist-inresidence at the South Rim, while
he works on a collection of essays
about the Grand Canyon from a
backpacker’s perspective.
1982
It’s been a busy year for DON
DENNIS (SF): “Was married in
March 2009 to a lovely dairy
farmer here in the Inner
Hebrides. We run an old baronial
mansion as a 12-bedroom B&B,
and I also give boat tours around
the region in a small commercial
RIB I skipper. But my main business involves both selling and
making our own flower essences
(in the tradition of the Bach
Remedies). Ours are made with
tropical orchids I grow in our
greenhouse here on the Isle of
Gigha. Have just sent a book off
to the printers about them:
“Orchid Essence Healing” should
be in my hands by the end of
April. Johnnies are very welcome
here; we have, as you may guess, a
pretty good library, beautiful
walks, and a snooker room. Oh,
and a 52-acre garden surrounds
the house as well. www.achamorehouse.com and www.healingorchids.com.”
1983
News from JIM BAILEY (A):
“Sharon and I are still in
Memphis,” he writes. “My focus
is health system research and
teaching internal medicine resident physicians. We are organizing our fifth Search for the
Healthy City seminar and study
tour in Italy. Johnnies are more
than welcome!”
PETER MCCLARD (SF) writes:
“Very much enjoying raising a
couple of pre-teens (such a sweet
age), making art (tracymac.biz)
and music, selling our software
business (gluon.com) and staying
in touch with folks on Facebook.
Best to all!”
1984
FATHER BRUCE WREN (SF)
continues his life as a priest in a
small seminary about one hour
east of Paris. He would like to
know the whereabouts of
THEODORE BENSON III and
JEFFREY POPE, to keep in touch.
“I wasn’t at St. John’s long, but
my time there was memorable,”
writes MARY ANN FLYNN
CUSHMAN (A). “I moved on to
science, where I worked as a laboratory researcher and manager for
many years. Being involved in
research piqued an interest in
intellectual property, so I studied
to become a paralegal, then
worked primarily in commercial
transactional law. I am pleased to
say that I am again working with
scientists as an editor for
researchers residing in Japan.”
MAGGIE HOHLE (A) is busy.
“After a tough year following my
mom’s sudden diagnosis and
death (stage IV lung cancer, last
parent, so sad), I’m swamped
with work again, notably translations of a book about the Japanese
‘no-brand’ brand MUJI for
Rizzoli, and of a monograph of
the work of designer Chie
Morimoto. In addition, a project
begun years ago has been
published by University of Texas
Press (a surprise to me!). It’s
called Spiritual Passports: The
Unseen Images of an Artist Who
Never Lived to See Them. Let it be
known that I wasn’t consulted on
the subtitle. We are looking
forward to the high school graduation of the first of the four Hohle
kids and her departure to postsecondary education at some
small liberal arts school, unfortunately not SJC. Anyone out in the
SF Bay Area, please look us up!
maggietext@comcast.net. See
you at the 25th reunion!”
In 2008 MARGO HOBBS
THOMPSON (A) relocated to
Allentown to take a job teaching
art history at Muhlenberg
College, a small liberal arts institution. “It’s a wonderful place,
and Allentown is delightfully
urban and diverse compared to
the wilds of Vermont, my former
home,” she writes. “My husband,
Court, is starting a clock repair
business; he’ll fix mechanical toys
and instruments as well, and you
can reach him through me:
mht712@yahoo.com. And I am
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
pleased to announce that my book
on graffiti art, American Graffiti,
was published by Parkstone Press
late last year.”
1986
KRISTEN CAVEN (SF86) writes of
her career: “At last the truth can
be told: after St. John’s it was
either the funny farm or the funny
papers. (Thank ye ol’ gods for the
mightiness of a pencil.) In this
unusual memoir I discuss my
dedication to the ‘liberal’ arts and
the upside of ‘hysteria,’ of which
there was a lot at the women’s
college where I landed. Jack
Lincoln, wherever you are,
I owe you a free copy. Perfectly
Revolting: My ‘Glamorous’
Cartooning Career is available
on Amazon and
www.kristencaven.com this
spring.”
1988
KIM PAFFENROTH’s (A) version
of Dante’s Inferno, Valley of the
Dead, is now available as a
regular trade paperback from
Permuted Press. His first novel,
Dying to Live, is now available in
German from Festa Verlag, with
the title Vom Überleben unter
Zombies.
1989
RAYMOND GIFFORD (A) has
switched law firms, becoming the
managing partner of the new
Denver office of Wilkinson
Barker Knauer LLP, a Washington DC-based regulatory firm.
“Still in the scintillating world of
the law and economics of network
industry regulation—broadband,
electricity and smart grid,” he
writes. “That and going to a lot of
kids’ hockey games for Thomas,
14; William, 10; and Michael, 4.”
�35
{Alumni Profile}
Doctor in the Desert
Mat Strickland (SF96) pursues an alternative path
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
M
at Strickland (SF96)
doesn’t think of
himself as interesting.
He’s wrong, of course,
but the feeling’s
understandable:
there’s nothing flashy or dramatic about
his life as a pediatrician with the Indian
Health Service in Chinle, Arizona, the
heart of the Navajo Nation. It’s the
very lack of spectacle, though, that’s
extraordinary.
During Strickland’s freshman year at
St. John’s, his mother, who was a
licensed vocational nurse, died of
hepatitis C. Struggling to understand
his loss, and, along with his classmates,
searching for the good and just life, he
was led to the path of medicine as a
possible answer. Thanks to a scholarship, he was able to take science classes
at the University of California at
Berkeley during the summers, and while
working as a paralegal after St. John’s,
he volunteered at Oakland Children’s
Hospital, working with HIV/AIDS
patients.
In 2006 he earned his M.D. and an
Master of Public Health degree from
New Orleans’s Tulane University. “You
make a decision,” he says, “and you
have no idea what medical school is
going to be like, how consuming.”
He completed his residency at Emory
University in Atlanta.
Throughout his medical studies and
training, however, Strickland missed the
sense of “discovery, adventure, and
newness” he had found at St. John’s.
“There’s lot of rigor in medical
training,” he says. “You study the
sciences, memorize the body parts,
memorize the drugs—it’s very structured. I rebelled against that.” Strickland wanted to recapture the feeling of
being part of a close-knit, supportive
community such as St. John’s. He also
missed the big skies and open space of
the high desert. “That sense of vastness
is inspiring,” he says.
Luckily, just as the codified reading
lists of the Program provide different
students with different questions, the
Pediatrician Mat Strickland (SF96) practices medicine off the beaten path, in the heart
of the Navajo nation.
seemingly inflexible field of medicine is
wide enough to provide for the unconventional. Strickland found an outlet for
his resistance to structure near Canyon
de Chelly, in the most remote of the
health centers on the 26,000-squaremile Navajo reservation. The hospital
and clinic where he works serves 13,000
children, the majority of whom live in
extreme poverty. Though the area does
have one traffic light and a grocery
store, many inhabitants don’t have
running water or electricity, making
access to health care that much more
vital. Paradoxically, Strickland found
fellowship in the middle of nowhere,
living on the hospital compound with
the other physicians, similarly
unorthodox souls who may have worked
with Doctors Without Borders or the
Pediatric AIDS Corps in Africa. Like
him, they wanted to take medicine off
the beaten path to where it was most
needed.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
Strickland’s patients, as well, form a
valuable community. Their interdependence makes him a better doctor, he says.
“The thing I like most about medicine is
the relationships. Talking to your
patients and their families, trying to
help them in the truest way—I think I’m
really good at that, talking to people and
empathizing. So much of medicine is
not about, ‘Oh here’s a prescription.’
That’s easy. It’s spending time with the
family, unraveling the real truth to the
matter.
So why does Strickland think he’s not
interesting? Perhaps because he doesn’t
think of himself much at all. “One of the
things you learn at St. John’s is that the
best part of life is relating to others, to
live outside yourself,” he says. “We’re
trapped in our own little world.”
In the blankness of the desert, instead
of isolation, Strickland has found a
world in others. x
�36
{Alumni Notes}
1990
Beyond Redistribution: White
Supremacy and Racial Justice,
by KEVIN GRAHAM (A), was
published by Lexington Books in
January 2010. It is the first book
published by Kevin, who teaches
philosophy at Creighton
University in Omaha, Neb.
KEN TURNBULL (A) has changed
law firms and is now a partner in
the Washington, D.C. office of
King & Spalding LLP.
1991
NATE DOWNEY (SF) is pleased to
report that his philosophical-treatise-cum-ecological-how-to,
Harvest the Rain, will be
published in 2010 by Sunstone
Press. Please visit www.harvesttherain.com for book info or
comment on his sustainabilityblog at www.backyarddigest.com.
1992
ANNE ASPEN (SF) is working for
the Fort Collins Downtown
Development Authority. She’s
doing many of the same things
that she handled as a city planner,
but has a lot more room for
creativity. “I’m focused entirely
on the downtown now and use a
lot more of my architecture
degree and art background. It was
a good move! On the home front,
life is good, too. Jane and I celebrate 15 years together this year,
and we’ve convinced Jane’s
daughter Michelle and the three
grandkids (16, 14, and 8 years old)
to move here, so we have a lots of
great family time now and use a
lot more of my architecture
degree and art background. It was
a good move! Hello to everyone
who’s not on Facebook.”
Shaping Foreign Policy
A
fter taking a break from teaching overseas and
then several years working on research, design,
and management of conservation and development programs in both the United States and West
Africa, Shelley Saxen (SFGI02, SFEC) and her
husband, Doug Saxen (SFGI03, EC) are now
happily living in Mexico. Shelley shapes and implements U.S.
foreign policy as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State, and
Doug splits his time between teaching, writing, and multimedia art
projects. When not at work, they are swiftly becoming tequila
connoisseurs who enjoy cumbia and lively discussions of whatever
recent Johnnie-ish text they have recently read. x
1993
OMAR MANEJWALA (A) writes:
“After a wonderful four years as
associate medical director of The
Farley Center in Williamsburg,
Va., I have accepted a position as
the Medical Director of Hazelden
Foundation in Center City, which
is the nation’s oldest and largest
addiction treatment center. I’m
also finishing up (in May) an MBA
from the University of Virginia‘s
Darden School of Business. My
wife, Cecily, and I have moved to
the Twin Cities and welcome the
opportunity to connect with
Johnnies in the area.”
1994
PEGGY JONES (SF) and her
husband, Bill ‘Bones’ Jones, will
celebrate their 50th wedding
anniversary in July, opting for a
gala family reunion of four children, their spouses, and 10 lively
grandchildren, and a long
weekend of family activities in
New Mexico. “Our children grew
up in Santa Fe, and Bill and I still
occupy the house where they
grew up, but alas, they all live in
other states now,” she writes.
“Since the 10 grandkids will
range in age from 12 years to
1 month, we’re all expecting to
have a wild and wonderful time
together! And we hope there’ll be
some future Johnnies among
those grandchildren of ours!”
JAMES PASSIN (A) is pleased to
announce the birth of his
daughter, Anya. He lives in New
York City with his wife, Sydney;
his four-year-old son, Oscar; and
little Anya. He has just successfully launched Firebird Mongolia
Fund, a fund focused on
Mongolian securities. He also
founded and manages two global
hedge funds and serves on the
boards of a number of public and
private Canadian and Mongolian
companies.
1997
KIRA MOCK (A) started a new
position on December 7, 2009, at
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. She is a
senior program manager for the
Energy, Environment and Agriculture S&T fellowship in the
Executive Branch.
HOWARD R. SAUERTIEG (A)
recently became Litigation
Support Specialist with the law
firm of McCarthy Weisberg
Cummings, P.C., Harrisburg, Pa.
1999
“My husband, Jesse, and I are
delighted to announce the birth
of our first child, our beautiful
daughter Iona Jean, on August 4,
2009,” writes COREY A.
CHRISTY (A99).
2000
MARILYN ROPER (AGI) writes
that her daughter Allison, a 2005
graduate of Kenyon College,
finished work on her Master of
Arts in Liberal Arts from
St. John’s in Santa Fe in
December and received her
diploma in May. Marilyn and her
husband, Dan, moved to Hilton
Head, S.C., in 2004.
ZACH and ERIKA (FORMERLY
CARLSON) WARZEL (both SF)
celebrated the birth of their
daughter Corrina Lu on February
15, 2010, in Denver, Colo. Like
her mom, Corrina has a very full
head of hair!
1995
GEOFF (SF), CARISA (SF99) and
Renee Galilea Petrie (big sister,
age 4) welcomed Francesca
Calliope Petrie on February 4,
2010. She weighed 7 pounds,
3 ounces. “Her first name is a play
on Frances, her great-grandfather
and father’s name. We chose
Calliope because she was
Homer’s muse and what Johnnie
doesn’t have the first few lines of
the Iliad embedded in her brain?
Francesca is a calm, communicative baby and we are enjoying her
every day.”
DARIEN LARGE (SF) is living in
Austin and happily married the
man of his dreams, Justin Nevill,
on March 27, 2010. Drop Darien a
line at dlarge@daliverse.com.
COREY A. CHRISTY (SEBASTIAN,
A) writes: “My husband, Jesse,
and I are delighted to announce
the birth of our first child, our
beautiful daughter Iona Jean on
August 4, 2009.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
2001
�37
{Alumni Notes}
KATY (CHRISTOPHER) DAVIS
(SF) has news: “On October 31,
2009, Lucy Katharine Davis was
born at the Andaluz Birth Center
in Portland, Ore. She’s a sweet,
happy, and mellow baby who loves
everyone, and we are all delighted
to have a little girl in the family.
Three-year-old Sam is getting
used to being a big brother and
grows smarter and more fun
every day; among his many interests are singing the Greek
alphabet and playing with his
stuffed tigers Hegel and
Heidegger. On the farm, we’re
looking forward to lots of baby
goats and an expanded garden
and orchard this summer.”
2002
JONATHAN COOPER (A) is in
Vermont: “After receiving our
MAs in sustainable landscape
planning and design from the
Conway School of Landscape
Design, my girlfriend Katharine
and I moved to Waterbury, Vt.,
to begin our careers. The town is
lovely, the people are friendly,
and the spring thaw has brought
our kittens out to the backyard.
It all seems like a Graham Nash
song, but I can’t think of which
one. Maybe I’m just having
déjà vu…”
JUSTIN (A) and DILLON
(WRIGHT-FITZGERALD, A05)
NAYLOR celebrated the birth of
their second boy, James Matthew,
on November 12, 2009. Big
brother Peter will be 3 in July.
2003
ANN (CARRUTHERS) ORSINGER
(SF) and STEPHEN ORSINGER
(SF) welcomed Odysseus
Remington Orsinger into the
world on January 1. Weighing 10
lbs. 8 oz., he would be able to live
up to the name, they decided. The
family is currently living in
Dallas, Texas, where Stephen is
practicing civil appellate and
family law. Ann is staying home
with Ody and working on her
dissertation in political philosophy (on the role of art in civic
education), freelance writing, and
training to be a life coach.
2004
STUART BANNAN (A) and
DEBORAH (MANGUM) BANNAN
(A06) were joined in Holy Matrimony on January 2, 2010, at Hill
Country Bible Church in
Pflugerville, Texas. In attendance
were several Johnnies including
groomsmen MARTIN ANDERSON
A Novel in Three Days
E
NAONE (A05) won an honorable mention for
her novel draft “Needle and Fang” in the 32nd
Annual International 3-Day Novel contest. “This
takes place every year over Labor Day weekend,
and the goal is to produce the best novel you can in
three days,” she explains. “Producing any novel at
all in that period of time is quite a feat. This year, 650 people
entered the contest and 460 submitted drafts.” Just 15 honorable
mentions were named. This was Naone’s second year in the
competition. “Needle and Fang” is a dark urban fantasy about a
vampire hunter who befriends a vampire because they’re both
struggling with intravenous drug addiction. Naone penned her
novel immediately after a two-week stint on jury duty for a firstdegree murder case, “and the nightmarish details of the trial
definitely made their way into the book.” She’s busy revising the
novel to get it in publishable form. Check it out on the web at:
www.3daynovel.com.x
RICA
(A04) and MICHAEL MALONE
(A04), and bridesmaids LAURA
(MANGUM) MOORE (A04) and
EMILY DEBUSK (A06). KERRY
MORSE (A06), SARAJEAN
WRIGHT (A08) and DWIGHT
KNOLL (A05) also offered their
support and lent a hand with the
festivities. The couple now
resides in Anchorage, Alaska,
where Stuart is an associate in a
law firm and Deborah a graduate
student in counseling psychology.
ERIKA GINSBERG-KLEMMT
(SFGI) lives in Sarasota Florida
and aside from being mother of
two and doing marketing for an
immigration law firm is acting as
advocate and activist for investors
who have been burned in the
Florida foreclosure market...
www.pangaea.to/realforeclose.
ERIC SCHAEFER (SF) and
TIFFANY SIMONS (SF06) are
excited to share that they will be
celebrating a relationship that
began at St. John’s College seven
years ago, with a marriage
ceremony and reception on
May 22, 2010, in San Francisco.
Since leaving St. John’s College,
Eric has become interested in
studying food systems with the
desire to create an urban agricultural system that may one day
revolutionize the way America
gets its food. Tiffany has been
pursuing a BA in psychology at
Mills College in Oakland, with a
focus on cognitive research, and
will graduate this spring. They
are both excited about what the
coming years will bring and hope
to see everyone at the next West
Coast Croquet!
MALCOLM SMITH-CARLILE and
LAURA PERLEBERG (both SF)
were happily married in front of
family and friends in the beautiful
Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe on
March 19. The Smiths continue to
reside in Santa Fe, where Laura is
a librarian at the College of
Santa Fe and Malcolm works
with disadvantaged and
challenged youth.
NEAL HATFIELD TURNQUIST (SF)
proposed to BROOKE ANN
NUTINI (SF05) on June 17 of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
2009, and they will be married on
July 31st of 2010 in New Hampshire.
2005
ISAAC (A) and KATHRYN (A06)
Weiner welcomed Caroline
Esther into their family early in
the morning last November 23.
Caroline was born at home
weighing 10 lbs. 6 oz. She
continues to be healthy and
thriving, though she’s not
enjoying teething very much.
Isaac and Kathryn are pleased as
punch with their beautiful baby
girl.
JARED (AGI) and RHONDA
(FRANKLIN) ORTIZ (A04) have
been busy in recent months:
“Jared recently passed his PhD
comprehensive exams in Historical Theology at the Catholic
University of America; he’s planning to write his dissertation on
Augustine. We are both assisting
our parish’s school, St. Jerome’s
in Hyattsville, Md., in implementing a classical/great books
curriculum (dropping hints about
the Graduate Institute among the
faculty all the while). But the best
news of all is the expectation of a
Baby Ortiz at the end of August or
early September. We’ll be sure to
keep everyone posted.”
2006
GEOFFREY (AGI) and JENNY
(KAWA) BAGWELL (AGI05)
recently celebrated the first
birthday of their daughter Lucia
Marie, who spent much of the day
studying her new books and toys.
Geoffrey is presently a visiting
professor of ancient philosophy at
Xavier University in Cincinnati,
Ohio, and looks forward to the
end of graduate school with his
dissertation defense on Plato’s
Cratylus April 6. Jenny spends
her days with Lucy, exploring new
recipes, and reading Agatha
Christie. They hope to start an
alumni reading group in Cincinnati. Any takers?
�38
{Alumni Profile}
An Accidental Banker
Steve Werlin (A85) lends hope to Haitian women
by Rosemary Harty
S
himer College Professor Steve
Werlin (A85) first went to Haiti as
volunteer in 1997, spending
months in the country teaching
in literacy programs, introducing
St. John’s-inspired seminars to
other educators in the country, and eventually working full-time as a teacher and
community organizer.
Now, as the people of Haiti struggle to
recover from January’s devastating earthquake, he finds himself in an entirely new
and unexpected role: managing a branch of
Haiti’s largest microfinance bank. “It is the
last thing I ever, ever would have imagined
could happen,” Werlin says.
He can trace this new path back to the
lasting influence of the late Brother Robert
Smith (HA90), St. John’s tutor and his longtime friend. In his role as an educational
consultant for the bank, Werlin worked with
bank staff on educational outreach. “One of
the things Brother Robert taught me is that
you’ll find whenever you get people to talk
about what matters to them, it really is interesting,” Werlin says. “I started to hear about
the serious issues involved in operating a
bank, and saw that the good operation of a
branch has a real chance of making a difference in the lives of the people who depend on
it.” When he learned that the bank needed a
new branch manager, “the opportunity was
too good to pass up.”
Werlin lives in the tiny harbor town of
Marigot; he walks just a few blocks from his
two-room home to his job at the local branch
of Fonkoze. The microfinance bank’s name is
an abbreviation of Fundacion Kole Zepole,
Creole for “Shoulder to Shoulder Foundation.” The operation is housed in a one-story
building, half of which is now uninhabitable.
“We have some pretty good-sized cracks,”
says Werlin.
Werlin’s commitment to Haiti had its
genesis at St. John’s. After St. John’s, he
earned master’s and doctoral degrees in
philosophy from Loyola University in
Chicago. As a visiting tutor in the GI, Werlin
met a student, David Diggs (AGI91), who had
been a literacy volunteer in Haiti. Werlin had
been working with Touchstones, a program
created by St. John’s tutors to bring adapted
great books conversations into different
educational environments, from middle
After the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January, Steve Werlin (A85)
shifted his efforts from education to banking, making loans to market women through
Haiti’s largest microfinance bank.
schools to prisons. He went to Haiti with
the original goal of adapting Touchstones
for Haiti.
From the beginning Werlin has been awed
by the hunger for education among the
Haitian people. One day, he accompanied
Diggs to a literacy center in an elementary
school. “I saw these fully grown women
cramming themselves uncomfortably into
benches created for nine-year-olds, for two
hours a day, four days a week, just so they
could learn to read and write a little,” Werlin
recalls. “It seemed extraordinary to me what
people will go through for the chance at an
education,” Werlin says.
Werlin worked on literacy education
projects with volunteer organizations, first
with a network of community activists in La
Ganub, then with a group of Baptist ministers who had developed academic programs
for older children. In 1999, Werlin began
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
working with the social sciences section of
the National Public University, a project that
gave him the opportunity to get Touchstones
texts printed in Creole and distributed to
educational centers throughout the country.
His work has extended beyond education
to community organizing. For two years,
Werlin met each week with a network of rape
victims who organized themselves to provide
counseling and other services for victims of
rape. Initially, it seemed impossible to get
the women—hardened by experience and
divided by conflicting approaches—to work
together. “Today, they’re a real model of
what collaboration can be when people are
offered the give-and-take of the dialogue to
guide them.”
His work in microfinance naturally
involves financial responsibilities—such as
counting the bank’s money in the morning
and at closing time—but education remains a
�39
{Alumni Profile}
MICHAEL BALES (SF) is representing St. John’s as the only
Johnnie in this year’s Fannie Mae
analyst training program in D.C.
ELEANOR CLARK (A) says:
“I am happily working on
completing my final year of a
graduate degree in TESOL
(Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages) at Brigham
Young University-Provo. I love
teaching and exploring new
cultures (which are part of where
I am at right now). The plans so
far are to live and work in London
and at some point go to India.”
TONOPAH GREENLEE (SF) is
currently living in Waltham,
Mass., attending school at Brandeis University. “I am hoping to
become a mama around May of
next year, or rather a M.A./M.A.
in Sustainable International
Development and Coexistence
and Conflict Management. This
coming fall I hope to be working
on sustainable agriculture/water
rights in Latin America (hopefully Brazil).”
ALLISON HENNIGAN (A) and
Dylan Martin met while teaching
English in Prague. “We were
married Jan 4, 2010, in a small
family-only ceremony in Decatur,
Ala. We are now living on Jeju
Island, South Korea, and teaching
English in the Korean public
school system. The kids (elementary and middle school) are
adorable little demons. We’ll be
here until March 2011, maybe
longer. If there are other Johnnies
in the area or passing through,
it’d be nice to meet up.
My e-mail is still
allisonhennigan@gmail.com.”
JACQUELINE KENNEDY (AGI) is in
Naples, Fla., trudging through her
second year at Ave Maria School of
Law. It’s going quickly, she says.
“Not sure if I will stay in Naples
after law school, but I’m definitely
considering Florida as a permanent (at least for the next five
years) home. I’m also a member of
the South Florida St. John’s
Alumni Chapter, which has
provided me with a much-needed
Johnnie connection. I would enjoy
hearing from other Johnnies,
especially any 2004-2006
Annapolis GI alums, especially if
you're in the Florida-Georgia
region, and can be reached
via e-mail at kennedy.
jacqueline@gmail.com.”
HOLLIS THOMS (AGI) recently
had the world premiere of his
third opera, “The Rime of the
major part of his work. Fonkoze lends to
“credit centers,” networks of 30-40 women
who borrow together as a community. These
hard-working, determined women represent
the backbone of the Haitian economy. For
example, Werlin’s clients buy fresh fish in
Marigot and sell it in Port-au-Prince. They
use those profits to buy something else, say,
shampoo or clothing—and return to sell these
products in the rural areas. “All of them
make money the same way,” he explains.
“Buy something here, sell it there.”
One difference between a microfinance
bank and a conventional bank is the support
the bank provides to credit centers and the
support women provide to each other.
Fonkoze reaches out to women in very rural
communities and helps them develop as
“independent centers of mutual solidarity
and support,” Werlin explains.
Even before the earthquake, Werlin
observes, Haitians struggled just for subsistence: 53 percent of the nation’s citizens live
below $1 a day; 75 percent below $2 a day.
Ancient Mariner,” based on
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s
famous poem, at St. Johns
College in Annapolis on February
14, 2010. Two hundred people
attended the premiere.
The 60-minute work is scored
for three singers, 12 winds and
two percussion, and includes the
projection of 40 prints by
Gustave Dore.
JERICHA PHILLIPS (SF) and PAUL
FRANZ (SF) were married on
March 21, 2010, in Kaneohe,
Hawaii. After Paul receives his
Master’s in Education from Stanford University in August, he and
Jericha plan to move to Hawaii,
where Paul will work with Nalu
Studies, a marine education
program for high-risk teens.
Jericha will find a job when she
finds one.
2007
HOLLY TORGERSON (SF) is
currently working on an MS in
Herbal Medicine at Tai Sophia
Institute in Laurel, Md. In May
she begins the clinical portion of
her studies, where she will begin
to see clients in the faculty-supervised clinic. “I am very excited,
and I invite anyone who wants to
know more to visit my website:
longeviteawellness.com.”
JOHN HOFFMANN (SF) will be
cheerfully attending the University of Chicago Masters of Arts
Program in the Humanities.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
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 October;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is September 1.
Alumni will also be sent a call
via e-mail.
2008
Loans from Fonkoze are a lifeline for these
market women—and Werlin is quick to point
out that the bank lends only to women. “The
social reality in Haiti is that the woman is the
person who takes personal responsibility for
the family,” explains Werlin. “A lot of the
worst poverty in Haiti results from women
not having that independent source of
income. We make loans to women to support
the family as a whole.”
Overcoming adversity is a way of life in
Haiti; when Werlin began working with the
bank as an educational consultant, the
women were just recovering their businesses
after four tropical storms in 2008. The
earthquake was felt in Marigot; a lot of buildings cracked, but none collapsed. At least 20
percent of the bank’s borrowers lost their
homes, and 70 percent of the homes are
damaged. Those who sell their goods in Portau-Prince have been hit hard. “I know of one
woman who had 250 pounds of fresh fish in
Thermos trunks the day of the earthquake
and it sat for a week—you can imagine what
What’s Up?
The College Magazine
St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404
rosemary.harty@sjca.edu
that fish was good for,” Werlin says.
Living in Haiti has forever changed how
Werlin views everyday life. “People (outside
Haiti) use words like intolerable, unendurable” to describe what they see in television images and what they read in newspapers, Werlin says. “Those words seem
strange to me now because I’ve seen what
people can endure when they have to. They
have no choice. They find ways. They’re
smart, and they’re very, very tough.”
The international outpouring of support
for the devastating country is helping, says
Werlin. “Right now, Haiti needs an infusion
of resources,” he says. In the long run, Haiti
needs a committed neighbor in America and
supporters willing to help Haiti recover,
thrive, and educate its people.
Werlin is grateful that Shimer supports his
work in Haiti, allowing him to continue to
educate, to finance, to serve the people who
have so inspired him: “I work with remarkable, remarkable people who teach me a lot.
I think that about covers it.” x
�40
{Alumni Profile}
Clues Behind the Clutter
Leah Fisch (SF98) brings order to hoarders
by Rosemary Harty
beat-up copy of the Beatle’s
Yellow Submarine. A basket
full of stuffed animals,
including a Snoopy
acquired in first grade. A
closet brimming with keepsakes, ill-fitting clothes, misfit shoes, and
exercise equipment that will never emerge
from under a heap of mismatched socks.
Attached to things you think you really
should pitch? Leah Fisch (SF98) can help.
After St. John’s, Fisch worked and traveled, learned new languages, and cast
about for the best way to apply her skills
and education. Just back from travels in
Costa Rica, she was crashing at her sister’s
house in 2002 when her mother called to
announce that she’d discovered Leah’s true
path in life.
“She was listening to a radio interview
with someone from the National Association of Professional Organizers, and she
heard her say, ‘clutter is a decision
delayed.’ My mother said, ‘that is so Leah!’
and she called me right away. Two weeks
later, she had gotten me my first job.”
It turned out Mrs. Fisch
knew her daughter well:
organizing (she prefers
the term “reorganizing”)
is a perfect fit for Fisch,
who was featured earlier
this spring on The
Learning Channel (TLC)
show Hoarders: Buried
Alive. As a “recovering
clutterer,” she understands the problem firsthand. “I grew up in a
house of sentimental
Jewish packrats,” says
Fisch. “People found a
way to make do with what
they had, and that’s still in
us. We’ve become very
confused as a society
because we’re always
pressured to buy, buy, buy.
And people hate to throw
things away.”
A
As she built her business, Fisch grew
more interested in the social patterns she
noticed among her clients. She observed
that many people devote themselves to
acquiring material possessions because
they lack satisfying social relationships.
She enrolled in the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she
earned a master’s degree in demography,
and gained certification as a narrative
therapist at the Evanston Family Therapy
Center in Illinois. “People are overwhelmed,” Fisch explains. “It’s my job to
help them identify and honor their values.
All of it is about helping people clarify
what they want.”
Being attached to stuff is usually not
about the stuff, says Fisch. “We hold onto
things that make us feel bad about
ourselves, we rent a dumpster, put these
things in a dumpster, and it’s more
traumatizing than ever to throw these
things away.”
When a TLC producer first called, Fisch
declined to be involved because similar
cable shows seemed mean-spirited. “It’s all
about people crying as someone throws
their things away.” If she could take a more
compassionate approach, Fisch said, she
might do it. That led to her TV debut in
May. Just 22 minutes long, the show took
up hours of her time, but it was a good
experience, “a chance to show people that
there is another way.”
Listening carefully and looking for what
lies beneath the clutter have been the keys
to Fisch’s success. “A lot of what I do is just
sit with people. When I do the initial tour,
I count the number of times they say
‘should.’ They should get rid of something
but they don’t want to. They should sort
through their books and get them organized, but they can’t. That’s when they cry.”
One client, an insurance executive,
consulted her about reorganizing her
office. In her initial session with “Jean,”
Fisch observed that the office seemed
fairly neat, but as the two talked, Fisch
uncovered a basket wedged between a
filing cabinet and some boxes. It was a
craft project the woman hoped to make,
but was now determined to throw away.
As Fisch talked with her
client, she discovered the
woman was frustrated and
unhappy about being unable to
pursue hobbies because of her
demanding job. They worked
together to organize not just
the physical layout of Jean’s
office, but also her work
routines and her communication style. “The first thing I
had her do was make that
Halloween basket,” she says.
“Then we put together a
training manual for her
assistant, so she could assign
her more tasks and trust them
to be done efficiently. She has
more time for herself, and I
think she’s happier now.” x
Leah Fisch (SF98) guides
clients in reorganizing their
lives.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{Obituaries}
ROBERT A. GOLDWIN
CLASS OF 1950
Robert A. Goldwin, class of
1950, died on January 12,
2010, at the age of 88. A brilliant Constitutional scholar,
Mr. Goldwin took Socratic
dialogues from the classrooms
of St. John’s to the Ford White
House, believing that only a
thorough and balanced study
of an issue could yield the
understanding needed for
sound public policy. In the
words of his friend Donald
Rumsfeld, Mr. Goldwin
“was a man of sweeping,
ambitious ideas, but personal
modesty and quiet competence. He had the rare talent
of asking the right questions
at the right time, and gently
nudging discussions toward
the ‘eureka moment.’”
A native of New York City,
Mr. Goldwin was among the
wave of veterans who came to
St. John’s after serving in
World War II. He attended the
University of Arizona before
enlisting in the U.S. Cavalry
for four years, taking part in
the liberation of the Philippines. While stationed at Fort
Meade in Maryland,
Mr. Goldwin and his wife,
Daisy, visited the campus and
chanced upon several references to the college. As
Mr. Goldberg later recounted,
one magazine “had an article
by Mortimer Adler about
liberal education [that was]
full of praise for St John’s. And
the New Yorker that same
week had a profile of a worldfamous authority on the
philosophy of Hegel who
turned down appointment to
the faculty of St. John’s, saying
that he wasn’t qualified to
teach at such a fine school, but
he would like to be a student
there. These led us to get the
college catalog, and reading it
led us to the decision that I
Robert A. Goldwin, alumnus, former dean, and BVG member,
was a distinguished Constitutional scholar at the American
Enterprise Institute.
should go to St. John’s when I
left the army.”
After graduating from
St. John’s, Mr. Goldwin
continued his studies at the
University of Chicago, where
he earned his master’s and
doctoral degrees in political
science. He also taught political science at Chicago, was a
Guggenheim Fellow in 1966,
and taught at Kenyon College.
He help create a summer
program of study in Santa Fe,
which would eventually
develop into the Graduate
Institute.
Mr. Goldwin returned to
St. John’s as dean, serving
from 1969-1973. He was lured
away to a new career in public
service when Rumsfeld, then
serving as U.S. Ambassador to
NATO in Brussels, asked
Mr. Goldwin to become his
adviser. Mr. Goldwin next
served concurrently as a
special consultant to President
Gerald Ford and in the
Pentagon as an advisor to
Rumsfeld, who was then in his
first tour as Secretary of
Defense. In the Ford administration, Mr. Goldwin was
considered a one-man think
In the Ford administration,
Mr. Goldwin was considered
a one-man think tank.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
41
tank, and described by the
press, to his chagrin, as
“Ford’s intellectual-in-residence.” He arranged a series
of small seminars between the
President, government
officials, and academic experts
on topics such as crime,
welfare, higher education,
ethnicity, and unemployment.
After leaving the White
House, Mr. Goldwin joined
the American Enterprise
Institute as a resident scholar
of Constitutional Studies, a
post he held for more than
20 years. He led the institute’s
decade-long study of the
Constitution, which produced
a 10-volume collection of
essays. He was the author of
From Parchment to Power:
How James Madison Used the
Bill of Rights to Save the
Constitution. In addition, he
edited some 30 books on
American politics.
Mr. Goldwin served as a
member of the Board of Visitors and Governors from 1980
to 1988; he became a visitor
emeritus in 1999. In 1977, the
Alumni Association honored
him with an Award of Merit.
He is survived by four children: Nancy Goldwin Harvey
(A69), Jane Goldwin Bandler
(A71), Elizabeth Goldwin
(SF73), and Seth Goldwin.
WILLIAM M. GOLDSMITH
CLASS OF 1945
William Michael Goldsmith of
Vineyard Haven, Mass., an
author, presidential scholar,
political activist and retired
professor, died March 23,
2010, at the age of 90.
Mr. Goldsmith had a long and
varied career that included
work in the labor movement,
civil rights activism and
teaching at Brandeis
University.
Born in New York City,
Mr. Goldsmith attended
Catholic University, but left
�42
after his first year to support
his family, which had suffered
financial setbacks in the stock
market crash. In the summer
of 1940, after reading
Mortimer Adler’s How to
Read a Book, Mr. Goldsmith
hitchhiked to Chicago, determined to meet with University
of Chicago President Robert
Maynard Hutchins to convince
him to admit him to the
university’s liberal arts
program. Hutchins told Mr.
Goldsmith that Chicago was
not for him. Rather, he
belonged at St. John’s.
Hutchins made a few calls and
Mr. Goldsmith was in. The
next few years, he would later
recall, were some of the best
of his life: reading and
discussing ideas deep into the
night while waiting tables and
working odd jobs, sending
extra cash home throughout.
Mr. Goldsmith’s college
career was interrupted again,
this time by World War II. He
enlisted in the Air Force and
shipped out to Guam with a
Signal Corps outfit. He
returned to St. John’s, graduated in 1948, and took a job
with the International Ladies
Garment Workers Union,
doing educational work in the
South. He later became the
Southern Educational
Director for the Textile
Workers Union. In 1954, he
returned to New York, where
he worked for the Ford Foundation and later earned a
doctorate at Columbia University.
At Brandeis, Mr. Goldsmith
taught in the Politics Department and became a founding
member of a new, interdisciplinary department, American
Studies. His three-volume
study, The Growth of Presidential Power, was published in
1974 and is still considered by
many to be the definitive work
in its field. He also created the
{ Obituaries}
Brandeis Papers Commission
at Brandeis University, a
permanent repository for the
papers of Justice Brandeis. He
was instrumental in bringing
to Brandeis the groundbreaking Upward Bound
program, a summer program
for talented high school
students from underserved
neighborhoods.
Mr. Goldsmith retired in
1984. He is survived by his
wife of 50 years, Dr. Marianne
Goldsmith; two daughters,
Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch
and Alexandra Forbes;
a son, Michael; and five
grandchildren.
DAVID DOBREER
CLASS OF 1948
David Dobreer, who united
alumni in a strong and active
Alumni Association, died in
San Gabriel, Calif., on
January 17, 2010, at the age of
90. He was a decorated
veteran of World War II, a
dedicated and accomplished
physician, and an active and
loyal alumnus of St. John’s
College. His leadership of the
Alumni Association during a
critical time contributed
significantly to strengthened
ties between the college and
alumni. He served as a
member of the college’s Board
of Visitors and Governors
from 1974 to 1980, and from
1986 to 1992. He became an
emeritus member in 2002.
A native of Washington,
D.C., Dr. Dobreer started with
the class of 1944, but World
War II interrupted his studies.
He served as a lieutenant in
the Army, as a navigator on a
B-24 bomber. He flew 34
missions over Europe and won
the Air Medal with Oak Leaf
Clusters for meritorious
service.
After graduating from St.
John’s in 1948, he earned a
Doctor of Osteopathic Medi-
Jack Ladd Carr was involved in the Mitchell Gallery and the
Alumni Association.
cine degree from the College
of Osteopathic Physicians and
Surgeons of Los Angeles. He
later earned an MD degree
from the California College of
Medicine. He led “great
books” seminars at Hollywood
High School, in his home, and
various other locations in the
Los Angeles area for more
than 40 years, and later
through the Plato Society at
UCLA.
The long-time president of
the Southern California
alumni group, Dr. Dobreer
was an active and involved
alumnus with a genuine love
for the Program. He served for
six years as the first president
of the Alumni Association
after its reorganization as a
national body. The association
flourished and grew under his
leadership. In recognition of
his service to the college, and
in acknowledgement of his
distinguished medical career,
the association selected him
for its highest honor, the
Award of Merit, in 1977.
Dr. Dobreer is survived by
four daughters: Leslee Rigter,
Peggy Dobreer, Sallie Raspa
(A75), and Janice Yaruss.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
JACK LADD CARR
CLASS OF 1950
Jack Ladd Carr, class of 1950,
died January 10, 2010, at the
age of 84. Mr. Carr was an avid
supporter of his alma mater.
He served as a board member
of the college’s Mitchell
Gallery, where he was a
docent. An active member of
the Alumni Association, he
was awarded the Alumni Association Award of Merit in 1990
in recognition of his service to
the college.
Mr. Carr served in the U.S.
Army during World War II and
participated in the liberation
of the Philippines. After graduating from St. John’s, he
earned a master’s degree in
urban planning at Temple
University. He worked in planning in Charleston, S.C., then
returned to Annapolis, where
he served as the first planning
director for the city. He later
joined the Maryland State
Department of Economic and
Community Planning.
His long-time friend, tutor
Curtis Wilson (HA83) remembered Mr. Carr as “publicspirited person” who enjoyed
good-natured arguments, who
�43
{Obituaries}
seriously explored cultural
pursuits, and who cared about
the quality of life in his
community.” John Moore
(HA01), who brought Mr. Carr
into state planning, says,
“Jack handled everything with
diplomacy and patience.
He reflected his St. John’s
background very well.”
Mr. Carr is survived by his
wife, Lois, and stepson,
Andrew.
for beer and conversation.”
The British newspaper The
Guardian noted in a tribute
article that de Sela “created
three extraordinary albums
over the course of 12 years.
She achieved fame more by
word of mouth than through
the media, but won various
awards, including the Québécois Félix in 1997, a Canadian
Juno in 1998, and a BBC award
for world music in 2005.”
LHASA DE SELA (SF94)
Lhasa de Sela (SF94), a trilingual singer and songwriter,
died on January 1, 2010, of
breast cancer. Born in Big
Indian, N.Y., in the Catskill
Mountains, de Sela spent her
childhood traveling through
the U.S. and Mexico in a
converted school bus that
served as her family’s home.
From the early 1990s onward,
she lived in Montreal, where
she sang in bars and learned,
as she told a reporter in 2004,
“how to reach people, even
people who were only there
ELIZABETH BLETTNER
TUTOR
Elizabeth Blettner, a tutor at
St. John’s since 1982, died
April 19, 2010, in Annapolis,
after a short illness. Miss Blettner earned her bachelor’s
degree from Stanford University, and master’s and doctoral
degrees in philosophy from
Penn State University. Originally drawn to literature, Miss
Blettner fell in love with
philosophy and Ancient Greek
as a graduate student, and was
particularly drawn to the work
of Kant.
Miss Blettner was responsible for the current shape of
the college’s sophomore
music tutorial, said tutor
Peter Kalkavage, her longtime friend. “Our current
sophomore music program is
due to the tremendous care
and work Elizabeth put in,”
he says “The college is very
much in her debt.”
A gifted singer who loved
music, Miss Blettner was also
a faithful and supportive
member of the audience
whenever the freshman
chorus performed. In recent
years, she taught frequently in
the Graduate Institute, where
she led a preceptorial on
Ancient Greek. “By all
accounts, she was a superb
tutor of Greek,” Mr. Kalkavage notes. “Her students
were quite devoted to her.”
Miss Blettner was drawn to
St. John’s by the serious
pursuit of academics, he adds,
and she enhanced the college
through her dedication. “She
LAWRENCE SANDEK
CLASS OF 1954
by Lydia Sandek Leizman (A84)
had a deep relation to whatever she would take up: the
study of Plato, the study of
music. Like many of us here,
she was very much shaped by
Jacob Klein. She was a very
dear friend to me.”
In Miss Blettner’s honor, the
St. John’s Chorus dedicated
its spring performance of
Faure’s Requiem to her. x
ALSO NOTED
RALPH BALTZEL (CLASS OF
1943), DEC. 8, 2009
REAR ADMIRAL ALLEN BERGER
(CLASS OF 1939), MARCH 22,
2010
DAVID DICKEY (A67), NOV. 24,
2009
STEFANIE PRIGGE (A86),
DEC. 31, 2009
JOHN RITNER (A84), JAN. 28,
2009
LOUIS SAULT (CLASS OF 1956),
JAN. 10. 2010
KATHRYN STOLZENBACH (A95),
JAN. 20, 2010
all his other tutorials.
He won the senior essay
prize for his year, writing
on Don Quixote. He
My father, Lawrence Sandek, class of
worked in the bindery,
1954, died September 4, 2009, in Palo
where he developed his
Alto, Calif. He was born December 23,
own flat-spine binding.
1923, in the Bronx, N.Y. A veteran of
Some of these books are
WW II, he attended St. John’s on the
still on his bookshelf
GI Bill. The two most frequent
today.
comments that he made in reference to
After St. John’s, my
St. John’s College were: 1: It was the
father settled into family
only college worth attending; and 2: It
life, making his living as
was the first place that felt like his
a freelance writer in the
home.
New York City area. He
At least two alumni are as much due
Larry Sandek (class of 1954, right), shown here with
later spent many years
to his influence: myself (1984), and my
classmate Sam Kutler, thought St. John’s College “the
traveling first in Mexico,
mother’s sister, Arlene Banks Andrew
only college worth attending.”
then India, finally again
(class of 1964). Additionally, his first
settling near family in
child, India Sandek, was born at Anne
Big Bear, Calif. He is survived by three daughters, India
Arundel Hospital while he was a student.
Sandek, Jessica Sandek, and Lydia Sandek Leizman; one
He spoke often of [tutors] Jacob Klein and Simon Kaplan.
son-in-law, Jon Leizman; and six grandchildren x
My understanding is that my father was something of a force
in seminar and the Coffee Shop, but not always as attendant in
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�44
{Special Report: Alumni Relations}
E NG AG I NG A LU M N I
Tapping a wellspring of Johnnie pride
About this Report
Can virtue be taught? Can Aristotle explain a butterfly’s metamorphosis? What
drove Ophelia mad? Does a steel marble really fall at the same rate as a feather?
Johnnies have considered these questions and many more, from their first seminar
on the Iliad or their first days in the Graduate Institute. The habit of questioning
stays with them long after they leave the college.
Over the past year, the college’s Alumni Association, a task force of alumni
leaders, and staff at the college have applied their Johnnie habit of questioning,
considering, and discussing things to the state of alumni relations at St. John’s
College. Among the questions they posed to each other—and to you, alumni, are:
How can the college better nurture the bond with alumni? How can the close relationship formed through a common academic program be maintained after alumni
are scattered to every corner of the globe? How can the college better inform its
alumni about what’s happening on the campuses? And what’s the best way for
alumni to support a college they care about?
This special section of The College explains the work completed by a Presidents’
Task Force, changes to the Alumni Association, and a new leadership forum that
serves as the starting point for widening the circle of alumni involvement. Looking
to get involved? Follow up on the contact info here, and look for periodic updates to
this effort in the magazine, your alumni e-newsletter, and the online community.
by Patricia Dempsey
ow many institutions can
boast an alumnus like Steve
Thomas (SF74) who cares
so deeply about the
curriculum that he’s closely
following the development
of a new math manual for junior lab?
More than three decades after graduating,
Thomas, an attorney and president of the
Alumni Association, remains passionate
about the Program and stays involved to
ensure that undergraduates today have the
same or even a better educational experience than he did. “When I talk to alumni,
this is one thing they deeply care about—the
Program,” says Thomas. “Is it still the
Program? Will it survive? I hear this over
and over again.”
The Program has always been the super
glue, that instant bond among Johnnie
alumni. ”We are defined in part by having
H
gone through the Program,” says Patty
Sollars (A80), a neuroscientist and vice president of the Alumni Association. “It is something we carry with us forever.”
Yet if most Johnnies care deeply about the
Program—as indicated by a recent (2008)
survey—then why aren’t they involved with
local and national alumni programs in
higher numbers? In 2008 the 12-member
Presidents’ Task Force on Alumni Relations
wrestled with this question and embraced
recommendations that Presidents Michael
Peters and Christopher Nelson (SF70)
accepted late last year.
One recommendation was to encourage
the St. John’s Alumni Association to serve as
an umbrella organization for a greater
variety of alumni activities. A new,
streamlined 18-member Alumni Association
Board will consist of 4 officers, the collegewide Alumni Director, the immediate
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
Through the Program, Alumni share a
common bond that keeps them close to the
college--no matter where they go.
past-president of the association, and 12 atlarge members. Shorter terms and term
limits for board members will mean more
alumni voices will be heard. And the annual
Alumni Leadership Forum—the first was
scheduled for Annapolis June 11-13, 2010—
will bring alumni leaders together to create
opportunities for alumni involvement in
educational and social activities and work on
assisting the college with fundraising,
admissions, career and graduate school
mentoring, and networking.
Ray Cave (class of 1948), who chaired the
task force, says the changes arose from a
need to actively recognize alumni as valuable
members of the college community. “In the
past not as much attention has been given to
the alumni as to the Program and students,”
says Cave. “Yet it is the alumni who can help
the Program continue.”
The more alumni are involved with
St. John’s, the more they care about its
future, says Cave, a former Time magazine
editor and member of the college’s Board of
Visitors and Governors. “In the first 30 years
after I graduated I gave no evidence that I
was interested in St. John’s,” he says. “But
more important, St. John’s gave no evidence
that it was interested in me. When St. John’s
got interested, so did I—which is what we
hope to see happen with hundreds, or even
�{Alumni Relations}
thousands, of our alumni today. The survival
of St. John’s may well depend on it.”
Expanding the touch points of alumni
involvement is the driving force behind this
new era in alumni relations, explains Matt
Calise (A00), a task force member who also
chairs the Alumni Giving Council (formerly
called Philanthropia) and who directs alumni
relations at Georgetown Law. “We are
steeped in and proud of our history, but we
have a tendency to look back, to dissect,”
says Calise. “We are distinctive pedagogically, but in some ways we are not up with
the times.” The alumni survey showed that
“our alumni are thirsting for more ways to be
connected to the college. So let’s ignite this
passion.”
College-alumni relations in the 21st
century demand innovation, even a cultural
shift says Sanjay Poovadan (SF83), a member
of the Board of Visitors and Governors who
chairs the board’s Alumni Relations
Committee. “The new changes mean a
deeper, richer, widespread alumni engagement. There was a time, in the 1960s, when
our way of education was under siege. We
45
had a circle of wagons around us, and we
looked inward.
“But today we are no longer under siege
culturally, financially or philosophically. We
are strong enough to introduce the ‘new,’ to
branch out our involvement of alumni to
career services, Piraeus, communications,
diversity, fundraising—there are many potential areas for alumni to get involved.”
A major step forward is the Alumni Leadership Forum, an event already generating
buzz. “It’s very American, very Tocquevillesque, with new communities being created
and a bubbling up of ideas,” says Barbara
Goyette (A73), vice president for advancement in Annapolis. The inaugural forum this
June in Annapolis brought together chapter
and reading group leaders, Reunion Class
Leaders, the Alumni Giving Council, and
young alumni leaders. Says Calise, “If
there’s a cracker-Jack alum out there who
wants to get involved, we want to hear from
him or her.” The forum included an update
with college presidents and officers followed
by roundtables among volunteer leaders on
issues affecting the college and alumni.
Expanding alumni involvement also opens
the door to a new generation of volunteer
leaders. Many are tech-savvy and adept at
creating virtual and in-person communities.
Like all Johnnies they are passionate about
the Program and have fresh ideas, including
networking events that go beyond the
seminar to assist with job hunting, dating,
housing and health. Poovadan is eager to
learn from younger alumni, especially those
from the 1980s on. “I want to help change
the culture of the college so we involve all
the alumni voices,” he says.
Among the next generation of leaders is
New York City chapter president Charlotte
Lucy Latham (SF02). Latham is enthusiastic about the changes that include a
smaller board and shorter term limits for
board members. Juggling work, yoga
teacher training, and graduate studies,
Latham will trade four board meetings a
year for the once-a-year Leadership Forum.
“Now I’ll have time to invest my energies in
the activities that mean the most to me—
those here at my chapter,” says Latham.
Another young alumnus, Robert Morris
(SF04), welcomes the changes. An active
leader among D.C. alumni, Morris says
alumni gain the chance to shape “a bigpicture view.” “I want to establish a
common vision of what alumni should be
and do. What is really needed is the answer
to the question: ‘Who are we?’ This is a
network of smart, successful people I really
like and respect, a caring community with
whom I share a common bond. But when I
encounter alumni who say they attended a
quirky, weird college I want to change how
we view ourselves. I’d rather say, ‘I received
the best liberal arts undergraduate education there is.”
Coalescing a common vision among the
college’s 9,500 living alumni poses a
challenge, but at the heart of it all is the
shared experience—unique and enduring—
of being a Johnnie. As Cave puts it, “Alumni
engagement is emotional and intellectual.
Other schools have football games. We have
the Program.” x
During Homecoming 2009 in Santa Fe,
Steve Thomas (SF74) presented Santa Fe
President Michael Peters with a symbolic
check from the Alumni Association,
representing the final installment of the
association’s contributions to the
college’s capital campaign.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�46
{Alumni Relations}
What’s Next?
by Linda Stabler-Talty (SFGI76)
“YES, you are a member of the Alumni
Association.” Sound familiar? This
appeared on the Alumni Association dues
mailer for years, and now that our association no longer collects dues, the current
board members would like to boldly
confirm that “YES, you are a member of
the Alumni Association”—if you have a
degree from the college, have completed
at least one semester of undergraduate
study or one segment of Graduate Institute
Study, or if you have been welcomed as an
honorary member.
The college presidents wrote to alumni
recently and declared their hope “to build
a more vibrant and mutually sustaining
relationship” with us, the alumni.
Likewise, the association board members
have been hard at work to increase the
opportunities to participate in the diverse
activities of the association and college.
To this end, you can look forward to
mailings and electronic postings that will
explain the changes and help you explore
the possibilities to become more involved.
Here is what will arrive soon:
• Draft of the new Alumni Association
bylaws
• Narrative in plain language of these
by-laws and changes from prior ones
• Explanation of all the structural
changes within the Alumni
Association
• Notification of the Annual Meeting
date/time, including the Association
Slate of Officers and Board
Representatives
Responses to the St. John’s College
Alumni Survey (October 2008),
conducted by an independent
consultant, reveal that St. John’s “has
the basic DNA upon which strong,
ongoing alumni relationships have been
built. . . .” Alumni have strong feelings
for their alma mater, yet alumni
involvement is not correspondingly as
high. Here are some highlights from
undergraduate respondents:
• 73 percent of St. John’s alumni are
very satisfied with their student
Alumni can help plan and organize increased educational opportunities such as
Piraeus, shown above.
• Notice that directors and officers may
be elected by petition
• Transition resolution that will allow
all of the above to move ahead
Also included will be an offer to let
alumni “opt out” of electronic notifications, with hard copies mailed from the
Alumni Office.
The highlight of these changes is the
first annual Alumni Leadership Forum,
June 11-13 in Annapolis. This inaugural
event engages alumni on many different
levels, with results continuing well into
the future. And, you are encouraged to ask
questions, discuss your ideas, and to get in
experience (compared to 47 percent
-83 percent at other institutions
surveyed).
• 70 percent report that overall they
have very positive feelings about the
college today (compared to
34-73 percent at other institutions
surveyed).
• 9 out of 10 alumni take pride in their
St. John’s affiliation and feel that
St. John’s is a part of who they are.
• 6 out of 10 feel they are part of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
touch with the association as well as your
fellow alumni.
Welcome to this energized era of alumni
activity!
Contact: Jo Ann Mattson at
joann.mattson@sjca.edu, phone
410-295-6926; or Nancie Wingo at
nwingo@sjcsf.edu, phone 505-984-6121; or
johnniealumni@gmail.com.
St. John’s community and have a
stake in the college’s achievements
and success.
• 28 percent report that they only hear
from the college when it’s asking for
financial support.
• 55 percent said the Program was the
most meaningful aspect of their
St. John’s experience.
�47
{Alumni Relations}
What is the Alumni Leadership Forum?
The Alumni Leadership Forum is a major step in the reorganization
of alumni relations taking place at St. John’s. This annual gathering
of volunteer alumni leaders, held during the summer on alternating
campuses, recognizes the contributions of dedicated alumni, trains
them in their areas of volunteer interest, and offers an opportunity
to engage with fellow alumni as well as college officers and staff.
What is the goal of the first forum in Annapolis?
The first Alumni Leadership Forum was held in Annapolis on
June 11-13, 2010. Attendees, including alumni leaders, college staff
and officers, gathered to learn from each other and plan for the
college’s future. Questions for the forum included: How can the
college enhance communication and engagement with its alumni?
How can alumni get involved to help the college? In this way, the
college will be able to better serve the evolving needs of its alumni.
Look for a report on the meeting in e-newsletters as well as the fall
issue of The College.
Who was invited? How can I get involved?
The first Alumni Leadership Forum brought together a smaller
group of leaders than will attend future forums. These include
Chapter and Reading Group leadership, Reunion Class Leaders,
the Alumni Giving Council, and Young Alumni leaders. However,
all interested alumni are encouraged to contact the Alumni Office
on either campus for more information: in Annapolis, 410-2956926; in Santa Fe, 505-984-6121. For questions about the changes
to the Alumni Association or how to get involved, please contact
the Alumni Association at this email: johnniealumni@gmail.com.
How else is the Alumni Association changing?
The St. John’s College Alumni Association remains a separate
501(c)3 organization, but it will work in partnership with the
college to increase alumni involvement. The Alumni Association
Board will manage the partnership of the association with the
college and ensure that the alumni working groups are focused on
key priorities. The volunteer group Philanthropia has been
Alumni Calendar
Make plans now to join your
friends for Homecoming 2010!
This year, the event takes place on
the same weekend on both
campuses: September 24-26.
SANTA FE
Friday
Registration, 4-8 p.m.
Alumni/students networking
reception, 4-5:30 p.m.
Welcome Home reception, 5:307:30 p.m.
Lecture, 8 p.m.
Question Period, 9 p.m.
Saturday
Registration. 8:30 a.m.-noon
Seminars, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Luncheon and State of the
College address, 12:30-2 p.m.
Levan Hall dedication, 2 p.m.
Alumni Association meeting,
3 p.m.
Bocce and other lawn games,
3:30 p.m.
Art Show reception and Waltz
Party, 5-7 p.m.
Dance, 9-12 p.m.
Sunday
Alumni Association Board
meeting, 9 a.m.-10 a.m.
Brunch, complete with reunionyear toasts, 10:30 a.m.
-12:30 p.m.
renamed the Alumni Giving Council and will continue its work
under the umbrella of the Alumni Association, as will all alumni
volunteer groups, such as Reunion Class Leaders and Chapter
Presidents. There will be more opportunities for alumni: service
projects and career mentoring, for example.
What will this change mean for me?
It means more involvement and communication with alumni and
college staff. The new, streamlined 18-member board consists of
four officers, the college-wide Alumni Director, the immediate Past
President of the Association, and 12 at-large members. Each atlarge member of the board will be familiar with one or more of the
working groups. These working groups will take the lead on many
alumni activities –and offer opportunities for those who want to get
involved. Ideas for working groups are welcome; how and when
these groups form will vary with needs. This opportunity for
increased connection and involvement will benefit of all members
of the college community.
Join the 6,000 Johnnies already participating in the Alumni Online
Community. Go to: stjohnscollege.edu and click on “Alumni.”
Call for Artists: All-college Alumni and Santa Fe
Faculty, Staff and Student Art Show
Artists from both campuses are invited to participate in the
annual fall art show, which will be on display September 25
through October 17, 2010, on the second floor of the Peterson
Student Center. The opening of the show will coincide with
Homecoming on the Santa Fe campus. Plan to attend the opening
reception Saturday, September 25, 5-7 p.m.
Alumni who wish to enter their artwork should contact the
college by August 1 to declare their intent to participate.
Entries need to be received no later than September 10.
For more details, contact Maggie Magalnick at 505-984-6199 or
e-mail maggie@sjcsf.edu.
ANNAPOLIS
Friday
Registration, 4-8 p.m.
Reunion Class/Graduate Institute
receptions, 5:45-7 p.m.
Fiftieth Reunion Dinner for the
Class of 1960, 5:45 p.m.
Lecture, 8:15 p.m.
Question Period, after Lecture
Rock Party, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday
Registration, 8:30 a.m. to noon
All-alumni Meeting/Awards
Assembly, 9:30 a.m.
Seminars, 10:30 a.m.
Family Lunch; Classes of the
1940s and Friends Luncheon,
noon
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
Children’s Activities,
1:30-3:30 p.m.
Mitchell Gallery tour, 3 p.m.
Cocktail reception, 5-7 p.m.
Alumni Banquet, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Homecoming Ball, Great Hall,
9:30 p.m.
Rock Party, Coffee Shop,
10 p.m.
Sunday
President’s Brunch, 11 a.m.
Around the Chapters
�{St. John’s Forever}
greenfield library
48
Field of Dreams
B
efore St. John’s gained fame for several lacrosse
championships in the 1930s, there was just one sport
at St. John’s: baseball. These serious young men in
their striped jerseys, posed in front of the Liberty
Tree, were members of the team sometime between
1901 and 1905, according to Greenfield Library
records. Football came along in the 1880s and St. John’s fielded
powerhouse teams in football as well as lacrosse. (Johnnies once
defeated Washington College on the gridiron by a score of 116-0.)
Today, Johnnies are much more likely to be playing basketball or
soccer, with Ultimate Frisbee fast becoming a favorite sport for
both Santa Fe and Annapolis Johnnies. Santa Fe students are also
playing hockey competitively; they recently captured a city
championship. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
�{Eidos}
Historically Inaccurate
Richard Saja (SF93)
O
ver the last 10 years, textile
artist Richard Saja (SF93)
has made quite a name for
himself in the design
community. He had his
first solo show, “The
Bright and Shining Light of Irreverence:
Richard Saja and the Historically Inaccurate School,” last year at the Shelburne
Museum in Vermont. The New York Times
has brought attention to his work, which
has also been praised in Antiques magazine,
ReadyMade, and O. He also won a Searchlight Fellowship from the American Crafts
Council and was an exhibitor at the
council’s 2009 show.
Through his company, Historically Inaccurate Decorative Arts (historically-inaccurate.blogspot.com), Saja pursues a unique
niche in the decorative arts. He takes
classic toile prints and embellishes their
designs with hand-embroidered additions
drawn from his own imagination and sense
of humor. Saja describes it as “a cheeky,
irreverent take on a pattern of Western
civilization.”
He began his studies at the Philadelphia
College of Art, spending a year there before
deciding he needed a fresh perspective. He
headed to Santa Fe, where he crashed on a
Johnnie’s floor, went to class on a lark, and
was “blown away” by St. John’s. He joined
the January Freshman class in 1990 and
remains grateful for the challenging education he found at the college. “While I was
terrible in math, junior math with John
Cornell was pure magic.”
After graduating from St. John’s, Saja
taught himself graphics programs such as
Photoshop and Illustrator and landed a job
in advertising. After a layoff in 2000, he
teamed up with Johnnie Martha Alexander
(SF95). The two discovered a mutual love
for textiles, so they joined together to
create a company, Marisaal, dedicated to
creating hand-embroidered pillows that
“made people think.”
After Alexander moved on, Saja has
continued the work through Historically
Inaccurate. While the pillows were popular,
Above and left: prints from Richard Saja’s series “The Lost Girls.” Each measures
24" x 36" and is an archival giclée print on heavy-weight canvas, embroidered with
rayon floss, stretched and mounted. The custom toile design of “The Lost Girls”
was inspired by J.M. Barrie’s characters from Peter Pan. Right: One of Saja’s
“fauxnasetti” bar towels: electronic clip art manipulating the face of a woman used in
hundreds of different iterations by Saja’s favorite 20th-century designer,
Piero Fornasetti.
Saja began to wonder: “Why am I just doing
cushions? I decided to concentrate on
larger-scale pieces,” says Saja. The Shelburne show in 2009 was a great opportunity to showcase his talents. He created an
original work of embroidery called JUST
THIS ONCE, which was paired with the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2010 }
Erastus Salisbury Field oil painting The
Garden of Eden.
Saja hopes his work is provocative. “A lot
of time, art is passive. I want to work
around themes, to use humor, to force
people to ask why. A lot of that, I got at
St. John’s.” x
�NON -P ROFIT O RG .
U.S. P OSTAGE
PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
C RAFTSMAN
PRINTERS , INC .
�
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Santa Fe, NM
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Volume 35, Issue 2 of the <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Spring 2010.
The College
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College
The
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Thucydides
and the Price of War
F a l l
2 0 1 0
�On Thucydides
“For the last year we have been doing our lessons, reading our books, and trying to listen to
peaceful, reasonable discourse about human affairs, while special newspapers have been let
loose outside the window telling us of the latest crack and ruin in the affairs which human
reason should control.” – Scott Buchanan, 1941
T
here’s a deep tone of concern in Scott Buchanan’s essay, “The War and the
College,” published in 1941 in the original version of The College magazine.
Writing of a “lost generation drifting to another war,” Buchanan examined
the place of a “great books” college at a time when Hitler was marching
through Europe, and U.S. involvement in another world war seemed
imminent. The dean of a college fortunate to survive the Civil War and a
veteran of World War I, Buchanan was thinking about the young men who had come to
read classic works, many of whom he expected to be called to fight another war.
Buchanan and Stringfellow Barr, architects of the New Program, conceived of St. John’s
not just as an alternative to the electives-driven system of higher education, but also as a
response to their grave concerns about the world. They were alarmed by the rise of fascism
in Europe and concerned about the future of the United States if people unquestioningly
accepted the ideology of their leaders. The Program “came out of an early recognition that
the world was drifting and that something must be done, something fundamental and
perhaps drastic, to discover our position and direction,” Buchanan wrote.
In every generation, the works read at St. John’s become a part of the students who read
them, Buchanan said. Whatever was coming, these books would go with them. “War
destroys roads and landmarks as well as cities and dwellings. It destroys familiar and
reassuring things inside you. . . . It is often said that the great books have stood the test of
time. They have done more than that; they have gone on through the fire and destruction
of many wars and told men what to do afterwards. It is somewhat comforting to know that
the St. John’s books have this deep, practical use in the present crisis.”
According to the records of the college, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
has been read by St. John’s students since 1830, when the Rev. Hector Humphreys was
president. Johnnies read it when they were military cadets, marching and training in their
gray wool uniforms. And Barr and Buchanan included it on their reading list.
Today’s students read it toward the end of their first semester and discuss it over four
seminars. To one senior, “Thucydides is like CNN—he just tells you the facts.” Pericles’
funeral provides young men and women with the opportunity to reflect on how democracy is
defended and how honor is earned: “. . . you must yourselves realize the power of Athens,
and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts; and then, when
all her greatness shall break upon you, you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty,
and a keen feeling of honour in action that men were enabled to win all this. . .”
This issue of The College magazine presents profiles of alumni who experienced warfare
beyond the pages of their books. We begin with a veteran of World War II and end with a
first-person account from a Johnnie who watched children die in the sectarian violence of
Iraq.
Also in this issue, the daughter of a tutor recalls how her life was shaped by growing up
with St. John’s at the center of her family’s life. She writes of people who have been gone
for a long time, but nevertheless, were instrumental in making St. John’s what it is today.
—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
410-972-4511
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
Sara Luell (A09)
Anna Perleberg (SF02)
Deborah Spiegelman
Michael Waller
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�College
The
Fa l l 2 0 1 0
Vo l u m e 3 5 , I s s u e 3
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
12
Parting Words?
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
A noted vintner and the director of a
human rights and literary center tells
new graduates just how lucky they are.
•
Santa Fe celebrates the opening
of Levan Hall
The liberal arts in Iraq
Johnnies learn the art of bookmaking
The enduring rewards of planned giving
In Santa Fe, a nook in the woods
In Annapolis, a better look at the skies
Linking college and community
News and announcements
Letters
32
bibliofile
•
•
•
14
In Defense of Liberty
•
page
Johnnies who have served in the armed
forces talk about their experiences, from
surviving Kamakaze air raids in the
Pacific to healing the hidden scars of
combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
•
•
•
page 12
•
•
Eva Brann (HA87) reports on a
conference on Jacob Klein’s influential
“math book.”
Charles Nelson (class of 1945)
explores how Jefferson and others in a
young country viewed America’s
“race problem.”
34
alumni
•
26
Knitting Lesson
page
Kathryn Kramer was sent to Dodo Klein
to learn to knit. Only later did she realize
how much more she learned.
30
When Ancients Speak
page
from the bell towers
page 14
P RO F I L E S
34 Phillip Katz (SF94) steers his design
company through a challenging economy.
38 Harold Anderson (A72) promotes cultural
sustainability.
43 Britta Riley (SF02) makes farmers out of
city dwellers.
46 His brother’s disappearance gave
Jeff Dunsavage (A84) a reason to
work for change.
At a public charter school in Oregon,
Jenny Lowe Cook (A06) enchants bored
sixth graders with Homer.
49
page 52
52
54
on the cover
Thucydides
Illustration by David Johnson
56
obituaries
homecoming
association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
Levan Hall Opens in Santa Fe
by Deborah Spiegelman
The Betty and Norman Levan Hall,
the new home of the Graduate
Institute in Santa Fe, opened in
August, just in time for the start of
the fall semester.
Made possible by a $5 million gift
from Dr. Norman Levan (SFGI74),
the building houses the Liberal Arts
and Eastern Classics programs as
well as faculty offices, seminar and
conference rooms, an exhibition
space, and a common space for
students to study.
At the same time simple and
majestic in its design, Levan Hall was
dedicated September 25 during
Homecoming Weekend, with Dr.
Levan joining alumni, tutors, and
friends for the celebration.
“We are grateful for Dr. Levan’s
generosity and excited to be able to
have a dedicated home for the Graduate Institute,” says Santa Fe President Michael P. Peters. “Levan Hall
Levan Hall, the new home of the Graduate Institute in Santa was planned as a LEED Silverdemonstrates St. John’s College’s
certified building, but may achieve Gold-level certification.
commitment to and investment in
higher education in New Mexico.”
The new building also accomAsserting a modern interpretation of the Territorial style popuplished another need on campus. The building links an expanded
larized by John Gaw Meem, one of New Mexico’s most influential
lower placita, with brickwork paths and a sloping handicap-accesarchitects, Levan Hall suggests a kinship with the architectural
sible ramp, with the upper placita. The campus now has an
features of the college’s other buildings and dormitories and offers
efficient, pedestrian-friendly center.
a fresh outlook for the campus. Perhaps the most dramatic aspect
“The Graduate Institute has long been an integral part of
of the contemporary aesthetic is the imposing front entrance,
St. John’s in Santa Fe,” notes GI Director Matt Davis. “This
presenting a glazed two-story portal next to a stucco mass. The
beautiful new building underlines the college’s continuing
roof, supported by steel trusses, appears to be floating in air.
commitment to the Graduate Institute and its programs.”
Just as the graduate programs in Santa Fe span the classics of
Western and Eastern civilizations, Levan Hall synthesizes Western
or perhaps more accurately, Southwestern and Eastern perspectives. The tall, stuccoed building is nearly two and three-fourths
floors bottom to top, yet it is impressive without being imposing.
Inside, plastered walls soar to meet wood-slat ceilings that
simultaneously suggest traditional vigas and the simplicity of
Japanese styling. An open and inviting quality—evident with the
benches, sofas, and chairs on landings, in the graduate commons
room, and in offices—welcomes students and faculty alike.
Openness is further enhanced by the strategic placement of
windows—including glass transoms above office doors and glassenclosed conference and work rooms—which promote shared light.
At the same time, acoustic ceiling tiles create a sense of calm
Dr. Norman Levan (SFGI74, shown with Santa Fe President
Michael Peters) made a generous gift to the college to build
the Betty and Norman Levan Hall.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
At dedication ceremonies for Levan Hall, President Michael
Peters expressed gratitude for Dr. Levan’s generosity.
quiet, even when conversations are happening in seminar rooms
or in offices or on balconies. The seminar rooms themselves
include wall-length writing surfaces, and the upstairs commons
room is similarly outfitted with handy writing surfaces as well as
with a bank of wooden lockers, workstations, and comfortable
seating.
Levan Hall also has inspired changes in the surrounding
architecture and terrain. For instance, new second-floor balconies
on the adjacent Fine Arts Building and the Peterson Student
Center echo the balconies of the new GI building. Meem Library,
once isolated from the rest of campus, is part of the more
centralized core, too.
Designed with the goal of earning LEED Gold Certification, the
highest designation in the internationally recognized U.S. Green
Building Council’s rating system, Levan Hall incorporates a
The dedication ceremony for
Levan Hall, the new home of
the Graduate Institute, was
marked by gratitude—
gratitude to Norman Levan,
whose gift to the college made
the building possible, and
gratitude on the part of
New Mexico leaders who
appreciate what St. John’s
brings to the city and the
state. Governor Bill
Richardson and Santa Fe
Mayor David Coss both
noted the contributions of
St. John’s.
Similarly, the college’s
commitment to the community embraces culture as well
as education, as evidenced in
the exhibit spaces of Levan
Hall, which display the work
of Santa Fe artist Janet
Lippincott.
Lippincott, who died in
2007, was a pioneer of
modern art in the Southwest.
She explored multiple genres
over the course of her long
career, from representational
works and minimalist drawings to abstract expressionist
paintings based on structural
forms rendered in striking
colors. The approximately 10
works displayed in Levan Hall,
from the Karan Ruhlen
Gallery, reflect her broad
3
number of important green features. Its thick masonry walls resist
heat gain in summer, and natural ventilation (instead of refrigerated air) coupled with nighttime air temperatures keep the
building comfortable. In addition, windows are designed to
minimize heat build up and to maximize the benefit of passive
solar heat and natural light, in lieu of artificial lighting.
A multi-zoned radiant heating system assures comfort
during colder months.
Levan Hall also is the first building on campus to significantly
harvest rainwater. Storm runoff from the flat roof will be directed
into a 6,000-gallon underground cistern capable of supplying
much of the water for irrigating the surrounding xeriscape
(drought-tolerant) plantings. In addition, a rooftop photovoltaic
array is designed to produce renewable energy, thereby reducing
the building’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.
To promote walking or cycling to campus, the building also has
several bathroom facilities with showers.
At the start of the project, a 15-percent reduction in overall
building size from original specifications was achieved by
designing rooms to serve multiple functions, leading to a savings
on materials further reducing operating costs in the future.
Since the groundbreaking in late May 2009, the project used
many local businesses. Santa Fe-based Sarcon Construction Corp.
led a team of 30 firms, 80 percent of which are based in Northern
New Mexico. Local crews were involved in every aspect of
construction, from excavation to interior detailing. David Perrigo,
a local architect who has been involved in a number of campus
projects, provided consulting services throughout the construction of the 10,340-square-foot building, designed by Lake-Flato
Architects, based in San Antonio, Texas.
“It is fairly unusual for a major and complicated and architecturally challenging project to finish on schedule and on budget
with all the parties—owner, architect, and contractor—still smiling
and enjoying each other,” observes Peter Brill, president of Peter
Brill, Inc., the college’s owner’s representative. “It is a testament
to St. John’s collaborative and trusting approach. The college set a
tone which we were able to maintain throughout the process. And
the final result speaks to the quality of these relationships.” x
range of artistic expression.
Lippincott’s choice of
materials was likewise varied,
from India-ink, watercolor,
oil, and acrylic to linocut,
monoprint, and sculpture.
Born in New York, Lippincott was trained at the Art
Students League, lived for a
while in Paris as a young girl,
and served in the U.S. Army
Corps in London during
World War II. She moved to
New Mexico in the late 1940s,
subsequently studying at the
San Francisco Institute of Art
and the Colorado Fine Arts
Center before settling in
Santa Fe. She resided and
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
worked in a studio on
Canyon Road.
Lippincott explored a
number of themes in her art,
including war (she suffered
lasting injuries during the
Blitz in London), and many of
her bold abstracts evoke New
Mexico’s earth tones. Her
work has been exhibited in
numerous galleries and
museums. In 2002, she was
honored with the Governor’s
Award for Excellence in the
Arts, the most distinguished
award for artists in the state of
New Mexico. x
—Deborah Spiegelman
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
The Liberal Arts in Iraq
St. John’s ties to Kurdistan
The American University of
Iraq in Sulaimani has attracted
some political controversy, as
some see it as an attempt to
impose Western ideology on
the Iraqi people.
But Tim Mewmaw (A07)
can’t concern himself with
politics. His mind is on his
students, who want to learn
English so that they can pursue
opportunities too long denied
them by war, hardship, and
repression. Two weeks after his
third child was born in
Annapolis in September,
Mewmaw was 6,000 miles
away, back in his classroom at
the university in Kurdistan.
His wife, Tanya, and three
small children will rejoin him
in January.
When Mewmaw applied
to teach at the American
University, he had no idea that
former Santa Fe president John
Agresto is the university’s
provost. Working in the policy
field in Washington, Mewmaw
was drawn to Iraq by a desire to
help the nation rebuild. He
and his family settled into
faculty quarters on the
temporary campus of the
university and he began
teaching English as a Second
Language (ESL) classes.
“Nothing we anticipated is
worse than we imagined, and
most things are better than we
hoped for,” Mewmaw says of
their experience. “Everything
is rock and dust. When it rains,
which it does a lot in the
winter, everything turns to
mud. In the summer, the
average daily temperature is
118, and AC and electricity are
spotty. Good healthcare is hard
to come by.”
The best part of the experience is joining a dedicated
teaching community in
building up a university from
scratch. Among the faculty,
there is camaraderie and
support. Far from just a job,
Mewmaw feels his work in Iraq
is helping to build something.
Mewmaw is one of several
members of the St. John’s
community who are involved in
the university. Annapolis tutor
Louis Petrich and his wife and
two young children are
spending a year in Iraq. Petrich
is teaching mathematics and
natural science. Annapolis
President Christopher Nelson
headed up a site visit team for
the American Academy of
Liberal Education. Already
juggling too many commitments, Nelson initially turned
down the invitation. But his
wife, Joyce Olin, persuaded
him to change his mind, and
“They were
encouraged to ask
questions of the
teacher and of
each other.”
Christopher Nelson
they flew to Iraq at the end
of April.
“I really thought it was an
opportunity he’d never have
again,” says Olin, a lawyer for
the EPA who became part of
the accreditation team, tapped
for her environmental and
scientific acumen. “And it was
a fascinating experience. What
I really liked was the enthusiasm and the commitment of
all these young people. Their
passion for learning was
inspiring.”
Over four days, the
accreditation team visited
classes, interviewed students
and faculty, and observed a
student debate. They visited
the permanent campus, which
is under construction about
30 minutes away from the
temporary campus, and talked
informally with students in the
cafeteria.
Nelson was impressed by the
American University’s leadership, but more impressed by
the students. “In each class I
visited, every one of the 14
students spoke,” he said.
“They were encouraged to ask
questions of the teacher and of
each other. Outside of class
they were passionate in their
desire to learn more, saying
that they had never had such
an experience, being given the
Tim Mewmaw, shown here his
wife, Tanya, and sons Sterling, (r.) and Thorin, (l.), has
been gratified by the dedication of his students.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
5
joyce olin
St. John’s President Christopher Nelson and his wife, Joyce
Olin, see great promise in the American University of Iraq;
its permanent campus is under construction in Kurdistan.
freedom to make their education their own.”
On leave from St. John’s
while he teaches in Iraq,
Petrich has been “pleased and
amazed” by his hard-working
students. “My students, mostly
Kurdish with some Arabs, are
endeavoring to learn things in
a foreign language that many
have never before considered
even at an elementary level in
their own language,” Petrich
says.
Petrich asks them the same
questions he has posed of
freshmen at St. John’s: “How
do we know that lines exist?
If the ‘common notions’ of
Euclid are in fact common,
why are we finding it necessary
to talk about them so much?
What makes a living thing
alive?”
In return, the students have
their own questions, Petrich
says: “Why not just use the
ruler or compass you made us
buy to draw a line of a certain
length? Why take all these
steps and say many difficult
words to do simple geometry?
What would a Muslim scientist
say (about the statement in our
textbook) that life may have
originated from non-life four
billion years ago as a chemical
process of evolution? Do you
believe that is how it
happened, Mr. Petrich?”
In spite of the hardships of
life in Iraq, Mewmaw stays
motivated by the determination of his students. More than
half of them want to study IT;
most say they hope to leave
Iraq to find good jobs in the
West. “I don’t know what the
future holds for Iraq, or even
for this university and its
students,” he says. “I do think
I’ve found a way to contribute
and to ‘do some good,’ in
some way.” x
–Rosemary Harty
OLEG: Bringing the Liberal Arts to Eurasia
In 2008, a group of students at
St. John’s College in Annapolis
launched a small campus
group called the Organization
for Liberal Education in
Georgia. Led by Nini
Aduashvili (A11), a native of
Georgia, and Noel Brockett
(A09), the group raised
enough funds to send four
students and a tutor to visit
New Gelati Academy, where a
fledgling liberal arts enterprise—based on the great books
program at St. John’s—is
underway.
This past summer, the partnership between St. John’s and
the academy moved to a new
level when two tutors and four
students went to Georgia to
lead a week of St. John’s-style
classes for New Gelati students
and faculty. They stayed in the
mountain lodge, Hotel Eureka,
where they read Pascal’s Treatise on Fluids and used the
hotel bar to carry out a simple
experiment demonstrating
Pascal’s theories.
The 26-hour trip was a little
grueling for Annapolis tutor
Patricia Locke, but otherwise
the trip was exhilarating, she
says. Sharing some of the
material and approaches of the
college with an audience eager
to learn about liberal arts
education was rewarding.
“They really have modeled
their program on the St. John’s
curriculum, and this week
gave them a sustained opportunity to see it in practice,”
Locke says. About eight faculty
members and a dozen students
took part in a seminar on the
Symposium, tutorials on
Shakespeare’s sonnets and on
the first book of Euclid, and
Locke’s improvised lab on
Pascal.
“We also wanted to show the
faculty members that they
could teach outside their fields
and that the classroom can be a
collaboration between teachers
and students,” Locke adds.
“They are so hungry for a
democratic way of doing
things.”
Also on the trip were
Aduashvili’s sister, Mariam
(A12), Nareg Sefarian (SF11),
and tutor Louis Petrich.
Private donors, especially
several generous alumni,
helped fund the trip, says
Brockett. The visitors toured
New Gelati facilities, on the
campus of Gigol Robakidze
University in Tbilisi, and
visited many of the local sights.
They saw the lingering effects
of the political strife that has
raked the region: refugee
camps and a strong military
presence, as well as poor living
conditions. They also encountered a rich and fascinating
Georgian culture, and warm
welcomes everywhere they
went. “It won’t be easy for this
academy to survive and grow,”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
Locke notes, “but the people
at the heart of New Gelati are
very dedicated.”
Previous visits to New Gelati
provided some introduction to
the Program, but did not illustrate the ways in which the
components of the college’s
academic program are integrated with community life,
says Brockett. “There’s a value
in having people study
together, but also being
together—eating meals
together, talking about the
books and the ideas,” he says.
“The students and the
professors were really pleased
with the program.”
They’re already planning a
return trip next summer; tutor
Eva Brann (HA87) is on board,
and Brockett would like to get
at least a dozen Johnnies to
make the trip. x
–Rosemary Harty
�{From the Bell Towers}
6
Keeping Good Books
in Good Order
perspective and bolster their
connection to the book as a
physical object.
Last year, Rachel Bartgis
(A09) worked with the library
to introduce a series of book
arts workshops. A few posters
appeared and the word traveled. Given that all 40 seats
were filled in six different workshops, it’s clear that Bartgis
sparked an interest in book arts
in more than a few students.
Various workshops covered the
basics of how to make a clothbound hardcover book with a
kettle-stitched text block; the
complete recasing of a book
with more detailed finishing
methods; fine paper and book
repair; and making leatherbound, long-stitch journals.
Bartgis unintentionally and
modestly points toward the
breadth of the skills she shared
by stating, “I’ve taught only
the most basic techniques:
replacing spines, mending torn
pages, resewing a book, and
recasing a worn-out volume.”
Well-used volumes await repair at the Greenfield Library
Her rapport with the students
fostered an effective, hands-on
learning environment.
Bartgis gained much of her
bookbinding experience as a
book and paper conservator at
the Maryland State Archives.
When asked what inspired her
to offer workshops at St.
John’s, she replied, “Johnnies
andrea brewer
A few days before St. John’s fall
semester begins, many of us
notice the copies of Don
Quixote or War and Peace on
the tables of downtown
Annapolis coffee shops or
apartment stoops. While this
sight fosters a peculiar sense of
community, seeing these great
books held open with a heavy
cup or a pack of cigarettes
brings to mind the damage that
Johnnies can inflict on their
books. A few stray ashes drift
into the crevices of War and
Peace. The weight of the cup
combined with the summer
heat is quickly breaking Don
Quixote’s spine.
As a librarian, one challenge
I face is the preservation of the
materials under the library’s
care. It’s a challenge that I love.
Addressing the signs of a
book’s steady deterioration
often reminds me of the strong
connection between Johnnies
and their books. Recently
St. John’s students have had the
chance to share this particular
andrea brewer
by Michael Waller,
Catalogue Librarian, Greenfield Library
love their books, and a good
book is worth keeping in
good order.”
Workshop participants
achieved varying skill levels,
but seemed to leave with an
increased appreciation of the
physical book and the craft
itself. After attending one of
the book repair workshops,
Thea Chimento (A10)
commented, “St. John’s can
be so cerebral and ‘thinky’
sometimes–I was really glad
that I had the chance to do
something practical, with
tangible results.”
Fortunately for students
interested in book arts, Bartgis
is offering more workshops this
year. She is currently working
full time for the Maryland State
Archives as a conservation
technician and will continue to
pass along her passion for book
arts in evening sessions at the
Greenfield Library. x
Rachel Bartgis (A09, right)
demonstrates a bookbinding
technique for Catherine
Fields (A12)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
Planning to Make
a Difference
Jim and Jana Carey of Annapolis
have ties to several educational
institutions, among them, the
university where Jim earned his
medical degree and the law
school where Jana earned her
JD. Yet it was not a difficult
decision for them, when
planning their estate, to
make generous provisions
for St. John’s.
“Once we became involved
with the college’s Executive
Seminars and learned more
about St. John’s and its
academic program, we felt
that St. John’s is every bit as
important to our intellectual
growth and stimulation, if not
more so, than our alma maters
have been,” says Jana Carey, a
member of the college’s Board
of Visitors and Governors.
“Even more importantly,” Jim
adds, “We became convinced
that it is essential for the good of
society and government to
maintain an institution that
provides the unique and
challenging educational experience that St. John’s provides,
and that produces graduates
who are so well-armed to be
responsible and creative
members of our society.”
The Careys also wanted to
support an institution in their
hometown where their gift
could make a measurable
difference. “Our gratitude for
St. John’s led us to put the
college at the top of our list for
planned giving.”
When they sat down to
prepare their wills, Leslie JumpWalker (A84) and her husband,
Ned, also thought about
St. John’s. Although her
husband is not an alumnus,
“We both have a passion for the
college,” she says, “and not just
the institution, but the ideals
St. John’s stands for. There’s
this wonderful and audacious
A Primer on Planned Giving
Within the larger umbrella of planned giving, donors have a
number of options from which to choose: A bequest in a will
is the easiest and most straightforward way to include
St. John’s. A bequest may include a specific amount of money,
personal property, or share of an estate. It is also possible to
make St. John’s the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or a
retirement account.
Gifts may be unrestricted, meaning that they are applied to
the college’s greatest priorities, such as financial aid. Donors
may also choose to designate their bequest for a specific
purpose that is especially meaningful to them, such as
endowing a scholarship to honor a favorite tutor. With a
bequest for an endowment, the college holds and invests the
funds permanently, using only the income generated by a
gift. Much of the college’s $128 million endowment is
comprised of such gifts.
A full account of planned giving possibilities is on the
college website: www.stjohnscollege.edu, click on “Giving”
and then on “Planned Giving.”
For more information, contact Barbara Goyette
(410-295-5554, barbara.goyette@sjca.edu) or Jim Osterholt
(505-984-6109 or josterholt@sjcsf.edu).
7
goal of creating
free men and
women of
children.”
Jump-Walker,
a partner in a
venture capital
firm supporting
global entrepreneurship, is
committed to
annual giving,
serves on the
college’s board,
and has been an
active volunteer
for many years.
Yet she and her
husband wanted
to do more.
“We like
being a part of
this dynamic
Leslie Jump-Walker and her husband, Ned,
community, and
have included St. John’s in their estate
in a small way,
planning.
being able to
help out with it,”
plans become members of the
she explains. “So when it came
Tocqueville Society. Retired
to planning for the future,
now from the University of
we took a sizeable percentage of
Maryland School of Law,
our whole estate and allocated
Tocqueville Society member
the largest percentage of it to
Alan Hornstein (AGI86) made
St. John’s.”
Gifts to St. John’s nurture and provisions for St. John’s because
the college is important to him.
sustain the college, and every
He’s remained closely involved
year St. John’s students benefit
with both St. John’s and Maryfrom the generosity of alumni,
land, where he taught for
parents, and friends who
32 years, served as associate
included the college in their
dean and acting dean and in a
estate plans. In 2009-2010,
number of other capacities.
for example, these gifts added
“I think it’s especially imporup to $3 million.
tant for lawyers, legal scholars,
“These gifts are really
wonderful for so many reasons,” and law students, many of whom
will be the leaders of our society,
says Barbara Goyette (A73),
to appreciate the Western
Annapolis vice president for
cultural tradition and to cultiAdvancement. “The thoughtful
vate the wisdom that ‘the best
recognition of the college is an
that has been thought and
affirmation that St. John’s has
influenced lives. Sometimes, the written’ can provide,” he says.
Hornstein also notes that he
estate gifts come as a complete
decided “a gift to St. John’s is
surprise because the donors
likely to have a much greater
have not informed the college.
I regret it when we cannot thank impact than a similar gift to an
institution with greater
people in advance for their
resources, where it would be
generosity, but we understand
just another drop in a very large
that often estate planning is a
bucket.” x
private matter.”
Those alumni and friends
who tell the college about their
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�8
{From the Bell Towers}
The Nook in the Woods
Perched on a rocky slope just
behind the upper dorms on the
Santa Fe campus is an elegant
but sturdy new structure.
Originally intended to be a
greenhouse, now described as a
“nook,” a sun shelter, and a
work of art, this campus addition was built by members of
the class of 2010—with their
own hands—as their gift to the
college.
The project had its genesis
three years ago, when the
campus greenhouse was
dismantled to build an access
road for Levan Hall construction, explains Kenny DeLapp
(SF10), one of the students
intimately involved in the
effort. The brick and adobe
walls, plus sculptures that
shared the site, were retained
for future rebuilding.
Preparation for a greenhouse
on a new site had begun when
students of a previous class
started digging a foundation,
using shovels and picks, not
hydraulic hammers or backhoes. Then the effort
languished until it was chosen
by ballot as the class gift
project. While the class of 2010
considered several options,
“the greenhouse/senior shelter
was something that we could
actually see to the end, put our
own work into, and know that it
would be put to good use by
future Johnnies,” says Stefanie
Wessel (SF10).
David Perrigo, the
consulting architect on Levan
Hall, who also designed and
constructed the original greenhouse (pro bono), donated his
time to the design of the new
structure. Before proceeding, a
group of students met with
Perrigo to talk about design and
budget. Students contributed
$5,300 to the construction,
mainly via donations of
remaining funds from their
caution accounts. Polity came
up with $600 to pay for mate-
rials while funds were being
raised.
One week after Spring Break
2010, work resumed in earnest.
Buildings and Grounds staff
trucked adobe blocks from the
original greenhouse to a dropoff area between Meem Library
and the lower dorms; then
students used wheelbarrows to
cart the blocks down the footpath. Stuccoing, employing the
time-honored recipe of mud,
straw, and water, was
completed before summer.
About a third of the senior
class worked on the site, guided
by a core group of students who
had building experience. Mia
Carbone completed much of
the flagstone work; Asa
Gorman brought his masonry
experience to the project; and
DeLapp applied the knowledge
that comes from being a part of
a family of engineers. In early
August, students tackled the
final phase. “We cut the
mortise and tenon joints with
chisels and a chainsaw, fit and
bolted the beams together,
raised the frame, and cut and
raised the vigas all within a
week,” DeLapp says with a
mixture of pride and amazement. During that same week,
Simon Tajiri (SF10) organized
the completion of the bricklaying. Tin panels were fastened
over the vigas for the roof, and
the low back and side adobe
walls were topped with additional bricks to provide protection against wear and tear.
Assisted by college staff,
students brought diverse skills
to the project. “Stef learned
how to feed crowds from
helping with meals on college
rafting trips, and Kenny and I
both had resources and skills we
picked up in our lab jobs,” says
Alysia Johnson (SF10). “B&G
employees were key sources of
information about New
Mexican landscaping and
places to find sledgehammers.
We used geometric aesthetics
we picked up freshman year,
combined with a design I saw
used for aikido mats at the gym,
to plan the bricks for the floor.
The entire greenhouse was
built in discussion with each
other, in a truly Johnnie way.”
Calling the structure a
“greenhouse” is a misnomer, at
least for now. After the project
was chosen for the senior gift,
the design was altered, in part
because of cost, says DeLapp.
An enclosed structure with
specialized greenhouse glass
would run about $10,000. “It
became a shade structure,”
Perrigo says. “You could even
call it a sculpture.” Perrigo’s
design—as implemented by the
students—allows for glass to be
added later.
With its open side facing
south toward Monte Sol and
a roof pitched to provide
maximum shade in summer
and maximum sun in winter,
the structure “now is an
outdoor classroom area,”
DeLapp says. “It’s a nook in
the woods where you can go
and read and hang out.”
While he shared building
skills, Perrigo says, students
provided “the labor and
imagination.”
“It was fun,” adds Wessel.
“Working with our hands,
when we’d just spent four years
in our heads, hanging out with
people we’d gone through four
years with, listening to music
and cooking good food in the
sun: what could be better?” x
–Deborah Spiegelman
The Santa Fe class of 2010
invested labor and love in the
sun shelter they built on
campus.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
9
Eyes on the Skies
For nearly half a century,
freshmen in Annapolis filed into
the McKeldin Planetarium to see
how Ptolemy’s “motion of the
same” and “motion of the other”
play out in the night sky. The
planetarium shows were
projected onto the 24-foot diameter dome of the planetarium by a
Spitz A-2, a mechanical projector
that was state-of-the art when the
planetarium opened in 1961.
Anne Frazier (A10) has fond
memories of Ptolemy and the
planetarium. “I do remember
that someone would have to hit
the machine at times to get the
sun to come back—it would just
disappear.”
Both elegant and imposing in
form, the old projector was
limited to providing a picture of
the daily motion of the sky about
the polar axis and the path of Sun,
explains tutor James Beall, who
oversees the planetarium and
observatory in Annapolis.
That’s why Beall was delighted
that the Class of 2010 chose, as a
parting gift to St. John’s, to
underwrite a better solution for
the planetarium.
Beall had investigated the
possibility of buying a digital
projector, but the cost turned out
to be prohibitive. After
researching options, he realized
that a home theater projector
outfitted with a fish-eye lens—
combined with free software—
could provide high-resolution
images equal in clarity to that of
the mechanical projector.
The senior class donated
enough from their caution fees to
cover the purchase, installation
and assembly of the projector, the
lenses and some auxiliary equipment. Gillian Brockett (A07) and
Ian McCracken (A04) donated a
laptop computer to the project.
Alison Whaley (A12), who worked
as Beall’s assistant last summer,
helped install and adjust the
system. Anna Flies and Chelsea
Adams (both A12) helped
program the software that runs
the digital planetarium program.
The new projector and software
go beyond freshman year to give
tutors the opportunity to illustrate concepts studied throughout
the undergraduate Program—one
of the best selling points of the
Linking College and Community
On the first day of September, there was a hint of fall in the air in
Santa Fe–and the unmistakable aroma of fresh popcorn and
cookies. Students devoured the treats, examined materials, pocketed freebies, and learned about the services and opportunities
available in the greater Santa Fe community, the central focus of
the first St. John’s College Community Day. Representatives from
17 arts and service organizations and businesses turned out for
this event. “It’s about introducing communities to each other, ”
says Susan Berk of the Diva Group, who spearheaded the event.
Karen Ralston, from the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA),
described the event as “a fabulous two-way street.” Students
contribute to the Santa Fe community by volunteering, and
nonprofit organizations such as CCA provide internships. In fact,
volunteering and internships were prominent themes for the day,
as organizations including the local public radio station and
Habitat for Humanity set up tables to attract potential recruits
and supporters. At KSFR, the public station which supports the
college’s Music on the HillTM summer concert series, students can
answer the phones during fundraising drives or contribute as
journalists to the the station’s newscasts, says Linda Highhill.
Johnnies seeking to get outdoors and work with their hands had
the chance to talk with Habitat for Humanity representatives.
A computer and home theater projector have replaced the old
projector in McKeldin Planetarium; showing off the new equipment are (l. to r.) Amanda Lu (A12), tutor Jim Beall, Anna Flies
(A12), and Noah Litvin (A12).
gift for seniors, Frazier noted.
Sophomores studying Ptolemy in
the first semester will be able to
see the motions of Venus and
Mercury with respect to the Sun,
motions which Ptolemy illustrates
in the Almagest. The projector
can also show the independent
motion of the moons of Jupiter,
which Newton in his Principia
describes as being like a miniature solar system. The relation of
Jupiter’s moons is an example of
Newton’s inverse square law. “We
can show the junior mathematics
tutorial what Newton meant, and
it doesn’t take weeks or months as
it would in the observatory,” Beall
says. The projector will even be
useful for senior math, as it can
show how the appearance of the
stars is changed near the velocity
of light.
The mechanical projector will
eventually be housed in a display
case in Mellon Hall, along with
other beautiful instruments from
past decades. x
“We make it easy to volunteer,” explains Nancy Phillips, development director. Students can sign up online to work on a project
locally, and during the spring, Habitat participates in the national
organization’s Collegiate Challenge, which draws volunteers from
around the country for an alternative-break program.
Inducements to students included ticket giveaways (courtesy of
the Lensic Perfoming Arts Center) and coupons from local stores.
Representatives from the banks and local newspaper touted their
services; artistic and entertainment venues specifically for young
people (Site Santa Fe and Warehouse 21) were on hand; and the
Santa Fe Council on International Relations invited students to
join them for dialogue and activities.
Whether attracted by giveaways or community-service work,
students steadily stopped by tables and talked with the participants’ representatives. At the same time, Berk observes, these
organizations and businesses made connections that she hoped
would lead to expanded relationships with the college. Participants attended a luncheon and then toured the campus before the
event began. “St. John’s hospitality is incredible,” Berk adds.
Santa Fe President Michael Peters was delighted by the turnout.
“It is evidence of everyone’s interest in making connections.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
—Deborah Spiegelman
�10
{From the Bell Towers}
News and Announcements
Questions and Paradoxes
For 10 years, St. John’s sent the
same “viewbook”—marketing
lingo for the key admissions
publication—to prospective
students. The award-winning
booklet, distinguished by its
plain brown cover, classic type
style, and black-and-white
photography, served the
college well, says Annapolis
Admissions Director John
Christensen. Yet it was decided
last fall that a different presentation is needed for today’s
college-bound teenagers.
Focusing on “paradoxes”
and “questions,” the new viewbook describes how questions
are at the heart of the Program
and explores the college’s
apparent contradictions. For
example: “St. John’s students
have little freedom to choose
their classes, but nearly unlimited freedom to pursue their
questions and ideas.” Vibrant
color photography of each
campus makes up half the
book; the other half provides a
comprehensive overview of the
Program and reading list,
student life on each campus,
and profiles of students, tutors,
and alumni.
North Charles Street Design
Organization interviewed
dozens of people in the college
community, and sat in on
classes before creating the
viewbook and other
publications sent to students
and their parents. A
collegewide committee
comprising faculty and staff
guided the process. Tutor Judy
Seeger, who served on the
committee, had some initial
concerns about how well an
admissions marketing firm
could capture the distinctive
nature of the college. In the
end, Seeger says, “They did a
remarkable job seeing and
saying who we are.”
To see the new publications,
visit stjohnscollege.edu/admissions/publications.shtml.
Mellon Grant Supports
Laboratory Review
A $250,000 grant from the
Mellon Foundation is
supporting a comprehensive
review of freshmen and senior
laboratory, with the goal of
having new experiments and
manuals in place by the fall of
2012. The foundation, whose
mission is to strengthen and
sustain institutions and their
core capacities, awarded the
college the grant last March.
The laboratory review comes in
response to concern that the
latter half of the senior year
doesn’t raise as many thoughtprovoking questions as the
first-semester readings on the
foundations of quantum
mechanics. The goal of the
project is to shift the focus of
the curriculum from a
“modern synthesis” view to the
emerging view of evolutionary
developmental biology.
Last summer, five faculty
members familiarized themselves with fields of biology that
might be pertinent to the
second semester of the senior
laboratory. This coming
spring, three faculty members
will devote time to working on
A new college viewbook
presents the paradoxes of
the Program.
the curriculum, and in the
summer, a faculty member
will finalize a report with
recommendations. The project
will lead to the creation of new
lab manuals and experiments
for both the freshmen and
senior years.
Johnnie Wins Fellowship
to Visit Saudia Arabia
Thanks to a cultural immersion
fellowship from the National
Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, GALEN MANCINO (SF12)
went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
last June on a trip designed to
foster stronger Arab-U.S.
understanding. With eight
other students from across the
nation, Mancino, of Silver
Spring, Md., spent 10 days
touring the nation. The visit
included meetings with Saudi
Arabian educators, businessmen, and civil society
leaders in addition to American diplomats and visits to
sites of historical and cultural
interest. x
A New Career
Services Director
in Annapolis
Jaime Dunn, the new
director of Career Services
in Annapolis, believes in the
value of building relationships. Even in this age of
online applications and
social media networking,
making a personal contact
can open doors. “Now more
Career Services Director
than ever, networking is so
Jaime Dunn
important. You can spend
hours applying for jobs, but
unless you are making human contact and having
informational interviews, you won’t make the connections
that may help you in your career,” says Dunn.
For Dunn, an informational lunch meeting led to an
internship in judicial affairs at Ohio State University, where
she earned a doctorate in higher education administration.
At Ohio State, Dunn also gained valuable research experience
by volunteering in the Financial Aid and First Year Experience
offices for special projects.
Prior to joining St. John’s, Dunn worked as a program assistant at the College of William & Mary’s Washington, D.C.,
office. She managed programs for alumni relations, students,
and young alumni career and graduate school advising. In her
new role in Annapolis, she advises both current students and
alumni on career searches, and she’s optimistic about opportunities in spite of the dismal job market. “Liberal arts continue
to be valued by employers,” says Dunn. “Oral and written
communications skills are huge: the ability to read, write, and
analyze. How you represent yourself is so important.”
Dunn plans to offer more networking events that connect
alumni with current students who want to learn about career
options, graduate school, and where the jobs are. “St. John’s
alumni are a close-knit community and undergraduates need
to use these resources and the mentoring they offer,”
says Dunn. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
—By Patricia Dempsey
�{From the Bell Towers}
Great Texts
I read “Kant on a Kindle”
(Spring 2010) with great
interest. Ever since e-readers
appeared (I bought a RocketBook in 1999), I have thought
how marvelous it would be to
have the entire Program reading
list in one place—a 0.5 inch-,
not a 5-foot-shelf.
As Mr. Dink notes, the presence of line numbers is important to the classroom viability of
electronic versions of the texts,
and more important still is the
availability of good translations.
A quick check of Amazon.com
returns downloadable translations of Fagles and Fitzgerald for
Homer, Ciardi for Dante,
Lombardo for Virgil, and more.
The prices seem competitive
with the paper editions, and may
in some cases be lower.
Accessing electronic versions
of the texts may in fact have
many advantages, as students
could have a better feel for the
way the text was originally
presented to its audience. The
digitization projects of academic
libraries mean anyone can read,
from page images, early editions
of the Program’s English
language texts—Shakespeare,
Milton, Hobbes, Austen, etc.
We bring different editions of
the same reading to the seminar
table. Beyond discussions of
translation, I do not recall any
discussion of publishing history,
typography, binding, or bibliography—descriptive, textual or
analytical. And from a “hardware” standpoint, a student who
brings a folio edition of the
Bible to the seminar table could
be as potentially distracting as
one with an iPad. . . .
I recently found the copy of
Paradise Lost that I read for my
1985 junior essay. This paperback edition—awful paper, lousy
printing, undecipherable notes
(one of the very few times I ever
wrote in the margins)—argues
better than I can for the poem as
a great text, not a great book. (I
also have it on my iPad, Kindle,
and in a six-volume complete
works of Milton, bound in black
morocco leather and published
in London, 1801.)
A new discussion of what we
mean when we say “great book”
seems due.
Melissa S. Mead (A86)
Back on the Shelf
Regarding the “What Makes A
Novel Great?” poll (Spring
2010): Isn’t the moral clear? Put
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter and
Woolf’s To the Lighthouse back
on the shelf, and replace them
in class with that sublime
greatest book, Melville’s MobyDick, and/or Steinbeck’s
Grapes of Wrath, Faulkner’s
The Sound and the Fury.
I vote for biblical Steinbeck
far and away over prolix,
pumped-up Billy Faulkner.
But hey, who’s to say whose
proper words in proper places
is totally best?
John Dean (A70)
Dancing Ideas
I have always felt bad about not
being more interested in The
College and would always sort
through it, but rarely read more
than the captions and/or a few
paragraphs of any article.
I was riveted by the Spring
2010 edition. I knew immediately the editor was a woman.
The articles were interesting on
many different levels. The relationships between people were
brought out. The publication
stepped out of black and white
and dullness into color and
vivid, almost dancing ideas.
Thank you for renewing my
interest in my alma mater by
your insightful topics and
breadth of subject matter.
I cannot wait for the next
edition. I can only hope that you
will be behind many more.
Janet Farr (SF76)
“St. John’s Forever”
With all due respect to [tutor]
Tom May (“We are the Danaans
to your Troy,” Spring 2010),
I couldn’t disagree more with
him about his proposal for a
new hymn in place of St. John’s
Forever (officially “St. John’s
College March”). The reasons
are many.
First, at the most basic level,
“St. John’s Forever” has a
different melody than the Navy
Hymn, which is very helpful in
distinguishing it from the latter
song when the listeners are not
close enough to hear the words.
Mr. May’s proposal is the
musical equivalent of having
the St. John’s team dress in
Yachting Dress Baker, but
substituting the seal of the New
Program in place of that of the
Naval Academy on the sweater—
you’d have to get really close to
tell the difference.
In addition, as Annapolitans
unfortunate enough to have
lived on Prince George Street
when I lived off campus in 1983
and 1984 can attest, far from
being a Franz Liszt reject
“St. John’s Forever” is a simple
tune that is very singable either
before, during or after a few
too many beers.
Far from being dated,
“St. John’s Forever” expresses
classic sentiments about
St. John’s college—both
campuses. Mr. May’s doggerel,
on the other hand, is croquetfocused and more about the
Naval Academy than about
St. John’s.
Also, contrary to Mr. May’s
assertion, there is no mention
of “Men of St. John’s” in the
song. It is instead a uniting
song—bringing Johnnies
together in support of their
alma mater. Since “St. John’s
Forever” was written during
the period when the college
was a military academy, it does
mention “son” and “brothers,”
but it can be easily brought into
this century. The third line can
be modified to “Her loyal children pledge her their hearts
and hands,” and “siblings” can
be substituted for “brothers”
in the fourth line for suitable
gender-neutrality....
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
11
And finally, while the words
are by a Johnnie—R. Graham
Moss (class of 1911)—the music
is by the then assistant leader
of the USNA band, Adolph
Torovsky. The song, like the
croquet match, is something
that the schools have created
together.
So please, rather than relegating “St. John’s Forever” to
the title of the end photo of
The College, teach it to the
students. That way my reactionary old classmates and I
won’t have to celebrate the
school in song by ourselves.
St. John’s Forever; her fame
can never die
Fight for her colors, we’ll raise
them to the sky
Each loyal son pledges his
heart and hand
For her united we as brothers
stand
Adrian Trevisan (A84)
Editor’s note: Mr. May has not
proposed replacing “St. John’s
Forever” as the official St. John’s
song; rather, he chose to introduce an alternative to be sung at
croquet.
The College welcomes your
letters. Those under 500 words
have a better chance of being
printed in full; letters may be
edited for length/and or clarity.
Please address letters to:
The College Magazine,
St. John’s College, Box 2800,
Annapolis, MD 21404, or e-mail
rosemary.harty@sjca.edu.
�{Commencement}
12
PARTING WORDS
The Way of St. John’s
A
world-renowned vintner and the executive director
of a literary and human rights organization had
parting words for graduates in Annapolis and Santa
Fe last May, with each commenting on the ways in
which the Program has readied students for their
next adventures in life. In Annapolis on May 16,
99 seniors and 26 Graduate Institute students joined the ranks of
alumni; on May 22 in Santa Fe, 89 seniors and 20 GIs received
their diplomas.
Warren Winiarski (class of 1952), founder of Stag’s Leap Wine
Cellars and a longtime member of the college’s Board of Visitors
and Governors, shared how the classics shaped his view of the
world, and ultimately, his business. Winiarski was a graduate
student and lecturer at the University of Chicago when he packed
up his young family and moved to California to pursue winemaking. He won lasting fame when in the Paris Tasting of 1976
Stag’s Leap wine triumphed over France’s best—bringing
international attention to the quality of California wines.
In describing his journey, Winiarski rooted his quest to make a
truly excellent wine in some of the lessons he took away from the
college: “So what was it like learning the skills of a body and soul
to become a wine maker and a grape grower? It was, in many ways,
of the ‘way’ of the St. John’s curriculum—by means of books and
balances, getting down to the bottom of each step in a complex
sequence of things that can be described by means of some of the
methods you all have used in your curriculum inquiries: ‘what is
it,’ ‘how is it,’ ‘where,’ ‘how much or little,’ and similar modes of
pinning things down.”
gary pierpoint
by Rosemary Harty (AGI09)
Warren Winiarski (class of 1952) told graduates how St. John’s
led him to success as a vintner.
The commencement speaker in Santa Fe was Steven L.
Isenberg, executive director of the PEN American Center, the
largest chapter of International PEN, the world’s oldest international literary and human rights organization. A former professor
and media executive, Isenberg commended the graduates for
choosing an education that will serve them for a lifetime:
“You have made your way through unfamiliar subjects, overcoming unease through careful reading, listening and absorbing,
then fashioning understandings in your writing until you felt
confidence and skill growing in you, making you ready for the next
adventure,” Isenberg said. “Your experience here has given you
skills and sensibilities which, as they might have said in New
Mexico in the long ago, will be in your saddle bags forever. That
cast of mind, a readiness to learn and an alert curiosity ever alive,
needs constant care throughout your life.”
Both speeches can be found on the college’s website:
www.stjohnscollege.edu x
PEN American Center Executive Director Steven Isenberg advised
Santa Fe graduates to keep their curiosity alive.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Commencement}
Clockwise from top: Annapolis tutor Henry
Higuera with 2010 Annapolis graduate
Christopher Hearse and Hearse’s girlfriend Pallas Snider and mother Susan
Hearse; Josiah Stephens awaits the process;
Eleanor Peters was among the commencement guests; Santa Fe graduates; Santa Fe
president Michael Peters; and Annapolis
graduates Macall Moran, Ben Hutchins,
Michael Mowery, Paul Morrill, Everett
Roberts, and Miranda Helck.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
13
�{Liberty}
14
IN DEFENSE OF
LIBERT Y
Johnnies Serve in War and Peace
by Patricia Dempsey
“War isn’t courtesy, it’s the vilest thing in the world,
and we must understand that and not play at war.
We must take this terrible necessity sternly and seriously. That’s the whole point: to cast out the lie, and
if it’s war it’s war, and not a game.”
F
Tolstoy, War and Peace
rom the battles of Troy to
Prince Andrei’s sleepless
night on the eve of his last
battle, many of the works read
at St. John’s speak of war.
These books deal with honor
and courage, and with fear
and death. They show the
terrible losses, as when Patroclus rides off in Achilles’ armor to his brutal death,
and the victories, as when Kutuzov weeps and
thanks God that “Russia is saved.”
Generations of Johnnies have left their books to go
to war, beginning in the Civil War, when students left
to fight and the campus in Annapolis became a parole
camp, then a hospital. Military training was compulsory at the college for a good part of its history. The
Alumni Memorial Table on the front campus, next to
a replica of the Liberty Bell, honors the 24 alumni
who lost their lives during World War I; 452 fought in
that war. Again in World War II, many Johnnies left
their studies for war, and older veterans returned to
take up the great books.
Johnnies who have served in the military in both
war and peacetime share their stories. One alumnus
talks of his struggles with Post-traumatic Stress
Disorder; another speaks to her work trying to help
soldiers recover from the trauma of war. Whatever
drew them to military service, their goal was to serve
with honor—and stay alive.
Aaron Bisberg, class of 1944, experienced sleepless nights while serving in the Pacific with the U.S.
Army Air Force. He kept a diary, and wrote of
missing his home, spending long, hot days working
and waiting, and taking cover during bombing raids.
His diary recounts fear and terror. “Those few
seconds hearing the bomb—the cold afterward. It’s
not like fighting—it isn’t fighting—it’s only praying.”
Bisberg’s story is not that different from the
account of a military intelligence officer, a captain,
who brought home images from his tour of duty in
Iraq that will stay with him forever. In his reflections
about his experience, he quotes Thucydides: “And
when people are entering upon a war they do things
the wrong way around. Action comes first, and it is
only when they have already suffered that they begin
to think.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Liberty}
“Those few seconds hearing the bomb—the cold afterward.
It’s not like fighting—it isn’t fighting—it’s only praying.”
--Aaron Bisberg, class of 1944.
Ethan Brooks (A10) began his service with the Marines right after his graduation in May.
“This was a different kind of war; you were surrounded by the tension
of potential conflict, the zinging bullets of ambush raids.”
-- David Nau (A81)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
15
�16
{Liberty}
One Day at a Time
Aaron Bisberg (class of 1944)
Aaron Bisberg (class of 1944) volunteered to serve in the
U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. On June 21,
1943, he embarked as a sergeant on the USS Mount Vernon;
he worked as an airplane mechanic for the Pacific Fighter
Fleet (5th Air Force) island hopping on a variety of vessels
for two and a half years. Bisberg kept a journal that chronicled military life in Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines,
and Japan. These excerpts capture the realities of life
at war:
Japs may make a last desperate effort to stop us by sending
a couple of thousand planes against the Okinawa base. . . .
What if I should wake up tomorrow and find that the war
is ended?”
August 11, 1945
“It was 10:10 p.m. I was tossing in bed, just about asleep.
The boat speaker sputtered and I heard, ‘Wake up, boys,
wake up and hear the good news.’ I said to myself, this must
be it. It was. Japan accepts. . . . The skipper allowed no
more news out—the war for us was still on.”
November 3, 1945
“Set foot on American soil at 5:30 p.m.”
September 10, 1944
Japan
“[A]t 0330 hours on Saturday we had a ten-plane raid and
were it not for the fact that I was scared stiff, I might have
enjoyed the show. When the alert came, we headed for the
ditch. . . . [T]he hum of airplane engines reached our ears
. . . . The guns opened up. Jones said, ‘Now listen for the
bombs.’ Their hum lasted maybe five seconds. How I sweat.
Down, down, awfully close and using a big ditch instead of
a decent foxhole. They hit down the road and we were safe.
. . . After that run I became cold—so cold I was shivering and
couldn’t control it. . . . Again an airplane. . . . He was flying
high—about 20,000 feet, I guessed—but with all the lights
on him, he radiated. He was over our ditch, every gun firing
at him. . . . All we could do is curse the lousy shooting and
curse the strategists for not sending up night fighters. . . .
Unreasonable thoughts, but being cold on a hot equatorial
island is unreasonable, too. . . . Everyone has the same
thought, ‘He’s aiming for me.’ ”
August 10, 1945
Off coast of Japan
“Last two days have been filled with thoughts of quick end
to the war and living until it does end. Okinawa is hot and
we know it. Jap suicides are working over it continuously.
We have to pull in, beach and unload; a long job during
which we’re always open to fire. There is a list of 80 names
that are to stay at the boat and unload. . . . One of the
80 names is Bisberg. Rumors have it that we are going to . . .
a little island off the northwest coast called Ie Jima. . . . The
Bisberg returned home to Mount Vernon, New York. Today
he lives in Florida and attends a monthly St. John’s seminar
in Miami. During his retirement from “many careers,”
Bisberg lived for eight years on a 40-foot diesel cruiser,
piloting it from Connecticut to Florida and then to the
Bahamas.
Submerged Hunter
Dana Netherton (A72)
“Left full rudder. Steady on course three one five.”
As the officer on deck of a nuclear-powered submarine in
the 1970s, Dana Netherton (A72) gave rudder orders and
compass bearings to the helmsman, in search of a Soviet sub
deep in the Mediterranean. It sounds like a scene out of Tom
Clancy’s novel, Hunt for Red October, in which American
and Soviet submarine captains engage in a pulse-pounding,
cat-and-mouse pursuit. A self-described “Red-October-era
sub officer,” Netherton points out the novel’s few inaccuracies. One “dramatic effect”—the explosion of the Soviet
sub’s nuclear reactor “like an atomic bomb,” says
Netherton, “wouldn’t happen. A nuclear reactor is a heat
source, not an explosive; it doesn’t just explode any more
than a log burning in a fireplace would behave like a
firecracker.”
Netherton served as an officer on two nuclear-powered
submarines, USS Nathan Hale and USS Lapon. Now
decommissioned, they had cutting-edge missle-aiming
technologies in their day. The Nathan Hale had Poseidon
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At the Submarine Training Center at
Naval Base Charleston, S.C., in 1977,
officers of the USS Nathan Hale’s Gold
Crew wear gold dolphin insignia to celebrate their qualification in submarines.
Dana Netherton (A72), 26, stands second
from the right in the back row.
missiles that could strike stationary Cold War targets 4,000
miles away. Both subs used evolving “sound” technology,
such as passive sonar—accurately portrayed in Hunt for Red
October—to track submerged submarines. Sophisticated
electronics detected the quiet tones emitted by Soviet
nuclear submarines. “If you are close enough,” says
Netherton, “you can hear the distinctive sound of the drain
pump, bilge, and propeller of a Soviet-class sub, but the
trick is to detect them far away.”
Nuclear engineering was far from Netherton’s mind in
1969, the height of the Vietnam-era draft, when as a sophomore in Santa Fe, he learned of his draft number—27. “You
checked the newspaper daily to see if your number had been
chosen,” he recalls. During the fall of his junior year in
Annapolis, where he had transferred, Netherton toured a
diesel boat at the Naval Academy. He was intrigued. “The
Air Force didn’t want someone with glasses and I’m not
athletic enough to be a Marine. Army draftees don’t get
commissions as officers,” he says. “I didn’t want to drop in a
rice paddy with a rifle.” After Navy officer candidate school
in Newport, R.I. and intense nuclear-sub training,
Netherton deployed on the Nathan Hale at 23. His mission,
perhaps less publicized than the Vietnam War, was to
prevent global thermo-nuclear war: “We searched for Soviet
subs that might threaten American carrier ships in the
event the Cold War became a hot one.”
Netherton volunteered and was accepted without an engineering degree, he says, because the Navy “was desperate
for young officers to man the nuclearpowered surface ships as well as the
submarines they were building.” He
shed St. John’s inquiry method to
focus on quantitative answers to questions. There was no margin for error
on a sub. “You had to be in the right
frame of mind on board. You had to
have a firm grasp of the sub’s engineering and design—and respect for the limits it placed on
us,” he says. Given the potential radioactive hazards,
“nuclear engineering is not something you can fudge or
have a gut feel for.”
These potential hazards added to already stressful conditions: the claustrophobia of 120 men crammed in close
quarters and the disorienting lack of natural light, which
jostled the men’s circadian rhythms and made many feel
groggy. “We weren’t impaired, but were not as mentally
flexible as if rested,” says Netherton. To this day, as a
suburban dad and retired Navy Reservist in his hometown of
St. Louis, Netherton carries a small flashlight. “There is
nothing like the darkness in a submerged submarine.”
Deep in the Mediterranean on the USS Lapon, searching
for Soviet subs during the summer of 1978, Netherton was
confident in its sophisticated missle-aiming technologies.
Yet moving enemy targets could be difficult to find, even
with the advances in passive sonar and cryptology. “Tucked
away in the radio compartment, cryptologic technicians had
hushed talks with the captain,” says Netherton. They were
probably decoding Soviet-radio naval traffic, he says, but
such intelligence wasn’t widely shared.
“In the Med we heard a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine,” says Netherton. Among many maneuvers the Lapon
was steering wide S-curves or figure-eights, with technicians watching how the bearings or directions to the contact
changed in sets of patterns. “If you could hold the contact
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“There is a real sense of common purpose in the Marines.”
David Nau (A81)
on sonar long enough, you would figure out how far away it
was, and roughly how fast it was going and in what direction,” he says. Yet they could never “get a real sniff.” Much
like the clever Soviet captain in The Hunt for Red October,
the Soviet sub in the Med proved elusive. “We heard it,” says
Netherton. “But we never found it.”
K eeping the Peace
David Nau (A81)
On a remote mountaintop in South Korea, David Nau (A81)
discovered something that he would carry with him for the
rest of his life. As a Marine Corps officer with a battalion
based out of Okinawa, Nau spent two winters in South Korea,
where his regiment supplied artillery support for tanks, helicopters, and hundreds of infantry that were “keeping the
peace” between the country’s divided north and south.
Amid dangers of ambush, Nau and his forward observation
team of two Marines routinely marched several miles from
base camp—a desert area rimmed by mountains—to a mountaintop observation point to bury their trash. “A few food
rations no one could stand to eat got buried along with the
trash,” he says. On one such trek, the Marines discovered
that starving villagers were digging up their trash pit: “They
had taken the wrappers, the half-eaten tin of peanut butter,
even the tiniest bit of powder in a hot chocolate packet.”
On their return march, Nau and his team stopped at the
first hut they saw to donate their unused food.
“The woman at the door spoke no English,
her children hid behind her skirt, and she was
crying in joy. Our trash was her treasure,” says
Nau. Back home, he notes, “there were
fistfights over Cabbage Patch dolls. Here we
were in South Korea, feeding the human
spirit. I never lost that sense of perspective. I
knew I had to carry that home with me.”
In the left breast pocket of his camouflage
shirt, Nau also carried a well-thumbed copy of
the New Testament. Some soldiers become
cynical, but Nau deepened his spiritual
convictions and discovered an “esprit de
corps,” he says, that “I’ve never experienced
anywhere else. There is a real sense of
common purpose in the Marines. Our conversations were
often about virtue and honor.”
Coming from a family of career military officers, Nau
volunteered to be a Marine when he was a sophomore at St.
John’s: “I read about honor and thought about enlisting. It
was something challenging I could do.” At commencement,
he was formally commissioned as a second lieutenant in the
U.S. Marine Corps; after he received his diploma, Nau took
off his cap and gown and stepped back onstage in uniform.
That summer he headed to officer candidate school in Quantico, Virginia. It was 1979; the Vietnam War had ended in
1975, when “people were spitting on soldiers who served
overseas. It was not a popular time to join the military,” says
Nau.
Nau believed in his Cold War mission: “In different ways
around the world, Americans had a presence; just having a
presence can prevent invasion and attack.” Nau and his
fellow artillery Marines were in South Korea in the mid1980s through a “loophole” in the 1953 truce that ended the
war between North and South Korea. Although the truce
forbade permanent Marine presence, the Marines “visited”
South Korea on temporary rotations from October to March
for many years. If North Koreans were to invade, they would
probably choose the less rainy winter, without “boggy rice
paddies that make it difficult to move armor and trucks,”
says Nau.
On his first rotation in South Korea, Nau was attached to
an infantry company as a forward
observer, who “calls for military indirect
or artillery fire; in this case the shooter
cannot see the target,” says Nau. With his
battalion, he marched for miles through
dangerous countryside. With his two-man
team, he found observation points on
remote mountaintops. “Before leaving
base camp, we had to check with Korean
intelligence,” says Nau. “This was a
different kind of war; you were surrounded
David Nau (A81) carried this New Testament
with him. From his favorite passage, Hebrews
13: 5-6: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be
afraid. What can man do to me?”
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David Nau (A81) and his forward operations team
in South Korea.
by the tension of potential conflict, the zinging bullets of
ambush raids.”
There were also civilian spies. The South Koreans and
their allies discovered long tunnels dug from North Korea
under the demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel, the
1950s battle line. “The North Korean people look and dress
the same, speak the same language—so it was very easy for
them to infiltrate,” explains Nau.
Several years after his overseas service, Nau was promoted
to captain in the Reserves. He taught at The Basic School in
Quantico before attending Lutheran Theological Seminary
in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Now an administrator at
St. John’s United Church of Christ in Catonsville, Md., Nau
finds that his work is not that different from the Marines.
“We have a common purpose. You do whatever has to be
done.” He still has his pocket-size New Testament, with
pages “crinkly from dampness, but quite readable.”
“War is getting harder all the time. We engage in total
warfare that includes civilians,” with youths “who blow up
themselves and others,” says Nau. “We are asking our young
soldiers to give up part of themselves.”
Learning How to Be a Soldier
Robert Morris (SF04)
Wading thigh-high in the murky swamps of south Florida,
Robert Morris (SF04), then an infantry officer candidate in
the Army’s Ranger School, faced facts: “At St. John’s,
I learned why to be soldier, but not how.”
After five months of training, which should
have taken only 63 days, Morris was kicked
out of Ranger School.
Ironically, Morris’s failure was due to his
strength—thoughtful decision making. “I
knew how to lead, but I believed in consulting
subordinates for consensus,” says Morris.
“In real war, there is a danger in not listening
to your men; they will stop telling you what
they think. But in Ranger School, my
thoughtful consideration was misinterpreted
as indecisiveness.”
The brigade commander tapped Morris for a different
kind of leadership in high-tech surveillance warfare. From
2006 to 2007, he led a technical-intelligence platoon of
20 soldiers in Afghanistan, introducing unmanned aircraft
technology to determine enemy positions in hostile territories. “The cameras on the aircraft provided day-and-night
video, these images were sent to laptops and televisions
in our camps,” says Morris. “It was safer and cushier
than being in the infantry, but we had a big impact on the
war effort.”
He’s proud of his platoon’s “finds”: Near the Pakistani
border, “we found a company of about 100 enemy soldiers
carrying weapons, not wearing uniforms.” Another
discovery saved children’s lives: “We saw trucks gathering
at a home,” he says. Later “it was clear there were about a
dozen children and at least one woman there. We reversed
the battalion’s decision to take action against the house.”
Morris and his platoon deployed to small cities like
Ghazni and Khost, valleys rimmed by mountains 6,000 to
20,000 feet high, and farmland along the trade route from
Kabul through the Khyber Pass. Among many targets for
collecting data was the remote Korangal Valley, dubbed
“the deadliest place on earth” by a soldier in the documentary Restrepo. Amid rugged terrain and extremes of heat,
wind-driven dust, and snow, they searched for enemy
encampments, reconnaissance, and hidden guerilla targets.
Since the Taliban and their allies usually do not use aircraft,
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“This cigar is the last
nicotine I ever consumed,”
says Robert Morris (SF04)
(far right), celebrating
“our first big success after
a month of high-tempo
operations in Afghanistan.”
mission.
But
Morris
“discovered that war
doesn’t get me any closer to
defining virtue.”
Healing War’s
Hidden Wounds
Rachel Sullivan (A02)
the Americans had a technical advantage, but “we were on
their terrain,” says Morris. “This was guerrilla warfare.”
The enemy offered useful intelligence when they drove
civilian “jingle trucks” with metallic fringe. “We could see
their trucks’ positions. The locals are very skillful drivers,
so if the road was impassable to them, it would be blocked to
us,” explains Morris. Truck-spotting also enabled him to
keep a National Guard battalion from getting stuck “in a
snowy, miserable, and dangerous position.”
Although he did not engage in direct combat, Morris
watched his fellow soldiers nearby, a gut-wrenching experience that has made him pragmatic in his view of warfare. “I
was as close to the action as you could be without being in
it,” he says. “I felt sorry for the guys being heroes, but I’m
glad I didn’t have the opportunity to be one.” Heroes should
not be glamorized, Morris believes. Their actions may be
“noble” and “necessary,” but “sometimes those actions
border on irresponsibility. I’d rather say, ‘How can we avoid
getting in those situations in the first place?’”
Today Morris is an unmanned systems consultant for
Deloitte Touche in Washington, D.C. Afghanistan
“changed how I see things,” he says. “War is not the noblest
endeavor. War can be engaging, challenging, even
compelling.” Morris recalls thinking about the Meno and
Plato in Afghanistan. “I remembered the virtues of a man
which guided me in choosing the right soldiers for a
In the bustling cafeteria at
Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., civilians
and soldiers—many of whom are missing limbs— line up for
coffee-shop fare beneath banners that celebrate “Our
Wounded Warriors.” According to Dr. Rachel Sullivan
(A02), who is in the third year of her psychiatric residency
at Walter Reed, few amputees cover up their prosthetic
limbs. These soldiers are proud of their badges of courage.
“There’s a bigger support network because their
injuries are obvious,” says Sullivan. “Patients who are
here for psychological reasons have it a bit rougher. There
is shame involved because they deal with questions: ‘Why
are you here? You don’t look like you’re wounded.’ The
Army is doing the best it can to dispel that stigma, but it’s
a huge part of the culture.”
Sullivan joined the U.S. Army in 2004 to defray the
expense of her medical education and to take advantage of
the resources at Walter Reed, a teaching hospital that
serves active-duty military. All hospitalized soldiers automatically receive the psychiatric consultation services
that Sullivan and her colleagues provide. She treats
hidden, psychological wounds of war that often fall under
the diagnostic umbrella of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD).
Patients with significant physical injuries are not more
or less likely to experience PTSD; they “can have the same
range of difficulties as anyone else: irritability, trouble
sleeping, depression, anxiety,” says Sullivan. PTSD does
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patricia dempsey
not discriminate; it affects soldiers of all ranks, genders,
ages, injuries, and wars. Women have more sexualassault-related PTSD, but Sullivan’s mostly male patients
reflect the army’s male majority.
“It’s not where a soldier has an experience—Iraq or
Afghanistan—but rather what is the experience,” says
Sullivan. She lists wartime horrors: “seeing dead bodies,
picking up body parts, seeing children killed, seeing civilians killed, having to kill someone yourself, watching a
friend die, and the chronic sense of danger.” As such experiences add up, for some soldiers the risk of developing
PTSD increases.
Sullivan describes the trauma of one of her PTSD
patients, an infantry soldier who guarded a military checkpoint in Iraq. A car kept coming, ignoring all the signs and
shouted warnings to stop. “The soldier finally did what he
had to do, which was shoot. When he discovered it was a
mom, two little kids, and a dad, he couldn’t forgive
himself. His mind kept getting stuck on that experience,”
says Sullivan. “At one point, he couldn’t walk from one
building at Walter Reed to another without wondering if
there was a sniper on the roof.”
While each soldier’s struggle with PTSD is unique,
common symptoms range from extreme anxiety to detachment. Many PTSD patients have trouble driving, she
explains, due to “visual memories” of driving when a
nearby vehicle blew up. “It gets worse and worse if it’s not
21
addressed.” Other patients seem detached, says Sullivan,
“just going through the motions. Spouses will say, ‘He
doesn’t seem to be part of the family anymore.’”
Because the most effective PTSD treatments take place
in the field immediately after a traumatic event, Sullivan
plans to deploy to Afghanistan in 2012 or 2013, after
completing her residency. She and her husband, Michael
Sullivan (A02), a professor of philosophy at George Washington University, will juggle the raising of their two girls,
ages 4 and 6. “We’re not sure why,” says Sullivan, “but the
further removed you are in time and space from the event,
the bigger it grows in your mind. It takes on this nightmarish proportion. I can prevent a lot of stress if I’m there
to treat soldiers before PTSD takes hold.”
For soldiers at Walter Reed, medication and traditional
therapy combined with holistic therapies, from biofeedback to canine companionship, offer healing and hope.
“We have this idea in Western medicine of the mind and
body being separate,” says Sullivan. But because PTSD
creates chemical and physical changes, she treats it “by
making the body do what it would in a relaxed state,” she
explains. “Breathing is a great example. You breathe very
differently when you’re anxious compared to when you’re
relaxed.” When Sullivan helps a patient to breathe as if he
were relaxed, he physically changes to a relaxed state.
“Then the patient can take control of this process” of
progressing to a normal state.
Such therapies reflect the army’s commitment
to healing the wounded—and show that the stigma
of psychological wounds is slowly diminishing. In
the past, a first sergeant in charge might have
viewed PTSD as a sign of weakness. “Because of
the length of this war,” observes Sullivan, “a lot
of first sergeants have PTSD.” Several of her
patients didn’t think they needed help she
explains until their first sergeants pulled them
aside to say, “You look like I did three years ago.
You need to get mental health.”
After several months of intensive therapy at
Walter Reed, some are ready to return overseas
At Walter Reed Army Hospital, Rachel Sullivan (A02)
listens to soldiers talk about their experiences in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
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and some need longer care. Some push to deploy before
they are ready. “Every patient is different,” says Sullivan.
“We have to decide who goes back and who doesn’t and
when.”
Sullivan is not surprised by her patients’ resiliency.
“Those who choose to be in the military are an unusual
segment of the population,” she says. “Like St. John’s, it’s
very self-selecting. Soldiers are willing to put on hold
major milestones of life while they serve. The army owns
you 24/7. Some people love that. I love that.”
But Sullivan is surprised at how rewarding her work is.
“A lot of people burn out in a job like this,” she says. “It’s
a very intense environment, which makes it that much
more meaningful. While listening to horrible stories and
handing out tissues, in the back of my mind I’m saying,
‘It’s okay, I can help this person.’”
One Square Mile
“Thucydides was dead on. I don’t care if it’s Athenians and
Spartans, Sunni and Shii’a, or the Bosnians and the Serbs
and the Croats. People get riled up and go to war—this is the
way it’s always been and probably the way it will always
be as long as we’re human beings. It’s only afterward that
they start to think, what have we done?”
On August 31, 2010, Charles sat in a café in Washington,
D.C., recounting his journey from Latin teacher to military officer, from California to Bosnia, from Afghanistan
to Baghdad. (A member of a class from the mid-1990s, he
asked that his real name not be used to protect his family.)
Later that day, President Obama would make an address
from The Oval Office marking the official end of a sevenand-a-half year combat mission in Iraq. Charles had served
in Iraq during the height of sectarian warfare in 20062007. He was part of the surge of American troops—
160,000 in all—designed to crush the insurgency. He took
little note of the day’s news.
Charles has a talent for learning new languages and a
master’s degree in linguistics. He was teaching high
school when he met an Army recruiter. Attracted to the
benefits and opportunities, he enlisted. The Army sent
him to the Defense Language Institute, where he studied
Arabic, and then to intelligence analyst school. Upon
completion, he was sent to a unit, only to be deployed to
Bosnia-Herzegovina. While deployed, he was accepted to
the Army’s Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a lieutenant. Nothing in his training, nothing he
read, prepared him for a year in Afghanistan. “Nothing
will prepare you for the reality of what you see on the
ground. Upon reflection, the Army didn’t teach me to fight
a counterinsurgency very well. When I enlisted, they
taught me how to fight the Soviet war machine. Nothing
can prepare you for the up close, personal nature of the
counterinsurgency fight, especially, when you can’t tell
the good guys from the bad guys—sort of like trying to find
a needle in a bunch of needles.”
After nearly a decade in the service, Charles, now a
captain, and his wife had already decided it was time for
him to leave the military, but he still owed the Army an
additional year of obligatory service for his recent
training. The mission he was to be assigned in Iraq was the
only year obligation available—everything else was a threeyear commitment. After four months of intensive training,
he was sent to Baghdad. Here in his own words is an
account of his time in the city.
I had been assigned to a Military Training Team (MiTT). I
was the intelligence operations advisor to an Iraqi Army
Battalion that had been sent to Baghdad as part of the Iraqi
military’s support for The Surge. Our MiTT—a dozen
strong—was made up of officers and non-commissioned
officers sent to assist our Iraqi Army counterparts in
refining their warfighting, administrative, and logistics
skills that the U.S. military had so effectively dismantled
during the invasion, so the U.S. could transition responsibility to the Iraqis, and we could all go home. At the same
time, we had to liaison with the U.S. Battalion responsible
for the same battlespace. That U.S. commander rated us.
However, we had to constantly remind our U.S. counterparts that we worked for our Iraqi commander and had a
slightly different mission. We had to get these U.S. officers
to turn over operations to the Iraqis, but they were typically reluctant because nobody had done a good job of
explaining the MiTT mission from the get-go. On our good
days, we had company-level commanders on the ground
who got it. On our bad days, we were one big dysfunctional
family.
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“The decision to fire on civilians is not made lightly.
If you lose the people, you lose the war.”
Our area of responsibility (AOR) was just one square
mile. It was a Sunni insurgent enclave composed of three
muhallas (neighborhoods or subdivisions) and what used
to be an economically viable marketplace surrounded by a
predominantly hostile Shi’a population. It was also that
one square mile with the highest density of enemy activity
in all of Iraq at that time. Our objectives were manifold.
However, at the end of the day, we had to get the Iraqis
operationally viable so they could defeat the Sunni insurgency, and win over the people in the muhallas by reintroducing a degree of normalcy to their lives.
Easier said than done.
It was 120 degrees in the shade for the first six months.
The main sewer line was broken, so in many places you
would end up walking in a couple of inches of shit water.
The main water line was broken. All the transformers were
broken, so there was little to no electricity. The Sunni
insurgents had a stranglehold in the muhallas and
wouldn’t let contractors in to fix the problems or the
garbage collectors in to collect the trash. Since the main
marketplace had been shut down, and most of the local
merchants were afraid to ply their wares, getting out to
procure the necessities of life was almost impossible.
Schools couldn’t open, not that any children could get to
them. I had never really appreciated Hobbes’s statement
that life was nasty, brutish, and short in such a state of
nature until I experienced this.
The very first order of business was to get our Iraqi Army
counterparts off the periphery and move into the muhallas
to disrupt insurgent operations. The Sunni insurgents had
dug in and, by the time we had arrived in theater, you still
couldn’t get 50 meters down the street without hitting one
of the many pre-positioned improvised explosive devices,
getting shot by a sniper, or having those nasty Russian-made
RKG-3 armor-piercing grenades lobbed at your vehicles.
The Shi’a insurgents were also an issue. Just to get to our
AOR, we had to pass through territory pretty much owned
by the Jaysh Al-Mahdi—the Shi’a militia loyal to Muqtada AlSadr. One of the routes we had to use was called “EFP
Alley.” EFPs, or explosively formed projectiles, were armorpiercing technology borrowed from the Iranian military
that, when triggered, sent molten copper flying through the
armor of your vehicle, shearing off body parts, and creating
a heat so intense, you would die as your lungs burned.
We worked with our Iraqi battalion, pushing into the
interior of the muhallas, and creating patrol bases from
which to operate and disrupt their lines of communication. To do this, however, we had to lead combat operations initially to prove to our counterparts that we could
actually fight. Those were some of the scariest moments of
my life; I was intel—we didn’t kick in doors! Yet there I was,
lead man one night bursting through the door of a
suspected insurgent safehouse. Thankfully, I had had a
team leader who had conducted combat operations, and
pushed us harder than most teams to internalize those
tactical skills that would keep us alive.
It took eight months, but by that time, our Iraqi Army
comrades took over the operational lead and, in the end,
quieted the muhallas down. Our Iraqi counterparts
worked with the local contractors to bring essential services back into the muhallas. Kids went back to school. The
marketplace opened. It was quite a transformation. I
wonder now though, as I watch the current news, whether
the insurgents were just hunkering down to wait us out.
Time will tell.
Ahmad
When I first met Captain Ahmad, my Iraqi Army intelligence officer counterpart, we were amazed at how much
we had in common—our families, our ways of operating,
our sense of humor—even the way we raised our right
eyebrows when something just didn’t seem right. We were
the same guy from two different cultures wearing two
different uniforms. He was not just zamiilii (my comrade),
he was akhuuya (my brother). He was an amazing intelligence officer, but more importantly, a good man who only
wanted a peaceful Iraq.
Ahmad was the glue that held our Iraqi Battalion
together. Despite the fact that there were other senior
officers who were supposed to be close to the commander,
everybody knew that Ahmad was the Battalion
Commander’s right hand. He’d get a report of an IED
emplacement, and then go and dig it up with a shovel and
his bare hands. “Ahmad,” I would say, “You’re the glue
that holds this unit together. If you go, this place is gonna
fall apart.” He’d look at me and smile and just say,
“Insha’allah. I guess it just wasn’t my day to go.”
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Even though he was a Shi’a, the
Sunni in our area loved him. He won
their hearts and minds, to such a
degree that he ran more 40 human
sources by himself. Ahmad called
me at about midnight one night to
let me know that four IEDs had been
placed at four different intersections in one of the muhallas. When I
asked how he knew, he stated,
“Because the guy that put them
there called and told me.”
The most difficult thing about
In Iraq the lines of warfare blurred as soldiers engaged with civilians.
our Iraqi battalion’s deployment to
Baghdad was that they were made
subordinate not to an Iraqi Army
all of our aid kits and stretchers.
unit, but to an Iraqi National Police (NP) brigade. The NP
When the Iraqis returned, it was a mess. The majority of
were corrupt, sectarian, and inflitrated by and loyal to
those civilians whom they returned with had died en route.
Jaysh Al-Mahdi. This made it very difficult for our
There was a twelve-year-old girl who had taken a piece of
battalion in general, and Ahmad in particular to operate,
shrapnel to her jugular. She bled out. I was helping Doc,
since even though they were Shi’a, they were not Jaysh Alour medic, when they brought a 3-4-year-old boy to our
Mahdi, and had to contend with illegal orders furthering
stretcher. He had no clothes on, and had a makeshift
the NP’s corrupt enterprises. Our difficulties were
bandage around his head which did little to conceal the
compounded even more as one of my interpreters was
grey matter and blood oozing out. They laid him on a
Jaysh Al-Mahdi, and was passing sensitive intelligence on
stretcher. I was shaking so badly, I couldn’t get my gloves
our targets to our NP higher headquarters. It drove Ahmad
on. Again, it was too late. He died there, looking blankly
and me crazy that all of our targets were being picked up by
into the evening sky. The remainder of the dead bodies had
the NP, and ransomed back to the Sunni insurgents. Somebeen tossed out of the ambulances, and lay in a pile just
body finally figured out that our interpreter was on the
inside the perimeter. We used all 12 of our body bags that
take and he was arrested.
night.
I had been re-reading Somerset Maugham’s “The
Al-’unf: The Violence
Razor’s Edge” around the time this occurred. At one
The level of ethnically/religiously motivated violence was
point, the character Larry, who had been a pilot in WWI,
insane in and around our AOR. Two events still stand out
reflects on his war experiences saying, “The dead look so
to me.
terribly dead when they’re dead.” Now I knew what he
We had met up with our Iraqi counterparts at their
meant.
battalion headquarters to prep for a night mission. We
Ahmad called me at about 1 a.m. one morning during
hadn’t been there for 10 minutes when Shi’a insurgents
Ashura, when Shi’a Muslims make a pilgrimage to the city
launched a mortar attack at a Sunni mosque two blocks
of Karbala to commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn ibn
away. Our Iraqi counterparts dispatched their three ambuAli, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammed at the
lances and drove to the site while we stayed back to assist
Battle of Karbala. One of his sources had told him that one
in setting up a triage and treatment area. We had laid out
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Liberty}
of our targeted insurgent leaders was going to use four
women wearing suicide vests to conduct attacks on the
Shi’a making the pilgrimage using the highway that was
the southern border of our AOR. We hastily put together
an operation to stop them. This was toward the end of our
tour, so the Iraqi soldiers were in the lead. I was in overwatch with Ahmad on the inner cordon. The Iraqis burst
into the house, shot the insurgent leader and came out
with three women.
I looked at Ahmad. He shrugged and gave me the
eyebrow when I asked him where the fourth one was.
She emerged from a small space between two houses
and started walking towards Ahmad and me. She was
dressed in a black, loose-fitting abayah and hijab, which
made it difficult to see if see was concealing a suicide vest.
She was wailing with her hands and arms outstretched. We
didn’t see anything in her hands.
I was shouting in Arabic at the woman approached.
“Qif! Qif! Tera larmee!” Ahmad was about 10 feet away
from me. He too was shouting at her to stop. He raised his
Kalishnikov; I raised my M-4.
When you are fighting a counterinsurgency, it’s all
about “hearts and minds.” The decision to fire on civilians
is not made lightly. If you lose the people, you lose the war.
The real problem, however, was that the U.S. military was
still struggling with how to fight a counterinsurgency.
Consequently, the Rules of Engagement (ROE) and rules
for Escalation of Force (EOF) changed pretty much on a
weekly basis. I was at the point of having to decide
whether to shoot the woman or not.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I was thinking to myself. “If I shoot
her, she won’t have anything on her. If I don’t, she’ll have
a vest, get too close, and blow us up.” I was also thinking
to myself, “I’m not going to go out this way.”
“Stop! Or I’m gonna fuckin’ shoot!” It came out in
English this time.
It started to get fuzzy at that point. My heart was racing.
Everything was slowing down. I was getting tunnel vision.
I tried to slow down my breathing. It wasn’t working.
Ahmad fired a warning shot. We shouted some more. I
started to squeeze the trigger. . . .
That’s when someone, somewhere, probably a rooftop
25
overlooking the scene, remote-detonated her. When I
came to, I was on my back, covered in blood and gobbets of
flesh. And I had peed my pants. I looked over at Ahmad,
who was also coming to.
“I guess it just wasn’t our day.” We laughed. I started to
cry uncontrollably. We were lucky. The insurgents must
have been in a rush or lacked materials, because there
were no metal bearings or nails to create a shrapnel effect.
I don’t think I’d be sitting here writing this if there had.
Get on with it
Baghdad was different. I was “boots on ground” and I was
scared shitless. I asked one of my teammates who had seen
his share of combat, and had been a victim in one particularly bad IED attack during a prior deployment, “How do
you deal with it?” At some point, he said, you have to tell
yourself that you’re already a dead man, that, yes, today is
your day. Then you can get on with it.
I didn’t think I had PTSD, but I do. When I first came
home, it was awful. We’d go to a restaurant and the door
would slam, and I’d jump two feet in the air. Just this past
Fourth of July, some kids had tied together a bunch of
fireworks and blew them up on a neighborhood basketball
court. It sounded and felt just like an IED had exploded, or
a rocket had landed nearby. I still think on that woman. I
would have killed her. Doubletap—a shot to chest and the
head in quick succession, just like in training. I still have
trouble reconciling that part of me.
I’m glad to be home with my family. I regret losing so
much time with them over the years. But I wouldn’t trade
any of my experiences, especially the friendship I have
with Ahmad, for the world. The first thing we read about at
St. John’s is war. War figures prominently throughout the
rest of our time there. I confess, a lot was lost on me when
I went through St. John’s. After I came home, I re-read
some Homer, Thucydides, and Hobbes with new eyes. I
even read Sophocles’s Ajax, and was amazed that Sophocles was portaying a man suffering from PTSD.
You can read all you want about war at St. John’s, along
with things like the good and the just. You won’t know
what it is until you experience it. And why would anyone
want to experience the way it really is? x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�26
{History}
LEARNING
TO KNIT
by Kathryn Kramer
Editor’s Note: This is part of the first chapter of a forthcoming memoir, Missing History: The Covert Education of
a Child of the Great Books. Kathryn Kramer (“Katie”) is
the daughter of Clarence “Corky” Kramer (class of
1946),who was a tutor in Annapolis from 1954-1964 and
served as the associate dean and dean in Santa Fe from
1964-1970. She is the author of several novels, most
recently Sweet Water, and teaches at Middlebury College.
T
he best teachers, I grew up
thinking, had accents. Pipesmoking men in corduroys and
tweeds, speaking in the rich consonants of Germany and Russia,
carried with them an atmosphere of
learning that I did not know then
was not native to our shores. The
coffee-house life of Berlin and
Vienna—where the profound questions of existence were
debated in an aroma of rich coffee and pipe smoke—this
now resided in Annapolis, Maryland, just across the street
from the Naval Academy with its high brick wall, behind
which we sometimes ventured to witness midshipmen in
their white dress uniforms marching in formation and the
Blue Angels performing breathtaking loops overhead. But
these things were peripheral, a showy attempt by the Navy
to compete with the sober, hallowed, essential investigations across King George Street.
In the late 1940s, my father, Corky Kramer, finished at
St. John’s the education he’d begun before the Second
World War at Albion College in Michigan. Soon after, he
joined the faculty. It was there, in the brick and ivy
embrace of St. John’s 200-year-old campus, that I and my
fellow faculty children first saw the educational light of
day. There has never been a time in my life when I didn’t
know the term “Great Books,” yet I had no awareness of
how their “Program” would program my own thinking,
without my having ever been an official student of it. In
childhood it was the freedom and safety afforded by the
campus that first defined “college” to me. I never tired of
trying to understand, through the method of walking up
and down them, the herringboned paths that radiate down
from the central hub of MacDowell Hall, atop its gentle
rise so like the nearby Maryland statehouse atop its hill
that I confounded the two. If you had the best ideas, the
buildings’ similarities told me, then you held a position of
power; and if you held a position of power, then you must
have the best ideas.
My father and my friends’ fathers—Bill Darkey, Tom
Simpson—with their crew cuts and rosy complexions and
cigarettes that they often smoked in place of pipes,
seemed to us children to be the older tutors’ scrappy disciples. Although no ranks are observed at St. John’s, this
professed egalitarianism disguised a hidden hierarchy in
which I discerned that accented English had smarter
things to say than un-, that words of wisdom arrived
wreathed in sweet-smelling smoke rings. Americans,
however they strove, could never quite measure up to this
redolent sagacity. These men, exiles from a vanished
world, were as irrevocably a part of “college” to me as the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{History}
27
sweeping expanses of lawns
shaded by great elms or the
replica of the Liberty Bell at
the edge of campus, the
coffee shop at which I was
sometimes treated to a Coke
by my father, or the basement bookstore managed by
my mother, where a
strangely titled book with an
unusual-looking cover, The
Hobbit, arrived one day
from Blackwell’s in Oxford,
England, a year or two
before the rest of the
country got hold of it.
Throughout grade school
I regularly worried about
choosing a subject for my
senior thesis: a forbidding
exercise that, along with the
“don rags,” I had heard
drove some students to a
nervous breakdown. I was Clarence “Corky” Kramer (class of 1946) was part of a generation of young tutors with “crew cuts and
rosy complexions” who were the “disciples” of men such as Jacob Klein and Simon Kaplan.
already afraid of how I
would survive this. Would
Tolkien do? I asked my
commemorating the history of St. John’s)—her power was
father. He thought he probably wouldn’t. Not serious
complex and its source mysterious, but all too apparent.
enough, I understood. Not mighty and grave, like the
I would never have considered not doing what she told me.
writers on his study shelves. Even if I knew that there were
Desperately I fought to keep the slippery yarn and the
other colleges, it was clear that they didn’t measure up.
impossibly long needles from sliding off my lap. If I
Certainly it never occurred to me that I might go to them.
dropped a stitch, I felt stricken. At home, I sometimes
When I was five and my best friend Cathy Darkey was six,
cried, exhausted by the sheer terror of the afternoon. Yet
we were sent to be taught knitting by Mrs. Klein, wife of
somehow out of the shapeless mass, a giant red mitten
Jacob, one of the men with accents. We sat in the living
formed. My knitting was too loose, my mitten the size of a
room, Cathy propped against the back of the high couch,
baseball glove, and Cathy’s was too tight, as if her goal was
her legs out militarily straight, I angled on the very edge so
to make a texture so dense, no light could pass through.
that my feet could touch the ground. “Knit, purl; knit,
Only when I was a good deal older would I discern the
purl . . . .” In my memory these words were delivered stacmischief that underlay Dodó’s pretense of sternness. Then
cato as Mrs. Klein beat time with an oversized knitting
I knew only that she was strict and kind by turns, as if in
needle.
her view the friction produced by the two was what drove
A German hausfrau, called “Dodó” by our parents,
the engine of obedience, without which no learning could
Mrs. Klein wore her white hair in a bun and dressed in
take place. After we’d struggled for a while to marshal our
white blouses and dark skirts. It was clear that, unlike our
recalcitrant squadrons of stitches, she would take us to the
American mothers, she would never be caught wearing
kitchen and give us something to eat. She was a renowned
“slacks.” She spoke an English somehow both clipped and
baker, and the whole downstairs was often rich with the
mellifluous, the words taking on extra dimension and
comforting yeasty smell that intensified in her welcoming
making a stronger claim on our attention than other
and orderly kitchen, a plain table in the middle of the room
adults’ did. A faculty wife—a role now large vanished
where she rolled out pastry.
from academia (in later years she wove a tapestry
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�28
{History}
Kathyrn Kramer with her family in
Annapolis, young sister Mary, mother
Zan, and father Clarence (Corky).
If the kitchen was Mrs. Klein’s domain, the upstairs was
her husband’s. Oh, those studies—the realm of the pipesmoking men who knew everything—I knew the sound,
touch, and smell of it. The pipes themselves held an iconic
fascination for me: in my father’s third-floor study I liked
to take them out of their rack and handle them: the silky
smooth dark wood of some of the bowls and the tantalizing
rough topography of others; the narrowing darker stem,
colder to the touch; the light-colored corncob we’d bought
my father one Christmas. An ironic pipe, even then I
understood. And how deeply I coveted the pipe cleaners!—
which I used to beg for and then appropriate when they
weren’t dispensed. Sneaking upstairs when my father was
at the college, I tried to gauge how many I could safely take
without his noticing, to bend into animals and other
figures.
In the study I never really looked consciously at the
books, but it seemed to me that I’d always known them and
their titles, so that it came as a surprise to realize one day
that I’d never actually read them. Books everywhere,
lining the walls and in stacks on tables, no jackets: the pale
brown of the Harvard classics, the darker brown of the
Cambridge edition of Shakespeare, the green of the Loeb
editions, the lighter green of Everyman’s Library—the
Plato and Aristotle and Sophocles whose names there was
never a time I didn’t know. They lived in the house with us,
these arbiters of Western thought, these bearers of my
philosophical and literary heritage. My father always
spoke about them as if he knew them
personally.
At some point on the Kleins’ stairs,
the odor of baking rose from the
kitchen and met aromatic pipe
tobacco descending. Halfway down
the second-story hallway, Mr. Klein—
Jascha—lurked in his study, dark with
the same heavy wood furniture and
unjacketed books and even thicker
with pipe smoke than my own
father’s was. This was all as it should
be—a man upstairs gazing down at a
book, a pipe stem held between his
teeth as he contemplated the important ideas of the Western world.
Sometime during our knitting
lesson, Mr. Klein would wander downstairs and as if by
accident shuffle into the room in his slippers and thin gray
cardigan and make some humorous remark about our
progress. We amused him, or our knitting amused him, or
the very fact of our presence in his house amused him, but
we didn’t mind; we were used to men puffing on fragrant
tobacco and making opaque remarks. He was kindly, and
seemed to understand something about us that we didn’t
notice ourselves. So did Mrs. Klein, for that matter, if
whatever she knew might not be quite as salutary.
Courtly, affable, and wry, asking children questions in a
gently humorous way, what did they think of us, these
emigrants from another world? They must have known
how unaware of their history we were, children basking in
the postwar self-satisfaction of the American Fifties. It
wasn’t a witting conspiracy of silence, but it was a silence.
War? What war? Nazis? Jews? Who were they? I knew more
about the American Revolution than I did about the
Second World War. Since a visit to Mount Vernon, whose
serene and beautifully simple rooms had made a profound
if inaccurate impression on me about the Revolutionary
War era, I’d been mourning my exclusion from the past
and trying to figure out how to insinuate myself into
history. And here it was all around me, and no one had said
a thing.
It wasn’t until after I was out of high school that I registered the fact that these older tutors had not left Europe
for their career advancement. The Kleins and the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{History}
29
All those unjacketed,
dull-colored volumes
with no pictures had been
up to something.
Zuckerkandls had emigrated from
Germany, the Kaplans from Russia.
Mrs. Klein had been married
before, to Husserl’s son, and after I
learned this I spent some time
reading about Husserl, sometimes
called the “father of phenomenology,” to see if his philosophy
might have leaked through his daughter-in-law and
dripped onto me. Mrs. Kaplan, Fanny, lived to be 105, and
her obituary stated that friends considered the Kaplans’
home to be the “most civilized place in America.” This is
what I grew up thinking about the Kleins’, although I
didn’t know that I did, nor that it was a model against
which I would unwittingly measure my own life. The
Kleins, the Kaplans, the Zuckerkandls—they came from a
world that they carried with them, invisible, as the houses
on the sloping half of Market Street always seemed to do,
left alone when their neighbors had disappeared.
Eventually the knitting lessons came to an end. A decade
later, after my family had moved to Santa Fe for the
opening of the new campus, I spent a couple of nights with
the Kleins. During my visit, Mrs. Klein took me shopping.
She drove me to a mall outside of Baltimore—the first mall
I’d ever been to (this was the late ’60s)—and bought me a
floor-length dress, something like a nightgown with decorations, in those days called a “granny gown.” I felt peculiar accepting her gift of a dress. I was still a little afraid of
her, and couldn’t understand why she
would take such trouble over me. It
was still too soon—I was still too
young—to realize that she might
simply have been fond of me. The next
day we sat down to a hot meal at
midday, an exotic experience in itself.
Eva Brann and a student or two were
there. After lunch, Dodó offered us a
choice of desserts. There was chocolate cake, she said, and fresh strawberries with cream. She paused and
looked at us meaningfully. She knew,
she remarked, which dessert the superior person would choose.
I knew, too, and I knew it wasn’t the
chocolate cake I wanted. I asked for
the strawberries, and was rewarded by
her approval. Jascha lit his pipe and
smiled his sphinx-like smile. He, I was
sure, knew quite well the cowardly
choice I had just made. No doubt he
also knew the permanent schism
that this choice and others like it
would effect in my sensibility:
between an initial, uncensored
appetite striving with the wish to be
judged discriminating, and how
over time the two would commingle
until one day I would hardly be able to distinguish between
what I wanted and what I wanted to be thought to want.
That there was a right choice, and that it was up to me to
discover it, was an article of faith I never knew to be one.
In the religion of knowing what was what, all the more
potent because it was not organized, I had made my vows
without having known I was a postulant. Now I was merely
affirming my pledge at this ceremony disguised as a
luncheon in this sweet-smelling house atop its ominous
flight of steps, whose warnings I had ignored because I was
expected at the top of them—expected so that I could be
taught knitting. Not just any knitting, but German knitting, stronger and more intricate than plain, postwar
American knitting, involving as it does an extra twist of
the yarn—and not just by any German knitting teacher, but
by Edmund Husserl’s former daughter-in-law.
Ideas. The Great Books. They were not there, somewhere along the line I had begun to expect, to bring
coziness (we faculty children learned that it was called
gemutlichkeit) to their readers’ studies: All those unjacketed, dull-colored volumes with no
pictures had been up to something.
Without our knowing it, they’d been
up to something with us.
I had been part of a weightier world
than most people: the world my father
evoked when, with a faraway look
in his eye, he reminisced about
“Winky” and “Scott,” architects of
the St. John’s New Program—a
hallowed phrase recalling “New Testament.” A pre-Lapsarian world had
existed of which these tutors were the
sole guardians. If I sought admittance
to it, I would have to apply to them.
Only they could grant it. But then they
were gone. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
Writer Kathyrn Kramer learned much
more thank knitting in her time spent
with the Kleins.
�{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
30
W H E N T H E A NC I E N T S S P E A K ,
CHILDREN LISTEN
Jenny Lowe Cook (A92)
H
ere is what some would call a gamble: teaching preparing to perform their play about the legend of the golden
ancient Greek epic to modern-day kindergarteners apple. I could find only one hour a week in my schedule to share my
and first graders. Homer’s Odyssey is so ancient, knowledge of ancient Greek mythology with the children.
I decided to tell them the story of The Odyssey over my eight oneso thoroughly foreign; with its warriors, monsters,
deities, and hard-to-pronounce names, what on hour sessions. An excellent picture-book retelling by Geraldine
earth is the use of telling it to such young children? McCaughrean and Victor Ambrus served as my guide to remind me
of the stops that Odysseus made along the way. To keep the
Won’t they be confused and bored by it all?
I had grown up hearing stories of the Greek gods and goddesses 36 Primaries engaged and interested for an hour of storytelling,
and the retelling of the Trojan War from both the Greek and Trojan inspiration struck: I would dress up as Homer and tell the story as a
perspectives. I had read Homer and Virgil in high school and liked bard. As I discovered, a few props go a long way. I assembled a small
them. When I reread them at St. John’s, I loved them. I did a senior bag of shawls and fabric scraps, found a zither-like instrument in
preceptorial with Mr. Miller on The Aeneid and wrote my senior the storage attic, and fashioned a chiton of sorts from an old red
essay about it, too. Little did I know that I would be sharing these bedsheet. In the palm of my hand, I kept a post-it note of plot highlights in case the Muse of good memory left me stranded.
wonderful stories with young children.
I remember sitting there on a little stool shivering in a red
Through a series of small-world events (have you ever noticed
how much St. John’s is a player in “wow, it’s a small world” bedsheet and strumming an outrageously out-of-tune toy zither
stories?), I found out about a two-year apprenticeship program at while the Primaries filed in slowly and sat wonderingly before me in
Arbor School of Arts and Sciences, a small, independent K-8 school the cavernous, chilly Arena (formerly a horse-riding arena). No
near Portland, Oregon. It was my senior year and I was not sure longer Jenny the apprentice, I was Homer the bard.
How would the children react? Even with my props and my
what I wanted to do next. The apprenticeship program seemed to be
pretense, would they just get bored with
an interesting chance to learn about
it all? In those few moments of waiting for
teaching in a hands-on way. The school’s
everyone to settle down, I experienced a
director, Kit Abel Hawkins, is the mother
wave of stage fright. Perhaps I had found
of Will Hawkins (AGI04). Like her son,
these stories fascinating as a child
Kit shares a deep respect and love for
because my father is a classicist and I
history, literature, and times gone by. Her
went to St. John’s, where such epic tales
school is forward thinking enough to
are revered by all! What if these stories
delve into the past with its students. Even
went over their heads?
at the kindergarten level, students are
Looking at their eager and expectant
exposed to great ideas, great thinkers, and
faces, I realized that once upon a time,
great stories.
there were little children who had sat at
I got the job as one of two apprentices to
Homer’s feet listening to his stories, too.
the “primary” classrooms. Primaries are
When I launched into my invocation of
mixed classes of kindergartners and first
Jenny Lowe Cook (A92)
the Muse, she must have heard my cry.
graders, the youngest students at Arbor.
The children sat spellbound and listened
Ever since I had heard that Arbor
to the first part of the story for the rest of
Primaries devoted part of their year to
the hour.
studying the Greeks, I was excited to teach
Occasionally I chose some of the children to be actors and particthat part of the curriculum. In the summer planning session,
the master teachers rearranged the schedule so that the unit on ipants in my story, perhaps giving them a prop or draping them in a
the Greeks would coincide with my eight-week solo teaching shawl so they could get into their role. Sometimes I whispered in
their ear the “lines” they were supposed to say; other times I just
experience.
But the Fates, it seems, had different plans. In order to fulfill stood behind them and said it for them, guiding them around the
requirements for the Masters in Teaching program in which I was “stage.” I marveled at their cooperation and eagerness to be part of
dually enrolled, I ended up teaching oceanography to the fourth the story, even though they quickly saw that it was not their chance
and fifth graders while the Primaries were studying the Greeks and to reinvent it. They were content and excited to become living
“...I realized that once
upon a time, there were
little children who had
sat at Homer’s feet
listening to his stories.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
31
Jenny Lowe Cook (A06) was surprised and
delighted when her “cool” sixth graders
were captivated by the Iliad.
props. Sometimes I would hear them bragging to each other as they
returned to their classroom, “I was Odysseus today!”
When I began by asking for someone to sum up what had
happened in the previous week’s storytelling session, I was amazed
at how many hands flew up into the air. Their recollection of the
story’s details was impressive. I was sorry to bring the story to the
end on our last Friday morning together, but felt glad that I
had introduced a new world of magic, myth, and heroism to the
children.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2009: No longer at Arbor, I was
teaching a new age group, sixth grade, at a public charter school in
rural Oregon, about an hour south of Portland. The first few weeks
of school are always challenging as students and teachers get
acquainted and try to settle into a rhythm that works. In a classroom
of my own, I had always envisioned that reading stories aloud would
be a regular part of our classroom culture. Surely sixth graders
would not be too old to appreciate a good story.
But the first story I began with them, an older fantasy tale by
Lloyd Alexander, fell upon deaf ears. Most of the students rolled
their eyes, passed notes, and otherwise made their contempt
known. Frustrated with my class for not appreciating a good story,
and blaming myself for not finding one that captured them, I soon
discarded the book. Then I desperately tried to think of something
that would engage these “too cool for school” sixth graders.
One hot afternoon a few weeks into the school year, I found
myself with an extra half hour on my hands. The lights were off to
fight the heat, which was making everyone sleepy and irritable. The
Muse once again hit me with a bolt of inspiration: I began telling
them—by now from memory—the story of how the Trojan War began
at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Perhaps it would at least keep
them occupied for the half hour.
To my astonishment and delight, everyone sat up a bit straighter
in their seats. For once, I had all 25 pairs of eyes glued to me. Even
the most jaded eye-roller in the bunch was paying attention. The
most impulsive interrupter kept interrupting, but now he was
asking questions about the story. Everyone
was shocked that Helen, married to
Menelaus, would actually run off with Paris,
and then they were shocked that Menelaus
would go to the trouble to launch the fabled
thousand ships to get her back. The half hour
went by in a flash, and I promised to pick up
where I left off the next day.
For the next few months, I spent some
time every day telling the story of the Iliad
and then moving on to the Odyssey. (We
started the Aeneid but never got a chance to
finish it.) I couldn’t believe how enraptured
my students were by the stories. If I forgot to
plan the story into the daily schedule,
someone was sure to remind me; I would
squeeze in a 10-minute installment before
the end of the day.
The stories tied in well with the humanities curriculum I had created. We were studying five ancient
cultures: Sumerians, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, and
Romans. It was wonderful to see the connections that the students
made between real history and the epic stories that they heard me
tell. One day, a shy girl showed me a picture she had found in a
National Geographic magazine that we were using for collages. It
was a picture of a golden chariot piece. “It’s like what Achilles
might have used,” she said.
These stories are not irrelevant to our lives today; they contain
lessons in virtue, justice, compassion (or the lack thereof),
resourcefulness, faith, courage, and a host of other qualities that
mattered then and matter now. And they are just plain fun stories
with lots of adventure and plenty of soap-opera drama. What sixth
grader doesn’t love drama?
The Iliad became so popular that the students helped write and
act in a play, “The Trojan War in 15 Minutes” (well, okay, it was
more like 25 minutes). We spent many a happy afternoon creating
shields, spears, armor, a Trojan horse, some simple set pieces, and
costumes. Everyone had a part, large or small, and everyone actually managed to memorize their lines by the time the show went on
in December.
We performed our small show for the school in the afternoon; a
few parents were able to attend. The process of putting on the play
was a trying experience for me as a teacher; marshalling 25 sixth
graders at a dress rehearsal is similar to herding feral cats. But
watching their pride and excitement in the performance was
awesome. Better yet was overhearing the comments of the younger
students in the audience. Many, especially the kindergarteners,
were enthralled with the story and wanted to hear more.
My sixth graders came back from the performance riding high on
their success. One asked, “Mrs. Cook, when can we do a play of the
Odyssey? And can I be the Cyclops?”
If that doesn’t speak to the power of Homer and Virgil, I don’t
know what does. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�32
{Bibliofile}
“The Math Book” Remembering Klein’s Seminal Work
A
By Eva Brann (HA87)
Hopkins’ second notion was
that Klein’s book was the most
far-reaching working-out of one
of Husserl’s guiding ideas:
“sedimentation.” This term
describes the silting-in by which
once freshly immediate ideas
have become accepted thoughtpackages and handy intellectual
tools whose original meaning lies
buried in old discarded or
misread texts. Alumni will
recognize that the Program
under which they studied can be
interpreted as a resurrection of
those origins, a re-animation of
the significances behind the
current terms of our life.
Klein’s book is, then, the most
extended and significant case of a
task set by Phenomenology (the
philosophical school Husserl
founded), that of “de-sedimentation,” the recovery by means of a careful,
receptive reading of earlier books, of the
insights that went into the advances and
attendant losses which make us who we are.
Klein’s work is an extended digging up of the
roots of our current concept of number, a
concept at the center of our sciences.
I want to say a word about the publication
history of “the math book.” It was first
published as two fascicules of a German
journal. The time was that of the Nazi
takeover. (That may, incidentally, account
for certain—well-controlled—intimations
of the decline and fall of the West that can
be sensed in the work.) When I came to
St. John’s in 1957 it was unavailable and
untranslated. Seth Bernadete, a tutor of the
mid-1950s whose name is known to many
older alumni and who introduced me to
Jascha, had told me to read it if I wanted to
understand the design of the college’s
Program.
I undertook to translate it—in secret. For
Jascha scorned publication; he thought that
much of scholarly writing was piddling and
that tutors should, in any case, be teaching
rather than scribbling. Once I’d finished I
had to ’fess up, because I had many questions. Jascha capitulated. The MIT Press
took the book and eventually handed it to
Dover. That confirmed it as a classic.
marion warren
lumni who knew Jacob Klein
and those who’ve heard tell of
him might like to hear about
a first-ever event that took
place June 26-29, 2010, at
Seattle University: a conference devoted to Jascha Klein (forgive the
informality; it was near-universal—a mark of
the students’ sense that he was theirs) and to
his increasingly influential book Greek
Mathematical Thought and the Origin of
Algebra. (Here’s another informal usage:
I’m told the book is now known among its
devotees as “the math book.”)
The intense and deeply engaging series of
15 lectures and seminars was convened by
Burt Hopkins, Professor of Philosophy at
Seattle (and a frequent visitor to St. John’s),
whose major book, called The Origin of the
Logic of Symbolic Mathematics: Edmund
Husserl and Jacob Klein, is to appear in
2011. The work, besides giving an acute
account of Klein’s book, aims to bring out
the comparative stature of his achievement
by highlighting two notions. One, the
narrower, is that he had a truer understanding than did Husserl of the lifechanging rupture that at once tethered our
modernity to, and radically divided it from,
Greek antiquity, a revolution expressed
paradigmatically in the changing concept of
number. Husserl thought that the term
“abstraction” covered this turn. Klein
showed that this was too vague. What had
happened was a novel and all-pervasive
alteration in conceptuality, which he called
“symbol-generating abstraction.” Klein
showed that among the Greeks, arithmos,
“number,” always meant a concrete heap or
assemblage of real things, while in the
algebra adopted at the dawn of modernity,
letter-symbols, such as a, b, x, y, began to be
understood as objects, but objects twice
removed from the real world, once because
they intended a sort of number-in-general,
and again because passing even beyond that
abstraction, the algebraic operations were
performed on the letters themselves as if
they had a sort of reality, albeit an empty
one. Klein intimated that this life with
virtual objects, twice removed from the
sensory world, characterized both modern
science and our mental mode as moderns.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
Burt’s conference, convened threequarters of a century after the German
publication (a true case of much better late
than never) was thus largely based on this
translation. Therefore I was invited to make
the keynote remarks. I concentrated on two
wonderfully prescient interpretations of
Platonic dialogues. One was set out in the
math book and the other in Klein’s
Commentary on Plato’s Meno. The first
foreshadowed one of the most unsettling
ideas in contemporary thinking about
cognition: “emergence.” Emergence is the
term for the case of a whole whose qualities
are altogether different from those of its
elements; the great, problematic case is that
of brain and mind: The logical structures of
spatially extended brains and non-spatial
thoughts are totally different; how does one
“supervene” on the other? Klein’s understanding of the mathematician’s number as a
collection of unit-elements—none of which
have the number-attribute that the whole
has—“each is one, both together are two,”
says Socrates—offers a deep discussion of
an early and stark case of that current
preoccupation.
The second case of prescience, acutely
relevant to our lives in so far as they are,
decade by decade, more imagery-devoted
and virtuality-involved, is Klein’s analysis of
�{Bibliofile}
33
Plato’s understanding that an image is an
almost-being, one that both is and isn’t the
original. “That’s him,” we say of a photo—
but it isn’t the original. What does it do to us
to spend a lot of time with these semi-nonbeings?
The members of the conference, without
actually having had Burt’s whole manuscript
in hand, readily focused on the very issues
that are there brought out. Although the
meetings were open, Burt had wanted them
to be workshop-like. There were only a few
auditors, one of whom was a Johnnie graduate student and another a Johnnie waiter
(who happened to serve us in a restaurant),
waiting on his life-plan to reveal itself.
He had been in one of my classes; it was
lovely to come upon him and invite him to
the conference.
The participants were wonderful. Claudio
Majolino from the University of Lille,
France, gave an incisive, deep critique of the
math book, pointing out two of its unargued
assumptions: that modern science is in fact
in said “ruptured” relation to Greek philosophy, that is, that its terms are sedimented
Greek terms, and that the Greek relation to
the world was indeed more innocently direct
than ours. Two physicists, Richard Hassing
of the Catholic University of America and
Joseph Cosgrove of Providence University,
engaged one and the same question: “Can
post-classical physics be ‘desedimented,’
meaning can we recover the world of ordinary experience from the symbols?”
Quantum and relativity physics were considered with concrete reference to actual
formulas. The answer was “yes, for some
notions” and “no, not in practice.” The most
gripping case to me was Joe’s demonstration
that Minkowski’s space-time is an artifact
produced by the trick of writing c, the speed
of light, as a mere number, and that in
Einstein’s own treatment space and time are
not particularly unintuitive.
There was a lucid display by Dick and his
student (and our alumnus) Andrew Romiti of
the actual workings of the Greek protoalgebra devised by Diophantus, a Greek
mathematician, that showed how essentially
his analytic method differs from modern
algebra. Ed Halper of the University of
Georgia spoke on Aristotelian, classical, and
quantum physics with reference to Klein’s
book, and Burt himself gave an overview of
Klein’s philosophical achievement. Our dean
at the time, Michael Dink (A75), was in
attendance as moderator.
I don’t know when I’ve attended so gratifyingly exhausting an event, and so welcome—
and overdue—an evocation of Jascha’s
stature. Resistant though he was to academic
functions, I think he might that weekend
have given in to a sense of satisfaction. x
Back to Africa? The Solution to
America’s Race Problem as Viewed
by Jefferson, Madison, Clay, and
Lincoln
of freed blacks who might influence their
slaves to rebel or seek freedom.
Thoughtful, intelligent statesmen such as
Jefferson and Lincoln spent much time and
energy determining the expense of
purchasing the freedom of slaves and
transporting them overseas, as well as the
best location to send them.
But what did the colonists themselves
think about this idea? Gathering the few
firsthand accounts, Nelson reveals the
often contradictory opinions that blacks
held about Liberia. Some writings seemed
designed to sway the minds of potential
travelers: Daniel H. Peterson praised the
place as a paradise, while William Nesbit
found it “hell on earth.” Others judged the
situation more objectively, recognizing
difficulties and obstacles, but offering
suggestions for thriving. Samuel Williams,
for instance, advised families to spend
money before the journey on items for
trade with the natives, and recommended
the immigration of more Northern blacks,
who were accustomed to the habits of business and freedom. The colonists were
divided as to whether Liberia was a success
or a failure.
Although many American politicians
such as Senator Henry Clay, the president
of the American Colonization Society,
supported the immigration of blacks to
Africa, Liberia was never officially funded
or organized by the U.S. government
because of constitutional questions
regarding the formation of a colony. Thus
the Society depended on religious
institutions for support and recruitment,
which gave the movement an evangelical
bent. The colonists were bringing
Christianity and culture to heathen Africa,
which did not bode well for the natives.
As Nelson shows, most blacks remained
unconvinced of returning to Africa, even in
the face of white hostility and prejudice in
the United States. Among the most prominent opponents of the movement was
Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist leader.
He criticized supporters for trying to
remove blacks from a country where they
had lived in bondage for more than two
hundred years, just as slavery was beginning to be justly recognized as evil.
“Our minds are made up to live here if we
can,” wrote Douglass, “or die here if we
must.” Such clear rejection makes it
unsurprising that so few blacks signed up
for the journey.
Back to Africa? concludes with a chapter
on Barack Obama’s presidential victory
and the state of race relations in America
today. To win the election, Obama
“reached over” the racial barrier with the
assistance of other African Americans
across the generations, Nelson suggests.
Yet while the treatment and standing of
black minorities has improved considerably since the dissolution of the American
Colonization Society, inequality is still an
issue. The legacy of slavery continues to
haunt us. x
Charles A. Nelson (class of 1945)
Xlibris, 2009
Back to Africa? examines a little-known
19th-century proposal to solve America’s
“race problem” by sending free blacks to
the newly-established colony of Liberia.
Charles Nelson explores this scheme from
the perspectives of Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison, Henry Clay, and Abraham
Lincoln, who all generally approved of it,
as well as others who had mixed feelings or
opposed it.
Documents show that the colonization of
Liberia was not the success for which its
planners hoped. From 1817 until 1899, only
a few more than 15,000 people immigrated
into Liberia, out of a population of nearly
5 million blacks in the United States.
Nelson asks, “Why did prominent white
leaders persist for so long in the colonization effort in the face of the evident unwillingness of almost all blacks to resettle in
Africa?”
For many whites, colonization appeared
to be the only logical solution to the apparently unsolvable problem of what to do
with the blacks. Because of the complex
history between the races, Northern abolitionists could see no possible way for freed
blacks to co-exist with whites, while
Southern slaveholders were eager to get rid
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
—Charles Green (AGI02)
�{Alumni}
34
Transforming Spaces
Architect Phillip Katz (SF94) joins the human and devine
J
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
ewish tradition teaches that every
28 years, the sun returns to the
position in the sky at which it was
created, an event commemorated
with a blessing called birkat
hachama. The last time this
celestial anniversary was celebrated
was April 8, 2009; for the Congregation
Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun in Milwaukee,
Wis., the recitation also marked the first
service held in their breathtaking new
sanctuary—designed and built by Phillip
Katz Project Development, founded by
Phillip Katz (SF94).
Katz’s traditional Jewish upbringing
made him a natural for St. John’s:
“Discussion was familiar to me from the
dinner table, and I went to a Jewish
seminary for freshman year of high school,
where we used the same Socratic method
as in seminar,” he says. “St. John’s was an
outstanding experience, and a formative
part of who I am”—a claim borne out by the
fact that, although he eventually migrated
to the College of Santa Fe to graduate from
their landscape design program, his official
bio and interviews still proudly mention
his time with the great books.
Following college, Katz attended graduate school at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, receiving his master’s in
architecture in 1999. He still teaches at
the school. He began work in corporate
architecture in 1995, and was part of the
design team for world-renowned Spanish
architect Santiago Calatrava’s 2001 addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, the
sculptural white concrete Quadracci
Pavilion. Katz is definitely a Calatrava fan:
“He’s not only an architect, he’s an
engineer, a mathematician, a composer—
his work is very anthropomorphic.”
Katz was able to found his design
company, Phillip Katz Project Development, thanks to what he describes as
“some large commissions that gave me the
security to leave the corporate firm.”
Unfortunately, the fledgling business
opened its doors on September 4, 2001.
A week later, as Katz says, “The world
imploded, and the projects I had got
shelved.”
Designing projects for nonprofits, including a synagogue for a Milwaukee congregation, is one of the best rewards of architect Phillip Katz’s work.
“St. John’s taught me to bite off a little more
than I can chew—to take risks.”
Philip Katz (SF94)
Throughout post-9/11 uncertainty and
the current struggling economy—in which
many clients are choosing to stay put and
renovate existing properties rather than
design and build anew—the firm has
tenaciously held its own, he believes,
by offering “the highest quality service.
Training, constant innovation, and
listening to our clients—that’s most
important.”
The recession’s deleterious effect on
new architectural projects, however, has
allowed Katz to pursue less tangible
rewards by doing pro bono work. While
these projects do sometimes result in
paying work, “when approached by a
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
nonprofit, I don’t have my hand out immediately—I feel a great responsibility to make
the world a better place,” he says. Katz
goes on to reference the Jewish concept of
tikkun olam, the “repair and completion of
the world,” a fitting dictum for an architect
who often recreates new buildings within a
formerly broken-down shell.
He’s particularly pleased with the
reclamation of a long-abandoned industrial
building, designed in 1930 by prominent
Milwaukee architect Herbert Tullgren.
It has become a new school facility for Lad
Lake, an agency that works with young
men who have been expelled from
Milwaukee Public Schools. The school has
�{Alumni}
an astonishing 83 percent graduation rate.
The building, which had once been a silverplating shop, was not only dilapidated in
the extreme—holes in the roof, windows
broken, asbestos in the more than 70-yearold heating system—it was an environmental disaster. Contaminants had to be
cleaned up before the gutting of the structure could even begin. After a six-month
renovation process, the center reopened
with classrooms, offices, a library,
computer lab, kitchen, cafeteria, art and
music rooms, and a full-sized gym–the only
outright addition to the building.
“This project was really like a grand
slam home run in the World Series,”
Katz says with obvious pride. “We saved a
blighted building that was architecturally
significant, contributed to the community,
and cleaned up environmental devastation.”
Phillip Katz Project Development’s
achievements have been publicly recognized. The Lad Lake project won an award
from The Business Journal of Milwaukee in
April 2008 for “Best New Development or
Renovation: Education.” The Business
Journal also honored Katz’s firm earlier
this year for outstanding industrial renovation in a whimsical design for Traffic &
Parking Control Company that incorporated its own products, including traffic
lights and reflective yellow road tape. A
2009 award noted the environmentally
friendly design in the massive new headquarters of A.B. Data, a direct marketing
firm, where a cubicle farm was reenvisioned as an “interior streetscape”
with sustainable features such as cork and
bamboo wall panels, stained concrete
floors, and skylights. Two 2008 City of
Milwaukee Urban Design Awards also went
to the Lad Lake project and the Brochach
Irish Pub, which opened in a restored
restaurant space on the city’s lower east
side, built over a century ago with “Cream
City bricks” of local clay.
While industrial, corporate, and residential projects consume a great deal of his
time, Katz reserves his greatest enthusiasm for liturgical architecture. This
passion was born in graduate school, when
his thesis analyzed the use of daylight in
modern and ancient structures across
Europe. Katz sees the creation of sacred
space that bridges the gap between the
human and the divine as “one of the most
important ways architecture can affect
people’s lives. It can unlock some chemistry, create a transformative experience.”
The questions that guide him in his
designs are no different, Katz says, than
those asked thousands of years ago: “How
will the space connect us with each other?
How will the space raise our consciousness
of the divine? How will the space connect
the congregation to our traditions?”
35
Several aspects of his recent Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun project
reflect these concerns: the Golden Mean
proportions carried throughout the
building itself and its design details and
furnishings, and the sustainable nature of
the temple that honors God’s creation.
Even “the wood columns and beams that
form the structure reference the trees in
the Garden of Eden, the Bible’s first sacred
space,” he says. Whether one is religious
or not, it’s hard not to
feel awestruck by the
sanctuary’s simplicity
and openness.
Despite the daily
challenges of smallbusiness reality, Katz
remains optimistic and
passionate about his
work. “St. John’s taught
me to bite off a little
more than I can chew—
to take risks,” he says.
“Not every idealistic
bone has been beaten
out of me yet.” x
Above, the exterior,
and at left, the sanctuary of Phillip Katz’s
design for a synagogue in
Milwaukee. His goal was
to connect congregants
with each other and with
the divine.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Alumni}
36
1954
BERNARD E. JACOB became a
Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Hofstra Law School in
2008. He continues to live in
New York City, where he has
been since 1969. His wife, Phyllis
Gangel-Jacob, is a retired Justice
of the New York Supreme Court.
They have two children and four
grandchildren. Jacob intends to
brush up on his Greek by joining
a reading of Medea at Hunter
College.
1955
HAROLD BAUER pursues, in
“retirement,” an active pace in
his second life, this one as a
painter, after 50 years as a
symphony/opera conductor and
stage director. He continues his
studies at the Evanston Art
Center, both in figure and still
life, where he also serves as President of the Board of Trustees.
He has become very involved in
Rotary, and is chair of the International Service Committee of
the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary
Club. “This has opened to me a
firsthand involvement in humanitarian needs and projects
around the world, both an awful
and an immensely rewarding
experience.”
CAROLYN LEEUWENBURGH
would have liked to have
attended Homecoming but
wasn’t able to, as she was caretaking for her husband, Helge.
“We are fighting T-cell
lymphoma, which occurred on
his spine. The cancer is in
remission at this time, but he
has neurological damage. He is
learning to walk and I’m sure
he’ll make it. Our three kids
are great, coming to visit on
alternate weekends with the
grandchildren. The care and love
hastens the recovery.” She hopes
to see everyone at next year’s
Homecoming.
Meeting in Montana
S
FINEBERG (class
of 1964) encountered
another Johnnie on
an organic farm in
Montana: “Last
month, on a visit to
Bozeman, I met LOGAN JOHNS
(SF09). Logan (with my youngest
daughter, Jane) helps maintain
the vegetable crop on the
Gallatin Valley Botanical Farm, a
local, organic vegetable producer
in Bozeman. Returning to
Bozeman is a return home for Logan (she grew up in there),
but she reports that she keenly misses St. John’s and that, to
sustain the spirit, she has rounded up a group of kindred
souls for a local reading group. My own life goes on much as
ever, teaching Greek at a wonderful, small liberal arts college
in the Midwest (Knox College, Galesburg, Ill). Like Logan, I
deeply miss my student days at St. John’s and try to keep the
memory alive. Next term I will be team-teaching a course
with a Classics colleague: “Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem,” a
thinly disguised great books seminar on Greek, Roman, and
Biblical texts. Team teaching is not a deployment of resources
popular with college deans; it’s an expensive model, particularly when the enrollment is kept to seminar-discussion size.
But even deans cannot deny how well it works. That gets one
through recessions and other turbulent times.” x
TEVE
1959
1960
BARBARA STOWE TOWER is very
excited to be enrolled in this
year’s Executive Seminars, led by
Annapolis tutor MICHAEL DINK
(A75), at the Cosmos Club in
D.C. She also has a weekly study
of the Book of Matthew with the
rector of St. Anne’s Church in
Annapolis, diversions which
offer a welcome departure from
her ongoing 42 years in real
estate with her partner and
husband, Fred, and their
daughter, Alex Tower Sears.
Beyond this her eight grandchildren are nearby, keeping things
lively, with 18-year-old Isabel in
the International Baccalaureate
program and looking at
Swarthmore, Kenyon, St. Mary’s,
and St. John’s. The Santa Fe
campus is out, but she’s pulling
for “St. J’s on-the-Bay!”
Teaching fourth-graders full time
at the Key School is not enough
to keep KATHERINE HAAS
occupied. “Saturdays I teach
Chinese all morning, to people
aged 4 to 60 in 4 classes. Sundays
I continue to struggle with
learning Arabic (eighth year,
not making fast progress).”
Haas has also spent summers in
North Dakota conducting
ornithological research as a
master bird bander, and with her
daughter has conducted the
longest continuous study of
loggerhead shrikes in the continental United States. She still
climbs the occasional tree to
band nestlings, and last summer
brain-tanned a buffalo hide the
traditional way. She also had fun
at the 50th reunion.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
1961
MIKE GOLD has moved to Israel,
along with his children, grandchildren, and Rene. His e-mail
address is goldmw@gmail.com.
1963
CHARLEN [HELEN CHARLOTTE]
FOSBERG KYLE is going into her
10th year as Commissioner on
the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority in
Virginia. “I am in a power chair,
but it has not clipped my wings.
I live in a wonderful gated
community, Little River Glen
apartments, for moderateincome, independent seniors.
A senior recreation center is part
of our complex of national prizewinning architecture and landscaping. The people who work
here love us. It shines through
everything they do.”
1964
JEREMY LEVEN has just
completed directing the Paris
shoot of his next film for Warner
Brothers based on a script he
wrote entitled, “A Girl on a
Bicycle,” and has begun shooting
the second part of the film in
Munich. “The studio has placed
me in an apartment at the intersection of Keplerstrasse and
Copernicusstrasse,” says Leven.
“They meet at last (again?).
Is St. John’s ever far away from
my life?”
1965
ALLENNA LEONARD recently
completed a one-year term as
president of the International
Society for Systems Science,
which involved organizing the
annual conference on the topic
“Governance for a Resilient
Planet” in Waterloo, Ontario.
Leonard also enjoyed a long
�{Alumni}
Labor Day weekend visit from
daughter TAMBRA (SF) with her
husband, John, and son James,
age five.
1966
JULIA (BUSSER) DU PREY is still
performing music: singing, flute
and recorders, as well as writing
poetry, impassioned letters to
the editor of her newspaper, and
memoir material that may
someday turn up in book form.
She is part of a philosophy study
group, gardens, and still loves
swimming, hiking, biking and
other similar sports that get her
out into the countryside.
“My big news is that both my
children, Nicolas and Beatrice,
are now married, and we are
expecting our first grandchild in
late November.”
1968
REBECCA (BECKY) TENDLER (A)
is a psychologist in private practice in Philadelphia. She works
with children and adults and has
special interests in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and the
treatment of trauma and
attachment issues. Her son,
Seth Munoz, and his wife, Kate
Delany, are both teachers and
they have a daughter, Samara,
who is almost two.
1970
LES MARGULIS (A) has returned
to Sydney, where he currently
lives with his Australian bride of
13 years. For the last eight years
he has been moving around the
world on a regular basis, running
ad agencies in trouble (before he
arrived and hopefully not after).
He just finished up 18 months in
Mumbai. Prior to that assignment, he was running or
consulting to agencies in Sydney,
Bucharest, Kiev, Moscow, Tel
Aviv, USA, Johannesburg, and
Dubai. On the way he had a
teaching fellowship at the
University of Florida to teach
advanced branding and strategy.
He doesn’t know what’s next, but
Otters and Porcupines
M
ARY GEOGHEGAN JOLLES (SF74) is beginning
her 14th year as principal of Colebrook
Elementary School, a rural K-8 school of about
300 students in the northernmost part of New
Hampshire. Her husband, JOHN (SF75), is a
small contractor who currently serves as president of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, the Two Rivers
Habitat. They are building a house for a family just across the
Connecticut River in Vermont. “Our sons Philip (33) and Karl
(29) live in Carbondale, Colorado. Phil is an electrician, and Karl
is foreman of a construction crew. Our daughter, Diana, is
working on her doctorate in biology/plant systematics at Claremont Graduate University in California. We have one grandson,
Owen, who lives with dad Phil in Colorado.” About five years
ago, Jolles took up a new hobby—downhill skiing—and now enjoy
the winters much more! This joins hiking, of which there is
plenty to do in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. “We see
lots of wildlife where we live, most recently an otter who came to
our pond to dine on crayfish, as well as a porcupine that has been
making daily visits to a large apple tree in our yard to chow down
on the apples.” x
37
plans to enjoy the fine weather
down under, as well as the affordable and high quality wines.
MARTIN ROSENTHAL (A) has
recently published The English
Teacher and The Golden Avatar
under the pen name Phillip
Ahtmann. The work, which is
available on Amazon.com, can
also be found at www.TeacherAndAvatar.com, where it can be
purchased with a 50 percent
discount (code: YM8H7XEM).
Rosenthal describes the work,
which has a chapter based on his
experience at St. John’s College,
Annapolis, thusly: “A middleaged Hare Krishna disciple,
obsessed with his vision of
Lord Chaitanya, the Golden
Avatar of Vishnu, struggles
with his own bipolar personality
while teaching English in an
unsympathetic New Orleans
public high school. Though
he is a gifted creative writer
and educator, he must deal
with many disrespectful and
hyperactive students who go
unchecked by administrators,
while he endeavors to teach
those sincere and gifted students
who appreciate him.”
SUSAN SWARTZBERG (SF) will
spend October in Europe, first to
France to visit friends, and then
to Spain to be with her son Josh
and his extended family, with a
side trip to Bilbao to see Gehry’s
Guggenheim.
1971
October 2010 will bring the
publication of a ninth book by
JOHN STARK BELLAMY (A), The
Last Days of Cleveland (Gray &
Co.), which includes a hairraising account of his very first
disaster.
LYNNE BUNDESEN (SFGI) moved
to Cape Town, South Africa,
from Santa Fe, and would be
interested in any alum who
would want to have a seminar
now and then.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
Recall, Inc., a private detective
agency started by MICHAEL
VICTOROFF (A), has mostly
shifted from forensic toxicology
to medical information systems.
He is Chief Medical Officer for
Lynxcare (health record
summaries and personalized
research for patients with
complex conditions), and is also
Chief Medical Officer for Parity
Computing (unstructured data
management, natural language
processing and knowledge
discovery)—trying to teach
computers how to read medical
records. He continues to work
on the classification and
epidemiology of medical errors
for various patient safety
organizations. Victoroff is
also a member of the Steering
Committee on Serious
Reportable Events (“never
events”) of the National Quality
Forum, and has just developed a
website for the Federal Drug
Administration to collect reports
of adverse events related to electronic health records. He teaches
off and on at the University of
Colorado School of Medicine,
having put teaching bioethics
into hibernation as “nobody is
interested in ethics during a
recession,” and has abandoned
writing his toxicologic terrorism
thriller because folks at Homeland Security pointed out that it
outlined a usable blueprint for a
new class of WMD. He still
teaches Aikido and competes in
shooting sports because violence
is never boring. His wife, Hilary,
is a nurse practitioner in the
Colorado Department of
Corrections, working with
people whose complexity of
medical illnesses are only
exceeded by the complexity of
their lives, while his son Tristan
(29) finished his MPH at the
University of Washington and is
on the way to Atlanta for a threeyear fellowship at the CDC.
Daughter Ariel (26) teaches
math in Breckenridge, Colo.,
where she and her husband
fully exploit the recreational
opportunities of the high
country.
�{Alumni}
38
Urgent Anthropology
Through “a lens and mirror,” Harold Anderson (A72) captures endangered cultures
H
By Sara Luell (A09)
Anderson currently lives in Greenbelt,
Maryland, where he pursues cultural
research as an independent contractor and
teaches cultural and urban anthropology
at Bowie State University. Most recently,
he helped to establish a new program at
Goucher College: a Master of Arts in
Cultural Sustainability. The degree
program was created by a group of professionals, including Anderson, with diverse
experiences in cultural sustainability for
both the public and private sectors. The
program founders incorporated into the
program the information they wish they
had known before entering the field,
including good business practices and the
effective use of social media. Many Johnnies, he suggests, would be a good fit for
the program. “People coming out of
St. John’s already have that core ability to
think for themselves and to think deeply,”
Anderson says. “Cultural sustainability
requires you to have a big picture. You have
to be able to think of things on a larger
scale, which St. John’s students generally
learn how to do.”
Of all the works on the Program,
Anderson’s favorite remains War and
Peace. “I always read the second part—the
part that nobody reads,” he says. “Tolstoy
harold anderson
arold Anderson (A72)
describes himself as a
“content provider.” This
“content” is, in a word,
culture. Anderson studies
and documents diverse
cultures, from New Zealand Maori to a
small, historically African-American
community in Virginia. The research
Anderson assembles, including articles,
documentaries, recordings and photographs, is used by institutions such as the
Smithsonian and by those small, historic
communities, many struggling to hold
onto their distinctive culture.
Anderson works to promote the
“cultural sustainability” of communities in
danger of being overwhelmed, destroyed,
or absorbed into larger cultures (a field also
known as “urgent anthropology”). Documenting the history, language, music and
traditions of endangered cultures has value
for those within the jeopardized community as well as for the larger world, where
language and culture loss pose an analogous threat to the loss of species. “I try to
expose the positive or beautiful, the affective aspects of culture,” says Anderson.
“I try to render those into a form so that
people both within and outside a culture
can see these aspects.”
Originally from
Cleveland, Ohio,
Anderson has spent much
of his life in Maryland,
pursuing his diverse
interests. He has a great
love for the Chesapeake
Bay and has documented
the lives of local
watermen. He earned a
doctorate in ethnomusicology at the University of
Maryland. He is also an
accomplished photographer and jazz bassist, and
spent nearly 20 years
living in New Zealand,
where he was a Mozart
Fellow (a prestigious residency for composers) at
Otago University in
Dunedin.
talks about what I would describe as a
calculus of history, and I really like his
views on the relationship between the
masses, between democratic forces.”
Tolstoy’s discussion of democratic forces is
reminiscent of Anderson’s work: it is
similar to the struggle between a dominant
culture or force and a smaller culture in
danger of being overwhelmed.
One of Anderson’s projects, a documentary called “Community Voices: The Nauck
Community Heritage Project,” illustrates
his work as a content provider. In the documentary, he pieces together photographs,
videos, recordings and blueprints of the
community to create a rich view of the
people in Nauck, a historically AfricanAmerican neighborhood in Arlington
County, Virginia. Developers are buying
up land in the area, displacing locals. But
the owner of a small-town barbershop
refuses to sell, saying, “I don’t want that
little money—this place means something
to me.”
It’s a testament to Anderson’s skill that
he is able to let the words and pictures of
the community speak for themselves. He
doesn’t narrate. “I call what I do ‘documentary as (mediated) cultural autobiography,’—I act as a lens and a mirror. The
skill in what I do has to
do with whether what I
put out there is actually
representative of the
community and its
people. It’s not in
whether I actually make
them survive—I have no
control over that. I just
try to do justice to
people’s feelings and who
they are. From that point
of view, [the Nauck documentary] was a rousing
success, as the community loved the whole
piece. And that’ll have
to do.” x
Harold Anderson
documents endangered
communities.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Alumni}
TRAVIS PRICE (SF) has
completed his 15th international
Spirit of Place installation as the
launch event for Helsinki Design
Week; his next will be grander as
the key event for 2012 World
Design Capitol—Helsinki! Also,
his new book “The Mythic
Modern: Architectural Expeditions into the Spirit of Place” will
launch this coming spring 2011.
1972
MARY BETH (BETSY) SANDERS
(A) married Craig Sanchez (A)
and moved to Toronto in protest
of the Vietnam War. A few years
later they divorced, and later
still, Sanders had a son, Michael,
who is now 28 and married. She
is semi-retired and starting to
write again, and has obtained a
BPh from Thomas Jefferson
College in Allendale, Michigan.
She would love to hear from
former classmates and friends,
and can be found at marybethsanders10@hotmail.com.
1973
This past summer ERIC O.
SPRINGSTED (SF) and his
daughter, ELSPETH (SF07),
undertook to walk the medieval
pilgrimage route across
northern Spain to Santiago de
Compostela, crossing the
Pyrenees and drinking from the
Fountain of Roland, arriving in
Santiago 500 miles and 32 days
later to meet the rest of the
family. “Along the way there was
a lot of discussion of The Canterbury Tales, which was surprisingly relevant and a lot truer
than we imagined in seminar.
There was also a lot of discussion
of Don Quixote, and Tolstoy—
who wasn’t as relevant to the
journey, but both of us like him.”
Soon after returning Springsted
finished as interim senior pastor
at Georgetown Presbyterian
Church in Washington, D.C.,
and is now working on several
39
writing projects back in New
Jersey, where Elspeth is working
on pre-med courses.
published a book titled The
Major Plays of Horton Foote
(Mellen 2010).
MARIA VAN BEUREN (A) is editorin-chief of Toad Hall Press, which
is publishing Annapolis tutor Jim
Beall’s second book of poetry,
Republic, in two editions, the
English edition (August 2010)
and the international edition, in
Italian (October 2010), translated by Sabine Pascarielli. Toad
Hall Press is an offshoot of Toad
Hall Writers’ and Artists’
retreats, which Maria hosts at
Toad Hall in New Hampshire.
The retreats are invitation-only
and have been attended by
artists, writers, and poets from
across the United States and
Europe. Members of the SJC
community are encouraged to
visit the Toad Hall website, toadhallmedia.com, and are welcome
to nominate themselves for an
invitation.
VIRGINIA HUNT (SF) warns her
life is not an easy fit in a nutshell.
“I started St John’s with the class
of ‘74, married George Graham
at the end of junior year, and
then managed to return and
finish the Program with the class
of 1976. We lived mostly in Santa
Fe, spent not quite a year in L.A.,
back to Santa Fe, then back to
Ohio, following the siren song of
my family farm in rural southeast
farm country there. When
George returned to Santa Fe,
I remained in Ohio and worked at
the thoroughbred race track
there, running a little leather
business out of my living room
workshop while looking after
elder relatives. I spent the 80s
playing keyboards with the
reggae band Identity, acting as
their road manager—600 miles a
week for 8 years. We made three
albums on the Mango label in the
late 80s. In 1990 I married again,
had a daughter, gained stepchildren, and everybody grew up and
took over their own lives. My
husband Stephen and I are
building our own farm in beautiful Geauga County in northeast
Ohio. We have two horses, a cat,
a daughter and her boyfriend
living with us here. I took a
master’s degree in community
counseling in the early 90s, am
licensed as a clinical counselor,
and have worked as a school
psychologist for a few years.
Now I work for Hospice of the
Western Reserve. Life is good!
Sixty years approaches, hard to
imagine. I remember finding it
difficult to imagine I would be
46 when the century turned.
Anybody wants to contact me
can use huntdacosta@
roadrunner.com.”
1974
PAULA HARTMAN COHEN, now
PAULA BEHNKEN (SFGI), has
been living a good, mindful life
in rural southern
Vermont/western Massachusetts, and is happy to report that
she’s now married and enjoying
grandmotherly duties to five
beautiful babies. She is still
writing for the local newspaper
and a few magazines, and
welcomes e-mails at
phcohen@nasw.org
KAREN J. COOK (SF) has been
teaching graduate-level courses
as an assistant professor in the
department of library science at
Clarion University of Pennsylvania since August 2009.
TOM DOLAN (A) received his MS
in Nursing from Regis College.
He is teaching medical-surgical
and community health nursing at
several local schools of nursing.
ROBERT W. HAYNES (SF), is now
a professor of English at Texas
A&M International University in
Laredo, and has recently
1976
TED BURKE (A) dropped by the
college in August to say “hi.”
He’s in good spirits.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
1977
ED KAITZ (A) is devoting himself
to painting as much as possible,
and is having some success
selling his artwork. He hopes to
be curating an art show in 2011,
featuring artwork influenced by
Great Books of the Western
World. Smaller works of his
can be seen and bought as
prints or greeting cards at
www.EdKaitz.imagekind.com.
JUDY KISTLER-ROBINSON (SF)
has recently returned to life in
the suburbs of Dallas after a brief
trip to London, York, Edinburgh,
and Glasgow with MIRIAM
MARCUS-SMITH (SF76). “Miriam
was in England for two weeks
before I arrived, and had
previously visited Edinburgh and
York two years ago,” says KistlerRobinson, “so she was the
experienced guide in the ways of
British travel. The trip was not
nearly long enough, so a return
trip to see more of Scotland
(especially the Hebrides and
highlands) will be necessary.
One small highlight was seeing
the statue of David Hume across
from St. Giles Cathedral in
Edinburgh (the statue was
wearing a safety cone dunce cap
at the time), and Hume’s tomb in
nearby Calton Cemetery, next to
the tomb honoring ScottishAmerican war dead.
Upon retiring from the Foreign
Service in 2005, CORRY MILLER
WEIERBACH (A) launched a
second career, receiving an
MDiv from Virginia Theological
Seminary in Alexandria, Va.,
last May. She was ordained as an
Episcopal deacon in June. “Now
I’m looking for a spot in a parish
nearby my home in Arlington;
I expect to be ordained an
Episcopal priest within a year.
This work really agrees with me,
though I am not relishing the
prospect of being called ‘Mother
Corry.’ Yikes!”
�{Alumni}
40
1978
MICHAEL CIBA (A) received his
Doctor of Ministry degree from
Virginia Theological Seminary in
Alexandria, Va., in May. He
continues to serve as a Regional
Minister for the Connecticut
Conference of the United Church
of Christ.
TERESA FABI (A) has just
celebrated her 25th year at the
Brooklyn DA’s office. “As chief of
Crime Prevention, my job is to
develop and oversee many of his
initiatives. Having spent the
better part of my career putting
people in jail, I can honestly say
that it is far more rewarding
figuring out ways to keep them
out!” On a more personal note,
Fabi reports she is officially an
empty-nester, as her daughter
Elizabeth just started her
senior year at Barnard, and
Fabi has delivered Robby to
Oberlin College.
1979
TOM WELLS (A) is sad to report
that his wife of almost 30 years,
Kathleen Murphy, died this past
June 11 from CJD, a rare form of
dementia. “We were able to take
care of her in our home in
Bozeman all the way,” Wells
says. “Our son, Matthew, who
completed his freshman year at
Santa Fe, stayed home and
helped care for Kathleen as well.
The good news is that even as
Kathleen’s cognitive capabilities
declined, her sweetness and good
heart never failed.”
1981
DORY (EISENBEIS) CULVER (SF)
just swam from Alcatraz to San
Francisco, and loves receiving
pictures of Nick Cullander’s
(SF80) children.
A criminal defense lawyer for the
past seven years and a public
defender in Washington State for
the past five, MARK LANGLEY
(SF) has just completed a threeyear rotation representing defendants charged with the most
serious felonies. Langley has also
completed a novel on the law
school experience, titled “Tier
One: Law School Odyssey”
which he is actively trying to get
published. If successful, it will be
under the nom de plume
Xenophon. He is also working on
another novel with a co-author.
With his wife of 24 years, Alma,
he’s working with a start-up
company that is developing wind
farms for green energy, she in
business development and he as
general counsel. “I was thinking
that I was slowing down a little,”
he writes, “but maybe that’s an
illusion.”
MARILYNN R. SMITH (SFGI) still
loves living 35 or so miles north
of Houston. She has been caring
for grandchildren before and
after school while their parents
work, and lately has also been
caring for her daughter as she
recovers from surgery and under-
Single, Studying, Surfing
S
WILLIAMSON (SF89) has returned to school
full time, pursuing a PhD in political science at the
University of Connecticut after spending the last
16 years as a full-time tattoo artist and part-time
student. His primary areas of interest are Latin
American politics and political psychology. “This
summer I made a preliminary trip to Colombia in order to
narrow my research agenda so that I can frame a dissertation
topic when that day comes (in about two years).” He is still
single, with one dog, and learning to surf.x
TEVEN
goes chemotherapy. “One of
these days, we’re going to make
the trip to Santa Fe and Albuquerque again. We all love that
entire area!”
Last year, DANIEL VAN DOREN
(A) made a pact with himself to
read all the books in his house
that have lingered on the shelves
for years gathering dust and
waiting to be read. So far he’s
managed 19 in the last 14
months, which he feels is a good
pace, especially considering that
he got through only 3 to 4 books
the previous year. “For the sake
of variety, I try to alternate
between fiction and nonfiction;
in the past month, I read The
Double Helix by James Watson
and Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. I figure that I’ve got at least
another 10 years to go.” Van
Doren has also started his second
year on the Board of Visitors and
Governors and is currently
serving on the Finance
Committee. If alumni have
anything they’d like him to bring
to the board, he says, just ask.
LOUBNA A. YOUSSEF (SFGI) got
her PhD from Cairo University in
1988; her thesis was titled: “The
Evolution of Wordsworth’s
Prelude: A Study in the Growth
of a Modern Epic.” Since graduating she has been teaching in
the Department of English at
Cairo University and is at present
both a professor in that department and in the Rhetoric and
Composition Department at the
American University in Cairo.
Her brother, Hesham Youssef, is
now an ambassador and is the
Chief of Staff of the Arab
League. At present he lives in
Cairo with his wife and two sons,
Ahmed and Youssef. “I have a
son who is married, and Sarah,
his wife, is seven months pregnant. Cannot wait to be a
granny!” Loubna has been trying
to find a classmate of hers,
named HELEN YOUNG, for many
years, and asks fellow alums for
any help in locating her. “She
lived in Boston at the time and I
spent some time with her in her
family home in 1981, but I do not
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
have her address. She must have
married and might have a
different last name.”
1982
A registered nurse, PHILLIP E.
BOVENDER (A) has been named
the 2010 recipient of the Donna
Dorsey Award by the American
Red Cross of Central Maryland
in Baltimore. The award, Maryland’s highest for Red Cross
nursing, honors outstanding
volunteer efforts in emergency
services and is named for the
former executive director of the
Maryland Board of Nursing.
Active in the local Disaster
Action Team, Bovender was
deployed to Mississippi for a
tornado and then to Nashville,
Tennessee in May for the flood.
He is a clinical instructor for the
University of Maryland School of
Nursing and an Emergency
Department nurse for the Johns
Hopkins Medical Institutions.
Last May, DON DENNIS (SF)
published a book titled Orchid
Essence Healing, about the
range of flower essences he
makes with orchids. You can read
all about it here: www.healingorchids.com/livingtreeorchidsproducts/book.html.
1983
JEFF MCCLELLAND (SF) is living
in Nanning, Guangxi, China,
where for the past 18 months he
has been working on a project
building farms in Dahua. “I work
with a NASDAQ company which
until recently was Chinese
operated and originated here in
China. I am learning Chinese
(slowly) but I must admit it is
faster than I learned Greek!”
Of Chinese cuisine, writes: “they
eat everything—weeds, branches,
bamboo, frogs, peacock, cobra,
lily bulbs. It has been quite an
experience.” He wishes his best
to all who’ve made it and are still
working to make it, and can be
reached jdmac59@hotmail.com.
�{Alumni}
JOHN “JOHNO” OBENAUER (A)
lives near Memphis, Tenn., with
his wife, Michelle, and daughter
Lily (age 5). (Yes, somebody actually married him.) He wastes his
time watching TV comedies
(The Simpsons, Big Bang
Theory, The Daily Show),
reading Facebook, and lusting
electronic gadgets. At work he’s
the group leader for bioinformatics (a combination of molecular biology, computing, and
statistics for finding disease
genes) at St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital. Michelle
works for Medtronic in regulatory affairs, submitting medical
devices to the FDA for approval,
and Lily started kindergarten
this year and enjoys gymnastics.
CLINTON PITTMAN (A) is getting
a master’s in healthcare administration, with lots of reading, even
by Johnnie standards. In the
meantime he’s looking for a real
job to help tide things over.
Marshmallow Pie
A
www.easterislandjournal.com.
We welcome comments, hellos,
etc.”
NTHONY
CHIFFOLO
(AGI94) and
co-author
Rayner
“Rusty” W.
Hesse, Jr., combined their
love for cooking with their
enjoyment of watching
movies in their latest cookbook project, Cooking with
the Movies. They selected 14
noted films and created
recipes that will enable the reader to prepare and serve the very
dishes featured in the movies. Thus, if one has a hankering for
Quail in Rose-Petal Sauce as shown in Like Water for Chocolate, or Veal Pancetta from Big Night, or a decadent Marshmallow Mermaid Pie from Waitress, the recipes are there. You
can even invite your friends over to enjoy the last meal served
on the Titanic, and then watch the big ship go down once
again. x
After spending two years in
Taiwan collecting data for his
dissertation on transnational
bioscience entrepreneurship,
JON YING (A) is now a lecturer in
the Department of Labor Studies
and Employment Relations at
Penn State. He is on track to
compete his PhD from the ILR
School at Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y., in May 2011.
JULIE TURKO (SF) is the Director
of Corporate Relations for
Southwest Human Development,
a nonprofit agency that provides
services for children birth-to-five
in the areas of child health and
welfare, disabilities, early
literacy, and training for early
childhood professionals.
“I always enjoy hearing from
Johnnies in and out of Arizona!
jturko@swhd.org.”
1991
1992
Thoroughly enjoying retirement,
RONALIE A. MOSS (SFGI, EC95)
is reading about Paul Cooley
biking and keeping bees in
Santa Fe. She also enjoys playing
Mah Jongg, reading, hiking,
making baskets, and bird
watching.
PHIL POLLARD (AGI) and DAWN
BELTZ-POLLARD (AGI94) live in
Richmond, Va., with their three
beautiful daughters. Dawn
teaches kindergarten and Phil
teaches first grade at Richmond
Waldorf School. Phil also
performs in a vaudeville-style
comedy duo, The Slomski
Brothers. Most of the material
comes from the hilarious writings of Hegel!
HAEWORTH ROBERTSON (AGI)
has just published his first
novella, a murder mystery
involving life settlements, an
actuary, a stripper, and more.
Details are available at
http://silverpendantmystery.com.
41
SIOFRA RUCKER (SF) and her
two daughters, ages 13 and 7, are
living as tenants on a large horse
and cattle farm outside of
Louisville, Ky., as the owner
farms it. The marketing and
development director for Yew
Dell Botanical Gardens, Rucker
is completing a degree in
Sustainable Business Practices
online through University of
California San Diego and
planned to run her first (and
quite possibly last) marathon
this fall.
1993
MARY “KAYT” CONRAD (AGI)
and KAREN WACHSMUTH (A79)
hold sporadic alumni meetings
in Iowa City restaurants, where
they share their passion for beets
and books. Both work at the
University of Iowa. If there are
other Johnnies in the Cedar
Rapids/Iowa City corridor,
they’d love to know who you are!
JAMES CRAIG (AGI) says that he
and Nan are back on Easter
Island in the Pacific, working to
convert his black-and-white
images of the island and its
people into book format. “We’ll
be here until late November this
trip. As always, the blog is active
while we are on-island at
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
1994
Three Graduate Institute alumni
are involved in a liberal arts
charter school in Colorado
Springs, Colo., an enterprise
with many intentional similarities to St. John’s College. Now in
its second year, Thomas
MacLaren School has 112
students enrolled in grades 6-10,
with plans to add a grade each
year. Two of its founders, ERIC
HALL (SFGI94) and MARY
FAITH (RANAGHAN) HALL
(SFGI97), met at St. John’s.
Founding faculty member
CARTER YOUNG (SFGI08) joined
the school as a teacher in its first
year, 2009-2010. MacLaren
students read original texts
(many of which are on the
Program) and discuss them in
two-hour seminars around a
table. MacLaren students read
many of the same books as
Johnnies, such as Pride and
Prejudice, The Communist
Manifesto, Crime and Punishment, The Iliad, The Odyessey,
Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s
Ethics, Dante’s Inferno, and
Descartes’s Meditations.
MacLaren’s full reading list can
be found here: www.maclarenschool.org/
readinglist.pdf
1995
ASHLEY OLIVER (FISHER, SF)
and her husband, Robert,
welcomed twins: Barbara
Elisabeth and Nicholas Edmund,
on August 8, 2010. Ashley has
spent the past 11 years teaching
in Dallas and Ft. Worth Catholic
schools, but now looks forward
to staying home with the kids
and building up their Goju Ryu
karate school’s enrollment.
�{Alumni}
42
RICHARD E. MILLER (A) has
returned to the faculty after two
terms as chair of the Rutgers
English department, where he is
teaching large lecture courses for
the first time in his life. He hopes
to spend the big 5-0 next year
biking and or hiking somewhere
he’s never been before.
1984
PETER GREEN (A) got married
September 25 to Babette Audant,
whom many met at the last
reunion. They are living in New
York and having a ball. Babette, a
former chef, is finishing a PhD in
geography and teaching at
Kingsborough Community
College. Peter is a reporter with
Bloomberg News, covering
politics and foreign affairs,
and trying not too eat too much
of Babette’s feasts.
A love story: On a trip to Europe
in July, JAMES HYDER (A84)
proposed to LESLIE SMITH
ROSEN (A82) in the gardens of
the Schoenbrunn Palace in
Vienna. “We reconnected last
fall, 28 years after Leslie’s
graduation, with the help of
some (non-Johnnie) mutual
friends, and although we weren’t
good friends in college, we
quickly became very close,”
writes James. Rosen said yes, and
they expect to tie the knot next
summer. “Leslie lost a breast to
early-stage cancer in May, but
has made a splendid recovery,
and the outlook is very good,”
writes Hyder, who was glad to be
around to help. Rosen is dean of
general studies at the Shoshana
S. Cardin School, a private
Jewish day school in Pikesville,
Md.; James is editor and
publisher of LF Examiner, a
business newsletter that covers
the giant-screen film industry.
TOM LOVELAND (A) has enjoyed
a month of R&R in Italy this
summer, with a 10-day writing
workshop. Carol and Laura,
seven, and Micah, almost three,
are great, and his business does
well. He has been appointed
Baltimore’s “Google Czar” to
attract Google’s ultra-high speed
Fiber for Communities project
here, and now leads Baltimore’s
Broadband Task Force. He cofounded the Baltimore Angels
investment group last year, and
the Maryland IT PAC this year.
VIRGINIA MCCONNELL (AGI)
was recently recognized for her
philanthropic work as the
Founder of Boulder Friends of
UNICEF by the Boulder
(Colorado) Chamber of
Commerce in the Women Who
Light the Community 2010
Awards Luncheon.
1985
GENEVIEVE JACOBS (A) earned
an unintentional place in oceanic
travelling history with mention
in A Speck on the Sea: Epic
Voyages in Improbable Vessels,
by William H. Longyard,
published by McGraw Hill. In
1983, she left St John’s Annapolis
to sail with her husband, Claude
Desjardins, aboard their 18-foot
sloop to Australia. She stowed a
few of the great books in paperback to read and swap along the
trade winds route.
After 12 years as a foreign service
officer, CAMILLE PISK
DONOGHUE (SFGI) has begun
her second career: teaching
language arts at Ortiz Middle
School in Santa Fe.
1987
MICHAEL VITAKIS (A) has
returned from a year in New
Zealand on the South Island,
having finished promotion on his
previous book, She and I:
A Fugue. He is now in the midst
of production on a two-volume
set on the Canadian-American
feminist writer Mary MacLane
(1881-1929), which he thinks will
top out at 1,300 pages and be out
in 2011. As always, he welcomes
hearing from Johnnies.
1988
1990
JAMES O’GARA (A) has returned
from a year in Kandahar,
Afghanistan, and is enjoying the
comparatively dust-free environment of Washington, D.C. as
well as that blessed American
innovation known as the
weekend.
KEVIN (SF) and KHIN KHIN
GUYOT BROCK (SF88) live with
their son, Christopher, in Santa
Clara, Calif., where they garden
and rearrange boxes of books.
Kevin is close enough to bicycle
to his work at Citrix. Khin Khin
and Christopher play together
most of the day. At 2 ½, Christopher loves books and trains and
helping with the vegetables.
They love being parents and look
forward to adopting a second
child, hoping have as strong a
relationship with the birthmother as they do with Christopher’s. They ask that if anyone
knows a woman who is thinking
of placing her baby for adoption,
to please tell her about them or
have her contact Adoption
Connection, their adoption
agency.
JOHN PILLETTE (A) started his
own class action employment law
practice in San Francisco this
summer. “If you work in
California, odds are you’re
owed money by your employer,
so give us a call. On the web at
pillettelaw.com.”
1989
AMANDA MARIE DALTON,
formerly AMANDA DALTON
FERNANDEZ (A), will be studying
at Nouveau Clown Institute in
Barcelona for the Third Master
Class, and will also be
performing in the Comedy
Review “Cabaret Cabron”at the
newly founded theater Asociacion de Freedonia on the Raval.
Freedonia will feature outrageous off-the-wall comedy in the
spirit of the Marx Brothers, but
with a modern twist for young
adult audiences. “I plan to live in
Barcelona for at least the first
part of 2011 and then...who
knows? I will be writing about
it on my web page
www.mandydalton.com.”
After managing logistics operations at Sandia National Laboratories, DAVID DEPOLO (SFGI) in
2007 started a small consulting
business for profit and nonprofit
organizations. Currently he is
serving as general manager of a
country club in California and
partnering with local and state
agencies completing construction of a water treatment facility
producing cost-effective recycled
water for golf course irrigation
and regional agricultural use. He
can be reached at david@greatcommunications.org.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
Last April, NELL and KILIAN
GARVEY (SF) welcomed their
first child, a beautiful little girl
they named Maris. “She loves to
stick out her tongue and touch
her nose, among other things,”
they report. Kilian will be
making a professional change
this fall by taking the newly
created position of research associate in the Department of
Psychology at Bowdoin College.
GRAHAM HARMAN (A)
began work in September as
Associate Provost for Research
Administration at the American
University in Cairo, Egypt. In
November he will publish his
first book in foreign translation:
L’Objet quadruple, trans. Olivier
Dubouclez (Paris: Presses
universitaires de France, 2010).
Also in November, he will
publish the first fictionalized
version of his philosophical
work: Circus Philosophicus
(Winchester, UK: Zero Books,
2010).
continued on p. 48
�{Alumni}
43
Windows on the Farming Future
W
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
hen I moved to
Brooklyn in
October 2009 and
discovered that my
bedroom window
opened up onto the
fire escape, I had big window-box plans:
Tomato plants! Catnip! Maybe a fig tree!
Like many a Midwesterner’s New York
dreams, the idea of growing food fell by the
wayside. Yet the ambition has been reenergized by Britta Riley’s (SF00) amazing
Windowfarms Project, a crowdsourced,
sustainable method for city dwellers to
create vertical hydroponic gardens in a
window as small as 4 feet by 6 feet.
The project had a dual genesis: first, in
Riley’s 2007 graduate degree from New
York University’s Interactive Telecommunications program—(“We learned some
electrical engineering, some programming, some Web 2.0”) and in her side gig
as an environmental artist. Riley read her
professor Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without
Organizations, which she describes as
viewing “mass collaboration as the Holy
Grail of crowdsourcing. Instead of menial
tasks, people worldwide would be
contributing creative, thoughtful intellectual property.” Simultaneously, she read an
article by food activist Michael Pollan, which
posited that growing some of one’s own food
is the best thing an individual American can
do for the environment. Riley was inspired to
apply Shirky’s ideas to Pollan’s suggestion,
harnessing the power of social media to find
ways to solve global problems.
This inspiration, along with an interest in
hydroponics, led Riley and a friend to start
tinkering with Tupperware and tubing in a
window in her apartment that overlooked an
air shaft. “We got this thing put together
that would leak all the time and was really
loud,” she says, “but we got 25 vegetable
plants to grow, and it was a prototype we
could show people.” They invited a handful
of acquaintances to Riley’s fifth-floor walkup
to see the setup, and each left with an
interest in improving one aspect of the
project.
“One guy named Andy found the perfect
drill bit,” Riley recalls, “so you could screw
Britta Riley (right) and her friend
Rebecca Bray started the Windowfarms
Project to create farmers out of city
dwellers.
each bottle into another, making the whole
system stable. I could open my window
without the whole thing rattling around!”
Another person discovered “drip emitters”
used for irrigating lawns, which would regulate water drop by drop at a certain gallonper-hour rate. A third, more botany-oriented
person came up with a solution for the novel
hydroponics problem of root systems in clear
plastic containers. “Exposed to light,”
explains Riley, “the roots would mutate into
leaves and branches, so there were no roots
to absorb the liquid nutrients we were
providing.” All this feedback allowed Riley
and her colleagues to create a 47-page PDF
instruction set, which they made available
on the Internet.
“Almost immediately, it went viral,”
Riley says. In late July 2009, “when we
went public with a social media website to
chronicle people’s experiences, things
started to get really exciting—this network of
ordinary people gathering together to solve
environmental problems.”
Windowfarms currently has around
15,000 members worldwide, whose
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
collaborative tweaking has helped create
two completely overhauled systems,
increasing output by three times and
lowering the carbon footprint by two and a
half times. One participant even made
solar panels to power the pumps for his
massive window farm, sustaining 120
plants completely off the grid in New York
City. Riley has been able to quit her day job
and is working on the project full-time.
“We’re trying to figure out how we can be
financially sustainable as well,” she says.
The future of intellectual property also
plays a huge role in Riley’s thinking:
“Hydroponics is one of the most active
areas of patenting in the U.S. right now,
and yet it makes the most sense as a technology for supplying fresh food to people
in cities. Thus, it is an area ripe for going
the way of Monsanto and the pharmaceutical industries, where a resource valuable
to human life is tied up in privately held
intellectual property.” To combat this situation, Windowfarms is securing patents and
then passing them on as royalty-free licenses
to individuals, helping valuable knowledge
to remain in the public domain, rather than
being owned—and parceled out—by a handful
of corporations.
At first this amazing marriage of smallscale farming with the globe-spanning
Internet might seem unconnected to the
great books. Yet Riley thinks that Johnnies
are uniquely qualified for the crowdsourcing
future. “We’re starting to move into an era
where interdisciplinary knowledge is really
important,” she says. “We have a real advantage—an ability to have a big perspective, and
some well-developed ethics as well, something we could really use right now. The
message I would love to get to St. John’s
people is that the tech world really needs us.
I would love to see more and more Johnnies
in the social media world.”
Join the project at windowfarms.org.
�{Alumni}
44
1996
JENNIFER (WAMSER)
DESLONGCHAMPS (AGI)
currently lives in Milwaukee,
Wis., with her husband, Paul,
and six kids: Thomas (nine),
Elena (eight), Camille (seven),
C.J. (five), Zachary (four), and
Stephen (two). She is enjoying
every minute of her almost
continual maternity leave over
the past nine years, so that she
can stay at home with the kids.
“One day I might get back to my
dissertation on Nicholas of Cusa,
which was left in media res, but
for now there is nary a moment
to spare. My love of the great
books has not been neglected,
however. Bedtime stories at the
Deslongchamps house often
consist of Homer, Virgil, Dante,
Oscar Wilde, Twain!” She has
lost touch with almost all of her
dear GI friends, but will never
lose her wonderful memories of
evening seminars followed by a
pint or two at the Little Campus.
1998
SARA BARKER (A) married
Richard Gibson, a friend of her
brother’s who she had a crush on
when she was 14, which was
rekindled when she chatted with
him one day about Dostoevsky in
her twenties, and which finally
turned into a real relationship in
her thirties- in March. “Rich is a
public school teacher and
working his way towards a
masters in history at George
Mason University. We live in
Arlington, Va., with our whippet,
Tybalt.” Barker continues to be
active in theater and will be
playing Queen Elizabeth in
Schiller’s Mary Stuart with the
Washington Shakespeare
Company at the new Artisphere
in Rosslyn, Va., this November;
she continues to work as a
communications professional,
and is currently the manager of
Marketing and Communications
at the American Intellectual
Property Law Association.
GLENSCOTT COPPER (AGI) is
nearly finished with the novel he
began at 49 West Street while a
GI at Annapolis in 1995. “I am
retired from teaching, but work
part time with Big Brothers/Big
Sisters of Milwaukee and a volunteer diver and aquarist assistant
at Discovery World Museum, and
doing prison visitations for the
Quakers.” Cooper is interested
in forming an alumni association
in Milwaukee if he could get a list
of members who live near there,
as Madison and Chicago are
“a bit too inconvenient.”
RICHARD FIELD (SFGI)
welcomed the birth of twin girls,
Alexandra Electra and Grace
Apollonia Field, into the Field
household on August 2, 2008.
Among their early favorites in
stories are the tales of Aesop!
LEAH FISCH (A) has been asked
to participate in the second
season of Hoarding: Buried
Alive, and is looking for people
to participate, stressing that they
will receive a generous stipend if
chosen. “My range is basically
the east coast, though I am local
to New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut and Massachusetts.
ALEXANDRA BOOZER GIGUERE
(A) and her husband, Dan
Giguere, welcomed a second son,
Alexandre William Buus
Giguere, on August 4. “Little
Alex is healthy and peaceful.
Five-year-old Daniel, who just
started Montessori kindergarten, is an excellent big
brother and comedic entertainer
to his sleepy parents.”
JAMES PETCOFF (AGI) currently
lives in Yarmouthport, Mass.,
on Cape Cod, where he is the
director of a mental health
program serving adults recovering from mental illness. He
also plays bass in two bands and
is working on his third featurelength film script. When he’s not
involved in the above he enjoys
reading, kayaking, cooking and
community theater, and feels
that the year and a half that he
spent at St. John’s was the most
productive and enjoyable part of
his life so far.
1999
MIKE BAAS (SF) reports the
arrival of Alexandra Josephine
Baas into the world on
September 11, 2010. “My wife
Tracy and I are happy with her in
our new home in Orange County,
Calif. Life is good, even without
Level 2 green chili.”
BEN FREY (SF00) and DANCER
JENSEN-STARR, (SF99) were
married on August 8, 2008, and
are building a house on the location in the Maine woods. “We
are doing the vast majority of the
work ourselves, from designing
the house (using the Golden
Ratio whenever possible) and
clearing the land, through excavation and building a 35 foot long
rock wall, to our current state of
building the exterior walls from
super-insulating concrete
blocks,” says Jensen-Starr.
“It’s definitively a learning
experience, and we are having a
great time.”
MIKE and ABBY SOEJOTO (both
A) are pleased to announce the
birth of their fourth child, James
Augustine, in August 2009. The
Soejotos, including Lucy (seven),
John (five), and Cecilia (three),
live in Los Angeles, where Mike
is a tax attorney and Abby homeschools the older kids. Mike and
Abby would love to hear from any
old friends or any alumni in the
area at asoejoto@gmail.com.
In a Johnnyesque coincidence,
HEATHER (RICHARDSON)
WILDE and JOSHUA LOUIS (both
A) also chose September 11th
this year as a date for something
positive- Heather and her
husband, Leon, renewed their
wedding vows of 10 years in a
beautiful ceremony in the
Caribbean, and Josh proposed to
his girlfriend in grand style in
New York (and she said yes!).
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
2000
VALERIE WHITING (A) is moving
to Panama this fall to begin as
the Violence Prevention
Delegate for the Canadian Red
Cross in Panama, where she will
be responsible for the field
management, monitoring and
reporting of the Creating Safe
Environments—Americas
project, working with six
National Societies in Latin
America and the Caribbean to
integrate the prevention of
violence into their internal
organizational systems. She is
sad to be leaving D.C. after
six years, but is excited about
moving back to Panama.
2001
ADRIANA DE JULIO (SF)
completed an MS in Environmental Public Health from
Tulane University in 2006 and
matriculated into medical school
in 2007. This December, she’ll
earn her MD. She has successfully completed her medical
licensing board exams and has
begun the harrowing experience
of interviewing for residency
positions. Along with every
medical student in the nation,
this March she will find out
where she will complete her fiveyear residency in general
surgery. She is looking forward
to beginning the journey of
becoming a surgeon and finally
getting a paycheck! After residency she plans on completing a
fellowship in Trauma/Critical
Care with a special focus on environmental and humanitarian
disaster management.
JOSH KIRKMAN (SF) has an
architecture practice based in
Walla Walla, Washington.
TALLEY KOVACS (A), still living
the dream in Charm City, has
been conquered by a little nugget
named Wyatt River Kovacs, born
January 20, 2010. “Pure joy and
exhaustion.”
�{Alumni}
2002
ISABEL CLARK (A) and her
husband are making art in the
Mississippi Delta.
JACK DOBBYN (A) and KATHRYN
(BUSH) DOBBYN (A03) live in
Alexandria, Va., with their two
daughters, Victoria (2.5 years)
and Marie (10 months), and
their dog and cat.
HALEY GLOVER (AGI) had a
baby, Harper Stuart Matson,
November 9, 2009. Harper was
born nearly three months early,
but came home in early January
and is a happy, healthy little girl.
More recently, Glover has joined
the staff of the Lumina Foundation for Education as the
Director of Convening Strategy.
“Lumina’s the nation’s largest
private foundation focusing
solely on higher education
issues, and in particular on
increasing the educational
attainment of all populations.
I work at the junction of grant
making and policy, designing
programs that incite action
around issues and using
thoughtful discussion as a way to
advance policy change.”
JOHN RANKIN (SF) worked in
politics in Washington, D.C., for
a while before finishing his MBA
at UCLA. He has recently started
a new job at Southern California
Edison, which is the energy
utility that serves most of
southern and central California.
“I am working in a general
management rotation program
that will involve several assignments over the next two years.
Let me know if you’re in the LA
area and would like to meet up!”
2003
MEREDITH BARTON and DAVID
BOHANNON (A, A99) had a baby
boy, named Jackson Thor
Bohannon, on January 23rd.
Meredith is currently working on
her PhD in environmental
science at the University of
Maryland, while David works for
the Center for Health and Homeland Security at University of
Maryland, and has also recently
started pursuing an MBA at the
Smith School of Business at
University of Maryland. “In
general we like being professional students, and LOVE being
parents!”
Married Life
L
ast November, JAMES H. HALL JR. (A00) married
a woman who surpasses his dreams. A number of
Johnnies made the trek to Houston, where his
bride’s parents live. They had an amazing honeymoon in Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina.
before returning to their regular lives in Chicago.
“Married life has been fun,” he says, “particularly our recent
party with two million hockey fans on Michigan Avenue.” x
ZACHARY CAMPBELL (SFGI)
has settled in Plymouth, Minn.,
and is the new assistant housing
director with Mary T., Inc. in
Coon Rapids, Minn. “We
provide enhanced social services
and affordable rental opportunities with group homes, independent senior housing, assisted
living, human service programs,
home health, and hospice. I will
be directing daily operations,
capital development, institutional realignment, and
mentoring managers responsible
for assisted living, independent
senior care, market rate townhomes and villas in Minnesota,
Wisonsin, Arizona, and
Maryland. I will be focused on
developing greater revenues
with the knowledge that in the
last two years the state has cut
funding for human services by
7 percent.” Campbell also notes
he has two beautiful children:
Ofelia Rayne, age two, and
Phoenix Joseph Orion, age one.
His wife, Serenity, is a licensed
acupuncturist
“On August 14, I married Faith
Pheterson (artist, adventurer,
Spanish teacher, Floridian) in
Highland Park, Ill.,” writes
JONATHAN LAUX (EC03). “We
had a rocking good time,
surrounded by friends and family
from Chicago, Wisconsin,
Florida, Nova Scotia, Paris, and
EILEEN STREET (SFGI02, EC03)
from Santa Fe. The ceremony
included readings from Rumi,
Zen teachers and Oriah Mountain Dreamer. At the reception
we ate fantastic vegetarian food
and danced like mad to West
African drummers. I strapped on
a djembe and joined them on one
rhythm.” The couple enjoyed a
week in Costa Rica following the
wedding. Laux’s actuarial work
goes well, and he intends to be
fully credentialed in 2011,
having passed eight of the nine
required exams.
KELLIE and BENNET PORTER
(both A) welcomed Helen Siira
Porter on September 10, which
coincidentally was Kellie’s 30th
birthday. “She’s the best present
any one could ask for!”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
45
RYAN RYLEE (A) welcomes
Johnnies to join community
seminars on great books at
UCLA’s new Center for Liberal
Arts and Free Institutions. Two
related study groups are also
forming at UCLA: (1) A Plato
study group and (2) a Paideia
group for teachers who use or
want to use the seminar method
in their classrooms. To join
either study group, or to be
added to the community seminar
mailing list, please email
rrylee@hotmail.com and
indicate which offering(s) you
are interested in.
ANDREW SNYDER (A) has started
a PhD program in ethnomusicology at UC Berkeley.
2004
ANN BAUM (AGI) is at Catholic
University getting her Master of
Library Science degree with a
concentration in law librarianship. She works in the archives
of the Howard University Law
Library.
MARTIN GAUDINSKI (A) is in his
final year of medical school at
Georgetown and planning on
doing his residency in internal
medicine. Meanwhile,
KIMBERLY GAUDINSKI (A) is
teaching kindergarten at
Potomac Crescent Waldorf
School in Arlington, Va.
JOSHUA DIAZ (SF) started a fulltime position at Microsoft as an
escalation engineer, after five
years of working at Microsoft as
a contract software development
engineer on the OneCare
antivirus and KIN mobile phone
projects. The new job involves
debugging the source code for
Windows itself, solving critical
issues for Fortune 500 companies and large computer manufacturers like Dell and HP, and
writing some of the fixes
Microsoft pushes out to PCs
around the world through
Windows Update every month.
In June 2009 he received his MS
from MIT’s department of
�{Alumni}
46
Without a Trace
Jeff Dunsavage (A84) works to help families of Americans missing abroad
I
by Rosemary Harty
n May 2009, Joe Dunsavage traveled
to Honduras to enjoy his first
extended vacation in many years and
to check up on a small business he
had a stake in: a glass-bottom boat
catering to tourists on the peaceful
Isla de Roatan in the Bay Islands.
The morning after he arrived, Dunsavage
took a small catamaran out into the shallows
of the island’s West End, telling friends he
would be back in a few hours. That was the
last time his friends saw him. His grieving
family back home in the States found that
when a person disappears in Honduras,
getting help—even from the U.S. government—was harder than they could have
imagined. Since the day he first learned of
his brother’s disappearance, Jeff Dunsavage
(A84), has been devoted first to trying to
find his brother, and when that proved fruitless, to helping other families of missing
Americans avoid the nightmare his family
endured.
Since graduating from St. John’s, Jeff
Dunsavage has worked in financial journalism, media relations, and most recently,
in corporate communications for McGrawHill in New York City. When his brother
disappeared, Dunsavage and other
members of Joe’s family in New Jersey and
Oregon put their own lives on hold to try to
get some answers. “After we got over our
initial shock, we began calling the U.S.
embassies in Honduras, Guatemala, and
Belize,” recalls Dunsavage. “Everyone we
spoke with asked some version of the same
question: What do you want us to do?”
After many phone calls, the
family succeeded in getting the
U.S. military to send up two Blackhawk helicopters to look for Joe—
and getting chastised by embassy
staff for doing so. “We had to
discover on our own and make
contact with Joint Task Force
Bravo in Soto Cano, Honduras.
Whatever help we got was with our
own sweat; no one in our government volunteered or initiated
anything for us. We had to know
exactly what to ask for and exactly
how to ask it.”
The search took place too late to
be useful, almost 72 hours after Joe
disappeared. Family members pooled their
own money and tapped their personal
credit cards to pay for photo reconnaissance, but neither Joe nor the boat were
found. The family tried to publicize Joe’s
disappearance, but couldn’t get media
coverage beyond their local newspaper.
There was a brief window of hope when
rumors reached the family of an American
being treated for dehydration in a
Honduran hospital, but the story proved
false. Dunsavage was frustrated that he
couldn’t get local authorities or U.S.
officials to investigate further. He estimates
that family members spent about $160,000
of their own money on the search;
Dunsavage mortgaged his house to cover
some of the bills.
In the meantime—without proof of
death—the family couldn’t collect life insurance to support Joe’s two minor sons. “Life
insurers won’t consider a claim without a
death certificate,” explains Dunsavage.
“The courts in New Jersey won’t provide a
death certificate without a finding of
presumptive death from the State Department, and the State Department insists
that their hands are tied by regulations and
that we are required to hire Honduran
lawyers in Honduras to go through the
court system to obtain a finding.”
In the months after Joe’s disappearance,
the family learned of other families who
were trying to find loved ones in Central
America and the Caribbean. “From April
2009 to May 2010, a dozen men disappeared in the region, primarily around Isla
de Roatan and the Guanacaste region of
Costa Rica. Six of the men were American,
two British, two Italian, and two Belizean—
and these are only the ones we know about.
We also are working with families whose
members disappeared or were murdered in
the region before April 2009.”
With the hopes of helping others,
Dunsavage created an online community
called the Missing Americans Project
(www.missingamericans.ning.com) to offer
support and information to families of
missing adults. The project has three goals:
to create rapid-response capabilities that do
not rely on government involvement, to
advocate for the families of the missing,
and to lobby for change in State Department policies that unnecessarily complicate the lives of the families of the missing.
He hopes to instigate a thorough investigation into how the Department’s office of
American Citizens Services handles such
cases, with the ultimate goal of changing
their standard operating procedures so that
Americans in trouble overseas know they
can count on their government’s assistance. “Because so many Johnnies travel,
I hope this will build a little awareness—if
you get into trouble in this part of the
world, you may not have the support you’re
expecting as an American citizen,” he says.
Dunsavage and his older brother were
very close. In mid-October, sources
Dunsavage cultivated in his investigations
gave him information that indicates Joe
Dunsavage encountered rough waters and
most likely died accidentally. Though his
family is comforted by the fact
that “we did everything possible
to find Joe,” Dunsavage remains
frustrated that it cost his family a
year and a half and many thousands of dollars to obtain information the State Department
could have found in a day or two.
He plans to continue advocating
for change. “This is going to be a
big part of the rest of my life,”
he says. x
Jeff Dunsavage (A84) created
the Missing Americans Project
after his brother disappeared.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Alumni}
Comparative Media Studies, and
proceeded back into the video
game industry. His employer,
San Francisco-based Slide, Inc.,
was recently acquired by Google,
where he continues to work
designing games. Diaz now lives,
works, and reads in the Bay Area
of California, and in his spare
time, he eats, hangs out with
nerds playing board games in
bars, and chases amazing music
from around the world to share
with his friends. He occasionally
writes stuff, mostly via twitter,
because constraints are nice.
CECILY MARTIN and HANSEN
BERGAMINI (both SF) have not
sent an update to The College in
an unconscionably long time.
They got married in Chicago on
July 5, 2008, and welcomed their
first child, Rafe Martin
Bergamini, on September 16,
2010. He was born at home and
weighed 8 lbs. All are doing well.
Hansen will graduate from
Loyola University Law School in
the spring after having attended
every philosophy-based class he
could find. Cecily continues to
live a life of leisure afforded to
those with master’s degrees in a
bad economy.
ROBERT POLLACK (A, EC09)
and MARY DAVENPORT (A06)
were married on a rooftop in San
Francisco on June 15, 2010.
Johnnies in attendance included
best man AMARIAH FULLER
(SF11); maid of honor JULIANA
SANTILLANES (SF06); bridesmaids MARIA GREGORI (NÉE
SANTILLANES, SF05) and JEN
FAIT (A06); PAUL GREGORI
(SF05); LYDIA OSSORGIN (SF77);
CHARLES (A08) and ANNA
HAMM (NÉE AHERN, A06);
ROBERT MORRIS (SF04); LAURA
MANION (A04); NATHAN STALNAKER (A04); and DAVID JONES
(AGI11). The bride and groom
are back in Santa Fe, teaching for
the public schools and the
community college.
“Awesome,” says JUSTINE
STEWART (SF), of her experience
as field staff for a wilderness
therapy program for adolescents
and adults called Second Nature
Entrada. She worked with the
program in Southwest Utah for
the 22 months: “I’ve learned a
ton about myself and others, and
hopefully have been able to leave
a positive imprint on a few lives
in the process.” Stewart was next
headed to California to prepare
for her October 9 wedding to
Jason Schneider. After the
wedding their was to pack up
their $300 van and take themselves and their dog, Banjo, on a
year-long driving tour of Central
America. “Volunteer work? Paid
work? Language skills? Camping
and playing outside? We hope so.
After that trip, we’ll see what the
future holds. Feel free to call or
e-mail, fellow Johnnies.”
2005
SAMANTHA BUKER (A) files this
dispatch from Campo Grande,
Brazil: “The dry winds of the
Cerrado farmlands waft into the
city as she dines on breakfast of
papaya, good coffee, and enjoys
the global office that Internet
connection brings.” Buker is
touring farmland under the
auspices of Agora Financial and
has learned more about cattle,
eucalyptus, and jatropha than
she ever imagined. Afterward,
she was off to NYC to join 19
other fellows in the National
Endowment for the Arts Journalism Institute at Columbia
University. She’ll cover the NY
Philharmonic and the Met
Opera’s latest production, as well
as expand her blogosphere to go
beyond her current postings at
http://auralstates.com/author/
sbuker. She’s also celebrating
Mahler’s 150th birthday by
crafting a set of three short
stories all on a theme of music,
the crescendo of which will be
the story about a budding
conductor and his lover called
“The World According to
Mahler.” Around Halloween,
she will be at the Libertarian
Alliance’s London conference,
where she will be the guest of a
fantastic freedom-lover, Tim
Evans and his wife, Helen. Then
she’s off to Norway, where she
will attend the opera and hear
the Bergen Filharmoniske
Orkestra—a symphony started
back in 1765: “Now that’s
history! Thus does the liberal
arts prove its merits in advancing
itself in the real world and the
world of beauty.”
GWEN GURLEY (A) recently just
moved back to Maryland from
Portland, Ore., where she lived
for two years, and this fall started
teaching Italian at Loyola
University in Baltimore. “Before
Portland I was studying in Italy
for almost two years, and I
received a master’s degree in
Italian Studies and Linguistics
from Middlebury College in
2008.”
“I thought med school would be
all about memorizing and I
didn’t expect to like many
aspects of it—but I love it,” writes
JAMES HARRISON (A), now in his
second year of medical school at
the University of Pennsylvania.
He’ll be starting clinics in
January. “I’ve never worked
harder, but the human body is
endlessly fascinating and the way
others open up to you as a physician, even one in training, is
such a privilege. Philly is
fantastic, my kitty Czara loves
me, and my door is always open
to Johnnies passing through.”
YOAAV ISAACS (SF) has gotten an
MA in Divinity from the University of Chicago and is now
finishing off a Master’s of Philosophy in Philosophical Theology
at the University of Oxford.
ANDY PATTON (AGI) and KATIE
LEHNER PATTON (AGI)
welcomed their latest addition to
the Patton household this fall.
John Angus (Angus) Patton was
born on August 8th, and his big
brothers James and Liam
couldn’t be more proud. Andy
received his MBA from the Owen
Graduate School of Management
at Vanderbilt University in May
and has since been working with
Mountain Group Capital, a
private equity and venture
capital firm in Nashville, TN.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
47
JERRY SALYER (AGI) is now a
contributor to Front Porch
Republic, a website devoted to
literature, religion, and politics.
His essays also appear occasionally in Chronicles: A Magazine of
American Culture.
Last May, SARAH STICKNEY (A)
completed her MFA in poetry
from the University of New
Hampshire, where she studied
with poets Charles Simic and
David Rivard. In October she will
leave for Bologna, Italy, on a
Fulbright Grant to work with
immigrant poets who are writing
in Italian as a second language.
She invites visitors.
CINDY TOBIAS (AGI) has
published her murder mystery,
Death of a Designer, at the
Amazon Kindle Store. Set during
a production of the opera
Samson et Dalila, murder and
mayhem ensue when the scenic
designer is stabbed to death
while walking his dog, and his
assistant finds out the hard way
that all is not well in the New
England Opera.
A recipient of Boston University’s highest academic scholarship, ABRAM TROSKY (SFGI) has
served as Presidential Teaching
Fellow for most of the department’s introductory courses. In
2008, he was recognized with
the annual Teaching Fellow
award of International Relations
and has since assisted and taught
upper-level courses in each of
these sub-fields. That year he
passed qualifying examinations
and assumed a Junior Fellowship
at the Institute for Human
Sciences in Vienna, Austria. He
recently accepted the Arthur
Clarke Research Fellowship in
Global Citizenship at the
Consortium for Peace Studies at
the University of Calgary for Fall
2011.
2006
NORMAN ALLEN (A) is teaching
and writing. His contemporary
take on Carmen is now in its
�{Alumni}
48
third year at the Karlin Music
Theatre in Prague. His play,
Nijinsky’s Last Dance, is
scheduled for performances in
the Netherlands and Slovenia,
while “The Eve of Friday
Morning,” based on Persian
folktales, will play the Oregon
Childrens’ Theatre in April. He
continues as chair of the English
Department at Cesar Chavez
Public Charter High School in
Washington, D.C.
“I am now in Pittsburgh, of all
places,” writes AMY BARACKMAN
(SF). “I just entered my second
year of a doctoral program in
clinical psychology at Duquesne
University. I still read quite a bit
of philosophy (Husserl,
Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty,
Levinas, Foucault), but I now
take it up with respect to the
process of psychotherapy.”
ELEANOR CLARK (A) is currently
finishing up a master’s in TESOL
(Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages) at Brigham
Young University. “The project I
am working on (instead of a
thesis) is to develop a curriculum
for refugees who need English
proficiency for the citizenship
test. So I am happy and excited to
be doing something I love.”
JONATHAN COPPADGE (A)
married Darren Freeman on
August 14, 2010. They and their
Australian Shepherd live in Eastport, and Jonathan continues to
teach English and French at
Indian Creek School. He is
halfway through earning his
master’s in English from Bread
Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. He reminds his
classmates to drop him a line via
Facebook when they’re in town,
with the subtle reminder, “Next
year’s our fiver!”
JACQUELINE KENNEDY (AGI) is
in her third year of law school
and will graduate in May.
Between now and July 2011,
when she will sit for the Florida
Bar Exam, she is enjoying what
will probably be the last of her
classroom years and the fun of
extended discussions about
Wanted: Recipes for Eggs
E
DWARD BENNETT (SF03) received a master’s in
Applied Anthropology from the University of
Maryland in
2009 and is
currently
pursuing a
PhD in biological anthropology at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. He married Leah
Barnum in May 2009. They
had their first child, future
voter Zora Barnum
Bennett, in February 2010. They began their first record label
in June of 2010. He has too many chickens—egg recipes are
appreciated. x
various complex topics. “I saw
MELODY AND EVERETT REED
(AGI07) and CAMILLE
STALLINGS (A07) recently; we
had a mini-reunion and traveled
a bit in Georgia! It was great to
see old friends.” Kennedy is also
active in the South Florida
Alumni Chapter, and would
welcome any south-of-Tampa
alumni to their seminars. She
can always be found at
kennedy.jacqueline@gmail.com.
KAREN POWELL (SF) is earning a
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
(DO) degree at Des Moines
University.
DAN AND SARAH RERA (A) have
another addition to their family:
Jane Patricia, born June 22,
2010. She joins her big sister,
Elliott.
HOLLIS THOMS (AGI) will
have the world premiere of his
“Passion” presented during
the Bach Concert Series in
Baltimore on March 27, 2011.
This 75-minute work for four
soloists, mixed chorus, oboe,
horn, strings, marimba and
amplified harpsichord is based
on the Gospel of John, the
Gospel of Nicodemus, and
selected religious poetry. It
narrates the trial and death of
Jesus as seen through the eyes of
Nicodemus and is a work that
pays homage to the passions of
Johann Sebastian Bach.
2007
AMY FALK (A) has accepted a
position with AEON to teach
conversational English in Japan;
she will be living and working in
Hachioji, Tokyo, starting in
February.
2008
CHRIS DARADICS (SFGI) was
wondering how to keep part of
the St. John’s experience in his
life, which led to the creation of
Overhear, an audio program.
Overhear pairs interlocutors
with intersecting interests or
experience for a conversation
about the thing they love; visit
the website online at atweoverhear.com.
2009
DALTON LOBO DIAS (A) has
completed his Premedical
Postbac Program at Bryn Mawr
College. Now in the process of
applying to medical schools, he
is again working with DR.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
STEVEN HOLLAND (A79), chief
of the Laboratory of Clinical
Infectious Diseases at the
National Institutes of Health,
where Lobo Dias had worked as a
Hodson intern before his senior
year. The lab helps to treat
immunocompromised patients
through a fully integrated
approach to infectious disease,
incorporating the molecular
genetics of the host and the
pathogen as well as mechanisms
of pathogenesis.
SARA LUELL (A) is living in
Annapolis and has been working
for the Anne Arundel County
Department of Health as the
public affairs specialist since
August 2009. She wrote a song
and made a video for children
about how to be sun safe as part
of the department’s skin cancer
prevention and sun safety
program. You can see it on
YouTube!
2011
NICK URBAN (SFGI) works as a
web developer, typically in
frameworks such as Ruby on
Rails, Drupal, and CakePHP.
“I believe that liberal education
is profoundly important in
developing one’s thinking and I
would love to meet other software engineers/entrepreneurs/
developers who share my care for
the thoughtful life.” 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 March;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is January 30.
Alumni will also be sent a call
via e-mail.
The College Magazine
St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404
rosemary.harty@sjca.edu
�{Obituaries}
JACK STEADMAN (HA06)
SANTA FE TUTOR
Santa Fe tutor emeritus John
Steadman, known to his friends
and colleagues as Jack, died
August 12, 2010.
A native of Blossburg, Penn.,
Mr. Steadman was an instructor
in radio repair for the United
States Army from 1954 to 1956.
He received his bachelor’s
degree in philosophy from the
University of Wisconsin in 1959.
He was an assistant in philosophy at Cornell University from
1959 to 1961 and a teaching
fellow there from 1961 to 1962.
He joined the St. John’s faculty
in 1962 in Annapolis, and in
1967, became a tutor in Santa
Fe. Mr. Steadman served as
assistant dean from 1970 to 1972
and authored “Non-Euclidean
Originals and Hints,” which is
used in senior math and often in
the Graduate Institute.
Santa Fe tutor Jack Steadman
Remembering Wendy Allanbrook
By Steven Crockett
When I became a tutor in Annapolis in 1970, Wendy was one of
several tutors whose high musicianship and broad engagement with
the curriculum made them ideal guides for one who, like me, had
musical training and much to learn about the curriculum. From the
start I was grateful for that guidance and for the friendship she
offered my wife, Margaret, and me. In the early 1970s, as in recent
years, the music tutorial was the subject of intense dialogue among
the advocates of different approaches. Tutor Victor Zuckerkandl had
given the tutorial a distinctive and profound character, but other
possibilities were coming into view. By the mid-70s, Wendy was
articulating a view of music—especially the classic repertoire—that
tied it to grammar and rhetoric, and to classical notions of imitation.
I had advocated a different approach, but the power of hers was
undeniable and showed clearly already in her Essay on Tonal
Harmony, which she completed in 1977, the year I left the college.
Within six years, she had published her great book on Mozart, and
soon thereafter she was writing articles in which she deepened her
approach and applied it to instrumental music. Over the years I
became persuaded of its fitness as an account not just of the Mozart
she so loved, but of a great deal of other music as well. For her part,
she was moderate in her claims, and late in life she was quick,
perhaps too quick, to say that her approach did not encompass
music that sought, for example, the sublime. But oh, the persuasiveness of her approach: To her, the classic repertoire was a “secular
divine comedy,” aiming to “engage the heart” and persuade the
hearer that the music mirrored “all categories of human experience
in a mode of profound urbanity.”
For many years she and I had little contact, for I’d left Annapolis,
and she eventually moved to Berkeley. But when in 2005 or 2006
Mr. Steadman was an
outstanding tutor, particularly
in mathematics and laboratory.
He would frequently divide his
math tutorials in two, thus
doubling his class time, to make
sure all students were on task
and able to go to the board every
day. He even divided a sophomore math archon meeting, so
that the “old codgers” wouldn’t
interfere with the learning of
the new tutors. Students knew
they could go to him for help
with any subject at any time. Mr.
Cornell recalls his great explanation (as a radio expert) of how
electromagnetic waves worked.
“Well, you know how when you
step on a cat’s tail, you get this
screech meowww! at the other
end? Okay, now remove the cat.
That’s how they work.”
49
Each dean on the Santa Fe
campus knew that Mr. Steadman
could be relied upon to take on
any teaching or organizational
task on short notice. Dean
Victoria Mora says she was
fortunate to have Mr. Steadman
as her first freshman math
archon and freshman lab archon
when she was new to St. John’s.
“He made those experiences
come alive; his enthusiasm for
the work was infectious, and his
sensitivity to first-time participants in those classes—students
and tutors alike—meant that he
was always seeing things and
talking about them as if for the
first time—even while he was
taking us to the depths of what
was there. Jack was a special
sort, moved by books and
moving in the world. In some
she came East to live for while, to be close to her son, our conversations took up where they had left off, and this time they continued
even after she returned to Berkeley. But the time was to be too short.
By the fall of 2008, the oral chemotherapy that had helped keep her
cancer in check for four years or so was no longer working as well;
and though she had the foundation support she needed to complete
a book on instrumental music, she didn’t know how much time she
would have. In November that year, we spent an afternoon together
in Berkeley. She took me through the wonderful music library that
her practice of the art of governance had helped bring into being,
and we had a meal together and talked about music—about how
much musicology had grown up since our graduate school days
(partly her doing), about how much one discovers by listening to
music in a car, about being the parents of exceptionally musical
sons, about which work of Steve Reich’s was his best (she chose
Different Trains, a secular divine comedy; I chose the sublime
Tehillim). That was to be the last time I saw her.
In many ways, the fine qualities she found in Mozart’s music were
manifested in her: competence, grace, intelligence, wide sympathies, good humor, honest friendship, steadiness in difficulties. Like
the music she so loved, she was competent, graceful, persuasive, a
light against the darkness, of which her own life had had too much.
In her too short later years, she was often like one of those bright
“tunes” (her word) that Mozart would sometimes use to close a dark
piece. In an essay she wrote about those tunes on the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death, she urged her readers to “celebrate the
enduring affirmation of his commedia per musica.” I shall do likewise for hers. For those of us privileged to have known her, her
memory will likewise be an “enduring affirmation.” x
Now a lawyer, Steven Crockett was a tutor in Annapolis campus
from 1970-77.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�50
deep sense, Jack helped all of us
to see—by his example—how
much our work at the college
matters for our lives in the
world. I felt great sadness at his
passing, but I couldn’t help but
smile in remembering him.”
Ann Walton Sieber (A83) is
among the many Johnnies who
are grateful to have known
Mr. Steadman. “He may well be
the reason I went to St. John’s,”
says Ms. Sieber. “I was a headstrong senior at the High School
for the Performing Arts in
Houston, a cellist, and
Mr. Steadman asked to meet
with the musicians in the upperlevel math classes. Instead of the
typical college info session with
a Q&A, Mr. Steadman
conducted a seminar, with the
opening question: ‘How does
beauty in music compare to
beauty in math?’ I was totally
hooked and would consider no
other school after that.”
As a junior, she had language
tutorial with Mr. Steadman.
“He had an intensity to him that
sparked my own. I remember in
particular one afternoon when
we met in the Coffee Shop to
discuss an essay of mine, and we
spent several hours getting
hyped on coffee and excitedly
discussing the ideas in my piece.
He was a great one, and I’m
thankful to him.”
Mr. Steadman is survived
by his wife, Ann, and three
children: Sarah, Peter (SF92),
and Clyde (SF90).
WENDY ALLANBROOK (HA99)
FORMER TUTOR, RENOWNED
MUSICOLOGIST
Wye Jamison Allanbrook,
known to her friends and
colleagues as Wendy, died of
cancer on July 15, 2010, at her
home in Oakland, Calif., at age
67. A renowned musicologist,
she was widely recognized for
her contributions to her field,
particularly for her 1983 book
Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart,
which developed from her
{Obituaries}
Wendy Allanbrook
dissertation at Stanford
University.
Noting her death, the New
York Times hailed Ms. Allanbrook as a “musicologist who
altered modern ways of thinking
about the music of Mozart and
his contemporaries.” According
to the article, Ms. Allanbrook
“showed that the music of
Mozart and his contemporaries
was not abstract but full of
topical references to music of
the social environment—in
particular, social dances. . . .
Her work, cited by the
conductor Roger Norrington
and the director Peter Sellars,
among others, has influenced
stagings of Mozart operas and
provides a standard critical tool
for opera studies today.”
Born in Hagerstown, Md.,
Ms. Allanbrook majored in
classics at Vassar College.
She earned her master’s and
doctoral degrees in music
history at Stanford University,
and joined the St. John’s faculty
in 1969. During her time at the
college, she made significant
contributions to the study of
music. From 1987 to 1990 and
again from 1992 to 1994, she
served as assistant dean. She
received numerous awards and
fellowships during her tenure at
the college, including those
from the National Endowment
for the Humanities, the
American Council of Learned
Societies, and the John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation.
In 1994, Ms. Allanbrook went
to the University of California,
Berkeley, first as the visiting
Ernest Bloch Visiting Professor
of Music. In 1995 she joined the
Berkeley faculty. She was chairwoman of the music department
from 1997 to 2003. In 2003,
she was elected president of
the American Musicological
Society. Ms. Allanbrook is
survived by her son, John
Vincent Allanbrook; Timothy
Allanbrook; and two sisters,
Stephanie Jamison Watkins and
Martha Page Martineau.
BENJAMIN MILNER (HA97)
TUTOR
Benjamin Milner, who was a
tutor at St. John’s for 35 years,
died on May 23, 2010.
Mr. Milner was born in
Atlanta, Georgia, in 1928. He
received his bachelor’s degree in
English in 1949 from Emory
University. Following two years
of service in the Army during
Benjamin Milner
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
the Korean War, he attended
Columbia Theological Seminary
in Decatur, Georgia, from which
he received his bachelor of
divinity degree in 1955. He
began his graduate studies at
Harvard University in 1956 and
earned his doctoral degree in
the history and philosophy of
religion in 1965.
Mr. Milner joined the
Wellesley College faculty in
1959, where he taught in the
Department of Biblical History.
He became a member of the
St. John’s faculty in 1965. In
addition to many years teaching
at St. John’s, he served the
college as an assistant dean from
1977 to 1980, director of the
Graduate Institute from 1980 to
1983 and, for several years, chair
of the Campus Development
Committee. A steadfast
supporter of the visual arts at
St. John’s, Mr. Milner was both
active as a student in the
college’s studio art classes and
served on the Faculty Advisory
Committee of the Mitchell
Gallery. His service was especially important during the
founding years of the gallery.
Following his retirement in
�{Obituaries}
Remembering Ben Milner
Tutor Emerita Chaninah Maschler (HA98) recalls Ben Milner:
I think of Ben every day: It was on his advice that I planted camellias in front of the house. He
knew that they would like the shade, and I trusted him sufficiently to invest in four different kinds.
Even when nothing else in the yard looks happy, they do.
Ben and I became better acquainted by sharing a sophomore seminar, although I seem to recollect that some time earlier in my stay at the college, when [the philosopher] Richard Rorty came
to give a lecture and shared a meal at our house, Ben was there too. Ben and Rorty had been
colleagues at Wellesley College. Besides, how could I fail to notice that tall, casually elegant man,
almost always sporting a bow tie? My husband Henry had spent years manufacturing bow ties. So I
had an eye out for them!
Two observations of Ben’s stay with me vividly. Hamlet, he said, did much more killing than was
necessary. In other words, Ben did not, because Hamlet had been wronged, automatically side
with him. That of course came up in seminar. The other was that he thought he now understood
the expression of David’s eyes, meaning the David of Michelangelo in Florence: The look in those
eyes is a look of fear. That remark of Ben’s probably goes back to the days shortly after the Milner
family’s sabbatical stay in Florence. It was at this time that I found out that Ben’s love of the visual
arts was as strong as was my husband Henry’s.
Ben was intellectually strict: For instance, he would not play along when people tried to whitewash God. But he was always supportive of students who felt morally bereft without religious
support and never tried to convert others to his religious persuasion. Not until recently did I read
his book on Calvin, Calvin’s Doctrine of the Church. I wish I had done so earlier so that we could
have talked about it.
I am grateful to the college for letting me make Ben Milner’s acquaintance. x
1998, he continued to serve as a
tutor in the Executive Seminar
program. In 1970, he published
Calvin’s Doctrine of the Church.
In addition to his responsibilities as tutor, Mr. Milner was
engaged in Annapolis politics
throughout the 1960s and
1970s, and was particularly
active during the critical era of
the civil rights movement. In his
later years, along with his great
love of family and the continuing joy of teaching, he became
an avid gardener and painter.
He is survived by his wife of
50 years, Mary Jane Milner;
three children: David Baird
Milner, Rebecca Milner
Stratton, and Abigail O’Beirne
Milner; and four grandchildren.
ROBERT JOSEPH MCDONOUGH
CLASS OF 1982
Robert McDonough, a distinguished attorney and banker
who devoted much of his adult
life to community activism and
urban issues, died July 13,
Robert McDonough
2010, from complications of
cancer. He was 50.
After graduating from
St. John’s, Mr. McDonough
earned his JD at Cornell Law
School in 1989, then joined the
firm of Harter, Secrest and
Emery in Rochester, N.Y.
For the past decade, he worked
for JP Morgan, where he
advanced from relationship
manager to managing director
within JPMorgan’s Private
Bank and Private Wealth
Management. He served as
mentor and friend to
colleagues and was admired for
his sound judgment, keen
insight, integrity, and warmth.
In addition to his professional
accomplishments, Mr. McDonough was a civic leader, active
in Rochester’s 19th Ward
Community Association and in
St. Stephen’s Episcopal
Church. A creative and funloving father and husband, he
enjoyed home-cooked meals,
movie marathons, picnics,
poetry nights, themed dinners,
camping trips. He learned to
play the violin in his 40s, and
took pleasure in discussing
everything from politics to
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
51
Mr. McDonough is survived
by his wife of 25 years, Anne
Brockway McDonough (A84); a
daughter, Mary Aurora; his
sons Timothy Lazarus and
William Pascal; his father,
Thomas F. McDonough; two
brothers; and a niece.
ALSO NOTED
LOUIS BEALL (CLASS OF 1939),
JUNE 2, 2010
JERMAINE BODINE (CLASS OF
1963), JUNE 23, 2010
J. HARRY RAYMOND BRYANT
(CLASS OF 1963), JULY 5, 2010
WILLIAM CARTER (CLASS OF
1940), SEPT. 11, 2010
GIRARD COSTELLO (CLASS OF
1960), SEPT. 5, 2010
CARL HAMMEN (CLASS OF
1944), JULY 28, 2010
JOHN HEDEMAN (CLASS OF
1943), JULY 29, 2010
ROBERT HUNT (HA07), JULY
31, 2010
JOHN LINCOLN (A74), APRIL
26, 2009
REV. JOHN LOBELL (CLASS OF
1949), JULY 26, 2010
DAVID Z. LONDOW, CLASS OF
1966, FEB. 21, 2010
MORRIS ALBERT PARSLOW
CLASS OF 1948, AUGUST 25,
2010
RONALD SINCLAIR (AGI91),
FEB. 26, 2010
GEORGE E. SAUER
CLASS OF 1956, SEPT. 29,
2010.
RICHARD ARLEN SMITH
CLASS OF 1954, DECEMBER
2009
JESSICA C. STEINGER (SF98)
JULY 16, 2010
CHRISTOPHER ANDREW
THOMAS (A10), SEPT. 15, 2010
FRANK WARHURST (CLASS OF
1953), MARCH 13, 2010
HENRY WENSEL, JR. (CLASS OF
1946) OCTOBER 11, 2009
�{Homecoming}
52
HOMECOMING 2010
Alumni Return for a Spectacular September Weekend
pierpoint photography
H
omecoming is a time for old
friends to meet again, for
Johnnies to feed their intellectual lives in seminar, for
tutors to meet the children
of their former students.
But it’s also a time when Johnnies pause
to recognize the outstanding achievements
of members of the college community. The
honorees this year included tutors who
served the college for decades, a physician
who is one of the nation’s leading cancer
researchers, a woman who chose to memorialize her famous husband by establishing a
scholarship at St. John’s, and a couple
honoring a daughter’s memory through
scholarships.
Mica Ertegun became part of the college
family 50 years ago when she married
Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun
(class of 1944). Her ties to the college deepened when she became an Honorary Alumna
during Homecoming weekend in Annapolis.
To honor her husband’s memory, Ertegun
established the Ahmet Ertegun Education
Fund with personal funds and the proceeds
of a 2007 concert featuring Led Zeppelin.
Through her efforts, the college now has a
The college’s Ahmet Ertegun Scholarship Fund scholars: (from l. to r.) Cinar Doruk,
a sophomore from Istanbul; Ali Cihansin Yildiz, a freshman from Istanbul; Sierra
Nevada Dombayci, a freshman from St. Cloud, Fla.; and Halil Ugur Kupeli, a freshman
from Istanbul met with Mica Ertegun, founder of MAC II interior design and widow of
Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, a 1944 graduate of St. John’s, Annapolis.
multi-million dollar endowment fund to
support need-based scholarships for
students from Turkey. Four recipients of the
scholarships were on hand to thank her.
Sharing honors at the All-alumni Meeting
was tutor Jon Lenkowski, who retired last
May. Lenkowski joined the St. John’s faculty
in 1979, and taught throughout the undergraduate curriculum and in the Graduate
Institute. For 30 years he inspired and
encouraged his students. After accepting his
award, Lenkowski said that he still finds it
remarkable that the college is able to “stick
to our guns in not caving in to the. . .various
educational fads and fashions of the
moment. . . .”
“We have achieved this not only by
applying ourselves daily and constantly to
the books and the work of our classes, but,
Dr. Steven Forman (A70), left, and Dinesh
and Jyotsna Pia, right, were honored at
Homecoming.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
even more importantly, by continually
reflecting on these activities and by daily
raising anew the great question of whether it
is the right way and the best way to educate
our students and ourselves.”
In Santa Fe, three Honorary Alumni were
welcomed into the fold during the Allalumni meeting in the Great Hall: tutor
�{Homecoming}
emeritus Charles Fasanaro, and Dinesh and
Jyotsna Pai, whose daughter, Anjali Pai
(SFGI08), died in a car accident in March
2008.
In her memory, the Pais established the
Anjali Pai Memorial Fund in 2008 to
provide scholarships to Graduate Institute
students who intend to pursue, in their
words, “the same goal that Anjali treasured,
that is—making a serious, positive difference in the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.” The memorial fund is
close to reaching its first-level goal of
$50,000 by August 19, 2010, Anjali’s
birthday.
Charles Fasanaro joined the St. John’s
faculty in 1991. He taught throughout the
curriculum, helped implement the writing
program, and was the first writing archon.
He also helped initiate Eastern Classics as a
degree-granting program, and with Ralph
Swentzell, led the first EC seminar. He
served as assistant dean from 2002-2003.
He is the author of a volume of poetry,
“Velocities of Rage,” and a play, “Hunting
With the Moon,” which was written to help
combat veterans heal the scars of their
experience. Fasanaro is also president of
New Subasio Institute, a nonprofit
educational institution.
In addition to naming Honorary Alumni,
the association also selects distinguished
individuals for Awards of Merit. In
Annapolis, three individuals were honored:
Steven Foreman (A70), Robert Tzudiker,
and Steve Benedict (class of 1947).
For Katherine Hass it was a treat to be
fussed over as a member of the class of
1960. “It was all
wonderful. The
only thing was I
was shocked at
all the old
people! In my
brain, I
expected to see
classmates in
their 20s. That
is how I remembered them.” It
was a little
different for
members of the
first graduating
class of the 21st
century, which
also had a good
turnout for the
weekend. Though he was a regular attendee
at croquet each year, Ethan Carrier (A00)
waited a decade to come back for Homecoming. He found the trip well worth it.
“I was surprised how much I enjoyed
attending seminar, and the class dinner we
had at Harry Browne’s was fun.”
The highlights of Homecoming weekend
in Santa Fe include the dedication of Levan
Hall, which brought 150 people out to celebrate the occasion, and the Art Show.
Kingston and fellow musicians, played for
alumni and students at the dance. “One of
the best things that happened during
Homecoming was constant interaction
between alumni and students,” says
NancieWingo, director of Alumni Activities
in Santa Fe. One of Wingo’s favorite
53
moments came Saturday evening, when she
met Lester Strong (SF68) at the art show
reception. “We stood in the hallway and
talked about how much the campus has
changed since he was a student. We walked
out on to the balcony where he pointed to a
magnificent tree on the grassy knoll and
told me that his class had planted that tree
as a tiny sapling, complete with a dedication
ceremony, with students dressed in togas!”
Strong later joined a group of students on
the balcony for a conversation between
current students and one of the very first
Santa fe students. “It was a wonderful
bridging of generations,” Wingo says. x
Alumni and students mingled and danced.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Alumni Association}
54
ALUMNI LEADERSHIP FORUM
Charting a course for increasing alumni involvement
O
Ymelda Martinez Allison (A74) and
Matt Calise (A00) revisited laboratory
during the ALF weekend in June.
jennifer behrens
n a weeked in June, a
group of St. John’s
alumni assembled in
Annapolis for the very
first Alumni Leadership
Forum, joining Presidents Michael Peters and Christopher
Nelson, St. John’s tutors, and college staff
to work towards engaging more alumni in
the life of the college.
Alumni who return to campus always
relish the opportunity to reconnect with
the Program, and many signed up to
revisit freshman lab and freshman math,
as well as take part in a seminar on the
Phaedrus. On Friday evening, several
tutors sat before alumni in the Great Hall,
talking about what it means to be a tutor
at St. John’s. “I was once told freshman
mathematics teaches itself,” offered
Joseph Macfarland (A87). “It does not.”
On Saturday morning Michael
Uremovich, chair of the Board of Visitors
and Governors, joined the presidents and
other college leaders in providing a frank
and detailed State of the College address.
They described both the challenges and
opportunities facing the college,
including the need to support the
academic Program in the face of
increasing economic pressures on the
college. They described the college’s new
admissions initiatives, the need to
support financial aid and diversity efforts,
and the long-term financial picture of the
college.
Lunchtime included the opportunity
for alumni to make the Johnnie city of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�55
patricia dempsey
patricia dempsey
{Alumni Association}
Above left, Alumni including Mary Fisher (AGI92) and Steve Thomas (SF74)
took part in breakout sessions that focused on issues important to the future
of the college. Above right, For a hands-on bonding activity at lunchtime,
Johnnies assembled their vision of a Johnnie city.
their dreams, a hands-on activity that the
cerebral group relished. In breakout
sessions throughout the afternoon,
alumni met with staff to offer their feedback on those areas where alumni input is
most needed, such as communications,
career mentoring, alumni giving, and
chapters and outreach to chapters. A
dinner at Chris Nelson’s home on the
Severn River rounded out the weekend.
Elizabeth Powers (A89) enjoyed the
opportunity to renew her friendship with
the college, but she brought two linger
questions home with her to New York
City: “How are we [alumni] fulfilling our
mission in making free men and women
Piraeus 2011
out of books and a balance?
What role does liberal education play in helping us be
citizens in a democracy?”
Powers and other alumni will
have the chance to take up
those and other questions
during the second annual ALF
gathering, scheduled for the
Sabine Cranmer (SF81), Robert George (A85), Ginger
Santa Fe campus, June 10-12,
Kenney (A67), and Jo Ann Mattson (A87) observe the
2011. Alumni interested in lead- Johnnie city take shape.
ership and volunteer opportunities with the Alumni Association can join the conversation
campus: alumni@sjcsf.edu or
by e-mailing johnniealumni@gmail.com
alumni@sjca.edu. x
or contacting the alumni offices on either
seminars on Halldor Laxness’
Independent People. On-campus
Join your fellow alumni for a
housing is not available for this
Piraeus weekend in Annapolis or Piraeus weekend. Please contact
Santa Fe. These continuing
the alumni office in Santa Fe for
education opportunities are
assistance in arranging lodging.
offered on both campus and
provide the chance for Johnnies Annapolis: June 2-5, 2011
Choose from two; on-campus
to enjoy spirited conversation
housing is available.
along with social activities.
Tutors Tom May and David
Santa Fe: January 14-16, 2011
Townsend will lead a discussion
Tutors David Carl and David
of James Joyce’s Portrait of the
McDonald will lead four
Artist as a Young Man, along
with selections from Joyce’s
Ulysses.
Tutors Eva Brann and David
Carl will lead a seminar of
Rousseau’s Discourse on the
Origin of Inequality Among Men
and James Fenimore Cooper’s
The Last of the Mohicans.
Santa Fe: June 12-17, 2011
Tutors Keri Ames and Grant
Franks will lead eight seminars
on Ulysses. On-campus housing
is available.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
For more information on
Annapolis seminars, call the
Alumni Office in Annapolis at
410-626-2531 or e-mail Dolores
Strissel, manager of Alumni
Activities, at
Dolores.strissel@sjca.edu. For
Piraeus in Santa Fe, call the
Alumni Office at 505-984-6103 or
e-mail Nancie Wingo, director of
Alumni Activities at
nwingo@sjcsf.edu.
�56
I
{St. John’s Forever}
t was nearly 40 years ago, so Mackenzie Waggaman’s
memory of the occasion is a little vague. As a long-distance
runner, he recalls, he was the natural choice to serve as the
torchbearer for a Reality Olympics Parade in 1971. “I was
conscripted to run the torch down to the center of Santa
Fe, with a gaggle of Johnnies in tow,” he says. “I vaguely
remember the run into town, the gawking townies. I’m sure we
were confirming their worst fears about what was going on up on
the hill.”
Now an investment executive in Massachusetts, Waggaman is
third from the left in this photo taken by J.R. Thompson. Alex
Garklavs and Gary Wolfe are on Waggaman’s left; Steve Goldman
is on the right. All are members of the Santa Fe class of 1973.
Parades were once a standard event during Reality weekend,
which had its genesis in Annapolis in 1955. John Oosterhout (class
of 1953) decided to throw a party—with games including a barrel-
rolling relay and epicycle race—which he called “The Real
Olympics.” A big hit, the Real Olympics evolved into Reality, with
many of the annual parties featuring a parade.
These parades through town haven’t always gone smoothly. In
1958, toga-clad Stephen Almy was arrested for disorderly conduct
after he tried to carry a torch from the Piraeus (City Dock) to the
campus.
In part because of the permits now required, Johnnies haven’t
been as keen on parades in their Reality planning, though races,
barbeques and beer are still popular. A couple of years ago, a
group of seniors went to the trouble to get a parade permit in
Annapolis, but they didn’t go through with the event.
Perhaps Waggaman’s daughter Margaret, a freshman in
Annapolis, may pick up the torch in a few years, and Townies in
Annapolis may have the treat of watching Johnnies don their togas
for a Reality parade. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�{Eidos}
Capturing Easter Island
James Craig (AGI93)
F
or the past four years, James
Craig (AGI93) and his wife,
Nan, have spent several
months each year on Easter
Island. “The original project
was to maroon ourselves on
Easter Island for a year, me working on my
black-and-white photography while Nan did
some painting. It was for the adventure
more than anything, and we sure got that.
We were attracted by the isolation and
barren nature of the place, combined with
its mysteries and relatively recent connection to man’s stone-age past.”
James is nearing completion of a volume
of images capturing life on the island.
In advance of the book’s publication,
James graciously shared his photos with
The College. Read more about the
Craigs’ adventure on their blog:
www.easterislandjournal.com, and
see more of James’ photography at
www.jamescraigphotography.com.
Here are his stories behind the pictures:
Haka Pei Girl (top right)
“Tahira Nahoe, 12 years old, had just
finished her Haka Pei run in the youth division, from about two thirds up the hill. . . .
This is not typically a sport for women.
In Haka Pei two banana tree trunks are tied
together and used to sled down a long,
45-degree-angle hill on slick grass. Speeds
of 60 mph have been clocked. The
contestant traveling the farthest at the
bottom of the hill wins.”
Banana Run (top left)
“The second leg of the annual marathon.
The race starts off with participants rowing
reed canoes (poro) across the crater lake.
They then run full out carrying 44 pounds
of bananas, barefoot over rocky terrain,
completely around the crater. For the third
leg, they carry a poro back around to the
starting point and swim the lake using the
reed bundle as a float. Tuma Heke here was
well on his way to winning the event.”
Cave with a View (above)
“Of the hundreds of natural caves on the
island, this is the most used today, for
family picnics, cookouts, etc. It must have
once been a prize location, on the coast,
close to Tongariki and Rano Kau, and right
along the Moai Road.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2010 }
�NON -P ROFIT O RG .
U.S. P OSTAGE
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
�
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Volume 35, Issue 3 of the <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Fall 2010.
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College
The
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Chopin
Music’s Mysteries
F a l l
2 0 1 1
�On Chopin
F
ranz Liszt, Chopin’s friend and fellow composer, noted of Chopin: “Music
was his language, the divine tongue . . . . [T]he anguished cries of Poland lend
to his art a mysterious, indefinable poetry which, for all those who have truly
experienced it, cannot be compared to anything else.” When paying tribute
to Chopin for this issue of The College, Elliott Zuckerman references the
human voice—and instruments that sing: “[E]ven in his non-vocal works the
player has to ‘sing.’ ” And “it is since Chopin that great pianists have been noted for their
singing touch.”
Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) was a child prodigy in Warsaw; he wrote his first
polonaise at age seven and by age eleven he performed in the presence of Alexander I, Tsar
of Russia. Chopin moved to Paris in 1831, spending his short life as a brilliant innovator in
many forms, from prelude to nocturne. His nuanced, deeply felt compositions are written
primarily for the piano. “For Chopin to be engraved upon your soul,” writes Zuckerman,
“it is perhaps necessary to feel him in your fingers, to respond to music not only as motion
and sound, but texture and touch.”
St. John’s sophomores in Annapolis are introduced to Chopin through examples, in
particular a mazurka (Polish dance) for piano, in The Sense of Music, a book by Viktor
Zuckerkandl, a tutor at St. John’s from 1948 to 1964. This mazurka is “an example for
Zuckerkandl of the lively interplay between rhythm and meter in music,” says Eric
Stoltzfus, who teaches the sophomore music tutorial in Annapolis. In this issue, Stoltzfus
tells us how it feels to play Chopin on the cello—with Elliott Zuckerman on piano.
In Santa Fe, musician-in-residence Peter Pesic prefers to perform Chopin’s works in
intimate settings. “I don’t think Chopin ever imagined his mazurkas being played in a big
hall,” he says. Pesic describes how in Santa Fe he introduces several preludes by Chopin in
sophomore music: “We study the first, his homage to Bach’s first prelude, in detail, and
the fourth, a miniature masterpiece of chromaticism that helps us approach the musical
language of Wagner and the twentieth century.”
For some alumni, encounters with music at St. John’s have been life changing. Samantha
Buker (A05) lyrically describes how she “came away from my time at St. John’s convinced
that music is the purest form of beauty present in the world.” Music connects us all; the
deep listening that moved Buker is similar, perhaps, to the “deep reading” that “brings
peace,” as novelist Salvatore Scibona (SF97), a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award,
says in his interview. As much as music at St. John’s transformed Buker’s life, learning to
read the St. John’s way transformed Scibona’s life. “When a book and a reader are one, the
right fit,” says Scibona, “it’s a deeply mind-melded focus.” Similarly, Buker describes a
perfect concert in which “music, performer, and listener are as much a unity as can be.”
Part of the magic of music is that it moves us. As Eric Stoltzfus says, “music is part of
what makes us human, including me.”
Deep listening, deep reading—these are among the wonders that The College explores.
But something more makes listening to music or reading great works at St. John’s
powerful: sharing the experience with others. What Buker calls “the phenomenon of a
perfect concert,” Pesic calls “music as conversation.” Scibona simply notes that to have
read and discussed the Program books with others is “such a gift.”
The fact that individual experience is transformed by collective energy and exchange is
not lost on other alumni featured in this issue. Glenda Eoyang (SF76), an entrepreneur
who studied the “butterfly effect”—the wind from the flapping of its wings can be felt on
the other side of the earth—explores how ripples between and among us become the power
of “many.” Entrepreneurs like Eoyang and strategic coach Dan Sullivan (A71) tap into the
force and mystery of connections among us.
Finally, thank you to Barbara Goyette (A73) for her inspired ideas, and farewell and
thank you to the previous editor of The College, Rosemary Harty (AGI09). I am honored to
carry the torch and celebrate all things St. John’s.
—P.D.
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.
Patricia Dempsey, Editor
patricia.dempsey@sjca.edu
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
Samantha Buker (A05)
Michael Comenetz
Paul Hamilton
Laurent Merceron (A08)
Anna Perleberg (SF02)
Deborah Spiegelman
James Williams
Babak Zarin (A11)
Elliott Zuckerman
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�College
Fa l l 2 0 1 1
Vo l u m e 3 6 , I s s u e 1
The
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
12
Connected by Chopin
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
•
Santa Fe welcomes a new dean
A graduating senior on “learning to live”
Chris Nelson’s 20th year as president
Au revoir, John Christensen (HA99)
Cheers for the orchestra!
Dr. Norman Levan’s (SFGI74) generous
bequest
Alumni reflect on Reality
Summer Academy debut
Readers share music stories
30
bibliofile
•
Alumna Samantha Buker (A05) and
tutors ruminate on musical
conversations and phenomena,
including the perfect concert.
from the bell towers
Peter Eichstaedt (SF92) explores the
ravages of Eastern Africa
White Asparagus serves up eclectic delights
Valéry’s Graveyard: Le Cimetière marin
Translated, Described, and Peopled
•
•
•
•
•
20
Commencement
page
•
•
Leo Pickens (A78) reflects on the art of
contemplation; Victoria Mora celebrates
imagination.
page 12
24
Reading to Write
•
Acclaimed novelist Salvatore Scibona
(SF97) felt unqualified to write until he
learned to read—the St. John’s way.
32
page
26
The Power of Many
•
alumni
P RO F I L E S
page
page 32
Glenda Eoyang (SF76) and Dan Sullivan
(A71) harness the dynamics of human
interactions to transform lives.
32 Laura Strache (A02) hedges her bets on
Wall Street
35 Bruce Sanborn’s (SFGI09) mid-life
journey to St. John’s
42 Algebra is a “Faustian bargain”
for Steve Morse (A68)
44
alumni voices
A Joyce ride to Piraeus with
Gregory Rhoades (SFGI89)
45
48
on the cover
Chopin
Illustration by David Johnson
croquet
50
association news
52
page 38
obituaries
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
St. John’s Welcomes a New Dean in Santa Fe
Incoming Dean J. Walter Sterling earned his
bachelor’s degree in 1993 from St. John’s in
Annapolis, and a master’s degree in philosophy
in 1997 from Emory University. He held
academic positions at Loyola College,
Gwynedd-Mercy College, and Temple
University, and worked with Project H.O.M.E.
in Philadelphia, before joining the faculty in
Santa Fe in 2003. He succeeds Victoria Mora,
who has been Santa Fe dean since 2006.
Sterling’s tenure began on July 1.
teri randall
You discovered a community through Project
H.O.M.E. Can you describe this experience?
After teaching philosophy here and there,
I spent several years working for Project
H.O.M.E., a nonprofit that principally works to
transition folks out of homelessness but is also
involved in broader urban revitalization efforts.
I developed and taught in a whole range of
adult education classes—basic literacy, GED,
college and vocational prep—working primarily
with people in mental health and substanceabuse recovery programs. It was a wonderful
Santa Fe’s new dean, J. Walter Sterling (A93)
experience. I could go on and on about all the
good things that I found there. I maintain a
strong connection with that community and try
Day to day, I hope to be an advocate and a support for the real
to support the organization as much as I can from this distance. I
work of our learning community. As far as I’m concerned,
turned to that work out of some ambivalence regarding life in
St. John’s stands for the greatest aspiration of education: the
“academia.” But after a few years, I realized that I wanted to
possibility that the human soul can be illuminated and ennobled
return to my vocation as a student and teacher of philosophy.
by inquiry into the whole of things. That we are acutely aware that
we fall short in many ways is further evidence of how persistently
What brought you to Santa Fe?
high we aim. It’s an honor to serve that end, be it in the classroom
I have strong ties to Annapolis. Quite strong. In addition to my
or the Dean’s Office.
being an alum, my father is also an alum and a member of the
faculty there. Born and bred in that briar patch! I wanted to come
What about when you’re not in the classroom or the Dean’s Office?
to Santa Fe because it represented the education that I love and to
My wife, Meghan, and I are driven to delightful distraction these
which I am indebted, but with a new setting, fresh faces, and the
days by our two little boys, Will
adventure of this beautiful city and
[2 years of age], and Luke [3 months].
landscape. It has been the right blend
As seriously as I have tried to take
of same and other, the familiar and
education throughout my life, being a
the surprising.
father does seem to raise the stakes. I
try to maintain a bit of proverbial
Do you have particular goals for your
balance by running and cycling; I love
deanship?
to run our mountain trails here. This
Not yet. We all recognize that we
year, on my sabbatical and in my effort
are in a challenging moment for
to “grow old learning many things,”
St. John’s, for liberal education, for
I have been attending classes at the
higher education, at the very least a
University of New Mexico School of
challenging economic environment.
Law. I’ve worked with great folks
Much of the strategic work of the
down there and have enjoyed “just”
Dean’s Office in the coming few
being a student again. x
years will involve navigating this
J. Walter Sterling
environment.
—Deborah Spiegelman
“St. John’s stands for the
greatest aspiration of
education: the possibility
that the human soul can be
illuminated and ennobled
by inquiry into the whole
of things.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�3
{From the Bell Towers}
Learning how to live
Kaura Mackey (A11) has deep
roots at St. John’s College: she is
the ninth person in her family to
be a student at St. John’s; her
cousin is a sophomore. The
Caritas Society asked Mackey to
speak at the annual April
luncheon, a gathering in the
Annapolis boathouse of the
volunteer members who host
fundraisers and other events to
assist students who have unexpected financial emergencies.
Mackey spoke of her belief in
the “value” of a St. John’s
education: “What I do treasure
most is something that unfortunately is lost on a lot of people.
St. John’s gives a liberal education that is ‘education’ in the
truest sense of the word. One
criticism of St. John’s is that
what we learn here does not
have a practical application, but
this is false, and I will tell you
why....I have my family as proof.
My aunt went on from St. John’s
to become a doctor. My uncle is
a diver, and he repairs boats
while they are still in the water.
Another aunt left St. John’s and
became an artist. Another uncle
became a chemical engineer.
My dad is a mechanical
engineer. My cousin is a
computer programmer. Another
cousin works for a nonprofit
think tank in D.C.”
The most valuable thing that
Mackey will take with her from
St. John’s is “not that all careers
are open to me.” Rather, she
said, it “is put very concisely by
my father. If asked why he went
to St. John’s, he answers, ‘I went
to St. John’s to learn how to
live.’ He does not mean that
St. John’s teaches people what
the right way to live is, but
rather it gives students the tools
to be able to examine our lives
and decide for ourselves how we
should live.”
President Chris Nelson (SF70), Kaura Mackey (A11), and her
mother, Surinder Mackey.
Mackey, who volunteered at a
local Annapolis elementary
school while attending
St. John’s, headed to Phoenix,
Arizona, in July to begin her
teacher training at Great Hearts
Academy. “St. John’s is the
perfect foundation to become a
to clarify their opinions, and
discussing among themselves to
find an answer to the societal
question that needs judgment,”
says Chang Liu (A14). Chang,
Maryland v. Kenneth Deibler.
named a Davis World Scholar
“The Court of Appeals of
this past winter, aspires to work
Maryland is like the kind of
in international law and found
discussion you get in a seminar
the trip to be a good first step
as the panel of judges dives into toward that goal. “Seeing the
the details of the cases, asking
real courtroom inspired me to
questions to prompt the lawyers compare the legal systems in
the United
States. and
China. I am
going home to
China this
summer to
explore the
difference.”
Alumni
mentoring is
not new at
St. John’s, but
this spring
Dunn has
infused it with
Jaime Dunn, director of Career Services,
new energy and
connects students with alumni.
opportunities.
Alumni Mentoring
on the Docket
When Talley Kovacs (A04)
invited Jaime Dunn, Annapolis
director of Career Services, to
bring students to the Maryland
Court of Appeals to hear oral
arguments and meet with the
judge for whom she was
clerking, Dunn gladly accepted.
On Tuesday, May 10, nine
students from St. John’s—four
freshmen, two juniors, two
seniors, and a sophomore—sat
in on a session at the Maryland
Court of Appeals. Arriving
before the session began, the
students were briefed on the
cases they would be witnessing
and visited with Judge Clayton
Greene Jr. before entering the
courtroom. They witnessed two
cases that were on the docket:
Ford Motor Credit Company
LLC v. Maureen P. Roberson
and Montgomery County,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
teacher, because in learning to
teach ourselves, we discover
how to teach others.” x
To read Mackey’s speech visit the
Caritas Society’s website:
www.stjohnscollege.edu/friends.
“Kovacs signed up to be an
alumni mentor earlier this
semester and visited the
campus in April to talk about
her experiences post-SJC in
applying and going to law
school,” says Dunn.
Word of the Court of Appeals
trip spread quickly. Several
Johnnies, hearing about it from
their friends, have already
begun asking for similar opportunities in other fields, which
Dunn welcomes. “It’s so important to me to be able to expose
students to the possibilities that
await them after graduation,
especially if they involve
connecting with alumni. I hope
to do more of these site visits
with alumni mentors, and I
encourage alumni to contact my
office if they’d like to be a
mentor and/or have students
visit them at their organizations.” For more information
contact Jaime Dunn: 410-6262500 or jaime.dunn@sjca.edu.
—Babak Zarin (A11)
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
Celebrating Two Decades of Leadership
Chris Nelson champions the liberal arts
When Chris Nelson arrived in
Annapolis as the new president
of St. John’s 20 years ago, the
college’s academic program
was its greatest strength. That
hasn’t changed. What has
changed are the support
structures for the Program:
the college endowment went
from $27 million to $135
million; new dorms were built
and a new library renovated;
the student body increased
from 417 to 485 students; two
capital campaigns were
conducted, one for $35 million,
the second for $134 million;
improvements to health and
counseling services, career
services, and athletics were
identified and funded; staff
professionalism increased; the
college’s investments were reallocated; and the Management
Committee was established to
better coordinate administrative matters between the
campuses.
For someone with no
academic leadership background, this is a remarkable
achievement. While Nelson is
an alumnus (Santa Fe, class of
1970) and has served on the
Board of Visitors and Governors, he brought fresh eyes to
the job of running a small,
Mike Uremovich (SFGI05), Dr. Stephen Forman (A70), President Chris Nelson (SF70),
Ron Fielding (A70).
unusual liberal arts college.
Indeed, over time, Nelson has
become one of the most active
and influential liberal arts
college leaders. His background as a labor lawyer helped
prepare him to read political
situations accurately and to
react positively. And his true
love of St. John’s and his cleareyed understanding of the
importance of liberal education
has made him a sought-after
spokesperson. Such themes as
“We don’t live in order to get a
job. But we work in order to
make it possible for us to live a
good life” eloquently address
today’s issues and make great
media quotes. The Washington Post featured a profile
of Nelson this spring, citing
him as one of the most
influential college presidents
in the country.
In celebration of Nelson’s
20 years, the Board of Visitors
From left, Jay Schwarz,
Santa Fe Dean J. Walter
Sterling (A93), Camilla
Schwarz (A84), and Bud
Billups, former Annapolis
treasurer.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
and Governors honored him at
a dinner on June 18, attended
by 160 of the college president’s closest friends: alumni,
Annapolis residents, parents,
fellow college presidents, and
Maryland education leaders.
Following is one in a series of
tributes offered. Eva Brann,
who served as dean with Chris
Nelson during the early 1990s,
describes his contributions. x
�5
{From the Bell Towers}
Chris Nelson’s 20th Year as Our President
by Eva Brann, dean emerita
This is an occasion, the
20th anniversary of Chris as
our president, that I am truly
sorry to miss. But I’m off to
Tbilisi, the capital of the
Republic of Georgia, to lead
some demonstration classes at
a small independent liberal
arts college—the only such, I
believe, in Georgia, which had
in the middle ages a glorious
Platonic Academy—a school
with a program largely
modeled on our college of
St. John’s. A number of tutors
and alumni are seriously
engaged there, and Chris
himself has helped this courageous undertaking, just as he
has assiduously spread our
gospel in America.
My most detailed experience, however, of our president’s devotion to the college
comes from the days in the
nineties when I was an administratively clueless dean and he
a deft new president. Along
with Bud Billups and Jeff
Bishop, Chris and I met
regularly to deal with college
issues. We all helped each
other, but it was Chris who
presided, and I want to tell you
in what manner.
At other institutions of
higher education—I’ve visited
scores of them and I think of
most of them as “institutions,”
while our college is a “school”
to me, a student-friendly place
of learning—the relation of
deans to presidents is professionally if not personally
strained, for they are meant to
have somewhat conflicting
agendas. I soon formed for
myself a far more friendly
notion of my relation to this
president. By our Polity, which
has protected our stable
integrity so well, the Dean, the
Instruction Committee, and,
of course, the Faculty as a
whole are responsible for
maintaining the Program’s
essence—that is to say, its heart
and soul—while the president
looks after the school’s
existence, its survival, and
well-being. Knowing well that
you can’t live well unless you’re
alive, I never had any problem
in thinking of myself as serving
under Chris. Someone has to
have the last word and that had
better be the one who protects
our very place in the world.
But the real reason that was
an easy submission was that
Chris was never a “normal”
president, even in a good
sense. He was a Johnnie
through and through. He was,
to be sure, the son and father
of Johnnies in lineage, but
what counts more, he was in
soul an alumnus, a nursling of
the college.
He had one of the gifts of a
leader for us: an acute and
focused ingenuity in unscrambling difficulties. How often
did he pull my chestnuts out of
the fire when I got terminally
confused by numbers, for
which he has a genius! How
cleverly he would find a way to
He had one of the gifts
of a leader for us: an acute
and focused ingenuity in
unscrambling difficulties.
hold onto one of our wicked
kids, when in my disgusted
deanishness, my hasty
prescription would be a
brusque “Out!” His capacity
for listening, his memory that
keeps him on top of details,
his patience in massaging
problems—are, in one of our
students’ favorite terms,
“awesome.”
But my real point is not that
Chris has been, throughout
this score of years, within and
without, an effective president,
canny in keeping us alive and
untiring in bringing us before
the public. It is that in him,
care for the existence of the
concrete community and
regard for its ideal program
have been blended. He is well
versed in both the conditions
of our survival and the
preservation of our substance.
Consequently, he really
understands our greatest
challenge—that the exigencies
of St. John’s as an institution
might squash the soul of our
college as a school, as a
community of learning. He
knows intimately, from within,
how to value and defend this
school and its Program, which
he loves.
And this Program, now
nearly three quarters of a
century old, is lovable, and our
common attachment for it has
a very precise cause: Under it,
and the pedagogy that goes
with it, we infuse thinking with
passion and inform passion
with reason. That is what
makes this tiny place a giant in
the educational landscape—but
also, on occasion, a giantslayer, for, small as we are, we
have fought and won quite a
few battles—Chris in the lead.
Of course, I have my
reservations about some of
his proclivities. He has an
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
His capacity for
listening, his
memory that
keeps him on
top of details,
his patience in
massaging
problems—
are, in one of
our students’
favorite terms,
“awesome.”
enthusiasm for Virgil’s Aeneas,
a taste pretty much confined to
men, I think. He actually
admires this stuffy hero, who
probably goes to bed in his
breastplate, so driven that he
spurns Dido, the passionate
African queen who dies for
him. For myself, I love
Homer’s Odysseus for longing
to return home to Penelope,
his queenly Ithacan wife who
lives for him. This unstuffy
hero does take his time getting
there and is ardently welcomed
and reluctantly released by a
number of lushly magical
women on the way. But once
Odysseus gets home, he stays
home, and, like Chris, governs
his austere little kingdom, the
best place on earth. That’s a
serious difference between us,
to be sure—but what an occasion for great conversations!
And so, even in this lapse,
Chris proves a true Johnnie, an
engaged lover of our books.
For all these reasons I have—
I can say confidently, we all
have—this hopeful wish:
20 more years! x
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
John Christensen Retires
interest from students in the
former Eastern block, where
there is a real appreciation of
our Program, as these students
seldom had the opportunity to
study Western philosophy,
literature, and history,”
he says.
Christensen says he
especially found rewarding
his international admissions
work with the United World
Colleges, whose mission is to
bring students from around the
world to each of their small
campuses to promote mutual
understanding and world
peace. “The diversity on these
campuses is amazing, and you
end up at lunch in the dining
hall with Israelis and Palestinians, for example, sitting
side-by-side talking calmly and
thoughtfully about things they
have in common and about
their cultural differences. Once
I talked to a Bosnian, whose
roommate was Croatian, and he
was telling me what good
friends they had become and
how they hoped to attend
college together. ‘Just
think,’ he said, ‘A few
years ago our parents
were trying to kill
each other.’”
Despite the dramatic
technological shifts in
how liberal arts
colleges approach
prospective students,
there is one aspect of
college admissions
work that Christensen
believes will not
change: the importance
of helping a prospective
student find the right
fit in a college. “That’s
especially important
now because everyone
who works in the
admissions process—
high-school counselors
John Christensen (HA99) reflects on his three decades
in Admissions at St. John’s.
jen behrens
When John Christensen
(HA99) arrived at St. John’s
College 33 years ago as director
of admissions, he embraced the
college community and the
Program. “I had to learn as
much as I could to explain the
Program to others and make
sure of the right fit for a
prospective student,” he
recalls. “Friends urged me to
consider whether I wanted to
embark on a career that
depended upon the ability of
18-year-olds to make rational
decisions about their futures.”
But Christensen knew that in
St. John’s he had found the
right fit.
“John Christensen has been
an impressive builder of
community,” Christopher
Nelson told the tutors, staff,
family, and friends that gathered in June to commemorate
John’s retirement. “When John
arrived at the college in 1978,
he undertook with simple
directness an education about
the college….He engaged with
us by taking the full four years
of seminar, first as a participant
and then as a third tutor at the
table. He developed an understanding of the books so that he
could talk about them with
prospective students and also
with his fellow members of the
faculty. He is in every sense one
of us.”
In a sweep of three decades,
Christensen has seen innumerable changes, among them a
heightened interest from
international students.
He attributes the uptick to the
reach of the web, scholarships
such as the Ahmet Ertegun
Fund, and his travels overseas,
especially to the United World
Colleges (high schools) in
countries such as Bosnia,
Wales, Norway, and Italy.
“We also saw an increase in
and college admissions officers
alike—knows that the atmosphere is tense and that collegebound students today face even
greater pressure and anxiety
about choosing a college. I will
depart St. John’s College
feeling good about our efforts
to keep our application process
as simple and straightforward
as possible—no early decision,
early action, regular decision,
or wait lists—so that prospective students can focus on what
our academic program has to
offer them. Our model of
education and smaller size have
allowed us to operate this way,
and I realize how fortunate I
have been.”
Many at the college feel
fortunate to have worked with
Christensen. As Nelson said,
“John has been the indispensable man, utterly reliable,
dedicated to the college that he
loves, meticulous in his work,
careful, thoughtful and faithful
in communicating the nature of
the Program to generations of
potential students.” Annapolis
Dean Pamela Kraus says, “John
has shown immense dedication
and capacity for work; he has,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
“Friends urged me
to consider
whether I wanted
to embark on a
career that
depended upon
the ability of
18-year-olds to
make rational
decisions...”
John Christensen
an incredibly rich, detailed
understanding of the
admissions office and of
St. John’s College—both its
history and its purposes—and a
generous, cooperative spirit.”
John retired on July 30, 2011.
“After 33 years in admissions,”
he says, “I still find great
satisfaction in hearing about
‘an ideal match.’” x
—P.D.
�{From the Bell Towers}
Shaded conversation
courtyard beckons
A conversation courtyard, with
its closely planted groupings of
Allegheny Serviceberry trees and
stone benches, is the perfect
shady spot for Johnnies to kick
off their shoes, read, and talk on
a warm day. The new conversation courtyard is in front
of Humphreys Hall, near the
entrance to the Annapolis
campus bookstore. In addition,
the adjacent quad has been
revitalized with spruced-up
benches and walkways. Two tall
and slender “Valley Forge”
American Elm trees replace the
bushy, low-growing dogwood
shrubs by the rear steps—broadening the sloping view of back
campus and College Creek.
Tutor Jeffrey Black, head of
the Campus Planning
Committee, says that folks on
campus are delighted with the
changes: “All of the reactions I
have heard so far have been
uniformly positive. Community
members like the look of the
quad and the Humphreys courtyard, and have started to use the
seat walls now that the weather
has gotten warmer.”
The refurbishment of the quad
and the new courtyard were
funded by a gift from Erwin
Greenberg, a member of the
college’s Board of Visitors and
Governors, and his wife
Stephanie Cooper. They wanted
to enhance the campus by
bringing more life to the
Humphreys yard and by sprucing
up the well-worn quad.
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape
Architecture of Charlottesville,
Virginia, designed the projects,
which are part of the college’s
comprehensive master plan, with
Cheers for Orchestra!
Do you have a musical instrument in your
home that is gathering dust? The music
library in Annapolis is looking to add to
the few instruments currently on hand. Of
particular need are violin, cello, string
bass, bassoon, English horn, brass instruments (trumpet, trombone, French horn),
and timpani.
“We would love to have a standing
collection of musical instruments that we
can make available to students in need,”
says Eric Stoltzfus, Annapolis music
librarian. “In the past we have helped
students locate violins, French horns, a
string bass, and even timpani to use with
the orchestra.”
If you own an instrument in good repair,
please consider loaning it or donating it
permanently to the college. The music
library is also accepting donations to
purchase or rent sheet music for
performing ensembles, to purchase a set of
timpani, and for instrument maintenance.
Tutor David Stephenson has directed
the St. John’s College Orchestra in
Annapolis for 20 years. In recent years the
orchestra has performed symphonies by
Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert,
concertos by Vivaldi and Mozart, Bach
Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral
Suites, and even excerpts from Don
Giovanni and The Magic Flute. x
For more information, please contact
Eric Stoltzfus in the Music Library:
410-295-6904 or eric.stoltzfus@sjca.edu.
7
input from the Campus Planning
Committee. In addition,
the Historic Preservation
Commission of Annapolis
approved the college’s proposal
after the city’s arborist and
archaeologist lent their oversight
to the project during a public
meeting.
“Special challenges arise
every time you dig in
Annapolis,” says Black. “For
example, how to match the
College’s many preexisting brick
patterns, or how to keep squirrels (and community members)
out of freshly-planted
flowerbeds.” The trees, shrubs,
flowers, and grasses chosen are
native species, in keeping with
the college’s commitment to
environmentally conscious
landscaping.
“Our chief consideration was
to make the Humphreys courtyard a welcoming space—without
detracting from the centrality of
the quad,” says Black.
These new features already
seem well-established; on a
recent sunny day, numerous
students were reading in the
conversation courtyard, tucked
among the trees. x
—Laurent Merceron (A08)
�8
Revisiting
Reality
As an alumnus thinking back on
my own St. John’s experience,
the event that always strikes me
as the most amusing and improbable is “Reality Weekend,” in
which our tiny Republic of
Letters casts aside its books and
balances and transforms itself
into a miniature Bacchanalian
festival. But for all the revelry and
calculated chaos, a strong group
of organizers (four reality chiefs
and a planning committee) and a
lot of time and energy (one
month of organizing and a school
year of fundraising) ensured that
...Our tiny
Republic of
Letters casts aside
its books and
balances and
transforms itself
into a miniature
Bacchanalian
festival.
{From the Bell Towers}
Reality 2011, held on the
Annapolis campus, was a party
worth attending.
In keeping with this year’s
theme of childhood, the weekend
included a petting zoo, a scavenger hunt, and a messy game of
paint-Twister. As usual, the
weekend kicked off with the
annual marathon relay race,
followed by the junior-class skit
(in which lampooning students,
faculty, and Program authors are
the order of the day), and a dance
party in the Great Hall.
By the following morning,
students had been transported to
a magical land where colorful
streams of crepe paper hung from
the trees, and a nine a.m. wakeup call consisted of orange juice
and thumping rock ’n’ roll. Chalk
drawings covered the brick
surfaces of buildings, grills were
being lit, and student bands were
setting up for outdoor performances. (Oh, and I heard that a few
weeks earlier, students recorded
Chris Nelson reading bedtime
stories—his voice was auctioned
to raise money for the weekend’s
festivities.)
The petting zoo (comprised of
a pony, a donkey, a lamb, and two
goats) was an especially big hit
among students, though animal
safety was an important concern
for the organizers. In addition to
a Reality archon and an animal
handler maintaining constant
supervision, co-archon Michelle
Weinmann (A12) says, “We
wanted to make sure that the
animals felt comfortable, so we
chose only larger animals for this
event.”
In keeping with this year’s
theme, Michael Janakis (A12) put
smiles on the faces of his fellow
students by dressing up as a
clown—something with which he
is quite familiar. “My dad’s a
clown. He went to Ringling Bros.
Clown College, so I was exposed
to clowning growing up.”
Donning his father’s red clown
nose and makeup, Janakis says,
“They get a bad reputation, but
clowns are supposed to make
people happy!”
The weekend concluded with a
bonfire, and, of course, a game of
Spartan Madball, a Johnnie
invention as bizarre and beautiful
as it is difficult to describe. x
—Laurent Merceron (A08)
A Mad, Mad
Game of
Ball
For this year’s main attraction
of Reality Weekend, students
ringed the hills of back campus
to watch their more courageous
(or foolhardy)
colleagues participating in one of the
college’s most
beloved events:
Spartan Madball.
The oldest event of
Reality Weekend,
an end-of-year
celebration that
began in 1955,
Spartan Madball
appears in records
dating as early as
1962 as “an unrefereed volleyball
game on a football
In 1980 Johnnies
march on Main
Street to
celebrate Reality.
field,” and has evolved over
nearly 50 years of its existence.
The general form of Spartan
Madball has remained the same.
In a reference to Euclid’s
Elements, students are divided
into two teams: the “Means,”
consisting of sophomores and
juniors, and the “Extremes,”
made up of the freshmen and
seniors. Placed on opposite
sides of the campus soccer field,
the two teams struggle to take
hold of a large medicine ball
and carry it through to the
opposing team’s goal.
What has changed are the
rules. While tradition holds that
“there are only three rules,” the
actual list of rules of Spartan
Madball is far longer and
reflects the history of the game.
Some of the rules include no
motorized vehicles (added after
an attempt to win by using a
Jeep, which was toppled over)
and no livestock (added after a
student tried to herd some
sheep onto the field as an
obstacle). Most famously, the
game lasts three hours, or until
three goals, three major
injuries, or one death occur.
(To date, there have been no
deaths.)
Many popular legends and
stories arise over this event,
which in 1999 was described by
then-Reality coordinator Tim
Carney (A00) as a “completely
primal” chance to “gain glory
and valor.” One of the most
recent is if a freshman team
wins, they are likely to go on to
win all four years.
Among the changes made to
the game’s rules in response to
last year’s match—one of the
most violent in recent memory—
was the addition of “violence
referees,” who halted game play
whenever it appeared action on
the field was escalating too far.
This year the Extremes, made
up of the three-time winner
class of 2011 and the class of
2014, were defeated 3-0 by the
other classes. So much for the
legend. x
—Babak Zarin (A11)
�9
{From the Bell Towers}
High school students discover St. John’s
This summer the first
St. John’s College Summer
Academy attracted 32 mostlyhigh-school students from
around the country to the
Santa Fe campus from June 26
to July 2. On the Annapolis
campus, 35 high school
students enrolled for a similar
week-long immersion in the
college from July 10 to 16.
Participants lived on campus
and explored seminars, math
and language tutorials, and
science labs, interspersed with
field trips, presentations, and
performances. On both
campuses, St. John’s undergraduates and tutors joined
participants in and out of the
classroom.
“Summer Academy serves
as a means of bringing the type
of education found at
St. John’s to another group of
students, and gives students
interested in learning more
about the college a week-long
submersion into Johnnie life,”
says Amy Sandefur, assistant
director of admissions
on the Annapolis
campus.
In Santa Fe, not all
students were from
high school. Alexandra
Forman is currently
enrolled at Santa
Monica College in
California. A family
friend recommended
that she try the
Academy. “I love to
learn,” she says, “and
to question what I’m
told, not just accept
facts as facts, but to
know why.” Forman
says she “loves the
great books
curriculum, the fact
that I’m not studying
textbooks that
someone else has
written and then told me what
they’re about; but I get to read
the works and decide for
myself what they’re about.”
Others seek “something
more” than high school can
offer. Connor Groat of Battle
Ground, Washington, enrolled
in the Santa Fe Academy
because he hasn’t been
challenged at his high school.
“It’s just so much underachievement, and everybody
lowers the standards so that
people can trip over them;
now that the standards
are above my head, it’s a
nice change to try and
reach for something.”
Grace Obregon, a
rising senior at Robert
E. Lee High School in
San Antonio, Texas,
enjoyed the discussions
of Plato and the consequence of choice during
her week on the Santa
Fe campus. “The
questions are the basis
of who we are,” she
says, adding that
Summer Academy is
about “just being
comfortable with questioning.” She was also
encouraged by the
breadth of the lessons in
the Academy’s
curriculum: “It allows
you to be interested in many
different things, so you’re not
just on this one path with a
limited number of professions
you can go into.”
—James Williams
Levan Makes $12 Million Bequest
This spring Dr. Norman Levan
(SFGI74), a generous and dedicated friend of St. John’s
College, made a bequest to the
college’s Santa Fe campus of
one third of his estate, valued in
excess of $12 million.
The bequest is Dr. Levan’s
third gift to St. John’s College.
In 2006, he donated $5 million,
which funded the construction
of the Betty and Norman
Levan Hall, the home of the
Graduate Institute. Dedicated
September, 25, 2010, Levan
Hall houses administrative and
faculty offices, seminar rooms,
a graduate lounge, and an
exhibition space. In 2010,
Dr. Levan also provided an
endowment of $2 million for the
Norman Levan Faculty Chair,
held by the current dean.
“We are exceedingly grateful
for Dr. Levan’s continuing
generosity,” says Michael P.
Peters, president of the Santa Fe
campus. “He is a constant
friend and supporter of the
mission of St. John’s College
and liberal education more
broadly.”
Dr. Norman Levan is
professor emeritus and former
chief of dermatology at the
University of Southern
California School of Medicine
(class of 1939). He served in the
United States Army Medical
Corps during World War II,
including the battle of Okinawa,
and then embarked on a long
and distinguished career in
medicine. Among his important
achievements is the establishment—at the request of state and
federal health officials—of the
Hansen’s Disease Clinic at the
Los Angeles County/USC
Medical Center in 1962, one of
only three such clinics in
California.
A long-time resident of
Bakersfield, California,
Dr. Levan supports the Norman
Levan Faculty Seminar Series at
Bakersfield College, where he
also made a bequest as well as a
generous gift for the creation of
the Norman Levan Center for
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
the Humanities. A strong
advocate of examining societal
issues, Dr. Levan envisioned the
Center as a way to involve the
Bakersfield community in
exploring the importance of the
humanities in people’s lives.
“In all his endeavors,
Dr. Levan demonstrates his
commitment to knowledge,
to an informed and educated
citizenry, and to our collective
responsibility to make a better
future,” says Peters. “He is an
inspiration to all of us.” x
—Deborah Spiegelman
�10
{From the Bell Towers}
News and Announcements
St. John’s Hosts
Community Seminars
on “Pilgrimage to
Nonviolence”
St. John’s College, Annapolis
welcomed the wider community
for a weekend of events in honor
of the life and legacy of the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. The
weekend opened on Saturday,
January 9 with community seminars, co-led by St. John’s College
tutors and faculty from
Sojourner-Douglass College.
More than 150 members of the
community gathered in small
seminars to discuss “Pilgrimage
to Nonviolence,” an essay by
Dr. King. The next day approximately 500 members of the
community attended the fourth
annual “Lift Every Voice”
concert. The fifth annual
concert will be held on January
8; the seminars will be held on
January 7, 2012.
Staff Announcements
The college welcomes SARAH
MORSE, who joined the
Annapolis campus as the new
director of admissions on July
11. She replaces John Christensen, who retired on July 30.
Morse has served as Eastern
regional director and national
director of special projects for
AFS Intercultural Programs.
More recently she was dean of
students and director of admissions and financial aid at St.
Timothy’s School in Stevenson,
Maryland, and subsequently
director of admissions for the
Lower and Middle School and
director of financial aid at
Jemicy School in Owings Mills,
Maryland.
MARILYN HIGUERA completed
her service as director of the
Graduate Institute in Annapolis.
She is succeeded by tutor JEFF
BLACK, who begins his four-year
term of office this summer.
Higuera returns to full-time
teaching on the faculty.
SHARON HENSLEY retired on
September 2 from the Annapolis
Graduate Institute after 30 years
with the college.
Four new tutors have joined
the faculty—two each in
Annapolis and Santa Fe. In
Annapolis, SARAH BENSON previously taught part-time in the
Graduate Institute. After
receiving her PhD from Cornell
University in the History of Art,
she was a visiting fellow in the
Southeast Asia Program at
Cornell University. New
Annapolis tutor HANNAH HINTZE
received her PhD from the
University of Chicago,
Committee on Social Thought,
in 2009. Santa Fe welcomes
NATALIE J. ELLIOT, who received
her PhD in political science with
specializations in political
theory and comparative politics,
from the University of North
Texas in 2009. In her previous
position, she was visiting assistant professor of political
science at Southern Methodist
University in Dallas, Texas.
ERIKA TROSETH MARTINEZ, who
was initially hired for a special
one-year appointment last fall,
also joins the college as a tutor
on the Santa Fe campus.
On both campuses, the
directors of communications
have left the college. ANNA
SOCHOCKY, director of
communications in Santa Fe,
left in August 2011 to pursue
her writing and equine interests.
ROSEMARY HARTY, Annapolis
director, departed in February
2011 to teach developmental
English. PATRICIA DEMPSEY,
formerly associate director of
communications in Annapolis,
became director of communications in Annapolis on July 1.
She brings more than a decade
of experience in journalism,
editorial management, and
higher education media relations to her new role, and has
contributed to publications such
Aeschylus’ Furious Thespians
This spring, The King William Players—student thespians in
Annapolis—performed two 20-minute segments of Aeschylus’
Eumenides and Molière’s Tartuffe in their original Attic Greek
and French. Pictured above are students performing Eumenides,
as Clytemnestra and the Furies react to Apollo’s command to get
out of his temple.
as the Washington Post. She has
an MA in Writing from Johns
Hopkins University and is the
parent of a Johnnie, ALEXANDER
KRIZ (SF09).
In Annapolis, Director of
Major Gifts RUTH ANDERSON
COGGESHALL retired on June 30,
after more than 6 years with the
college, contributing to a
successful capital campaign.
St. John’s in the News
In recent months St. John’s has
been in the national public eye.
The New Yorker (June 13, 2011)
summer fiction issue includes
Salvatore Scibona’s (SF97)
essay, “Where I Learned to
Read,” an account of his years
on the Santa Fe campus. The
Washington Post (May 14, 2011)
features a profile of president
Chris Nelson, a national
spokesperson for the liberal
arts, and St. John’s, where “a
passion for liberal arts withstands an adversarial economy.”
A related Washington Post blog
includes Nelson among the
country’s most influential
presidents; some of the others
are from Harvard and Cornell
universities, and Earlham
College.
The Chronicle of Higher
Education (May 29, 2011)
captures the pulse of campus life
in a story on a “sartorial
marvel”—the annual croquet
match in Annapolis; in a related
blog on how “bookworms find
their inner athletes” at
St. John’s, Annapolis Athletic
Director Leo Pickens describes
the college’s intramural sports
program. The Huffington Post
(May 20, 2011) included
Pickens’ address at Annapolis
commencement in a roundup of
fine speeches. And John
Christensen, now retired,
describes a “sea change” in
admissions for The Chronicle of
Higher Education (June 29,
2011). To read these and
other stories on St. John’s,
visit: www.stjohnscollege.edu/
news. x
�11
{From the Bell Towers}
Readers
Share Music
Stories
A Place of Honor
Music at St. John’s? There’s so
much to love! I still sing songs I
learned in Freshmen Chorus.
“By the Waters of Babylon”
makes for good singing to a fussy
baby, I’ve found. I love that the
whole school can sing all four
parts of “Sicut Cervus” at a
moment’s notice at Collegium. I
am thankful that Mr. Stephenson
introduced us to the St. Matthew
Passion in sophomore music. I
try to listen to it every year
during Holy Week. Learning
rhythms by dancing down the
halls in music tutorial; the sweet
sounds of “Primum Mobile”
echoing through the Pendulum
Pit; Mrs. Seeger leading us
through “Green Grow the
Rushes, O” at Christmas time. I
spent many an hour in the practice rooms in the basement of
Mellon Hall composing songs; to
my great surprise and honor, I
even won the Best Original
Composition prize in my sophomore year. St. John’s gives music
its place of honor among the
liberal arts, and I’m the richer for
having experienced it.
Jenny Lowe Cook (A06)
Still Rocking
I will never forget when Marshall
McMillan (A90) and Jeff
Schwartz played “Ripple” by the
Grateful Dead at the Collegium
Musicum evening in the Great
Hall in Annapolis. Those years
also saw the birth of the eclectic
and world-famous Philly band,
EDO, with Eliot Duhan (A90),
Yanni Papadopoulos (SF91), and
managed by the talented Joe
Boucher (A89)—all of whom are
still rocking 25 years later.
Beth Heinberg (A89)
Finding Her Voice
My life was transformed through
the musical experience at SJC. I
had always been “musical,” but it
was really at St. John’s that I
discovered my voice, and my love
for the history in music. I
starting singing in Anne Berven’s
Chamber Choir at Santa Fe early
on in the second semester of my
junior year.
I was 20 years old and all of a
sudden I had an immediate sense
that I wanted to be a singer. I
began to study music seriously at
that point. After graduation I
went to Italy and studied voice
for two years in Florence. Last
spring I completed a Master of
Fine Arts degree in Music
Performance and Literature from
Mills College in Oakland, California. This spring I sang the alto
soloist in a performance of the
St. John Passion in New London,
New Hampshire. I’ve returned to
the Bay Area where this summer
I am working with the San Francisco Boys Chorus. Isn’t it
amazing what unexpected paths
we find through the Program?
Alexis Segel (SF05)
Musical moments
There are so many musical
moments. There’s a memory of
Viktor Zuckerkandl conducting
Freshman Chorus in—no, not
McDowell—but in the Question
Period room in Key Auditorium.
I can’t imagine why, nor can I
remember why, but what I do
remember vividly was emerging
from the relative darkness of the
room to find that it was snowing.
The magically light, mica-like
snow, the beginning of a long
storm, drifting down...and my
head filled with “Lo, How a Rose
E’er Blooming....”
And another time:
Mr. Castillejo, little remembered,
I dare say, who taught us to listen
profoundly to Lisa della Casa’s
Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro.
“Oh,” he said, “Listen to
Susanna, and how she soars
above the rest!” His delight was
so palpable that I imagine none
of us have forgotten that
moment. Not to mention hearing
the Countess’s words of pardon
and forgiveness, which he was
quick to point out.
Another moment: Elliott
Zuckerman, whose Freshman
Chorus I tried always to attend,
even though I was no longer a
freshman, rehearsing the
glorious Haydn Creation and a
bit of Fauré’s Requiem and
Mozart’s Ave verum corpus,
which we had also sung under
Mr. Zuckerkandl, and which was
both the same and not.
Incommensurate magnitudes,
as Douglas Allanbrook once said.
Another kind of music: John
Kieffer reading Sophocles. What
a revelation!
In my girlhood, I learned a
round: “All things shall perish
from under the sky. Music alone
shall live, never to die!” Perhaps
it’s truer than I knew.
Constance (Connie) Bell
Lindgreen (A66)
Swim before singing
A great music experience for me
was the class chorus, part of our
music curriculum, under the
leadership of Viktor Zuckerkandl, in which he patiently
drilled us through Bach’s “Break
Forth, O Beauteous Morning
Light” from the Christmas
Oratorio. The four voices were
somewhat tricky, but with repetition we actually became pretty
good at it. Zuckerkandl’s stamina
for this arduous job stemmed, I
would guess, from his habit of
swimming every morning in
College Creek in December.
Temple Porter (A62)
Rock ’n’ Religion
During the Febbie summer of
1980, we made a habit of inviting
a different tutor each week to our
Wednesday night parties. One
week, we invited (The Reverend
J.) Winfree Smith, and to our
delight, he showed up. I
welcomed him, thanked him for
coming, and then ran back to the
turntable to put on Flatt and
Scruggs’ “Let the Church Roll
On.” He was without a doubt the
most stylish partygoer out on the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
Tom May leads freshman
chorus in Annapolis.
patio in front of Chase-Stone, in
his black dress shorts, knee
socks, black shirt, and white
Episcopal collar, bobbing to the
rhythm of Earl Scruggs’ banjo
breaks.
Mark Middlebrook (A83)
Formal Training Can Wait
When I entered St. John’s in
1951, it was already fairly clear to
me that I would “go into” music,
but that formal training could
wait. Wait? The exposure to
music I received at St. John’s
could not have been more valuable or preparatory. Viktor Zuckerkandl had studied and worked
with the leading musical figures
in Vienna. I learned so much
from him, and he pointed me
toward Mannes College in New
York, where I studied with Felix
Salzer, the great proponent of
Schenkerian theory—then revolutionary, now standard. In quite a
different way, Douglas Allanbrook became an inspiring
mentor, and in later years I
conducted five of his wonderful
orchestra scores. Ralph Kirkpatrick playing Bach on the
clavichord in a McDowell Hall
classroom; the Juilliard Quartet
rehearsing and performing—
St. John’s was the perfect place to
“major” in music. And I like to
think that I learned a few other
things as well….
Harold Bauer (class of 1955)
Thank you for your letters!
Look for more letters from
readers of The College in the
next issue.
�12
{Music}
MUSIC’S
MYSTERY
Reflections on the power of music to change
our lives and shape our psyches
L
egend has it that in the early days of the
New Program (1937 plus a few years),
the books on music were shelved in the
library’s stacks along with the books
on mathematics. Music has been
included in the Quadrivium of the
liberal arts for more than 1,500 years, grouped with
Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy, and with the
Trivium of Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic. The mathematics of music consists most basically in the magical
ratios that characterize the scale. In the sense of music
as a liberal art, it was sometimes called “harmonics”
or “measurement.” In the 1937 St. John’s catalogue,
music was described as “the Pythagorean name for
mathematical physics.”
The study of music at St. John’s has taken a variety
of forms. Viktor Zuckerkandl, a tutor who joined the
college in the 1940s, at the dusk of the Barr and
Buchanan era, devised the first music tutorials for
sophomore year and later wrote a book called The
Sense of Music, which is often used in those tutorials
in Annapolis. Freshman chorus differs according to
campus, and often according to the tutor who leads
it. That Johnnies can sing “Sicut Cervus” from the
middle of freshman year on is a given; there’s a
famous story that when the Palestrina Choir
performed in Annapolis in the early 1990s, the entire
audience stood and joined in perfect harmony.
Other music-related observations: 1. Many St. John’s
students and faculty are preternaturally talented musically—a higher proportion than might be expected at a
school with no music major offered. 2. Tutors who take
the “teach across the curriculum” mantra seriously
sometimes have great difficulty bringing themselves to
try the music tutorial. The college sought and was
granted funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
so that more faculty could become better prepared to
teach the tutorial. 3. Many Johnnies know Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 (“That time of year thou mayst in
me behold…”) through the study of rhythm in the
music tutorial, not through the language tutorial. 4.
It’s difficult to have a seminar on an opera, but we keep
trying. Sometimes it works really well. 5. Music is a
mystery. No matter how well we might know all the
components, no matter how unsure we might be about
our own singing abilities, no matter how sensitive and
astute we are about various musical forms—we still
can’t explain why it makes us cry or laugh, feel content
or revved up, why we want to dance or are lulled to
sleep by it.
Everyone at St. John’s studies music; there’s no
escape from its power. As with other subjects like
physics or Greek, sometimes those who least expect it
become enamored and find their life’s work. Here are
reflections on the power of music to change our lives
and shape our psyches.
�dimitri fotos
{Music}
Playing Chopin together at St. John’s: “I finally got to study, along with Eric, the dark and elusive Sonata for
Piano and Cello.” —Elliott Zuckerman, Tutor Emeritus, on piano. “For me to play Chopin with Elliott—this is a
treasure.” —Eric Stoltzfus, Tutor, on cello.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
13
�14
{Music}
The Centrality of Chopin
by Elliott Zuckerman
W
dimitri fotos
hen I was seven,
my musical life—
and much of the
rest of my life—was
turned over to a
beautiful and imperious Russian
woman, who had been a star graduate
of the Moscow Conservatory and later
a student of the great pianist Ferruccio
Busoni. One reward for what sometimes seemed my martyrdom was that
the works of Chopin became central in
my world.
My lessons started with Bach, and in
the course of years I studied many of
the sonatas of Beethoven, a proper
amount of Mozart, Brahms, and
Debussy, and a great deal of Liszt and
Schumann. I learned pieces by
Elliott Zuckerman explores “infinite gradations of the palette” on the piano.
Medtner, who had been one of my
teacher’s professors, and Scriabin,
whom she knew, and Tchaikovsky,
couldn’t play decently, I would get the urge to resume
whose only trio she (with her husband and his brother on
lecturing, and then return to the music somewhere beyond
the strings) had played for the Queen of Romania. And I
the difficulties. It was a technique I continued in Annapolis,
learned music that no one else had played for decades, by
when, in the early years of the Caritas Society, I gave yearly
composers such as Joachim Raff and Xaver Scharwenka.
talks at the piano, this time on Chopin alone.
But the daily sustenance was the Chopin Études, and
It was here, too, that I finally got to study, along with our
when I had to play over the radio, it was the Fantasy in F
colleague Eric Stoltzfus, the one great work that Chopin
Minor, and when big works were needed for recitals, the
wrote for more than one solo instrument, the very beautiful
Ballades and the Scherzos, and when I played at parties, the
but dark and elusive Sonata for Piano and Cello. It is signifiMazurkas and the Waltzes, and of course the Nocturnes,
cant that when Chopin chose to write for a second instrueven though I was probably too pudgy to look properly
ment, it was the cello. For he seemed to write only for
consumptive. I even had to play the very few works of
instruments that sing. We should remember that he wrote
Chopin that no one else was playing, a prime showpiece
quite a few songs. But even in his non-vocal works, the
being the Allegro de Concert, the abandoned sketch for a
player has to “sing.” Some of the passages that are most
third Concerto.
Chopinesque are marked sfogato—let loose, a vocal term;
In college, my first published essay was a review of André
and the famous rubato, a sort of rhythmic borrowing of one
Gide’s Notes on Chopin. In it I naively announced that
beat from another that is now indelibly associated with
playing Chopin had been Gide’s most private pleasure.
Chopin, is also most naturally carried out by singers. To
Just before I came to St. John’s, I gave the last course of
Sing is an injunction that is heard most often from good
my life (for at this college we don’t have courses). It was
teachers, and it is since Chopin that great pianists have
called “Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt”; in it I played what I
been noted for their singing touch. In much of his music,
knew of the complete works, and when I got to a passage I
his inspiration was Italian opera, and (apart from Bach and
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�{Music}
Mozart) the composer he seems to have most imitated was
Bellini. In some of my talks I have composed my own
“Chopin Nocturne” simply by taking an aria from Norma
or I Puritani, and, with a few adjustments, playing it as a
piece for piano.
All this on a percussion instrument where the strings are
struck by hammers! And the vocal breathing, I should add,
is required not simply when the right hand is engaged in an
obvious soprano solo, but even, somehow, when the texture
of the music is that of quick scales or complex arpeggios,
even when the piano is tinkling and when it is thundering
(for Chopin can thunder!). Those textures are manifold, for
there is scarcely a figuration that Chopin did not adapt or
invent. From time to time, my more prosaic friends would
send me scientific articles in which it is proved that the
sound of the piano is merely the result of how hard you
strike the key and how long you hold it, with some help
from the pedal. Meanwhile my teacher (supported by the
great tradition) was showing me, sometimes by the pressure of her fingers on my back, an almost infinite gradation
of colors in the palette of this piano that is merely a
machine.
Most musical people can remember the
first time they heard, or noticed, a bit of
music that was to become, say, a leitmotiv in
their lives. It may be a tune—such as, for me,
Handel’s “V’adoro, pupille”—or a remarkable harmonic turn—as in the Andante of
Schubert’s last sonata. In Chopin such
defining moments are likely to be a bout of
passage-work, often of his own invention,
that may otherwise be melodically or
harmonically unremarkable. I can
remember the first time I heard someone
play the cascades that accompany the
chorale in the Third Scherzo and, at another
recital, the sweeping ascending scales that
underpin the return of the second theme in
the Fourth Ballade. I later realized that both
are in the key of D-flat major, and suit the
positions of the hand that feel most natural in that key.
There is very little in Chopin that is not intimately
connected with positions of the hand—which may account
for why the dance music that has been orchestrated for
ballets like Les Sylphides seems to have lost its sparkle. For
Chopin to be engraved upon your soul it is perhaps necessary to feel him in your fingers, to respond to the music as
15
not only motion and sound, but texture and touch.
Chopin learned from Bach and like other so-called
Romantic composers, studied his counterpoint. But
Mozart spanned Chopin’s career, which began with the
variations on “La ci darem la mano.” And at Chopin’s
death, along with an orchestration of his own Funeral
March, they played and sang sections of the Mozart
Requiem. x
Tracing the Phenomenon of the
Perfect Concert
by Samantha Buker (A05)
riday, April 5, 2002. Alban Gerhardt’s evening
of cello stormed my soul in my freshman year
and sealed my fate as a future music writer. That
night proved to me that the seduction of music
far surpasses the charms of painting because
music invades the whole body—the virtue of vibration.
Zoltan Kodaly’s Sonata for Cello Solo worked me over. A
pluck made my left shoulder flinch. Certain phrasings sent
a flock of sparks coursing the length of my spine. His three
principal motions had all the dynamics of an
Expressionist painting, so I sketched him.
The drawing, which he autographed as I
blushed, remains for me a Veronica’s veil, a
faded impress of a moment rich for its
passing.
Music librarian Mr. Stoltzfus is most
responsible for my awakening to music—as he
is for others—by finding superb concert artists
whose lecture-spot performances rouse new
passions. The splendor of the moment, the
sense of occasion in the concert hall—these
things I strive to bring alive to readers of my
music criticism. And I first experienced them
at St. John’s.
For me, the greatest moments musicaux
happened outside the Program, but without
the sweet salve of Freshman Chorus with
Mr. May, I’d never have stayed beyond the first year. There
is joy in a place where one can take Palestrina for granted.
So I stayed, and reaped rich rewards. Music tutorial’s
grunt-work backed pleasure and trained the ear.
Mr. Smith welcomed our every class with a snippet from
the Goldberg Variations, but his curious experiment with
modern music made me the advocate for new composers I
F
There is very
little in Chopin
that is not
intimately
connected with
positions of
the hand.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�16
{Music}
samantha buker
am today. One day, he ditched Die Zauberflöte and cued up
Arnold Schoenberg’s dissonance over the speakers. He
mocked Schoenberg and moaned. In short, he asked us to
defend Schoenberg as music—based on all we’d absorbed so
far. Only Erica Naone and I leapt to this composer’s
defense. Next year, in the coffee shop, I overheard Mr.
Smith confess that he was an atheist who adored 12-tone
music.
For who among us will not declaim the glory of Bach’s
Matthäus Passion? I wrote my final paper in a flush—a
flirtation with Orthodox Christianity that to this day
remains unconsummated. As I typed, the tones of the allnight Pascha Vigil were still chanting in my head. Incense
clung to my hair. I had 10 more pages to go, but I needed a
break. My roommate Dillon (Wright-Fitzgerald) Naylor
(A05) and I strolled the harbor’s edge at dawn. A majestic
ridge of purple clouds hung over the water’s distant shore,
ever changing as they rolled away. In that vision, I heard
the earthy viola de gamba, a weeping Peter. We made our
way back to Paca through a court of blossom-laden cherries. We buried our noses deep in the branches. The scent
conjured ethereal oboes and the chorus of flutes. We took
turns shaking petals upon each other in the breeze.
Refreshed, I finished my essay, the first writing I’d ever
done on the dynamics and mechanics of the phenomena
that take up so much of my present life.
In the summer of 2004, I found myself a “post-tutorial”
summer camp: the three days of Baltimore’s New Chamber
Festival. Classmate Jacob Thomas (A05) came along. We
never shared a music class beyond chorus, but our conversation over Indian food after the first concert rolled along
the back of our common language for hours. On Sunday,
June 27, the Leipzig String Quartet played Shostakovich’s
String Quartet No. 8. The unshakable magnitude of their
performance bid me to write my first music review,
although it would be four more years until I found editor
Greg Szeto and his blog, “Aural States.” I’ll never forget
the long holy silence after the final note crept away. For
that second, all clocks held their breath. Ivo Bauer put the
scroll of his viola to his lips, resting its body on his knee, to
drink in the communion of quietude that hushed his
listeners. He closed his eyes and smiled gently. Applause
erupted only as they shut their scores.
I came away from that Leipzig concert—and my time at
St. John’s—convinced that music is the purest form of
beauty present in the world. I’ll risk a fistfight with a
geometer for this: Ptolemy’s sentiment, in his preface to
the Almagest, that the study of divine planetary motions
creates like conditions of soul in those who
study them, describes the phenomenon of the
perfect concert. That perfection comes into
being when music, performer, and listener are
as much a unity as can be.
Of course, such a condition is often
sensuous, even dangerous. St. John’s is probably the only school where you could be
walking to the symphony and be stopped by a
classmate, who asks what you’ll hear and warns
you to watch out for your soul if the composer is
anything but Bach.
My advice to Johnnies embarking on
Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde is not to study the
libretto laboriously. Don’t see how many times
you can listen to the whole thing. Instead,
listen to the two preludes and the final aria in a
constant loop, until you are steeped in the sea
Samantha Buker (A05) is a 2010 National
Endowment for the Arts Journalism Institute
Fellow concentrating in opera and classical music.
�17
{Music}
The spirit of the cello suits Eric
Stoltzfus.
Leipzig String Quartet for Baltimore’s City Paper this week. The
reverberating acoustics of the hall
cried out for their Bach, which sent
me craving the Passion like an old
friend. How familiar and beautiful it
becomes. x
Samantha Buker (A05) was chief
classical critic for the blog “Aural
States” before moving on to be a freelance critic for Baltimore’s City Paper.
If someone has an unwanted cello,
she’d consider it a dare to learn to play
the instrument.
The Sound of Music
jen behrens
E
of Wagner’s colors. The experience roiled over my head in
waves, in the last hour before seminar. My being could not
separate itself from the music. The resulting flush of anger,
passion, and dread infused me. I tore posters off my walls
and drapes off my windows before collapsing. Then I
walked to seminar. Mr. Comenetz opened with the question, “What is Liebestod?” No takers. Many thumbed the
pages of the score helplessly. I began to answer….
The circle of fifths was hardly the only circle of my music
experience. In the last days of senior year, cellist James
Pearson and I dined out in town with friends and alumni.
Coming back to campus, I said, “I want to dance!” We were
merry with the spell of Dionysus, and James offered to play.
“I always wanted to have someone dance to my playing
Bach cello suites,” he said. And so, taking the stage in the
Great Hall, James in the same spot where Alban Gerhardt
had played, James took up his bow and I turned his motions
into my motions. I danced the skin clean off my pinky toes
and didn’t even notice.
Life comes full circle all the time. I’m reviewing the
ric Stoltzfus grew up in a
family that sang and
played music together.
As a young teenager in
Iowa who was one of four
children, he recalls his family
embarking on a “summer singing
road trip” with another family of four children. They drove
from Iowa to Virginia and performed from a new
Mennonite Hymnal that his father had helped edit—Bach
chorales, folk hymns, and instrumental classical works.
“Those songs, when you sing them over and over at age 13,
really stay with you,” says Stoltzfus. To St. John’s he brings
his love of choral singing—today his own family sings
together around the dinner table—and disciplined study of
the cello. For the past 15 years as Annapolis music
librarian, Stoltzfus has taught sophomore music tutorial;
he sings and plays throughout the community and organizes the acclaimed St. John’s College Concert Series. He
reflects on the music he discovered and the rituals he treasures, such as playing Chopin with Elliott Zuckerman.
What inspired you to play the cello?
“I was horrified when as a fifth grader my mother
suggested the violin—I knew then I wanted to play the cello.
It was the right choice. The spirit of the cello is in tune with
my own spirit. There’s a certain melancholy, a darker color
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�18
{Music}
to the tone. The art of drawing a deep sound with the bow
from the cello is very satisfying, especially as compared to
striking piano keys or blowing a tuba. I studied in Marburg,
Germany, for a year. From my dorm room, I would haul my
cello down 450 steps—and back up—and take a train to
private lessons in Frankfurt. It was a real devotion.”
When did you begin playing with Elliott Zuckerman?
“I have had the pleasure of 20 years of playing cello and
singing with Elliott. We have performed and recorded 15
songs that he has composed over decades. He translated La
Fontaine Fables into a clever ‘Zuckerman’ English translation. Then he wrote the music for
them, for tenor and piano. I’m the
tenor singer. (We recently recorded
Five Fables of La Fontaine—available
in the Bookstore). Elliott and I have
given more than a dozen performances together of music for piano and
cello or tenor. For instance at Gisela
Berns’ retirement party, we played a
Rondo by Beethoven.”
feeds the soul. Our students become really interested in
music they didn’t know they liked. I feed on their enthusiasm.Their eyes are bright with discovery. They listen to
Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in sophomore music and come
to the music library wanting to know more. They learn to
sing in freshman chorus, or they become curious about how
different performers might characterize Don Giovanni. At
other music libraries where I’ve worked, students would
walk in with clouds over their heads—research papers due,
requirements. There is such a difference here—it’s all about
discovery.”
Have you made any musical
discoveries at St. John’s?
“There are many things here I have
discovered and learned to treasure. I
am thankful to St. John’s for introducing me to the music of Palestrina,
which I didn’t know when I came here,
and the operas of Mozart, which I have
grown to love. I was an instrumentalist and thought opera was something Mozart did to make money. How
wrong I was! But mostly I discovered
Is it true, as Elliott notes, “Chopin
Eric Stoltzfus
16th-century polyphony. About 12
seemed to write only for instruments
years ago, the students wanted to form
that sing”?
a small group of eight to sing more of it. I joined in with
“Chopin didn’t write any choral music. He wrote music
them, and we became Primum Mobile. Of course there is
for the piano: what could be a voice is really the piano
Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. I was already in awe of it, but
singing. Together Elliott and I play Chopin’s Sonata for
working with sophomores, studying it over the years, I have
Cello and Piano. Chopin didn’t write for the cello until the
come to understand that Bach has a deep respect for human
end of his life. He wrote this cello sonata with very lyrical,
beings, including their shortcomings. Here I have develsinging melodies. It is immensely satisfying to play. In the
oped an appreciation of music as part of what makes us
slow movement, the cello and the piano take turns. The
human, including me.”
cello plays a high melody, then a low bass line while the
piano sings the melody. It goes back and forth in equal
Is there a higher form of musical expression?
parts, with total cooperation. This is especially wonderful
There is always that tension between instrumental music
to play with Elliott. He knows what he wants to do and is
and the purely vocal for me. Which is the higher form of
always making music. Where some may spin it out techniexpression? Difficult to say. All my life, I have been involved
cally, not Elliott. He delves into how phrases work, not just
in both strands, playing cello with orchestras and chamber
the technical. It is a joy to play with him. Besides, he is a
ensembles, traveling to the Shenandoah Bach Festival every
delightful conversationalist.”
summer, singing at home with my family, with the Frankfurt
Choir, the Washington Bach Consort. I sing here with
Any awakenings as a music librarian?
Primum Mobile, direct the Madrigal Choir (an informal
“It is wonderful on so many levels. The material is so
lunchtime group of staff, faculty, and students), perform at
generous. For me, a law library saps one’s soul, with all
Collegium, and of course sing with sophomores in the
those old cases lining the shelves. But the music library is
Music Tutorial. Over the years I have joined the student
full of life. Particularly here at St. John’s, the music library
“The cello plays a high
melody, then a low bass
line while the piano sings
the melody. . . .This is
especially wonderful to
play with Elliott.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�19
{Music}
christopher quinn
Peter Pesic helps the audience
“into the music” when he
performs.
orchestra or accompanied the St. John’s Chorus on cello.
But my work here at St. John’s is largely vocal. So for me to
play Chopin with Elliott—this is a treasure.” x
—Patricia Dempsey
Music as Conversation
L
istening through the audience is how Peter
Pesic describes playing Chopin and other classical works during his lunchtime concert
series, held in the Peterson Student Center.
Since 1984, Pesic, tutor and musician-in-residence, has performed on the piano for students, tutors,
staff, and the wider Santa Fe community. Pesic briefly
introduces the work and the historical or biographical
context in which it originated. “I want find a way to help
people into the music,” he says. Then he plays.
“I don’t think Chopin ever imagined his mazurkas being
played in a big hall,” he adds. “An intimate setting seems
right. Somehow the audience senses that its presence is a
part of the whole experience.”
For Pesic, music is conversation, especially when he
plays for an audience. “Performance is a chance to experi-
ence the music more intensely.
You experience this more when
you’re playing for other people
than when you’re playing for
yourself,” he says. “The audience’s attention and different
way of listening gives me a
different awareness, in the
same way that talking about a
book with students changes my
view in almost every case.”
Pesic pursues his piano
playing with something of a
collector’s mania. “I wonder,
for example, what would it be
like to play all of Schubert’s
sonatas,” he says. This
approach he compares to the
Program in that it gives one a
view of the whole. “It’s as if
you’re getting to know a person—for instance, meeting
Chopin or Beethoven at different points in their lives.”
Growing up in California, Pesic’s first instrument was the
violin, but while studying physics at Harvard University, he
became fascinated with the piano and tried to teach
himself. By the time he was a graduate student at Stanford
University, he was playing the piano seriously.
His pianistic explorations over the years have been
numerous, from the complete keyboard works of Bach
performed over four years (“that was a crazy project”) to a
traversal of Chopin’s piano works, from preludes to
mazurkas. On the St. John’s faculty since 1980, Pesic has
received a number of honors, including the Peano Prize in
2005 for his book Abel’s Proof, as well as being named a
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science and of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation (2006 and 2007, respectively).
“Being here has been a liberation,” Pesic says, crediting
the college with enabling him to think about things freely—
“to wonder and ask questions with a kind of honesty that I
wasn’t capable of before.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
—Deborah Spiegelman
�20
{Commencement}
A S O C R AT I C PAU S E
Commencement 2011 speakers embrace
contemplation and intellectual curiosity.
D
uring the 2011
commencement
ceremonies in
Annapolis and Santa Fe,
the speakers urged
graduates to embrace
the art of contemplation and the gift of
imagination.
Grey skies and light sprinkles may
have moved the 219th Annapolis
commencement ceremony indoors,
but as President Chris Nelson (SF70)
remarked to those graduating—88
seniors and 36 graduate students—who
gathered with family, friends, and faculty
members in the Francis Scott Key
auditorium, “Fortune may have soaked
our grounds, but we will not let it
dampen our spirits.” The mood during
the May 15 ceremony was celebratory
and reflective as Leo Pickens (A78),
Annapolis athletic director, delivered a
much lauded commencement address.
“Who are you under that cap and
gown?” asked Pickens, who was chosen
by the 2011 class to deliver this year’s
address. Pickens, who has served as
athletic director for 23 years, developed
a close rapport with members of this
“Who are you under that cap and gown?” asked Annapolis commencement speaker
year’s class, many of whom have been
Leo Pickens (A78).
leaders in intramural sports and crew.
The question revisited a similar one
out of the contemplative tradition of the [Quaker] Friends, and
posed during Convocation 2007 by President Nelson. In his
part of that tradition is that I often sit in silent worship. It’s somespeech, Pickens also described at length the “arts of freedom”
thing that has become a very important practice in my own life.
cultivated at St. John’s—another revisiting of President Nelson’s
“Moving out into the world of trying to make a living, you often
earlier speech.
get wrapped up in the press of business and can lose the connecThough his speech was primarily an opportunity for the gradution with what is important to you. Practicing how to pause
ating class to reflect on its achievements over the past four years,
certainly makes my life much more rich in the moment.”
it also sounded a caveat on life ahead: “In our efficiency-obsessed,
It snowed two days before commencement in Santa Fe, and yet
continuously accelerating world, the pressure upon you to
May 21 hinted at the promise of summer, with bright sunshine.
produce may knock you off center.” He called upon the newly
graduated students to regain balance by taking a “Socratic pause,” More than 700 parents, guests, faculty, and staff assembled on the
upper placita outside Weigle Hall to honor more than 90 underso named for the description in Plato’s Symposium of Socrates’
graduate and nearly 30 graduate students as they received their
habit of standing in place for hours.
degrees.
Asked if he partakes in this practice, Pickens says, “Yes, I come
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�21
{Commencement}
Outgoing Dean Victoria Mora’s commencement address was
met with enthusiasm as she asked, “What does one do with a
St. John’s education?” The answer she initially offered is that
graduates have the potential to do anything they want: “All you
have to supply is a little imagination—and the willingness to be
the author of your own story.”
Acknowledging that “imagination doesn’t enjoy unqualified
esteem, especially among philosophers,” Mora suggested that
“at moments like you are facing now, transitions into the still
unknown and the yet undone, you might even want to get friendly
with your imagination.” While this means taking risks, she noted
that it was precisely this kind of intellectual courage that drew
students to St. John’s. The first step is “to recognize that when it
comes to living your life, you have to be the author.”
Mora then delivered the good news by way of a question: “What
have you learned if not...to transcend time and place, to transcend
the divide between self and other, to bring together the known
and the unknown in your own narrative?” Returning to the
question that launched her observations, she asked: “What will
you do with this education? Anything you want.”
Mora, who joined the faculty in 1992, began her tenure as dean
in 2006 and as of July 1 has rejoined the faculty. x
—Laurent Merceron (A08) and Deborah Spiegelman
To read the 2011 Commencement addresses, visit:
www.stjohnscollege.edu/events.
Babak Zarin (A11), a member of the Senior Gift Committee.
Senior Gift
“For this year’s senior class gift we wanted to buck the
tradition,” says 2011 senior gift committee member Joshua Paul
(A11), whose class has decided to present the college with three
senior gifts instead of one. After an initial callout to the senior
class for gift proposals, the committee was showered with so
many good ideas that the process of narrowing them down
proved to be a challenge. The committee ultimately decided on
three gifts, which would allow them to “cover both academic
and social elements of the college,” says committee member
Babak Zarin (A11).
For the latter, the class has proposed to improve the Wi-Fi
access in the Coffee Shop in McDowell Hall. “The Coffee Shop
is a major social center, and improving Internet access there
would be a huge service for students socializing and doing
research,” says Zarin.
The 2011 class will also be contributing financially to the
Greenfield Library’s effort to increase the number of Program
titles available for students. Over the years, an increasing
shortage of these books has affected those students who are
unwilling or unable to purchase them.
Perhaps the most exciting of the three gifts will be the
repairing of the Foucault Pendulum, which has been out of
operation for most of its existence. Annapolis tutor James Beall,
a longtime champion of restoring the pendulum, will be overseeing the repair arrangements. Awakened from decades of
dormancy, the sight of the pendulum in action will be a welcome
gift indeed.
For more information contact Jennifer Petricig at:
410-626-5557 or jennifer.petricig@sjca.edu.
—Laurent Merceron (A08)
Mirielle Clifford (SF11)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�22
{Commencement}
Junia Cho (A11) (below, right) is spending two months this
summer in South Korea as part of the Critical Language
Scholarship Program of the United States Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Her
award is a prestigious one, and the intensive language
program is part of a government effort to expand the
number of Americans studying and mastering critical-need
foreign languages. For Cho, it is a chance to explore more
fully her Korean background: “I was born
here but my parents are
Korean, so I’m curious
about their culture.”
She is considering
attending graduate
school in Korean
studies, with the possibility of working in the
political arena. x
Clockwise (l to r): James Russell (A11), the fourth son of tutor
George Russell to attend St. John’s, and Anna Sitzmann (A11).
Annapolis and Santa Fe graduates celebrate with their families;
Commencement at the upper placita outside Weigle Hall,
Santa Fe; Andrew Peak (A11) captures the moment during the
reception inside Iglehart Hall, Annapolis.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�{Commencement}
Reading Across Generations
By the end of the ceremony in Annapolis the sky cleared, matching the
bright spirits of the crowd, which gathered outside of Mellon Hall for
congratulatory hugs and photos. Among those celebrating were Daniel
(A11) and Jerome Dausman (AGI11), a graduating father-and-son duo
from Brookville, Maryland. “I never thought I would go back to
college,” says Jerome, who enrolled in the Graduate Institute one year
after his son began his undergraduate studies, “but Daniel kind of
pulled me into the Program.” Hooked on following along with Daniel’s
freshman reading list at home, Jerome figured that a St. John’s
education would complement his new occupation as a volunteer science
teacher at Alexandria Academy in Alexandria, Virginia. Do they ever
discuss their readings together? “Not really,” says Jerome, “ but we did
attend ‘Open-Mic Night’ poetry slams at Galway Bay together.” x
Counterclockwise (R): Santa Fe
graduates celebrate; Mike
Peters, Santa Fe president;
Commencement speakers Victoria
Mora, Santa Fe dean; and Leo
Pickens (A78), director of
Athletics, Annapolis; Annapolis
President Chris Nelson (SF70).
Daniel (A11) and Jerome Dausman (AGI11)
23
�24
{Apprentice Reader}
AN APPRENTICE READER
When it comes to reading and writing, novelist
Salvatore Scibona (SF97) is a beginner at heart.
by Patricia Dempsey
S
alvatore Scibona (SF97) has been typing for a long
time. In fifth grade, his grandmother taught him on
an electric Royal during his weekend visits, a few
miles from his childhood home in the suburbs of
Cleveland. “I decided then that I wanted to write
novels and got a typewriter of my own. I went halves
with my mom—it cost $60—and I put down $30 of my savings.”
Decades later Scibona’s debut novel, The End, was a finalist for
the 2008 National Book Award; its language was celebrated for
its elegant richness and Scibona was compared to Virginia Woolf,
Saul Bellow, and Graham Greene.
But Scibona still prefers low-tech simplicity. Although he owns
a computer, he writes his first drafts longhand with pen and
paper, then rewrites on a manual typewriter. “I’m not wedded to
this, but right now this is how I work. I’m trying to stay close to
the words themselves,” he says. “We think of words on the
computer as a file, a digital assemblage of information. The words
written by hand with a pen—there are no codes, no hard returns,
just words, language. I believe in words.”
Scibona carefully chooses the technology that works for him.
“I don’t do Facebook. I don’t have a TV,” he says. “I’m not a
Luddite, but I just don’t want to risk distraction. I find it very
difficult to concentrate.” Sophisticated technologies, he says,
“are drawing my attention away from doing certain things—like
writing.”
Scibona lives simply on the Outer Cape in Provincetown,
Massachusetts, an old whaling port that became a mecca for
artists in the early 1900s, nurturing many iconic American
writers and painters. He spends most days writing, typing, and
looking out his small apartment’s window at Provincetown’s
seafaring harbor. For eight months each year, Scibona works halftime at the Provincetown Fine Arts Center, administering fellowships for a residency program for emerging artists. During the
summers, he usually teaches at Harvard, but this summer, as a
Guggenheim Fellow, he has been working on another novel—
“about what, I’m not supposed to say.”
His is the writing life described by one of his favorite authors:
“To quote Annie Dillard,” says Scibona, “ ‘I’m a gregarious
recluse.’ ” He watches occasional TV shows on his computer—
“The language is awesome,” he says, referring to “Friday Night
Lights,” “In Treatment,” and “Deadwood.” Yet in “Where I
Learned to Read,” his New Yorker essay of June 13, 2011, Scibona
describes a childhood in which he could not escape the babbling
clamor of the TV—until he attended St. John’s College in
Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Salvatore Scibona (SF97)
Santa Fe. “As a kid growing up I wasn’t watching TV, but it was
always on. It was an opiate.”
“TV is like a martini,” he says. “You do not have to think about
meddlesome things. It induces a ‘TV state of mind,’ a bogus
sense of peace. The experience of deep reading brings the opposite kind of peace. At St. John’s, I discovered a ‘reading state of
mind.’ ”
Scibona reads widely—“a lot of books at one time, “ he says.
“Right now I’m reading a novel by Sarah Braunstein, The Sweet
Relief of Missing Children.” Stacked on his coffee table are the
books he’s been reading, captured in a photo in the New Yorker’s
blog, “The Book Bench” (www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/
books/2011/06/what-im-reading-this-summer-salvatorescibona-1.html), linked to the 2011 summer fiction issue that
�25
{Apprentice Reader}
features Scibona’s essay about St. John’s. One blog reader posted
an admiring comment regarding Scibona’s “perfect” reading
list. “It’s so elegant—fiction, nonfiction, poems, new things, old
things, friend-recommended things, lover-recommended things,
rabbit holes of taste.”
Says Scibona, “A favorite author of mine, Donald Woods
Winnicott, makes the analogy that reading is like breastfeeding—
there is an intimacy there, a real experience of being fed. If the
book is not for you—it’s obscure, poorly written, you’re not
hungry for it—your mind wanders. But when a book and a reader
are one, the right fit—it’s a deeply mind-melded focus.”
Scibona discovered “deep reading” at St. John’s with tutors
such as Phil LeCuyer, whom he describes in “Where I Learned to
Read.” Says Scibona, “He is a deep, deep, deep reader, devoted
to reading closely, and is an extraordinary humane person—a
genius.” Scibona says that by the time he graduated from
St. John’s, he was “a garden well fertilized but not planted.”
“I am an apprentice reader. I learned that I am going to be an
apprentice reader for the rest of my life. I did not want to be a
master reader when I attended graduate school.” He received his
MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop. Instead Scibona savors
“the somewhat childlike experience of being naked before a
book—being unqualified. The book will push you as far as you can
go. It is toxic to be ‘above it.’ I want to stay a beginner at
reading—and writing.”
Scibona began writing his first novel the year he learned to
type. He worked on it for about 4 years and then gave up.
“It was too jejune,” he says. “I kept rewriting the first couple of
chapters. By tenth and eleventh grade, I started another novel
and brought it with me to St. John’s.” Again he got 20 pages into
it and kept rewriting the first few chapters. During the summer
between junior and senior year, Scibona started another novel.
Twelve years later it became his acclaimed novel, The End.
“The first seven years of writing, you cannot see in the book,”
he says. “I was inspired during junior seminar with Mr. Katzen,
when he presented this paradox: ‘If you have a boat and you
replace every piece of the boat over 100 years, in the end is it the
same boat?’ That is how it was with my first novel.”
One Writer’s Roots
Scibona’s debut novel, The End, is a gripping and intricate
saga that unfolds across generations of Italian immigrants
in Cleveland through 1953. It is in no way autobiographical,
he says, even though his great-grandparents immigrated
from Italy and Poland and he grew up in a cocoon of family.
The End is dedicated to his grandparents. “I didn’t realize
until I came to St. John’s just how much other families move
around,” he says. “I was close to all my grandparents.”
The End was a finalist for the 2008 National Book
Award. Scibona has also received a Fulbright Fellowship
(2000), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2010), and the
Whiting Writers' Award (2009). In 2010, the New Yorker
featured Scibona as one of its “20 under 40” notable
fiction writers and published his short story, “The Kid.”
“Where I Learned to Read” is linked at:
http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/news/SJCnews.shtml x
“When I am reading,
I decompose—I read for pleasure
and for joy—and the [thoughts]
come out when I’m writing.”
Salvatore Scibona
Scibona’s conversation lilts with vivid metaphors, many drawn
from another of his passions—gardening. When Scibona wasn’t
typing on his grandmother’s electric Royal during his weekend
visits, he was outside with his grandfather, who taught him to
garden. Scibona later took to worm farming, a form of
composting. Reading, he observes, feeds his writing in much the
same way that composting does a garden.
“It’s more a metaphor for the way you grow a garden by
compost,” he says. “Vegetable peelings go into the compost and
are similar to what comes out of the garden; the peelings feed the
new plants. When I am reading, I decompose—I read for pleasure
and for joy—and the [thoughts] come out when I’m writing. What
you write is not defined by what you read, but it is dependent on
what you read. If I’m reading an intensely theological work, for
example, it flavors my writing, carries into the stories.”
At St. John’s, Scibona realized he needed to learn to read in
order to learn to write. “I really wanted to write fiction. I really
wanted to read. It was clear to me that I was somehow unqualified to write because I had read so little.” St. John’s gave “an
exceptional education for a creative writer, even though the
Program is not heavy in contemporary literature,” he says. “All
the creative writers I know wish they had read these books when
they were younger, with other people. I have always been really
grateful for that. It shaped my head. I had no experience being
able to talk about books casually with other students with a vast
common frame of reference. Being part of that conversation all
the time—that’s a gift.”
In his recent New Yorker essay, Scibona describes the delight
of finding “his tribe” at the college, a place where he belonged.
“Before going to St. John’s, I was under the impression that I was
an introvert. I wasn’t hanging out with the right people. Readers
of the Johnnie stripe read with their whole heart and mind. It
was a culture shock to leave and be in this other world where
reading wasn’t what everyone was doing.”
On the Outer Cape, Scibona says there are many with a similar
sensibility, especially artists and writers. “Once again, I’m with
my tribe.” A “gregarious recluse,” he guards his writing
solitude, even eliminating a few low-tech distractions. This
summer he even decided not to garden. “Gardening is in
complete competition with writing,” he says. “It consumes the
part of my mind that is obsessive, that keeps tabs on the tiny
changes in the plants. I get emotionally attached to the plants—
like characters [in fiction].” Instead this summer, “I spend the
day alone typing and looking out the window,” he says. “Around
3 or 4 p.m., I go outside, sit on a bench, and read among other
people. It’s like St. John’s. I spend a lot of time reading.” x
�26
{Entrepeneurs}
How To Succeed
In Business And Life:
The St. John’s Way
Two entrepreneurs illuminate
change and progress.
W
hat happens in
a St. John’s class
is mysterious—
and powerful. A
challenging text.
Ideas. Questions.
The individuals who’ve read and studied the
text. More ideas. The thoughts in the minds
of those individuals and the Logos that
expresses those thoughts. The receptive
minds of others at the table that process the
text, the nuances of language, the words of
the other participants. Insights. The
dialectic or interplay between the thoughts,
words, and understanding of those at the
table. Fusion. Occasionally, something
whole emerges, either for an individual or
for the group. Awareness, recognition, light
bulbs. Ideas flash.
Here are the stories of two alumni who
have harnessed that power and mystery,
each in a different way—one observed chaos
theory and the other studied human
nature—to create businesses that improve
how organizations and individuals function.
Harnessing Butterflies
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
E
ven though Glenda Eoyang (SF76) has helmed
three companies, she says “It’s very strange to
be thought of as an entrepreneur—it’s not a
path that I planned or even imagined. But
looking back, I can see it’s in my nature.” In
fact, her current work at the Human Systems
Dynamics Institute (HSDI)—named for a field of research she
founded—seeks to understand the conditions that form just
such obvious-in-retrospect paths, and apply their lessons to
an uncertain future.
At first, Eoyang thought her own post-graduation future
lay in education, and she spent five years teaching physics,
chemistry, and math at the high school level. But she found
herself interested in the then-burgeoning computer
industry—so new, she says, “There were no regular jobs. So I
started my own business.” Called Eidos, the firm helped
develop computer-based training.
At some point during the late 1980s, she started reading
about complexity science and chaos theory and was surprised
to discover that many of the same concepts with which
so-called “hard” scientists were working seemed equally
�{Entrepeneurs}
27
Glenda Eoyang (SF76) uses seminar as an example of
non-linear dynamics.
relevant to human interaction. Her next entrepreneurial
venture, called Chaos Limited, strove to integrate these
difficult theories with leadership in management.
“Over time, complexity work drew me more and more into
it,” recalls Eoyang, “and in 1996 I decided to get my
doctorate.” For the next five years, at Union Institute and
University, Eoyang carved out her own, fiercely multidisciplinary degree, studying computer science, political science,
mechanical engineering, and management theory—a blend
that her doctoral committee would help her to dub “human
systems dynamics.” This at-first opaque term describes a field
based on non-linear dynamics, “which is to traditional
dynamics what non-Euclidean geometry is to Euclidean
geometry: a formal discipline of describing the world and
relationships that has different fundamental assumptions,”
Eoyang explains.
One metaphor for this system of thinking about the world
is the oft-cited “butterfly effect,” first formulated by Edward
Lorenz, in which a butterfly’s flapping of its wings on one side
of the world generates a tiny breeze that eventually causes a
hurricane oceans away. In this way, says Eoyang, “a small
cause can be amplified by the relationships in the system to
create a huge effect,” rather than a Newtonian scheme in
which you can’t get a large effect without a large cause, since
any reaction must have a equal and opposite action.
Eoyang also likes to use seminar as an example of
non-linear dynamics: “We have agents relating to each other
who create system-wide patterns over time. You know how
sometimes, when the conversation is beginning to stall,
someone will say something that seems off the wall—but the
group shifts its pattern of discourse in response to that one
little comment.” The seminar experience strongly influenced
both her dissertation and her work at HSDI. “Those four
years watching groups of people making meaning together
has become a model of self-organizing systems for me, like a
laboratory. Conditions are set so that a group of individuals
can interact and create meaning that belongs to all of them.”
Her senior essay at St. John’s dealt with Galileo’s argument
about infinity, trying to answer the questions, “How do you
know and how do you take action if you are not able to predict
or control the future? How do you equip yourself to do
that with grace and accountability?” In her subsequent
chaos theory research, she realized that “sometimes that
process [of creating meaning and taking action] is very
quick and coherent and clean, sometimes messy and
wandering. Sometimes it just dissipates”—again, familiar
experiences to anyone who has sat through a seminar.
She became fascinated with what it is that allows for a
speedy, lucid, successful process, and boiled it down to
three main factors: “There has to be a container,
something that pulls the agents together. There must be
differences that make a difference—if everyone just nods
and agrees, nothing will move forward. Finally, there
must be exchange, whether of money, energy, or ideas.”
It’s these three principles that form the cornerstone of
HSDI’s work in training, consulting, research, and support.
Founded in 2003, the Institute now has 152 trained associates
worldwide, all applying HSD to the varied work they do, in
fields like education reform, conflict resolution, health care
service delivery, leadership, and process improvement.
This characterization of the dynamics of human interaction
is especially useful in what Eoyang calls “evaluating systemic
interventions.” She offers the example of a foundation
starting an agricultural research program in Africa, and
wanting to gauge its success several years along. “Traditionally, the way these judgments were made was by setting
goals—‘in two years we will do X, Y, and Z.’” If in two years X,
Y, and Z were not done, the project would be considered a
failure. But human systems dynamics acknowledges that with
so many small and even hidden influences at play, the
definition of “success” fluctuates over time. HSDI attempts
to keep track of the influences; making people aware of the
patterns they create gives them ways to achieve desired
outcomes.
Paradoxically, the current economy has been good for the
company: “Because we’re combining models and methods for
thriving in uncertainty, our business has really blossomed in
these current crises.” Eoyang also cites HSDI’s very low
overhead and flexible workforce, with few regular employees
and most work done by associates under contract, as creating
a resilient business model that can weather financial storms.
There’s no doubt that business is booming: Eoyang’s
current clients include the United States Children’s Bureau,
the Office of Child Abuse & Neglect (OCAN), the state of
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, the McKnight
Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the
Authentic Leadership in Action Institute. Last year, Eoyang
taught in London, Ottawa, Tel Aviv, New Orleans, and
Vancouver. It’s the kind of exhausting schedule that only pays
off for those who genuinely love their work and have made
their own niche in the world: in short, entrepreneurs. x
Find further patterns at www.hsdinstitute.org.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�28
{Entrepeneurs}
says. “Low point of my life: a single day, two failing grades.”
As for the business, Sullivan stuck it out, in part because
he recognized that he didn’t belong in a corporate culture.
by Paul Hamilton
“In spite of the bankruptcy, I was more determined than
ever to be a successful entrepreneur,” he says. “Besides,
an Sullivan (A71) helps business owners
there was no alternative. My personality and approach to
become millionaires. “I’m a natural
work make me totally unfit to be working for someone else.”
coach,” Sullivan explains. “That’s been
In the early 1980s, Sullivan’s fortunes dramatically
true all through my life. Ever since I was a
improved. He met Babs Smith, who at the time owned a
child, I had the ability to sit down with
holistic health practice in Toronto. She came on board to
people and help them think clearly about
help him develop and market a coaching strategy based on
what it is they want to do.”
his techniques, which could be applied on a large scale.
There is one question he has been asking individuals for
“We called it The Strategy Circle,” says Sullivan. “I can
more than 36 years, a question that has transformed their
teach anybody how to do it in half an hour, and it works for
businesses and their personal lives: “If you were looking
the rest of their lives. It’s a very simple process: You pick a
back three years from now, what has to have happened in
date in the future and ask the question: What results do you
your life, both personally and professionally, for you to be
want to see on that day? You let them talk about it, and
happy with your progress?”
numbers have to be involved. Once they’re really happy
That question lies at the heart of Strategic Coach, a
with that, I say, ‘Tell me every reason that
company Sullivan started with his wife,
can’t happen.’ The obstacles tell you what
Babs, in 1987. The company operates in
you have to do. You identify actions, deciseven cities in the United States, Canada,
sions, and communications, and you stay
and the United Kingdom; generates more
with that plan until all the results are
than $20 million in revenue annually; and
there.”
has 100 employees.
Sullivan launched The Strategy Circle in
“My basic belief is that people have an
1982. Within seven years, the business
enormous amount of crucial experience
multiplied ten times and filled up all of his
and aspiration that they can’t see or use
time. He saw that he needed to bring more
until someone asks them the right
people into his organization, and in 1989,
questions,” says Sullivan.
Dan Sullivan
he and Babs (now his wife) launched
After graduating from St. John’s,
Strategic Coach, with the idea of having
Sullivan moved to Toronto and found a job
successful entrepreneurs—schooled in Sullivan’s strategies—
as a copywriter for BBDO, a large international ad agency.
coach other business owners.
Their clients included Kraft and Chrysler and other large
“I’ve carried the great ideas, great questions, great
corporations. Through his creative work, Sullivan got to
discussions of St. John’s to Strategic Coach,” says Sullivan.
know the owners of small businesses, and he learned that
“I’ve also created a single, integrated program that
many had trouble articulating their long-term goals. At his
continually evolves and strengthens—not unlike the
clients’ request,
academic program at the college. At St. John’s, the process
he began leading weekend retreats on strategic planning.
is facilitated by dedicated tutors. In our approach, there
“This opportunity developed because of my continual
are 16 coaches, all entrepreneurs who have been in the
habit of asking questions that went way beyond the scope of
program, who run their own businesses, and who can coach
advertising,” says Sullivan. “St. John’s strengthened my
from experience.”
ability to ask penetrating questions—but I’ve been doing
Sullivan explores the success of many of his clientsthat since I was five or six years old. I chose St. John’s
turned-coaches in his book, Industry Transformers: How
because it was based on strengthening a capability that I was
Unique Process Entrepreneurs Create New Markets. One
already good at.”
such client is John Ferrell, an intellectual property lawyer in
Sullivan saw that he could do more than help business
Silicon Valley who saw other law firms going out of business
owners sell their products or services; he could also help
during the dot-com bust in 2002. Ferrell rebuilt his practice
them improve their business practices. At the same time, he
by pursuing a new niche: Instead of only helping inventors
also discovered his passion and skill for strategic planning.
write patents, he guides them in “Strategic IP,” helping
After just three years at BBDO, Sullivan quit his job and
entrepreneurs guard their intellectual property by
started his own firm, Dan Sullivan Communications. Thus
protecting the unique customer experience their product
began eight tough years, with the stagnant economy of the
provides.
mid-1970s proving to be a formidable obstacle. He had been
Another client, David Allen, started out washing cars
married for about a year when he went out on his own, and
when he was 15 years old and later developed it into a
before long, both the marriage and business faltered. “On a
valet-parking business for Class-A buildings and
single day in 1978, I was both divorced and bankrupt,” he
The Multiplier Effect
D
“One of the first
questions I ask is...
‘What would you
do if you had 15
extra years?’ ”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�{Entrepeneurs}
restaurants. He then added a detailing service. When one of
his car detailing clients asked if he would be willing to clean
his airplane, Allen learned everything he could about the
process. Within a few years, he had a thriving international
enterprise, with Warren Buffett’s NetJets and Delta among
his clients.
While Sullivan is proud that his work creates jobs and
grows businesses, he also strives to help business owners
improve their own lives. Brothers Noah and Dan Katz run a
third-generation family business: a chain of 11 small grocery
stores in New York City. They signed up for the Strategic
Coach program about ten years ago. “Since joining
Strategic Coach,” Sullivan says, ”they now have 14 stores,
and their profit margins have increased significantly.”
Sullivan helped the brothers adopt cutting-edge
technology, but he also emphasized customer loyalty.
“Technology frees us up from repetitive things so we can
humanize all the other experiences,” explains Sullivan.
More importantly, Sullivan adds, the two entrepreneurs
don’t put in 65-hour workweeks anymore. “One of the first
questions I ask is ‘At what age are you going to die?’ ” What
would you do, Sullivan asks next, if you had 15 extra years?
“The clients tell me ‘I’d educate people, I’d travel, I’d
write’—all these things that are in the back of their minds as
they’re becoming successful. Their businesses are what they
do, not who they are.”
One of the Katz brothers now spends more time with his
family; the other recently married, takes more time off, and
climbs mountains. “He’s also giving back to his community,
and that makes him happy,” says Sullivan. “It’s a pleasure
for me to see it, and that’s what makes it all worthwhile.”
Though the recent recession was declared officially over,
some jobs have disappeared forever and businesses must
adapt to changing times, Sullivan says. To meet this
challenge, he recently launched Stage 2 of Strategic Coach,
which he calls “You x 10.” Sullivan’s new structure takes
advantage of Moore’s Law, a prediction made by Gordon
Moore (co-inventor of the microchip) that the power and
speed of microchips will double every 18 months,
while the cost of computing will be halved during
the same period. Today’s economic upheavals are
due mainly to technological breakthroughs created
by entrepreneurs; entrenched bureaucratic structures become obsolete when they cannot adapt to
the change. Countless new inventions using the
microchip—the iPad being just one example—are
giving rise to thousands of new kinds of
entrepreneurial businesses.
Sullivan’s firm offers entrepreneurs in the
“You x 10” program a framework that enables
them and their companies to achieve a “multiplier
effect” of ten-times greater performance and
results by taking advantage of microtechnology.
There are already highly successful business
owners who can now multiply their success in
extraordinary ways. Sullivan strives to show
entreprenuers how they can make a good living—
while pursuing a life worth living.
As for his personal life, Sullivan travels the world
with Babs, finding great cities, hotels, and restaurants, and he’s passionate about jazz, history, and
politics. Sullivan says, “Entreprenuership is the
driving force of society. I believe the United States,
especially, was established by the Founders to be an
entrepreneurial nation. But we can take any
successful entrepreneur and, if they’re willing,
help them to continually multiply the performance
and results of every part of their business. It’s a
marvelous way to spend my life.” x
Paul Hamilton is director of marketing for Strategic
Coach.
margaux yiu
29
Dan Sullivan (A71) asks great questions to
transform businesses.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�30
{Bibliofile}
A Journalist’s Searing Accounts of Piracy and
Child Conscription
Pirate State: Inside Somalia’s
Terrorism at Sea
by Peter Eichstaedt
Lawrence Hill Books, 2010
First Kill Your Family: Child
Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord’s
Resistance Army
by Peter Eichstaedt
Lawrence Hill Books, 2009
Peter Eichstaedt (SF92) has spent recent
years as a journalist covering the bleak
conditions in much of Eastern Africa. The
pace of his output—two books published in
the last two years—suggests just how
quickly events have unfolded in this
unstable region.
In Pirate State: Inside Somalia’s
Terrorism at Sea, Eichstaedt asks what
drives a person to hijack ships and hold
their crews hostage. Beginning with the
capture of the United States-flagged ship
Maersk Alabama in April 2009, Eichstaedt takes readers on a tour of Somalia,
as well as neighboring Kenya and Sudan,
through a series of reports and interviews
with the friends, families, and victims of
pirates—and in a few notable cases, the
pirates themselves. He reveals a world of
poverty and the high-stakes risks
of survival.
The personal stories he recounts
have an added dimension; multiple
viewpoints reveal the complicated
efforts and motives of all parties
involved. Interviews with the
families of hostages, for instance,
depict brutal captivity conditions,
widespread government failures,
and the desperation in the
everyday lives of the pirates.
Reaching beyond a mere
reporting of events, Eichstaedt
leaves readers with his own
recommendations for ending the
current pattern of Somali piracy;
these include everything from
working with Somali clan leaders
to rebuilding the nation’s oncethriving fishing industry.
Equally as riveting is First Kill
Your Family: Child Soldiers of
Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance
Army, which chronicles the last
20 years of conflict between
Ugandan government and rebel
forces, leading up to the stalled
peace talks of 2008.
The title refers to the LRA’s practice of
forcing children to execute their parents
before being conscripted into their ranks.
Escaped ex-child soldiers and female child
“brides” recount their ordeals. (Some are
reluctant to do so because of the subsequent ostracizing
they endure from their families and
communities when they return home.)
Eichstaedt presents these searing stories
of kidnapping, physical and emotional
abuse, murder, trauma, and the religious
confusion of the LRA against the larger
backdrop of a society desperate to find
peace again.
Yet Eichstaedt is careful to give context
to the actions of the LRA by tracing the
precursor religious and political movements in Uganda in the 20 years prior to
the LRA’s formation. Whenever possible,
he provides the explanations LRA leaders
themselves give for their actions.
Peter Eichstaedt (SF92)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
Interviews...depict
brutal captivity
conditions...and the
desperation in the
everyday lives of the
pirates.
Both titles offer readers compelling and
unforgiving accounts of current hostilities
in Eastern Africa. Those looking for more
of Eichstaedt’s astute and sometimes raw,
hair-raising journalism can watch for his
upcoming book, Consuming the Congo:
War and Conflict Minerals in the World’s
Deadliest Place (Lawrence Hill Books,
July 2011). x
—Babak Zarin (A11) and Laurent Merceron (A08)
�{Bibliofile}
White Asparagus
D. R. Belz (AGI03)
Apprentice House, 2010
“Now that there’s a well-established
European Union, you can bet that sooner
or later the specter of the United States
converting to the metric system will
rise again.
But I don’t care what they say. I don’t
care how many public service commercials
they produce. They might be able to tax
my income, regulate my driving, standardize my deductions, approximate my
demographic make-up, optimize my
consumer-producer potential, as well as
take all of the hormones out of my beef
jerky, but no government in the world is
going to make me ‘think metric.’ ”
With these words, satirist D. R. Belz
begins White Asparagus, a humorous and
often insightful collection of his essays,
poetry, and short stories across the years.
He covers a wide array of topics and quirky
incidents, ranging from the world of
family and the workplace to small
moments of everyday life, such as
shopping at the mall or encountering
and early-morning car accident in the
Baltimore-Washington region.
White Asparagus is divided into
three sections: essays, poetry, and
stories. While there is one short
story that prominently references
Program works (“There Angels
Dance”), to read the anthology
for that story alone would be to
miss the wealth of writing the
book contains. “Essays” offers
multiple works that reflect and
satirize familiar cultural traits,
such as a drive for commercialism
(“ValuesRUs.com,” “The GreatIdeas-That-Never-Got-Off-theGround Catalogue”), a sense of
vanity (“Your Astrological
Forecast,” “The Caveman Diet”),
or stereotypes (“The Joy of
Cooking Internationally,” “Hand
Jive,” “The Million Monkey
Room”). “Poetry” showcases
Belz’s serious side as he ponders
the stages of life, from childhood
(“September’s Child”) to death
(“Suicides in Heaven,” “Plato’s
Tree”). “Stories” merges the best
of the two prior sections,
portraying realistic characters in
extraordinary situations of love
(“Tidings,” “The Perfect Pancake”) and
death (“The Fabulist,” “The Green
Bacon Boy”).
Belz, who has been writing
professionally for more than 30 years and
has contributed to publications such as
The Baltimore Sun, The Southern Literary
Messenger, and The Oregon Review, lists
Swift, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain,
James Thurber, H. L. Mencken, and Kurt
Vonnegut as being among his heroes.
White Asparagus is eclectic, a delight to
read, and offers a little bit of something
for everyone.
—Babak Zarin (A11)
Valéry’s Graveyard: Le Cimetière
marin Translated, Described, and
Peopled
Hugh P. McGrath and Michael Comenetz
Peter Lang Publishing, 2011
Hugh McGrath (1914–1995), for many
years a tutor at St. John’s, had a profound
understanding of language in general, and
of the English and French languages, with
their literatures, in particular. An
inspiring presence in the classroom and a
champion of liberal education, he was also
known for his public readings of poetry
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
31
and his performances on the stage.
In 1978 he delivered a lecture titled
“Translation and Description: Paul
Valéry’s ‘Le Cimetière marin,’” calling it
“a labor of love and a work of propaganda.” Its subject was one of the most
celebrated works of poetry of the last
hundred years, widely recognized as
distinguished for beauty of form and
wealth of meaning. This he translated as
“The Graveyard by the Sea,” producing
an English version at once faithful and
poetic, and went on to provide an elegant
“description” which set out the main
structural and dynamic features of the
poem and traced its narrative.
Valéry’s Graveyard is in two parts.
The first presents the French text of
“Le Cimetière marin” with McGrath’s
translation on facing pages, followed by
the descriptive account given in his
lecture. The second part, by the second
author (also a St. John’s tutor), consists
of nine chapters on selected themes
awakened by McGrath’s work, with reference to other writings of Valéry, Greek
and other poetry, and some of the poet’s
scientific concerns. The whole affords an
introduction to the complex intellectual
world of Valéry as well as to his splendid
poem.
—Michael Comenetz
�32
{Alumni}
Finance, Risk, Diligence, and Kant
Laura Strache (A02), once a high-flying rocker, lands on Wall Street.
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
anne-marie howard
S
ince Laura Strache (A02) came
to St. John’s eight years after
finishing high school, her path
before college is diverse.
She spent five years in an
“automotive industrial” band
called the Motor Morons, who make music
with car parts and power tools. She learned
to fly small planes—despite not yet having a
driver’s license at the time. It was her last
job before matriculating, however, that
focused her future energies; she worked in a
unique form of insurance called surety, in
which, rather than paying premiums and
receiving a payout when needed, a client
receives a sum from an insurance company
contingent on completing a task—the most
well-known form of surety being bail bonds.
Strache’s work in surety claims sealed the
deal. She was determined to build a career in
finance. Her determination and guts—useful
as a punk rocker, pilot, and Johnnie—led to
her current position as managing director
of operations at a midtown Manhattan
hedge fund.
First, a detour and a stroke of luck.
Graduating in 2002 as the dot-com bubble
burst, Strache struggled to break into
finance; at the suggestion of her sister
Vivian (A88), a lawyer, she became a
paralegal. The hours were grueling and the
work less than dynamic, but Strache’s
Johnnie-bred curiosity and knack for
plowing through dense philosophical texts
paid off.
During the closing stages of a large
merger, she found herself at a gigantic
conference table covered with manila files.
Strache’s only task was to check off documents as they arrived, labeling folders and
making sure all the necessary information
was complete. “It was tedious. So one night,
waiting for documents to come in at three
a.m., I started reading them.” Though she
didn’t have all the nuances of the legalese,
Strache did notice that certain changes to
the language occurred in some texts but not
in others. She attempted to bring it to the
attention of her supervisor, who dismissed
her concerns. Further down the table, a
more senior lawyer overheard, asking “How
Laura Strache (A02) has determination and guts in spades.
did you know what you were reading?”
Strache’s response? “Look, I’ve read
Kant!” In other words, she knew that fully
understanding a reading wasn’t required to
glean knowledge from it. And she’d
impressed the right person: “Over time,
I would work on every project this lawyer
had. I was told by partners when I left the
firm that I was doing the work of a fifth-year
lawyer.”
She left with this mentor when he was
appointed general counsel of the hedge fund
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
where she now works. Starting as a senior
paralegal, she was responsible for keeping
corporate books in order, and created a
system of records to document compliance.
As Strache started doing “a little bit of
everything,” she enrolled in an executive
MBA program, offered jointly by Columbia
Business School and London Business
School. For four days every month over two
years, she studied intensively in a very
different learning environment than
St. John’s, but one she was pleased to
�33
{Alumni}
1946
PETER WEISS was one of the
organizers of a conference of
legal experts held in Vancouver,
Canada, February 9-11, 2011,
which produced a declaration
affirming the incompatibility of
nuclear weapons with international humanitarian law. See
www.lcnp.org/wcourt/Feb2011
VancouverConference/vancouverdeclaration.pdf or contact
him at petweiss185@gmail.com.
1955
After a short stint as copyboy at
the Washington Post, and
on-stage Navy experience at
Franklin and Marshall College,
JOHN M. GORDON joined the
Navy as an Air Intelligence
Officer. Following another short
career as a freelance motion
picture writer-producer, he went
to work as a civilian for the Navy,
writing and directing training
films and videos and retiring in
1997 to continue full-time as a
landscape designer and watergarden installer. After more
education in landscape architecture at the University of
Maryland, he followed the
designer track with clients in the
Maryland-D.C.-Virginia zone,
and is now writing a murder
mystery set in Annapolis and,
yes, the victim is a student at
SJC. Write-What-You-Know!
www.tudor-roses.vpweb.com.
RICHARD LEVERING writes, “I
need to pay my gratitude to the
classmates of 1955, to the upper
classmen of 1952, 1953, 1954, the
class of 1956, and all the remarkable tutors and ancillary staff
that kept the dorms, grounds,
Liberty Tree, and rooms of
learning in functioning order.
My need to pay tribute to those
deserving souls is summed up in
this attempt at verse:
discover wasn’t boring. “At times I hit up
against a different pedagogical approach—
I would find an inconsistency, or something
I didn’t understand, and question it. Some
professors didn’t like that at all!” Other
students, too, believed that the only reason
to ask a question was to show off or to get
a better grade for class participation.
Persevering with her inquisitive nature
intact, she graduated in spring of 2008, and
assumed the position she now holds as
managing director of operations.
It’s a job with many responsibilities, in
number and in kind. Essentially, Strache
“supervises the processes by which we settle
our trades, confirm our assets, make sure
securities are paid for.” This entails the
logistics of managing what as well as
examining how business is conducted. “Is it
most efficient? Are there appropriate checks
and controls in place to prevent fraud and
catch people’s mistakes?”
Special projects such as preparing annual
financial statements and helping with the
firm’s taxes also fall within Strache’s
bailiwick. Much of her work involves
translating between departments; lawyers,
traders, and marketing professionals all
speak different jargons, and she must use
the “very St. John’s skill” of being able to
listen to the ways diverse people talk and see
Unspoken Praise
A thousand doors will open and
close,
my years have taught me this,
each one can change or end your
life,
bring agony or bliss.
So I step from the path to smell a
rose,
am hushed by the song of birds,
and will yield those praises that I
feel,
freeing the captive words.
For a common crime, not named
by laws
nor punished for its
commission,
not carved in stone by God’s own
hand,
not a deed, but an omission,
is that of a compliment unsaid,
that small but valued token,
for those to whom our debt
unpaid
is the gratitude unspoken.
So I will seek that special time
when, free from obligation,
my motive cannot be construed
the commonalities. An aptitude for nonverbal communication learned from her
bandmates has also served her well.
Yet another aspect of Strache’s work
involves relationships with brokers and
banks doing due diligence on the hedge
fund, and trying to feel out risk. “I need to
understand how my business does things,
what a bank might be nervous about, and
explain why or why not they should be. If
they should be nervous, then of course I go
back and look at what we can do differently.”
It’s this role that has changed most in light
of the recent financial crisis. “Investors used
to take a cursory look at operations. But
now, a lot of them have a knee-jerk reaction
to certain practices. I need to understand
what their concerns are and address things
they may think are problematic that we
believe are not.”
Her MBA couldn’t have come at a better
time: “Had I been in school in fall 2008,
I would have had to drop out.” She estimates
that between Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy
in September of that year and January 2009,
she had not a single day off, including
Christmas. The firm lost large numbers of
employees, and unfortunately, as director of
operations, handling layoffs was also in her
purview. Her business school skills in the
best ways of communicating bad news came
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
as a desire for recognition.
To speak requiring no reply,
lest tomorrow I must go
and bear the burden of praises
felt
for those who will not know.
1958
MARY BITTNER GOLDSTEIN has
co-edited a collection of essays
on contemporary Chinese Art,
titled Subversive Strategies in
Contemporary Chinese Art,
which was published by Brill
Academy Press in March 2011.
1959
ROBERTO (ROBBY) SALINAS
PRICE, is currently working on
his Elements of Homeric
Geography, A Treatise on the
Geographical Grammar and
Syntax of the Iliad and Odyssey,
which he hopes to finish by
into play. And her encyclopedic awareness of
how the business worked, its rights and
responsibilities, came to the fore: “My role
was not as interesting to people when the
markets were good—it seemed to them like I
was keeping things from going as fast as they
wanted.” But her risk-averse nature when it
comes to financials and insistence on
preparing for the worst-case scenario was
essential when the market faltered.
Risk-averse? A punk rocker and a pilot?
Of course, says Strache: “Sure, flying is
risky, but what I enjoyed about it so much
was the habits learned to manage the risk.”
In fact, the dominant theme in her life and
work seems to be learning to handle
uncertainty with aplomb. She loves “planning, preparing checklists, imagining
possible scenarios and leaving myself an out
wherever possible.”
The potential for and rapidity of change in
the finance world is one reason Strache likes
her work. “Even though hedge funds have
been around for decades, it’s still a maturing
industry. There’s lots to learn all the time.”
She finds the constant problem-solving of
operations—shifting between “the five-milehigh picture and the details”—exciting and
fulfilling. And it’s in demand. “There’s more
career security in breadth.” x
�{Alumni}
34
year’s end. “The thesis rests
squarely on the premise of my
earlier work that, if Homer’s
Troy corresponds with Croatia’s
Dalmatian Coast, then the
entire body of geographical
information found in the Iliad
and Odyssey must likewise be
reviewed. The work calls for a
revisionist understanding of the
so-called ‘Heroic Age,’ prior to
the acquisition by a nascent
Greek cultural identity of
Homeric toponyms and
ethnonyms (the ‘elements’ or
building-blocks of geographical
information).”
1961
DR. R. DOUGLAS BENDALL is
the founder and president of The
Newark School of Theology,
Newark, New Jersey. NST offers
seminary level theological
education to inner-city ministers, lay persons, and others
unlikely to matriculate at a
seminary designed to prepare
students for the professional
degree (M.Div) in theology.
“We teach theology as a liberal
art,” Bendall says. “Our philosophy and teaching methods are
grounded in the educational
model found at St. John’s
College in Annapolis and Santa
Fe.” Married with five children,
daughter Lisa Bendall is the
Sinclair and Rachel Hood
lecturer in Aegean Prehistory,
Institute of Archeology, and
Tutorial Fellow for Arch & Anth
at Keble College, Oxford,
England, while son David
Bendall is a mathematician who
works as a software engineer in
Southern California.
DR. STEPHEN B. BERNSTEIN
writes: “After graduating from
Franklin & Marshall College I
attended and graduated from
New York Medical College.
I did a Psychiatric Residency at
McLean Hospital in Belmont,
Massachusetts, and am currently
a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
at Tufts Medical School, a
Lecturer in Psychiatry at
Harvard Medical School, and a
Training and Supervising
Psychoanalyst at the Boston
Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. I am in private practice in
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. I
have been married for 48 years
to Judith Bernstein, and have
one married son and two grandchildren. My son is an Associate
Professor of Philosophy at the
College of Holy Cross in
Worcester, Massachusetts.
1964
ERIC LUTKER (A) has retired and
is enjoying life in Florida—
walking, shooting in the 70s,
reading, and in his spare time
running a local learning institute and writing a health care
blog, healthdiscussions.net.
1966
JUDY ANDERSON (A) did two
memorable things on January 1
this year: retired and became a
vegan. Planning to move to
South Carolina, which was
supposed to happen in February,
but turned out to be a slower
process than anticipated,
Anderson celebrated the 5-year
anniversary of her cancer
surgery, and was officially
declared a survivor and
discharged from oncology; she
plans to keep everyone posted
on both developments.
JULIE BUSSER DU PREY (A) is
now a grandmother of a sixmonth-old and her daughter is
expecting her first child, too.
1968
RICK WICKS (SF) and his
daughter Linnéa (who just
completed her first semester of
medical school) spent two weeks
in Eastern Europe, where he
drove through Poland (to
Auschwitz and Krakow),
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
the first week, and then took
night trains to St. Petersburg,
Moscow, Kiev (Ukraine), and
Minsk (Belarus) the second
week. Then he and his son
Hendrik (almost 17) spent the
summer in Alaska.
1970
LES MARGULIS (A) is back in
Sydney for a year now after 18
months running an ad agency in
Mumbai, India. After publishing
magazines and websites for
adults 50-plus (although barely
39), Margulis now works for an
ad agency called Naked
(www.nakedcommunications.
com.au), and is not ready yet for
retirement or the glue factory.
1971
JOHN STARK BELLAMY II (A),
steadfast chronicler of scandalous tales, has a new book
available as a Kindle download
at Amazon.com. “A Woman
Scorned,” he says, “is the
greatest story I have discovered
during my two decades of total
immersion in northeast Ohio
woe.” Bellamy is also expecting
a print edition to be available
this spring.
1972
JIM CARLYLE (A) retired April 1
after 34 years as an Episcopal
priest at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, Columbus, Ohio, and is
contemplating his next career.
ELIZABETH (A73) continues to
practice law, concentrating on
criminal post-conviction work.
Earlier this year, she was a
member of a legal team that
persuaded the governor of
Missouri to commute a client’s
death sentence to life imprisonment two days before the client’s
scheduled execution. With Jim’s
retirement, they have returned
to Kansas City, Missouri, and
would be pleased to introduce
their St. John’s friends to the
neighborhood.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
CRAIG FREEDMAN (A) says,
“After six academic books, my
first novel, The Last Time I Saw
Richard, has been published.
It is available via Amazon.”
1975
HOWARD MEISTER (A), is
delighted to announce that one
of his pieces, a chair called
Nothing Continues To Happen
(1980), has been purchased by
The Victoria and Albert
Museum in London for their
permanent collection. The piece
will be included in a group
exhibition, “Postmodernism:
Style and Subversion 19701990,” opening at the museum
in September 2011 and scheduled to travel to museums across
Europe. Another chair (from the
edition of three), in the collection of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City
since 1992, has been on exhibit
there for the past year as part of
a group show, “Highlights from
the Modern Design Collection:
1900 to the Present.”
K.C. VICTOR (A) and ED
BRONFIN (SF78) spent May Day
weekend together in Denver and
Boulder. Ed lives in Denver, and
now uses some of the justice
dispensing skills he learned at
the college on the job. Since
2008 he has been a Colorado
State Judge, and is currently
serving in criminal court. K.C.
(in Los Angeles since 1998)
continues her work as a business
advisor and executive recruiter
for lawyers. K.C. and Ed met in
Annapolis when Ed was a
freshman there, and have maintained a friendship ever since.
1976
In 2009, after working in
marketing consulting for years,
ELIZABETH COCHRAN (SF) got
her masters in social work and
has been working with family
caregivers, most of whom care
for someone with a diagnosis of
dementia. She is also doing
�{Alumni}
35
A Mid-life Master’s
After teaching high school, attending law school, and running the family insurance business,
Bruce Sanborn (SFGI09) found his way to St. John’s.
By Deborah Spiegelman
P
ressing on
Bruce Sanborn
(SFGI09) in 1970
when he left
Minnesota was
the desire to
prove his uncle wrong. “Uncle
Malcolm’s opinions were
[that] our family went to
church because society
expected us to, and humans
invented God,” says Sanborn,
who headed off to Dartmouth
College to study religion.
At Dartmouth, he enjoyed
the smorgasbord of the liberal
arts: Russian literature, art,
biology, astronomy, Latin.
“I liked college lectures. The
good professors showed me
things I missed reading on my
own. Then, in my senior year,
I fell in love with “The Faerie
Queene”—Edmund Spenser’s
poem,” Sanborn says. “In
order to get more time with
the poem, I enlisted my Aunt
Polly, who lived in town and
knew my professor, to sign a note urging
him to extend the deadline for my term
paper, which he did. On my own—without a
lecture as intermediary—I approached the
beauty of this poem.”
After graduation, Sanborn imagined
himself “a Queene’s knight ‘pricking on the
plaine,/Y cladd in mightie armes and silver
shielde’ and heading into the world to make
my way and do good.” He landed a job back
in St. Paul’s teaching high-school English
and Latin. Two years later it was on to the
University of Virginia Law School. When
Sanborn decided to return to Minnesota,
joining the insurance company that had
been in his family since the 1950s, he and
his wife Thea and their three children made
a life there. Sanborn served on community
and business boards, helped with some
political campaigns, and chaired a
California think-tank. All the while, he kept
studying. “I admired Abraham Lincoln and
read a lot about him,” Sanborn says. “I took
short classes at Stanford Business School
Bruce Sanborn (SFGI09) is a
member of the St. John’s
Board of Visitors and
Governors.
“For anyone on a quest
to find the good life, . . .
go to St. John’s.”
Bruce Sanborn
and at Trinity Episcopal School for
Ministry.”
Eventually, Sanborn determined that
whatever his future held, it no longer
involved running an insurance company.
With the endorsement of Thea and his
siblings, he sold the family company. “Not
long after the sale, I read the opening lines
in Dante’s Inferno—‘In the middle of the
journey of our life I came to myself within a
dark wood where the straight way was lost.’
That fit,” he says.
The straight way turned out to involve
more studying—a path Sanborn had followed
throughout his life. Starting with the
Summer Classics program in Santa Fe,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
he read Locke and Rousseau,
then War and Peace and Don
Quixote. In 2006, he applied to
St. John’s Graduate Institute,
was accepted, and found a
place in Santa Fe for himself
and Thea to live, their children
having grown up.
Sanborn’s mid-life advice:
“For anyone on a quest to find
the good life or anyone going a
bit wobbly sensing the wood is
darkening, go to St. John’s for
five days, five semesters, or
however long you can, and
meditate on God, the human
mind, and the summum bonum
[the highest good]. These
borrowed words from Bishop
Berkeley could just as well have
come from Kant; I discovered
them while meditating on the
human mind, God, and the summum bonum
in an eight-week preceptorial on Kant’s
Critique of Practical Reason and Metaphysics of Morals.” The Program, he adds,
“has an attractive fullness, immediacy, and
elevation to it.”
Now on the College’s Board of Visitors
and Governors, Sanborn has expanded his
circle to include tutors, students, and other
friends on both the Santa Fe and the
Annapolis campuses.
“While I was at St. John’s, my thinking
got better the more I was part of the conversation,” he notes. “My mind’s eye was
excited to see things—things I had been
really sure of—in different lights and
shadows and better. The opinions I held
dear often proved murky, but got clearer in
conversation, moving me closer to what is
true and what is the good life. All of which
helps me in my mission to answer Uncle
Malcolm.” x
�36
{Alumni}
some in-home therapy with
seniors, from a narrative
perspective. “This represents a
significant shift from my readings at St. John’s,” Cochran
says, “but without them, I doubt
I’d appreciate this approach as
much.” Finally, she is the
project coordinator for the Elder
Justice Network of the Greater
North Shore (of Boston), whose
mission is to educate professionals and the public about
elder abuse and the services
available to reduce and eliminate it. “We’ve put on three
productions of an original play
incorporating real stories of
abuse, poetry, and songs in
three different senior centers.
More than 400 people have seen
it, many more than would ever
attend a presentation on elder
abuse.” Beyond this, Cochran
has a 16-year-old son who will be
a senior in high school next year,
with all the accompanying joys
and stresses. “He has a good
sense of where he’s headed, lots
of friends and is fun to be
around!” Cochran hopes to get
back to Santa Fe some day soon,
maybe with classmate and longtime friend, JUDY KISTLERROBINSON (SF77).
LORIS NEBBIA (A) has published
her first novel, Solomon’s Puzzle
(Blessing House Press, 2010),
which reflects her love for
Annapolis. The Maryland
Writer’s Association honored
Nebbia with its top prize for
short fiction for the novel. Other
publications credits include an
entry on “The Great Awakening” in the Dictionary of
Women’s Education published
by Greenwood Press. Her
essays appear online at:
eighthandsaround.blogspot.com
and christianityisjewish.org.
Learn more about Nebbia’s
novel at solomonspuzzle.com.
North to Alaska
P
KNEISL (A77) left for Alaska on his motorcycle
June 18th. If you would like to be added to the
list of people receiving pictures, send an e-mail to
pkneisl@verizon.net. He and Maureen have been
married 31 years and have two children, Megan and
Jeffrey. Megan is about to start work for the ACLU
as a lawyer. Jeffrey is a mental health counselor. Kneisl has
32 years at L-3 Communications making electronic gadgets for
military and space applications. He knows that “you are all on an
island somewhere just like I last saw you. While I have grown old,
it is a comfort to know you, my friends, have not aged a day.” x
AUL
1977
ED J. KAITZ (A) organized the
April 2011 art exhibition, “Local
Art Influenced by Great Books,”
at 49 West Coffeehouse &
Winebar in Annapolis. The show
featured Maryland, Virginia, and
Washington, D.C. artists
offering representations of
works by authors such as Ovid,
Nietzsche, and Mark Twain.
1978
TOM WISE (SF) writes, “I am
still at UCSB doing the
computer thing (and I thought
the Internet was just a fad), but
as of June 30, 2011, my wife
Kathleen will have retired from
the Child Development Program
with the Santa Barbara School
District. Our home is on the
market (www.716cathedralpointe.com) and we are looking
for our retirement home in
Santa Fe. I have been in Santa
Barbara for 30 years and I always
said if I weren’t living here, I
would go back to Santa Fe in a
heartbeat. So with Kathleen’s
daughter studying for her
masters in psychology at Bucknell and her son Ken entering
pharmacy school at Thomas
Jefferson in Philly, our time has
come! Cheers to all and a shout
out to STEVE (SF) and Surinder
Mackey and JIM (SF77) and
Andrea Ham.”
1980
CHRIS BANTA (A) had her short
piece, “Wallflowers Don’t
Always Triumph at the High
School Reunion,” published in
We Came to Say: A Collection of
Memoir, edited by Theo Pauline
Nestor. “I’ve been writing
fiction and memoir for several
years,” says Banta, “and have
won a couple of writing
contests, but this is my first
publication.” Those interested
in getting a copy of the book can
find ordering information at
http://writingismydrink.
com/we-came-to-say or by
e-mailing Banta at
cbanta@aol.com.
1982
LESLIE SMITH ROSEN HYDER (A)
married JAMES HYDER (A84)
before a small gathering of
family and closest friends on
Sunday, April 17, 2011. It was a
“surprise” wedding for almost
everyone—guests were invited
for an engagement party and a
half an hour later, a huppah was
brought out!
1983
BARBARA M. MEDINA (SFGI) is
currently assistant commissioner in the Colorado Department of Education, where she
oversees an Office of Language,
Culture, and Equity that oversees Title III education for the
linguistically diverse, as well as
migrant education. She also
oversees the offices of Choice or
Charter Schools and online
learning.
DESIREE ZAMORANO’s (SF) first
mystery novel has been
published as an e-book by Lucky
Bat Books. Find Human Cargo
on Amazon, Smashwords, or her
website.
1984
MARK NIEDERMIER (A) is
leaving Anchorage’s Pacific
Northern Academy after five
years experiencing the joys and
challenges of subarctic living in
Alaska. In the fall he begins as
Head of School for the Logan
School for Creative Learning in
Denver, Colorado, a progressive
kindergarten-through-eighthgrade school for gifted students.
He can be reached at
mark@niedermier.com.
�37
{Alumni}
1985
MAGGIE HOHLE (A) reports:
“We moved to Northern California in 2007. My mom passed
away suddenly from lung cancer
in 2008, just as the financial
markets were beginning to melt
down. Now it’s 2011, and I feel
like our family is finally stabilizing, at least internally! Our
oldest daughter, Hannah, is a
proud freshman at UC Berkeley,
and Tom and Molly are both in
high school, while Billy is just a
first grader. As for Brad, he’s
still at Dolby Laboratories
(20 years!) and I’m still freelancing as a writer and translator (Japanese to English).
In fact, a new website is what
prompted this update: takumitranslate.com. Check it out!
Turns out that my partner in
Japan and I have been translating for a decade, including
the recent book, MUJI. Thought
we’d finally publicize the fact a
little wider than our circle of
usual clients, which include
Kenya Hara at the Nippon
Design Center, and Lars Mueller
Publishers, as well as the International Design Center Nagoya
(IdcN) and Idea Magazine now
and then. And our latest project
that will be out soon is a book on
the Japan-based lifestyle brand
Mina Perhonen. If anyone knows
of someone who would like to
avail themselves of our services,
send them along, please. Our
hope is to assist non-Japanese
speakers/readers with research,
communication, or translating
entire websites if necessary, in
the creative fields, since that’s
where our experience lies.
Design, art, architecture, that
kind of thing! Anyone planning
on visiting the Bay Area, come
on by! We’ve got a great little
town here, a couple hours from
the snow, 40 minutes from the
Pacific, and in the heart of wine
country. Can’t beat it!”
MICHAEL STRONG (SF) attended
the University of Chicago,
studying why the Chicago
economists, who considered
themselves scientists, were
On the Campaign Trail
J
ACK DOBBYN (A02) is running for state Delegate in the
42nd District of Virginia, a race that the Washington Post
has called one of the “most competitive House races in the
state.” He is married to fellow alum Kathryn (Bush)
Dobbyn (A03), with whom he has two daughters, Victoria
and Marie. The Vice President of Operations at his family’s
real estate business, Dobbyn became highly involved with
the Fairfax County Democratic Committee in the late 2000s and
served as treasurer of the Lee District Democrats. Currently he
serves as the chairman of the Fairfax County Young Democrats. In
his spare time, he is an active member of the Mount Vernon
Kiwanis Club and enjoys coaching youth sports teams for Woodlawn Little League and Gunston Soccer Club.
Dobbyn’s top priority is improving transportation in southeastern Fairfax County. He wants to partner with Delegate Scott
Surovell (D-44th) and Senator Linda “Toddy” Puller (D-36th) to
improve traffic on Route One, and also wants to alleviate the
influx of traffic expected from the completion of the Base Realignment and Closure process at Fort Belvoir. Education is another
priority for him, as he wants to see more of an investment in trade
schools and smaller class sizes.
“When I get down to Richmond, I want to get all the decisionmakers around the table and find out what’s possible and what’s
not,” said Dobbyn. “If I were going to say I wasn’t going to work
with people to solve problems, I’d have a tough time in Richmond
and not be able to solve our problems.” x
advocates of free markets—which
seemed self-evidently harmful.
They gradually developed
respect for free-market
economics. He began a dissertation under Nobel laureate economist Gary Becker on “Ideas
and Culture as Human Capital”
while training Chicago public
school teachers in how to lead
Socratic seminars. Before
finishing it, he was hired as a
full-time Socratic teacher
trainer in Homer, Alaska. That
led to a 5-year year career in
education, starting as a public
school reformer and leading to
the creation of innovative
private schools and programs in
Alaska, Texas, Florida, California, and a charter school in
New Mexico that was ranked the
36th best public high school in
the United States on the Washington Post Challenge Index.
Meanwhile he acted as a
consultant for hundreds of
schools, writing The Habit of
Thought: From Socratic
Seminars to Socratic Practice.
While at his last school, he met
John Mackey, the CEO and cofounder of Whole Foods Market.
Together they created Freedom
Lights Our World (FLOW), a
nonprofit dedicated to “Liberating the entrepreneurial spirit
for good,” leading to programs
promoting peace through
commerce, accelerating women
entrepreneurs, and conscious
capitalism. Most recently he has
begun an exploration of legal
techniques that will allow for the
entrepreneurial creation of legal
systems and the creation of Free
Cities. He blogs on these topics
at “Let a Thousand Nations
Bloom” and is working on
creating Free Cities at various
sites around the world. Michael
has two grown children and is
married to Magatte Wade, the
Senegalese serial entrepreneur
who founded Adina World
Beverages and the Tiossano
Tribe.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
1986
GWENDOLYN CHEATHAM (A) has
published two exciting books
which can be found at Amazon,
Barnes and Noble, and Borders
bookstores. Their titles are:
Give Your Teacher this Note:
Parents Say the Funniest Things
and Big Mama: The World is a
Playground—Enjoy it!
ELISABETH LONG (A) is still
enjoying running the Digital
Library Development Center at
the University of Chicago
Library. In her ‘spare’ time, she
is the editor of a new journal for
the College Book Art Association and is trying to sell her
second-floor condo in order to
buy a house with a basement to
hold her very heavy, old-fashioned printing press. Long
writes, “I was visiting my family
in Baltimore at the end of April
and arranged to meet TIA
PAUSIC (A86) at croquet and
can’t believe what an event it
has become. Ran into lots of old
friends from ’84 and ’85 and had
a wonderful time.”
STEPHANIE RICO (A) writes on
behalf of herself and her
husband, TODD PETERSON
(A87): “After many years of plotting and planning and wishing,
we are moving to Spain on an
all-expense-paid vacation courtesy of the American taxpayer!
(At least being in the Navy has
had some perks, to make up for
the free trips to Afghanistan and
Iraq.) We’ll be in Spain for at
least two years, maybe three.
Our daughters, Tia (9) and
Sasha (7), will go to Spanish
public school in between
education-travel trips. ¡Estan
invitados avisitarnos!”
1988
EDWARD KOMARA (A) received
the State University of New York
(SUNY) Chancellor’s Award for
Excellence in Scholarship and
Creative Activities last May, a
statewide recognition for his
�38
{Alumni}
Finding Flamenco
Chana Goodman (SF94) unveils her inner Gypsy.
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
A
tania trelles
s it turns out, Chana
Goodman (SF94) and I have
met before—not at St. John’s,
but at WORD, the bookstore
in Greenpoint, Brooklyn,
where I used to work. (I tried
to sell her Bridget Jones’s Diary as an
antidote to Proust.)
For each of us, finding out the other was a
Johnnie explained a lot about our mutual
bookishness. We each also studied dance
while at St. John’s, in classes taught by fellow
students. Alas, my contact improv has grown
rusty–apologies to Alana Chernila (SF02).
But Goodman has remained active with few
lacunae, through cross-country moves and
the birth of her son, in her dance of choice:
the wildly expressive, proudly rhythmic
flamenco.
In recent months, Goodman has been
dancing flamenco more than ever. She gave
up her day job, determined to have more
control over her time and creative passions.
She is putting the finishing touches on an art
studio—when not dancing, she paints. She
practices flamenco six days a week,
performing about once a week in local
restaurants, bars, and other venues in New
York City. Goodman traveled to Seville,
Spain, in July for three months; there she
plans to study flamenco with her mentor,
Yasaray Rodrigues, and other masters,
including Andres Peña, Pastora Galván, and
Adela Campallo.
Flamenco has roots in
Gypsy culture; it moved
with its people across
India, Turkey, and
Romania, and came to its
full flowering in fifteenthcentury Spain, mixing
Jewish and Moorish
influences with those of the
Andalusian gypsies, the
Gitanos. For them, says
Goodman, “dancing and
singing is like a religion.
Kids do it from the time
they walk—they’re expected
to. And it’s not just moving
your feet; it’s reaching into
the other world constantly
through dance.” At parties
and community celebrations, it’s traditional to
simply form a circle and
…[Goodman] found that
the exaggerated gestures
she picked up from her
Italian stepfather have
served her well in
flamenco.
start clapping. Whatever one’s technical
proficiency, stepping into the circle to
express the dance in one’s own way is a
natural part of the culture. For audiences,
though, jangly guitar music and extravagantly ruffled dresses are also par for the
course.
After her initial exposure in a beginner’s
class at college, Goodman continued to
dabble in flamenco, first while working in
Seattle as a digital illustrator for a gaming
firm. She studied with the acclaimed
Carmona family and Ana Montes. While she
and her husband, Roderick Gilman (SF93),
lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he went
to law school, she found herself driving long
distances twice a week to attend the only
nearby flamenco classes. Then the couple
moved to New York City, “and I have just not
stopped dancing.”
While not an ethnic Gypsy herself,
Goodman finds connections to the dance in
her own family history: Her Romanian
grandfather hailed from Soroca, a city in
modern-day Moldova with a large Gypsy
enclave, and he was also a child dancer, who
came to the United States to sing and dance
in vaudeville. He continued to dance as long
as he could walk, she says. “I’m intrigued by
the connection–he had a very Gitano style in
his dance.” As she speaks, Goodman strikes
a dynamic attitude with her arms: elbows,
wrists, and fingers angled, yet regal and
alluring. She’s also found that the
exaggerated gestures she picked up from her
Italian stepfather have served her well in
flamenco.
While it has taken years to acquire the
skill to perform regularly, she considers the
training as time well spent. “Because it’s
taken me so long,” she says, and “I’ve been
an observer instead of a producer, I have a
sense of the deeper significance of it. It’s not
that it’s just cute, or pretty, or beautiful.”
Like so many Johnnies (myself included),
Goodman found inspiration for her unusual
career path in her untraditional education.
In addition to her fledgling steps in
flamenco, she took a life drawing class one
semester that got her started in illustration
and graphic design. “One thing that’s
amazing about St. John’s is that it teaches
people to make choices in their lives, and to
carry through – that whatever it is you want to do,
there’s a way to achieve it,
and it’s up to you. It asks
people to question the idea
of happiness and fulfillment,
and to seek it out.”
After that, our conversation devolved into a
discussion of books, and
we ambled over to WORD
to pick up the Pevear/
Volokhonsky translation of
Anna Karenina. Happy
families and Johnnies—
we’re all more alike than
we realize. x
Chana Goodman’s (SF94)
hands are elegantly
expressive when she dances
flamenco.
�39
{Alumni}
achievements to date. He is the
author of four books on blues
and jazz (including the editing of
the two-volume Encyclopedia of
the Blues (Routledge Press,
2005), and of numerous articles
and reviews for music journals.
Since 2001 he has been the
Crane Librarian of Music at
SUNY Potsdam; previously, he
served as music librarian/blues
archivist at the University of
Mississippi. “Potsdam is a small
village near the Canadian
border,” he writes. “The Victorian-era buildings and the cold
winters lend themselves to some
very intense creative activities
for the music students and
faculty.” His next project is
contributing entries for the
prestigious New Grove
Dictionary of American Music,
including one for tutor
DOUGLAS ALLANBROOK (HA85),
with whom he worked for 14
years.
KIM PAFFENROTH (A) just had
his fourth zombie novel
published, Dying to Live: Last
Rites (Permuted Press, 2011).
His second novel was just
released in a German edition,
Die Traurigkeit der Zombies
(Festa Verlag, 2011). When not
writing about the undead, he
continues to teach religious
studies at Iona College. He and
his wife, MARLIS (A86), are also
celebrating their son Charles’
winning the West Point Bridge
Design Contest.
CLAUDIA (PROBST) STACK (A)
has finished her documentary
film, Under the Kudzu, which
traces the history of two historic
African American schools in
Pender County, North Carolina.
The film premiered at UNC
Wilmington in April 2011. Stack
received the David Brinkley
Preservationist of the Year
Award from Historic Wilmington Foundation for the film
and for her work to help restore
the Canetuck Rosenwald School
(featured in the film) this past
May. “To learn more about
Rosenwald schools, please see
my website www.underthekudzu.org; my e-mail is on
the website and I would love to
hear from Johnnies!”
DAVID BLANKENBAKER (SF)
quips that “on May 31st,
between 2:05 and 2:15 p.m.,
David Blankenbaker ate an
apple and thought about his
undergraduate experience.”
1989
Passage Around the World
W
HEDLESKY (A09) and boyfriend
Kristian have begun a bold plan. Starting the
first leg of their journey, from San Diego to
the island of Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia
on June 4, 2011, they are attempting to sail
around the world. “Crossing from the West
Coast of North America to islands in the South Pacific is by no
means unprecedented,” writes Wynne. “What makes our trip
unique is that we do not own our own boat, and we aren’t taking a
lot of fancy equipment. We are traveling as crew on vessels owned by
others, earning passage in exchange for our hard work and sailing
experience. We plan, when possible (and legal), to camp and live off
of local resources, such as fish and fruit. We hope that by living
simply and courageously, pushing ourselves outside of comfortable
borders and modes of transportation, we can gain valuable
perspective on our land-based life.
Nuku Hiva is located in the Marquesas, one of the most remote
island groups in the world. We will make the 3,000-mile journey
across the Pacific Ocean on a 50-foot sailboat owned by a French
family that we discovered on the Internet, and met in person in San
Diego. Using resources on the Internet, connections in the sailing
world, and on-the-ground networking, we intend to find other
vessels to carry us further west, to other islands in the South Pacific,
to Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and beyond. If our
strategy is successful, we will find ourselves back in the United
States, having circumnavigated the globe under sail.
Here’s an update: We left on the first leg of our journey on June 4.
Melville readers may be familiar with Nuku Hiva from the novel
Typee. We are traveling on a sailboat with a French family. After
Nuku Hiva, we plan to go to Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, and wherever
else the wind whisks us. Follow our progress on our blog:
www.crossingtheline2011.blogspot.com.” x
YNNE
SARITA CARGAS (A) has just
changed jobs and will be
teaching human rights at the
University of New Mexico in
Albuquerque. She is excited to
be near a St. John’s campus, and
looks forward to catching up
with her dear alma mater.
ANNE LEONARD (A) graduated
law school, passed the California
bar, and is now busy getting paid
to win arguments (or at least to
make them). Still happily settled
in Cotati, about 50 miles north
of San Francisco, she can be
reached at leonarde@sonic.net.
1990
GRAHAM HARMAN (A) has been
promoted to full professor of
philosophy at the American
University in Cairo. He was
recently named editor of the
Speculative Realism book series
at Edinburgh University Press,
which will launch July 2011 with
his own book, Quentin Meillassoux: Philosophy in the Making.
KEVIN (SF96) and KHIN KHIN
(SF88) BROCK are overjoyed to
welcome bright-eyed Rebecca
Wren Brock into their family.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
Rebecca was born April 8 to
birth parents who chose the
Brocks to raise their daughter in
part because of their adopted
son, Christopher. While waiting
for a second child, Khin Khin
ran a marathon. They continue
to work, garden and read in
Santa Clara, California.
1991
LAKE JAMES PERRIGUEY (SF),
who founded the queer student
groups at St. John’s College and
was among the first to press the
College to adopt a non-discrimination policy to include gay and
lesbian students, recently represented a student teacher who
was banned from the Beaverton
School District when he
answered a fourth grade
student’s question about his
marital status by saying that
Oregon would not allow him to
marry a man. The School
District ultimately settled for
$105,000 and achieved districtwide change. (More details
regarding the case can be found
at http://abcnews.go.com
/US/student-teacher-fired-gayjob-back/story?id=11957152.)
1993
MARY “KAYT” CONRAD (AGI)
and KAREN WACHSMUTH (A79)
hold sporadic alumni meetings
in Iowa City restaurants where
they share their passion for beets
and books. Both work at the
University of Iowa, and would
love to know of any other Johnnies in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa
City corridor.
1994
PAUL BARKER (AGI) received his
doctorate in Educational
Leadership in May from the
University of Pennsylvania.
His dissertation focused on the
classroom experience of high
school seniors perceived by their
teachers as being quiet. After
�40
{Alumni}
serving ten years as principal of
the John Carroll School in Bel
Air, Maryland, Paul starts the
2011-2012 school year as
president of Our Lady of Good
Counsel High School in Olney,
Maryland.
1995
BENJAMIN FRIEDMAN (SF)
married Rocio Alvarez on
May 29, 2011, in Los Angeles.
1996
CHRIS ANDERSON (A) was
recently named a Cardozo
Scholar and will begin attending
Cardozo Law School this
August.
Writing Contest, a novel on
dragons in the San Gabriel
Valley of Southern California.
SHANI N. WARNER (SFGI)
married Dave Horlick last
November, and is expecting a
little girl this August. Warner
was also elected Ward 2 Representative to the City Council of
Hyattsville, Maryland.
1999
RACHEL (VEDAA) PENDLETON
(SF) and WALKER PENDLETON,
(A) welcomed son James Pascal
on May 8, 2011. Enjoying the
fun of watching how much he’s
changed in such a short time,
they are reading to him and
preparing him for the Great
Books when he’s ready.
1997
2000
BENJAMIN BLOOM (A) is happy
to announce the birth of his
second daughter, Olivia Quinn
Bloom. She was born on May 15,
2011. Mother, sister, and baby
are all doing fine. Daddy is still
catching up on his sleep!
BUCK COOPER (A) is now
working as Program Coordinator at the Mississippi
Academy for Science Teaching
at Jackson State University,
supporting secondary science
teachers from around the state
and preparing undergraduates
to teach science. He is settled in
Jackson and awaiting the arrival
of a second child in August.
JENN COONCE (A) recently
completed a Masters in Psychoanalysis at the New York Graduate School of Psychoanalysis,
and now sees patients as a part
of certificate candidacy at the
Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies. Coonce is also
continuing freelance work as a
user experience designer and
researcher.
CHRIS ENGLISH (SFGI) and
DIANE SHIRES (SFGI98) are
pleased to introduce their latest
addition to the family: Kayleigh
Noel English, born June 12,
2009. Baby Noel joins her
7-year-old-brother, Max, in
general mischief and mayhem.
Chris continues working as an
art director in Los Angeles, and
Diane is teaching high school
English at her alma mater in
South Pasadena, California.
Chris and Diane’s latest creation
is an entry in the 3-Day Novel
DEBERNIERE TORREY (AGI) and
her husband Nathan Devir
completed their degrees in
Comparative Literature last
year. This summer they move
from Middlebury, Vermont, to
Salt Lake City to teach in the
Department of Languages and
Literature at the University of
Utah.
2001
TALLEY (A) and LOUIS (A)
KOVACS are participating in
Charcutepalooza, a year-long
blog collaboration with approximately 200 other food bloggers
around the world. They are
working their way through basic
and master meat preparations
based on Michael Ruhlman’s
Charcuterie cookbook.
They can be followed at
http://meatandday.
blogspot.com.
PAIGE MAGUIRE (A) is living in
Austin, Texas, with her son,
Daschel Auden, and several
animals. She works at Dell in the
Global Marketing department as
an online strategist and project
manager. Previously she held a
similar role in a much different
environment—the Austin NPR
affiliate public radio station.
2004
MELISSA and MARTIN
ANDERSON (both A) have
relocated to Eugene, Oregon,
so that Melissa can start her
graduate architecture program
at the University of Oregon.
They’re missing their friends in
New York and those scattered
along the East Coast, but are
already enjoying the trees and
mountains and looking forward
to at least three years in the
Pacific Northwest. They can be
found at 854 Pool St., Apt. 54,
Eugene, OR 97401.
MARTIN and KIMBERLY
GAUDINSKI (both A) write:
“2011 has been an eventful year
for the Gaudinski family. With
much happiness, on Valentine’s
Day we welcomed our son
Benjamin David Gaudinski. He
has been growing by leaps and
bounds. Although we hesitate to
tempt our fate by writing such
words, he seems to have the
happiest and most contented
disposition with a great love of
smiling at his parents. He was
present at Georgetown University on ‘Match Day’ when his
daddy learned he got his top
choice of post-graduate medical
programs: he will be training in
internal medicine at Georgetown University Hospital.
Finally, May 22 came and
Martin Gaudinski BA became
Martin Gaudinski MD. In this
spirit of change and tumult we
moved from one end of Silver
Spring, Maryland, to the other
and are now apartment dwellers
once again, after three
delightful years filled with
conversation and laughter while
living with the SULLIVAN (A02)
family. We feel very blessed.”
CHRISTOPHER HENDERSON (A)
married GENEVA HINKLE (A06)
on May 29, 2011, in upstate New
York. Their guests dined on
cupcakes and barbecue. Mr. and
Mrs. Henderson look forward to
many happy years of fighting
evil together. Mr. Henderson is
not yet Batman, but he’s getting
there. Mrs. Henderson is
working on her Alfred voice.
2005
SAMANTHA BUKER (A) just took
a seat on the board of directors
of the Post-Classical Ensemble.
This Washington, D.C.-based
orchestra will put on three
collaborative festivals this year:
Jeremy Denk playing Charles
Ives, Igor Stravinsky/Manuel de
Falla’s El Amor Brujo, and Schu-
Nuptials in New Mexico
J
TRAVIS PITTMAN
and ALLISON
HAUSPURG (both A08),
were married just a few
miles from where they
met at St. John’s Santa
Fe in the historic
chapel at Our Lady of
Guadalupe off the Santa Fe
plaza. Eleanor Mathis (SF07)
was in attendance. x
OHN
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�41
{Alumni}
bert (Uncorked). “I invite any
curious D.C.-Baltimore area
Johnnies to go to a concert with
me personally. Each performance recasts everything you
thought you knew about a
composer and his work.” She is
proud to support P-CE’s
partnerships with Georgetown,
Strathmore, the National
Gallery of Art, and
choreographer Igal Perry that
take classical music way beyond
the concert hall. She’s always
eager to hear from folks at
sam.buker@gmail.com,
whether you want to talk
finance, fine art, or fugues.
ALEXIS SEGEL (SF) went to Italy
after graduation and studied
voice for two years in Florence,
completing a Master of
Fine Arts degree in Music
Performance and Literature
from Mills College in Oakland,
California, last spring. This
spring, she sang the alto soloist
in a performance of the St. John
Passion in New London,
New Hampshire, and has
returned to the Bay Area,
where this summer she will be
working with the San Francisco
Boys Chorus.
SEAN VALLES (A) married
MARGOT BEHREND (A06) in
2007, and received his PhD from
the History and Philosophy of
Science department at Indiana
University, Bloomington in May
of 2010. Sean began a position
at Michigan State University
that following August, and is
currently a tenure-track assistant professor with a dual
appointment. He has a
75-percent appointment in the
Lyman Briggs College of MSU, a
residential college within the
university with the mission of
E
SAMARIN (A10) has started a tradition of
having a trophy for the last soccer game of the
spring season. He wants to call it the Freedom
Cup in honor of his mother, who brought him
to this country from Russia. After becoming a
United States citizen last spring, Samarin is
now living in Annapolis, working for a local law firm, and is
planning on going to law school in the next few years. x
UGENE
Bar, which she takes in July.
Kennedy says, “Life is
wonderful: I got to see Melody
and EVERETT REED (AGI07) in
May, and we’re all looking
forward to CAMILLE STALLINGS’
(AGI07) wedding in August in
Oregon. I also just discovered
another Johnnie, BENJAMIN
BARRIENTES (AGI88) at law
school and am glad to have a
compatriot so nearby. If anyone
is in the Southwest Florida area,
please look me up at
kennedy.jacqueline@gmail.com.
It would be great to catch up
with old friends.”
2007
jen behrens
TOM JACOBS (A) and BRIANNE
JACOBs (née BELL; A06) are
married and living in the East
Village in New York City.
Brianne is pursuing a PhD in
Theology at Fordham University, while Tom is earning his
doctorate in Education Policy at
the New School University. They
send their best wishes to all
their classmates and friends.
Annapolis Freedom Cup
bridging the gap between the
sciences and the humanities,
and a 25-percent appointment in
the Philosophy Department.
Specializing in the philosophy of
medicine, especially evidentiary
problems in medical genetics.
His dissertation, “Explaining
the Evolution of Common
Genetic Disease,” is a philosophical analysis of the (failed)
scientific attempts to explain
why certain genetic diseases
have evolved to be more
common than others. He began
adapting it into a book manuscript this past summer.
NIC STRAHL (A) has had the
distinct pleasure of marrying
Rajneesh Sudhakar, whom she
met in 2009 through mutual
Johnnie friends. Their June 24
wedding ceremony and
reception took place in New
York City, surrounded by family,
friends, and Johnnies. Johnnies
were in the wedding party,
curated the music, and assisted
in appropriating and misquoting
excerpts from Mark Twain
(among other great book
authors) to compose the secular
wedding vows. The ceremony
was emceed by a member of the
United States Navy.
2006
TESS GILMAN (SF) and JESSE
POSNER (SF05) are getting
married in September 2011 and
are currently loving their new
home and jobs in the Bay Area.
EMILY NISCH (A) married Jeff
Terrell on May 7; Jeff recently
received his PhD in computer
science from the University of
North Carolina, where he and a
few Johnnies are starting a
business based on his research.
“More broadly, we’re settling
into our new home in Durham,
North Carolina, and loving life.”
ALI BASTIAN (AGI) is beginning
the third year of medical school
at the University of North
Dakota.
JACQUELINE KENNEDY (AGI)
graduated from law school in
May and is now fully immersed
in preparation for the Florida
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
CLARE DAVITT (SFGI) moved to
Boston after five years in Santa
Fe, and has begun the Masters
of Science in Library and
Information Science program at
Simmons College. She was also
awarded a position as the Fellow
for Dean’s Initiatives, which will
send her to Korea for a few
weeks this summer as a liaison
for the students and faculty. She
already misses the skies and
mountains of Santa Fe, but is
very excited and grateful to be in
Boston doing such interesting
work.
LAUREN ROBBINS (AGI) is
getting married in Charlotte on
September 3, 2011, and starting
classes at General Theological
Seminary four days later in New
York City. She and her fiancé Jay
(and their dog!) are very excited
about the move.
2008
MARGARET HENNESSEY (A) is
the recipient of the 2011 Mathematics Teaching Fellowship by
the Knowles Science Teaching
Foundation. This prestigious,
five-year fellowship will prepare
her for a career in teaching
mathematics, and comes with a
two-year teaching commitment
to the Durham Public Schools in
North Carolina.
�42
{Alumni}
A Johnnie’s Geometry Business Takes Shape
Mathematician Steve Morse’s (A68) intuitive models delight educators.
by Laurent Merceron (A08)
T
he Platonic solids just got a
colorful, 3-D revamp.
Attendees of the mid-Atlantic
chapter meetings of the
Mathematical Association of
America this past year caught
a glimpse of the latest build-it-yourself
geometric models by Dominion Polytopes.
The five Platonic solids, along with 13 other
3-D models for sale at a display table,
delighted and intrigued students and
professors with their vivid colors and
intricate designs. The company’s founder,
Steve Morse (A68), is hoping that his 3-D
kits will make Euclidian geometry more
intuitive and visually appealing to children,
educators, and the public at large.
Dominion Polytopes is the result of
Morse’s decades-long fascination with
building geometric models, coupled with a
desire to promote a more visual approach to
the field of mathematics. Morse, who for the
past two years has taught as an adjunct
professor at George Mason University in
Virginia, eagerly describes abstruse
geometric concepts in a passionate, almost
giddy manner. He chose the name
“Dominion Polytopes” both as a reference
to his home state of Virginia—its nickname is
Old Dominion—and as a doffing of his hat to
renowned 20th-century geometer, H. M. S.
Coxeter, author of Regular Polytopes and an
outspoken proponent of the classical
approach to geometry. “I’m part of a small
community in mathematics-land that values
visualization and intuition over algebraic
computation,” he says.
Morse, who has a doctorate in
mathematics, is in many ways a surprising
candidate for such a venture: “I disliked
mathematics when I began at St. John’s.
The mathematics classes I took in high
school involved banal formulations and
computations, not reasoning,” he recalls.
It wasn’t until arriving as a freshman in
Annapolis that his impression of mathematics was turned on its head. “Studying
Euclid was an ideal experience for me,
playing to my geometric sensibilities. It
wasn’t computational; it was reasoning
without computation.”
It wasn’t long before Morse was engaged
in his own mathematical explorations
outside of class. In what he calls “a very
satisfying obsession,” he spent hours each
night working on Apollonius’ famous threecircle problem, using only a ruler and
compass for the constructions. By senior
year, he was proficiently demonstrating
proofs in non-Euclidian geometry, and
decided that a career in mathematics—as
unlikely as that once seemed—was indeed
possible. “I found I had a talent for it. I
found confidence in doing it, and decided it
was something I could do.”
After graduating from St. John’s in 1968,
Morse rapidly immersed himself in his newly
chosen field; the following year he took a
position teaching high-school geometry at
Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.,
and in the evenings pursued a master’s
degree in numerical science from John
Hopkins University. In 1978, he earned his
doctorate in mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a year
later established himself as a consultant to
the defense and intelligence community
centered in the Washington, D.C. region.
One occupation, however, remained fixed
in his mind—building geometric models.
“I’ve been building models ever since I
finished St. John’s,” he says. “I even had my
high school students design and build
models for class.” (One notable instance
involved Morse and six students building a
14-foot-high walk-in geodesic dome on the
exterior grounds of the campus.) The initial
models that he began building in the 1970s,
constructed from archival-quality matte
board that he cut and glued by hand, were
mostly simple convex figures. But by 1980,
Morse’s command of 3-D modeling had
grown to the point where his models had
become, “pretty doggone complex.” Each
Steve Morse (A68) encountered Euclid as a
math-resistant freshman.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�43
{Alumni}
JOHN NEWTON (A) is nearing
completion of his JD degree at
U.C. Hastings College of the
Law, after transferring from
Indiana University, Bloomington’s Maurer School of Law.
He is studying for a tax concentration in addition to the regular
law degree, and plans to take the
California Bar in the summer of
2012. “I am living happily with
my partner, Madeline, and our
son, Alec, who just turned one
in April.” Elected to be the
editor-in-chief of the Hastings
Constitutional Law Quarterly’s
39th Volume for 2011-2012, he
is soliciting article submissions
from JD-holding St. John’s
alumni, which can be sent to
him at newtonj@
uchastings.edu.
CARTER YOUNG (SFGI) writes,
“I am looking to connect with
other alumni in Toronto,
Ontario, and hoping to work in
a school with other Johnnies.
I can work as a primary teacher
at the secondary level or an
instructor at the college level.
I would also love to meet some
more Johnnies in Colorado
Springs while I am still here.”
2009
CLAIRE GRIFFIN and KRIS
KLOTZ (both A) will celebrate
their second anniversary in
August. Nearly two dozen
Johnnies made the trek out to
central Minnesota to see them
tie the knot. Kris completed his
Master’s at Claremont School of
Theology this spring and now
they’re off to Happy Valley,
where Claire will be entering a
PhD program in philosophy at
Penn State.
NATHAN KROSS (A) recently
published a book of humorous
poetry called The Supervillain
Sonnets, which can be found at
www.amazon.com/TheSupervillain-Sonnetsebook/dp/B0053NZD4C/.
DALTON LOBO DIAS (A) has
completed his research year at
DR. STEVEN HOLLAND’s (A79)
Laboratory of Clinical Infectious
Diseases at NIH and will be
attending The University of
Maryland School of Medicine
this coming fall.
MARIA LUNSFORD (A) married
fiancé JAMES FULMER (A) on
June 11, 2011, in Annapolis,
Maryland.
(continued from page 42)
new model required between 80 to 100
hours to construct.
In 2009, Morse bought a compact laser
cutter and began experimenting with
cutting thin sheets of polypropylene, the
same material used for food-storage
containers, into precisely described rings.
He fashioned a way to interlock the rings by
cutting slots at given lines of intersection.
The rings could then lock into place—much
like a cardboard partition in a case of wine—
to form a 3-D model.
It was a clever display of mathematical
engineering, and meant that his models
could now be easily reproduced and assembled. “Each model now takes about 30 to
45 minutes to make, depending on the
number of rings.”
With his new laser cutter, Morse designs
entire kits in about 100 hours—the amount
PAUL WASSERMAN (AGI)
recently published a volume of
poetry, Say Again All, sourced
in his experiences as a soldier in
Iraq. It was primarily written
while at the University of
London (U.K.), where he went
to study comparative literature
after completing the program at
St. John’s College.
MCGEE, ABIGAIL DANCEY,
JACOB DINK, JESSE KING (SF),
CHASE MCPEAK (A09), DREW
SIZEMORE, EILEEN CHANTI, and
CAROLYN STRIPLING (SF07).
The Striplings now reside in
Chicago.
2010
JUNIA CHO (A) has been
awarded the 2011 Critical
Language Scholarship by the
United States Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs. She will
spend two months this summer
in South Korea as part of this
intensive language program. x
DONALD GEORGETTE (A)
recently got a job at Sheppard
and Enoch Pratt Hospital in
Baltimore, as a mental health
worker on its Addictions and
Mental Illness ward, and will
begin working on a Masters in
Social Work at the University of
Maryland-Baltimore in the fall
of this year. He invites any
SJC students needing/wanting
any advice on how to get into
the field of Mental Health/
Addictions Treatment/
Counseling/Psychiatry/
Psychology to contact him.
MATTHEW STRIPLING and
MALLORY HEPBURN (both SF)
were married at St. Stephen’s
Orthodox Church in
Crawfordsville, Indiana, on
January 9, 2011. Johnnies in
attendance included SKIP
of time once required to build one complex
model by hand. He begins by making
calculations in Excel, then drafts each ring
template using CorelDRAW graphic design
software. “The greatest learning curve
initially came from trying to figure out how
to say what I wanted to say in Corel.” Once
the model is complete, he types up a set of
user-friendly assembly instructions, and the
kit is ready for production.
After formulating his business concept,
Morse hired a local web designer to boost his
online presence with a website and online
store (DomPoly.com), and started taking his
kits to mathematics conventions. The public
response has been overwhelmingly positive,
with customers applauding the fact that the
3-D models can both educate and decorate.
Says Morse, “One customer even happily
told me the model makes a great dog toy.”
Recently Morse has been using his laser
cutter to experiment with building models
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
2011
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 College
St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404
thecollegemagazine@sjca.edu
out of two very different materials—acrylic
and wood—and is excited by the results:
“Acrylic sheets are more widely available
than polypropylene, and they leave a nicer,
polished edge when cut with the laser. And
using wood has allowed me to completely
redesign my approach; I’m hoping to build
wooden models that are about twice the size
of my current ones.” He returned to the
Mathematics Association convention this
summer to unveil these latest models.
Morse hopes that his kits will make a
particular impression on professionals
working in the mathematics community.
“Algebra is in many ways a Faustian bargain.
I want these models to remind my colleagues
of a happier, more fun way, one that recovers
the use of their intuitive faculties.”
As the freshman-at-heart says, “I delight
in these things, and I want to share my
delight!” x
�44
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
A Joyce Ride
Gregory Rhoades (SFGI89) motorcycles through great American landscapes to reach Piraeus.
by Gregory Rhoades (SFGI89)
L
ike Odysseus, it has taken me
20 years to achieve a homecoming. In my case, it was
getting back to St. John’s in
Santa Fe, where I had
graduated from the
Graduate Institute in 1989.
My alumni participation in the
Seattle/Puget Sound Chapter lagged after
my wife and I moved more than 30 miles
north of the city in 2000. In June 2009,
resolving to change my habits, I made my
first visit back to the Santa Fe campus in 20
years, to participate in the Piraeus continuing education program on Stendhal’s The
Red and the Black. A round-trip motorcycle
tour of 4,500 miles sweetened the deal,
taking me through national parks at Arches,
Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde on the way.
My return route wound through Great Sand
Dunes National Park to the top of Pikes
Peak, and then Badlands National Park,
Wounded Knee, and Little Bighorn
Battlefield.
Buoyed by my Stendhal experience and a
wonderful February 2010 discussion of
Plato’s Phaedrus joined by President and
Eleanor Peters in our Seattle/Puget Sound
Chapter, I made my first trip to the
Annapolis campus in June 2010 for the
Piraeus offering of Dostoevsky’s The
Brothers Karamazov. This time the discussion was sweetened by walking around the
A round-trip motorcycle
tour of 4,500 miles
sweetened the deal,
taking me through
national parks at
Arches, Canyonlands,
and Mesa Verde
on the way.
Gregory Rhoades (SFGI89) atop Colorado’s Pikes Peak in June 2009—the day after
leaving Piraeus in Santa Fe.
Naval Academy and historic downtown, and
seeing the sights on the Annapolis campus,
of which I had only seen pictures. As a longtime sculler, I especially enjoyed my tour of
the St. John’s College boathouse.
I returned to Seattle with a rekindled
desire to participate in the monthly book
discussions of the Seattle/Puget Sound
Chapter—which has proven to be worth my
more than 70-mile roundtrip ride into the
city each time. The act of shared inquiry in a
liberal arts light is sublime.
In June 2011, I jumped at the chance to
participate in both the Piraeus offering of
Joyce’s Ulysses and the Alumni Leadership
Forum (ALF) in Santa Fe. I took a “Joyce
ride” on my motorcycle from my home north
of Seattle down to eastern Oregon and the
eastern edge of California, with first-time
visits to Yosemite and Death Valley. From
Las Vegas, I rode through three national
parks in Utah: Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon,
and Zion. On from the North Rim of the
Grand Canyon to Canyon de Chelly National
Monument in Arizona, I arrived in Santa Fe
after riding for more than 3,600 miles.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
Like reading and discussing great books,
motorcycle riding involves skill and taking
risks—not unlike the experience of the
rowers and sailors on the Annapolis campus.
One reaps rewards for exercising those skills:
As a solo rider, I find that I’m more
approachable by other travelers. Without the
cocoon of a car around me, I experience the
landscape in a more Joycean way. And it’s
just plain more fun.
I’m in my late 50s, but only started riding
my motorcycle 10 years ago. It took about 5
years of local and regional trips before I was
up to riding long distances. Now I usually
take one long ride of 3,000 to 6,000 miles
across the West and Canada each summer.
As I get older, time has become more
precious to me. Therefore, I do the Piraeus
trips in part to honor friends, classmates,
and others who have passed away. x
You can reach Greg when he’s not trekking on
his motorcycle at gregory.rhoades@
frontier.com.
�45
{Obituaries}
LAURENCE BERNS (HA00),
ANNAPOLIS TUTOR
The college community
mourns the sudden death of
Laurence Berns (1928-2011)
who died of a heart attack on
March 3. The community
expresses its gratitude for his
nearly 40 years of devoted
service as a member of the
faculty. There will be a memorial for him on Saturday,
September 24 at Homecoming
in Annapolis.
Born in Newark, New Jersey,
Berns graduated from the
University of Chicago with a
PhD in International Relations.
The great loves of his life were
philosophy, political philosophy, and politics. He taught at
St. John’s in Annapolis from
1960 to 1999 and stayed an
active member of the college
community during his
retirement.
Berns never stopped being a
full-time student, in all areas
of human knowledge. His
enthusiasm and curiosity about
learning, his openness to the
world and its joys and problems, was unbounded. His
sunny, warmhearted nature was
a blessing for all those around
him. Above and beyond his
being a serious scholar, Berns
was a great storyteller, to his
own as much as his listeners’
delight. Not the least of his
charms was a beautiful musical
voice—he just loved to sing!
Immediately after graduating
from high school in 1946, he
enlisted in the military, and
was a photographer at Kimpo
Army Air Base in Korea. He
was a member of Congregation
Kneseth Israel in Annapolis.
A graveside service was held at
There will be a
memorial for
Mr. Berns on Saturday,
September 24, at 1 p.m.
at Homecoming in
Annapolis.
Laurence Berns leads a
commencement procession.
civility of his heart, the life
lessons he imparted, the diversity and intelligence of his
thoughts, and the twinkle in
his eyes.
The Board of Advisors of the
Mitchell Gallery of St. John’s
College, the patrons of and
visitors to the Mitchell
Gallery—past, present and
future—are grateful for the
gentle and wise leadership of
John Buell Moore Jr. that
resulted in the founding of the
Mitchell Gallery and securing
its permanence.
Kneseth Israel Cemetery in
Annapolis on March 7.
Predeceased by two of his
brothers, he is survived by his
wife of 45 years, Gisela, of
Annapolis, and his daughter
Anna, son-in-law Joel, and
grandson Rory of Palo Alto,
California.
JOHN BUELL MOORE JR.,
(HA01)
John Buell Moore Jr. (19162011) was a dedicated friend of
St. John’s College, and widely
appreciated for the founding
and development of the
Mitchell Gallery.
Always curious, he was interested in the life of the mind and
deeply engaged with the arts.
Moore agreed with others that
an intimate environment to
contemplate and study works of
art could enhance the college.
“He understood that a college
gallery could be a bridge to the
surrounding Annapolis
community with exhibitions
and opportunities for arts
education and collaboration
with artists and other arts
disciplines,” says Hydee
Schaller, director of the
Mitchell Gallery. “When the
college decided to establish a
gallery, John served on an advisory board along with directors
of major art museums to help
with planning and designing,
meeting frequently with college
officers and staff.” Moore was a
leader in the local, state, and
regional arts community as
well. For Moore it was always a
matter of seeing the myriad
possibilities in things, large
and small. Moore will be keenly
missed by his friends and
colleagues because of the
JAMES W. CONRAD (CLASS OF
1949)
A character, pleasant and
jovial, and active with his class
especially during Homecoming, James W. Conrad
donated the American flag used
at the All Alumni meetings at
Homecoming. The son of a
banker, Francis and his wife
Frances (Watson), he grew up
in thrall to his grandfather,
Frank Conrad, the Westinghouse inventor who pioneered
early radio. They would tinker
together late into the night in
Frank’s lab, the teenager and
the veteran engineer, and the
joy of that time never left the
boy. Neither, sadly, did the
need to measure up to a brilliant forefather. His first love
was anything that flew or
anything that sailed on the sea.
His tragedy was being born too
late and with the polio that
kept him out of the great
crucibles of his time: World
War II and the Korean conflict.
He loved children, and any
animal his sons might bring
home was welcome: cats, dogs,
gerbils, snakes, even once a
baby raccoon that would perch
on his shoulder. He liked
fireworks, golf, bagpipes, and
the occasional cigar. If you
liked to listen, he was a remarkable conversationalist. His
memory was extraordinary—
�46
{Obituaries}
Remembering Charles G. Bell, Tutor
It was clear from remarks given during the memorial service
for Charles G. Bell (1916-2010) that he made time to listen to
those who needed him. It was also clear that he could almost
always be found in the upper branches of a tall tree.
Colleagues, friends, and family gathered on the Santa Fe
campus to honor Bell on May 22, 2011.
The service was a tribute from both the college and his
family. Arriving guests listened to St. John’s tutor David
Bolotin perform works for the piano by Bach and Beethoven
and watched a slideshow: family pictures, images from his
travels, photos of Bell in his cap and gown at various
graduation ceremonies, even Bell in the high branches of an
enormous tree. As the images progressed, guests heard a
recording of Bell’s “matchless voice” reading his own poetry.
Following the memorial, guests sampled one of his favorite
Charles Bell in his study.
drinks, Pickwick punch, a concoction of boxed burgundy
wine, grape juice, and a splash of rum.
St. John’s President Michael Peters and then-Dean Victoria
Bell is survived by his five daughters: Nona Estrin and Delia
Mora gave tribute to Bell’s dedication to the college. Bell’s
daughter Sandra Colt recalled how her father opened the family Robinson of Montpelier, Vermont; Carola Bell of Santa Fe;
Charlotte Samuels of Fairfax, California; and Sandra Colt (SF75)
home over the years to people in need of support. “Real acts of
of Belgrade, Maine; and by many grandchildren and greatgenerosity involve risk,” she said. “By stretching the limits of
grandchildren. After his memorial celebration in May, Bell’s
our comfort, our lives in turn are enriched.”
ashes were scattered privately in the mountain stream above
Dustin Gish, who as a student at the University of Oklahoma,
met Bell when he came to teach a course at the college, said Bell Santa Fe where in 2004 he scattered Danny’s ashes.
was, “of course, high up in a tree behind his motel,” and
Curtis Wilson, tutor emeritus in Annapolis, pays tribute to
“surveying the mundane realm with a keen, penetrating eye.”
Bell and a life that he writes, “had a singular unity of purpose.”
Another of Bell’s daughters, Carola Middlemore Bell, shared
It was, he said, “a fond attempt to bring all realms of knowledge
her father’s love of books and poetry. At home in his study, she
would point out to him a poem like “Kubla Khan” by Coleridge. into creative cognizance.”
To read Wilson’s tribute to Bell visit:
He would adjust his spectacles, then “smile again with
www.stjohnscollege.edu/news. x
recognition” before sharing the words once again with his
—James Williams
daughter. She closed with a poem her father loved, “Lines
Above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth:
GNOMIC
“…And I have felt
The night each plows
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
A furrow of death
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
In the field of stars
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Who calls?
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
I am nothing
And the round ocean and the living air,
But one with the one
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
That makes the nothing
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All.
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
—Charles G. Bell
And rolls through all things.”
tossed back into a city he
hadn’t visited in 25 years, he
could navigate you out of
trouble in a jiffy.
He was a member of the
Pittsburgh Aero club for more
than 50 years. Late in his
career, he helped raise money
to have two submarines named
after his home—the fast attack
USS Pittsburgh and the boomer
boat USS Pennsylvania. One of
his sons took a ride on the
former, and never forgot the
experience of standing up in
the sail with his father, as the
massive thing roared through
the Connecticut Sound like a
muscle car built by the gods.
His brother Harry died in
1991. He is survived by his
younger brother David of Los
Altos Hills, California and his
sister Susan of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania; three sons:
James Jr. of Alexandria,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
Virginia, Philip of San Diego
and David in Pittsburgh;
four grandchildren: Elizabeth,
Caroline, Bennett, and Olivia;
and his beautiful and tolerant
wife of 56 years, Margaret
(Clement). He was 83.
�47
{Obituaries}
SYDNEY WAYNE PORTER JR.,
(CLASS OF 1954), APRIL 23,
2011
He was involved in radiation
safety with both the Navy
nuclear submarines and also
with nuclear power plants.
When Three Mile Island
occurred, Porter was one of first
radiation safety experts at the
scene. He and his team worked
18-hour days for months,
assessing the damage from a
core meltdown in one of the
reactors and supervising the
response. Porter also worked
with the Mutter Museum in
Philadelphia to preserve and
restore a piezoelectric sensor
donated by radiation pioneer
Marie Curie, whose husband
invented it in 1880. This device
measures pressure acceleration
and other forces.
STEVEN T. BRENNER (SFGI83),
JANUARY 16, 2011
A native of Colorado, Brenner
graduated from Colorado State
College, now the University of
Northern Colorado, in 1968
with a degree in English and
then served as an officer in the
Navy from 1969 until 1973. He
received his Graduate Institute
degree in 1983. Steve cherished
the experience of his studies at
St. John’s, beginning with his
graduate work, and continuing
through active participation in
many community seminars
over the years. He especially
valued a two-year study of
Marcel Proust in 2004 to 2006,
with tutor Jim Cohn. Steve’s
career as a court reporter
allowed him to pursue his
deeper interests: a wideranging passion for music,
including his 30-year study of
the guitar, and a carefully cultivated ability to read the world’s
great literature closely and
with insight. In recent years, he
had been delving deeply into a
study of his favorite book,
Hermann Broch’s The Death of
Virgil. Steve is missed by his
family and his many friends in
the Santa Fe St. John’s community. He was 65.
ZACHARY TODD JEMISON
(SF97), JUNE 25, 2011
Zachary Todd Jemison of
Georgetown, Texas, died after a
courageous battle with cancer.
Husband, son, brother, uncle,
friend—he was a true giver.
Jemison was born October 7,
1975, in Seattle, Washington.
His childhood took him to live
in Bloomington, Indiana; Palo
Alto, California;
Fontainebleau, France; and
finally Austin, Texas. He then
headed to St. John’s College,
Santa Fe. Austin eventually
drew him back, and he became
something of a Zack-of-alltrades, working in sales at Dell
and as a liquor store lackey,
standardized-test grader,
organic farmhand and more.
His fave four sang “money
can’t buy me love,” but Cash
ended up getting him that. (If
you don’t know the story,
search for “Jemison” on
kut.org.) After meeting in
Waterloo Records the day after
Thanksgiving and a swift
courtship (just old-fashioned
enough for both of them) and
engagement, Zack and Anne
were married in 2004. They
counted among their travels a
honeymoon in Belize; holidays
in Paris; heading west to Santa
Fe and Telluride; a recent jaunt
to New York City; and too darn
many to Houston.
Zack’s desire to give led him
to return to school and pursue
a career as a paramedic,
somehow a perfect use for that
encyclopedic mind of his.
Stationed at Williamson
County EMS in Taylor (Medic
42), though his time there was
too short, he found a calling as
a public servant. Life in Austin
and later Georgetown consisted
of him cooking many a holiday
meal, following an intensive
regimen of quality TV shows
and movies, caring for a cat and
then her kittens, and
remaining a music aficionado
(country, western, rock and/or
roll—live and otherwise) of the
highest order.
Zack is survived by his loving
wife, Anne Jemison, of Georgetown; parents, Dave and Kelley
Jemison of Austin; sister, Emily
Francis and many other loving
friends and extended family. A
service celebrating Zack’s life
was held on July 6, 2011, in
Austin. In lieu of flowers,
memorial contributions can be
made to Williamson County
EMS (c/o Joe Granberry),
303 Martin Luther King Street,
Georgetown, TX 78626.
Personal words of comfort may
be sent to the family online at
www.gabrielsfuneral.com. He
was 35.
ALSO DECEASED:
TUTOR MOLLY GUSTIN,
JUNE 10, 2011
GERALD ATTERBURY, CLASS OF
1946, MARCH 24, 2011
CHARLES C. BALDWIN, CLASS
OF 1946, MAY 27, 2011
WILLIAM BANKS, A64,
APRIL 25, 2011
EARL BAUDER, CLASS OF 1944,
DECEMBER 2, 2010
ALLAN R. BECKANSTIN, AGI93,
MARCH 6, 2011
SALLY R. BELL, SF74,
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
W. JAMES BIENEMANN, A66,
APRIL 21, 2011
FRANCIS E. BURROUGHS, CLASS
OF 1942, NOVEMBER 29, 2010
NICOLAS H. EKSTROM, CLASS
OF 1961, MAY 16, 2011
WILLIAM ENGELHARD, CLASS
OF 1952, OCTOBER 2, 2005
ARMANDO GUADIANA, SF81,
MAY 13, 2011
JAENET N. GUGGENHEIM, SF88,
APRIL 5, 2011
EDWARD JACOBS, CLASS OF
1954, NOVEMBER 4, 2010
JOHN J. LAMBROS, CLASS OF
1938, FEBRUARY 21, 2011
SAMUEL LARCOMBE, SF68,
NOVEMBER 5, 2010
JEAN LAWSON, SFGI79,
MARCH 2, 2011
KATHLEEN A. LEAR, SF72,
JUNE 3, 2011
RICHARD O. MILLS, AGI82,
DECEMBER 21, 2010
SLATON TILLEY ORR, SF09,
JUNE 4, 2011
ADAM A. PINSKER, CLASS OF
1952, OCTOBER 29, 2010
CLAYTON T. ROWLEY, SFGI87,
DECEMBER 27, 2010
GEORGE E. SAUER, CLASS OF
1956, SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
WILLIAM J. SCHWEIDEL, CLASS
OF 1963, NOVEMBER 12, 2010
FREDERICK P. SEELIG, CLASS
OF 1956
BARBARA W. SILLS, CLASS OF
1960, OCTOBER 19, 2010
THEODORE B. STINCHECUM,
CLASS OF 1961, MARCH 24,
WILLIAM A. CARTER, CLASS OF
1940, SEPTEMBER 11, 2010
2011
CH’AO-LI CHI, CLASS OF 1947,
OCTOBER 16, 2010
JOSEPH SWEENEY, AGI86,
SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
ELOISE COLLINGWOOD, A79,
APRIL 17, 2011
JAMES SYKES, CLASS OF 1951,
DECEMBER 29, 2008
GIRARD COSTELLO, CLASS OF
1960, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
CHRISTOPHER A. THOMAS,
A10, SEPTEMBER 15, 2010
WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, CLASS
OF 1953, OCTOBER 3, 2010
LESTER A. WALL, CLASS OF
1937, JANUARY 18, 2011
JOHN M. CUDDIHY, CLASS OF
1946, APRIL 18, 2011
MARILYN S. WILLIAMSON,
AGI81, APRIL 15, 2011
GEORGE DEPUE, CLASS OF
1961, MAY 16, 2011
J. RODNEY WHETSTONE, CLASS
OF 1944, MARCH 4, 2011
JAMES F. DUGAN, A93, MARCH
22, 2011
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�48
{Croquet}
A HIGH FORM OF
FL ATTERY
by Laurent Merceron (A08)
O
Class Dan Abney, would be a
nlookers gathered
tough one to beat. “They’ve
around the steps
definitely been getting better and
of the Barrmore serious, “says St. John’s
Buchanan Center
Imperial Wicket Blake Myers.
for the most anticAfter a close first couple of
ipated moment of
matches, the Johnnie team pulled
the 29th St. John’s-United States
ahead to win, three games to two.
Naval Academy Croquet Match—
The crowd stayed on for a few
the unveiling of the Johnnie’s
more hours.
themed uniforms. The crowd
erupted in cheers and surprised
laughter when the team
Match opener
triumphantly strode down the front
Celebrating his 70th reunion,
steps wearing near-replicas of the
alumnus Henry Robert (class of
Navy team’s traditional all-white
1941) hit the first ball, a ceremouniforms.
nial match opener. Robert, who
Throughout the day, spectators
was invited by the Annapolis
had to observe closely the details of Imperial Wicket Blake Meyers (A11) shows off his shaved
Alumni Office to be an honorary
head and nostalgic croquet mallet.
players’ uniforms, as competitors
guest at this year’s event,
from each team orbited around
proclaimed to the crowd before
each other on the courts while
his shot, “I’m now a St. John’s man
A tremendous turnout
taking their shots. Scruffy, white sneakers
through-and-through!” Robert is the
The 2011 match for the Annapolis Cup
helped distinguish the Johnnies from their
grandson of General Henry M. Robert,
Croquet Match boasted everything that
military rivals, but it was an even smaller
author of the preeminent guide to
fans of this annual 29-year tradition have
detail that revealed their guise: the Navy
parliamentary procedure, Robert’s Rules
come to expect—vintage fashions, chamteam had playing-card emblems on their
of Order. x
pagne picnics, lawn-game heroics—though
cardigans, but the Johnnies’ cardigans
this year’s event will undoubtedly be
featured veggies circled by a Mark Twain
remembered for something else: drawing a
quote: “Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage
crowd. “I’m not an official crowd estiwith a college education.”
mator,” says Annapolis tutor Thomas May,
St. John’s Imperial Wicket Blake Myers
“but this is the largest crowd I’ve ever seen
(A11) says his team’s white cardigans with
at this event.” More than 3,000 attended.
matching gold-letter “N’s” were “the real
Beneath clear, sunny skies, spectators
thing: they were ordered from the same
near the croquet courts watched the
company that the Navy team orders theirs.
competition unfold, while others sipped
That company actually just went out of
champagne or started swing dancing.
business. While every Johnnie got a
Mostly, people came to show off the latest
sweater, a couple of the Midshipmen
in garden-party fashions, as bow ties and
didn’t.”
parasols, starch-white Navy uniforms, and
The Navy team was clearly impressed
cloche hats blended into a stylish, colorful
and flattered by their competitors’
springtime panorama.
creativity and attention to detail.
The Johnnies entered the competition
“I thought it was great! It was the best
knowing that this year’s Navy team, led by
Henry Robert (class of 1941) and
theme they’ve ever done!” declared Navy’s
President Chris Nelson (SF70).
their Imperial Wicket, Midshipman First
Imperial Wicket Dan Abney.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�49
{Croquet}
Sing, Heavenly Muse
During the opening ceremony for croquet, two members of the original St. John’s
croquet team, Adrian Trevisan (A84) and Claiborne Booker (A84) announced a
contest for the composition of a new St. John’s College school anthem. The
Trevisan-Booker Prize aims to find new lyrics for the college’s official—and littleheard—song, the “St. John’s College March” (known colloquially as “St. John’s
Forever”). Fittingly the duo announced the competition on the centenary of the
date when the older song was composed—1911.
Dismayed by the lack of a unifying song for the college and by the current song’s
reputation as an archaic curiosity, the two alums had a brainstorm: a contest to
find a song that speaks more directly to the St. John’s community. “The current
‘St. John’s College March’ song has fallen into disuse, and we thought this would
be something fun to do,” says Trevisan.
According to the contest’s written announcement, a cash prize of $1,696 will be
awarded “to whomever updates [the March’s] lyrics to make our school song more
relevant to the Program.” In addition, the two men are hoping to find someone
interested in composing a new musical arrangement for the prize-winning lyrics.
The winner of the contest will be announced on January 31, 2012, with the new
lyrics being performed for the first time at the 2012 Croquet Match. Says Booker,
“We want to find something that Johnnies would be happy to sing.” x
For more information on the contest, visit:
www.stjohnscollege.edu/resources/an/1112_sjcforever_lyric_contest.pdf.
Counterclockwise (from top): “Beat
Navy!” buttons; Adrian Trevisan (A84)
and Claiborne Booker (A84); St. John’s
team on the left (Navy on the right);
John Dusenbury (A11) takes a shot;
Members of the class of ’84; waltzing
on the lawn.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�50
{Alumni Association}
A LU M N I L E A D E R S H I P
F O RU M 2 011
Initiatives to involve Johnnies in recruiting, mentoring, fundraising
T
he Alumni Leadership Forum
2011 convened with about
60 participants in Santa Fe
on June 10-12. This second
gathering of alumni leaders
focused on starting up
several new programs, designed to bring
more alumni into action as volunteers
and involved members of the college
community.
ALF, as the forum is known, serves to
inform alumni about college priorities and
issues. This year, campus presidents Mike
Peters and Chris Nelson provided a
summary of the college’s financial picture,
which they outlined as depending on two
main factors: a strong admissions program,
and a need-based financial aid program.
The difficult economy is putting pressure
on families, who then require greater financial assistance to meet tuition and other
college costs, explained Nelson.
Mike Peters noted the importance of
alumni support for many initiatives at the
college: making gifts to The Fund for St.
John’s, which provides 6% of the college’s
substantial financial aid budget; working
with the Career Services offices to provide
mentoring for current students and young
alumni; and serving as advocates for the
admissions efforts.
Identifying and recruiting Class Agents
was a major initiative of the weekend. Class
Agents will work with college staff to
encourage giving to the college and attendance at Homecoming, as well as providing
news and updates between alumni and the
college through the college website, and
Facebook, and The College magazine.
Alumni from 17 states and all eras—
undergraduate and graduate—participated
in the weekend’s events, which also
Among the Alumni Association’s accomplishments is the restructuring of its
leadership into a small governing board. The result is a structure in which alumni
volunteerism can make an impact, while the board concentrates on strategy and
policy governance. Welcome to a new slate of leaders: Matt Calise (A00), John
Clasby (A95), Bill Gregoricus (SFGI01), Erin Hanlon (SF03), Katie Heines (SF82),
and Adrian Trevisan (A84) joined the board; Lee Katherine Goldstein (SFGI90) and
Phelosha Collaros (SF00) became Alumni Association president and president-elect,
respectively. They join Patricia Sollars, (A80), past president; Dick Cowles,
(SFGI95), treasurer; and Liz Travis, (SF83), secretary.
Presidents Mike Peters and Chris Nelson (SF70) (l. to r.) called on alumni
throughout the weekend, inspiring them to step forward in support of St. John’s.
included a focus on chapter activities in the
many cities with St. John’s Alumni Association chapters.
Look for more on the Class Agent
program and other volunteer opportunities
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
on the alumni website:
www.stjohnscollge.edu/alumni and Facebook page, “St. John’s College Alumni.”
ALF 2012 will be held on June 8-10, in
Annapolis. x
�{Alumni Association}
Clockwise : Liz Travis ( SF84) and Sanjay Poovadan (SF83); (l. to r.)
Tamaki Ishii (SF12), Jim Williams, senior writer, communications,
Barbara Lucero-Sand, career services; (l. to r.) Lee Katherine Goldstein
(SFGI90), AAB President, Patty Sollars (A80), past president, and
Phelosha Collaros (SF00), president elect.
Homecoming 2011
Annapolis
Santa Fe
Friday, September 23, 2011
4-8 p.m. Registration, Coffee Shop
5 p.m. Alumni/Student Networking Reception
8:15 p.m. Concert, Bill Charlap Jazz Trio
After Concert Reception with current seniors
Saturday, September 24, 2011
8:30-11:30 a.m. Registration, the Coffee Shop
9:30-10:15 a.m. State of the College, Honorary Alumni
Celebration
10:30 a.m. Seminars/Story Hours
Noon. Lunch on the Lawn
1-3:30 p.m. Class Photos, Children’s Carnival
2-3 p.m. Planetarium Demonstration led by Jim Beall
3 p.m. Freshman Chorus Revisited, Mitchell Gallery Tour
4 p.m. Soccer Classic, Book Signing.
A conversation and presentation, “So Reason Can Rule:
The Necessity for Racial Integration at St. John’s College”
6 p.m. Cocktail Party
7:30 p.m. Banquet
9:30 p.m. Reception, Rock Party, Waltz/Swing Party
Sunday, September 25, 2011
11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. President’s Brunch
Friday, September 16, 2011
4-8 p.m. Registration, Thorpe Room
4:30-6 p.m. Alumni/Student Networking Reception
6-8 p.m. Welcome Home Reception
8 p.m. Lecture, Janet Dougherty, Plato’s Statesman
9 p.m. Post-Lecture Question Period
Saturday, September 17, 2011
8:30 a.m.-noon. Registration, Thorpe Room
10 a.m.-noon. Seminars/Story Hours
12:15-1:30 p.m. State of the College Luncheon,
Alumni Awards, Honorary and Merit
1:30-2:30 p.m. Book Signing, Class Photos
2:30-4:30 p.m. Bocce Ball Tournament and Kids’ Lawn Games
on the Soccer Field
5-7 p.m. Art Show Opening and Reception
6:30-8 p.m. Waltz /Swing Party
8 p.m. Down thru the Decades Dance Party
Sunday, September 18, 2011
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. President’s Brunch
For the full schedule of events and to register please visit:
www.stjohnscollege.edu/alumni
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
51
�52
hans mar x
{St. John’s Forever}
An Illustrated Conversation
W
hat’s he saying? In this
photo, circa 1954, three
years after the college
admitted women for the first
time in its 254-year history,
Barbara (Dvorak) Winiarski
(class of 1955) and Bernard E. Jacob (class of 1954)
strike a dramatic pose and share a somewhat
fantastical reptilian drawing. We invite you, dear
readers, to tell us about Dvorak and Jacobs’ conversation. Please send to The College (TheCollege@
sjca.edu or Communications Office, St. John’s
College, PO Box 2800, Annapolis, MD
21404-2800). x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
�{Eidos}
Lens on the Land of Enchantment
Deborah Moll (A69)
D
eborah Moll (A69) began
taking photographs as a
youth in Oxford,
Maryland, a small town on
the Eastern Shore.
Although both of her
parents had attended art school, she was
encouraged to go to college. She has always
been grateful for discovering St. John’s.
She arrived in Annapolis shortly after the
founding of the Santa Fe campus and heard
intriguing tales about New Mexico. After
graduating, Moll moved to Austin, Texas,
where she received her MA in English and a
JD degree from the University of Texas. She
relocated to Santa Fe. When not working as
an attorney for various New Mexico state
agencies and as general counsel for the New
Mexico General Services Department, Moll
photographed New Mexico places. Now
retired, Moll continues this exploration.
“In many ways New Mexico is like a
foreign country,” she says. “It is not
difficult to find interesting and striking
subjects, and with the advent of digital
[cameras], photography has become more
approachable and versatile.” Moll primarily
works in color. Her subjects include
landscapes, historic and other structures,
botanicals and wildlife. She has exhibited
her work in Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Silver
City, and at the Northern New Mexico
Regional Art Center. She can be contacted
at deborahmollphoto@aol.com or
msterkels@aol.com.
Clockwise (top, l. to r.):
Santa Cruz Church, Ojo Caliente. One of
New Mexico’s oldest churches, Santa Cruz
Catholic Church was built sometime
between 1793 and 1811 when it was
licensed. Ojo Caliente is situated beneath a
mesa where ruins of the Tewa people’s
pueblo (1300s to 1500s) have been found.
Today Ojo Caliente is known for its hot
springs and mineral baths.
Santuario de Nuestra Señora de
Guadalupe, Santa Fe. Franciscan missionaries built the Santuario of Our Lady of
Guadalupe between 1776 and 1796 as a
shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is
thought to be the oldest such shrine in the
country and is still in use.
“Sprite” Parjarito Plateau. The “little
bird” plateau was formed from volcanic
eruptions in and around the Valles Caldera
of the Jemez Mountains. The plateau
stretches from the Valles Caldera to the
White Rock Canyon of the Rio Grande
River. This photograph was taken on
New Mexico Route 4 between Bandelier
National Monument and the town of
White Rock.
Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon National
Historical Park. Pueblo Bonito is one of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2011 }
great houses built in Chaco Canyon by the
Chacoan people between the mid-to-late
800s. The park was designated a World
Heritage Site in 1987. x
�NON -P ROFIT O RG .
U.S. P OSTAGE
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
�
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College
The
SUMMER 2012
•
S T. J O H N ’ S C O L L E G E
•
ANNAPOLIS
•
S A N TA F E
Shakespeare
Is All the World a Stage?
�ii | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
�from the editor
The College
is published 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.
Editor
Patricia Dempsey
patricia.dempsey@sjca.edu
Contributing Editor
Gabe Gomez
Associate Editor
Gregory Shook
Art Director
Jennifer Behrens
Contributors
Genevieve Dufour-Allen (A12)
Chelsea Batten (A07)
Susan Borden (A87)
Jillian Burge (SF12)
Charles Fasanaro
Catherine Fields (A12)
Joseph McFarland (A87)
Laurence Nee
Anna Perleberg (SF02)
Leo Pickens (A78)
Deborah Spiegelman
Babak Zarin (A11)
Design Consultant
Claude Skelton
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
On Shakespeare
“All the world’s a stage,
and all the men and
women merely players;
they have their exits
and their entrances,
and one man in his time
plays many parts. . .”
As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born, and
died, in the village of Stratford-upon-Avon. The
man is less known than his works. Shakespeare,
sometimes called “Bard of Avon,” penned some
38 plays and 154 sonnets. It has been more than
400 years since Shakespeare began staging his
works in the late 1580s in Elizabethan England,
but we are compelled to return to them again
and again.
“Shakespeare in our seminar list would be as
inevitable as Plato, or the Bible, or Kant,” says
Annapolis tutor Jonathan Tuck, for a feature
in this issue in which several faculty members
share observations. At St. John’s, notes Santa Fe
Dean J. Walter Sterling, students “inhabit the
poetic form” when they encounter Shakespeare,
the great poet of the English language. As Annapolis Dean Pamela Kraus notes, “We encounter Shakespeare’s work in various ways: through
tutorials, study groups, preceptorials, lectures
and question periods, annual essays, orals, and
dramatic performances. . . . he instructs and
inspires us daily.” In his essay, Santa Fe tutor
Laurence Nee explores how Shakespeare reveals “our dearest and most powerful desire” in
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Lear.
At St. John’s and beyond, Shakespeare’s works
remain timeless.
For the alumni profiled in the story, “All the
World’s a Stage,” Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets inspire transformation: these Johnnies
have built careers around the stage. Actress Sara
Barker (A98), describes a modern retelling of
Mary Stuart through her work with the Washington Shakespeare Company. Ilana Kirschbaum (SF07) melds “science, art, and alchemy”
as a set and stage designer in New York City. A
junior-year preceptorial inspired Jack Armstrong
(SF83) to devise plot charts for the Philadelphia
Shakespeare Theatre in which “every scene . . .
advances...like rising and falling notes.” Playwright Damon Rhea Falke (SFGI01) “ listens” to
his characters. Recent graduate Maria Jung (A12)
landed a role in the in Annapolis Shakespeare
Company’s production of The Comedy of Errors.
The College magazine, in a way, is like a stage—
ready to transform your stories. We hope you
enjoy the changed set, the new design for The
College, unveiled in this issue. Thank you to
the more than 400 readers who responded to
the Reader Questionnaire on The College, and
those who joined informal focus groups on campus. Thank you for your many excellent, candid
suggestions and ideas.
As readers, you want The College to be
“distinctive, without gimmicks,” and to “convey
excellence,” brimming with stories about fellow
alumni in their careers, the Program, and the college community. You shared countless insights:
you want to hear from alumni who are beginning
their careers, as well as those who are established;
you like to read historical stories, in-depth essays,
want to see more photos, and are intrigued by
the idea of Johnnie trivia. Although you love the
classic black-and-white design of the past decade,
many of you said “yes” to a mix of color and blackand-white photos and illustrations, and many see
a future that includes electronic formats.
Each issue will have a black-and-white feature
or photo essay. In this issue, A. Aubrey Bodine’s
iconic view up Main Street sets the stage for
Susan Borden’s (A87) story on desegregation
on the Annapolis campus. As in the past, the
magazine connects you to the voices of tutors, students, and fellow alumni. Since you
want to hear from more members of the college
community, new short sections—such as “Mentors,” “Conversation with the Chair,” and
“Briefly Quoted”—have been added, along with
color photos of student and campus life. At the
back of each issue, you will find the familiar
“St. John’s Forever.”
This is your magazine, a work in progress.
As we unveil changes, please let us know what
you think! —P.D.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
1
�su m me r 2 01 2
volume 37, issue 1
A. AUBREY BODINE
PETR JERABEK
HENLEY MOORE (A13)
Shakespeare’s plays provide an unsurpassed depiction of abiding
human desires. Like mirrors, the plays use characters’ poetic
speeches and deeds to reflect for our consideration the objects of our
desires and the reasons we seek their fulfillment. —Laurence Nee, tutor
F E AT U R E S
page
18
Love and Desire:
“What Fools These
Mortals Be”
Faculty members reflect on
Shakespeare, and modern
and archival images of
the King William Players
provide visual history.
p a ge
25
“All the World’s
a Stage”
Meet five alums whose
repertoire includes acting
and writing “drama so
intense you’d feel it even if
the actors weren’t speaking,”
set design, and plot charts for
cross-dressing comedies.
on the cover:
Shakespeare illustration
by Marc Burckhardt
2 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
page
34
Rule of
Reason
What can the oral histories of
St. John’s veterans returning
after World War II tell us about
freedom and injustice? For
the first African Americans
who enrolled at St. John’s,
the college was a haven from
discrimination.
�DEREK STENBORG
D E PA R T M E N T S
ALUMNI
From Our Readers
Bibliophile
Profiles
4
6
39
46
Shakespeare Stories
Letters
From the Bell Towers
8
40
Eva Brann (HA89): Tutor, Traveler,
Pendulum Pit: A Gift for Learning and
10
10
11
12
12
13
14
14
15
16
17
Mentors
early activism leads him to Navajo
railroad workers.
Alumni Notes
53
In Memoriam
Alumni News
55 Notes from the
Chancellor Johnson House
Apollonius’s Conics
New Winiarski Student Center
Hodson House Underway
Johnnie Traditions
50
Croquet 2012: A new school song
christens the annual match.
Sarah Morse: Director of Admissions
in Annapolis
Jay Youngdahl’s (SFGI03)
Michael Fried (A82) on the lost book of
A Hunger for Shakespeare
Fulbright Fellow to Teach in Malaysia
51
Fred Bohrer (A78) examines photos of
excavation sites around the world.
New Board Members
Talk of the Towers
crafting furniture by hand.
42
41 Tutor emeritus Charles Fasanaro on
Perry Lerner: New Board Chairman
Conversations with the Chair
Geremy Coy (A06) finds truth
Jorge Aigla’s Intimate Microscopy
Homerathon: An Oral History
Singing
Joshua Parens (A83) and Joseph C.
Macfarland’s (A87) sourcebook on
medieval political philosophy
Thinker, American
9
Andrew Krivak (A86) comes of age as a
writer with The Sojourn, National
Book Award Finalist.
58
56
Homecoming 2012
above: Theatrical set design by
Ilana Kirschbaum (SF07).
St. John’s Forever
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
3
�from our readers
Readers Share
Shakespeare Stories
The Bard as Teacher
When I came to the Annapolis
campus as a prospective student—
croquet weekend of 1992—a King
William Players’ production of
Love’s Labour’s Lost replaced
the Friday night lecture. That
same week, the sophomores were
discussing Hamlet in seminar.
St. John’s did not teach Shakespeare’s plays; it allowed the Bard
to teach me. Shakespeare led me to
Freud in my sophomore year when
I attempted to define Hamlet’s
madness in my enabling essay.
Were it not for his plays, I would
have had little cause to ponder the
nature of madness or the human
condition in such a way. The poor
young scholars of Love’s Labour’s
Lost revealed to me the problem
of the divided will far better than
St. Augustine or St. Paul had been
able to do, although the fault
was entirely mine. After my own
conversion, I found great comfort
in returning to those two saints
because they understood the battle
that I had originally faced alone.
Since then I have had the
chance to share those plays with
my own students, and see them
loved anew. I teach seventh
through twelfth grades at Holy
Rosary Academy, a small, Great
Books-styled Catholic school in
Alaska. My 7th and 8th graders
just finished performing some of
the Bard’s notable monologues as
part of their first acting project;
soon I will be reading Julius
Caesar with the 9th grade and
Hamlet with the 10th. During
the last couple of years, we have
performed Twelfth Night, Love’s
Labour’s Lost, and A Midsummer
Night’s Dream. My students are
clamoring to do The Taming of
the Shrew next year. Shakespeare
teaches them far better than I
could.
—Erin (Hearn) Furby (A96)
Conversational Epiphanies
My seminar experience of
Shakespeare was strangely cold.
Our Shakespeare seminars were
dull soup. For some reason, our
seminar group never got into the
Elizabethan swing of things—never
effervesced around the object under discussion. After graduating,
I earned a PhD on Shakespeare
(along with Homer’s Odyssey,
Hellenistic romances, and medieval romances) and, specifically,
Shakespeare’s last four plays, at the
University of London and with the
assistance of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-uponAvon. Something at St. John’s must
have helped to get me there.
Two or three off-the-cuff
conversations with key tutors of
my St. John’s generation—
Mr. MacDonald and Mr. McGraw—
led me to click with Shakespeare.
I complained that Shakespeare
wasn’t accessible, wasn’t satisfactory somehow. McGraw quoted
Shakespeare sonorously, really
sang it as lyrics, when we discussed
it while walking up from town to
the Bell Tower. Suddenly I saw
behind the curtains: The text was
illuminated. Later, discussing
Shakespeare with Mr. MacDonald,
I made the same idiotic complaint
about Shakespeare’s inaccessibility. Mr. MacDonald breathed
deeply, looked at me with his
gimlet eyes, and said, “You really
have to dig deeper there. Listen
to the man. His work is packed
with treasure. What are you
looking for?”
They both provoked me with
Socratic techniques. They whet
my hunger. It’s those epiphanylike conversations that spark
interest—sparks that lead to real
bonfires, as it turns out.
—John Dean (A70)
4 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Christel Stevens (A72)
as Rosaline and Richard
Ferrier (A69) as Berowne
illuminate the stage in the
King William Players’
production of Love’s
Labour’s Lost circa 1969.
A Prospie’s
Point of View
As You Like It was the
seminar reading during
my prospective visit to the
Santa Fe campus. I had
always been a voracious
reader, but sitting in that
seminar room, I realized
that I hadn’t been much of
a thinker. I could actually
feel my mind come alive
with ideas. This little play,
which I had read as an
historical curiosity on the
flight out, was suddenly the gateway to where I needed to be. By the
end of the evening, I knew that
St. John’s was going to change
my life.
—Steve Hillson (SF86)
On Par with the Pros
I acted in Measure for Measure at
St. John’s in the spring of 1997.
Ably directed by Heidi Jacot (A97),
the show’s fabulous leads were
Sara Barker (A98) and Weldon
(Michael) Goree (A98), who are
both now involved in Washington,
D.C.-area theater. Since leaving
St. John’s and continuing to watch,
read, and act in Shakespearean
plays, I have come to appreciate
the passion that Johnnies brought
to the classic plays mounted by the
KWP. Although we had [sparse]
sets and costumes, the commitment to the acting and the desire to
bring the text to life was amazing.
I had the privilege to be in both
Measure for Measure and Electra.
Later I saw a production of Hamlet
that, in its acting at least, truly
rivaled the Shakespeare Theater
Company’s Free for All production
that same summer in Washington,
D.C., which starred professional
actors. The fencing scene at the
end was truly memorable.
—Jill Nienhiser (A/SFGI97)
A Bravura Performance
This picture (above) of Richard
Ferrier (A69) as Berowne and me
as Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s
Lost is from the King William
Players’ 1969 production. (Others
may chime in with the correct
date.) Directed by Michael Victoroff (A71), it also featured such
luminaries as Patrick D’Addario
(A71) in the role of Dumaine, Patti
Posey (A70) as Katharine, Harry
Koenig (A69) as Holofernes in a
bravura performance, and my own
brother, Richard Stevens (A69), as
Constable Dull.
—Christel Stevens (A72)
A Life-Altering Moment
I had the opportunity to act in two
Shakespeare plays at St. John’s,
and I directed The Winter’s Tale
while writing my senior essay on
it. Our cast was an eclectic mix
of undergraduates, GIs, and tutors. Imam Sawez (A95) stole the
show with his cameo as the bear!
Encouraged by my experiences
at St. John’s, I auditioned for a
classical theater training program
in London and spent the year after
graduation studying with amazing
British actors and directors. I had
a life-changing experience while
playing the patriarch Leonato in
an all-female production of Much
Ado About Nothing in London.
�from our readers
During one of the performances, I found myself fully inhabiting
this character whose worldview
and priorities couldn’t have been
more different from my own. I was
suddenly able to understand this
man at a fundamental level and
feel a deep sense of compassion
for him. I now strive to bring these
same qualities of awareness and
open-mindedness to my work.
My life-altering moment wouldn’t
have been possible without
Shakespeare’s powerful words—
and my time at St. John’s that led
me to them.
—Adee St. Onge Swanson (A95)
Wild for Togas
My favorite Shakespeare memory
from St. John’s was As You Like
It in 1980. When Johnny Moron
appeared as the god Hymen on
his leafy throne, resplendent in
his toga and crown of flowers,
surrounded by fairies, the whole
audience went wild.
—Jack Armstrong (SF83)
“The Player King”
When I was a student at St. John’s,
there was, mysteriously, a record
album of the entire play, Richard
II, on a side table in the seminar
room. Mesmerized, I listened
to it repeatedly. Years later, as a
graduate student at Tulane, the
major dramatic offering was—you
guessed it—Richard II. I auditioned and got the part! I went
on to an illustrious acting career,
including much Shakespeare.
I consider Richard II one of
Shakespeare’s finest plays,
containing some of his best
poetry. The character of Richard
is one of his best portrayals.
By the way, my senior thesis,
“The Player King,” was an
analysis of Richard II.
—John Chase (A56)
Moved by Henry V
The scene in Shakespeare that
has always moved me most is
perhaps a minor part in Henry V,
in the history series beginning
with Richard II and concluding
with Henry VIII. Richard II sets
up the tragic sequence; although
Richard’s kingship is depicted as
mercurial and capricious, Shakespeare cannot morally justify
the usurpation by Bolingbroke,
later Henry IV. Bolingbroke’s
son, Henry V, pleads with God
regarding his offerings of Masses
for the soul of Richard II, who was
murdered. Yet Henry senses that
Masses cannot compensate for the
injustice of Richard’s deposition,
however better Bolingbroke ruled
England than Richard did. The
audience knows that the tragedy
will culminate in the deposition
and murder of Henry’s son, Henry
VI, during the War of the Roses,
which will not end until the triumph of the Tudors at Bosworth
Field and the birth of Henry VII’s
granddaughter, the future Queen
Elizabeth.
—Steven Shore (SF68)
Dramatic Memory
The first time I went to St. John’s,
in the early 1950s, a lecturer from
Harvard University spoke on
Macbeth, listing all the times the
word “blood” appeared in the
play. I never heard anything so
exciting in my life—I had goose
pimples on my arm! A few months
later, I met this man, (whose
name, I believe, was F. O.
Mathiesen), in the Harvard
University Library, and tried
to congratulate him on the
excitement he generated with his
lecture. He refused to talk to me.
A few months later, I read in the
newspaper that he committed
suicide. Now that is drama at
its highest.
—Alvin Aronson (A72)
“As I teach Shakespeare to my students, I
am still in wonder at how well he captured
the transformative qualities of human
beings. Be it an army of Englishmen or an
angry shrew, Shakespeare always left room
for his characters’ capacity to change.”
Tobin Herringshaw (a05)
Recollecting the Shrew
In my sophomore year at Santa
Fe, I had a role in The Taming of
the Shrew. I mainly recall using
the time when I was not needed
onstage in rehearsals memorizing
the opening passage from Book
Three of Paradise Lost, which
remains with me to this day, some
thirty years later. Happily, I have
little recollection of how well
I played the role of the hapless
lover.
—Don Dennis (SF82)
Is Change Possible?
I directed Hamlet in 2002 at
St. John’s. Naturally, I wrote my
junior essay on that paragon of
plays. The real focus of my essay
was on the reversal and recognition moment of Aristotle’s Poetics.
I argued that Hamlet’s moment
In 2002, Joe Hyde (A03), playing
the role of Hamlet with the King
William Players.
occurred on the pirate ship,
when Hamlet, accompanied by
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
discovers himself anew. Now, as I
teach Shakespeare to my students,
I am still in wonder at how well
he captured the transformative
qualities of human beings. Be it an
army of Englishmen or an angry
shrew, Shakespeare always left
room for his characters’ capacity
to change. Through his work, I
continue to believe that people
can bring change to their lives.
Aristotle, in his Ethics, would
probably disagree.
In the accompanying
photograph, Joe Hyde (A03)
plays Hamlet in our production.
—Tobin Herringshaw (A05)
A Prancing Mustard Seed
I played the part of Mustard Seed
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at
St. John’s, which involved prancing around and singing songs that
Mr. Zuckerman composed for the
occasion. It was one of those lighthearted moments in my otherwise
earnest years studying the Great
Books and trying to be wise long
before I was ready.
—Julia Busser du Prey (A66)
To Act or Not to Act
I can’t remember whether I played
Prospero in The Tempest during
my sophomore year or my junior
year. Jack Landau (A44), who
directed it, embarked on a
brilliant career in the theater
upon graduation. (His life was
tragically cut short by a burglary[continued]
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
5
�from our readers
Readers Share Shakespeare Stories (continued)
related murder at the age of 42.)
Rehearsals were great fun at the
digs of Captain Dickinson, the
U.S. Naval Academy quartermaster, who was reputed to have the
Academy’s best liquor supply and
whose daughter Laetitia played
the role of Prospero’s daughter
Miranda. One of Landau’s inventions was to have Ariel appear only
as a disembodied voice emanating
from loudspeakers placed in the
crowns of several tall trees
surrounding the open-air stage.
The day after the single
performance, a Naval Academy
English professor, who had seen
the play, called to ask if I could
spare a few minutes to visit him.
When I found his office, he announced that he wanted to lend
me a book, Stanislavski on Acting.
I have never come to a satisfactory conclusion about the motive
behind this generous gesture.
On good days, I flatter myself by
thinking it must have been due to
my stellar performance. On bad
days, I wonder whether I could
really have been that lousy. At any
rate, my role in The Tempest was
both the beginning and the end of
my thespian career.
—Peter Weiss (Class of 1946)
Liberated
I was exposed to Shakespeare in
high school when I was full of zeal
for a narrow form of Christianity. I had doubts about reading
secular literature, wondering
if God approved. The beauty of
Shakespeare’s language and the
expansiveness of his worldview liberated me. In fear and
trembling, I set out to explore a
world fraught with the poignant
ambiguities of the heart.
—Kevin (Johnson) Thomas (A93)
“The beauty of Shakespeare’s language
and the expansiveness of his worldview
liberated me. In fear and trembling, I set
out to explore a world fraught with the
poignant ambiguities of the heart.”
Kevin (Johnson) Thomas (A93)
The Singing Sonnet
On a sauntering expedition
through the stacks of St. John’s
library, I found a book of sonnets
by Shakespeare. After reading for
quite some time, I took the
volume home. Then I bought
Helen Vendler’s great analysis,
The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets,
and later, more books on his
sonnets. Eventually I got serious
about my research, delving into
the magnificent collection at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in
Washington, D.C. As a composer,
I began to think about setting
sonnets to music. As I viewed
others’ musical sonnet manuscripts and publications from the
Folger collection, my creative
muse was awakened. I began
to write a 60-minute work for
soprano, baritone, and string
quartet titled “O, know, sweet
love, I only write of you,” based on
Shakespeare sonnets. Now I am
seeking a premiere performance
of this new work—all a result of
sauntering through St. John’s
College [Greenfield] library.
—Hollis Thoms (AGI06)
Letters
The Real Olympics
The “Real Olympics” were an
annual athletic event (of sorts)
with chariot races, a teeter-totter
weighting the Bible against Aristotle, epicycle races in which a
woman ran around a man who in
turn ran around a large circle . . . .
The event was started by Seth
Bernadette, a tutor pouring a
cup of beer on the ground while
muttering in ancient Greek . . . .
We decided to spice them up
in the spring of 1958 by having
Steve Almy (A60, pictured here)
run through Annapolis carrying a torch! He was arrested for
“parading without a permit” —but
quickly released to the cheers of a
few dozen students; the [story and
photo] appeared later in the New
York Times. The following year, we
got a permit; the police stopped
traffic and allowed Almy to run
from Piraeus (Annapolis harbor)
to campus amid much fanfare.
—Hugh Curtler (Class of 1959)
Thank you for your letters on the
fall Chopin issue. Look for more
letters in the next issue.
6 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Thank you
A special thanks to those who
joined a College magazine focus
group or took the time to review
ideas: Matthew Calise (A00);
Thea Chimento (A10); Genevieve
Dufour-Allen (A12); Nadia Al’Taie
(A14); Erin Fitzpatrick (A14); Beth
Martin Gammon (A94); Jessica
Kjellberg (A14); Alexander Kriz
(SF09); Hannah Pasternak (A12);
Alex Plunkett (A14), Babak Zarin
(A13); tutors Nicholas Maistrellis,
Jonathan Tuck, and John Verdi;
Elliott Zuckerman, tutor emeritus;
Annapolis Dean Pamela Kraus
and Santa Fe Dean J. Walter
Sterling; A special thanks to
Barbara Goyette (A78), Annapolis
vice president for Advancement,
for her savvy ideas; and to my
colleagues: Susan Borden (A87);
Jaime Dunn; Susan Kaplan;
Susan Patten; Leo Pickens (A78);
Victoria Smith (AGI09); Melissa
Stevens; Nancie Wingo. Thanks
to Claude Skelton for his elegant
design. For the photos they
provided, thanks to Jen Behrens,
Jennifer Bodine and Lucinda Edinberg, Henley Moore (A14), Cara
Sabolcik, and Melissa Stevens;
thanks to our copyeditor, Cathi
Dunn MacRae. Welcome to Gabe
Gomez, new director of
Communications, Santa Fe.
Finally, a standing ovation to my
staff who kept their sense of
humor during all the deadlines:
Jen Behrens, art director; Gregory
Shook, associate director; and
Katie Matlack, web specialist. It
took a village—a collaboration of
expertise and ideas—to transform
The College magazine.
—Patricia Dempsey, editor
�“The day after the single performance, a
Naval Academy English professor, who
had seen the play, called to ask if I could
spare a few minutes to visit him. When
I found his office, he announced that he
wanted to lend me a book, Stanislavski
on Acting. I have never come to a
satisfactory conclusion about the motive
behind this generous gesture.”
—Peter Weiss (Class of 1946)
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
7
�Eva Brann: Tutor, Traveler,
Thinker, American
by Genevieve Dufour-Allen (A12)
Homage to Americans: Mile-High Meditations, Close Readings, and TimeSpanning Speculations is a collection of essays and talks by Annapolis faculty
member Eva Brann (HA89), published last year. Brann shares her inspirations
and stories spanning the scope of the essays and her own life.
discover—its spirit is large and generous.
At the last faculty meeting we actually
discussed whether it ought to be read as
poetry or prose. Madison’s rhetoric is
elegant and effective; it was a beautiful
speech at a time of difficult decisions.
Both are certainly worth studying.
You mentioned that Madison and Lincoln are heroes of yours. Tell me more.
I’ll start with Madison because he seems
to have the most practical wisdom. He
succeeded in helping to write a Constitution that has stood for over two centuries.
And Lincoln is a model for leaders; he was
a great leader. While I was the Dean for
seven years, I found him to be an inspiring and comforting model. He was firm
but not ignoble or mean. You can always
ask yourself, “What would Lincoln do?”
JEN BEHRENS
Why is it important to examine the
roots of America?
This book pays homage to Americans.
Why is it important to you to address
the people of America, and those who
adopt the demonym?
Every article is a celebration of America,
North to South. The first is about living
with one’s fellow citizens and the last is
remembering the Aztec civilization as
a part of American history, i.e., North
American. The first essay is the most
important to me, concerning tolerance,
which I think is a flabby virtue and should
be replaced with respect, which is active
and humanly engaged. The first essay is
the one in which I tried to summarize my
philosophy; it shows how I thought and
think about living here. It begins in the
airport where I observed an American
couple eating a great deal of gross fast
food—but they were also reading a book on
classic chess moves and practicing with a
travel chessboard.
There are also two central essays, one
on Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance and one on Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address. What is the value of Madison’s eloquence? Some think that the
Gettysburg Address is the high point of
American speechmaking. Do you agree?
The essays on Madison and Lincoln are
important to me; they are heroes of mine,
you see. The Gettysburg Address was a
piece of prose that comes very close to
poetry. It is close, precise, fraught with
meaning and full of things, details, to
8 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Roots are important. Particularly in a
political world, it is important to look at
foundations, to ensure we are holding true
to them. It is also important in intellectual
matters to go back to ideas that the Civil
War introduced. It’s where our current
country comes from. And that’s what the
[St. John’s] program is about, isn’t it? It’s
about the things we take for granted, the
roots of our assumptions. It’s not possible
to understand what is going on presently if
we don’t know what we embody or what we
are losing with respect to our foundations.
Because it is what we have in common,
our country is built on something we
have together. The beginnings are always
important, in order to have perspective.
The last essay connects the Aztecs of
Central America. How do you see that
history affecting America as a whole?
Well, imagine that the Spanish had not
conquered and the Aztecs influenced
the development of the Americas more
than the West. Imagine a modern Aztec
influence; it would be very different from
what did happen. The god of the West
is vastly different from the god of the
�PENDULUM PIT: A GIFT
FOR LEARNING AND SINGING
the Earth’s rotation, as well as
some of the math and physics
covered in the Program. For
example, the Pendulum is a
handy resource for demonstrating Newton’s “bucket” experiment, arguing the idea that the
Earth is not a true sphere
shape, but rather oblate from
the effect of centrifugal force
due to rotation.
Aztecs. There was a great problem in the
defeat of the Aztecs, such a large civilization brought down in a matter of a few
years. It is important to remember how
we influence our neighbors, and how they
influence us. So imagine what we could
have become if the West had not won. It
gives another perspective; what might
have been is an interesting way to think
about our present condition.
Today the Pendulum’s
mathematical and scientific
applications are studied in the
Program. Demonstrations of its
mechanics are carried out by
Junior Lab classes in their study
of Newton’s Laws of Motion as
well as attempts to replace the
Aristotelian efficient cause with
Descartes’ quantity of motion,
Leibniz’s “living force,” and
other concepts.
The Americas and particularly the United
States are important to look at. For me,
it is partly because I was an immigrant,
a refugee. I moved here from Germany
when I was 12, escaping the Nazis. I
landed in Hoboken first, and then spent
my grade school and high school years
in Brooklyn, eventually landing here at
St. John’s, where I fell in love with the
college. The U.S. is my adopted country;
typically adoptive citizens have stronger
connections to the adopted country. It is
certainly true for me.
What did you fall in love with at
St. John’s?
Well, many things—I’ll tell you a few. I had
just obtained my degree in archaeology
when I visited the college for an interview. I
fell in love with it. I had a room in Campbell,
which was where they would put interviewees up back then. In the closet of the room,
there was a red skeleton painted behind the
closet door with the Greek γνωθι σεαυτόν,
or “know thyself,” above it. I thought it was
charming. That night I was woken up by students singing madrigals in the courtyard.
It was wonderful. The same weekend, I had
breakfast with Jacob Klein at his house,
and Viktor Zuckerkandl. At the time, the
bookstore was in the coffee shop in the
room where the fireplace is now. There
was a big problem with books being stolen,
which came up at breakfast. Zuckerkandl
said, “What a wonderful school at which
we live where students steal books!” I was
enchanted with everything.
JEN BEHRENS
How did you come to America?
On Friday afternoons, Mellon
Hall dwellers—mostly staff and
tutors—cherish the sound of
choral singing that emanates
from the lobby near the Pendulum Pit. The curious mechanism that hangs in one of the
stairwells nearby is a familiar
sight to Annapolis Johnnies.
The nearly 300-pound pendulum and the space it occupies,
affectionately known as the
Pendulum Pit, is like a member
of the college community. The
fact, too, that only a handful
of other institutions have a
pendulum makes it even more
special that Johnnies have one
to call their own.
For most of its existence, the
Pendulum was inoperable.
That changed, however, when
the class of 2011 approached
Annapolis tutor James Beall
to donate funds from their
Senior Class Gift to pay for the
restoration of the Pendulum, a
gesture that complemented the
previous year’s class gift of a
new projector for the McKeldin
Planetarium. The Colorado
School of Mines gave Beall the
design for the Pendulum, which
he describes as “very contemplative . . . the motion of a
whole swing is 7.1 seconds.”
“THE PENDULUM PIT
IS THE CLOSEST OUR
CAMPUS COMES TO
[PRODUCING] THE
SOUND OF A RESONANT STONE CHAPEL
—THE SORT OF PLACE
FOR WHICH 16THCENTURY VOCAL MUSIC
WAS WRITTEN.”
Eric Stoltzfus, tutor
With support from students,
whose help included soldering electrical connections and
putting together circuitry, Beall
embarked on the Pendulum
Project. “The students had a
fun time getting the electronics
running and understanding the
Pendulum’s inner workings,”
says Beall, a physicist who
studied astrophysics at the
NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center and received his
PhD from the University of
Maryland.
Modeled after Léon Foucault’s
Pendulum invented in 1851,
the Pendulum was included
in the building’s original
1958 construction to give
students and tutors a practical
understanding of the effect of
The Pendulum has surprising
artistic merits, too. Due to the
impressive acoustics of the
Pendulum Pit, the space is a
favorite among musicians and
vocalists. The Freshman Chorus
and the Primum Mobile ensemble gather there on Friday
afternoons to belt out wellloved songs such as William
Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices,
Josquin des Prez’s Missa Pange
lingua, and Tomás Luis de
Victoria’s Missa O Magnum
Mysterium.
“I find it moving to sing while
the Pendulum is swinging,
as if reminding us of our
place in the universe as the
heavenly bodies silently sing
out the music of the spheres,”
says tutor Eric Stoltzfus. “The
Pendulum Pit is the closest our
campus comes to [producing]
the sound of a resonant stone
chapel—the sort of place for
which 16th-century vocal music
was written.” Recently students
have been meeting there on
Wednesday afternoons to sing
Palestrina’s “Sicut Cervus” for
fun. In true Johnnie tradition, this gift will continue to
give—and swing—and sing—for
generations to come.
—Catherine Fields (A12)
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
9
�from the bell towers
2011-2012
New Board Members
homerathon
AN ORAL HISTORY
The Board of Visitors and Governors
welcomes these new members:
HENLEY MOORE (A13)
Claiborne B. Booker (A84)
has been active in investment management since
1985, when he joined what is
now known as LGT Group,
a European private bank.
During the past decade, he
has focused on early stage venture capital and
private equity placements and has worked with
investors and their advisors to raise capital for
companies and new investment funds. He is a
1992 graduate of the University of Chicago Booth
School of Business, where he earned his MBA in
finance. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
Student voices echoed off
the quad as the third annual
Homerathon paid tribute to the
immortal epic of the Greek oral
tradition: Homer’s Iliad. Gathered under a partially cloudy
sky from 9 a.m. on Saturday,
April 14, to 1 a.m. on Sunday,
Annapolis students dropped by
to read aloud a hundred lines
or a whole chapter of the epic,
giving voice to the gods and
heroes of Homer.
Homerathon began in 2009
when Bradley van Uden (A10)
“just wanted to have someone
read the entire Iliad out loud”
to him. Virginia Early (A13),
one of the participants in the
original Homerathon and
current leader of the event,
decided to continue because
it’s “worthwhile,” she explains.
“It’s beautiful reading the
poetry out loud and hearing it—
it hits you more deeply.” Thus a
new Johnnie tradition was born.
Logan Dwyer (A12), who has
attended all three Homerathons, recalls, “The fancy struck
me to sit and listen to the
entire Iliad when it first started.
It appealed to me to reenact
what Homer and the Ancients
did. It smacks of St. John’s.”
Homer brings Johnnies
together with a nostalgia and
fondness unrivaled, perhaps, by
any other book on the Program.
Part of the appeal lies in returning to the Program’s first book.
“This year,” says Early, “hearing
the Iliad read by a lot of people
“IT’S SO ORGANIC; IT’S
A CREATIVE OUTPUT
EMBRACING THE JOHNNIE NERDINESS. I GOT
TO READ THE BEST
PART IN THE ENTIRE
ILIAD! IT’S ACHILLES’
REPLY TO ODYSSEUS
AFTER AGAMEMNON
TOOK HIS BRIDE.”
Lucy Ferrier (A12), a three-year
Homerathon veteran
and from many translations
brought out different things in
the poetry and story. I get more
out of it—the forgiveness of
Achilles really spoke to me in a
new way. The whole experience brought home the force
of the Iliad and Achilles as a
character.” The participants’
shared enjoyment of the story
deepened as they not only
read aloud but performed
swordfights, voiced Poseidon’s
10 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
speeches with an underwater
burbling achieved by a finger
on the lips, and carried out a
funeral of Patroklus as it was
read. “Homerathon has a very
communal spirit,” says Early.
“Everyone is involved in the
story together; we all booed
when Hektor died.”
A staunch few triumphantly
lasted all 16 hours with a
gallon of wine in hand for the
necessary libations to Zeus,
Hera, Athena, and Apollo. Lucy
Ferrier (A12), also a three-year
Homerathon veteran, says,
“It’s so organic; it’s a creative
output embracing the Johnnie
nerdiness. I got to read the
best part in the entire Iliad!
It’s Achilles’ reply to Odysseus
after Agamemnon took his
bride: ‘For hateful in my eyes,
even as the gates of Hades, is
that man that hideth one thing
in his mind and sayeth another’
(9.310-315). “I shouted,
declaimed it for Achilles.
This was definitely my top
experience this year; it’s fitting
to hear Homer echoing off the
quad. It’s part naïveté, part
being not so cool—just being
able to listen and love Homer
and embrace what we do here.”
—Genevieve Dufour-Allen (A12)
Lee Katherine Goldstein
(SFGI90) received her
bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University
of Florida in 1988 and her
JD from the University of
Miami in 1993. She has been
an active part of the St. John’s College alumni
community for many years and is the current
president of the Alumni Association. She
currently lives in Denver, Colorado, where she
is an attorney practicing in the areas of civil and
commercial litigation.
Joan M. Haratani (SF79)is
a litigation partner based in
San Francisco, for Morgan
Lewis. In her 27 years of
practice, she has handled
all phases of pretrial and
trial proceedings, with
a particular emphasis on complex products
liability and high stakes commercial disputes.
She has received numerous awards for both her
practice accomplishments and service on behalf
of minority and female practitioners. Among
many, she has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer (2004-2012). She lectures on
topics of diversity and trial work, and is a board
member of several philanthropic organizations.
Harold Hughes (A84) is senior managing director, Alliance Bernstein, head of retail for the
Americas. He is also the CEO of Alliance Bernstein Investments Inc. in New York. Mr. Hughes
joined Alliance Bernstein in 2004 as managing
director of the Washington D.C. Bernstein Private Client office. In 2008 he moved to London,
U.K., to head Bernstein Private Client for the
U.K. and Europe. Previously he was with Legg
Mason in Baltimore as senior vice president and
head of wealth management.
�from the bell towers
New Board Chairman:
A Conduit for Ideas
“Barring asteroids falling on the
Earth, St. John’s will remain strong.
We have a broad base of support. As
long as we do our jobs well, we will
continue to have support. We need
to focus on enrollment, control our
budget, and build our endowment.”
Perry Lerner takes the helm of the Board
of Visitors and Governors (BVG) at a time
when liberal arts colleges are defending
the value of the education they offer, and
families are struggling in an uncertain
economy to pay the high costs of four-year
college programs. “St. John’s is committed
to sustaining its Program and its standing
among liberal arts colleges,” he says.
“St. John’s excels in ensuring that our
students develop the knowledge and skills
which are critical to leading successful and
fulfilling lives.” A graduate of Harvard
Law School and Claremont McKenna
College, Lerner is a former international
lawyer who has also managed several
business ventures. A member of the BVG
since 1999, forward-thinking Lerner has
a visionary, collaborative strategy for St.
John’s future. “The role of the BVG is to
act as stewards of the college, providing
strategic direction and leadership while
avoiding involvement in the college’s
day-to-day operations. Notwithstanding
today’s challenges, we are an extraordinary
institution.” He shares his priorities with
The College.
What is the legacy of Mike Uremovich,
the previous chairman?
He was very effective. He became chair in
2007 when the economy suffered many
shocks. Under Mike’s leadership we
balanced the budget, grew the endowment, and have developed a greater
awareness of issues affecting our sustainability. By streamlining board operations,
he enabled the BVG to be more effective.
Our new structure will have fewer committees and members, which should help
us be more focused on our goals.
What are your priorities for
St. John’s College?
Our first priority is to improve our
admissions program. It is important that
we attract and retain excellent students
during these difficult economic times.
Second, we must look at our branding,
whether we are receiving the kind of
recognition that our unique education
offers to our students. There was a time
when our brand was easily identified in the
market—now there is more competition
for good students, and too many potential
applicants rely on external measures such
as blogs and popular ratings. Accordingly,
we must do more to strengthen our brand
so that we attract students who would
benefit from the St. John’s Program.
A BVG committee chaired by Robert
Bienenfeld (SF80) is charged with the
responsibility to examine our branding
and is hard at work on these issues. As an
exceptional and extraordinary institution,
our brand should not be drowned out by
“noise” in the marketplace.
Third, we must strengthen our financial
resources. In the last few years, our endowment has held steady despite difficult fi-
nancial markets. The BVG has been exceptional in its support for the college, having
increased its giving by 20 percent this last
year. BVG support needs to continue as we
focus on gifts to meet our current needs as
well as our endowment.
Fourth, the BVG must support the
Instruction Committees on both campuses
as they consider broadening the curriculum; they should be free to examine ways
to create opportunities for students to be
exposed to new readings, ideas, languages,
and cultures. I believe that students are
anxious for opportunities to learn and
travel during breaks and vacations, and we
should make this possible.
Finally, we should attract more students
outside the U.S. We do not want to ignore
new markets where the college’s Program
can attract students from other parts of the
world.
What will ensure the sustainability of
the college?
Barring asteroids falling on the Earth,
St. John’s will remain strong. We have a
broad base of support among BVG members, graduates, faculty, staff, friends, and
foundations. As long as we do our jobs well,
we will continue to have their support. We
need to focus on enrollment, control our
budget, and build our endowment.
We need to do better in all these areas.
Describe your leadership style.
Good leadership is enabling others to
do their best work. I will be a conduit for
ideas and a supporter of innovation. I am
primarily an enabler, encouraging others
to do their best. As chair, it is my responsibility to help set priorities and to see that
the important work of the college is done.
I believe that everyone in our community
will work hard to meet our challenges.
What is the importance of St. John’s?
I believe that the education at St. John’s
opens unrivaled opportunities for acquiring the ability and understanding needed
to live a good and balanced life. Very few
have those opportunities.
—P.D.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
11
�from the bell towers
A Hunger for
Shakespeare
On a Tuesday evening
last fall, Annapolis
students occupied every
seat around the enormous
table in the Barr-Buchanan
Center’s elegant General Hartle
Room. Tutor John Verdi led a discussion on William Shakespeare’s Richard II.
This discussion was one of many voluntary evening seminars—“Shakespeare
in the Fall”—organized by the Student
Committee on Instruction (SCI).
The limited number of Shakespearean
plays and poems that students study at
St. John’s leaves many hungry for more.
Johnnies are particularly interested in
revisiting the plays they may have read or
encountered in high school. Paul Wilford
(A07), who was then a member of the
SCI, began “Shakespeare in the Fall”
nine years ago. Each year the dedicated
following grows. Tutors John Verdi, Louis
Petrich, Daniel Harrel, Michael Grenke,
and Eva Brann led the sessions this year;
Ms. Brann also read some sonnets for the
last meeting. The SCI chose a historical
play theme—Richard II, Henry IV parts
one and two, and Henry V.
“Students ask me to lead a session
and so I help them out,” says Mr. Verdi,
who has participated for many years
in “Shakespeare in the Fall.” He finds
it a “project worth doing. It’s always
enjoyable to get all the different classes
together—like the all-college seminar.
There is always a mix: freshmen,
Graduate Institute students, other
tutors as well.” Last fall, Mr.Verdi led
two sessions on Richard II.
Mr. Verdi enjoys returning to Shakespeare, finding different pieces suitable
to mood or time. This time around, his
favorite quote happens to come from
Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
Mentors
“It’s Cleopatra speaking, from Act V, Scene
ii, 279-289. She’s about
to let the poisonous asps
bite her. She and Antony
have shared a passionate, consuming love, a true love, I think.
He is already dead. As she is about to take
her own life, she hears him praising her
deed, which is an act both of love and of
royal autonomy. Their very physical love
gives way in the face of death to one of the
highest spirituality:”
Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me: now no more
The juice of Egypt’s grape shall moist this lip:
Yare, yare, good Iras; quick. Methinks I hear
Antony call; I see him rouse himself
To praise my noble act; I hear him mock
The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men
To excuse their after wrath: husband, I come:
Now to that name my courage prove my title!
I am fire and air; my other elements
I give to baser life.
The hunger for Shakespeare is not
a singular phenomenon; students and
theatergoers around the world have
been devoted to his works for centuries.
Through “Shakespeare in the Fall,” Johnnies can look at Shakespeare’s poetry and
eloquence with a new understanding.
The word “mentor” has its roots in the
Odyssey, in which Pallas Athena’s guise
before Telemachus and Odysseus is
that of Mentor, the elderly advisor and
“shepherd of the people” who rules
in Odysseus’s absence. The goddess of
wisdom’s advice and assistance to those
under her care is a fitting comparison to
the benefits of career mentorship.
A recent mentorship in the field of finance introduced Brian Warczinski (A13)
to Laura Strache (A01), a managing director of operations for a Wall Street hedge
fund, who was profiled in the Fall 2011
issue of The College. Strache mentored
and connected Warczinski with two internships in the competitive and intimidating world of finance in New York.
The benefit is not one-sided: alumni who
mentor, host an Ariel or Hodson internship, or participate in forums or panels
reconnect to the college, often restoring
a link that they have missed. Director of
Career Services in Annapolis Jaime Dunn
recalls, “An alumnus and attorney in Philadelphia, Andrew Schwartz (A91), signed
up to be a mentor last year, and I invited
him to participate in a law panel, which he
did. He hadn’t been back to the college in
10 years but found himself reconnecting in
a meaningful and fulfilling way.”
—Genevieve Dufour-Allen (A12)
“For God’s sake, let us
sit upon the ground
and tell sad stories of
the death of kings.”
Richard II
12 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Jaime Dunn, director of Career Services,
Annapolis
HOST AN INTERN OR FORUM
Contact Jaime Dunn (jaime.dunn@sjca.edu)
or Margaret Odell (modell@sjcsf.edu) to host a
forum or panel, and for internship opportunities or tips on hosting an intern. Visit www.
stjohnscollege.edu/admin. Click on Annapolis
or Santa Fe Career Services.
�from the bell towers
MELISSA LATHAM-STEVENS
NEW WINIARSKI
STUDENT CENTER
OPENS IN SANTA FE
Agora: Career
Network
“A virtual mentoring network” is how
Jaime Dunn, director of Career Services
in Annapolis, describes Agora, an initiative launched by the offices of Career
Services in 2011. Agora reflects the
Greek concept of a gathering place and
was named by students in a college-wide
competition. Job seekers, employers, and
mentors register on the website according
to the campus from which they graduated.
Tribute to Laurence
Berns (ha00)
This year, tutors Eva Brann (HA89), Peter
Kalkavage, and Eric Salem (A77) published a translation, with an introduction,
glossary of crucial Greek terms, and an
exploratory essay, of Plato’s Statesman,
dedicated to their friend and colleague
Laurence Berns, who died in March 2011.
In addition, befitting tutor Berns’ love of
music, at a memorial service held during
Annapolis Homecoming 2011, tutors Eric
Stoltzfus and Elliott Zuckerman performed
Beethoven’s moving “Sonata in A Major
for Cello and Piano,” and the Madrigal
Choir sang “Aura Lee,” “Mon Coeur,” and
“The Silver Swan,” a tribute that captured
Says Margaret Odell, director of Career
Services in Santa Fe, “Students no longer
need to wait for on-campus, face-to-face
opportunities for interaction with alumni.
That’s the beauty of the constant availability of mentors through Agora.”
Bill Gregoricus (SFGI01), an Alumni
Association Board member, is also working on the site. “What Agora represents
is a reliable web-based point of access to
the college and to all registered students
and alumni, regardless of where you are,
across the globe,” he says. “Agora will
also help students and alumni seeking
Berns’s warmhearted, spirited nature.
President Christopher Nelson’s (SF70)
remarks touched on Berns’s “boundless
energy and engagement in the life of
learning at the college.” Tutors Harvey
Flaumenhaft, Joseph Cohen (A56), and
Eva Brann (HA89); and former students
Jerrold Caplan (A73), Theodore Blanton
(A75), Sharon Portnoff (A85), and Daryl
Li (AGI10) shared stories about Berns’s
scholarly contributions, storytelling,
and generosity. Berns’s wife, Gisela, read
“L’Envoi,” the final section of “The Seven
Seas,” a long poem by Rudyard Kipling.
An obituary for Laurence Berns (1928-2011)
was published in the Fall 2011 issue of The
College; www.stjohnscollege.edu/news/
memoriam-berns.shtml
Barbara (Class of 1955) and Warren Winiarski
(Class of 1952), and their daughter Julia
(SF92) joined Santa Fe President Mike Peters,
members of the St. John’s Board of Visitors
and Governors, and Santa Fe city leaders and
community members for the dedication on
June 30 of the new Winiarski Student Center.
The Center will accommodate 45 students
and is expected to earn a LEED Silver Certification. Mr. Winiarski is the founder of Stag’s
Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley, Calif., and
was inducted into the California Vintners’ Hall
of Fame in 2009.
employment to develop closer ties
with top employers and recruiters by
delivering interview opportunities, hosting great career fairs, connecting with
alumni mentors, and more.”
For Agora’s success, the criteria are
simple: all alumni and students should
register online, which takes less than five
minutes.
www.stjohnscollege.edu/admin/agora
—Genevieve Dufour-Allen (A12)
briefly quoted
“It is meant to integrate the
classroom with the living
experience. Another way to
think about our Program is that
it is interdisciplinary. This is
an effort to try to bring these
things together, both the living
experience and the learning
experience, in one.”
Mike Peters, Santa Fe president,
on the dedication of the new
Winiarski Student Center
Santa Fe New Mexican, June 24, 2012
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
13
�from the bell towers
briefly quoted
CONVERSATIONS
WITH THE CHAIR
“If we play, if we make
ourselves present to the
joy of using the Books to
exercise our will and chose
our life in a daily way, they
will be a fountain
of happiness for the rest
of our lives.”
Salvatore Scibona (sf97),
noted author and novelist,
2012 Commencement speaker,
Annapolis
Hodson House
Underway
Hodson House, a multi-use building that
will hold a seminar/meeting room, faculty
offices, and administrative offices, will be
constructed on the Annapolis campus in
2012. Subsequently, a full renovation of the
18th-century Carroll Barrister House, which
holds the admissions offices for the college,
will be undertaken. The majority of the
funding for the project has been provided by
the Hodson Trust; some funding is also being
provided by the State of Maryland through
the MICUA capital projects program.
We meet at last.
If someone had told me
when I was a small footstool
that one day I would be
given the honor of holding
court in The College magazine, I would have thought
him out of his mind—
πλαγκτός. Yet here I am,
resting on my easy rug at
home, a well-thumbed copy
of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
Grandfather’s Chair on my
seat, musing on a headline.
Hodson House, east entry elevation
14 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Allow me to introduce
myself. My name is Johnnie
Chair, or JC, as my friends
call me. I was born in
Madison, Virginia,
where I spent my
childhood under the
watchful eye of my
maker in the company
of my many, many kin.
Time passed, and like
many other chairs, I
found myself desiring
an adventure. Therefore,
when I reached what you,
our “sitters,” call “legal age,”
I found myself joining the
Class of 1941 at a small
college in Annapolis, Maryland, that was on the cusp
of something new. I doubt
many of my classmates
remember me—I was a
rather quiet chair, one that
tried to embody the Johnniechair trivium of steadiness,
tolerance, and poise.
I have spent the roughly
seventy years since then as
a member of the Polity,
doing my best to lead by
quiet example. I have attended every tutorial, seminar,
lecture, waltz party, and don
rag, albeit as a wallflower
at times. I have also tried to
join every club and student
organization that I can. That
doing so has required my
re-engaging in the Program
every four years, as if I was a
scholastic phoenix, has kept
things interesting.
Much has changed since
1941. When the Internet
found St. John’s, it was only
a matter of finding a few
souls willing to type for me
before I had a Facebook
following. I had no idea
what it would become, that
there would be so many
thoughtful conversations
regarding literature, good
writing, philosophy, or what
role members of the Polity
ought to have. I confess your
conversations tend to be
more interesting than my
own musings!
Nevertheless, I have felt
needed there. I have confronted easy questions (yes,
it is wrong to go white-water
rafting when you should be
in seminar) and challenging
questions (while worthwhile,
starting a conversation
about politics or sexuality is
not always the best idea).
I attempt to write little
notes or answer questions
in the hope of having more
avenues for conversation,
something that Facebook’s
many changes continually
frustrates, though the connections it brings encourage
me on.
However, I digress. My
responsibilities as First Chair
(both in seniority and in rank)
are varied. Beyond aiding my
sitters, I seek—and offer—advice, consolation, curios, even
trivia. So please send your
questions, dear readers, and
let’s have a conversation.
For instance,
Q: Do you have children?
JC: Not yet—finding a spouse
is a bit difficult for a chair. Yet
I suspect watching over
thousands of present and
former sitters—as well as
managing a Facebook page—
makes for good preparation.
Until we speak again,
JC
(www.facebook.com/johnnie.
chair)
�from the bell towers
talk of the tow ers
collegium
At the end of every fall and spring
semester in Annapolis, the Great Hall in
McDowell fills to the brim with students
and tutors attending Collegium, an opportunity for St. John’s students to showcase
their musical talent in a formal performance. (Above), Zachary Wells (A13),
Alex Lankford (A12), Frank Pecoraro
(A15), and tutor Peter Kalkavage sing in
the 2012 Spring Collegium in Annapolis.
briefly quoted
“St. John’s provides
one of the most distinctive
forms of liberal education in
the country.... But for such
an education to be accessible
to all requires a great
commitment of financial
resources,...we have added
more than $4 million to our
financial aid budget in just
the last few years when our
students and families have
needed it most.”
Christopher Nelson,
Annapolis president,
guest blog,
“Yes, You Can Afford
the College of Your Choice,”
Huffington Post,
March 14, 2012
Santa Fe Tutor Arcelia
Rodriguez, who has been at
St. John’s since 2008, was
awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. She will work with
the Department of Political
Theory and Thought at the
University of the Andes in
Mérida, Venezuela, and
develop course materials and
curricula for undergraduate and graduate classes in
American political thought.
Four new tutors have joined
the faculty—two in Annapolis
and two in Santa Fe. In Annapolis, Gregory Freeman
comes to the college from the
University of Chicago, where
he received his PhD, Committee on Social Thought. Tutor
Steven Crockett returns to
Annapolis part-time. He was a
tutor in Annapolis from 1970
to 1977 and at the Graduate
Institute in Santa Fe during
most summers from 1976 to
1981. In Santa Fe, Sarah
Davis and David Levy (A03)
join the faculty. Davis received her PhD in anthropology from Emory University;
Levy received his PhD in
political science from Boston
College. Annapolis tutor
Joseph Cohen (Class
of 1956) retired from the
Annapolis faculty on
December 31 after nearly
50 years with the college.
Santa Fe tutor David Bolotin
has formally retired.
Queens College and at
St. John’s University in New
York. Leo Pickens (A78),
who held that position for
the past 23 years, became
director of Alumni Relations,
replacing Jo Ann Mattson
(A87), who became director
of Individual Giving. Gregory
Shook is the new associate
director of Communications.
In Santa Fe, tutor David Carl
became the new director of
the Graduate Institute. He
has been at St. John’s for 12
years, and in that time he has
also served as assistant dean.
Jim Osterholt retired from
the position after more than
seven years as vice president
for Advancement. Victoria
Mora, tutor on the Santa Fe
campus since 1992 and dean
from 2006 to 2011, will become the new vice president
of Advancement. Susan
Patten is now the director of
Development. Gabriel Gomez
joined the college as the director of Communications in
Santa Fe. He was the director
of External Affairs with the
Southwestern Association for
Indian Arts: Santa Fe Indian
Market, where he directed the
marketing and development
departments. Larry Peppin,
formerly the finance director
of Las Cumbres Community Services, a nonprofit
in northern New Mexico,
became the new controller for
the Santa Fe campus. Susan
Kaplan, formerly director of
Corporate and Foundation
Relations in Santa Fe, became
the associate vice president
for Advancement.
Do you know a student
who belongs at St. John’s?
Let us know.
annapolis :
admissions@sjca.edu
or 410-626-2522
santa fe :
admissions@sjcsf.edu
or 505-984-6060
In Annapolis, Michael
McQuarrie, formerly director
of the Office of Recreation
and Intramural Sports at the
New School in New York,
became the new director
of Athletics on July 2. He
received his MA in sports
management from California
University of Pennsylvania
and taught sociology at
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
15
�from the bell towers
As a recipient of a Fulbright English
Teaching Assistantship, Aparna Ravilochan (SF12) leaves for a year in Malaysia
in January 2013 to teach English in a rural
primary or secondary school in the state
of Terengganu, Pahang, or Johor.
Ravilochan has not yet received her
Malaysia assignment, but she knows that
any town will hold treasures as she takes
her love of teaching and English with her.
Ravilochan’s typical Malaysian workweek will include 20 hours of teaching as
well as theater and choral music. Ravilochan hopes that these activities, along with
her teaching and general community presence, will help foster meaningful relationships. “The relationships are what I’m
most excited about. It’s an opportunity
to connect with people I otherwise would
never be able to meet and to live with
them in a completely different lifestyle,”
she says. “I’ve come to love talking to
people, hearing their stories. I think having an exchange like that across cultural
boundaries will be even more illuminating
and exciting.”
Ravilochan also looks forward to sharing her knowledge of English. As a writing
assistant for two years at St. John’s, she
discovered a passion for English and teaching. Although Ravilochan has much to
bring to her Fulbright teaching position,
Aparna Ravilochan (SF12)
SANTA FE STAGES MAN OF LA MANCHA
CORRIE PHOTOGRAPHY
Fulbright Fellow to
Teach in Malaysia
This spring, the Santa Fe campus community presented the musical Man of La Mancha in three soldout performances. Directed by Artist-in-Residence Roy Rogosin (SFGI08) Man of La Mancha featured
a cast of 15 students, two tutors, and a staff member, as well as a four-piece orchestra of students
and an alumna of the college. Man of La Mancha, with book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion,
and music by Mitch Leigh, is inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’s 17th-century masterpiece, Don Quixote. It tells the story of the “mad” knight as a musical play-within-a-play, performed by Cervantes and
his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. Pictured (l. to r.): Rachel Reid
(SF15) as Antonia; April Cleveland (SF15) as Aldonza; James Irwin (SF14) as Don Quixote/Cervantes;
and Felipe Motta (SF13) as Sancho.
she knows that Malaysia will have much
to teach her as well. Ravilochan will be
living in her village among her students
and their families, learning their culture
and lifestyle from the inside. She is excited
about the illuminating experience, but is a
little nervous as well. “I’ll have to live in a
way I’m not used to, without the creature
comforts here. I’ve been to India for a few
weeks before, but it will take some getting
used to for almost a year,” she says. “I’ll
miss my parents, my brother and sister.”
Family has been a source of constant
encouragement, and Ravilochan is also
grateful to the tutor community at St.
John’s for their support. “The tutors are
interested in who you are in class, and
take that to the next level and are interested in who you are as a person. We have
something special here that you couldn’t
find anywhere else.”
—Jillian Burgie (SF12)
16 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
briefly quoted
“One of the great things
about our St. John’s
education is that most
people won’t know what
to do with you. You don’t
fit a mold. Make it to your
advantage. Try being a
little over-confident, and a
little bit of a risk-taker.”
Robert Bienenfeld (sf 80),
senior manager, Environment
and Energy Strategy,
American Honda Motor Co.,
Inc.,member, St. John’s College
Board of Visitors and Governors,
2012 Commencement speaker,
Santa Fe.
�from the bell towers
Sarah Morse:
New Director of Admissions
in Annapolis
For Morse, a graduate of Smith College
and a former Annapolis resident, her
new role at St. John’s is a natural, albeit
unexpected, fit. Originally from St. Louis,
she has worked for more than 25 years in
the education field, including 15 years as
an admissions and financial aid director
at two independent schools in the MidAtlantic region—St. Timothy’s School and
Jemicy School—and as eastern regional
director and national director of special
projects for American Field Service (AFS)
Intercultural Programs. Morse is also
committed to volunteer service, including a six-year term on the Commission
on Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of
Maryland, as regional alumnae admissions coordinator for Smith College, and
mentor to AFS exchange students.
Morse’s role at St. John’s is her first
in higher education; her expertise and
insight are embraced by the college community. “Sarah brings with her a genuine liking for people, especially young
people. She has imagination, resourcefulness, and a collaborative spirit, all of
which are essential to this office,” says
Annapolis Dean Pamela Kraus.
Morse reconnected with the college
when she attended Executive Seminars in
Baltimore last year. Her seminar experience
resonated deeply, as “a terrific example of
what St. John’s is all about. Once a month,
that Tuesday morning was an oasis.
Having discussions about great books
JEN BEHRENS
At a time when the world appears transfixed by technology, Sarah Morse,
the new director of admissions at St. John’s in Annapolis, emphasizes
in-person conversations to help prospective students get to know
St. John’s and understand the Program. “We work very hard to bring
students to campus so they can meet tutors, staff, and students. We
encourage them to spend a night on campus, go to seminars, and sit in
on labs and tutorials,” says Morse. Her reach extends beyond prospective
students; the Admissions Office recruits staff volunteers to have lunch
with parents of prospectives who are visiting campus.
“We link prospective
students who have
particular interests with
alumni who are working
in those career fields.
St. John’s alumni represent
the college so well—their
passion for the college
really shows.”
with interesting people got me excited
about the Program,” she says—and
propelled her to accept the position at
St. John’s. That exposure helps her
articulate to the outside world the heart of
the college’s curriculum. “It’s challenging,
of course, for me coming from the outside,
but I have a love and appreciation for the
college.”
Morse looks forward to enlisting
Johnnies to engage prospectives around
the country. “There is tremendous potential for involving alumni in admissions.
Alumni volunteers have been extremely
helpful at various events for students and
prospectives, including recent receptions
in New York City and Baltimore,” she
says. Those receptions give prospectives
an opportunity to have informal discussions with alumni about the college and
their careers. “We link prospective stu-
dents who have particular interests with
alumni who are working in those career
fields. St. John’s alumni represent the
college so well—their passion for the
college really shows. We value alumni
involvement and are eager to involve
them more in our admissions efforts.”
Morse also reaches out with a robust
virtual presence. “Recruitment has
changed, and using that technological
aspect is crucial. I’ve talked with a lot of
students who watched our videos, read
our materials online, and learned about
the college from the website and our
social media sites.”
Above all, Morse wants prospectives
to know why St. John’s is special. “From
the first class, Johnnies practice and hone
skills in critical thinking, careful listening, and thoughtful analysis,” she says.
“They learn to support contributions to
the discussion with structured reasoning
and become comfortable with trying out a
variety of ideas. Taking intellectual risks
and seeking out other viewpoints is woven
into the Johnnie fabric. Students learn to
be fearless in approaching new and challenging situations. They become skilled at
asking questions to get to the heart of the
matter. And they understand the value of
considering a variety of viewpoints, unimpeded by a fear of ‘getting it right’ the first
time. This is unique to St. John’s.”
—Gregory Shook
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
17
�Love
18 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
�and
Desire
PHOTOS: HENLEY MOORE (A13)
“What Fools These Mortals Be”
Junior Henley Moore (A14) shows
us Shakespeare through her camera
lens, a counterpoint to decadesold images of the King William
Players from the Greenfield Library
Archives on the following pages.
Shown here, the King Willam
Players perform Titus Andronicus
with Alex Lankford (A12), opposite,
as Aaron and Tessa Nelson (A12),
above, as Lavinia.
How do we encounter Shakespeare at St. John’s? The deans
and several tutors share observations on Shakespeare and his
place in the Program, “as inevitable as Plato, or the Bible,
or Kant,” tutor Jonathan Tuck notes. In his essay, tutor
Laurence Nee considers how Shakespeare holds “mirrors”
that reveal “clear reflections of our dearest and most powerful
desire—love,” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King
Lear. Many Johnnies hunger for more than their encounters
with Shakespeare in the Program. Some, such as the King
William Players in Annapolis and the Santa Fe student
theater troupe, inhabit Shakespeare by staging his works.
How do we encounter Shakespeare at St. John’s?
One way is through Shakespeare’s
sonnets. When we turn to English poetry,
we look at Shakespeare—the metric
scheme, poetic form, how it is structured.
In sophomore language, many students
memorize and recite Chaucer and Shakespeare. They are also asked to compose
poems—a sonnet, for example. In this
way, students inhabit the poetic form; it
is a pathway to understanding it. We do
run a risk with poetry. Some critics would
say we turn everything back to philosophy: “What is the thesis of the poem?”
Poems are meant to be read aloud,
recited. Plays, to be performed. Music,
to be performed and heard. The Psalms,
to be prayed. But we certainly don’t
require students to pray. To some degree,
we take these art forms out of their
natural habitat and put them into our
habitat, one of inquiry. However, when we
do turn to poetry in the language tutorial
(and music in the music tutorial), we go
as far as we can in recognizing this and
correcting for it.
—J. Walter Sterling, Santa Fe dean
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19
�How do we encounter
Shakespeare at St. John’s?
We encounter Shakespeare’s
work in various ways: through
tutorials, study groups, preceptorials, lectures and question
periods, annual essays, orals,
and dramatic performances.
Perhaps the greatest genius in
English literature, he instructs
and inspires us daily.
—Pamela Kraus, Annapolis dean
Why is Shakespeare
on the Program?
Most tutors would agree that
if you are on a sinking ship full
of Program books and they
have to be thrown overboard,
Shakespeare would be one of
the last to go. It has even been
said that Plato, Shakespeare,
and the Bible could be the
whole Program. He is a universally recognized genius. We are
living in a world that Shakespeare helped shape. Some
great writers become parents
and creators of their language.
Homer is the teacher of the
Greeks and of the Greek language; Dante of Italian; Shakespeare of English. Our linguistic
memory and architecture is
saturated with Shakespeare;
he lies behind our consciousness and our living language.
For English speakers, he is our
governing genius, our great,
great poet.
—J. Walter Sterling, Santa Fe dean
Why do we read Shakespeare
at St. John’s?
I would think that Shakespeare
in our seminar list would be
as inevitable as Plato, or the
Bible, or Kant—perhaps more
so, since he writes in English.
A more interesting question
might be which plays to read.
I have long thought that Shakespeare’s comedies are underrepresented in our program, as
comedy is generally. I gave a
lecture a number of years ago
(“Restoring Amends: Philosophy and Forgiveness in Shakespeare’s Comedies”) in which I
argued that the comedies are
a tutor’s view
The Greatness of
Shakespeare’s Plays
by Laurence D.Nee, tutor
Shakespeare’s plays provide an
unsurpassed depiction of abiding human desires. Like mirrors,
the plays use characters’ poetic
speeches and deeds to reflect for
our consideration the objects of
our desires and the reasons we
seek their fulfillment.
Clear reflections of our dearest and most powerful desire—love—can be found in the opening
scenes of two of his most familiar and popular
plays: a comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
and a tragedy, King Lear.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins by vividly depicting the problematic nature of love.
Theseus has “wooed” and “won” the “love” of
his future bride, Hippolyta, with the conquering force of his sword and longs to enjoy her
“[n]ow” (AMND 1.1.1-17). But this conqueror
has also been conquered—he is a slave to the
internal compulsion of satisfying his “desires.”
Wedding harsh images of rape to his servile need
for immediate gratification, Theseus presents
love as the violent satisfaction of bodily lust.
The temptation to assume that this initial presentation provides a complete picture of love is
moderated, however, by Theseus’s subsequent
restraint, which is as strong if not stronger than
his lust. Wishing to “wed [Hippolyta] in another
key,” Theseus willingly delays his gratification
for four days until the new moon appears and
brings his “triumph” (1.1.18).
The speeches of the young Athenian lovers
suggest why a lover might exercise restraint:
“true love” depends upon it. Egeus interrupts
Theseus’s nuptial plans for “merriments” and
“reveling” in order to marry Demetrius—who
previously loved Helena—to his daughter, Hermia, who loves Lysander and would die rather
than resign herself to her father’s “will.” When
20 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Hermia and Lysander are alone, they recount the
tales from which they learn that the “course of
true love never did run smooth”—it must bear a
restraining “cross,” which transforms the character of their desires and their beloveds (1.1.199).
The tales depict mere “desires” as “momenta[r]
y,” “swift,” “brief,” and “short as any dream”—
nothing more than the “base and vile” bodily urges or impulses of the “spleen” (1.1.143-145). They
present “true love” in the “form and dignity” of
a religion through which enduring devotion will
replace the inconstant, fleeting rewards of lust.
The “translated” beloved appears to be a “god,”
before whom the lover offers “prayers” (1.1.197,
232; 2.1.203).
HENLEY MOORE (A13)
Q&A
Lysander bestows From l. to r.: Danny Rodrinumerous gifts upon guez (SF15) as Chiron, Alex
Lankford (A12) as Aaron,
Hermia without reand Andrew Hastings (A13)
ceiving any immedi- as Demetrius in the King
ate reward; he ap- William Players’ production
pears not merely to of Titus Andronicus.
restrain his needs but
to possess a godlike freedom from them. Seeking to emulate her divine Lysander, Hermia will
“starve” herself, display “patience,” and endure the “trial” of being deprived of her lover’s
“food” (1.1.134-142, 150-155, 222-223). By enduring pains and restraining her desires, Hermia
imitates the “true love” of her divine beloved and
hopes to transcend her embodied, mortal, and
�the greatness of shakespeare’s plays
Q&A
more “philosophic” than the
tragedies, more interested in
themes and general ideas, less
dependent on our empathetic
identification with individual
characters. I still hold this view.
At the very least, I wish we
could add Twelfth Night, one of
Shakespeare’s greatest plays.
I know they have often had it on
the seminar list in Santa Fe. It
would also be wonderful if we
could find room for the other
two plays in the second English
history tetralogy. We now read,
as we should, both Richard II
and Henry IV, Part I, but Henry
IV, Part II and Henry V are
remarkable works, too. Many
people think that the four plays
were conceived as a single
work…(Naturally, I am violating
the most sacred obligation of
anyone who proposes to tinker
with the seminar list—I have not
said which books I would drop
to make room for these.)
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, GREENFIELD LIBRARY
It is good to be reminded that
any of Shakespeare’s plays
will yield extraordinary and
unlimited insights if we can
find the time to read slowly and
carefully. In the sophomore
language tutorial, we can read
scenes dramatically together,
perhaps commit whole speeches to memory, and look at
individual words as we would in
a sonnet. We may be frustrated
that we can’t do all this in the
seminar, but it’s exciting to be
able to think about each play
as a whole. We are free to
treat our seminar reading of
Shakespeare as an invitation
to go deeper, whenever we can
find the time.
needy condition.
The strong temptation to reduce the
lovers’ willingness to
bear these “crosses”
to mere delayed gratification must be moderated by their own
accounts of their love. They experience their
sacrifices as free from future rewards. Despite
their myopic vision, their unrecognized hopes
John D. Oosterhout (Class of
1951), George A. Sperdakas
(Class of 1954), and Richard
T. Congdon (Class of 1950)
onstage during the King
William Players’ rehearsal
of Shakespeare’s King John
(ca.1950-1951).
imply that they endure these restraints or crosses
for the sake of future rewards. They may starve
themselves for an evening, but they expect to
feast on their “lovers’ food” tomorrow. Helena
will deliberately “enrich” her “pain” by telling
Demetrius where Hermia has fled, but she suffers in the hope that his “sight” will turn “back
again” to her (1.1.222-223, 250-251).
The reward received from this “sight” can
be distinguished from that received from other
goods. Helena could relieve her hunger by con-
As Dr. Johnson remarked about
London, I would say that the
man who is tired of Shakespeare is tired of life.
–Jonathan Tuck, tutor
Might we read Shakespeare at
St. John’s in order to experience the joy and sorrow of a
desire like love? We read Romeo and Juliet and long to feel
the love that can make a
“pilgrim” lover view his beloved
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
21
�Q&A
a tutor’s view
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, GREENFIELD LIBRARY
as a divine, “holy shrine.”
We suspect, however, that
love may be only a dangerous “dream”—not only “blind,”
“rude,” boist’rous,” and “like
[a] thorn” but also so variable as to transfer Romeo’s
devotion from Rosaline to
Juliet with a momentary gaze.
We persistently hope for the
elevating weight love brings
and, therefore, angrily defend it
against the hedonist and materialist attacks of the Nurse and
Mercutio. And we fear that the
story of these and all lovers is
one of “woe.”
—Laurence D. Nee, tutor
We read eight of Shakespeare’s
plays in sophomore seminar
(four tragedies, two histories,
two comedies) because he
is the best of the playwrights
and these eight are among the
best of his plays. No one writes
equally well in the tragic and
comic modes. No one expands
the possibilities of English
speech more than he does. No
one is as intensely theatrical
and deeply literary as Shakespeare. He contains half the
world. For the other half, there
is the rest of the Program.
—Louis Petrich, tutor
Describe an opening question
on Shakespeare’s works that
still fascinates you.
Are there fairies in the woods
(from A Midsummer Night’s
Dream)? The lovers escape
tragedy, and enjoy the prospect
of happiness, because the fairies intervene. The fairies, however, seem and do not seem
to exist. They are only visible to
one character, under very peculiar circumstances, and yet are
seen by the audience. They are
said to act providentially to care
for particular human beings and
yet appear reducible to natural
phenomena. They may be little
more than “airy nothing” and
yet point to our deepest desires
and hopes.
—Laurence D. Nee, tutor
The lovers’ account of their desire for love reveals that what appeared as a tension between lust and restraint is, in fact, a tension
between their desire for bodily gratification and their desire to
enjoy a godlike freedom from bodily needs. Their account asks
us to consider whether both desires can be satisfied.
suming any “food,” but she cannot overcome
her “starv[ation]” for her lover’s “food” simply
by physically gratifying her lust. The hungry
are indifferent to whether an apple “consents”
to be eaten, but lovers are not satisfied simply
to take, “force,” or consume their beloveds, as
Theseus’s restraint demonstrates (1.1.134-142,
150-155, 222-223). Lovers desire their beloveds’
voluntary reciprocation of their affections, which
shows that they are worthy of being loved by their
divine beloveds—that they are nothing less than
godlike themselves. When these lovers are “well
derived,” “possessed,” or “fair,” have endured
considerable sacrifices for their beloveds, and yet
remain unloved, they are filled with anger, which
destroys the friendship of the women and sets the
men on a course to deadly war (1.1.99-103).
The lovers’ account of their desire for love
reveals that what appeared as a tension between
lust and restraint is, in fact, a tension between
22 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Above: Charles Finch,
their desire for bodiformer director of financial
ly gratification and
aid, as King Henry and
their desire to enjoy
Harold O. Koenig (A69)
a godlike freedom
as Prince Hal in the
from bodily needs. King Williams Players’
production of Henry IV,
Their account asks
Part I, Francis Scott Key
us to consider whethAuditorium, November 1970.
er both desires can
be satisfied. The opening scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then, poses the question of
whether the desire for love is inherently tragic.
King Lear begins by drawing our attention to
the difficulty of thinking about the desire for love.
King Lear intends to bestow equal portions of his
kingdom on his sons-in-law, the Dukes of Albany
and Cornwall. His trusted advisors, Kent and
Gloucester, cannot discern “which of the Dukes
he values most.” Kent had previously “thought”
that Lear “affected” the Duke of Albany more
than Cornwall; Gloucester concurs—it “did
�the greatness of shakespeare’s plays
Q&A
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, GREENFIELD LIBRARY
There are two works for which
I have asked opening questions that are based on past
performances that altered the
endings in misguided ways. One
was the Don Giovanni (allowed
by Mozart himself) that omitted
the final sextet; the other was
the 18th-century King Lear that
saved Cordelia and married her
to Edgar. I wasn’t “fascinated”
by these questions, but they did
set off good discussion. I couple
Shakespeare with Mozart
because they are poets whose
inclusion in any program needs
no good reason simply because
the question ought never to
come up.
—Elliott Zuckerman, tutor emeritus
always seem so.”
What both had
“thought” does not
accord with what
now “appears” to be
the case (KL 1.1.1-6).
According
to
Lear’s original plan—
designed prior to the proclamations of love by
Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia—his two vicious
daughters, Goneril and Regan, and their husbands, the Dukes, would be relegated to the extremes of the kingdom. The favored daughter,
Cordelia, would receive the most “opulent” portion and the foreign support of her husband-to-be
(1.1.86). Lear would live with Cordelia as King,
attaching his “retainers” to his beloved daughter
so they would remain loyal to her after his death.
Focusing on the Dukes, Lear’s advisors fail
to see that his “division of the kingdom” would
wisely overcome the absence of a son and ensure that the kingdom would pass to his “best”
daughter (1.1.214-216). They also fail to see that
Lear divided the kingdom to reward the merit of
the daughter he “loved . . . most” (1.1.123). The
play’s opening suggests that thinking clearly
about Lear’s plan is intimately linked to thinking about his love for Cordelia.
Lear quickly destroys his own prudently devised plan when he believes that he has been
George A. Sperdakas (Class
of 1954), Richard T. Congdon
(Class of 1950), Jeremy P.
Tarcher (Class of 1953), and
John D. Oosterhout (Class
of 1951) in the King William
Players’ production of King
John [ca. 1950-1954].
unjustly deprived of Cordelia’s public proclamation of her love for him. Goneril and Regan attribute their father’s “poor judgment” in casting
off the daughter he “always lov’d . . . most” to
the fact that “he hath ever but slenderly known
himself” (1.1.322-323). Lear and his trusted
servants corroborate this claim (1.1.120-166;
1.4.148; 1.5.24).
Lear’s failure to know himself is directly attributable to his failure to recognize that he longs to
be loved by Cordelia as much as he longs to love
her. The duality of Lear’s love is encapsulated in
his remark to the soon-to-be banished Kent: “I
lov’d her most, and thought to set my rest on her
kind nursery” (1.1.123-124). Lear loved Cordelia
“most” and sought to reward her through his
division of the kingdom. He also desired to be
rewarded for his service: to receive her “kind
nursery.” Lear does not recognize, however, how
deeply he desires to be rewarded by Cordelia for
what he has allegedly given to her.
The King of France’s subsequent discourse on
love provides a possible explanation for Lear’s
blindness: “Love’s not love when it is mingled
with regards that stand aloof from th’ entire
point” (1.1.239-240). Lovers do not think of or experience their love as self-interested; rather, their
love is kindled or inflamed when they believe that
their beloveds cannot benefit them because they
are “poor,” “forsaken,” and “despis’d.” A lover
There are so many fundamental questions that will always
remain fascinating because
their answers go deep into
what Lear calls “the mystery
of things.” For example: what
causes the death of Cordelia?
Why is Macduff able to kill
Macbeth? Why does Shakespeare bring Falstaff onstage
during the climactic sword
fight between Prince Hal and
Hotspur? And a question of
particular fascination for all
lovers of books and believers in
the liberal arts: why does
Prospero drown his books
before retiring to Milan, where
every third thought is of his
death?
—Louis Petrich, tutor
Describe a defining moment
for you in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
The opening words of a
Shakespeare play explicitly
or implicitly raise a critical
question. Hamlet, for example,
begins “Who’s there?” The
play could be said to ask how
human beings can determine
whether apparitions are “there”
if they live in a hamlet—a land
without a church. The struggle
to confront such an opening
question is a defining moment
in reading a Shakespeare play.
—Laurence D. Nee, tutor
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
23
�Q&A
a tutor’s view
Are Shakespeare’s comedies
and tragedies so very
different?
like the King of France or Lear believes that he
loves only for the sake of his beloved—for “thee
and thy virtues” (1.1.250-255). In the duality of
his love and his blindness to what he truly desires,
Lear especially resembles the young Athenian
lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The sources of Lear’s blindness emerge if we
consider more carefully the confusion of his two
advisers who open the play. Kent refuses to flatter
Lear with “glib and oily” speech when Cordelia
shows her “love” for her father by being “silent”—
even though she claims to “know” her sisters for
what they “are” and that time “shall unfold”
their “faults” (1.1.61, 94-95, 269-275, 280-281).
He offends the King with “plain”—or non-flattering—speech and refuses to persuade him that his
daughter’s silence reflects her great love for him.
Kent claims to have “loved” Lear as a “father”
but leaves him in the hands of the wicked Goneril
and Regan (1.1.141-153). He believes that his plain
speech arises from selfless love—a devotion to the
King’s life above his own—but later admits that
his allegedly noble, selfless speech is self-inter-
The answer to whether the
comedies (I should say the
Romances) and the tragedies
are (very) different is yes,
except perhaps in the case of
Measure for Measure (and the
two neighboring plays), which
are known as Problem plays,
not so much because they have
plots about moral problems but
because we have a problem
classifying them.
—Elliott Zuckerman, tutor emeritus
All of Shakespeare’s comedies
occur in Christian settings
(including A Midsummer
Night’s Dream). The young men
in these plays seem beset with
a peculiar melancholy and appear remarkably unimpressive
when compared to the women
of the comedies. Thinking
about what changes Christianity brings, particularly to young
men, would be a fruitful place
to begin thinking about how
Shakespeare’s comedies differ
from his tragedies.
—Laurence D. Nee, tutor
Different, yes; so very different,
no. I laugh more during Hamlet
than any of the comedies
makes me, and the lonely
sadness that endures to the
end of Twelfth Night is as
deeply felt as the happiness
of requited love. At the end of
his career, Shakespeare wrote
four comedies (culminating in
The Tempest) that feel different from the earlier comedies
because they take account of
the actions of the preceding
tragedies. A great challenge for
me is to try to understand the
wholeness of Shakespeare’s
career as a writer, with comedy prevailing in the end over
tragedy. I happen to prefer the
tragedies, so I hope to learn
from Shakespeare how to take
comedy as seriously.
—Louis Petrich, tutor
to ask what they are; he assumes that gratifying
passions like lust is good for him. Theseus cautions Hermia against making a similar assumption: she should “question” her “bewitch’d”
desires and “examine well” her “blood” (1.1.27,
67-68). Gloucester does not believe that he
needs to scrutinize his passions because, as his
pun on conceiving suggests, thinking and desire
are indistinguishable for him; reason would not
direct him to goods distinct from those desired
by his immediate bodily impulses. He believes
that his body inherently leads him to what is
good for him and, as a result, enjoying these
good things is as easy as gratifying the motions
of the “spleen” (1.1.143-145).
Just as Kent fails to see what he ought to do
to salvage Lear’s plan because he does not recognize his desire for reward, Gloucester fails to
see the true character of his bastard son because
he assumes that he must be rewarded for gratifying his immediate desires. The opening scene
of King Lear presents obstacles that impede us
from thinking clearly about our desire for love.
By presenting penetrating depictions of the desire for love, Shakespeare’s plays serve as mirrors in which we may see both the desire
for love in ourselves and the obstacles that prevent us from understanding it. Yet like the characters in these plays, we are blind.
ested: he believes that “plainness” brings honor
(1.1.146-148, 155-157, 223-233).
Like the Athenian youths who emulate the
honored lovers of the tales they recite, Kent
blindly assumes that being recognized as honorable is a great good—perhaps the greatest good.
His unwillingness to question this assumption
causes him to bring certain harm to himself,
Lear, and England. Kent fails to see what is good
for Lear or himself and, hence, what the foundation for loving and being loved is.
Gloucester blindly assumes that gratifying
his immediate desires must be good for him.
He holds Edgar, his legal son, “no dearer” than
the perpetually-absent “bastard” Edmund and
longs to believe that the “good” lust which attracted him to Edmund’s “fair” mother must be
rewarded with “good” fruit, just as it rewarded
him with so much “good sport” at the time of the
“making” (1.1.12-18). Gloucester acknowledges
that he seeks good things for himself but fails
24 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Lear
provide two examples of the way in which Shakespeare fosters dialogue both within his plays and
among them. By presenting penetrating depictions of the desire for love, Shakespeare’s plays
serve as mirrors in which we may see both the
desire for love in ourselves and the obstacles
that prevent us from understanding it. Yet like
the characters in these plays, we are blind.
Through the conversations cultivated within
St. John’s classrooms, our own desires and the impediments that prevent us from seeing them can
emerge; the fog that impedes us from seeing into
these mirrors may be lifted. Our conversations
promote the discovery of the reflections made
possible by these mirrors and distinguish the
education provided by the college. St. John’s considered reading of great works like Shakespeare’s
plays, when united with openness to learning
from—and not just about—them, fosters our ability to see ourselves with sharpened sight.
�setting the stage
“All the World’s a
STAGE
”
For centuries actors, writers, directors, set designers, and
many others have been drawn to the stage, interpreting
dramatic works and theater. Five Johnnies transform—
and are transformed by—the stage. As a set designer in
New York City with a flair for opera, Ilana Kirschbaum
(SF07) is both scientist and illusionist, tinkering with the
audience’s perception. When actress Sara Barker (A98)
“treads the boards” as Queen Elizabeth, she becomes
larger than life and looks like Hillary Clinton. At the
Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, Jack Armstrong’s
(SF83) inventive plot charts reveal hidden notes:
“A well-told story,” he says, “can be graphed like a piece
of music.” Playwright Damon Rhea Falke (SFGI01) lets
his characters lead and morph into themselves on the
page. Shakespeare’s strong female leads inspired actress
Maria Jung (A12) to take the reins of her life, just weeks
after graduation.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
25
�26 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
�“all the world’s a stage”
“MacGyvering
Your Way Around”
Set designer Ilana
Kirschbaum (SF07) melds
materials and paint with
“lots of research” into
historic, visual details.
Ilana Kirschbaum (sf07) sets the stage
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
“This above all:
to thine own
self be true.”
DEREK STENBORG
Hamlet
PHOTO BY PETR JERABEK—LIGHTIMAGINATION.NET
“Science, alchemy, art, practice,
and craft,” is how Ilana Kirschbaum
(SF07) describes her work in the theater as
a scenic artist and designer. One could add
tradition, collaboration, and improvisation.
In September 2011, Kirschbaum
landed an amazing opportunity at the
Juilliard School in New York City, as one
of two technical theater interns in their
scenic painting department. By midMarch of this year, she had worked on 15
productions, and was solving a conundrum for Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni.
The stage floor, done in faux wood (to
blend with a beautiful half-opaque, halftransparent forest backdrop), needs a
ground cloth to look like moss and dirt,
but will have barefoot people dancing on
it and set pieces coming in and out. “So
it needs to read from far away—have a
pronounced
texture—but be soft, and able to stand
up to having scenery moved onto it.”
Her current idea involves putting foam
in a food processor, mixing the bits
with shreds of plastic grocery bags, and
putting flexible glue on the material in
layers.
There’s a good amount of “MacGyvering your way around” in scenic art,
Kirschbaum says, “a lot of fake wood,
faux finishes, fooling the eye. I’ve done
a lot of fake food.” Some techniques in
the field are traditional painting methods
not used elsewhere; the two-dimensional
creation of a three-dimensional space can
be traced back to van Eyck’s medieval
altarpieces. In that way, she feels she’s
carrying on a long tradition.
With a long background in the visual
arts—“I’ve been drawing and painting forever”—Kirschbaum first dabbled in stage
work when a friend volunteered her to
paint what she now describes as an “awful” backdrop for a St. John’s production
of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum. “I was amazed by how much
time it took,” she says. “I just fell in love
with theater.”
A college-sponsored summer Ariel
internship with Santa Fe artist Paco
Benitez put her in touch with David Olson,
artistic director of theaterwork, a
company that produces plays and perfor-
mances of all stripes, from Shakespeare
to puppetry. They were a perfect fit for a
Johnnie, Kirschbaum found—“They’re
interested in developed visual theater, but
there’s also lots of discussion of the texts,
lots of research, especially in the visual details.” She describes the process as making
SJC text exploration “exist in a physical
way: now move this, now clean this, now
carry this, now paint this.” During several
years with theaterwork, she did a little
bit of everything, becoming increasingly
focused on scenic elements.
Kirschbaum got a kick out of participating in a stage version of Anna Karenina,
having written her senior essay on the
Tolstoy novel. Her favorite theaterwork
production was Jean Anouilh’s Sophoclesby-way-of-the-Nazis retelling of Antigone,
mounted in a most unusual space: an
abandoned swimming pool whose building had moldered unoccupied for years.
After a thorough cleaning, it was turned
into a 150-seat theater. Lighting the
space is a challenge; the electrical system
doesn’t have sufficient wattage and the
ceiling is inaccessible—regular stage lights
can’t be hung. But the atmosphere worked
to their advantage for Antigone. The bare
space of the pool’s floor became a desert
with rivulets of poetry written across
it (and also written on the costumes),
flowing into the murky depths of the deep
end, from which the chorus emerged. The
effect is spooky and woebegone, perfect
for the tragic story of defiance.
This kind of visual storytelling is a huge
part of scenic art, Kirschbaum affirms.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
27
�DEREK STENBORG
“When you walk in the room, before
you see actors, you see the set, and that
affects where the audience’s focus is.”
Whether scenery is abstract and minimalist or realistic and historically detailed
sends cues to the spectators about how to
respond emotionally to the work in front
of them. “A good set deals in subtle ways
with the complexities of the story, its key
concepts. This could mean a lush set, or
something very stark.”
It always means research, particularly
for older works, and paying close attention. A play set in the 1940s in the home
of aristocracy, for example, wouldn’t have
cutting-edge, then-modern furniture and
decoration, but would show generations
of inherited belongings. Such detail may
not be noticed by the casual observer,
but Kirschbaum believes that element is
always there. At the same time, a balance
must always be struck, because the set can’t
overwhelm the story. “Sometimes you want
to do really cool pieces, but you have to
remember they’re in the background!”
Expanding her repertoire of scenic art
techniques keeps providing Kirschbaum
with new subjects of study. “By the nature
of the work, you learn a lot about art
history and the history of materials,” she
says. “If you’re imitating a fresco, you
have to know how it was done, and then
figure out how to do it in a simpler and
quicker way.” She is currently interested
in the history of ornament; she finds
similarities between a culture’s alphabet
and its styles of ornament in architecture
and illustration, seeing echoes of the
cadences and structures of language in
physical forms. Greek and Roman, for
example, have individual, separate letters
of standard sizes, and one can view the
strict, clean lines of their buildings as
similarly discrete forms. The loops and
mazes of Arabic or Hindi decoration also
resemble their connected scripts.
A scenic art department operates
almost like a medieval guild, with a
“master” designer and apprentices who
carry out the work. Apprentices don’t
have to abandon painting for design, but
can discover what aspect of the field they
enjoy most. The two groups definitely
share a do-or-die emphasis on teamwork. “You don’t know what the word
means until you’re standing on a 50-foot
painting with two other people,” says
Kirschbaum, “and you have to make it
look like it’s been painted by one person.
And there’s wet paint on it!” Any process
must be streamlined so many people can
contribute to one smooth result, tailored
for different skill levels.
“The weirdest thing is how much
it makes sense after St. John’s, all the
random toolmaking, figuring things out,
experimentation—developing methods
around the process and hoping it turns
out in spite of the variables,” she says.
“It reminds me of senior lab.” Although
in some ways she’s “behind” in her line of
work, as almost everybody has an undergraduate degree in theater, Kirschbaum
is happy to be filling in the gaps. She is
amazed by how often a little geometry
comes in handy: “Euclid construction
proofs are a big part of my life right now.”
The Juilliard internship has focused her
eclectic experience. Kirschbaum was also
28 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
lucky enough to work with the Santa Fe
Opera for two summers. (She can’t even
summon up an articulate adjective for
how much she enjoyed it, simply emitting
a happy “yeah!”) She has also done visual
elements for a project called Lifesongs
(brainchild of Santa Fe collaborative art
ensemble Littleglobe), which creates music based around the lives of the elderly
in nursing homes and hospice care. And
she has done freelance work at La Jolla
Playhouse in San Diego, California.
Not sure if she will spend her entire
career in theater, Kirschbaum will be able
to apply her skills to other endeavors such
as painting murals for natural history
museum displays. She also has a passion
for working in opera. As for so many
artists, the connections she is making in
New York City will take her far. And she
emphasizes that she would be happy to
talk to current students thinking about
pursuing their own theater work, on the
stage or behind the scenes.
�“all the world’s a stage”
FROM SHYNESS TO
ROYAL HIGHNESS
Sara Barker (a98) transforms the stage
“When you do dance,
I wish you a wave
o’ th’ sea, that
you might ever do
nothing but that.”
The Winter’s Tale
Suffering from debilitating
shyness as a child, Sara Barker
(A98) could have never imagined
summoning the courage to
speak in front of her class, let
alone starring onstage as Queen
Elizabeth in the Washington
Shakespeare Company’s production of Mary Stuart. “I was the
shyest kid in elementary school,”
says Barker. “It was so bad that I
developed speech problems and
needed speech therapy.” Even as
a Johnnie in her freshman year,
she recalls her tutors urged her
to speak up more in seminar.
“That whole ‘putting yourself
out there’ has always been
difficult for me,” she says. “But
I counter that with a love of
imagination and creativity.”
Barker began to dabble in
acting during her senior year of
high school. While at St. John’s,
she studied her craft more seriously. On weekends, she regularly commuted to Washington,
D.C., where she took classes
at the Shakespeare Theatre
Company. She also volunteered
as the assistant director for a
community theatre show in Annapolis. With the King William
Players, she starred in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.
“After the show,” she says,
“tutor Jon Tuck came up to me
and told me that I should [act].”
She took his advice to heart.
Not long after graduating from St. John’s, Barker
landed in New York City, where
she acted in a wide range of
productions, in roles traditional
to avant garde. By 2005 she
was entrenched in the Brooklyn theater scene, treading
the boards with the Chekhov
Theater Ensemble—she also
played Paulina in the Hipgnosis
Theatre Company’s production
of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s
Tale. Whatever role Barker
takes on, she embraces the
character, giving her full self—
mind, body, and spirit—to make
the emotional transformation
into somebody new.
As an actor, Barker finds that
an important part of making that transformation is the
costumes she wears. “When
you inhabit these characters,
you want to experience what it’s
like to be that character, and
costumes make you move like
they did and give you an idea of
what they felt like.” Costumes
inform both an actor’s and the
audiences’ understanding of
a character. For example, last
year when Barker played the
role of Queen Elizabeth in Mary
Stuart, instead of donning an
elaborate gown, accompanied
with the ruffles and corsets
one would typically expect, she
was dressed as Hillary Clinton
in a rather severe fitted blazer
and skirt. The austere attire
illuminated the Queen’s power
and authority then and now.
In fact, the production underscores the timeless resilience
of Shakespeare’s work; actors
and audiences alike remain fascinated by his plays. “He took
archetypal stories and brought
them to life in such an amazing
way,” says Barker.
Barker has certainly overcome the intense shyness she
experienced as a child. Her work
C. STANLEY PHOTOGRAPHY
By Gregory Shook
“‘PUTTING YOURSELF OUT
THERE’ HAS ALWAYS BEEN
DIFFICULT FOR ME, BUT
I COUNTER THAT WITH A
LOVE OF IMAGINATION
AND CREATIVITY.”
is acclaimed by the Washington Post and the Washington
City Paper and has garnered
multiple awards, including
Best Drama and Best Overall
Production at the Capital Fringe
Festival 2009. This spring
Barker finished up a production
of The Nightmare Dreamer at
Flashpoint in Washington, D.C.
This summer she is juggling her
full-time job at an IT solutions
company with rehearsing the
lead role of Catherine for the
world premiere of The Ice Child
with the new theater collective,
Factory 449, of which she is a
founding member; the Washington, D.C.-based company was
last year’s Helen Hayes Award
Recipient of the John Aniello
Award for Outstanding Emerging
Theatre Company.
Sarah Barker (A98) shines as
Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart.
Onstage Barker exudes
confidence, though she admits
having difficulty looking the
audience in the eyes when
performing. Like many actors,
she relies on what’s known
as “the fourth wall,” which in
theater parlance refers to the
invisible “screen” at the front
of the stage in a proscenium
theatre, which separates the
audience from the stage. This
imaginary wall helps Barker
psychologically balance her
need to breathe in the energy
of the audience without being
overly aware of their presence.
And she uses her imagination
to connect with the audience.
During her 2009 performance
in The Cherry Orchard, “instead
of seeing faces I was seeing
cherry trees,” says Barker. “I was
describing the trees and what
the orchard meant to me—the
lines were so beautiful. I could
feel that the audience was right
there with me, and I was bringing them along for the ride.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
29
�“all the world’s a stage”
Graphing Shakespeare
Like Music
Jack Armstrong (sf83) plots charts
by Anna Perleberg (SF02)
“If this were played upon a
stage now, I could condemn
it as improbable fiction.”
Twelfth Night
Jack Armstrong’s (SF83) official
title at Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre
(PST) is vice president of the board of directors—but his roles are many: producer,
fundraiser, dramaturge, and graphic
designer. He is also charter of plots, a title
all his own, with its roots in a junior-year
preceptorial, where Armstrong first encountered Heinrich Schenker’s musical
analysis. “Schenker was the first person
who codified music theory,” he says,
inventing a system of notation to show
“how the composer creates and releases
tension in each of the lines to form a
symbolic whole.” Armstrong sees story
structure the same way: “A well-told story
can be graphed like a piece of music.”
The chart for cross-dressing comedy
Twelfth Night, for instance, unfurls in a
riot of color and a wealth of information.
Columns for each scene run across the
top; below, color-coded bars for each actor show who is present in the scene and
with whom. A row titled simply “Drama”
asks the question the scene poses: “Can
Viola land safely in this strange country?”
“How far do they dare push Malvolio?”
Running down the side, where Schenker
might have kept track of major triads,
are the myriad subplots of the play, again
phrased as questions: “Can Viola keep her
female identity secret?” “Will Sebastian
be reunited with Viola?” Every scene that
advances one of these plots is faithfully
noted, and their progress can be tracked
across the acts, like rising and falling
notes, until they reach their resolutions.
It’s both a beautiful representation of data
and a handy primer for anyone working
with the play—actor, director, or student.
Although he acted in high school—and
developed a lifelong affection for Hamlet
in particular—Armstrong says he would
never have worked in the theater without
his wife, Carmen Khan, an English actress
who credits the Bard with saving her life.
“She grew up in a rough family, a rough
neighborhood. And she came into English
class one day and her teacher recited a
passage from Macbeth. It opened her
eyes. It was the first time she saw life as
more than a trial to be endured, that there
could be joy and fulfillment.” One of their
first dates was to a production of Hamlet
that Armstrong hated so much he had to
leave—“she thought I didn’t like her!”
“Shakespeare’s plays are
full of these passages,
which at first blush seem
to be a pause in the action
for sizzling wordplay.
It’s not a pause at all, but
drama so intense you’d
feel it even if the actors
weren’t speaking.”
In the late 80s, Khan was working
with a classical company called Red Heel
Theatre when circumstances thrust her
into the position of artistic director.
Under her leadership, the company began
exclusively performing Shakespeare,
changing their name to reflect this. Currently, the PST does two repertory plays
every spring—this season Twelfth Night
30 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
was paired with the blood-soaked tragedy
Titus Andronicus in a unique production
inspired by the Grand Guignol puppet
theater—in a 120-seat theater converted
from a former parish hall. Armstrong
freely admits that their preparation for
being on the board of a theater company
was “nothing.” Then he adds, “It’s like
having a baby—that baby teaches you what
you need to know about being a parent,
whether you like it or not.” He does have
a day job—printing election ballots—but he
says it’s only busy for three months in the
spring and two months in fall, allowing
him to spend as much time on the theater
as he does on his “paying gig.”
Long before the actors tread the
boards, Armstrong and Khan go through
the script line by line, asking three questions of each: What is this person saying?
Why does the character say this—what
is he or she trying to accomplish? Why
is this in the play? Once they know the
answers to these questions for each line,
Armstrong writes up an annotated script
with all their notes, and then generates his Schenkerian plot charts. It’s a
monumental task: He estimates spending
at least 60 hours for the close reading
and the creation of chart and annotated
director’s script. The result of all this
preparation, he says, is that “the actors
get to know the story so well that five
minutes into it you forget you’re listening
to archaic language. Sometimes it’s like
you’re listening to improv comedy.”
The prep work can also bring scenes to
life that seem to be just trading lines on
the page. “Shakespeare’s plays are full of
these passages, which at first blush seem
to be a pause in the action for sizzling
wordplay. It’s not a pause at all, but drama
so intense you’d feel it even if the actors
weren’t speaking.” As an example, he
offers Twelfth Night, where Duke Orsino
�JOHN BANSEMER
presses the disguised Viola about “his”
favored lady, who, Viola says, is Orsino’s
complexion, Orsino’s years. In other
words, she’s mustering up the courage to
tell him she’s really a woman, and that it’s
him she loves. When he keeps not taking
the hint, she backs off—and then tries
again. Played this way, says Armstrong,
“instead of just clever wordplay, you’re on
the edge of your seat.”
Their mission reaches far more than
their main-stage audience. PST has a
dizzying array of educational programs:
Classes in Shakespeare for teenagers
and adults. School matinees. Lectures
by Shakespeare scholars. Workshops
for English and drama instructors on
teaching the Bard. A three-person touring production of Hamlet. An artist-inresidency program in which teams of
actors work with a class of high school
students for an intense week or two; then
the students perform a scene. PST’s plot
charts, in poster form, are up on the walls
of English classrooms across the city. “A
lot of kids are introduced to Shakespeare
through our programs. And we’ve been
doing this long enough that some of the
first generation are now teachers.”
Asked what he thinks about the state
of theater in the U.S., Armstrong answers
with a quote from George Bernard Shaw:
“Our generation is a low ebb in the
history of the theater. Every generation is
a low ebb in the history of the theater.”
In other words, he feels the perennial
proclamation of the death of live theater
is an exaggeration. “I think it’s very
healthy! We envy, of course, companies in
Canada and England and other enlightened countries where the government
supports the theater.” But he admits that
the lack of government funding gives
them more freedom to do their productions exactly how they wish, even if
raising the money to do so is an “endless,
exhausting, terrifying process.”
Philadelphia, with 80 professional
theater companies, has “an extraordinary
pool of actors.” Most of the organizations,
says Armstrong, are working “on an even
more tenuous basis than us. It’s mindblowing what people will give up to be on
stage. But the work is amazing! I think
it’s a golden age of theater in Philly.”
He’s pleased to be able to share it with
playgoers from his alma mater, too. “We
have been hosting a ‘St. John’s Night’ at
the theater for several years. A dozen or so
alumni come early, we have a little party
beforehand, then watch the play. It has
been great to reconnect with old classmates and meet new friends.”
For Armstrong, the struggle to bring
Shakespeare to all is vitally important
work. He recently read an article about
a symposium “justifying teaching the
humanities,” and although some of the
points made by the disciplines’ defenders
were interesting—such as that they
In one of his many roles, Jack Armstrong
(SF83) analyzes each script produced by the
Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre.
“can help you get through tough situations”—Armstrong thinks they were really
peripheral. “Asking why you teach the
humanities is like asking why you put gas
in a car. If you know what a car is, you
don’t have to ask the question.” Drama,
literature, writing, history: these are
“the science of being human,” he says
passionately. “Through stories we learn
to be human. They’re how we expand our
vocabulary of possible human behavior,
and the bigger our vocabulary is, the
better our chances of making a good
decision. Hell is the accumulated result
of bad decisions. Paradise is the result of
education in the humanities.”
To view one of Armstrong’s plot charts,
visit www.stjohnscollege.edu/news.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
31
�“all the world’s a stage”
“A Difficult Pleasure”
Playwright Damon Rhea Falke (sfgi01) listens to his characters
by Babak Zarin (A11)
“ The course of true love
never did run smooth.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Damon Rhea Falke (sfgi01) began
his career as a writer because of a girl who
broke his heart when he was a teenager.
“I thought I could write all that hurt out
of me,” says Falke. He also thought he
could “keep her with words. Pretty soon
I wanted to keep certain places and then
certain people and later still, certain
memories and stories I’d heard.”
Many works Falke encountered at
St. John’s continue to inspire him. Among
the playwrights on the Program, he leans
toward the classics: “Aeschylus reaches
us with a kind of ritualized grandeur.
Sophocles can be wonderfully ambiguous.
Look at Oedipus at Colonus or Philoctetes.
Consider even Antigone. What are we to
feel at the end of that play? There is real
pleasure in this sort of ambiguity,” which
“we can learn from deeply.”
And then, of course, there’s Shakespeare.
“More than once I have opened a play
or a collection of sonnets with a willed
feeling of skepticism, as if to find out
whether Shakespeare is indeed as great
as Shakespeare is supposed to be. And, of
course, he is.”
Falke points out that in The Tempest,
“there is something very human” in
Prospero the magician “when he longs for
his library or his vanquished home. We’re
all vanquished from home. Certainly this
can be the stuff of tragedy, but Prospero
clings to other parts of himself” that
are gifts. “So that’s not tragic,” he says.
“That’s a comfort in this play.”
Falke finds deep satisfaction in
playwriting: “It has its own peculiar
difficulties, to be sure, but in the beginning stages, in that first draft or two, it’s
“Imagine having a Big
Daddy in you or an
Antigone, or an Ahab or
a Sherlock Holmes. I’ve
wept over Anna Karenina.
There’s some kind of
wonder to hold those
characters in you.”
the pleasure that carries me and sustains
the process of the work. I’m glad to start
when I start and glad to listen when I do.”
“In a poem,” Falke notes, “you might
become conscious of the musical qualities
some words carry. A pleasure I find in
writing plays, however, is in listening to
characters for what one is saying or will
say.” Although Falke finds it hard to write
32 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
a character that stays with him, those who
do stay seldom leave. “Imagine having a
Big Daddy in you or an Antigone, or an
Ahab or a Sherlock Holmes,” he says.
“I’ve wept over Anna Karenina. There’s
some kind of wonder to hold those characters in you. When characters achieve lives
of their own, you experience a gift, and
you go on experiencing it.”
When asked for a play focusing on
characters’ individual stories, Falke wrote
The Sun Is in the West in 2010. The idea
of telling stories became an important
theme. In a graveyard on the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast of Texas, its characters
deal with their family stories and their
relationship with the region. “Inspiration
came when the characters started to talk,
and I started to listen,” he says.
Although Falke spoke with the director
about the play’s set and general look, he
wasn’t heavily involved with the staging.
“Directors come with their own creative
�“all the world’s a stage”
LEADING LADY
Maria Jung (a12) pursues acting
By Gregory Shook
“Say, from
whence
You owe
this strange
intelligence?”
Macbeth
Maria Jung (A12) is trying
hard not to freak out. Hoping
to launch a career in acting,
she just landed the part
of Emelia in the Annapolis
Shakespeare Company’s
summer 2012 production of
The Comedy of Errors. Set
in 1890 in a visually striking
“steampunk” style, the play
signals Jung’s professional
theatrical debut.
Shakespeare’s strong female characters resonated
with Jung as she played
Tamora in Titus Andronicus,
the First Witch in Macbeth,
and Olivia in Twelfth Night
with the King William
Players. “My dream roles
would be Cleopatra or Lady
Macbeth,” she says. “These
women are so nuanced and
possess such fierce power—
it blows my mind that
Shakespeare wrote them.”
Jung’s admiration for such
vital characters inspired her
career path; she’s going for
it with gusto.
She credits her experience performing Shakespeare with the college’s
King William Players. “I
learned so much from
working with my fellow
Johnnies,” says Jung, having “great conversations
about the dialogue and
monologues, as well as the
JEN BEHRENS
processes,” he says. “If a director is willing to be part of a production, then my
hope is he’s already eager about the work
and what it can become. If the writing is
strong and the director has a vision and
can trust his own creative impulses, you
might see something worth saving.”
Falke was unable to be there when
The Sun Is in the West opened in a town
far from his home in Port Arthur, Texas.
“It was a treat to see a production in Santa
Fe,” he says. “I was nervous. I want a
work to be enjoyed or appreciated. I hope
people take something good away from
seeing a show.”
Writing can be a difficult craft. “You
have to work hard to get it right, and
sometimes you might not know when you
do. The hard work and the not knowing
are in part what makes the process rewarding,” says Falke. “They lead to what
you might call a difficult pleasure.”
Falke has long moved on from the girl
who broke his heart. Having become a
prolific writer, Falke has published poems
and short stories in addition to his plays.
Falke’s publications included a 10,000word piece in The Langdon Review, a
poem in The Aurorean, and others. He
also finished writing a couple plays that
he hopes to see in production soon. In
March 2012, a book containing a single
poem, Notes on Paper, was published. But
he isn’t about to rest on his laurels. “I’m
still pleased when a piece is published or
given a stage,” he says. “It means there’s
someone who wants to listen to you and
who believes others should listen also.
You need to accept such an opportunity
with humility; there is plenty of fine work
that only a few souls will ever read.”
various characters.” Club
archon Tessa Nelson (A12)
worked hard to make the
King William Players “reflect
well on the college. She’s
taken theater at St. John’s
to an amazing place.”
During “Dead Week” on
the Annapolis campus—the
calm period each spring
when tutorials are cancelled
for sophomore and junior
Don Rags—Jung sequestered herself in Greenfield Library’s basement,
engrossed in the Bard. With
scribbled notes strewn on
open plays, she spent many
hours memorizing monologues from Titus Andronicus and Twelfth Night to
prepare for her callback
with the Annapolis Shakespeare Company. Sounding
like a seasoned actor, Jung
explains that a callback
is about “getting a sense
of the chemistry between
the actors” and “showing
that you can really get into
the character and have fun
onstage.”
Jung’s only previous
acting credit was playing
the role of Mrs. Gibbs in her
high school’s production of
Our Town. “I got into acting
on a whim,” says Jung. “My
friends [at Hunter College
High School in New York
City] were involved in the
arts, so I thought I’d give
acting a try.” She has also
been inspired by a strong
female lead, her mother,
now retired, who is taking
acting classes –“and getting
lots of work!”
Jung is curious to explore
acting possibilities beyond
the stage. Last year, she
had a Hodson internship
assisting with film shoots
and editing at the Doc Tank,
a Brooklyn-based international creative center for
documentary directors.
“With film, there are so
many subtle, dramatic details that can’t be conveyed
in plays—like zooming in on
the expression on a person’s
face,” she says. “I really like
those possibilities.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
33
�St. John’s College was a
haven from the segregation
in Annapolis before Brown
v. Board of Education.
34 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
�Rule of
Reason
In a Small College Seeking
Enlightenment
SIGNS, WIRES AND CONCRETE. PHOTOGRAPH BY A. AUBREY BODINE, COPYRIGHT © JENNIFER B. BODINE, COURTESY WWW.AAUBREYBODINE.COM
by Susan Borden (A87)
Remembering
Martin A. Dyer
(193o–2011)
Martin Appell Dyer (Class of 1952), was
a dignified, thoughtful, and gracious
pioneer, the first African American
student to attend St. John’s College. He
was admitted in 1948 after the college
community challenged the legitimacy of
segregated education. Throughout his
distinguished career as an attorney in
public and community service, Mr. Dyer
remained devoted to St. John’s.
He recalled how he “was welcomed on
campus, a bastion, and that welcome
made all the difference in the world. . .
St. John’s was just a beacon of freedom
compared to anything in Annapolis.”
It was to St. John’s that Mr. Dyer attributed his “lifelong love of books and
language” and his “passion for music.”
During his time at St. John’s, Mr. Dyer
arranged for W.E.B. Du Bois to give a
lecture—he brought to campus the only
author read in the St. John’s Program to
also visit and speak at the college.
Mr. Dyer was born and raised in East
Baltimore, the son of Martin A. Dyer, a
steelworker, and Margaret Louise Dyer, a
secretary to Lillie Mae Jackson, president
of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP.
What can the voices of St. John’s
veterans returning after World War II
tell us about freedom, injustice, and
segregation in a small college town?
In the crowded Conversation Room at the 2011 Annapolis
Homecoming, more than 60 alumni, tutors, and other
members of the college community gathered for a first
reading of “So Reason Can Rule: The Necessity of Racial
Integration at St. John’s College.” The script, drawn from
numerous oral histories and written by Charlotta Beavers
(AGI11), tells the story of the conditions, circumstances,
and people that led to the enrollment of Martin Dyer
(Class of 1952), the first African
Martin Dyer (Class of 1952)
American student to attend St. John’s
College. Dyer enrolled in the fall
of 1948, six years before Brown v.
Board of Education established the
unconstitutionality of separate public
schools for black and white students.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
35
�Remembering
Martin A. Dyer
“I learned about discrimination and segregation
when I was sent to Fort Bragg. It had an impact for
everybody. Whether you were a southerner or urban
or rural—just being in the military and
wondering why [the soldiers] were
separated . . . made you think.”
(continued)
He graduated at the top of his
class in 1948 at Paul Laurence
Dunbar High School but family
circumstances were such that
he expected to attend a state
teachers college. At that time,
students and faculty from
St. John’s actively sought
African Americans to attend
the college and Mr. Dyer was
the first to enroll. Inspired by
the college’s activist stance,
he attended the college after
“a core of students actively
scouted Baltimore’s two black
high schools to recruit students
for a college virtually unknown
in the black community. . . . To
accept [blacks] is one thing,”
he told a reporter from the Baltimore Sun, “but to deliberately
and consciously seek someone
is another.”
Graduating from St. John’s in
1952, he enlisted in the Army
and served in Europe until
1954. Mr. Dyer earned his law
degree from the University
of Maryland School of Law in
1959. In 1962, Mr. Dyer married the former Jane Weeden
and began his family.
In the 1960s, Mr. Dyer worked
as a congressional intern on
Capitol Hill and principal legislative aide and speechwriter for
Alaska Sen. Edward L. “Bob”
Bartlett, architect of Alaskan
statehood. Mr. Dyer then
worked in public service in the
Health Care Finance Administration until retiring in 1990. A
champion for fair housing, after
retiring from federal service he
served as associate director of
Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc.
In 1997 he was honored at
Homecoming with the Alumni
Association Award of Merit. He
gave a moving talk to those
—Jules Pagano (Class of 1948)
When Beavers started working on “So Reason
Can Rule,” its working title was “The Magnificent Seven,” a name affectionately bestowed on
the first seven African American students to
enroll at St. John’s by Everett Wilson (Class of
1956), the second African American student.
Beavers came to see that her project was about
far more than these seven alumni. It was about
a world seeking enlightenment after the darkness of World War II. It was also about deeply
entrenched prejudice in a small southern city,
and the necessity of racial justice in an institution centered on liberty, open-mindedness, and
the rule of reason.
“So Reason Can Rule” originated as an oral
history project; Beavers conducted 13 oral histories as a collective memory of a pivotal time at the
college. As Beavers reviewed the recordings and
transcripts of these oral histories, she noticed a
theme that seemed essential to the college’s integration: the significant role played by veterans
returning to the college from World War II.
In his essay, “Race, Language, and War in Two
Cultures: World War II in Asia,” author John
W. Dower describes the U.S. soldiers’ need to
remain blind to the “hypocrisy of fighting with
a segregated army and navy under the banner
of freedom, democracy, and justice.” To their
credit, Beavers says, many St. John’s students returned from World War II with their eyes opened.
“I learned about discrimination and segregation when I was sent to Fort Bragg,” says Jules
Pagano (Class of 1948). “It had an impact for
everybody. Whether you were a southerner or
urban or rural—just being in the military and
wondering why [the soldiers] were separated...
made you think.”
George Van Sant (Class of 1948), another
veteran, returned to the college in 1947 as a junior, joining a student body of mostly veterans,
including the dean, who had been “commander
of a company of all black soldiers that had fought
36 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
in Germany with distinction,” Van Sant recalls.
“By the junior year, you begin to read some of
the 18th-century political stuff. Most Johnnies
develop, I hope, a very enlightened view of our
Founding Fathers and their Constitution and
what it all means.”
Van Sant says that his senior year saw a lot of
ferment and turmoil. “The race issue just came
to a head and there was an open discussion of
it and open encouragement for [integration on
the campus].” A voluntary meeting in the Great
Hall about the issue during the ’47 to ’48 academic year was well attended, he says, by a lot of
students and veterans.
Pagano recalls the sense of political possibility that informed the meeting: “Just the fact that
we were reading the Great Books made us very
concerned with the movements that were taking
place: Will there be something like the Roman
peace? Will there be an American peace? Will
we run the world? Will we be the new empire?
What will the United Nations be and how will
it affect us? Will it change America and will we
have a voice in the world?”
Charged with the possibility of change and the
hope for a better world, the undergraduate students gathered on March 16, 1948, to vote on a
resolution: “The Student Polity hereby resolves
that it would welcome the admission of students
of any race or color to St. John’s College,” it read.
“This resolution is not intended as a petition to
or demand on the administration, but rather is
the result of a student discussion and deliberation about whether an admissions policy which
would enter Negro students would be acceptable
to the student body.”
Gene Thornton (Class of 1945), who served in
the Navy with African American men, reflected
on freedom and segregation: “You get to thinking about things, and you realize you want to do
something about them.” He drew up the petition that circulated among the students before
�“The race issue just came to a head and there was
an open discussion of it and open encouragement
for [integration on the campus]. A voluntary
meeting in the Great Hall about the
issue was ‘well attended.’”
—George Van Sant (Class of 1948)
Remembering
Martin A. Dyer
(continued)
The Board was facing a number of pressures
that seemed to endanger the college’s very
existence, most significantly a recent attempt
by the U.S. Naval Academy to take over the college. Given the high level of segregation in the
city of Annapolis, they also feared that publicity
surrounding a new policy of integration would
turn the town against St. John’s. Following their
discussion, the Board decided unanimously that
no action be taken.
Despite the Board’s reluctance to integrate
the college, the students pressed on. With
the support of New Program founder Scott
Buchanan, Dean Harvey Poe, and tutor Winfree
Smith, they visited guidance offices in black
high schools in Baltimore to recruit an African
American male to attend St. John’s. In his interview, Van Sant made it clear that special credit
should be given to Peter Davis (Class of 1948),
who spurred this recruitment movement.
In 2004, St. John’s honored Mr.
Dyer and six other pioneering
African American students
who followed him at St. John’s
in the 1950s. He served as
a member of the Board of
Visitors and Governors and
chaired an advisory committee
in Annapolis to recruit, enroll,
and retain students of color.
He helped frame the college’s
continuing conversation about
diversity. He drew attention
to the college’s ongoing need
to ensure that its Program is
available to all. He wanted St.
John’s to keep the commitment it had made when he was
recruited and enrolled.
“Doctor Weaver founded a Negro
national scholarship fund. . . .
Their one sentence of St. John’s:
‘St. John’s College is an island of
liberality in a sea of segregation.’
And the next sentence went on to
explain that fortunately everything
you needed was on campus, so
you did not need to depend on offcampus for anything else, except
if you went to church, [a dentist, or
for a haircut].”
Jerry Hynson (Class of 1959) came
from a segregated community where
his only connections to white people
were as employers. Nevertheless,
he found life at the nearly all-white
St. John’s agreeable: “St. John’s was
easy socially. . . I liked to talk and
enjoyed the company of others.”
SHERRI HOSFELD JOSEPH
the meeting, which asked what students thought
of St. John’s enrolling “colored” or “Negro”
students.
Robert Davis (Class of 1945) was the meeting’s moderator. He argued against the idea that
the high tuition ($1,100 in 1948) and the study of
the Classics were deterrents for African American students. Unlike others, who thought that
African Americans would forego St. John’s for
job preparation training, Davis believed that a
St. John’s education was practical and that African American students would come if they were
welcomed.
Ralph Finkel (now known as Raphael BenYosef, Class of 1948), Michael Keane (Class of
1945), and Phillip Camponeschi (Class of 1946)
assisted in organizing the meeting. Finkel told a
reporter, “You can’t go to a place like St. John’s
and learn all about the great ideas of the world
without practicing them.” Keane felt strongly
that the challenge to dismantle segregated
education must originate with the students.
Camponeschi, who led seminars on Greek and
Shakespearean tragedies in the African American communities of Annapolis, was recorded as
saying, “Western civilization has lagged intellectually while developing its material wealth.”
The students concluded that if all men are
free, then a system that denies the right of freedom to certain men is wrong. The resolution
passed by an overwhelming vote: 162 in favor, 33
against, and two indifferent.
Less than a month later, at a faculty meeting
on April 10, a motion was made by tutor Winfree
Smith that “the faculty go on record as favoring
the admission of Negro students as a matter of
college policy.” The motion passed unanimously.
The Board of Visitors and Governors met on
April 17. Richard F. Cleveland, the son of former
President Grover Cleveland, presided as Chairman. President John Kieffer told the Board about
the decisions made by the students and faculty.
assembled. His great care and
concern for each individual
made all who knew him feel
welcome. In his honor St.
John’s initiated the Martin
Dyer Book Fund in 1997, which
helps students meet the expenses of Program books.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
37
�Remembering
Martin A. Dyer
(continued)
Mr. Dyer included everyone in
the discussion; he could lead a
group around a difficult issue
and never lose sight of the
goal. He led with grace and a
finely tuned ability to listen.
A lover of art, classical music
and opera and a gourmet chef,
Mr. Dyer was a member of
the Peabody Choir, a founding
member of the board of the
James E. Lewis Museum of Art
Foundation at Morgan State
University, and past president
of the board of Young American Audiences of Maryland.
A tribute by a friend and colleague might well serve to sum
up his life: “He had no trepidation about doing what was
right….he made the world not a
little better but a lot better. He
was a perfect gentleman. I have
nothing but fond words and
memories of Martin. He was a
beautiful person.”
—Mark Lindley (A67)
“I had spoken to one or another tutor about my
concern . . . . I was put in touch with somebody
from Baltimore . . . . knowing that there were
the Maryland scholarships that meant someone
recruited in Baltimore could come to
St. John’s without having tuition. I
tried to urge that person, whoever they
were, to come to St. John’s.”
—Peter Davies (Class of 1948)
The students were put in touch with Martin
Dyer, a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High
School in Baltimore, Maryland, and an honors
student with the second-highest grade-point average in his class.
At the meeting of St. John’s Board on July 17,
President Kieffer reported that “an application
had been received from Martin Dyer, a Negro,
a graduate of Dunbar High School of Baltimore
City.” In his opinion, Kieffer said, Martin Dyer’s
application should be accepted if he met all
other qualifications; he should not be rejected
because he was a Negro. Kieffer noted that Johns
Hopkins University admitted Negroes in its
undergraduate department, that the Archbishop had instructed all Catholic colleges in
Maryland to admit Negroes, and that there was a
Negro at the Naval Academy. To refuse to admit a
Negro to St. John’s would be inconsistent with the
DAN COOK
“There was so little to do in Annapolis
because of the segregation. I certainly didn’t go socializing off campus with my classmates unless we
were all going to the Little Campus. I
was Catholic. But I was not welcome
at the Catholic church in Annapolis,
St. Mary’s. I certainly didn’t blame it
on St. John’s. St. John’s opens your
eyes…gives you an opportunity to
think about what is the best way to
respond to this kind of travesty.”
Charlotte King (Class of 1959) was one
of the first African American women
to attend St. John’s. She remembers an
admissions officer showing her and
her family a film of the college that
was too good to resist: “I lived in urban
New York and here was this beautiful
movie with beautiful music in the
background, students sitting around at
classes that made it look like a wonderful way to learn.”
38 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
liberal education offered by the college and
would be bad for student and faculty morale.
Yet the Board’s Executive Committee voted
nine to three against admitting Dyer, who was
sent a letter of rejection.
What happened next, says Beavers, is unclear. She speculates that someone on the Board
rallied support for the Executive Committee
of the Board to reconsider. A letter dated August 26 shows that the majority of the Board
supported such a move. When the Executive
Committee met on September 17, each member
was asked to express his views. Their vote was
six to three—this time in favor of admitting Dyer,
who attended his first class at St. John’s College
on September 27, 1948.
The story doesn’t end with Martin Dyer’s
successful enrollment, says Beavers. Once her
script is turned into an audio-visual presentation—to be narrated by tutor Jon Tuck—she
will return to her research. Her next script will
explore what life was like for the first seven
African American students during their time at
St. John’s and in their lives after graduation.
The first presentation, using the script of “So
Reason Can Rule,” the oral history tapes, and
photographs from the college archives, is planned
for screening during Homecoming 2012. Beavers
is working on a “So Reason Can Rule” web page:
www.stjohnscollege.edu/alumni/AN/so-reasoncan-rule.shtml. Send relevant reminiscences,
photographs, and documents to Beavers, in care
of Susan Borden, P.O. Box 2800, Annapolis,
MD 21404.
�bibliofile
Andrew Krivak (A86):
A Coming of Age
MARZEUA POGORZALY
Following up on his 2007
“I go back to
Aristotle [as a
teacher] for
constructing
a story’s
beginning,
middle, and
end.”
memoir, A Long Retreat: In
Search of a Religious Life,
Andrew Krivak (A86) takes on
a new subject in his latest book,
The Sojourn. This time, the subject is his grandfather—or rather,
an amalgam of traits both real
and imagined, distilled to create
a version of his grandfather,
the protagonist in Krivak’s first
work of fiction.
Having only heard tales about
his grandfather, Krivak envisioned the book as a way to
explore his personal family
history. But an unexpected
discovery happened midway
through writing his novel.
Krivak found that he became
less concerned with documenting history and more focused on
becoming a writer in a bigger
sense. “A Long Retreat is a story
about my personal coming of
age,” says Krivak. “The Sojourn
is my coming of age as a writer.”
As he wrote, blending history
and landscapes, Krivak—who hadn’t previously
thought to cross genres—became excited about
the craft of storytelling without being beholden
to specific times, characters, and places. “I’m
always thinking about plot. A good story moves.
How will a character or place move a story?”
Whether writing memoir or fiction, the writing
process is essentially the same for Krivak, who
says, “No matter what the subject, it’s about
writing a story.”
The story of his latest work centers on the
protagonist Jozef Vinich, who in the wake of
a family tragedy was uprooted from a 19thcentury Colorado mining town to return with
his father to rural Austria-Hungary, where he
lives an impoverished shepherd’s life. At the
outbreak of World War I, Jozef joins his cousin
and brother-in-arms as a sharpshooter on the
southern front, where he must survive a perilous journey across the frozen Italian Alps and
enemy capture.
Krivak draws from the classics for inspiration. As a freshman at St. John’s, reading the
Odyssey had a profound impact—he was taken
with the formal and aural sensibilities of the
language, which seemed to come alive. He also
looks to the Greeks for getting to the root of
good storytelling. “I go back to Aristotle [as a
teacher] for constructing a story’s beginning,
middle, and end.”
Krivak’s storytelling has earned him serious
recognition. The Sojourn was a 2011 National
Book Award Finalist, as well as a Boston Globe
bestseller and the Washington Post’s Notable
Book of the Year. Not bad for a novel that was
turned away by nearly every large publishing
company. Thrilled by the favorable response his
book has received, Krivak says that being nominated for a National Book Award is “psychologically, an experience that can’t be beat.”
Most recently, in April 2012 the Chautauqua
Institution, a not-for-profit educational and
cultural center in southwestern New York state,
selected The Sojourn as the first-ever winner
of The Chautauqua Prize, a new national prize
that celebrates a book of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction that yields a richly rewarding
reading experience and honors the author for a
significant contribution to the literary arts. The
Chautauqua Prize reviewers, who chose The
Sojourn from a finalist shortlist that includes
five other titles, describe the book as “a novel of
uncommon lyricism and moral ambiguity.”
Given the plentiful accolades, it is clear that
Krivak has come of age as a writer. Still, he
insists that his motivation is not influenced by
reviews and awards. “Reviews teach me nothing.
If it doesn’t get me back to the [writing] desk, I
don’t care about it.” Future plans include a book
that he describes as “sort of a follow-up to The
Sojourn. It’s much bigger and taking more time
to write.” As a husband and father of three based
in Somerville, Massachusetts, finding time is
a challenge. “I used to think, ‘What days can I
write?’ Now I think, ‘What hours can I write?’ ”
—Gregory Shook
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
39
�bibliofile
Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook, 2nd Edition
Joshua Parens (A83) and Joseph C. Macfarland (A87)
Cornell University Press, 2011
In light of recent events that pose a
The Sourcebook’s
readings provide
the means to
rediscover and
contemplate
the confrontation
between reason
and revelation,
free from
many modern
presuppositions.
secular West against a radicalized Islamic world,
while the West alternates between safeguarding
secularism and questioning it, medieval political philosophers provide a remote viewpoint
from which to reconsider the relationships
between science, religion, and politics. They
consider how philosophy might inform the practice of politics and religion independently of the
modern, western model—the liberal democratic
separation of religion from politics that lowers
the ends of politics for the sake of securing the
conditions of material well-being. This second
edition of Medieval Political Philosophy: A
Sourcebook, brings together in one volume
works from the three monotheistic traditions:
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Despite their
different traditions, these authors shared a
greater uniformity of intention than may perhaps be found at any other time, for each studied
classical political philosophy in the works of
Plato and Aristotle and each sought to articulate
the implications of classical teachings for contemporary life in his religious community.
The Sourcebook’s readings provide the means
to rediscover and contemplate the confrontation between reason and revelation, free from
many modern presuppositions. Despite the
authors’ similarity of intention, this confrontation between reason and revelation takes different forms, as Judaism and Islam are religions of
law and Christianity is a religion of faith. Thus
Alfarabi (ca. AD 870-950), along with several
Muslim and Jewish authors after him, took their
bearings from Plato’s Republic and Laws and
identified the lawgiving prophet with the Platonic philosopher-king. By this understanding,
the authoritative religious science, jurisprudence, is guided by political philosophy, which
comprehends the characteristics of divine law
in principle and the nature of the prophetic
legislator. In Christianity, without a lawgiver as
the central figure, the authoritative religious
science was not jurisprudence, but theology.
Many Christian authors, following Aristotle’s
Politics, understood political philosophy as a
branch of practical philosophy, safely segregated from the speculative sciences and implicitly
subordinate to theology. In this context, any
attitude that conversely subordinated theology
40 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
to philosophy was reviled as “Averroism”; in
a few Christian authors, however, one detects
a similarity of purpose with Averroes and his
predecessor, Alfarabi.
Despite the relative subordination of political
philosophy within Christianity and the relative
independence of political philosophy from
jurisprudence and theology in Islam and
Judaism, it is puzzling that political philosophy
in the medieval Islamic world ended with the
death of Averroes in AD 1198, whereas one may
trace in several doctrines a continuity in
Christian political thought from medieval to
early modern thinkers.
The first edition of the Sourcebook, edited by
Ralph Lerner and Muhsin Mahdi in collaboration with Ernest Fortin, appeared in 1963. The
original editors passed the project on to their
former graduate students, Joshua Parens (A83),
a professor of philosophy at the University of
Dallas, and Joseph Macfarland (A87), a tutor in
Annapolis, whose revised edition includes new
readings. More vividly highlighting the debate
between the philosophers and those defending
the three religious traditions from philosophy,
these readings include selections from Judah
Halevi’s The Kuzari, Alghazali’s The Deliverer
from Error, and Boethius of Dacia’s On the Supreme Good. Additions also highlight particular
themes: for example, selections by Maimonides
(Eight Chapters) and Thomas (Commentary on
the Ethics) enable the reader to consider with
greater precision different opinions regarding
the connection between law and nature. This revision takes advantage of many new translations
(e.g., Alfarabi’s The Book of Religion, William of
Ockham’s Dialogue), and improves old translations on the basis of new critical editions (e.g.,
Thomas’s Commentaries, Dante’s Monarchia).
The Sourcebook has been used frequently in
undergraduate and graduate classrooms; now
Parens and Macfarland make it more inviting to
novice readers in political theory. Each section
includes a new bibliography with additional
primary and secondary sources, and new introductions highlight salient themes and questions
articulated by the thinkers of that religious
tradition.
—Joseph C. Macfarland (A87)
�bibliofile
Photography and Archaeology
By Fred Bohrer (A78)
Reaktion Books (Exposers), 2011
Fred Bohrer’s (A78) Photography and
Archaeology, the first book-length study of
its topic, is the result of nearly a decade of
research on some of history’s most famous
and lesser-known archaeological excavations.
Accompanied by a stunning array of images,
many of which are published for the first time,
Bohrer examines photographic representation
of excavation sites from the Mediterranean,
Edmond Halley’s Reconstruction
of the Lost Book of Apollinius’s
Conics
By Michael N. Fried (A82)
Springer (Sources on the History of Science)
2011
Apollonius’s Conics was one of the greatest
works of advanced mathematics in antiquity.
The work comprised eight books, of which
four have come down to us in their original
Greek and three in Arabic. By the time the
Arabic translations appeared, the eight books
had already been lost. In 1710 Edmond Halley,
Intimate Microscopy
By Jorge H. Aigla
Farolito Press, 2010
In his review of Intimate Microscopy, a book of
poems in English and Spanish by Santa Fe tutor
Jorge Aigla, Charles Fasanaro, tutor emeritus,
Santa Fe, writes, “I had the telling experience
of saying, ‘Yes. That’s right. That’s it.’ It was an
experience such as one has reading Montaigne,
something akin to friendship on a very deep
level. Aigla’s ensouled words take me to places
I had forgotten about, or—ignoring the truth
of our shared humanity—to places I thought
only my memories inhabited.” In Aigla’s
Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas;
he explores how the development of photography has affected the way that people engage
with the past. Spanning the histories of both
fields from the early nineteenth century to the
present, Photography and Archaeology surveys
the thought of archaeologists, historians,
photographers, artists, critics, and theorists, in
describing how its images are situated between
two opposite, and possibly contradictory, inclinations. Bohrer will give a presentation and
book signing at George Washington University
in Washington, D.C., on September 12.
then Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford,
published an edition of the Greek text of the
Conics of Books I-IV, and a reconstruction
together with copious notes on the text. It also
contains an introduction discussing aspects of
Apollonius’s Conics and how Halley understood
the nature of his venture into ancient mathematics. In particular, it asks how Halley understood
his project of reconstructing a historic mathematical text: in what sense, in other words, was
Halley a historian of mathematics? The book
also includes appendices giving a brief account
of Apollonius’s approach to conic sections and
his mathematical techniques.
poetry, Fasanaro discovers that “Aigla grapples
with life and especially death, understanding
that there are many deaths—which, handled
intelligently, are gateways to a richer life and
a brighter light. In reaching the very ground
of human experience, Aigla shows us who we
are and what being human ultimately means.”
Aigla’s medical studies at the University of
California lend insight to his observations as
a poet; Fasanaro culls relevant poems, such as
“The Need for Trees,” “Dog Surgery,” and “An
Oasis,” to share with the readers of his review.
To read Charles Fasanaro’s elegant review of
Intimate Microscopy, visit: www.stjohnscollege.
edu/news/main.html.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
41
�DOUG PLUMMER
“The books have a kind of
restraint. We have to give to
them before they give to us.
We might have to work hard
to get to their riches, but
they are capable of enormous
generosity.”— Pamela Kraus, Annapolis Dean
42 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
�alumni notes
1952
1949
Allan P. Hoffman (A) writes, “Yes,
I still ski—even at age 83. I avoid
the bumps. I teach my youngest
grandchildren, the twins, how to
ski. I am still active on the Board
of Visitors and Governors—honorary member—and on the Alumni
Board—emeritus. I look forward to
seeing many old friends and classmates at Homecoming this fall, the
celebration of the 75th anniversary
of the founding of the New Program
by Scott & Winkie. We knew them
both. We know what it was like
when they were there. I think we
owe it to them to help the college
recollect.”
1958
On the heels of the publication of
her collection of essays on contemporary Chinese art, Mary Bittner
Goldstein (A) was invited by the
People’s Republic of China to be a
guest speaker at the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the National
Institute of Chinese Painting held
in Beijing, China, at the end of
October 2011.
1959
Marshall Lasky (A) and Mary
left at the end of September for a
three-week trip to Nepal, Bhutan,
Thailand, and Cambodia. Before
leaving, he wrote, “We couldn’t
resist the opportunity to see Bhutan
before it gets spoiled by tourism,
and Mary has long wanted to see
the entire Angkor temple complex,
which includes a fast area in addition
to Angkor Wat. While most people
go to Nepal to go up, up, up into
the Himalayas and maybe trek into
Everest Base Camp—have any of you
done that?—instead, (other than a
few days in Kathmandu) we will be
heading down nearly to sea level
near the India border to a remote
location called Tiger Tops, in the
subtropical jungle of Royal Chitwan
National Park, an area of grasslands
and forests and wetlands. Staying in
a tented safari camp and excursioning by elephant back, river boat,
Land Rover, and jungle walks, we’ll
be hoping to spot hundreds of bird
species, sloth bear, and freshwater
dolphin, as well as the Greater OneHorned Rhinoceros, leopards, and
Bengal tigers (oh, my).”
Barbara Tower (A) has eight charming grandchildren, the eldest 19
and at St. Mary’s College. Barbara
has been doing a bit of traveling,
is enrolled in Executive Seminars
at the college, is studying the New
Testament, and went to Jerusalem
in February. She is still enjoying her
interesting Annapolis real estate
career, “teaming” with her daughter
Alex and her husband Fred.
Study Abroad Program
Celebrated
Walter Schatzberg’s study abroad program was celebrated at the
Embassy of Luxembourg. The event commemorated the ClarkLuxembourg study abroad program that was started by Walter
Schatzberg (Class of 1952) nearly 25 years ago. Clark University
President David Angel spoke, recognizing Walter and Professors
SunHee and Uwe Gertz, who took ownership of the program as
Walter approached retirement. His Excellency, the Honorable JeanPaul Senninger, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to
the United States, and his wife, Elizabeth, were hosts at the historic
embassy near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. The embassy
provided drinks and hors d’oeuvres for Clark graduates from 2011
and many decades before. The Clark University motto, “Fiat Lux,”
was amended for the event to
“Fiat Luxembourg.”
Uwe Gertz, Sarah Zapolsky,
and Walter Schatzberg (Class
of 1952) at the Embassy of
Luxembourg.
2012) in the Providence Journal,
“France Must Heed the Cry of SOS
Paris!” Next stop: Urging UNESCO
to delist Paris as a World Heritage
site if this vandalism goes forward.
1960
1962
Mary Campbell Gallagher’s (A)
new study guide for the bar exam
has garnered exceptional professional reviews and high praise on
Amazon. Called Perform Your Best
on the Bar Exam Performance Test
(MPT): Train to Finish the MPT
in 90 Minutes “Like a Sport™,” it
will be recognized by Johnnies as
lessons in grammar, rhetoric, and
logic. Meanwhile, her campaign
against plans to blight the horizon
of Paris with skyscrapers is gaining
traction. The organization to which
she belongs, SOS Paris, and the
international NGO called the Council for European Urbanism have
worked together. The CEU has produced a white paper and now they
are getting publicity, starting with
David Brussat’s column (March 29,
After serving as the CEO at
Hampton National Historic Site
in Towson, Maryland; Stan Hywet
Hall and Gardens in Akron, Ohio;
and Edsel and Eleanor Ford House
in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan;
John Miller (A) retired and expects
to move to Maryland when he sells
his house in Grosse Pointe. He
has been President of the Library
of American Landscape History
and wrote the “Afterword” to The
Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman
by Judith B. Tankard. Currently he
is exploring the idea that women
have played a leadership role in the
U.S. preservation movement since
Ann Pamela Cunningham saved Mt.
Vernon in the nineteenth century.
St. Clair Wright did the same for
Annapolis in his time at St. John’s.
1963
Marcia E. Herman-Giddens (A)
writes “I am still trying to retire and
getting close. For a change from
scientific writing, I tried my hand
at describing my love affair with my
herbs and an easy way to make teas
with common garden plants, both
domestic and wild (obviously, must
be edible!). The result is a small publishing company, Seed Pod Press,
and my book, Sipping My Garden
(www.seedpodpress.com and www.
facebook.com/SippingMyGarden).
It has been work, fun, and a lot of
learning. Now I am looking forward
to starting on the second book!”
1964
Cecily Sharp-Whitehill (A) writes,
“contrary to most people’s images of
Florida, life here is not equated with
retirement! My companion [Dr.]
Jürgen Ladendorf and I teach (by
the Harvard case-based interactive
discussion method) and consult with
a number of clients in Australia,
Europe, and Asia Pacific. It is a joy
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43
�alumni notes
1972
From Words to Wood
not only to travel to work with
clients, but to learn in the process!”
1966
After a 10-year collaboration, Joseph
Anderson and Judy Millspaugh
Anderson, M.D. (A), announce
the birth of . . . a book! Kissing the
Underbelly, a novel published by
Xlibris Press, is available via www.
kissingtheunderbelly.com. The two
do not pretend that it is great literature or a scholarly work, but they
had great fun writing it and hope
that others will enjoy reading it.
1968
Rick Wicks (SF) had radiation and
chemo treatments for HPV-induced
tongue-base cancer in the fall of
2010 and is now cancer-free. He and
the family took a wonderful
“resurrection” trip to Israel for
a week around New Year 2012.
In mid-April, he headed to an
“alumni” retreat at Tassajara, a Zen
Buddhist monastery in California,
where he lived for a year in the
mid-’70s. On May 30, 2012, Rick is
scheduled to defend his PhD thesis
concerning the place of conventional economics in a world with
communities and social goods
(i.e., in the real world!). His daughter Linnéa (21) is working hard and
doing well in her second year of
medical school, and he and his son
Hendrik (17) are planning to spend
the summer in Alaska again, like
last year. He and Ellinor did lots of
day-hikes on a wilderness trail near
Anchorage last spring and fall—soon
it will be warm enough to start them
again. During the winter, they’ve
been watching lots of movies on TV.
below: Les Margulis (A70) pictured standing in front of the largest Buddhist
Temple in the southern hemisphere.
Juan Hovey (SF) spent 15 years in daily journalism, including
stints as city editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican and assistant
city editor of the Oakland Tribune. After that, he spent 10 years
in the insurance industry, gaining an understanding of how
insurers identify, manage, and price risks of all kinds. By happy
coincidence, Hovey then found work as an editor for a Marin
County publisher of high-value newsletters focusing on the
insurance industry. He became that rare bird: the journalist
who actually understands his subject matter—which put him in
position some years later to write a weekly column on finance
and insurance for the business page of the Los Angeles Times.
Those were amazing years: he had a voice in a big-time paper,
and he felt he was doing some good in the world. More recently,
Hovey developed another specialty as a ghostwriter for a number
of partner-level attorneys, accountants, and other professionals
in Los Angeles. He and his wife of 33 years, Elise Cassel, have
two daughters plus Maya, his first child. They are “more or less
retired” and live in Santa Maria, California. Hovey has taken up
woodworking in earnest, building furniture including tables and
chairs, beds, cabinets, and other items. The work is an entirely
new undertaking for him; he spent his life figuring out how to
put language to good, practical use, and now is happiest when
knee-deep in sawdust striving to make something beautiful with
his hands.
1970
Les Margulis (A) writes, “I am
still working, although I must say
I am the oldest man in advertising
anywhere in Australia. I am what’s
called a ‘pitch consultant.’ If clients
want to change advertising agencies, they hire the company that I
work for (www.trinityp3.com) and
we organize the whole thing. In my
spare time, my wife and I explore
the interesting, lesser-known areas
in Australia and nearby countries.”
Connie Shaw (A) is living in Boulder, Colorado, near her 26-year-old
son, Forrest, and is publishing
books at the company she started
11 years ago, Sentient Publications
(www.sentientpublications.com).
She publishes mostly nonfiction,
with an emphasis on transformative
spirituality, alternative education,
and holistic health.
44 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Anthony Vitto (A) has sold his
solo private neurology practice in
Morgan Hill, California, and has
recently relocated to the Berkshires
in Western Massachusetts, where
he is now doing teleneurology out
of his house. He is on call at more
than 20 hospitals across the United
States, and carries out video-tovideo HD teleconsultations to
emergency rooms where he is asked
to “see” neurology patients on an
emergent basis. He writes, “This
is very exciting and rewarding and
allows patients to be examined and
treated by a neurologist when and
where none would normally be
available. It is especially cool to be
on the cutting edge of consultative
medical technology while living in a
house built in 1782, one year before
the signing of the Treaty of Paris,
which formally ended the American
Revolutionary War.”
�alumni notes
Barbara Rogan (SF) would like to
let the St. John’s community know
that her latest novel, the mystery
Can You Hear Me Now?, has been
acquired by Viking Penguin for
publication in the spring of 2013.
“In addition,” she says, “five of my
earlier novels will be released by
Simon & Schuster in new editions,
including ebook editions, over the
coming year. Although they are not
great books, they are, I think,
rather good books, and I’m very
happy that they’re getting a new
life. And to think I owe it all to the
St. John’s tutor who, after reading
one of my essays, suggested I
consider fiction instead.”
1973
“What happens to blues fans when
they die? They go to the Reincarnation Blues Club, a way station
where they can listen to great blues
and have interesting conversations
on their way to their next life,”
writes Richard Cohen (SF73), who
published his second novel, The
Reincarnation Blues Club, in 2011.
You can reach him at cohen03@
bellsouth.net.
Jane Spear (A) writes, “In January
I had a nice but sad ride up to
Michigan from my Ohio home to
attend the memorial of my ‘cosmic
twin,’ dear friend, and classmate,
Jon Ferrier, who died of a heart
attack in his sleep on January 6,
2012. He leaves behind his fabulous
wife, Kayne, and their daughter,
Valerie, an attorney with the transit
authority in New York City. His
death came just a week after the
news that we had lost Jeff Sinks on
Christmas Eve—and so soon, too,
after the sad loss of Philo Dibble.
I took the opportunity of being in
Michigan to visit Bill (now ‘Harry’)
PAUL KNIESL
1972
1977
Back on His Bike
Paul Kniesl (A) writes, “Last year about this time, I sent you an e-mail saying I was riding my
motorcycle to Alaska. I had to drive my car instead because my back went out. This year, barring
an act of God, I’m riding the motorcycle.”
Shown above: Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve, west of Calgary, Alberta. E-mail him, if you wish,
at 233@excite.com.
Kelley (A75), who lives in Mt. Pleasant. So wonderful to continue my
long acquaintance with him, each
of us popping up in all sorts of different places throughout the years,
but managing to find each other.
Ferrier’s death was a sad reminder
that we never have as much time as
we think we do—and that we must
‘make hay’ while the sun shines.
Other than an abysmally mild
winter here in northeastern Ohio,
and missing my dear friends, life is
good. I continue to write a daily history column for my local newspaper
and other freelancing, and fill in at
my neighborhood middle-school
cafeteria to keep things real. My
fondest greetings to all classmates
and Johnnie friends out there with
whom I don’t already correspond
through the J List, Facebook, emails, and frequent phone calls.”
1975
1974
Paula Cohen (now Behnken, SFGI)
sends greetings from Western
Massachusetts, where she still
writes for the local newspaper and
several other publications. Contact
her at phcohen@nasw.org.
John H. Rees, MD (A) gave the
Dean’s Lecture at St. John’s College
in Santa Fe on September 9, 2011.
Rees comments: “This lecture,
‘Normal and Abnormal Neuronal
Migration; or, Why Your Brain Is
Wrinkled,’ represents a convergence of ideas and thoughts that
I began to consider as a Johnnie
and continued to study and ponder
after becoming a physician and a
neuroradiologist.”
From Vancouver, Washington,
Dr. Dale Mortimer (A), chairman of
the Clark County Medical Society
Committee for Profit and Joy in
Private Practice, reports that last
year was his most profitable in the
past 22 years. His son, Grant, is
planning to apply to St. John’s in
Annapolis for 2013 or 2014.
Anne Ray (SF) is teaching in
Islamabad, Pakistan, which, she
says, is an interesting place these
days. She will be in Santa Fe for part
of the summer.
“Newsies the Musical,” based on
the film written by Bob Tzudiker
(A) and Noni White, opened at the
Nederlander Theatre on Broadway
on March 29, 2012. The show was
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45
�alumni notes
The Search for the Perfect Board
By Chelsea Batten (A07)
Geremy Coy (a06) was a perpetual sleeper hit
during his time at St. John’s, always pulling a
new skill out of his pocket. He swept the 2006
production of As You Like It with his emo
portrayal of Jaques. He took the class prize
with an essay on Middlemarch that, according
to rumor, he crumpled up and rewrote two
days before it was due. He could also dance,
when he wanted, and played guitar with the
epochal band Tandoori Jones.
So I was fairly underwhelmed to learn that he now builds furniture—even traveling across state lines in search of the perfect
board. My blasé stance changed when I saw his work. His pieces,
each as balanced and light-bodied as a ballerina, hold a strange
gravity. One can feel the air circulate around them, see the shapes,
as if they were backlit by morning fog. It’s as if he’s coaching the
wood into expressing itself. Which, it seems, he is.
“I’m interested with going inside of a thing, creating something
that reflects an inner life.” Coy’s values have this intuitive ring that
contrasts with the Aristotelian approach I remember from school.
In fact, it was this contrast that attracted him to woodworking.
“Coming out of St. John’s, your head is sort of spinning [from]
46 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
receiving so much. I needed to
decompress—like an astronaut coming
back to earth,” he says. On Ms. Locke’s
recommendation, he attended a two-year
course at Provence’s Marchutz School
of Art. “In the same way that St. John’s
opened me up to philosophical ideas,
this program opened my eyes to aesthetic
experiences.” Yet several months into it,
he realized, “I didn’t feel like a painter.”
(Coy describes, only half-facetiously,
what being a painter means to him—“I
think of someone who wears all black and
is angsty, sphinx-like, and does things
that are really opaque and obscure”—and
I flash back to my junior/his senior year,
when he played the melancholy Jaques.
He’s describing almost exactly the way he
looked in that role—all he left out is the
Rubik’s cube he carried around onstage.)
Searching for other crafts he could
adopt, he was drawn toward wood as
something immediately accessible.
He found “weird old books” about
woodworking. And an experience from his AmeriCorps days
proved to be an augury.
“One of the volunteers mentioned, ‘You know, people who make
fine furniture, instead of marking with a pencil, they mark with a
razor.’ And I thought that was the coolest thing.” By this time, the
economy had slumped. The job closest to his goal was in carpentry,
which he says “did not help me much toward furniture making.
I had to work toward that in the evenings. I got a small portable
workbench, set up in the kitchen of our one-bedroom apartment,
and started planing away.” Upon moving to Washington, D.C., in
2010, Coy obtained an apprenticeship with William B. Schreitz
(A67), who encouraged him: “You certainly have the skill, the
patience, and the attention to detail to do this for a living.”
Coy knows the pedigree of every tool he uses, including
100-year-old handsaws, and a series of specialized planes whose designs, he tells me, “even go back to Roman times, which is sort of
terrifying.” And the outcome of an entire piece can be determined
by the kind of knife he uses to mark his measurements.
“Then I use chisels and a mallet to make mortises, then different
sizes of handsaws to cut tenons or dovetails,” he explains. Among
Coy’s favorite woods is Alaskan yellow cedar. “It has a beautiful smell. Like if you had a mountain chalet somewhere and you
stepped outside on a wintry day.” He also likes cherry wood for its
“mild figure,” the brush strokes in the grain.
“If you can imagine figure running straight up and down on
two boards, and you set those two next to each other, when they’re
�“Work done by hand is incredibly
meaningful, and leads to truth.”
Geremy Coy (A06)
parallel they’ll appear calm and peaceful; where they intersect,
it might be more dramatic,” he says. “Much of bringing out the
life of a thing is in knowing how to arrange that figure in a way
that doesn’t conflict with the life, but enhances it.”
It’s always a dilemma whether he should start from a concept
and find the wood to match, or construct around the potential of
a given board. “Where you have an idea and try to find material to fit, it’s almost like giving the universe a dare,” says Coy.
“Somewhere in America, 150 years ago, a little tree had to start
growing in just the right way to produce just the right grain. And
that tree had to be selected and cut down, and then sawn in just
the right way to create just the right figure. And then you have
to show up at the right lumberyard at the right time to find this
perfect board. The demand you put on nature is pretty great.”
That demand was answered in what Coy considers his crowning
achievement. Inspired by a Shaker sewing stand and a Japanese
teapot, he conceived of a cabinet devoted to the traditional tea
ceremony. He envisioned “something that was very calm and
quiet, but would nevertheless powerfully occupy the space.”
For the top, he wanted a single piece of wood that would make
“a dramatic sweep, like a breath.” But he also wanted a significant surface flaw. “I didn’t want to put a pristine piece on top of a
cabinet that was supposed to be built in the spirit of tea, which has
something of . . . .” He pauses. “I don’t know how to say this. Has
something of death in it. Something of the wholeness of being.”
In this moment, philosophy’s hand is evident in Coy’s work.
“Heidegger talks about [how] the flow of energy through a
system affects what is revealed. Craft is one way of questioning:
‘What kind of work am I capable of? And how vividly can I bring
into creation an idea that I have?’ It’s interesting to see what
happens when you’ve worked in nothing but thought, and try
to impose order on the world. You start to respect the way that
things grow.”
After searching across three states, Coy found the perfect
board in Pennsylvania. “It was the crotch of a cherry tree; where
the two branches come together, the grain interacts in a really
ripply figure. This board had a wonderful, dark, gnarly crack
right in the middle. I put it into the back of my blue Volkswagen
beetle, which I’m sure was hilarious at the lumberyard.”
But Coy is taking the opposite approach with the linden tree
that recently blew down on St. John’s front campus in Annapolis.
Whatever he makes with it will be inspired by the Program.
“It’s the perfect tree from the perfect location,” he says. “In
the ancient world, linden was a prized source of ‘liber’—this
tough, stringy inner bark. Liber was used for making paper, and
the word eventually came to mean ‘book’ in Latin. That same
‘liber’ is one of the roots that the college’s motto puns so well:
‘Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque.’”
Geremy Coy’s work is featured at: www.geremycoy.com, and on
DcbyDesign.com and the online edition of Washingtonian Magazine.
nominated for eight Tony Awards,
and won for Best Score and Best
Choreography. Its limited run
is now open-ended. The performance on March 31 was attended
by classmates Patricia Joyce (A),
Jon Church (A), Jim Jarvis (A),
and Ann Peterson (and her children
Andrea and Tyler).
1977
From Thomasina Brown (SFGI):
“Taught for almost fifty years, then
retired and then went back to teaching elementary school. Hoping
to get back to campus sometime
soon—my sons have brought their
families by on visits recently, and
we wish you the best of luck.”
1978
Victor Lee Austin (SF) is the
author of Up with Authority: Why
We Need Authority to Flourish as
Human Beings (T & T Clark, 2010).
He comments, “I was stumped in
trying to write a normal academic
book, when I realized that what I
really wanted to do was to write an
essay, not be an expert. This book
is, it seems to me, just the sort of
thing a Johnnie would write.” He
and his wife, Susan (née Gavahan,
SF76), are now grandparents.
Fred Bohrer (A) has a new book,
Photography and Archaeology,
the result of almost a decade of
research. It was published by Reaktion Books in November 2011. “I’m
quite excited about it,” Bohrer
comments. “It’s already listed
on Amazon. I’m thrilled at how
beautifully it has turned out.” Fred
will be doing a presentation and
book signing at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C., on
September 12.
Laura Maclay (SF) just received
certificates in Music Production
and Advanced Music Production
from the University of New
Mexico’s continuing education
division. She is also studying
African drumming and playing
accompaniment for dance classes
and performances.
Robert Perry (A) writes, “My
wonderful wife and companion for
30 years, Kathy Squillace, lost her
battle with cancer in April. She
loved our class reunions and I want
to thank all of you for making her so
welcome at St. John’s.”
Lucy Tamlyn (A) writes, “I am still
with the State Department, currently stationed at the U.S. Embassy
in Lisbon where I am Deputy Chief
of Mission. It has been a very
interesting career, and I’m pleased
to see that St. John’s continues to
be decently represented at the State
Department (relative to its size, of
course!).”
1980
Tom G. Palmer (A) is the author
of Realizing Freedom: Libertarian
Theory, History, and Practice (Cato
Institute, 2009). His recent writings include “Classical Liberalism,
Poverty, and Morality” in Poverty
and Morality: Religious and Secular
Perspectives, edited by William
A. Galston and Peter Hoffenberg
(Cambridge University Press, 2010)
and The Morality of Capitalism
(Jameson Books, 2011); he was its
editor. After receiving his BA from
St. John’s, he earned his MA from
The Catholic University of America
and his PhD from the University of
Oxford. He is a board member of
several think tanks, the advisor of
Students for Liberty, and is
involved with Mercy Corps and
Mont Pelerin Society.
1981
Elizabeth Affsprung (A), known as
“Buffy,” is currently pastor of First
Presbyterian Church, Sunbury,
Pennsylvania. Her son Joseph is
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�alumni notes
1983
Liberal
Arts Apps
Peter McClard (SF) has
released his 99-cent app
called ‘pixound’ for iPhone
and iPad. This app converts
color into musical information and allows one to play
pictures, which is more
fun than it may sound. He
recommends this app to any
Johnnie who loves music and
art; it shows how liberal arts
can liberate new art forms.
Find out more at www.pixound.com/ios.
Inner Hebrides off Scotland’s
Atlantic coast. His wife is a native
of the island (population 150),
which is called Gigha. She runs
a dairy farm at the north end of
the island, and Don makes flower
essences (like the Bach Flower
Remedies) with orchids that he
grows in a greenhouse (see their
website: www.healingorchids.com).
In October 2011, their son was born
there in the house. Don also has
three wonderful children by his first
marriage, now in their 20s. The
youngest is studying at Stanford,
near where he grew up.
1983
a sophomore at the College of
Charleston, son Daniel is writing
poetry and short stories, and
husband Eric is a psychologist at
Bloomsburg University. Buffy is
taking lessons in relaxation from
Petey the cat.
John Schiavo (A) received his MA
in the Management of Information
Technology in 2010 from the University of Virginia. His and Monika
Schiavo’s (A84) oldest daughter
Hellena is a senior at St. John’s in
Santa Fe, and their son, Anthony, is
starting his second year in the Engineering School at Virginia Tech.
1982
Don Dennis (SF) lives on a wee
island in the southern part of the
Jack Armstrong (SF) writes, “Our
son Michael finished college in
December [studying film at the
University of Southern California] and went straight to Central
America to make a documentary
on shamans. I can’t wait to see what
he comes up with. Daughter Emily
is in ninth grade, still obsessed
with surfing. She has followed her
brother and joined the rowing
team. I look forward to joining
St. John’s classmate Mike Henry
at the river to watch our kids race.
We [also] had a mini-reunion at
Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre
last month. A dozen Johnnies came
for a party, and then we all watched
Twelfth Night—really fun. We’ll be
doing it again next year, so if you
are in the area, please come.”
1984
Monika Schiavo (A) has just completed her course work and submitted her thesis for a master’s degree
in the Smithsonian-Corcoran
College History of Decorative Arts
program. She has recently joined
the board of the Decorative Arts
Society, where she will be administering the website and helping with
development and program efforts.
48 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
1986
1988
Carl Buffalo (SF) has changed his
name to better reflect his gratitude
toward his Native American
ancestors.
Shirley Banks (SF88), of Atlanta
writes: “In the fall of 2011, I began
work on a Master of Theological
Studies degree at Candler School of
Theology at Emory University.
I work at Emory as a Health
Educator and AASECT-Certified
Sexuality Counselor in the Office
of Health Promotion at Student
Health & Counseling Services.
I’ll be working on the MTS parttime on a Courtesy Scholarship (a
sweet deal for university staff) while
continuing full-time employment.
I’m planning to investigate how
Jesus and the Buddha understood
the human problem and how
their pedagogies reflected that
understanding. I am not planning
to be ordained. I lead hiking trail
maintenance trips for American
Hiking Society as a volunteer. In
June, Marty Llewallen (SF 87) and I
volunteered together for a week at
Yosemite National Park, working on
a trail maintenance crew at Hetch
Hetchy. After not seeing each other
in 25 years, we had no difficulty
picking up where we left off, and
I’m hoping Marty and his family
will come South to backpack next
spring.”
Douglas A. Gentile (A) was recently selected by The Princeton Review
as one of the top 300 professors in
the U.S. Then The Huffington Post
put him in the number-one position. “Based on what,” he writes,
“I haven’t a clue.”
Elisabeth Long (A) writes, “Since
January 2012, I have a new position
as associate University Librarian
for Digital Services (still at the
University of Chicago), which
means I am now responsible for
shaping our support programs
for our faculty’s increasing use
of digital technologies in their
research.... My St. John’s education
has been invaluable in being able
to work with such a wide variety of
research.... I can always be found in
the University of Chicago directory
and would love to hear from anyone
coming through town.”
Mally C. Strong (née Mechau, SF)
from Carbondale, Colorado, writes,
“I continue to work on my publication, Mountain Medicine Directory,
and am so glad to have this project
to sink myself into now that Homer
(Reed College 2010, mathematics)
and Jemima (SF15) are flown. I’m
pretty peaceful.... My goals are to
get better organized, go back to
Naxos with my sister, Clarissa, for a
solid month in the off-season, and
read all the Palliser novels. Good
wishes to all. This spring, life seems
very sweet as I sketch out the
garden plan and relish sleeping in
late. The really big challenges in my
life have been safely dispatched.
I have no idea what’s next.”
David Blankenbaker (SF) shares
his haiku: “Outside our back door /
A solitary cricket / Calls to the new
moon.”
1989
From William Hickman (SF) and
Stacey Phillips (SF): “Hello to
all our classmates. We have lived
in Portland for 18 years. We have a
daughter, Mirabel (age 12), and we
would love to hear what the rest of
you are doing.”
�alumni notes
Mark Shiffman (A) recently published a translation of De Anima
with Focus Press, and was awarded
tenure at Villanova University,
where he is Associate Professor in
the Humanities Department and
also teaches courses for Classics
and Political Science. He lives in
Philadelphia with his wife Cristina
and sons Bruno (13) and Elio (7),
and occasionally runs into Eliot Duhan at the pool in the summertime.
1992
Alec Berlin (SF) writes, “I’ve
released a new record, Innocent
Explanations, and am currently
spending my time promoting it via
radio and performance. Keep your
eyes open for shows and such, especially on the East coast. Otherwise
I’m still living in Brooklyn and still
playing guitar for various theater
projects. You can find my music
on all the usual social media sites—
check it out, and thanks!”
1994
William Kowalski (SF) wants to
share the news that his first novel,
Eddie’s Bastard, published in 1999,
was referred to as an “overlooked
American classic” in an October
2011 article in The Guardian.
1995
On September 23, 2011,—the Fall
Equinox—Kira Zielinski (SF) and
Nathan Blaesing were wed in a
private ceremony in a stone circle
in Clarkdale, Arizona. Jennifer
Swaim (A) served as Zielinski’s
Rhinemaiden of honor and fellow
Valkyrie. Nathan and Kira plan to
move to Cremona, Italy, in 2012,
where they look forward to luthier
school, period music ensembles,
and many guests.
Edward Scott Michael (AGI) and
his wife, Anya Sammler, a 1998
Sewanee alum, are both Unitarian
Universalist ministers.
It has been a productive few years
for Kersti Tyson (SF). She earned
her PhD in Learning Science from
the University of Washington in
June 2011. She and her partner,
Matthew Sexton, brought their son,
Mateo Pond Sexton, into “this wild
and wonderful world” in October
2011. In 2010, “the stars aligned”
and she returned to her homeland, New Mexico. As an assistant
professor in the department of
Teacher Education at the University
of New Mexico, she’s putting her
education to work. She learns about
learning so she can teach teachers
(elementary mathematics) and does
research on listening and learning. She urges classmates to stay
in touch (kersti@unm.edu), especially if they are in New Mexico.
Kira Zielinski (SF95) and Nathan
Blaesing
1996
John T. Andrews (AGI) has taken a
discussion to a local retirement community in Marin County, California,
using texts from the Touchstones
Discussion Project. Although the
goal is primarily to engage group
members in conversation and
discussion about the text, the Touchstones technique of the small group
helps them to get started and focus,
and aids large-group discussion.
The group’s size ranges from 12 to
20 participants on any given day;
their average age is over 85 and they
are sharp, witty, and engaged. After
five years, John is “moving on” to
pursue other volunteer opportunities. If any Johnnies in the Bay Area,
especially Marin County, would be
interested in continuing with this
challenging and rewarding group
starting in the fall of 2011, please
contact John at stbch@att.net.
1997
Peter Eichstaedt (SFGI) is the
author of four books: If You Poison
Us: Uranium and Native Americans
(Red Crane, 1994); First Kill Your
Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda
and the Lord’s Resistance Army
(Lawrence Hill Books, 2009); Pirate
State: Inside Somalia’s Terrorism at
Sea (Lawrence Hill Books, 2010);
and Consuming the Congo: War
and Conflict Minerals in the World’s
Deadliest Place (Lawrence Hill
Books, 2011). Note the reviews of
Pirate State and First Kill Your Family
in the Fall 2011 issue of The College.
Melanie Kirby (SF) and partner
Mark Spitzig are excited to have expanded their hive. They welcomed
Esai Mateo Aristaeus, who came
as a belated birthday present for
mama Melanie in late September.
Esai has a big sister, Isis Rose Blossom, who is now 3½. This year also
marks Melanie’s 15th anniversary
as a professional apiculturist. She
has been specializing in queen honeybee breeding. High altitude bees
and babies keep buzzing! Email
ziaqueenbees@hotmail.com.
1998
1999
Sarah Fridrich (SF) released her
first full-length album of piano/
drum-based indie-rock, You Call
That Brave, on June 4, 2011. Full
recordings can be heard here:
http://msfridrich.bandcamp.com.
Any alum who wants a complimentary hard copy can email her
directly at sarah@msfridrich.com,
or purchase it from the website.
Sarah makes a living as a private
piano teacher—for more than 10
years now!—in the Washington,
D.C. area. She credits her
St. John’s education with making
her a sought-after, versatile teacher.
Mike and Abby Soejoto (both A)
were happy to welcome their fifth
child, Beatrice Marie, on February
25. Mike, Abby, Lucy (8), John (6),
Cecilia (4), James (2), Beatrice, and
McDuff the dog are still living in
Los Angeles, taking advantage of
the beach, the pool, and year-round
soccer. Mike is an attorney, Abby
homeschools the older kids, and
the kids cheerfully spend all their
free time memorizing passages
from great books.
Mike and Abby Soejoto (both A99)
and family
Juliana Laumakis (née Martonffy,
A), and her husband, John, are very
excited to announce the birth of their
daughter, Thea Lucia Laumakis, in
December 2011. Her big sisters are
pretty smitten with her, too!
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
49
�alumni notes
2000
Mark Shiflett, (SF) left the Active
Duty Navy as a Chief Petty Officer
last month, and has transitioned to
the U.S. Naval Reserve. “I will be
staying here in Yokosuka, Japan,
having taken on a federal civil
service job at the U.S. Navy’s Japan
Regional Maintenance Center. It
was hard to leave active duty—saltwater streams in my veins—but a
more ‘regular’ job (and one that
doesn’t require being away on
deployment for five to seven
months at a time) works better for
me, my wife, Yasuyo, son Ben (5),
and daughter Mia (6 months).”
2001
After graduating from medical school
in 2010, Adriana de Julio (SF) spent
part of 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, as
a surgical intern. She decided against
surgery residency and went for
psychiatry. In March 2012, she was
matched to a medical residency at
the University of Illinois in Advocate
Lutheran General Hospital. She
will begin her training in psychiatry
in June 2012 in the Windy City.
Her main interests will be working
with veterans with Traumatic Brain
Injury and doing community psychiatry with Assertive Community
Treatment Teams in the Northwest
Chicago area. Training takes a
minimum of four years, but she will
be there no less than five years to
complete a psych-neuro fellowship.
Dan Weiland (A) is the manager of
a pair of Bikram’s Hot Yoga Studios
in Portland, Oregon. Visit anytime!
2002
Charles Green (AGI) writes,
“I recently added Publishers Weekly
to the list of publications for which
I review books. I’m also very
excited about buying my condo in
Annapolis. Life is wonderful!”
Maria (Goena) Leigh (SF) performs in The Odyssey on Angel
Island State Park in California. This
site-specific, interactive performance unfolds over the course of
five hours. Once on the island,
audience members receive a map,
timecard, and survival “kit bag” to
support them as they navigate the
carefully crafted scenes, interactive
installations, meals, and diverse
pathways through the space. She
urges Johnnies anywhere near the
Bay Area to come experience The
Odyssey as you’ve never seen it
before. Visit www.weplayers.org for
additional information.
After earning a degree in Classics from New York University
and a masters in philosophy, John
Rogove (A) has been living in Paris
for the last six years, finishing his
doctorate in philosophy on the a
priori in Husserl’s phenomenology
at the Université Paris-Sorbonne,
where he teaches philosophy. He
also taught at Boston College.
Lauren Shofer (A) and Baldwyn
Bourgois share their birth announcement: Emile Bourgois, born
on August 29, 2011, joins his sister,
Amelie, and brother, Julian. They
live in Aalst, Belgium.
Michael and Rachel (née Roccia)
Sullivan (both A) will be moving
to Honolulu, Hawaii, in September 2012. Rachel will be pursuing
a two-year child and adolescent
psychiatry fellowship after finishing her adult psychiatry residency
training at Walter Reed Military
Medical Center. Michael will be
teaching and reading philosophy on
the beach, under palm trees, and
by waterfalls. Their two daughters,
Clare (7) and Grace (5), are doing
well and looking forward to seeing
erupting volcanoes.
50 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Christopher J. Warnagiris (A) is
deployed to the Mediterranean Sea
and Middle East aboard the USS
Iwo Jima in support of the 24th
Marine Expeditionary Unit.
2003
Alana Chernila (SF) has a new book
titled The Homemade Pantry: 101
Foods You Can Stop Buying and
Start Making. It’s available on
Amazon.com.
On March 9, 2012, Lawrence
(Ler) Nelson (SFGI) successfully
defended his doctoral dissertation
on “Chan Sickness and the Master’s
Role in Its Diagnosis, Treatment,
and Prevention” at the California
Institute of Integral Studies in San
Francisco.
Kate Redding (A) recently
completed her MA in Music with
an Emphasis in Piano Technology
from Florida State University. She
writes, “I look forward to resuming
my career as a professional piano
tuner and rebuilder with the
information and skills that I
learned in graduate school!”
Cassie Sherman (A) and Martin
Marks (A04) are surprised, grateful, and most of all ridiculously
happy to announce that, after more
than ten years of friendship, they
seem to have fallen in love and gotten engaged. The wedding will take
place in the spring of 2013. Given
their mutual love of Spoonerisms,
the joined and hyphenated last
name that will result should provide
amusement for decades to come.
2004
Kristi Durbin (A) returned to school
full-time this fall, studying Sustainable Agriculture at the University
of Kentucky. She dreams of owning
land in the Bluegrass region and
running a Community Supported
Agriculture program in the future.
Rhonda Ortiz (née Franklin, A)
writes that her “husband Jared
(AGI05) successfully defended his
PhD dissertation on Augustine’s
theology of creation in February at
The Catholic University of America
and will graduate in May. He has
also accepted a position as Assistant
Professor of Religion at Hope
College in Holland, Michigan.
Holland is as-cute-as-a-button (our
mothers will love it), located near
the shore of Lake Michigan. We’ve
already purchased snow boots. I am
working on a novel. I haven’t written much fiction and I hardly know
anything about the matter, but I’m
learning as I go. Benedict, our oneyear-old, grows like a weed; he’s one
hundred percent ‘snakes and snails
and puppy dogs’ tails.’ We look forward to seeing any Johnnie friends
passing through Michigan. Email
me at rhondaortiz@gmail.com.”
Lucia Staiano-Daniels (SF) began
her PhD program at UCLA last
year, focusing on the history of
philosophy and modern European
intellectual and cultural history.
Her first publication, “Illuminated Darkness: Hegel’s Brief and
Unexpected Elevation of Indian
Thought in ‘On the Episode of the
Mahabharata known by the name
Bhagavad-Gita,’ by Wilhelm von
Humboldt,” is forthcoming from
the Owl of Minerva, the magazine
of the Hegel Society of America.
“It’ll be out sometime after
Christmas,” she writes. “I’m
enjoying Los Angeles’s excellent
climate and wide variety of
interesting food, although the
thought of my upcoming qualifying exams terrifies me. I am also
pleased to announce my catechumenate in the Orthodox Church.
I miss having Johnnies to talk to;
you all are welcome to write me at
luciasdan@gmail.com.”
�alumni notes
Finding Intellectual Courage
by Gregory Shook and Deborah Spiegelman
Jay Youngdahl (sfgi03) melds a
lawyer’s activism with intellect
Growing up in Little
Rock, Arkansas,
during the height
of the civil rights
movement of the
1950s and 1960s,
Jay Youngdahl
(sfgi03) was keenly
attuned to the social injustices and
unrest experienced
by African Americans living in the Deep
South. Knowing that he wanted a life of
service, he found inspiration in his family of advocates for social welfare and civil
and political rights. His grandfather was
the dean of the School of Social Work at
Washington University in the 1940s—his
department was the first to admit African
American students.
In 1957, nine African American students were denied entrance to
Little Rock Central High School in defiance of the 1954 U.S.
Supreme Court ruling ordering integration of public schools.
This landmark act of the civil rights movement focused the nation’s eyes on Youngdahl’s hometown. Deeply affected by these
events in his own backyard, he became an attorney specializing
in civil rights law, union law, and discrimination law on behalf of
minorities and women.
As a young attorney, “I had an activist’s courage,” says Youngdahl, “but I also wanted an intellectual courage.” That desire led him
to St. John’s in 2001. “It was a way to try to light up those parts of
my brain that I hadn’t used in those last 25 years [practicing law].”
Youngdahl embraced the Program, which he describes as “showing
the arc and commonality of issues and concerns expressed by our
human species. [The fact that] our worries of today have been the
focus of great minds throughout human history is extraordinarily
helpful to consideration and comfort with such issues.” At the
Graduate Institute in Santa Fe, he was excited to explore new
authors and approached familiar works with a fresh perspective—
and “learned to read Shakespeare like never before.”
In 2005, Youngdahl found himself at a crossroads. Believing he
had accomplished all that he could in his chosen field, he was ready
to make way for a new influx of young lawyers, eager to “carry the
torch to do the right thing” for civil and workers’ rights. Although
he continues to practice law today, he was ready to challenge himself in new ways.
An eternal activist who believes in the power of ideas to foster
change, Youngdahl began exploring ways to elevate discourse on
important issues. Having practiced law throughout the South and
Southwest, he had worked on cases regarding claims by injured
Navajo rail workers, who for more than 100 years took on the
arduous work of laying and anchoring tracks. Seeking “to understand the culture, the people, and to try to improve their lives and
situations,” Youngdahl had done archival research and oral history
on the Navajo Reservation.
In his new book, Working on the Railroad, Walking in Beauty:
Navajos, Hózhq, and Track Work, Youngdahl presents a cultural
´
history of how Navajo track workers have modified their traditions,
particularly religious practices, to protect themselves against the
perils of their livelihood. His experience at St. John’s is evident in
his multi-disciplinary approach: the book touches on philosophy,
religion, literature, economics, human rights, and conversation.
Today Youngdahl raises awareness of important social and
political issues through journalism. As the majority owner of the
Oakland, California-based newspaper East Bay Express, he is committed to “producing hard-hitting journalism and fighting to keep
quality journalism alive.” He also contributes a biweekly
column, “Raising the Bar,” in which he addresses ethical and
moral perspectives on current issues and events. In addition,
Youngdahl is an in-demand speaker, traveling to colleges and
universities around the country to talk about matters close to his
heart. At Harvard Divinity School, where he graduated with a
master’s degree in 2007, he recently gave a talk about the
juxtaposition of compassion for others as the basis of moral action
and an ethical life.
Youngdahl continues to examine the world around him and
generate dialogue to find ways to make it a better place.
Concerned with how “the speed of human life today makes
important considerations seem to just zip by the window of our
moving societal train, leaving us without the ability to fruitfully
examine and evaluate them,” he makes a point to carve out time
for personal reflection. As Youngdahl writes in his book, for the
Navajos, to “walk in beauty” requires harmony and order in the
universe. It also takes courage.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
51
�alumni notes
2005
Samantha Buker (A) writes this
note fresh from filing her most
recent opera review for the City Paper. This year, she also began freelancing for The Washington Post. In
even bigger news, she’s published
her first book: Little Book of the
Shrinking Dollar. She hopes every
single dollar-earner in America will
pick up a copy of this shocking, yet
handy book of currency problems
and solutions that she co-authored
with Addison Wiggin (SFGI96).
She soldiers on as managing editor
at Agora Financial, which sends her
to far-flung corners of the globe. After a stint on a 2,700-acre beachside
ranch in Nicaragua, she had a brief
rest before heading off to Mongolia,
ever on the quest for a new investment opportunity. Feel free to
reach her at sam.buker@gmail.com
(or please leave a nice book review
on Amazon). Best adventures to all!
Note Buker’s article “Tracing the
Phenomenon of the Perfect
Concert” in The College Fall 2011.
Jon Cotner (SFGI) writes, “I’m
co-author of Ten Walks/Two Talks,
which was selected as a Best Book
of 2010 by The Week, The Millions,
Time Out Chicago, and Bookslut.
My new collaboration is called
Conversations over Stolen Food.
I live in Brooklyn, NewYork, where
I teach in Pratt Institute’s Creative
Writing Program.”
2006
Norman Allen’s (AGI) play, On
the Eve of Friday Morning, was
produced by the Oregon Children’s
Theatre in 2011. His other play,
The House Halfway, will be part
of the Source Theatre Festival in
Washington, D.C., this summer.
This May, he’ll be the guest of the
Mladinsko Theatre in Ljubljana,
Slovenia, where he will lead a twoday playwriting workshop and also
will see his play, Nijinsky’s Last
Dance, performed.
Shilo Brooks (A) and Siobhan
Aitchison (A05) were engaged in
January and plan to marry this summer. Shilo expects to complete his
PhD in political theory at Boston College this winter, and Siobhan expects
to complete her Masters in landscape
architecture at Harvard next spring.
Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge (A)
and his husband, Darren, recently
bought their first home in Odenton,
ten miles north of Annapolis. Jonathan continues to teach English and
French at Indian Creek School, and
will finish his MA in English at Bread
Loaf School of English next summer.
Daniel Grimm (SF) has been accepted to Rutgers University School
of Law for the fall term. Enrolled in
the night program, he will continue
working part-time at Hartman &
Winnicki, P.C., a law firm in New
Jersey. Daniel and his wife just had a
baby girl, Parker Bay, last October.
Their restaurant, Fishbar, now in its
fourth season, continues to do well.
The two are hoping their daughter
can start seating tables soon!
Erin Ingham (A) and Mark Ingham
(SF05) joyfully welcomed the
arrival of their first child, Gabriel
Joseph Ingham, at 6:06 a.m. on
March 29. Born at 8.5 pounds, 20.5
inches, Gabriel is doing great!
Emily Terrell, formerly Nisch, (A)
will attend Duke Divinity School in
Durham, North Carolina, this fall.
Hollis Thoms (AGI) will have an
article, “Rolling His Jolly Tub:
Composer Elliott Carter, St. John’s
College Tutor, 1940-1942,” published in the upcoming St. John’s
Review. Thoms did research at the
St. John’s College Library Archives,
the Maryland State Archives, and
the Library of Congress on Elliott
Carter, one of the great living
52 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
on malaria eradication.
2009
Rowenna (Thorson) (A10) and Nate
Oesch (A09)
American composers, who recently
celebrated his 103rd birthday.
2007
Chelsea Batten (A) is a writer
and itinerant journalist. She profiled
Geremy Coy (A06) for this issue of
the magazine. You can read more of
her work at www.chelseabatten.com.
Jack Langworthy (SF) writes,
“From 2009 to 2011, I served in
the Peace Corps teaching math and
physics in a village in Tanzania.
St. John’s prepared me for that experience more than I expected. I felt
right at home teaching in a physics
laboratory with no modern technology, and learned Kiswahili with
ease. Ancient Greek was way more
difficult. I started helping farmers
preserve and trade their maize when
prices spiked. After Peace Corps, I
was lucky enough to use those skills
to get a job managing a micro venture capitalist firm called Cheetah
Development here in Tanzania. Any
Johnnies are more than welcome
to a place to stay if they are passing
through Iringa, Tanzania.”
2008
John Matthew Griffis (SF) will be
attending Parsons The New School
for Design this fall to pursue his
MFA in Design and Technology.
Jessica Seiler (A) is currently
working for the Peace Corps in
Senegal, West Africa. She finished
her two years in the village and was
given a job in the big city working
Nate Oesch (A) and Rowenna
Thorson Oesch (A10) were married
in the Great Hall on July 23, 2011,
with 16 Johnnies (including seven
National Champion croquet players) and one tutor in attendance.
Following the ceremony, Luke
Russell (A), Sam Porter (A),
and Robbie Shaver (A) provided
excellent jazz music in Randall
Hall. Rowenna completed her MEd
at Loyola University in 2011 and
is now teaching in a Montessori
school in Bowie. Nate does research
for the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety in Arlington.
2010
Candice Benge (SFGI) and colleagues have recently started a
theater co-op, Transient Theater,
in San Francisco. They’re mounting
their first production this summer
and taking it on tour across the U.S.
for six weeks. Visit their website at
www.transienttheater.com or contact Candice for more information.
Ethan Brooks (A) is a Marine
Officer at The Basic School and
recently was pleased to receive
Ground Intelligence as his occupational specialty. He looks forward
to graduating in October and
attending Infantry Officer’s Course
in January 2013.
Megan Kennedy (A) is currently
taking Russian classes in Washington, D.C., preparing for a PhD
program in Russian literature in
the fall of 2012. She is hoping to
find a full-time, entry-level job in
the metro area that would help
support her while she pursues
further education.
�in memoriam
Luke Harvey Poe Jr.
Scott A. Abbott
march 30, 2012
Tutor and assistant dean,
Annapolis
Class of 1943
august 28, 2011
The college community mourns the
loss of Luke Harvey Poe Jr. and is
deeply grateful for his service as a
tutor and assistant dean.
Born in Richmond, Virginia,
in 1916, Poe received his BS in
mathematics and a JD from the
University of Virginia. As a Rhodes
Scholar, he earned a PhD from
Oxford University, Christ Church.
After serving four years in World
War II as a Lieutenant Commander
with the North Atlantic, he joined
the faculty of St. John’s in 1946.
Poe’s rich legacy to the college
includes his support of the efforts
to open St. John’s to African
American students, especially its
first, Martin Dyer (Class of 1952).
After Poe left St. John’s in 1960,
he lectured for governmental and
academic organizations, including the Foreign Service Institute,
the International Labor Center,
the Aspen Institute, and the U.S.
Air Force War College. Dedicated
to the Annapolis community, Poe
worked to have the city declared a
Historic District and served on local boards and associations. He was
finishing his book, A Study of the
Origins of the Political Philosophy
of the American Republic, at the
time of his death.
He is survived by his wife, Josephine Jastor Poe (Class of 1957). A
memorial service was held on May
19 in the Great Hall.
Scott Alexander Abbott (1921-2011)
lived his life in service to others. As
a teacher known for his generous
heart, Abbott’s favorite subjects
were history, geography, and civics.
He taught elementary through
college students and continued tutoring until he was 83. Abbot never
stopped extolling the merits of the
seminar approach to learning. He
is survived by his daughters Jane,
Becky, and Debby Abbott, and Sue
Schneider.
Philip Camponeschi
Class of 1946
january 4, 2012
Philip Camponeschi of Rattail
Ridge, Conn., was born on May
30, 1923, in New York City. After
serving in the Military Police during World War II, he attended St.
John’s in Annapolis and married
his first wife, Mary Jean Casey. He
obtained his JD from the University
of Maryland in 1957. Camponeschi
was a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a speechwriter
for vice president Hubert Humphrey, a leader in the Peace Corps,
and a professor of philosophy and
literature at SUNY Old Westbury
in Long Island, where he met his
second wife, Nejla. He loved spending time with his family and friends.
A memorial service was held at
Friends School in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 14, 2012. Philip
is survived by his wife, Nejla; five
children, Scott Camponeschi, Lisa
Mistovich, John Camponeschi, and
Geannnan Camponeschi-Papanicolaou; and nine grandchildren. In
lieu of flowers, his family asks that
contributions be made to UNICEF.
Classmates such as Jules Pagano
(Class of 1948) remember him as
someone who “listened with that
intelligent and respectful care
which earned him the right to be
heard with comparable respect
when he spoke.”
Peter Davies (Class of 1948) saw
him as “a wonderful role model—his
wisdom and probing intellect were
valuable examples for those of us
who had not experienced war as he
and older Johnnies had.”
Allan Hoffman (Class of 1949)
writes, “I remember Phil as being
hilariously acerbic. Phil and Jules
Pagano once saved me from being
beaten up by some “townies” who
crashed one of the cotillions.” In
retirement, “he was happy with his
garden of vegetables and herbs.”
below: Philip Camponeschi (Class of 1946) and Bill Goldsmith (Class of 1946).
Peter Weiss (Class of 1946)
notes, “I always thought of him as
a man of ‘the people,’ in the best
sense of that word, who was as
seriously concerned about the true,
the beautiful, and the difference
between prudence and wisdom as
some of us ‘intellectuals.’”
Philo L. Dibble (A76)
october 1, 2011
Ten days before his death, Philo
Louis Dibble (1951-2011), a Foreign
Service officer, completed his most
notorious assignment—helping to
free two American hikers imprisoned in Iran. The Washington Post
reports that Shane Bauer, Joshua
Fattal, and Sarah E. Shourd had
been hiking in the mountains of
Turkey when Iranian authorities
apprehended them for allegedly crossing the Iranian border.
Shourd was released; the two men
were convicted of espionage by
an Iranian court and sentenced
to eight years in a Tehran prison.
Dibble, who retired in 2006 as one
of the State Department’s leading
authorities on Iran, returned four
years later as the Department’s
deputy assistant secretary for Iran,
coordinating efforts to secure the
hikers’ release. Dibble never met
the freed hikers.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt,
where his father also served in the
Foreign Service, Dibble received
his MA in international affairs from
Johns Hopkins University in 1980,
after attending St. John’s. He died
from a heart attack at his home in
McLean, Virginia. He is survived
by his wife, Elizabeth Link Dibble;
three daughters, Kate, Sarah, and
Caroline; his mother, Cleopatra B.
Dibble; and a brother.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
53
�in memoriam
Captain Alton L. “Red”
Waldron (HA07),
september 2, 2011
Captain Alton L. “Red” Waldron,
USN RET, died at his Annapolis
home at 93. Waldron had great
affection for the college, having
participated in seminars for 50
years. In 1935, he attended the U.S.
Naval Academy; his numerous tours
of duty included Pearl Harbor and
Guadalcanal. Among his awards
were the Silver Star and the Legion
of Merit. Predeceased by his wife of
60 years, Katherine Joyce Waldron,
he is survived by his daughter,
McShane W. Glover.
Loretta Wasserman (SFGI86) and
Irving Wasserman (SFGI86)
Loretta Wasserman (1924-August 7, 2011) and Irving Wasserman
(1926-August 25, 2011) were honored at a memorial service at Homecoming 2011 in Annapolis. During a sabbatical year (1972-1973) at
St. John’s in Annapolis, and a summer (1974) at the Graduate Institute
in Santa Fe, Irving taught and Loretta took classes. Loretta received her
MA in English from the University of Minnesota and was a professor of
English at Grand Valley State University in Michigan from 1966 until
her retirement in 1991, when she published her book, Willa Cather: A
Study of the Short Fiction. Irving received his MA in philosophy from
the University of Indiana. He worked as an editor and was a professor of
philosophy at Grand Valley State University. They are survived by two
children, Adam and Jessica, and four grandchildren.
March 6, 2012
Patrick New, SFGI08,
August 29, 2011
Also Deceased:
Donna Gavora, A80,
January 5, 2012
Louise Antinori, AGI88,
April 8, 2012
George Graefe, Class of 1941,
December 14, 2011
Richard Ballen, A67,
July 17, 2011
Todd Grier, Class of 1938,
April 26, 2012
Richard Batt, Jr., Class of 1951,
February 3, 2012
Dexter Haven, Class of 1942,
March 12, 2011
Teddy Betts, Class of 1949,
September 18, 2011
Cecilia Holtman, SFGI71,
February 5, 2012
Robert Bonham, Class of 1945,
December 18, 2011
Daniella Hope, SF82,
July 31, 2008
Jonathan Brooks, Class of 1949,
October 31, 2011
Gilbert Hull, Class of 1942,
February 5, 2008
Jeffrey Cynx, A73,
December 24, 2011
Ralph Keeney, Class of 1945,
May 15, 1999
Augusta DeGrazia, A77,
October 20, 2011
David Kerr, A71,
October 10, 2011
Donald Edwards, Class of 1959,
August 15, 2011
Jane Evans, SFGI84,
April 20, 2012
Carl Linden,
April 2, 2012
Annapolis tutor from 1965 to 1970.
College memorial to be announced.
Ruth Farrell, A74,
January 17, 2012
William Lundberg, Class of 1945,
October 15, 2006
Sidney Rosenthal, Class of 1948,
March 5, 2006
Jon Ferrier, A73,
January 6, 2012
Joseph Morray, Class of 1949,
November 27, 2011
Lawrence Saporta, A90,
September 9, 2011
Charles Forbes, Class of 1940,
July 11, 2009
Arthur Myers, Class of 1938,
October 28, 2011
Dr. Donald Saunders, SFGI92,
July 2, 2011
Edna Frye, SFGI71,
Robert Neslund, SFGI80,
October 9, 2011
Henry Shryock, Class of 1932,
February 17, 2012
54 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Jon Park O’Donnell, AGI80,
June 13, 2011
John B. “Jack” Owens,
Class of 1937,
February 4, 2012
Marcia Peterson, A70,
March 29, 2012
Phillip A. Pollard, AGI92,
October 29, 2011
Richard Siegle, A65,
September 8, 2011
Alexander Slafkosky, Class of 1943,
July 15, 2011
Everett Smith, Class of 1937,
August 6, 2005
Richard Stevens, A69,
December 8, 2011
Gene Thornton, Class of 1945,
January 10, 2012
Roger Tilton, Class of 1945,
May 22, 2011
Lenke Vietorisz, Class of 1962,
October 27, 2011
Robert Warren, SFGI93,
December 29, 2011
Leroy Webster, Class of 1936,
May 7, 1998
Richard Woodman, Class of 1935,
June 15, 2011
Elizabeth Grant Yolton, A75,
November 10, 2011
Jonathan Zorn, SF72,
April 25, 2011
Dr. Martha Post, SF79,
September 1, 2011
Neil Potash, Class of 1962,
April 16, 2012
David Pugh, Class of 1932,
October 6, 2000
Victor Purdy, Class of 1951,
April 9, 2012
Siobhan Reynolds, SFGI94,
December 24, 2011
Barbara Rigall, A84,
January 17, 2012
Correction to a Fall 2011 obituary:
The work of Sydney Wynne
Porter—not Wayne—(Class
of 1954) at Three Mile Island
demonstrated that there was a
release of fewer than 20 curies of
iodine 131 into the environment.
In press interviews, he stated
that the U.S. was receiving many
times that amount of fallout
from Chinese nuclear tests. Porter was a professor of radiation
physics at Drexel University and
a benefactor of St. John’s. Apologies and thanks to Temple Porter
(A62) for this clarification.
�alumni news
Notes from the
chancellor johnson house
By Leo Pickens (A78)
“Why in heaven’s name would you ever want to leave your
private little duchy in the Temple, where, for all intents
and purposes, you’re paid to play with the students, to
take on the thankless and nearly impossible job of trying
to keep our perpetually restive alumni happy? Have you
taken leave of your senses?”
JEN BEHRENS
“I like that idea,” she responded. “It
seems to be a kind of excellence.”
She referred me to Book IV, Chapter 1
of the Nicomachean Ethics. The last time I
encountered this passage was my freshman
year at St. John’s 37 years ago, and it had
slipped from my memory, but upon reading, the words seemed fresh with insight:
“It is not unclear that acting well and doing
beautiful things go with giving . . . and
This from a rather plain-speaking
generous people are loved practically
colleague of mine (who happens, by the
the most of those who are recognized
way, to be an alum) upon hearing that
for virtue, since they confer benefit and
I was interested in succeeding Jo Ann
this consists in giving.”
Mattson as director of Alumni Relations
Then later in this examination Aristoin Annapolis. This co-worker’s amazed
tle states—and this to my mind is the real
puzzlement, I believe, mirrors that of
gist: “But generosity is meant in relamany in our community, so allow me to
tion to one’s means, for the generosity is
share my reasons for making the move.
not in the amount of what is given, but
First, after nearly 23 years in the same
in the active condition of the giver and
role, I feel ready for something fresh.
this depends on one’s means. So nothIt’s really that simple. I pride myself on
ing prevents someone who gives less
being, first and foremost, a fairly able
from being the more generous if one is
administrator—in the traditional sense
giving out of a smaller supply.”
of the word: a minister or servant—and
Aristotle’s “active condition” of givam eager to serve the college in a new
ing at a level appropriate to our means
capacity. And for someone like me, who
applies as well, I believe, to our most
is constantly encouraging the students
important supply of riches—our own
to step out of their comfort zone and
time and energy.
have a go at something strange and difThis leads to the question I want to
ficult, it’s high time that I practice what
ask of all my fellow alumni: how can we,
I preach.
the permanent members of the college,
In addition, I am grateful to have
stay actively engaged with each other—
been able to participate for so long in
Leo Pickens (A78), director, Alumni Relations, Annapolis
doing beautiful things—and help keep
the work of the Program (if you believe,
the wheel of the Program turning?
as some old-time jocks like me do, that
Let me conclude with this conversaathletics are an integral part of the ProThe importance of the alumni’s role in
tion with the dean, Pamela Kraus. In
gram), and now I feel led to do my part to
the college was brought home to me recent- discussing my meditation on generosity, I
try to help with the challenges of sustaining ly in a conversation I had with a longtime
asked, “Is there an element of generosity in
the Program at this critical period in the
tutor and alumnus. “The long-term health
the classroom?”
history of the college. What better prepaof the college,” he said, “depends upon our
“All good teaching,” she said, “involves
ration could I have possibly had to take
alumni.”
a kind of open giving—a willingness to share
on the work of alumni relations—in which
This has led me to reflect quite a bit on
with others freely.”
participation is the sine qua non—than such generosity—for cultivating and practicing
“Do you think,” I asked, “that the books
long seasoning in a job for which one of
generosity appears to be at the heart of a
we read are generous in some way?”
the main goals was that of getting out the
vibrant alumni program. In a conversa“The books have a kind of restraint,” she
players? Helping nurture the spirit of one
tion with tutor and alumna Katie Heines, I
said. “We have to give to them before they
community was another of my major efforts expressed my thought that generosity must
give to us. We might have to work hard to
as athletic director. I look forward to taking be some kind of a habit.
get to their riches, but they are capable of
this same effort outward into our alumni
“Maybe giving,” I said, “is something
enormous generosity.”
diaspora.
that we can practice on a regular basis.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
55
�alumni news
s av e t h e d a t e
Homecoming 2012
Annapolis
Friday, September 28–
Sunday, September 30
Paintings
and Proust in
California
Southern California alumni gathered from June through October
at the homes of Los Angeles
alumni chapter president Tom
Melgun (SFGI08) and K.C. Victor
(A75) to tackle Marcel Proust’s
Swann’s Way. “It’s a literary and
psychological work [that is] an act
of genius,” says Victor. Approximately seven determined alumni
met for five sessions and used
a creative approach to exploring this first of seven works in
Proust’s magnum opus. Deirdre
Sloyan (A67) arrived at the initial
session with a book that surveys
the numerous Western paintings referenced in Swann’s Way,
which Victor described as “an
invaluable resource.” With lively
discussions over French-inspired
potluck fare and madeleines, the
seminars were so successful that
the Southern California alumni
chapter scheduled additional
seminars on the remaining texts
in Proust’s monumental series, In
Search of Lost Time.
—Gregory Shook
Dear Alumni,
At Homecoming 2012 we will celebrate the 75th anniversary
of the New Program. There will be numerous activities
throughout the weekend—including a panel discussion
on Saturday afternoon among former and current deans,
tutors, and alumni—that will recognize the history of the New
Program and the college. Please join us and your classmates
as we celebrate St. John’s College.
Alumni Association
President Lee Katherine
Goldstein (SFGI90)
For more information and
to register: http://alumni.
stjohnscollege.edu. Click
on “Homecoming.”
Annapolis Alumni Office
410-626-2531
alumni@sjca.edu
Santa Fe Alumni Office
505-984-6103
alumni@sjcsf.edu
56 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
KATIE MATLACK
Presidents Christopher Nelson and Mike Peters
Alumni Leadership
Forum 2012
KATIE MATLACK
Santa Fe
Friday, September 14–
Sunday, September 16
More than 100 alumni attended
ALF 2012. Shown here, alumni
re-live a Galileo-inspired junior
lab experiment—one of several
sessions that engaged alumni
in leadership and the life of the
college—at the Alumni Leadership
Forum on June 8-10 in Annapolis.
AFL 2013 will be held on
June 7–9 in Santa Fe.
“ This is a very exciting
time to be involved in the
leadership of the Alumni
Association and to be
working with the college.
Together, we are creating
more ways in which
alumni can engage with
and contribute to the
well-being of the college,
the students, and other
alumni.”
�alumni news
Art and
Conversation
in Denver
Nestled in the heart of the Mile
High City’s cultural district,
nearly a dozen Denver/Boulder alumni chapter members
challenged their minds—and
awakened their senses—in a
rather unlikely setting for a
seminar. Last September, the
group gathered together in a
coffee shop on the second floor
of the Denver Art Museum for
a conversation on the existential perspectives of Simone de
Beauvoir; in particular, her
1947 work of nonfiction, The
Ethics of Ambiguity. Encouraged by chapter leader Beth
Kuper (SF69), alumna from
the pioneer class at Santa Fe,
Elizabeth Jenny (SF80) was
inspired by the Washington,
D.C., alumni chapter’s recent
seminar on de Beauvoir. “I was
looking to integrate the senses
with the intellect,” says Jenny,
a commercial artist who taught
graphic design for several
years at Montgomery College
in Rockville, Maryland. “And
ALL ABOUT SHAKESPEARE IN PHILLY
Last spring, in keeping with an annual tradition begun several years ago by Jack Armstrong (SF83), several
Johnnies gathered at the theater for a party and mini-reunion, then watched a performance of Twelfth Night.
From left: Steve Zartarian, Peggy Kozierachi, Helen Zartarian (AGI86), Sigmund Kozierachi, Adam Thimmig
(A07), Matt Horst (A07), Cynthia Tobias (AGI05), Leslie (Laszlo) Ujj (A07), and Carmen Khan.
the museum turned out to be
a great community partner,”
adds Jenny. “The institutional
and the personal played together so nicely.”
Seeking an innovative twist
on the traditional seminar
format, Jenny arranged a postseminar tour of the museum’s
impressive collection of contemporary Western art, which
combines the literary arts with
the visual arts. The collection
features work by artists Clyde
Aspevig, Len Chmiel, Daniel
Morper, Leon Loughridge,
and T. Allen Lawson, including
images depicting landscapes
completely dominated by man,
as well as more idyllic views of
man and nature in harmony.
Alumni from the Denver Chapter mingle over cocktails and conversation
at Robin Riddel Lima’s (SF77) Native American Trading Company after a
seminar and art tour at the Denver Art Museum.
“The tour provided a powerful,
thought-provoking juxtaposition to the de Beauvoir seminar
reading,” says Jenny.
After this full day of intellectual stimulation, the Colorado
alumni chapter members and
friends mingled over hors
d’oeuvres and signature cocktails—the Apollonian (vodka
and apple martini) and the
Dionysian (martini with a sugar
and Absinthe-dipped rim)—at
the Native American Trading
Company, across the street
from the Denver Art Museum.
The gallery’s founders and
owners, Jack and Robin Riddel
Lima (SF77), hosted the event.
There, among the vibrant
displays of antique weavings,
pottery, baskets, jewelry,
artifacts, and vintage photographs, alumni reawakened
their senses and kept the relaxed conversation flowing well
into the evening. The Colorado
alumni credited the party-like
atmosphere to the generous
hospitality of the Limas, whose
gallery is “a work of art itself,”
says Jenny. “They brought
us into their world, which
was great for facilitating
conversation.”
—Gregory Shook
Piraeus
In Santa Fe, Piraeus 2012 kicked
off on January 13-15 with seminars
on selected stories from Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales, led by tutors Jay
Smith (SF77) and Alan Zetilin. In
June, alumni in Annapolis explored
Misha Berlinski’s Fieldwork and
Clifford Geertz’s Local Knowledge:
Further Essays in Interpretive
Anthropology, led by Eva Brann
and David Carl, and Flannery
O’Connor’s Wise Blood and several
of her short stories, led by Tom May
and David Townsend. Attendee Gil
Roth (AGI95) returned to campus
after 17 years and was inspired to
interview May and Townsend for his
blog, “Virtual Memories.” (Podcast:
http://chimeraobscura.com/vm/
podcast-here-at-the-western-world).
Mark your calendar for Annapolis
Piraeus 2013 May 30-June 2.
Piraeus is offered several times
each year on each campus.
CONNECT TO THE COLLEGE
Alumni online community:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu/
Agora career mentoring network:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
click on “Career Services”
Alumni offices:
alumni@sjca.edu
alumni @sjcsf.edu
Facebook:
facebook.com/stjohnscollege
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
57
�johnnie traditions
Rite of Spring
by Gregory Shook
Grey skies and chilly temperatures couldn’t dampen
the Johnnies’ spirits as they gathered on April 28 in
and around the Great Hall to celebrate the 30th annual
St. John’s-U.S. Naval Academy Croquet Match—nor
did the event’s new ground rules quash the convivial
atmosphere. In fact, for many alumni, the highly
cherished rite of spring signaled a return to form. The
class of 1984 led the charge, providing quintessential
Johnnie enthusiasm throughout the day.
Per tradition, honored member(s) of the
St. John’s community struck the opening
shot. This year, Claiborne Booker (A84)
and Adrian Trevisan (A84)—who received
the new “Prime Mover” award—swung the
mallet in unison. The Johnnies swept the
Mids 5-0, racking up 25 victories out of 30
matches. Spectators donned outrageous,
vintage-inspired attire, with a few new
twists. Ornate, wide-brimmed hats like
those seen topping the Duchess of Cambridge were en vogue. And young alumni
donned fancy footwear and filled the air
with the robust aroma of cigars. The St.
John’s school song, “St. John’s Forever,”
even got a makeover. However, the most
conspicuous bend on tradition was the
sighting of an Elvis impersonator—by all
counts, a first.
Unchanged was the fact that, for
alumni, the annual match is as much
about catching up with old friends and
reconnecting to the college as it is about
the competition. “Croquet has evolved
into our annual spring reunion,” says
Leo Pickens (A78), director of Alumni
Relations on the Annapolis campus. This
is certainly true for a devoted group of
more than a dozen alumni from the class
of 1984. “I’ve attended 27 of the last 30
58 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
matches,” says John Ertle (A84), the
pioneer croquet team’s Imperial Wicket.
Sporting a neon Hawaiian-print hat and
ubiquitous “Beat Navy” button, Ertle says
that all year he looks forward to attending
the event along with his wife, Kathy Ertle
(A84), and their two sons. An admirer
of tradition, Ertle points out, “This is
the same hat that I wore during the first
croquet match.” He adds, “Even today’s
weather is just like it was then.”
Huddled around the front steps of the
Barr-Buchanan Center, spectators anticipated one of the match’s most revered
traditions—the unveiling of the Johnnie
team’s uniforms. And the Johnnies did
not disappoint. Bursting through the
doors to a cheering crowd, the players
donned replica St. John’s Public Safety
Officer’s uniforms, complete with functioning walkie-talkies, mirrored shades,
and novelty mustaches. It was a playful
spoof on the new ground rules, for which
the Imperial Wicket and team showed
tremendous support. “It’s important
to keep it fun,” says Johnnie Fleming
(A12), the team’s Imperial Wicket and
the fifth in his family to graduate from
St. John’s.
Fleming refers to both the competition
and the fact that the croquet match has
grown from a purely St. John’s event to
one that includes the wider community;
hence the college’s new policies restricting outside alcohol and other changes.
“We want croquet to be something that
we can all enjoy and that reflects well on
our community,” says Pickens. Fleming
echoes this desire; he penned an editorial
in The Gadfly weeks before the match to
make his point. “We’ve opened our campus to the public and it certainly would
be a bummer if the [wider community
members] who come were to ruin it for
the people already here.”
After 30 years of croquet in Annapolis,
the pageantry and spirit remain strong,
if somewhat evolved. As Fleming notes,
“[Johnnies] have built it, and people just
keep coming, and it is excellent.”
�Ornate, wide-brimmed hats like those seen topping
the Duchess of Cambridge were en vogue. And
young alumni donned fancy footwear and filled the
air with the robust aroma of cigars.
St. John’s
Forever
New lyrics by Charles Branan (A13)
Arranged by John Bonn
True love of wisdom
is sheltered in her halls.
Seekers of virtue
will answer to her call.
Books and a balance
are all the tools we need.
St. John’s forever!
She will make us free.
Clockwise (from top):
Spectator Susanna Herrick shows off her
wide-brimmed hat; Patrick E. McDowell
(A01) and his wife, Citlali, in festive
attire; Imperial Wickets Johnnie Fleming
(A12) and John Ertle (A84, the original
Imperial Wicket); Annapolis President
Chris Nelson (SF70), Claiborne Booker
(A84), Adrian Trevisan (A84); Longtime attendees Carolyn Smith, William
Henley, and Jane Taylor.
View video by Domenic D’Andrea (A15)
and more photos at facebook.com/
stjohnscollege.
Charles David Branan (A13)
won the Trevisan-Booker
Prize for penning new lyrics to
the school song, “St. John’s
Forever.” In a nod to the
college’s origins as the King
William’s School, founded
in 1696, he was awarded a
cash prize of $1,696. A music
aficionado from Sandersville,
Georgia, Branan is a member of
the St. John’s Madrigal Choir, a
group inspired by Renaissance
polyphony. “Music is absolutely
crucial to the Program,” says
Branan. “It has influenced
everything we study as well
as the authors we read.” John
Bonn, father of Tommy Bonn
(A13) and winner for the song’s
new four-part a cappella vocal
arrangement, values music in a
liberal arts education and says,
“Music pushes the mind and
encourages abstract thought.”
Long-time friends Adrian
Trevisan (A84) and Claiborne
Booker (A84) created the
contest to update the college’s
original anthem, “St. John’s
March.” The new song will be
sung each year at croquet.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012 |
59
�st. john’s forever
Classic Cellar
Nestled in the basement of Humphreys Hall, the
College Bookstore, with its centuries-old brick
walls, eight-foot ceilings, and walls of books,
remains as much a haven for Annapolis Johnnies today as it was in this circa-1974 photo. But
where have those couches gone? As part of the
first building added to the college, the Bookstore has endured myriad changes, including
from dormitory to military hospital and morgue
for Union soldiers during the Civil War. Even
the couches, ashtrays, and chess boards for
60 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2012
Johnnies who play games changed; they found
their way into the Coffee Shop in McDowell,
to make way for expanded shelf space. When
this photo was taken, the Bookstore housed
approximately 12,000 titles. In 1998, Robin
Dunn, manager for the past 15 years, ushered in
one of the Bookstore’s most significant changes
to date: a computerized system to track inventory, which has grown to include nearly 45,000
books and more than 21,000 different titles.
�eidos
DOUG PLUMMER
Eidos is a section of the magazine that showcases alumni
who are accomplished in the visual arts. Please send
us a link to your portfolio and an artist’s statement for
consideration in future issues of The College.
�Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Communications Office
P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, Maryland 21404
a d d r e ss se rvi ce r e qu e st ed
Annapolis, md
Permit N0. 120
�
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St. John's College
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The College, Summer 2012
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2012
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St. John's College
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Annapolis, MD
Santa Fe, NM
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The_College_Magazine_Summer_2012
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Volume 37, Issue 1 of the <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Summer 2012.
The College
-
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College
The
FA L L 2 0 1 5
•
S T. J O H N ’ S C O L L E G E
•
ANNAPOLIS
•
S A N TA F E
Henry
David
Thoreau
Early Environmentalist
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 i
�ii THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FA L L 2 015
�OPENING NOTE
Who among us has ever yearned
to shut down the computer, turn
off the cell phone, and be immersed in solitude, where nothing but the sounds of the wind
and rustling leaves fill our ears—
a peaceful retreat in nature to
restore our spirit and make us
feel human again? Henry David
Thoreau (1817-1862), poet,
philosopher, historian, and early
environmentalist, understood
the importance of connecting
with nature. In the woods along
Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, the muse of Thoreau’s
Walden, he makes a case for
simple living and self-sufficiency.
The book is also an invitation to
be daring, cast aside convention,
and live life to the fullest.
In this issue of The College, we
will hear from Johnnies who
have found a Walden of their
own: a backyard oasis, filled with
vibrant flowers, treetop canopies,
and assorted creatures; a once
abandoned building, smack-dab
in the heart of America’s Rust
Belt, brought back to life; and
a farm nestled in a Southwest
corner among “winged angels of
agriculture.” As summer breezes
give way to crisp autumn air, now
is an ideal time to pick up a copy
of Walden. In the words of tutor
David Townsend, “You may find
yourself thrilled with unanticipated wonder.”
Gregory Shook, editor
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 1
�FALL 2015
VOLUME 40, ISSUE 2
If transcending time and keeping your soul forever
young attracts you, then Walden is your text.
And Thoreau is a man you can go to school on.
—David Townsend, tutor
FEATUR E S
P A G E 1 6��
P A G E 2 0��
PA G E 2 6
FREEDOM UPON AN
ACHILLEAN SHORE
HALCYON
HAVEN
BIRTH OF A
BEEKEEPER
Walden, Henry David Thoreau’s
experiment in simple living
among nature, continues to
challenge American pragmatism
and beckons us to experience
life to the fullest.
Thanks to a visionary alumnus
who transformed an abandoned
historic building into a cozy
neighborhood pub, good
conversation just got easier to
find in downtown Cleveland.
Raising queen bees is about
much more than harvesting
honey—the tiny creatures
are profoundly important
for sustaining the planet’s
plant species.
ON THE COVER:
Thoreau illustration
by Brett Ryder
PREVIOUS PAGE: TONY J PHTOGRAPHY
2 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FA L L 2 015
�TONY J PHOTOGRAPHY
D E PAR T ME N T S
��FROM THE BELL TOWERS
BIBLIOFILE
FOR & ABOUT ALUMNI
4 �
Toward a Greener Future:
Robert Bienenfeld (SF80)
30 �Tutor Eva Brann (H89)
comprehends imaginative
conservatism in Then and Now.
32 �lmuni News: Alumni Leadership
A
Forum 2015
5 Club with a Cause
6 �
Hodson Trust Intern:
Xiaoqian (Lara) Hu (A16)
7 New Annapolis Treasurer
8 A Decade of Leadership in Santa Fe
10 Commencement 2015
12 �erdurous Acres
V
34 �lumni Notes
A
31 �liza Pennypacker (A79) breaks
E
convention in Artful Rainwater
Design: Creative Ways to Manage
Stormwater.
37 � rofile: Cara Gormally (A02)
P
advocates science literacy.
42 �In Memoriam
� O’Hara (SFGI00) shares
David
meditative essays in Downstream:
Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly
Fishing, and Waters of Appalachia.
45 �tudent Voices: Kevin Lam (A18)
S
discovers intellectual freedom.
� Brock (A94) explores a slice
Emily
of Pacific Northwest history in
Money Trees: The Douglas Fir and
American Forestry, 1900-1944.
46 �roquet: Johnnies Break the Streak
C
.
JOHNNIE TRADITIONS
48 �t. John’s Forever
S
EIDOS
49 Anastasia Egeli (A92)
ABOVE: Annapolis President Christoper Nelson
(SF70) enjoys the labor of garden work.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 3
�From the
BELL TOWERS
FIRST PERSON
Toward a Greener Future
Robert Bienenfeld (SF80) Helps Steer
the Transportation Revolution
Robert Bienenfeld, (SF80) assistant
vice president, Environment and Energy
Strategy at American Honda Motor
Company, Inc., discusses his longstanding
passion for exploring environmentally
friendly technology and reducing the
auto industry’s carbon footprint.
Why did you choose
to work at Honda?
I knew after leaving St. John’s
that I wanted to work in industry. People told me throughout
my four years that St. John’s
was a great education. I thought:
if that’s true I ought to be able
to go to work without going to
graduate school. I also knew I
wanted to build something, and
that turned out to be a great
idea. It’s an amazing thing, to
be part of a team. No individual
can bring a car to market. It
takes untold numbers of people,
not just the engineers and the
marketers but the people in the
factory, hundreds of suppliers, all
of their R and D people. It’s very
collaborative, and the essence
of the St. John’s education is
very collaborative. If it weren’t
collaborative you would just go
to the library, read the books,
and you’d be done. But what you
do is read the books and have
your own ideas, then you come to
class and test them and they’re
challenged in that crucible of
seminar or tutorial. Invariably
you’re left with better ideas, a
deeper understanding, more
questions. Sometimes a book
you didn’t like is revealed to be
more beautiful than you could
have ever imagined. That’s what
I have enjoyed when I’ve worked
on teams. It can be difficult, you
have to listen to other people’s
ideas, and people don’t always
do what you want them to do,
but through that collaborative
approach you can shape the
direction of the company, bring
better products to market, and
provide valuable benefits to society that might never otherwise
have come about.
To the outside we’re trying to
provide the best information we
can to regulators on the theory
that good information will make
good regulations. We work as
cooperatively and positively
as we can to look for ways to
advance the environmental
agenda. That being said, we try
to make sure that the proposed
regulations or laws are fair and
equitable, that they’re feasible,
and that they’re going to accomplish their intended goals.
What is your role at Honda?
We’re trying to have a smooth,
bloodless revolution from an
older generation of transportation to a much less carbon-intensive model. That’s being done
through advances in technology
and through regulation and it’s
a very interesting challenge.
Both the regulators and the car
companies have to be mindful
of consumers. If the regulations
are too demanding then the
products could be too expensive
and consumers might reject
them. The question is: are the
regulations aggressive enough,
and reasonable enough, and
can industry accomplish those
regulations in a way that will be
acceptable to consumers?
Externally, I represent Honda
to the EPA and California EPA
and internally, I represent the
EPA and California EPA to
Honda. Inside the company I
think about what society (writ
large) is trying to accomplish
and promote those values
within the company. It’s not
that the values inside the company aren’t the same as those
of society, but they don’t always
have the same intensity, the
same timeline, the same power.
Right now we’re in the middle of
a revolution in transportation.
And revolutions are inherently
terrifying: they’re unstable,
there are new forces at work,
[and] things change quickly.
4 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FA L L 2 015
How did you end up working
in environment and energy
strategy?
I’ve had a varied career. I’ve
been here since I left college,
and I’ve worked in nearly a
dozen areas in Japan and the
U.S., in sales and marketing and
product development and strategy. In 2008 a friend of mine was
running this area and saw an
opportunity to bring me in.
I’d worked in related areas
before that. I’ve worked on
alternative fuels since 1993: on
electric, natural gas, and hybrid
cars. That first brought me into
contact with public policy— an
interesting and important part
of the business. Vehicles have
unintended consequences: you
buy a car and there’re all kinds
of unseen impacts. A lot of
people don’t really think about
where their gasoline comes
from, what it takes to manage
those resources, and the impact
of the car’s exhaust. Of course,
cars have an enormous benefit
to society as well. But there are
social costs, or externalities,
and we seek to minimize those
costs. Sixteen years ago I started
working on car sharing, and just
in the last half dozen years it’s
�“� e’re facing an extraordinary challenge
W
with respect to climate change, and
dramatic action is needed. It won’t help
anybody if car companies go out of business
trying to make this transition.”
started to become a commercial
success. But in the twenty-two
years I’ve been in alternative
fuels it’s been very difficult
to achieve success. In some
respects it’s been twenty-two
years of failure.
Why is it so difficult to find
success with alternative fuels?
Because the incumbent technology is pretty good. In the
last forty years, smog-forming
pollutants that come out of the
tailpipe of the car have been
reduced to almost 1/1000 of what
their pre-regulated emissions
were—an incredible accomplishment. Although you might think
we absolutely need electric cars
for clean air, it turns out that we
can do quite well with internal
combustion vehicles.
One of the fascinating things
about this work is how, holistically, you have to think about
a transportation system. For
example, in China, because their
electric grid is seventy percent
coal-generated, an electric car
is not nearly as clean as a good
hybrid car. You have to think in
a holistic manner to understand
all the impacts of a transportation system.
What’s the focus of your work
right now?
Between 2015 and 2025 we
are tasked with doubling fuel
economy which means that we
will be able to go twice as far
on a gallon of gas and cut the
carbon intensity of automobile
use almost in half. The rules
through 2025 are pretty clear,
but how to get there will involve
very important choices with
respect to technology. Right
now we’re trying to make some
critical decisions about advanced
internal combustion engines vs.
increased hybridization, and
plug-in vehicles, how much to
invest in fuel cell vehicles, those
kinds of things.
We’re facing an extraordinary
challenge with respect to climate
change, and dramatic action is
needed. It won’t help anybody if
car companies go out of business
trying to make this transition,
so it’s really important that we
help guide the regulators to
understand what’s possible, what
we think consumers will accept,
where the technology is, and
what is cost-effective.
CLUB WITH A CAUSE
“I believe that wherever there is
a college or a community, there
needs to be an environmental
club,” says Jon Shrestha (A17),
archon of the Environmental
Club at the Annapolis campus.
Under Shrestha’s leadership,
the club’s activities this past
year included a bike lending
program and recycling initiatives
at Croquet; students worked with
the company Waste Neutral to
collect 1.19 tons of commingled
recyclables at the event as well
as 200 pounds of reusable plastic
pallets. The club also joined
forces with the Food Recovery
Network to donate unopened
leftover canned goods from the
dining hall to a local shelter.
Most recently the club organized
a seminar on “Higher Laws” from
Thoreau’s Walden. “I thought
that ‘Higher Laws’ appealed
to our philosophical nature in
terms of driving us to examine
the question ‘What is the right
way to live?’” says Bonnie Scott
(A17), the Environmental Club’s
vice archon. Led by tutor Brendan
Boyle, the seminar discussion
explored people’s relationship
with nature, something that many
of us may not consider as we go
about our daily lives. “One of the
most important things you can
do to better the world is to make
sure that you’re in touch with the
ways that you affect everything
around you, whether that is how
you speak to other people or
what you throw away in the trash
or the recycling,” says Scott. “It’s
all interconnected.”
— Eunji Kim (A15)
What did you learn at St. John’s
that is most helpful in your
work at Honda?
What I appreciate the most
about my St. John’s education
is that it’s four years of teaching you how to fall in love—how
to pick up a subject you never
thought you’d be interested in
and have it open your thinking
and your mind and your heart;
to find it interesting and collaborate with people and throw
yourself into it. It was kind of
random that I found myself at
Honda, but I’ve been able to
throw myself into this work and
be part of some amazing projects,
and we’ve made history. That’s a
really valuable lesson.
— Sus3an Borden (A87)
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 5
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
DAVID BROOKS
HELPS CELEBRATE
SANTA FE’S 50TH
ANYI GUO (A14)
David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, author, and pundit, helped close out
the yearlong celebration of Santa Fe’s 50th
anniversary as the featured speaker at a
gala benefit dinner on June 26 at the Santa
Fe campus. In his remarks, Brooks cited two
authors from the Program—St. Augustine
and George Eliot—to illustrate the practical
virtue of studying the lives and works of great
authors. Brooks noted that the gala was a singular experience for him. At no other event, he
said, had Rousseau been quoted twice during
dinner-table conversation. Proceeds from the
evening’s events will support scholarships for
students from New Mexico. The 50th anniversary campaign raised more than $30 million
for the campus’s endowment and operations.
HODSON TRUST INTERN
Learning
Through Inquiry
Xiaoqian (Lara) Hu (A16) has long been
interested in education. Through the Hodson
Trust Internship Program in summer 2013,
she interned at Shenzhen High School in the
Guangdong Province of southeast China. Fascinated by classroom dynamics, Hu observes the
importance of the relationship between teachers and students and understands the politics
involved in education. “I want to be a professor
in college or graduate school,” she says, “not
doing research, but working with students on a
personal level.”
Hu notes that Shenzhen “is one of the
most open-minded high schools in China. It is
dedicated to the preparation of students for the
highest scholarships in the U.S.” One of Hu’s
responsibilities as a teacher’s assistant was to
organize workshops about American colleges.
“It was very informal,” she says. “I would make
and present a PowerPoint. Then I would let the
students ask questions and have discussions.”
Her presentations described her academic
experience as well as cultural differences that
surprised her. “When I first got here, I made so
many mistakes. Nobody told me I could drink
the tap water or how to use a dryer.”
Xiaoqian (Lara) Hu (A16)
“� hen I first got here, I
W
made so many mistakes.
Nobody told me I could
drink the tap water or how
to use a dryer.”
Many of Hu’s students were interested in
St. John’s discussion model of learning. “They
felt that they could participate in the sessions
rather than just listen to the lectures,” says Hu.
“They loved talking to me, and that was a real
surprise. They thought I knew how to listen
to what they were really talking about.” The
classes at St. John’s encouraged her to seriously consider the principles that others had,
even those with whom she initially disagreed.
“Returning to my high school gave me a
new perspective,” she says. “I realized how
important inquiries are. Asking questions is
a more effective way of learning than just
answering questions.”
—Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
6 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FA L L 2 015
The College
is published by St. John’s
College, Annapolis, MD,
and Santa Fe, NM
thecollegemagazine@
sjc.edu
Known office of
publication:
Communications Office
St. John’s College
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
Periodicals postage
paid at Annapolis, MD
Postmaster: Send
address changes to
The College Magazine,
Communications Office,
St. John’s College,
60 College Avenue,
Annapolis, MD 21401.
Editor
Gregory Shook
gregory.shook@sjc.edu
Contributors
Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
Sus3an Borden (A87)
Brendan Boyle
Anastasia Egeli (A92)
Gabe Gomez
Susan Kaplan
Eunji Kim (A15)
Melanie Kirby (SF97)
Kevin Lam (A18)
Jennifer Levin
Lisa Neal
Christopher Nelson (SF70)
Paula Novash
David Townsend
Robin Weiss
Babak Zarin (A11)
Design
Skelton Design
Contributing Designer
Jennifer Behrens
�TA L K O F T H E T O W E R S
In Annapolis, five new tutors have joined
the faculty. Erica Beall (A07) is from the
University of Southern California, where she is
working on completing her Ph.D. in social psychology. Ronald Haflidson joined the college
from the New College, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he received his Ph.D. in
Christian ethics and practical theology. Zena
Hitz (A95) earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from
Princeton University. Marius Kempe comes
from the University of Durham, England,
where he earned his Ph.D. in anthropology.
Bryan Luther received his Ph.D. in nuclear
physics from The Ohio State University. In
Santa Fe, two new tutors have joined the
faculty. Allison D’Orazio Levy is from Boston
In Santa Fe, Victoria Mora is the college-wide
senior vice president for Development and
Alumni Relations. Renee White is the new
director of Conference Services. In Annapolis,
three new directors have joined the college: Benjamin Baum is the new director of
Admissions; Susan Jenkins is director of Web
Initiatives and Social Media; Joe Smolskis is
the new treasurer; and Melissa Steiner is the
new registrar.
“� get my feet into a lot of
I
different areas, including
non-financial duties, which
is part of what makes my
position interesting.”
IN ANNAPOLIS
Thinking Outside
the Numbers
New Treasurer in Annapolis
Though he has held numerous high-powered
positions throughout his career, Joe Smolskis,
the new treasurer in Annapolis, is still a kid at
heart. On a breezy July afternoon, while the
campus was buzzing with Summer Academy
students, Smolskis grabbed a quick lunch
before popping over to the local comic book
shop to pick up the new issue of Archie. “I read
them when I was a kid but haven’t read them
in years,” he says, adding that he was “always a
superhero guy. I probably have three-quarters
of the entire history of Daredevil.” Being
fiscally-minded, he estimates his most prized
comic book, the debut issue of Daredevil, at
around $35. “It’s not a great copy, but what’s
really cool is that it came out in 1963, the year
I was born, and was printed in my hometown of
Waterbury, Connecticut.”
When Smolskis came to St. John’s in
August 2014, he was familiar with the college’s
reputation as “the great books school.” What
he was surprised to learn, though, was that the
curriculum is conversation-based and that this
core aspect of academic life influences the college community as a whole. “I’ve noticed that
students and tutors are talking all the time—
and not just about great books,” says Smolskis.
College, where she received her Ph.D. in
political science. Maggie Evans McGuinness
received her Ph.D. in American literature/
poetics at the University of Oregon, where she
taught literature and composition.
“At every level, you can feel that at the college,
in conversations with staff and faculty, in board
meetings. It’s very different from any other
place where I’ve worked. This makes a difference when you can have a real conversation
about, say, the budget, IT, or facilities. Rather
than a debate about resources, it’s a productive
discussion about supporting the departments.”
Smolskis’s role at the college includes
oversight of the budgeting process, the college
investments, short-term and long-term financial
forecasting, and working with the board and the
management committee to make sure the college
remains in sound shape fiscally. He has been designated the CFO across both the Santa Fe and
Annapolis campuses and is working with Santa
Fe Treasurer Bryan Valentine to unify accounting procedures and other business practices.
Before coming to St. John’s, Smolskis served
in executive leadership roles at Trinity Washington University and the Protestant Episcopal
Cathedral Foundation in Washington, D.C.,
among other organizations. Returning to higher
education, “I get my feet into a lot of different
areas, including non-financial duties, which is
part of what makes my position interesting,”
he says. “And I do things that are outside the
numbers, like moving forward on deferred
maintenance and plans to spruce up the
campus. We want to make sure that St. John’s
is a great place for students to live and feel
comfortable. The campus should sparkle, so
that visitors’ first impressions are good ones.”
He also oversees the information technology
needs of the campus and handles compliance
and personnel issues.
Just as he eagerly awaits the next issue of
his favorite comic book, Smolskis looks forward
to the future of St. John’s, doing his part to
make the college a vibrant place of learning
both inside and out. “As we make long-term
strategic plans, we have to realize that we’re
going to face challenges for some time,” he
says. “But that’s part of what’s fascinating—how
we manage our resources in order to get the
best bang for our buck.”
—Gregory Shook
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 7
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
C O N V E R S AT I O N
“We’re In This Together”
As Michael Peters, the sixth president of St. John’s College, Santa Fe,
prepares to depart the college in December 2015 – after 10 years of dedicated
service – he reflects on the Program’s influence on his life, how St. John’s
has changed over the last decade, and a college community whose passion
and commitment to the Program are rooted in love. New Santa Fe President
Mark Roosevelt will be profiled in the next issue of The College.
What stands out most as you look back
at your time as president?
We’ve got to acknowledge that the college
is facing challenges. It’s troubling to me to
leave with some of the challenges unresolved.
However, I hope after having been here for ten
years that I’ve left the college a little more
stable than when I found it. I’ve worked to create a healthy, collaborative relationship among
the president, the dean, the faculty, and our
colleagues on the Annapolis campus to preserve our distinctive identity, and to ensure we
have the wherewithal to continue to offer this
education to future generations of students.
To what do you attribute this evolution?
Your favorite book is War and Peace, and
you’ve led seminars on it. Has your reading
of the book changed because of that?
I’d first read the novel while studying Russian,
so I read it first in its original language. I’d
say I had a more general, almost superficial
appreciation for it. But my study of the novel
became much deeper when I encountered it
at St. John’s. I’ve truly come to appreciate the
depth of the work and the nuance that came
through discussion in seminar.
You’ve led seminars all over the country
and in the Summer Classics program.
Can you talk about your engagement
with students in seminar?
One of the first things I did as president was
participate in seminar with the January Freshman class of 2008. As someone who didn’t
graduate from St. John’s, it was beneficial to
sit in on seminars during my first years here.
Around that time, several students knew about
my background in international affairs and
One thing that is impossible to appreciate from
the outside, until you’ve been in the midst of
what we do here, is the love—which is really
the best word for it—this community has for the
St. John’s Program. You can read about it, but
until you’re here and really see on a day-to-day
basis, the intense level of commitment and
passion, the sacrifices that members of this
community are willing to make to preserve
and nurture the Program, it is impossible to
appreciate it fully.
When people think about your time here,
what would you like them to remember?
One of the most significant changes has been
the movement and evolution of the college’s
relationship with its alumni. The alumni are our
greatest advocates and are a natural source of
support if we’re going to continue to thrive in a
turbulent world.
There have been changes in the way the Alumni
Association operates, the way they choose their
leaders and rotate leadership, and together
we’ve created the Alumni Leadership Forum.
We’ve made it possible for alumni to focus their
efforts on behalf of admissions, career services,
and, of course, on fundraising. The great leadership shown by the alumni in recent years really
proves that we’re in this together.
How has your impression of St. John’s
College changed in the last ten years?
What will you miss about St. John’s?
“� ne thing that is impossible
O
to appreciate from the
outside, until you’ve been
in the midst of what we do
here, is the love—which is
really the best word for it—
this community has for the
St. John’s Program.”
approached me about starting an international
affairs study group. The study group would
revolve around a contemporary news article
on an issue in international affairs or U.S.
foreign policy. Similar to the St. John’s seminar
approach, I would ask a question to get things
started. It’s been one of the most rewarding
things I’ve done at St. John’s, because it has
given me a chance to get to know our students
more personally than I would otherwise. It
was a combination of my background and the
individual students that kept it alive.
8 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FA L L 2 015
Definitely all the people I’ve gotten to know
and become very close to over the years. In any
organization, the people are the most important and the folks here—staff, faculty, alumni,
and friends—have an astounding dedication to
this very singular education. Eleanor and I will
also miss Santa Fe. We’ve become very fond of
this area, and we’ll spend as much time here as
we can after we step down.
Do you have any advice for the new
president?
The best advice is pretty straightforward: Listen and take the time to get to know the place.
Sitting in on seminars gave me an opportunity
to get a sense of the students and faculty and
all the wonderful attributes they exhibit in the
classroom. There are a lot of other things on
a new president’s plate, but taking the time to
listen and really get an understanding of the
college is important. It’s also important to get
to know the place where the college is located—
the history, culture, and ethos of Santa Fe and
northern New Mexico.
�What’s next for you?
Initially, Eleanor and I will go back to New
York City, where we have a home, and then
we’ll see. I don’t have any immediate plans professionally, and I would like to take some time
to regroup and see where we go. We’ll do some
travel because our son and his family have just
moved to Turkey and we’ll be going over there
to make sure they raise our grandsons properly
[laughs]. One of the things I said in the Commencement address I was honored to give this
year’s senior class is that when you go through
life you have to be willing to be open to serendipity or providence, whichever term you prefer.
I’m going to try to follow my own advice and
see where that takes me.
—Gabe Gomez
Levan Hall, completed in 2010 to house St.
John’s Santa Fe’s Graduate Institute, is among
the key legacies of Peters’s presidency. He and
his team expanded the college’s facilities and
improved the existing physical plant to provide
an excellent learning environment for students
and faculty.
FRANK OOMS
PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:
Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) with Peters at an
inauguration reception, October 2005. Peters
came to St. John’s after a distinguished military
career and service as executive vice president of
the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mike and Eleanor Peters celebrate the groundbreaking of Levan Hall on the Santa Fe campus.
Peters presides over the groundbreaking
ceremony for Winiarski Hall, a multi-use building
with housing for students, tutors’ offices, and
classrooms. From left: former BVG Chair Mike
Uremovich, then-Santa Fe Mayor David Coss,
tutor David McDonald, who chaired the campus
planning committee, and Warren Winiarski (Class
of 1952), who donated the building with his
wife, Barbara (Class of 1955). The building was
completed in 2012.
Mike Peters’s family applauds during his
inaugural address on October 28, 2005. Peters
began his presidency in January of that year.
From left: Peters’s wife, Eleanor; son, Michael;
daughter, Rebecca; and father, Max.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 9
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
COMMENCEMENT 2015
Barely two years into his retirement, tutor
emeritus Jonathan Tuck (H14) returned to
the Annapolis campus to deliver this year’s
commencement address. The 111 seniors in the
Class of 2015 “wanted our experience in the
classroom and in this community to be represented to our families sitting in the audience
by someone who has experienced it firsthand,”
explained Alexandra Wick (A15) in a letter to
the selection committee. “Our education has
been an exercise in community and vulnerability, and we chose Mr. Tuck to be the speaker for
his embodiment of those virtues.”
With characteristic humor and a knack
“� f we are wise in no other
I
way, we are wise enough to
reflect on this experience and
to value it as it deserves.”
TONY J PHOTOGRAPHY
Words on Wisdom
in Annapolis
PHOTO, TOP LEFT: Tutor emeritus Jonathan Tuck
(H14) in Annapolis.
TOP RIGHT: Santa Fe President Mike Peters.
TONY J PHOTOGRAPHY
for getting straight to the heart of things,
Tuck addressed the graduating seniors and
19 Graduate Institute students assembled on
the campus front lawn seminar-style—with
an opening question: “How is this choice [to
come to St. John’s] working out for us? Did we
get what we came for?” Tuck, who joined the
faculty at 31 and retired in 2013 after nearly 35
years at St. John’s, let these questions linger
while he reflected on the “immersive experience of being a part of this community” as well
as “the program we have in common, our common objects, the books we read, our common
understanding of our undertaking, [and] the
community within which we live and grow—all
these [which] bind us more closely in virtuous
friendship.” In his concluding remarks, Tuck,
with an ancient Greek virtue in mind, shared
this parting thought: “If we are wise in no
other way, we are wise enough to reflect on this
experience and to value it as it deserves.”
BRADY LEE (AGI14)
Jonathan Tuck (H14)
10 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�COMMENCEMENT 2015
Santa Fe’s
Presidential Speaker
President Michael P. Peters presided over the
48th commencement on the Santa Fe campus.
By special request of the Class of 2015, Peters
also delivered the commencement address,
encouraging the class to “find something—an
idea, a passion or a role—that brings meaning
or purpose to your life” and also to “look for an
opportunity to contribute to or serve others.”
Peters, who retires at the end of 2015 and
who has led some of the college’s major milestones during his 10-year term as president,
said he was humbled by this opportunity to
speak to Santa Fe’s 84 graduating seniors and
10 masters candidates. The graduates and
“� erhaps most importantly,
P
find ways to feed your
soul as well as your mind
and body.”
Santa Fe President Michael Peters
their families and friends came together to
celebrate this singular moment in their lives
and to hear Peters praise them for the courage they had demonstrated in coming to and
graduating from St. John’s when conventional
wisdom is increasingly questioning the value
of a liberal education. “You enrolled at St.
John’s, persevered, learned, grew and arrive at
this ceremony today,” Peters said. “You stood
out from the crowd by taking on the challenges and seizing the opportunities St. John’s
affords. And I am sure you will stand out from
the crowd wherever you go.”
He concluded by saying, “Your time here
was only the beginning–a prelude. After all,
this ceremony is known as commencement.
If you are going to find meaning for yourself
and contribute to others you must continue to
grow intellectually, to foster your curiosity and
imagination, and to call upon your courage and
self-discipline. I also encourage you to continue
to challenge your assumptions, and move
beyond observation and description to thought
and action. And, perhaps most importantly,
find ways to feed your soul as well as your
mind and body.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 11
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
S PA R E T I M E
Gardener’s Delight
When not tending to executive duties at the college, leading a seminar on
Plutarch, or speaking out on the value of the liberal arts, Annapolis President
Chris Nelson (SF70) is often found working in his garden, a lush sanctuary
that he calls home. Pausing from his presidential duties, Nelson talks with
The College about what makes gardening more than just a hobby.
I understand that when you have time
to spare from your presidential duties,
you like to garden. Can you tell us
what you do?
Well, let us get our terms straight first. My wife,
Joyce, is the gardener. I am heavy labor. We
have a dear gardening friend who calls me the
under-gardener. I limb trees, edge and mulch
the gardens, lay woodchip paths through the
woodland areas and stone paths among the
flower beds, gather the slash and cuttings to be
hauled away or composted for use a year later to
enrich the soil throughout the property. I love
working with my pruning shears, tree loppers,
chain saw, and eight-pound splitting maul, splitting and stacking wood for our indoor and outdoor
fireplaces, for the college, and for friends. If I am
about shape, form, and a path through, then Joyce
is about beauty, color, and content. She decides
what is to be planted and where—and then goes
about doing almost all the planting and tending
of the flower and shrub gardens. And she studies
gardens and reads voraciously about an extraordinary variety of plants and trees, and then she
brings her learning to bear in her selection of
plantings for the garden at home.
TONY J PHOTOGRAPHY
What do you like best about gardening?
Annapolis President Chris Nelson (SF70) helps care for more than four acres of ground.
12 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
There are so many things! I love the quiet
concentration and focus required. I am free of
distractions and only thinking about how to
bring a pleasing shape to a tree or a walking
path. I love walking through the garden at the
end of the day with Joyce, seeing with some
satisfaction the results of the day’s work and
laying out what the next day’s tasks will be.
Then, there is the exercise out-of-doors. After
spending most days in the office, car, or airport, I enjoy the fresh air. Joyce, too, has been
a busy professional, working as an attorney
at the Environmental Protection Agency in
Washington. The garden is our common space,
where we engage in our parallel play, usually
in different parts of the garden. At the end of
the day, we can each share with the other what
little bit of improvement we have made, usually
with a glass of wine in hand when we take our
stroll. And of course, gardening is endless; it is
never finished. So, as we get pleasure in both
the doing and the viewing, it means we can
continue such enjoyment endlessly. Then again,
we are happy to be of service to the college,
which has done so much to enrich our lives.
We entertain a lot, and the garden gives us a
beautiful venue for the purpose.
�You mention the paths you have made
through the garden. Why are these
important?
We have a gorgeous piece of land to care for. It
is more than four acres of rolling, hilly ground.
Great big oaks, tulip poplars, magnolias,
maples, white pine, hollies, river birch, cryptomerias, yoshino cherries, and rows of boxwood
give it structure. And there are beautiful visual
destination points in many different places,
from the Severn River and the students sailing
off the pier to the quiet waters of Shady Lake
where the Great Blue and Green Herons do
their fishing; from the fountain with the cardinals and goldfinches taking their afternoon
baths to the terrace flower beds attracting varieties of pollinating bees, Eastern Swallow Tails,
and many colorful butterflies; from the several
sculptures we have placed around the property
to Joyce’s small garden house and library down
by the water. In my view, if you have the space,
a garden should not just be taken in through
a single lens; it should be laid out to take you
on many little journeys to see what is around
the next corner. We have laid out the garden so
that we can walk around the property in several rings without repeating our steps. Always
something up ahead to look forward to. And
then we have benches and viewing areas to see
the osprey and their young learning to fly each
July, the family of fox tripping across the lawn,
the fat groundhogs eating the grass, the small
herd of deer limbing up the Yoshinos, and the
thousands of fireflies lighting up the garden in
the early June evenings.
“� garden should not just
A
be taken in through a single
lens; it should be laid out
to take you on many little
journeys to see what is
around the next corner.”
Commencement. We also have a special friend
and neighbor who has been of extraordinary
assistance to us this past year and a half. She
has made the garden more beautiful than ever.
And after twenty-four years developing the garden we have today, we have employed a friend
and professional photographer, Don Dement,
to document the garden over a twelve-month
cycle, with the plan of making a book to leave
with the college, showcasing our favorite photographs from the thousands he has taken.
Does the garden serve as an escape when
you need it from the pressures of the day?
What pressures?
Is there any one thing that gives you
special satisfaction?
Pulling the long trails of porcelain berry vines
out of the trees. It takes weeding to a high level.
Oh my, yes! We could not manage the half of
it without the college’s Buildings and Grounds
crew mowing the lawn each week and feeding
the special trees, delivering the truckloads of
mulch and woodchips, hauling away the slash
from a pile we build each weekend, and repairing the big equipment when it breaks down.
Then there has been a student helping us each
year over the past decade, which gives us the
added pleasure of getting to know better some
of those students I otherwise only see passing across the platform at Convocation and
PHOTOS: DON DEMENT
It’s an awfully big property. Do you get
any help in managing it all?
ABOVE: A
woodchip path through the garden’s woodland areas. FOLLOWING PAGE: View from the terrace
down to the Severn River at the president’s house in West Annapolis.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 13
�DON DEMENT
14 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 15
�Take your book out to the edge of whatever town or city
you inhabit as Thoreau took the Iliad to Walden Pond.
Read with “alert and heroic” character. There is no
Concord—no peace—unless you are prepared to fight for it.
16 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�TUTOR VIEW
FREEDOM
upon an Achillean Shore
by David Townsend
When you encounter a truly great book, you feel
it in your mind, heart, and gut as your
soul expands and rises. So Henry David
Thoreau’s transcendental Walden hit me
at 19, when I was fortunate to read it in
Charles Hands’ brilliant American Literature
class at Loyola, Baltimore. I had previously
studied Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience,” a seminal
guide to non-violent resistance to the cruelties of government
and social tyranny, and a foundation for Gandhi, Martin
Luther King, Dorothy Day at the Catholic Worker, and Father
Phil Berrigan, pastor of St. Gregory’s in Baltimore, where I
volunteered as a young man, eager to learn how best to live.
Thoreau’s message is a wake-up call: live your own life, not somebody else’s.
You can become an army of one and be your own minuteman. Answer for yourself the essential questions, “How to Live?” and “What to Do?” Start where
you are. Don’t be afraid to say “I.” Make your life an experiment. If you break
molds or “march to the beat of a different drummer,” so be it.1 By centering upon a single “point d’appui,” 2 you can become free, like Sadi’s azad,3 or
become an original, free, independent American citizen of the “true America.”4
The horizons extending from your center point lie beyond your circumferences
of “expectation.” 5 You may find yourself thrilled with unanticipated wonder.
LEFT:
Photo of Walden Pond circa 1900.
Thoreau’s manuscript journals
from 1837-61. ART RESOURCE, NY
ABOVE:
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 17
�TUTOR VIEW
Walden is an educational manual and method for
living life fully. Thoreau teaches every reader to pursue a liberal education by living their own lifelong
experiment:
I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that
if one advances confidently in the direction of
his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which
he has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours.6
Thoreau writes his book as an “honest man,” in
the first person. All books are so written, but many
pretend not to be:
I should not talk so much about myself if there
were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience.7
Walden Pond is the “earth’s eye,”8 “sacred as
the Ganges.”9 Make its deep center, which Thoreau
locates by surveying diameters crossing, a symbol
of your own deep foundation. You may be leading a
Thoreau’s message is a wake-up call:
live your own life, not somebody else’s.
desperate life and have to steal time from your creditors to read this essay. If so, fear not. Freedom is at
hand. You can “start now” and proceed “instantly,”10
without waiting for permission from any authority.
Like the artist of Kouroo in the ancient Vedic tale
that Thoreau recounts, you can set out at once on
your sojourn with your own “pure and perfect” walking stick. Resist giving away your life to those who
would dominate and master you, and your rewards
will be great. In Thoreau’s parable, the artist’s “Singleness of purpose and resolution, and his elevated
piety endowed him, without his knowledge, with
perennial youth.”11 If transcending time and keeping
your soul forever young attracts you, then Walden is
your text. And Thoreau is a man you can go to school
on. But you are no one’s disciple. Not even Thoreau’s.
Never, never, never surrender your own life in order
to live someone else’s.
A philosopher might interpret Walden as a phenomenological description of finding the self. Thoreau calls it the way of love. “Nothing can deter a
poet for he is actuated by pure love.”12 How shall we
18 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
love? There are three methods in Walden: Nature,
America, and Reading.
Begin with nature. “I love the wild not less than
the good.”13 Live “as deliberately as Nature.”14 We can
learn much from Thoreau’s radical ecology, face our
environmental crisis, and address the daily extinction of species. Throughout Walden, Thoreau melds
his mind with many creatures—owls, mice, insects,
birds, and most especially a loon.15 He confronts false
clarity, challenging philosophers and economists who
would only interpret the world to change it.
If we fail to change, Nature may take revenge
on those who blaspheme her. Walden Pond herself
“whoops”16 unexpectedly as the ice speaks. Is “whoop”
the cry of the original Native American for whom the
pond is named,17 who may be “the grandmother of
Adam”? The indigenous spirit of Nature rebounds.
[L]et wild Nature reign once more and the tender
and luxurious English grains will probably disappear before… the great corn-field of the Indian’s God … prove itself indigenous, and resume
its ancient importance and dignity.18
The second method of Walden is to establish
“true America.”19 True Americans, who live self-reliant lives of practical courage and economy, crow “as
lustily as Chanticleer”20 to awaken us from “quiet
desperation.”21 Consider how emerging wild, courageous, and indigenous Americans will invigorate a
weakened “tender and luxurious” America and liberate us from tyrannies of fashion22 and conformity.
The only true America is the country where
you are at liberty… where the state does not
endeavor to compel you to sustain slavery and
war and other superfluous expenses.23
This “true America” is possible only when individual true Americans rise up one by one to claim “their
own.”24 Like Socrates in Plato’s Republic, Thoreau
knows that the “power and capacity exist in the soul
already.”25
Thus Thoreau talks “purposefully” to the poor
immigrant John Field “as if he were a philosopher.”26
What is the true cost of “superfluous expenses”?…
“the cost of a thing is the amount of… life which is
required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in
the long run.”27 This is true “full cost accounting.” A
simple dwelling costs “ten to fifteen years of a laborer’s life.” Learn from Native Americans rather than
old Europe: “In the savage state every family owns a
shelter as good as the best” but not in the economy
�to which we surrender, “in modern civilized society
not more than one half the families own a shelter.”28
Such inequality is unacceptable. Will you trust Fannie Mae or yourself to address this problem?
Thoreau describes in detail his experiment of
building a simple cabin to live as a squatter on the
banks of Walden Pond in the woods a mile outside of
Concord, beginning on July 4. Counting costs to the
half-penny, he demonstrates how to live economically by working only six weeks a year. It is possible
to achieve home ownership and resist war, slavery,
and superfluities. Thoreau builds his own low-cost
housing and starts a movement of non-violent resistance by going to jail. He refuses to pay taxes to
finance wars required to preserve vicious inequalities, whether against Mexico or others.
Learning to read is Thoreau’s third and final
method. He prophesies a “reign of poetry.”29 The
paradox of Walden is that its clarion call to change
America and the global polity comes in the solitary
reading of a great text. It is a book as challenging as
the poetry of the Hebrew prophets and the ancient
texts of Homer, the Vedas, Zoroaster, and Confucius.
Walden resounds with prophets and poets from Ezekiel and Pindar to Sadi and Coleridge. Reading is not
equivalent to living. Nevertheless, to live free, you
must learn to read as you have never read before:
Those who have not learned to read the ancient
classics in the language in which they are written
must have a very imperfect knowledge of the history of the human race; for it is remarkable that
no transcript has ever been made of them in any
modern tongue, unless our civilization itself may
be regarded as such a transcript.30
Walden summons us to “our” true citizenship one
reader at a time. What if each American took personal responsibility to read “the transcript” of “our
civilization”? What if the truth of this logos lay alertly
and heroically upon every American tongue, speaking to the questions, “How to live and What to do?”
Consider how the indigenous “reign of poetry”31—a
way of understanding all three methods—will invigorate a weakened “tender and luxurious” people.
Take your book out to the edge of whatever town or
city you inhabit as Thoreau took the Iliad to Walden
Pond. Read with “alert and heroic”32 character. There
is no Concord—no peace—unless you are prepared
to fight for it. As Krishna leads Arjuna to recognize in the Bhagavad-Gita,33 Thoreau’s guiding text
Take up Thoreau’s American pragmatism.
Start now and confront subjectivity, nature,
animals, land, village, and visitors face-to-face.
for Walden, you cannot withdraw from the battle.”
Start now. You are an army and majority of one.34
Step out as Achilles35 does in the Iliad. Defy the
injustice of Agamemnon. Give your armor over to
love. Don’t worry about what you will put on. The
gods will provide. Unfurl your own free flag to April’s
breeze and you may find yourself suddenly at Concord Bridge with a cohort of minutemen able to fire
“the shot heard round the world.”36
Thoreau found freedom at Walden upon “an Achillean shore.”37 Liberation requires a new birth of
freedom in self, society, and economy. Radical ecology begins as locally as a 17-year locust emerging from
apparently dead wood.38 Imagine a 240-year locust.
Take up Thoreau’s American pragmatism. Start now
and confront subjectivity, nature, animals, land, village,
and visitors face-to-face. Thoreau invites us to “travel a
great deal in Concord.” Do take up Walden. The life
and the planet you save are certainly your own.
Walden – Norton Critical Edition,
third edition, p. 219; cited hereafter as
Walden and page number.
1� �
Walden, p. 70
Walden, p. 57
4
Walden, p. 140
5
Walden, p. 143
6
Walden, p. 217
7
Walden, p. 5
8
Walden, p. 128
9
Walden, p. 132
10
Walden, p. 219
11
Walden, p. 219
12
Walden, p. 180
13
Walden, p. 143
14
Walden, p. 69
15 �
Walden, pp. 95, 159
16
Walden, p. 183
17
Walden, p. 125
18
Walden, p. 162
19
Walden, p. 140
20 �
Walden, pp. 5, 60
21
Walden, p. 8
22
Walden, p. 21
23
Walden, p. 140
2
3
Walden, pp. 14, 17,
52, 83
25 �
Plato’s Republic,
518c
26
Walden, p. 140
27
Walden, p. 24
28
Walden, p. 24
29
Walden, p. 162
30 �
Walden, pp. 73-74
31
Walden, p. 162
32
Walden, p. 76
33 �
Walden, p. 200
34 �
“�Civil Disobedience,” p. 235
35
Walden, p. 156
36
�Emerson,
“Concord Hymn”
37
Walden, p. 196
38
Walden, p. 223
24 �
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 19
�HALCYON
20 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�HAVEN
WILL HOLLINGSWORTH
(A08) RECLAIMS A
SPACE OF HIS OWN
B Y PA U L A N O V A S H
On the homepage of the Spotted Owl
Bar’s website is a copy of owner Will
Hollingsworth’s (A08) favorite poem,
“Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas. Hollingsworth
says that the work is “sort of our mission
statement. It’s all there, especially in
those last two lines, ‘Time held me green
and dying, Though I sang in my chains like
the sea.’ It’s being young, but at the same
time, knowing we’re on our way out.”
But while the poet mourns his lost youth,
Hollingsworth is embracing his youth now—
witness the Spotted Owl, which opened in
summer 2014 after three years of planning
that included the thoughtful reclaiming
of a long-vacant, pre-Civil War complex of
buildings in the recently revived Tremont
area of downtown Cleveland.
PHOTOS BY ANDREW WELLS
PORTRAIT OF WILL HOLLINGSWORTH (ABOVE)
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 21
BY HEATHER CAMPBELL
�“�T BOTHERS ME WHEN PEOPLE
I
WANT TO ‘REVITALIZE’ AN AREA BY
TEARING EVERYTHING DOWN.”
A
self-confessed “bar nerd”—Harry
Brownes in Annapolis is a favorite—Hollingsworth envisioned the
Spotted Owl as a neighborhood
pub similar to those in Portland,
Oregon, his hometown. “There are
lots of great restaurants in the area, but there was
no cool bar,” Hollingsworth recalls. “I love bars and
their history. People come to bars to have fun, fight,
fall in love. You can relax and enjoy yourself because
the surroundings say, somebody who’s behind this
really knows what he’s doing.”
Cleveland was a serendipitous choice for Hollingsworth’s foray into business ownership. He was on
a cross-country road trip, taking a breather from
stints at a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C.
and campaigning for candidate Barack Obama, when
he got off the highway and never left. “There’s an
honesty to the culture here that really appealed to
me after working in a political atmosphere,” he says.
He tended bar at two well-known Cleveland restaurants, becoming more immersed in the city and the
people he met. “A bartender can talk about anything
with anyone; a Johnnie is particularly well-suited,”
he says. “You need to be able to make a really great
drink, but also know what’s on today’s sports pages,
where an apartment is coming up for rent and what
regulars might like to be introduced to each other.”
The idea of opening a bar became more tangible
after Hollingsworth became friends with one of his
regulars. “Bars kept coming up in our conversations,
then the conversations turned to meetings. Eventually he said, if you can put numbers to your idea I can
help you go out and find the money.” Hollingsworth
spent the next 11 months developing a business plan
and was fully capitalized by 2012.
Finding the perfect location was next, and when he
walked into the abandoned mid-19th-century building
that had formerly housed the long-defunct Cleveland
College, a Civil War hospital, and a publishing house
that produced religious tracts, among other tenants,
22 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�he knew it was right. “The last time it was occupied
was over seventy-five years ago by an all-female ministry, the Gospel Workers Society,” he recalls. “It had
a dirt floor and old brick and a poured-concrete ceiling—great elements to preserve for an old pub feel.”
The Spotted Owl now is a dark, intimate haven of
tables built of salvaged barn wood and denim-blue
concrete floors, softened by some stained glass and
toile. Hollingsworth calls the style he was going for
“brawny colonial. We used as many of the existing
features as we could. It bothers me when people want
to ‘revitalize’ an area by tearing everything down.”
Although the bar’s been successful since day one,
Hollingsworth is still open to tweaks. “In the first
week we realized our business was ninety percent
specialty cocktails,” he says. “I’m a bar guy, not so
much a cocktail guy—but now I’ve got to figure out
how to own a cocktail bar.” That means in addition
to putting in 16-hour days at the Spotted Owl, Hollingsworth is regularly traveling to New York and
other locations to learn the nuances of original cocktail development (the Spotted Owl’s have names
like “Done & Undone,” “The Sun Came After,” and
“Queen By The Gold On Your Head”).
OPPOSITE:
The bar’s tables
are built of salvaged
barn wood.
TOP : Hollingsworth finds
the perfect location
— an abandoned 19thcentury building.
LEFT:
Beer taps await
their first pour.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 23
�“� ROVIDING A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN
P
ENJOY THEMSELVES AND ENJOY EACH
OTHER IS, I THINK, A NOBLE ENDEAVOR.”
24 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�JOHN LAWN
PHOTO: EDSEL LITTLE / CREATIVE COMMONS
Putting in the work for something you believe in
reflects the sensibility of his adopted city, according
to Hollingsworth. “People in Cleveland believe, one,
you don’t get anything without hard work, and two,
you do what you have to do to survive. It’s a wonderful place, but you really have to it experience it to
understand,” he continues.
He would say the same thing about his years
at St. John’s (three in Santa Fe and senior year in
Annapolis). “I spent four years doing something that
took up all of me,” he explains. “I remember junior
year, when there’s literally not enough hours to do
all the work, so the professors are interested in what
work you choose to do. You decide what you want
and pour yourself into it completely.
“I needed something that’s like that every day,
something that pushes me up against my limits,”
he continues. “I wanted to dedicate my twenties to
something—and providing a place where people can
enjoy themselves and enjoy each other is, I think, a
noble endeavor.”
A cozy nook provides an ideal setting for good conversation.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 25
�JAMEY STILLINGS
Melanie Kirby
(SF 97) hugs a jar
of bees on her farm
in New Mexico.
26 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�JOHNNIE VOICES
BIRTH
OF A
BEEKEEPER
One Social Butterfly’s Metamorphosis
into a Conscious Nectar Nomad
I
by Melanie M. Kirby (SF97)
’ve travelled many a road, in the darkest of nights, serving as
chauffeur to beings of lightness and sweet, migrating with them
as a fellow follower of the bloom. On other starry dappled nights,
I ride as passenger, hearing the hum of the motor and the buzz
of the bees, smelling the scents of warm beeswax and nectar
being fanned to its essential and existential perfection. I hop
in and out of the truck opening and closing gates, allowing the
navigator to slowly ease over bumpy tracks to the distant land
of milk and honey. I latch the gate behind the truck and realize
that here in this darkest of night skies I am helping to carry
tiny embers of pure starlight to their new fragrant pasture.
What am I doing? Transporting queen bees I’ve raised to their new
hives, where they will form the foundation for a group of beings that
ensure the existence and continuation of plant species, and in the
process produce exceptional honey. My business, Zia Queenbees, raises
queen bees, provides beekeepers with starter nuclei and assembled
hive boxes, produces varietal honeys, and offers pollination services and
community education about the wonders of beekeeping.
How did I get here? I recall as a five-year-old wanting to be a nurse.
I was intrigued with the biology of life and with the science that leads
to healing. I wanted to be liked—and I wanted to promote wellness. A
few years later, I wanted to be “interesting” and to become a writer of
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 27
�JOHNNIE VOICES
interesting things. I entertained a career
as an anthropologist, so I could learn how
people in other cultures live, what they strive
to attain in their lives and how they celebrate. It was the celebration and power of
music and dancing that I became intrigued
with next, while at the same time pursuing
the sciences. I had no clue that I would be
able to include all of my childhood interests
into one career path—that of keeping fuzzy
insects for my livelihood.
Now, close to two decades after the bees
found me, I feel a little more “interesting”
—enough to write. After travelling the globe
from farms to forest lands, following the
bloom from flower to flower and from hive
to hive, I recognize the pieces of my life’s
puzzle. And, so, today I am a professional
apiculturist, one who keeps bees. I am a
specialist. I am a queen honeybee breeder.
The heart of the hive rests with the queen,
and in selecting and following Mother
Nature’s lead, I help to nurse hives; by doing
so, I immerse myself in their culture and feel
their musical vibrations.
Keeping bees is very different from “having” bees. In order to keep bees, one has to
constantly learn from the natural and manmade forces and their interactions. Synergy
is the interaction of individual conditions
that yields an effect greater than the sum
of the individual effects. The interactions
between a bee and its environment, between
its colony and their environment, are everchanging. Mother Nature’s dynamic interface requires the ability to adapt and the
ability to relate to more than one stimulus.
The bees rely on the natural and supplemental forage that surrounds them. They are
at the mercy of the elements. Their importance to plants is profound. Also known as
the “winged angels of agriculture,” their
efforts help to produce more than ninety
percent of all food. As Hippocrates claimed,
I
had no clue that I would
be able to include all of
my childhood interests
into one career path—
that of keeping fuzzy
insects for my livelihood.”
Kirby inspects a hive of honeybees.
“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine
thy food.” Seventy percent of all cures are
derived from plants, and it is this connection between horticulture and medicine that
keeps the bees, and man, healthy.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of
my small bee farm, which is nestled where
the Santa Fe, Carson, and Pecos National
28 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
Forests “kiss.” The idea for the farm developed out of a love of books. When I met my
partner Mark Spitzig (who runs Superior
Honey Farms in Michigan now) while working
at a bee farm in Florida, we started eating
dinner together with a dessert of heated discussions about Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
Books fostered our conversations, and it was
�through books that we came to learn about
each other and our passion for bees. Books
and their musings inspired us to discuss. And
books inspired us to plan and to act.
Books encouraged us to dream, to become
inspired, to visualize and then manifest.
How can learning to learn inspire others and
inspire a sense of preservation and, thus,
sustainability? It is in thinking that we create. Creating is the reflection of what Mother
Nature and Father Time have been molding
us to do since time immemorial. It is this,
and this alone, that moves the cosmos.
We see it reflected again and again, in the
writings of Plato in the Meno: what is the
bee? Is the bee a bee or is it a bee because
it is part of a collective hive mind? Can a bee
be a bee without his hive mind? And, does
the hive exist apart from its bees? What, we
daresay, what IS it? And WHO are we?
I’ve had a few epiphanies over the years,
nothing short of miraculous for me as I am
rather high-strung, scarcely slowing down
to eat and sleep. It is my creative mind that
I struggle to rein in on occasion. It takes
me through the honeycombed labyrinths of
reality. Yet, I find the calm when I am truly
in the honeycombs, kneeling in the apiary.
This calm is pervasive. You can hear it humming its maternal frequency. You can smell
its sweetness and you can see its
majesty. And it beckons you to preserve it.
These sensory experiences appeal to my
thoughts, allowing me to reconnect with the
exquisiteness of life and strive for a glimpse
of origin. I did not know that beekeeping
would become the professional and personal
declaration for me that it has. I attribute
that to my experiences as a student at St.
John’s, learning to learn and wanting to
learn. Wanting to learn has everything to
do with manifestation. It is humbling to recognize that what one thinks, one sees—and
what one does, one makes real.
My beekeeping journey began 19 years
ago; it has been exhilarating. My vida loca
has me travelling the speed of light in
thought between the micro and macrocosmic perspectives as I follow the bloom from
season to season. My life as a nectar nomad
has fed me both in body and in mind. I see
the bee. I AM the bee.
I see her working: visiting each blossom,
sensing its perfumes, collecting its pollen
and starlit nectar, and then returning home
to transform these energy particles into
more decorated entities of light and sweetness. It is that light, that sweet light, at the
core of it all. It emanates from the source,
radiating down from the heavens, shining
A
The scent of nectar wafts from hive boxes.
fter travelling the globe from
farms to forest lands, following the bloom from flower
to flower and from hive to
hive, I recognize the pieces
of my life’s puzzle.”
down on a lonely planet. This lonely planet
then absorbs light and is inspired to grow
beings of light, beings that transform it into
sweet and fragrant nectars. Other beings
of light help transfer the glow, serving as
midwives and pollinators, helping to deliver
fruit full of this light energy, nourishing
our minds and our bodies. From stardust
to stardust, it is we who help to create the
environment in which we exist.
About the Author: Melanie Margarita
Kirby has followed the bloom with her
bees to South America, North America,
Eastern Europe, the Pacific Islands
and the Caribbean. She will venture
to the Mediterranean this fall to visit
French queen honeybee breeders in
Normandy. She also serves as the
editor of Kelley Beekeeping monthly
online newsletter, with more than
40,000 subscribers. To learn about her
farm, visit www.ziaqueenbees.com.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 29
�BIBLIOFILE
EVA BRANN
Reading
Comprehension
“�Comprehension
works by circumspection, by looking
around a being’s
outer limits, its
borderlands.”
T
his slim volume, Then and Now: The World’s
Center and the Soul’s Demesne (Paul Dry
Book, 2015), comprehends two essays: one on
Herodotus and one on “imaginative conservatism.” I use the slightly odd, and possibly ungrammatical, locution “comprehends” because it seems
that this idea—“comprehending”—unites the work. “To
comprehend” does not, on Annapolis tutor Eva Brann’s
(H89) telling, merely mean “to understand.” Comprehenders, as she might dub them, do understand, but,
more importantly, these comprehenders demonstrate
a particular form of mindedness—the form offered in
Herodotus’ History and the form that the “imaginative
conservative” would do well to cultivate.
The special form of understanding that is comprehension does not work by heading straight to the
center of things. Comprehension works by circumspection, by looking around
a being’s outer limits, its
borderlands. Rather than
grasping hold of an inner
essence, comprehension
“allows what a thing is
to coalesce out of what
it is not.” That thing, for
Herodotus, “Greek being”
and that out of which it
coalesces, are barbarian
mores. And so in pursuit
of Greekness, Herodotus,
the comprehender, must
necessarily visit and
delineate the “environing
Barbarians, both because they are wonderful in themselves and because it is in opposition to them that the
thus pin-pointed Greeks are to be defined.” And here is
where comprehension becomes quite a delicate matter.
Greek being is not simply the opposite of barbarian
being. It rather coalesces out of these others—out of
Egyptians who revere for domestic cats, Persians who
revere most natural forces, and Scythians who have
not much use for the divine.
But just what coalesces out of this motley?
Herodotus does not always say, leaving the reader a
fair bit of work. But I imagine Herodotus would have
nodded approvingly at this, Brann’s description of the
Greeks’ relationship to the divine: “For all the art their
anthropomorphic gods elicit, the Greeks are more
natural by far than the Egyptians and indeed than
30 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
most barbarians, since it takes worldliness for humans
to become natural; hide-bound tribalism tends to be
artifice-ridden. The alien veneration of animals, and by
contrast, their own beautiful anthropomorphic gods
must bring home to Greeks their proper integration
into a natural cosmos, a well-ordered world in which
humans do not worship lower species, but live in a
continuity of appearance and in a great chain of being
with the higher orders.” These remarks show what a
majestic mode of mindfulness comprehending is. While
the fraternal twin, the apprehender, goes straight to
the heart of things, what care and attention must the
comprehender bring to such a great swath of being!
And what nobility does this, in turn, bestow upon barbarian practices? For what glory is there in coalescing
out of a stew of savagery and insignificance?
But is there reason to think, as the book’s second
essay claims, that comprehending is a mode of mindedness that ought specifically appeal to conservatives?
Perhaps so, if Brann is right to describe conservatives as “not famous for tolerance.” For if this is the
case, “So much the more ought they, in their proper
thoughtful mode, gain a reputation for inclusiveness
more deeply grounded than in the unreliable vagaries
of mere putting up with each other, called ‘tolerance.’”
Herodotus did not put up with Egyptians, Persians,
or Scythians. He comprehended them. Such comprehending might help conservatives do what they
are—etymologically, we might say—called to do: “to
keep safe” that which is worthy of safekeeping. This
strikes me as persuasive, but I see no reason to limit
it to imaginative conservatives. Those who are famous
for tolerance might steel their thin, bloodless version
with Brann’s reminder that “the confines of what I
positively approve are equally the limits of its negative
complement: the latter therefore cooperates in the
definition of the former and is thus a necessary aspect
of all positive being.”
Brann identifies other aspects of imaginative conservatism, walking around its borders and recording
what she sees: a bias against the future, a disposition
to feel awe in the face of faith, a populism based on
friendship and difference, a protectiveness of what is
of slow growth and has endured. Her borderlands are
less wild than Herodotus’, but her little book can honorably stand next to his big one, two authors speaking
to one another with deep, and mutual, comprehension.
—Brendan Boyle
�Artful Rainwater Design: Creative
Ways to Manage Stormwater
By Stuart Echols and Eliza Pennypacker (A79)
Island Press, 2015
In their new book, Artful Rainwater Design: Creative
Ways to Manage Stormwater, Stuart Echols and
Eliza Pennypacker (A79), faculty members at Penn
State’s Department of Landscape Architecture, rethink
traditional stormwater treatment systems and offer
innovative solutions for managing heavy rainwater
and the runoff in ways that are valuable and beautiful.
From the book’s opening pages, readers are reminded
that rain is a resource, not a waste product. Artful
Downstream: Reflections on
Brook Trout, Fly Fishing, and the
Waters of Appalachia
By David L. O’Hara (SFGI00) and Matthew T. Dickerson
Cascade Books, 2014
David L. O’Hara (SFGI00), an associate professor of
philosophy and the classics at Augustana College in
South Dakota, has co-written a collection of meditative narrative essays on fly fishing. His chapters are
interspersed with chapters by his friend Matthew
Dickerson, a professor at Middlebury College. In each
chapter, O’Hara and Dickerson fish—alone, together,
Money Trees: The Douglas Fir and
American Forestry, 1900–1944
By Emily K. Brock (A94)
Oregon State University Press, 2015
This scholarly work is a thorough interdisciplinary history of forestry in the Pacific Northwest and a significant contribution to environmental studies. Foresters
did not necessarily consider their work ecological, but
they did consider themselves to be scientists. Emily
Brock (A94), a research scholar at Germany’s Max
Planck Institute for the History of Science, considers
Rainwater Design (ARD), a term coined by Echols in
2005, describes an approach to sustainable stormwater management in which the management system is
designed as a landscape amenity. Building on a decade
of research, this comprehensive guide explores methods to design creative yet practical landscapes that
treat on-site rainwater management as an opportunity
to enhance site design through education, recreation,
safety, public relations, or aesthetic appeal. The book
also highlights techniques for ecologically sustainable rainwater management and features diverse case
studies that illustrate how landscape designers and
engineers throughout the country are implementing
principles of ARD.
or with friends and family—as well as hike and camp
throughout Appalachia. The fishermen seek brook
trout, the famous native fish of the rivers and streams
in the Appalachian Mountains. The stories they tell
are reminiscent of the evocative fishing scenes in Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It but include
information about history, geography, water politics,
and conservation that is skillfully woven into inviting,
voice-driven prose. Downstream features a forward
by Nick Lyons, a renowned fly fisherman and founder
of Lyons Press, and an afterward by Bill McKibben, a
writer and environmentalist who won the 2014 Right
Livelihood Award.
their work in the context of the biological sciences as
well as through the lens of American political and economic processes, including the New Deal, which was
a time of turmoil for foresters due to the ravages of
the Great Depression and changes in federal land and
resource management. Brock also explores how foresters became involved in the lumber industry during the
early 1940s, as logging companies started to consider
the long-term health of forests—a move that distanced
forestry from its origins in nature and turned it into a
means for corporations to gain the approval of Americans concerned about deforestation.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 31
�For & About
ALUMNI
VIRTUAL CHAPTER
SEMINARS
Hungry for good conversation?
Enter the St. John’s Virtual
Chapter seminars. Open to alumni
in search of a serious discussion
about a difficult reading, this fall’s
Virtual Chapter seminars, led by
St. John’s tutors, will explore such
works as Plato’s Gorgias, Dante’s
Inferno, and Shakespeare’s The
Tempest, among others.
Seminars, which use the online
conference program ZoomUS,
will be held on Sundays at 4 p.m.
EST. To participate, all you need
is a computer with a webcam
(iPads work, too).
Honoring Outstanding Alumni
At the annual Alumni Leadership
Forum (ALF) Awards Banquet,
alumni are recognized for leadership and volunteerism with the
Alumni Association’s Volunteer
Service Awards (or ALFies). In
June on the Santa Fe campus, a
dozen Johnnies received ALFies.
“The Awards Committee received
so many nominations this year
that it was really hard to select
twelve winners,” says Lee Katherine Goldstein (SFGI90), who steps
down this year from the Alumni
Association Board.
Recognized for their work with
alumni chapters, Paul Frank
(SF82) has organized chapter
events and held leadership positions in the Chicago Chapter
since the early ’80s, while Harry
Zolkower (A82) and Nicole Levy
(SF92) developed Virtual Alumni
Chapter seminars. For several
years, Larry Davis (SFGI87) has
helped the Austin/San Antonio
Chapter donate a complete set
of the Encyclopedia Britannica
Great Books of the Western World
to a first or second year student
from Texas.
Rachel Dudik (A02), Juniper
Lavato (SFGI13), and Sabina
Sulat (A87) received ALFies for
their work with Career Services.
Dudik established summer
internships and participated
on Career Services panels, and
Lavato established a “Guest
Program” at the Santa Fe Institute for current students. Sulat
helped coordinate both the first
alumni career services webinar
and other networking events.
Cindy Lutz (A98), Nick Gazzolo
(A93), Amy Hoffman Parakkat (A93), and Barbara McClay
(A12) received ALFies for their
work online. Lutz identified (and
engaged others to help identify)
significant errors (typos, dead
links, etc.) on the college’s new
website in the weeks after it was
launched. Gazzolo and Parakkat
established the Johnnie Quote
Facebook page, and McClay conducted an alumni interview series
on the student blog Johnnie Chair.
32 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
Perhaps the most emotional
ALFie of the evening, though,
went to Annette Prapasiri
(SF04), recognized for her efforts
with engaging other members of
the Class of 2004 to complete the
Armillary Sphere Project. The
senior legacy project resulted
in one of the highest class
giving rates. A tearful Prapasiri
thanked her fellow classmates
and project leaders, adding that
the project demonstrated the
impact that St. John’s had on her
class and the legacy they wished
to leave future Johnnies.
Finally, Lee Katharine Goldstein (SFGI90) received her own
personalized Johnnie Chair in
honor of her years of outstanding
service to the Alumni Association.
With roaring applause, the award
was the perfect way to cap off the
alumni celebration.
—-Babak Zarin (A11)
To reserve your seat at the table
for any or all of these seminars,
please contact Annapolis Alumni
Director Leo Pickens at
leo.pickens@sjc.edu.
October 4:
Genesis 25:19-50:24
(Stories of Jacob and Joseph),
led by Sam Kutler
November 8:
Plato’s Gorgias
December 13:
Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus
January 10:
Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics,
Book II (1103a-1110a) & Book VI
(1138 b-1145a).
February 7:
Dante’s Inferno,
Cantos 32, 33 & 34,
led by Joe MacFarland
March 13:
Descartes’ Discourse on Method
April 3:
Hegel’s Preface to
Phenomenology of Spirit
May 1:
Shakespeare’s The Tempest
�ADRIAN TREVISAN (A84)
Alumni Association Board President
“� ’m excited to be leading the Alumni Association as we
I
work with St. John’s staff on both campuses to create
new ways to strengthen the Johnnie community and
support the college. By developing local events focused
on admissions, career services, giving, and whatever
else people think of in addition to the traditional alumni
seminars, we hope to attract Johnnies of all interests,
broaden local alumni leadership, and create a more
vibrant alumni community.”
Please welcome the new
leadership of the Alumni
Association, serving in the
following capacities:
OFFICERS
Adrian Trevisan (A84), President
Tia Pausic (A86), President-elect,
Nominating Committee
Phelosha Collaros (SF00), PastPresident, Awards Committee
David Pex (SF77), Treasurer
Susann Bradford (SF89),
Secretary
A New Direction for the SJCAA
A record-breaking number
of alumni joined the Alumni
Association Board at the Alumni
Leadership Forum held in
Santa Fe, June 4-7, to discuss
the Association’s progress in
engaging alumni and supporting
the college. After reviewing the
November 2014 Alumni Survey
and accomplishments in the
2013-2015 Strategic Plan, the
board and alumni concluded that
the 2015-2017 strategic planning
process should focus on alumni
engagement at the local level.
Alumni survey results show that
while 60% of respondents want
their chapter to include seminars
among the activities it offers,
chapters still need to offer other
kinds of activities to attract the
remaining 40% of alumni. Other
activities receiving high marks
were social activities, helping
with admissions, and (especially
among younger alumni) career
services. (The survey report
can be found at: http://community.stjohnscollege.edu/aarecords/2014-alumni-survey)
With these facts in mind, alumni
participants suggested the following ideas for the board and
chapters to consider:
Local Chapter Activities
Chapters/local alumni should put
thought and effort into engaging
recent graduates by developing
a variety of activities to appeal
to a wide range of ages and the
different interests, and financial
capabilities. that these represent.
Not all alumni will want to participate in all events, and chapters
may want to consider collective
leadership to allow multiple meetings each month. Some recent
examples of chapter activities
include:
• � win Cities pop-up or flash
T
seminar on Obergefell scheduled
after the SCOTUS decision on
marriage equality
• � anta Fe’s fundraising hike for
S
the Hallie Leighton Fund
• � hicago’s picnic in Millennium
C
Park with the Grant Park
Orchestra
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
(listed by working group)
Board Leadership
for Local Activities
The Association should define
clear roles for alumni in the
field, both within a chapter and
individually; the Association
should then develop tools and
a guidebook to roll these out to
alumni.
Fundraising
Make clear that small donations
are welcomed—fundraising communications to alumni should
emphasize that any amount is welcomed, and specifically that a high
participation rate is very desirable,
regardless of amount.
The board will prepare a new
strategic plan focused on alumni
engagement at the local level.
If you would like to contribute
ideas to the plan, or volunteer
for a working group, contact your
local chapter leader. If you don’t
know who that is, look them up
via IntroMaps or www.sjc.edu.
Admissions
Anne Fenton (SFGI07)
Joao Santa-Rita (A09)
Alumni Giving Council
Merry Peckham (SF07)
Heather Upshaw (SF04)
Alumni Leadership Forum
Brenna Strauss (SF04)
Babak Zarin (A11)
Career Services
Sabina Sulat (A87)
Chapters and Regional Events
Elihu Dietz (SF06)
Carol Freeman (AGI94)
Strategic Communications
Aaron MacLean (A03)
Student Engagement
Briana Henderson Saussy
(A03, EC05)
Ex-Officio: Sarah Palacios (Director
of Alumni Relations, Santa Fe)
Director Emeritus:
Allan Hoffman (Class of 1949)
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 33
�ALUMNI NOTES
1955
After 50 years of conducting,
Harold Bauer (A) is mostly retired
from the world of music and has
taken a keen interest in oil painting. As president of the Evanston
Lighthouse Rotary Club, he
became active in international
service as well as serving his
local community. He and his wife,
Karen, hope to do some serious
traveling in the years ahead.
1982
Inspirational Orchids
1963
William (A) and Jessica Hoffmann
Davis (Class of 1965) are retired
from Credit Suisse and Harvard,
respectively, and are now spending
most days along Squam Lake in
New Hampshire, where Jessica
writes books on the arts in education and plays that are performed
at the local theater. The couple
celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary in Boston.
1965
Allenna Dungan Leonard (A)
received the Warren McCulloch
Award of the American Society
for Cybernetics, given for lifelong
contributions to the nurturing of cybernetics, at the ASC
50th Anniversary Conference in
August 2014.
1966
Rod Roderick (A) writes that he
was a freshman twice, once in
1962, when he left for “unrequited
love,” and then again two years
later, when he returned at the
invitation of admissions director
James Tolbert. In the meantime,
he had worked for the Hunt
Brothers Royal Traveling Circus,
worked in New York City as a
Julie von Erffa (SF) writes, “I was
in the pioneer class that started
in 1964. There were 81 of us,
though only 18 actually graduated, and I made some lasting
friends. St. John’s prepared me for
acupuncture school. The slant of
the foreign language and concepts
made the transition familiar. I
have been practicing acupuncture
with Chinese herbal remedies
since 1995 and facilitate hypnotherapy sessions. I have stayed in
New Mexico since graduating from
St. John’s and have four daughters, one grandchild, and another
one coming.”
Rick Wicks (SF) spent 34
adventure-filled days in the
Caribbean exploring Puerto Rico,
the Dominican Republic, Haiti,
Jamaica, and Cuba.
1969
1964
Cecily Sharp-Whitehill (A) began
her second year as a Purpose
Discovery Coach at Alliance4Discovery Coaching in Florida. She
can be reached on IntroMaps,
Facebook, and LinkedIn, or at
941-350-9626.
contains a veiled message for
those whom Castiglione describes
as “judicious readers.”
Don Dennis (SF) is living on a small island off the west
coast of Scotland, where his wife is a dairy farmer.
He grows and photographs orchids, and makes flower
essences with them. “The orchids are giving me a
spur to investigate the topography of the (Bohemian)
Implicate Order in relation to Consciousness,” he writes.
“Discussions of Plato around the SJC tables come to mind
in this endeavor. If you are ever near the Isle of Gigha,
please stop in to say hello.”
delivery boy at Bellevue Hospital,
and been a show page at ABC and
a copy boy for the Courier Post in
New Jersey. He left the college
again in 1964, when, he says, “I
got a job with an ad agency and
became a successful Madman. Life
is wonderfully peculiar!”
1967
Lovejoy Reeves Duryea (A) and
her husband have bought a condo
in West Palm Beach. She plans
to spend winters there, away
34 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
from NYC. She is also painting
and playing croquet and recently
competed with a much younger
Johnnie at the Merion Cricket
Club’s fall tournament.
1968
Randall Albury’s (A) book Castiglione’s Allegory: Veiled Policy in
“The Book of the Courtier (1528)”
was published by Ashgate in
2014. This new study shows that
Baldassare Castiglione’s dialogue
about life at a Renaissance court
Retired from her job in the Office
of Public Affairs at Yale, Dorie
Brodie Baker (A) became a certified master gardener and went to
Venice for the first time. She is
still married to her husband of 44
years and has two grandsons.
Barbara Mordes (A) sends her
thanks for an outstanding Class
of 1969 homecoming in Annapolis. “I will treasure the memory
of our 45th homecoming,” she
writes. “Every minute was exciting! The campus, though getting
more buildings, is still very
beautiful, more so with all the
memories that fill its corners.”
She joined the nominating committee for The Screen Actors
Guild and plans to move with her
husband, John, from Los Angeles
to Palm Coast, Fla.
1970
Benjamin Barney (SF) reports that
he is well and living in Lukachukai, Ariz., near Canyon del Chelly,
in the heart of the Navajo Nation.
He is interested in reconnecting
�with his classmates or anyone
affiliated with the college.
On a recent visit to Greece, John
Dean (A) was once again baffled
and inspired by the wide, deep,
universal range of its first three
millennia of communications.
“Such a sense of place,” he writes.
“It encapsulates Mediterranean
light. It occupies a spiritual place
that generously includes many
gods and not a limited monotheism. It has moral grooming
adorned with independence and
frankness. Without the engagement which our first year readings
at St. John’s gave, I wouldn’t know
how to begin to go and get what’s
there, for which one remains
grateful.”
E. M. Macierowski (A) delivered
a paper in November 2014 at a
conference in Toru, Poland, “Truth
in Democracies: A Case Study
on Population Policy,” as part of
the VIIth International Congress “Catholics and the Truth:
Opportunities and Threats” at
the College of Social and Media
Culture, Catholic University of
Culture. A copy of the conference
program is available at www.
wsksim.edu. In May 2015, he
was invited to participate in the
Woroniecki Memorial Lecture
Series at the John Paul II Catholic
University of Lublin on the theme
of atheism and justice.
1972
Michael Green (A) and his wife,
Polly, have retired and left
Southern California for Annapolis
in order to be near their children
and family. He would be glad
to hear from fellow Johnnies at
michaelkevingreen@gmail.com.
1973
Michael Aaron (SF) reports that he
and his partner, Danusha, have
become grandparents for the first
time. He is still working for IBM
and considering retirement. They
invite their St. John’s friends to
come and visit them in Sydney.
Ellen Veden’s (SFGI77) artwork Mapleton Road Bridge was on view at the Trenton City Museum.
After working in South America,
Asia, Europe, and Africa, Anne
Ray (SF) has returned to Santa
Fe, where she is teaching full time
at Mandela International, a new
public IB school. She is still doing
ceramics and writing her third
book and first work of fiction. Her
eldest daughter, Heather Sherwin
(SF03), is completing her residency in emergency medicine.
Peter Squitieri (A) received his
B.A. from St. John’s College at the
2015 commencement exercises.
1974
After graduation, Eva Virginia
(McKemie) Greene (A) worked as
a copy editor for The Jerusalem
Post while learning Hebrew, and
then taught at Eilat Conservatory of Music in Israel. She and
her future husband, Dr. Bradford
Greene, returned to the States in
the 1980s and worked in Washing-
ton, D.C. for the next two decades.
In 2007, she resigned from the
Inter-American Development
Bank and moved to Vermont,
where she and her family have
lived for the past eight years. She
currently serves as a musician for
Brattleboro’s Unitarian Church
and works part time as a recreation therapist.
recommend it to anyone as a
way of getting to know the White
Mountains better. My husband,
John Jolles (SF75), and I are active
members of the local Kiwanis
Club, and John continues to work
as a contractor. It was great to
get together with other members
of the Santa Fe Class of ’74 last
September.”
Mary (Geoghegan) Jolles (SF)
writes, “Three years ago I retired
from school administration to
escape from stress but have continued to work part time for the
Colebrook, N.H. School District as
an administrative assistant. My
tasks include writing grants and
organizing school activities and
events, as well as publishing the
monthly school newsletter. Hiking
has been my passion since 2009,
and in 2013 I finished hiking the
forty-eight four thousand-footers
of the White Mountains. This
was a great experience and I
1975
Eric Scigliano (SF) writes, “I’m now
in my fourth decade in Seattle,
and as befits the locale, getting
more involved in marine science
and environmental work. After cowriting the book Flotsametrics (on,
no kidding, flotsam oceanography)
and a report evaluating responses
to ocean acidification in connection
with a Washington State blue-ribbon panel on same, I’m working as
the science writer/editor at Washington Sea Grant, a NOAA-funded
research and education program
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�ALUMNI NOTES
at the University of Washington.
I’m also writing several chapters
for a forthcoming book on Pacific
Coast marine protected areas and
joining in occasional kayak-borne
“Pumpout Pirate” missions to help
boaters keep their wastes out of
the waters. When I can, I write for
Crosscut.com, the public-media
regional news site where I was
formerly an editor. I still love the
hiking as well as paddling here
but miss the Sangre de Cristo.”
1977
Walter Featherly (SF) moved to
the law firm of Holland & Knight.
He would love to hear from any
Johnnies living in Anchorage or
traveling through.
After 10 years at the helm of the
American Sleep Apnea Association
and nearly a year of “fun-employment,” Edward Grandi (A) was hired
in February to be the executive
director of the National Genealogical Society. “While I will have
a continuing interest in the field
of sleep medicine and health in
general, I am looking forward to
contributing my administrative
skills to this one hundred-twelveyear-old organization,” says Grandi,
who still lives in D.C. and enjoys
alumni chapter events there.
Ellen Veden (SFGI) writes, “The
Central New Jersey St. John’s
Alumni Chapter is off and running
thanks to the efforts of Adrian Trevisan (A84) and Jerome Dausman
(A11), the new chapter chair. The
group was given a tour of the
Trenton City Museum’s Ellerslie
Open 32 juried exhibit by Brenda
Springsted, wife of Eric Springsted (SF73), followed by a picnic
at their lovely home in Trenton.
What made it special for me was
that my artwork was chosen to be
exhibited in this juried show.”
1978
After receiving his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from McMaster
University, Canada, in 1983,
Ossama Abul-Haggag (SFGI) went
Ossama Abdul-Haggag (SFGI78)
poses with his wife in Egypt.
to Egypt, where he is currently a
professor of electrical engineering.
“The study of the philosophy of
science as viewed by the ancient
scientists and philosophers has
provided me with motivation and
insight into my research,” writes
Abdul-Haggag, who is married
with two children.
1979
Blake Kline (A) became a grandfather for the first time on April 13
with the birth of Gabriela Joyce
Pedroza-Kline.
Miyoko Schinner’s (A) fourth
cookbook, The Homemade Vegan
Pantry, the Art of Making Your
Own Staples (Random House/
Ten Speed Press), is now available. She is the founder/CEO
of Miyoko’s Kitchen, makers
of artisan vegan cheese, which
was launched in September. Her
youngest daughter is a sophomore
at the Santa Fe campus.
Lisa Simeone (A), writes, “I
continue to love living in Charm
City, riots or no riots. I participated in several demonstrations
in support of Freddie Gray and
the many other people in this city
brutalized by police violence. At
one of those demonstrations, by
the way, we marched together
36 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
with the police. I’m just enough
busy with freelance work (World
of Opera, Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, Style Magazine), in
addition to volunteer work with
Single Carrot Theatre, Homewood
House Museum, and Baltimore
Heritage. I’m a volunteer docent
with the latter two, so if you’re
ever in town, let me know and I’ll
give you a tour! I love showing off
this beautiful, quirky, one-of-akind city. When I’m not out and
about, I’m blissfully sitting on
our screened-in porch, reading,
writing, and rabble-rousing.
I’m in touch with other Johnnies regularly and often see
Bruce Babij (A) and family, who
live nearby. Looking forward to
Alumni Weekend to be with my
classmates from the Class of ’80,
the one I joined after I took a year
off. Last year’s was so much fun,
I can’t wait!”
1980
Peter Grubb (A) and his wife,
Betsy, built and operate River
Dance Lodge, an adventure resort
in central Idaho. For the past 16
years he has served on the board
of Idaho Rivers United, Idaho’s
statewide river conservation
organization. He also served four
years on the board of Spokane’s
Center for Justice, an advocacy
organization for those without a
voice in the justice system. He still
loves reading, particularly about
natural and cultural history, and
would love to connect with Johnnies via Facebook or in person in
northern Idaho.
1981
Andrew White (A) will publish his
first book, Performing Orthodox Ritual in Byzantium, with
Cambridge University Press. A
longtime theatre artist and critic
on the Washington, D.C. theatre
scene, he received a Ph.D. in
theatre history, theory, and criticism from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has become
an expert on the performing arts
of Byzantium, the Greek-speaking
Roman Empire. In addition to
translations of key Greek texts
from Late Antiquity and the
Middle Ages, he is developing a
repertory translation combining
key plays of Euripides with the
text of the Christos Paschon. He
currently serves as adjunct faculty
in humanities with Stratford University in Woodbridge, Va.
1983
Jim Bailey’s (A) new novel The
End of Healing (The Healthy
City, 2015) chronicles a young
physician’s discovery of every
level of Dante’s hell in the world
of modern medicine. In January
he spoke at the University of
Memphis on “The End of Healing:
Telling the Truth about American
Healthcare through Fiction.”
Bailey writes, “The End of Healing
is already being used for medical
sociology and health policy courses
at four colleges and universities.
Because the book is of particular
interest to students interested
in the classics and their application to the most pressing social
and political problems of today,
it should interest Johnnies. My
inspiration for writing The End
of Healing came from the Divine
Comedy in large measure. I followed that inspiration to Florence,
Italy—Dante’s hometown—for a
sabbatical 10 years ago. That is
where I began writing The End of
[continued on page 38]
�PROFILE
BIOLOGICAL PURSUITS
By Robin Weiss
Cara Gormally (A02)
Advocates Science Literacy
C
ara Gormally (A02), a biology professor at Gallaudet
University in Washington, D.C., relished the importance
of intellectual community even as a child. Up to age
eleven, while the family frequently moved for her father’s
job, she displayed a knack for easing her way into schools
and friendships in five states. Back then, science was not her thing.
During high school in Milford, Connecticut, calculus, biology, physics,
and chemistry “never really captured my attention,” she recalls. Now,
acknowledgment of her former negative “science baggage” fuels her
enthusiasm for teaching non-science majors, as well as her research
in science education.
Freshman Lab at St. John’s triggered Gormally’s passion for biology.
“Without PowerPoint or giant lecture halls, you’re engaged with the
reading, with the works themselves,” she says. The creativity of experimentation, “always asking questions,” inspired a hunger for science that
led to a Hodson Internship the summer before senior year. In a neuroscience lab at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences
(USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland, Gormally’s doubts emerged about neuroscience as a career. Staying inside all day, “stuck under a microscope,
sacrificing mice,” was hardly an appealing vision of her future.
In contrast, during her senior year, engaged in botanical lab and fieldwork with now retired tutor Nick Maistrellis (H14), she suffered from
too much fun. “I loved being outside,” she remembers, but she worried
that ecology and environmental fieldwork were not serious. Gormally
paraphrases Maistrellis’s question from that time: “Why would you want
to spend your days doing something that isn’t fun, that you don’t enjoy?”
After graduation, Gormally worked part-time in a different lab at
USUHS, took classes, and then moved to a plant biology lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “Nick Maistrellis was right,” she
decided. “Why wouldn’t I go do something I really enjoy?”
Two powerful mentors, Maistrellis and tutor Kathy Blits, raised her
search standards as she chose a graduate program in plant biology and
ecology. In 2004, beginning a doctorate at the University of Georgia’s
plant biology department, she joined an academic community where her
growing wonder for plant biology and science education could thrive.
Having earned her Ph.D. in 2010, Gormally taught briefly at Georgia
Tech. While engaged in ecological fieldwork in botanical gardens, she and
her students explored the effects of invasive plant species on a habitat.
During her interview for a tenured professorship at Gallaudet, which
serves deaf and hard of hearing students, she felt a connection with
her future colleagues. Attracted to the collaboration among faculty, she
sensed a strong caring about students, which she had also felt during her
St. John’s experience. Despite her Ph.D., she “knew virtually nothing” in
her first semester, she states. Learning from scratch, Gormally immersed
herself in American Sign Language and a new culture. Her colleagues’ patience and encouragement helped enormously with this challenging leap.
She continues to be grateful for “people’s willingness to bring me into
the community and to teach me.” Of the classroom interpreters, she says,
“They’re not there for one person; they’re there for everybody,” acting as
a bridge for communication. Instead of lectures, she encourages smallgroup activities; clusters of students work through biological problems.
After two years of teaching, she declares, “I’m not fluent. But I feel
comfortable signing for myself.”
“� hy would you want to spend
W
your days doing something that
isn’t fun, that you don’t enjoy?”
Her current research in biology education involves promoting science
literacy. She explores strategies that support teaching assistant and
faculty development, and researches students’ attitudes toward science
to improve learning for non-science majors. Gormally’s fascination with
what she calls “perspective shifts” spurs recent collaborative work on
mentoring, aiming to increase student participation from underrepresented populations.
In her senior essay at St. John’s, Gormally wrote about Franz Kafka’s
Metamorphosis. “Gregor wakes up one morning and finds out he’s this
giant cockroach, or some sort of insect,” she says. Her own surprising
transitions have been “all about shifting perspectives.”
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�ALUMNI NOTES
[continued from page 36]
Healing and discovered just how
good an allegory The Comedy offers
for modern healthcare. So, this
story could be a helpful example
of how the great books can inspire
and guide us in today’s world.”
2002
NAVIGATING THE STARS
1984
Pedro J. Martinez-Fraga (A) coauthored the book Public Purpose
in International Law: Rethinking
Regulatory Sovereignty in the
Global Era (Cambridge University Press, 2015). He notes that
the book “explores how the public
purpose doctrine reconciles the
often conflicting, but equally
binding, obligations that states
have to engage in regulatory
sovereignty while honoring hoststate obligations to protect foreign
investment.” Martinez-Fraga has
published five books on public and
private international law; two of
his works have been translated
into Mandarin by the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences.
David Prosper (SF) writes, “Several years ago I escaped from working for a sim-racing startup
and now work full-time as an astronomy educator at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
My main projects are in support of the NASA Night Sky Network, a program devoted to helping
amateur astronomy clubs show the night skies to the public. I am also the program director
for the Eastbay Astronomical Society at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland,
California, and sometimes I even get paid to give tours of the night sky!” His new co-authored
book, The Total Sky-Watcher’s Manual, was published by Weldon-Owen Publishing in 2015.
Mark Niedermier (A) moved back to
Minnesota where he is now head
of school at Many Rivers Montessori in Duluth. He also became a
trained civil mediator and is doing
alternative dispute resolution in
the county court system.
1986
Douglas Gentile’s (A) third book,
Media Violence and Children:
A Complete Guide for Parents
and Professionals (Praeger, 2nd
Edition, 2014) is now available on
Amazon and at www.abc-clio.com/
Praeger.aspx. Gentile is an associate professor of psychology at Iowa
State University.
John Newell (A) has discovered
a new type of probability that is
based on directional similarity.
The probabilities provide a way
to understand quantum entanglement and violations of Bell’s
inequality. Find out more at www.
hellos.com/physics.
38 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
1987
Charlotte Glover (SF) reports that
she survived her first year as a
business owner in fine style. Her
store, Parnassus Books and Gifts,
has thrived in downtown Ketchikan, Alaska for 30 years thanks
to supportive locals and loads of
cruise ship passengers who want
books about all things Alaskan.
Visit her store on Facebook as
“Parnassus Books in Ketchikan.”
Several classmates have called
in book orders, which she says is
“much appreciated and a welcome
blast from the past.”
1988
After teaching for five years at
Title One middle schools, Claudia
(Probst) Stack (A) is currently
working full-time on her new film
about sharecropping.
�1989
Beth Heinberg (A) is wrapping up
her 10th year teaching performing arts at Carolina Day School
in Asheville, N.C., where she is
suddenly legally married to her
wife, Nancy Asch. They are both
involved with LGBT and progressive activist causes, among them
Girls Rock Asheville, a mentoring
program for girls ages 8-16.
1990
Michelle Baker’s (SF) first work of
fiction, The Canoe, is now available for Kindle on Amazon as well
as in print. Set in 1912, half the
book takes place in a small town
outside of Annapolis, along the
West River. Read more at www.
thecanoebymichellebaker.com.
Kilian James Garvey (SF) recently
won the Research and Scholarship
Award at the University of Louisiana for his experimental work in
judgment and decision-making in
the areas of rationality, political
orientation, and religious belief
and is working hard to help introduce evolutionary psychology to
regions of the United States still
somewhat resistant to the idea.
1991
Christopher Peck (SF) writes,
“Nate Downey (SF) interviewed me
for an article that was published
in the Santa Fe New Mexican:
http://goo.gl/lEj97o. I am co-author
of a book The Resilient Investor:
A Plan for Your Life, Not Just
Your Money (Berrett Koehler
Publishers, 2015). I live in Sonoma
County, California, where I’m
married with a 20-month old son,
and life is good!”
1992
Christopher Hadley (A) finished
his Ph.D. in systematic theology
at Marquette University. Over
the next two summers, he will
complete the final phase of his
Jesuit formation in Portland,
Ore. In between those summers,
in 2015-16, he will have a postdoc fellowship at the Lonergan
Research Institute at Regis
College, University of Toronto,
living with the Jesuit seminarians
of Regis College.
1995
David M. Friebus (SF) was made
a partner in BakerHostetler’s
Chicago office.
Kira Zielinski (SF) is moving to
Iowa City, throwing pottery, and
dancing tango. Anyone in the area
or passing through can reach her
at kirazielinski@gmail.com.
1996
Frank Giuseffi (SFGI), dean of
academics at Missouri Military
Academy, received the 2015 Lighthouse Award for Excellence from
Lindenwood University.
1997
2006
Johnnies in the Big Easy
Mac Ward (A) writes, “In April, six Johnnies who started in
Annapolis in 2001 stormed New Orleans to mark ten years
since we should have graduated St. John’s. From the left:
Evelyn Anne (Johnston) Clausen (A07), Mac Ward (A06),
John Gerard (A05), Scott Danner (A05), Janae (Decker)
Gerard (A05), and Brent Morris (A05).
Shani N. Warner (SFGI) was
recently re-elected to the City
Council in Hyattsville, Md. for a
second four-year term. She views
her role as a tutor in a community-wide conversation and would
love to see more SJC alumni run
for office. “Government service,
particularly at the local level, is
wildly undervalued,” she writes.
“But it provides an unparalleled
opportunity to put your ideas into
practice, make a real difference in
your neighbors’ lives, and literally
shape your community.”
1998
Liz Trice (SF) owns a co-working
space called PelotonLabs in
Portland, Maine. She is engaged
to David Levi, owner of Vinland
restaurant, and trains at Circus
Atlantic to stay sane and happy.
2000
Kelsey Bennett’s (SF) book of literary criticism Principle and Propensity: Experience and Religion
in the Nineteenth-Century British
and American Bildungsroman was
published by University of South
Carolina Press in 2014.
2001
Chris Barnett’s (AGI01) second
book From Despair to Faith: The
Spirituality of Søren Kierkegaard
was published by Fortress Press
in 2014.
Jennifer (Westie) Skalla (A) graduated in May with a master’s in
nursing from Regis University in
Denver.
2002
James Marshall Crotty (SFGI)
released two documentaries this
year about his experience teaching debate and speech to young
men in the South Bronx. The
feature doc, Crotty’s Kids, which
debuted at SXSW and soon will
be in national distribution via
Passion River, looks at how adult
male mentorship and surrogate
family can help turn the tide
on our nation’s urban dropout
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�ALUMNI NOTES
epidemic. The short doc Master
Debaters examines how high-speed
debate—untethered to perennial
moral ideas—can lead to Sophist
nihilism. To learn more, visit www.
crottyskids.com or contact him at
jim@jamescrotty.com.
Sally Choate Fox (AGI) is practicing law in Decatur, Ga., with a
focus on family law and divorce.
She would love to hear from other
Johnnies in the Atlanta area at
sallyfoxga@gmail.com.
Steven Oppenheimer (AGI)
graduated in May with a J.D. from
American University’s Washington College of Law. He plans to
continue in the field of intellectual
property (he is currently a licensed
patent agent), and seeks to join
a state bar and become a patent
attorney. He is also developing a
technology startup ImagiStar LLC
(www.ImagiStar.com).
John Rogove (A) is finishing up his
Ph.D. in philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he teaches
philosophy. He also teaches liberal
arts at NYU’s Paris campus.
2003
Paul McLain (SFGI) completed
the two-year certificate program
in spiritual direction at Southern
Methodist University’s Perkins
School of Theology. He serves as
sub-dean of Trinity Episcopal
Cathedral in Little Rock, Ark.,
where his wife, Ruthie, is an
attorney.
“Moralizing Violence?”—a critique
of positivism in peace studies and
social psychology—on August 8,
2014. He is beginning his third
year at the United States Coast
Guard Academy, teaching courses
in political theory, moral and
ethical philosophy, and American
government to future officers.
2005
2006
Matthew Gates (A) and Claire
Muneza were married on
December 5 and 6, 2014 in Kigali,
Rwanda, where Matt works in
agricultural research and Claire
works in advertising.
Chris Horne (SF) obtained a Master
of City Planning degree from
MIT and has been practicing as a
researcher, freelance consultant,
and for the last three years, as a
private planner with Sasaki Associates. A project that he managed
this year won the Daniel Burnham
Award, the highest award given to
an urban planning project by the
American Planning Association.
Abram Trosky (SFGI) successfully
defended his doctoral dissertation
Daniel Grimm (SF) graduated with
a master’s from the NYU School of
Law’s tax program and is headed
to Houston to work in Ernst &
Young’s Mergers & Acquisitions
group. He recommends the study
of taxation to anyone who enjoys
obscure German authors (Kant,
Hegel, etc.), or rolling large boulders uphill for all eternity. He is
happy to report that the Internal
Revenue Code is replete with
Euclidean formulations in the
manner of “A is to B as X is to Y.”
Jacqueline Kennedy-Dvorak (AGI)
is working in civil litigation,
doing lots of farm cases, in Middle
Georgia. She keeps in regular
contact with Everett Reed (AGI07)
and Paul Cooper (AGI). She wel-
Sally Benson (SF) has been teaching for the last six years—the
first three in the Santa Fe Public
Schools and the last three years at
the Penitentiary of New Mexico.
In August 2015, she began the
Ph.D. program called Rhetoric,
Composition, and the Teaching
of English at the University of
Arizona in Tucson.
2007
Jessica Dixon (SF) became an
ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) on July 12 at
Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church
in Oak Park, Ill. This concludes a
process toward becoming a pastor
that she began at age 15, which
included a Master of Divinity from
McCormick Theological Seminary
following St. John’s and years of
working in churches and churchbased nonprofits. Her work at Fair
Oaks is focused on youth ministry,
mission, and worship leadership.
She writes, “I am grateful for all
the ways SJC has been formative
in my identity as a pastor and
leader as well as the great friends
who have supported me in the
years at and since St. John’s.”
Margaret Rachel Shultz (A) is
living and working in the great
Johnnie mecca of Chicago, and
enjoying the vibrant alumni
community there. She married
on August 8 and honeymooned in
Scotland.
Lucas Smith (SF) writes, “In
March, I finished filming my
documentary, Ghosts of the Aral
Sea, produced over four and a half
years in western Kazakhstan. It
had been a long process, following
a group of fishermen over several
years and in every season. In
May, a feature documentary film
for which I was cinematographer,
Last Man in Dhaka Central,
premiered at the Venice Biennale, and I married my love of six
years, Miriam, in a self-sanctified
wedding in Iceland.”
2004
Emma Elliott Freire (A) and Lucas
Grassi Freire had a daughter,
Cecilia Janke, on December 11,
2014 in Exeter, United Kingdom.
After a stint in Los Angeles
working for the Getty Research
Institute, Joshua Machat (SFGI)
recently accepted a post as a
communications officer at Yale
University Press, Department of
Art & Architecture.
comes a good conversation, so any
Johnnies in the area should drop
in and chat.
2008
Matthew Gates (A05) ties the knot in Africa.
40 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
Ben Hoffman (A) is now living
in the San Francisco Bay Area,
working for GiveWell, a nonprofit
that evaluates charities to find the
ones that have the greatest impact
per dollar spent.
�2010
A Momentous Year
2009
Jake Crabbs (A) and Marianna
Brotherton (A10) were married in
Killington, Vt. on June 20. They
are now residing in Chicago.
Katherine Hale (A) was accepted
into the 2015 entering class of the
Field Naturalist Master’s Program
at the University of Vermont.
2010
Ethan Brooks (A) left the Marine
Corps as a captain this summer
to begin a master’s in computer
and information technology at
the University of Pennsylvania
in the fall.
Carolyn Luppens (SF) writes, “This year was a particularly
momentous one for me. I graduated from The Alpert Medical
School of Brown University on May 24 of this year, and was
chosen by my peers to give the commencement address
(in which I availed myself of my SJC background and spoke
about Achilles and Odysseus, among other things). I was
additionally selected by the Rhode Island chapter of The
American College of Surgeons to receive the annual award
given to the graduating medical student who has excelled in,
and demonstrated service to, the surgical community. In June
I began my General Surgery residency at The University of
Utah in Salt Lake City.”
Alysia Johnson (SF) graduated on
June 20 from the United States
Merchant Marine Academy at
Kings Point, summa cum laude,
with a Bachelor of Science degree
in marine transportation. She
also received a commission as an
ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserve
and a Third Mate (Unlimited) U.S.
Coast Guard license. She writes,
“After graduating from St. John’s
I took a year off to bum around
and sail, and then started the
program at USMMA, one of the
five federal service academies and
seven maritime academies in the
country. In my time there, I completed a year of sea time sailing
as a cadet, including trips for the
Middle East, Asia, and participation in Operation Deep Freeze to
refuel McMurdo Base, Antarctica.
I was also an active member of
the sailing team and served as
the regimental waterfront officer
for one of my midshipman billets
first-class year. I was honored with
several awards for leadership,
scholar-athlete participation, and
academic achievement. Although
it means missing our five-year
reunion (sorry, Stef!), I have taken
a job working with TE Subcom
as a mate on a cable-laying ship.
I plan on filling my free time
with more traditional square-rig
sailing, a hobby I took up while
at SJC, and couch-surfing with
friends and classmates. I welcome
e-mails or Facebook messages
from everyone!”
2012
Rhett Forman (SF) traveled to
Dorf Tirol, Italy in July to present
a paper on Ezra Pound and early
modern psychology at the 2015
Ezra Pound International Conference held at Brunnenburg Castle,
the home of Pound’s daughter.
The conference presentation
was the result of research he
conducted in summer 2014 as a
participant of the Ezra Pound
Center for literature at the castle.
He is currently a Ph.D. student
in Literature at the Institute of
Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas.
2013
Shaun Rieley (AGI) has begun
working toward a Ph.D. in
political theory and American
government in the Department of
Politics at The Catholic University of America.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 41
�IN MEMORIAM
William Dyal (H89)
ANASTASIA EGELI (A92)
January 29, 2015
President, Annapolis
In the mid-1960s, Dyal was invited
by the Johnson administration
to serve as country director for
the Peace Corps in Colombia.
Subsequently, he led Peace Corps
programs in the Middle East, North
Africa, and Asia as one of the
program’s four regional directors.
42 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
William M. Dyal (1928-2015) served as president of the
Annapolis campus from 1986 until 1990, when he stepped down
for health reasons. He was admired by faculty, students, alumni,
and board members for his wise and even-handed leadership.
Before coming to St. John’s, he had a wide-ranging career that
encompassed work for the U.S. government and for international
volunteer agencies.
Dyal met his wife, Edie, while both were studying at Baylor
University. He later studied theology and pastoral counseling
at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and the couple
served as Baptist missionaries in Costa Rica and Guatemala; he
then worked for several more years throughout South America
training other missionaries. Years later when he was at St.
John’s, Dyal led a seminar on a new reading: Martin Luther
King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The students did not
know, and Dyal did not tell them in advance, that he had met
and visited Dr. King in jail while working for the social action
agency in the 1960s.
In the mid-1960s, Dyal was invited by the Johnson administration to serve as country director for the Peace Corps in
Colombia. Subsequently, he led Peace Corps programs in the
Middle East, North Africa, and Asia as one of the program’s
four regional directors. In the 1970s, he was named head of the
Inter American Foundation, a public corporation to fund social
and economic grassroots development. The following decade, he
served as president of the American Field Service (AFS), one of
the best-known world student exchange programs.
During his time at St. John’s, Dyal brought his strong and
welcome sense of the world beyond St. John’s and his gift for reconciling differences among people. He completed fundraising for
the addition to Mellon Hall and for the renovation of the Hodson
Boathouse, both in preparation for a planned capital campaign.
He is survived by his wife, Edie; daughters Deborah, Kathy, and
Lisa; nine grandchildren; and brother, Terry.
�IN MEMORIAM
Edward Sparrow (H93)
April 23, 2015
Tutor and dean, Annapolis
Edward Grant Sparrow, Jr.
(1929-2015), retired tutor who
also served as dean of St. John’s
College in Annapolis, died in Barton, Vermont after a brief illness.
An alumnus of Harvard College,
class of 1951, Sparrow earned a
law degree from Harvard Law
School. He eschewed a legal
career by earning his M.A. from
Columbia University Teacher’s
College and joining the faculty at
St. John’s College in 1957, where
over the course of 33 years he
taught the entire curriculum.
Sparrow was born in Paris,
France, on July 28, 1929, the son
of Edward Grant Sparrow and
Catherine Groth Sparrow. His
family returned to the United
States when he was 10, and lived
in New York City, where he attended Buckley School and, later,
St. Mark’s in Southborough,
Massachusetts. He married Lydia Huntington in 1953, and then
joined the Army, and was sent
to West Germany as part of the
U.S. occupying forces. Upon returning to the United States, he
was hired as a tutor at St. John’s.
From 1964 to 1966 he was acting
director of the Integrated Liberal
Arts Curriculum at St. Mary’s
College in California before he
returned to Annapolis.
In July 1977, Sparrow began
a five-year term as dean of the
Annapolis campus. He taught
his students at St. John’s with a
sense of wonder which never left
him. He loved literature, poetry,
classical and popular music, and
old time radio. He could deliver
the lyrics to any Gilbert and Sullivan opera with verve and style.
His conversion to Catholicism in
1957 was a profoundly important
event in his life; he became an
oblate of Mt. Savoir Monastery in
Elmira, New York.
Sparrow is survived by his
wife, Margaret; former wife,
Lydia; sister, Helen Roosevelt;
seven children, Bartholomew,
Edward, Elizabeth, Helen,
Katherine, Richard, and Sophie;
and 12 grandchildren. He was
predeceased by his eldest son,
Christopher.
Grant Wiggins (A72)
May 26, 2015
Visionary education reformer
and self-professed “educational
trouble-maker of longstanding”
Grant Wiggins (1950-2015) died
at home in Hartford, Connecticut. Wiggins was a writer,
thinker, researcher, teacher,
and learner. Best known as the
co-author of Understanding by
Design, he challenged educators
to think logically, designing instruction backward from clarity
on learning goals. He believed
that learning was not signaled
by the accumulation of knowledge but, rather, by the power
to take action. After St. John’s
College he received his Ed.D.
from Harvard and went on to
work on some of the most significant reform initiatives in the
world, including the Coalition of
Essential Schools, the AP and IB
programs, and many state and
national reform efforts. Wiggins
admired educators who wanted
to make a difference and were
willing to challenge themselves
as part of that effort. He loved
rock and roll, soccer, good food
and wine, Paris, the Red Sox,
walks, and conversation. His
greatest joy, though, was his
family. Wiggins is survived by
his beloved wife, Denise Wilbur;
daughters Alexis and Priscilla;
sons, Justin and Ian; parents,
Dorothy and Guy; brothers, Guy
and Noel; and grandsons, Elios
and Amadeo Estrada.
Theodore Otteson
Class of 1952
May 6, 2015
Theodore (Ted) Otteson (19252015), passed away at his home,
surrounded by four generations
of loving family. He was 90.
Otteson was a teacher, mentor,
friend, counselor, and seeker of
wisdom and adventure. Born
March 9, 1925 in Poona, India,
the son of missionary parents,
his primary and secondary
education was in schools in
India and the United States. He
served in the U.S. Navy during
WWII and was a translator in
Japan at the end of the war.
Otteson taught for 45 years
at the University of MissouriKansas City, in the English
Department and in the program
for adult continuing education.
He was preceded in death by
his parents and a sister, Pearl
Holbrook. He is survived by
his wife of 52 years, Beverley;
daughters Malory, Paula
and Susan; son, Clovis; and
numerous grandchildren.
Barbara L. Lauer (SF76)
December 19, 2014
Former St. John’s College Alumni Association officer, Board of
Visitors and Governors member
and Alumni Association Award
of Merit recipient, Barbara L.
Lauer (1950-2014) died at her
home in Laramie, Wyoming. A
generous friend and colleague,
she lighted the lives of everyone
she knew. Born in Sacramento,
California to Van and Louise
(Keeney) Shepherd, Lauer attended Chapman World College
Afloat, better known today as
Semester at Sea, before coming
to St. John’s. She then studied
law at the University of Edinburgh, and completed her law
degree at the University of Wyoming. Her love of St. John’s was
evident through her exceptional
service with the college’s Alumni
Association. From 1996 to 2010
she served as the Alumni Association’s director, vice president,
secretary, and director emerita.
Lauer was preceded in death by
husband, Ted. She is survived by
her sister, Paula; brother, Doug;
and numerous other family
members.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 43
�Anne Nelson (H90)
May 18, 2015
Anne Higgins Nelson (1925-2015) died at
BayWoods, her home in Annapolis. Anne
developed a deep love for St. John’s College
when she married her husband Charles A.
Nelson (Chuck), Class of 1947, that lasted
her entire life. Her son, Christopher, is
president of St. John’s College in Annapolis.
She was born in Savannah, Illinois, to Edith
Ballou Higgins and Colin Olney Higgins on
March 22, 1925. Anne grew up in Berwyn,
Illinois, and graduated from Morton High
School, then continued on to obtain her B.A.
in economics from Oberlin College in 1946.
Following graduation, she married her high
school sweetheart, Chuck, her loving and
much-loved husband of 69 years. The couple
spent their first year of married life in
Annapolis, while Chuck completed his B.A.
from St. John’s College and Anne was employed as a social worker. Anne and Chuck
then returned to Chicago, where Chuck
began his career in education. They made a
home in the Chicago area, where their four
children were born. In 1956, a job change
for Chuck brought the family to New York.
Settling in White Plains, N.Y., Anne was
elected president of the Rochambeau School
P.T.A. and led the movement to desegregate
the White Plains public school system in the
1960s. Anne was active in the Democratic
Party and challenged the Republican status
quo in the predominantly Republican city
with an (unsuccessful) run for White Plains
City Council. As the children grew older,
Anne returned to work, first joining her
husband’s consulting practice, and later, the
faculty of the Cornell University School of
Industrial and Labor Relations, where she
worked until her retirement in 1990. Anne
was proud of her work at Cornell, writing
and teaching classes for labor union women,
administrating programs, and securing
grants. She was fiercely committed in every
facet of her life to the fight for equal rights
and social justice for all.
In 2002, Chuck and Anne left their home
in Croton-on-Hudson to continue retirement
in Annapolis. Anne started the first residents’ newsletter at BayWoods of Annapolis,
their retirement home, where she helped
form a great books discussion group. She revived the Annapolis chapter of the League of
Women Voters, an organization in which she
was actively engaged for her entire adult
life, and edited the local LWV newsletter for
several years. When someone asked about
her hobbies recently, she looked puzzled
and said, “I guess I don’t have any.” But
then amended it to, “Well, I guess politics
is my hobby.” She was a proud supporter
of Barack Obama’s campaign for president,
never missed voting in an election, read
(and discussed) the New York Times every
day and was always up for a good political
debate. She was also captivated by the great
women English mystery writers and read
hundreds of mysteries, sometimes until
the early morning hours to find out “who
done it?” She remained feisty but cheerful
to the end. Anne loved her family and was
much loved in return. She is survived by her
husband, Chuck; sons, Christopher, Colin,
and Ted; and daughter, Janet Berggren; as
well as 11 grandchildren and 19 greatgrandchildren.
Also Deceased:
Paul Frank, SF82
July 26, 2015
Sarah Macina, SF70
January 23, 2015
Leo L. Simms, Class of 1956
December 13, 2014
Jonathan B. Bredin, SF74
December 31, 2014
Edward Gelblum, Class of 1955
June 12, 2015
Barbara C. Prendergast, SF72
November 24, 2014
Jacquelaine R. Vest, A86
January 26, 2015
George Brunn, Class of 1945
June 30, 2014
Meredith G. Hamilton, SF97
March 22, 2015
Merton E. Rice, Class of 1953
November 10, 2014
William B. Walter, SF85
October 5, 2014
Richard T. Carruthers, Class of
1948
October 22, 2014
Philip Heilig, Class of 1952
May 31, 2015
John H. Rubel, SF90
January 13, 2015
George P. Welch, Class of 1947
March 17, 2015
Alexander E. Clift, A03
November 16, 2014
Marvin J. Hoffenberg, Class of
1947
February 17, 2015
Marilyn L. Schaefer, SF79
March 8, 2015
Amy R. Wood, SF11
January 26, 2015
Samuel F. Dunbar, Class of 1964
April 18, 2015
David E. Johnson, A68
June 21, 2014
44 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
Brian D. Shields, A83
January 30, 2015
�STUDENT VOICES
SJC: NOT YOUR STANDARD FACTORY FARM
By Kevin Lam (A18)
W
hen I was 12 years old, I
reached the lowest point
in my life. In the spring
of 2009, my mother died
of gastric cancer and my
father lost his job. My ethnic Chinese
parents had emigrated from Vietnam to
Fairfax County, Northern Virginia, where
I was born and raised. My mother worked
full-time in an exhausting job as a housekeeper, while managing all our household
chores and being both mother and father
to me. My father mostly ignored me, gambling away what little money we had. Because my mother was my most significant
human connection, losing her caused much
anger, sadness, isolation, and confusion to
occupy my mind, to this day.
Despite losing the most important
person in my life, I experienced a major
transition. New life was taking root from
the ashes. All these feelings spurred me
to ask a fundamental question: “Why?”
As I questioned everything around me, I
developed an intense curiosity.
One of my favorite quotes from a St.
John’s seminar book represents my transition. In Plato’s The Republic, Socrates said,
“We mustn’t hug the hurt part and spend
our time weeping and wailing like children
when we trip. Instead, we should always
accustom our souls to turn as quickly as
possible to healing the disease and putting
the disaster right, replacing lamentation
with cure.” My mother’s death ignited my
desire to know as much as I can about the
world and to make it better.
My curiosity led me to pursue reading
zealously, which helped me develop an
important connection with my AP U.S.
history teacher, Mr. Evans. Throughout
my junior and senior years in a large,
academically intensive public high
school in Fairfax County, I visited his
classroom after school for intellectual
conversation. During one such exchange,
he caused a paradigm shift in my life. I
was expressing disillusionment with the
college admissions process. I was spending countless hours filling out forms in
order to do the same thing in college and
“� have developed an unquenchable
I
curiosity. With the courage and ability
to ask ‘Why,’ I am able to pursue an
education that will help me to better
understand the world and humanity.”
the rest of my life. At a job with no hope
of intellectual freedom, I would drown in
mind-numbing work. “We’re all just cattle
being herded to our eventual intellectual
slaughter,” I told Mr. Evans.
His response: “Why don’t you go to
St. John’s College? They read a lot of
books there.”
When I learned more about St. John’s,
I felt a surge of excitement. There was a
place that did not conform to the standard
higher-education system that seemed like
a factory farm to me. Its people tackled
difficult philosophical questions to understand the world and what it means to be
human. Students are told what to read,
but not what to think.
I knew I had found my home for the next
four years. Every new reading reaffirms
this fact. The Platonic Dialogues make me
feel fulfilled and at peace because of the
immense concentration necessary to even
remotely grasp them.
The death of my mother sparked my
curiosity and my pursuit to understand
the world. In three years, I will graduate
from St. John’s College and fully reconnect with the world. Sadly, I will still not
have my mother, and will always grieve
over her death. Despite this burden, I
have developed an unquenchable curiosity. With the courage and ability to ask
“Why,” I am able to pursue an education
that will help me to better understand
the world and humanity. As I follow my
dream of bettering the world with my
mother always in my heart, St. John’s will
prepare me for it.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 45
�CROQUET
THREE-PEAT
THWARTED
Johnnies Reclaim the
Annapolis Cup, but
Midshipmen Earn a
Victory of Their Own
W
ith a final score of 3-2,
Navy’s high hopes for a
three-year winning streak
were resolutely dashed. At
the 33rd annual St. John’sU.S. Naval Academy croquet match held on
April 18, the Johnnies performed with vigor
and gusto before a crowd of more than 5,000
spectators—the largest in the history of the
match—to bring home the Annapolis Cup for
the first time since 2012. “It was a wonderful
feeling, and not only for the team,” says
Imperial Wicket Sam Collins (A15). “Everyone on campus was super excited about it.”
Collins is quick to point out that alumni
deserve a slice of the proverbial victory
cake. A month before the big match, with
snow still on the ground, the croquet team
huddled in the Chasement, the cozy basement of the Chase-Stone dormitory, with
several former Imperial Wickets and players,
including Josh Rogers (A98), Hardison Wood
(A98), Kit Linton (A97), and John Lawless
(A00), among others, for a strategerium,
mapping out key strategies on a chalkboard
and discussing the game’s finer points.
Alumni also paired with student players for
a full day of skill training and matches. With
added guidance from the croquet elite, “our
team felt comfortable with more complex
strategies,” says Jennifer Shumpert (A15), a
member of this year’s team.
On game day the Johnnies adhered to their
golden rule: have fun. Decked out in Hawaiian shirts, denim shorts, aviator sunglasses,
and fake mustaches, they paid playful
tribute to television’s Magnum, P.I. However,
detective skills were not required to spot
BRADY LEE (AGI14)
By Sus3an Borden (A87) and Gregory Shook
Tell me, O Muse, the impetuous
unrush of wing-footed Johnnies:
Whom shall I mainly make butt of
my hopelessly talentless singing?
Him who ran hardest arriving first
sweaty in need of a shower?
Or him who sauntered at ease,
smiling sweet and as cool as an
iced beer?
Here is what I will do following
prudence, my elderly goddess:
I shall bestow my much sought-after
hugs on the unsweaty cool one,
But on the winner I’ll place
undegradably immortal laurel.
46 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
�SHAYNA JENKINS (A15)
SUSAN JENKINS
SHAYNA JENKINS (A15)
the outrageous fashions that filled the front
campus lawn. Throughout the afternoon, Lisa
Simeone (A79) and Didi Schanche (A80) waded through the sea of festive gowns, widebrimmed hats, and bold bowties to select
the cream of the crop for their Best Attire
awards, a new addition to the day’s events.
The alumnae judges relished the opportunity
to mingle with the crowd and reconnect with
old friends on a picture-perfect Saturday.
“The whole idea of a croquet match—a
civilized, old-fashioned pursuit—against the
Naval Academy is delicious,” says Simeone.
“Here you have this bastion of liberal arts up
against a highly militarized institution. How
could one not love the irony?”
Croquet was not the only competition of
the day. Weeks before the match, Johnnies
began signing up as runners, sponsors, and
donors for the 2nd Annual Memorial Fun(d)
Run, which took place that morning, to see
which intramural athletic team could raise
the most money, field the most runners, and
clock the best time. Not only was this the
first year the intramural teams joined the
event, it was also the first year that Midshipmen were invited to compete. They ably
countered their losses on the croquet court by
taking first and second place in the run. Midshipman Justin Maguire won the race with a
time of 15:43. The first female to finish was
Elizabeth Fenelon, also a Midshipman. Still,
Johnnies made a good show with Annapolis
tutor Brendan Boyle finishing third at 18:32.
Robin Lancaster (A18) was the first St. John’s
student to complete the race, at 19:29.
The Memorial Fun(d) Run is hosted by the
Friends of the Lawrence L Saporta, Ph.D.
Memorial Scholarship Fund and was established to raise money and awareness for the
college’s Memorial Endowment Funds. This
year the run raised $2,420 for four Memorial
Funds. The Hustlers raised the most money,
the Spartans fielded the most runners, and
the Furies claimed the fastest time.
Annapolis tutor Eva Brann (H89) completed the event by crowning the winners
with (plastic) laurel wreaths and delivering
a fine speech, written in dactylic hexameter,
reprinted to the left.
Photos, opposite page, top: The Magnum, P.I.inspired Johnnies bask in the glow of their 3-2
win; bottom: Dylan Tyler (A15) takes a shot,
concentrating amid the distraction of 5,000 spectators. This page, clockwise from top left: Marta
Lively (A78), on the right, joins other fashionistas
competing for the most splendiforously attired
award; Eva Brann, master of Homeric congratulatory verse, greets a Fun(d) Run finisher; Midshipmen and Johnnies run for the money to benefit
—
SJC student scholarships.
Check the college’s social media and the
SJC website to stay tuned for info on the
2016 match, scheduled for April 16.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 47
�BRADY LEE (AGI14)
S T. J O H N ’ S F O R E V E R
ONCE UPON
A WHEN
Looking at this memento a concert handbill
—
that has faithfully adorned the wood-paneled
wall in my parent’s basement for the past 25
years—I wonder who else out there might
remember this day in St. John’s history. At
the time I was a 17-year-old townie and an
aspiring drummer who on this occasion sat in
on congas with the band Breathing Walker, a
motley crew of Annapolis post-punk rockers.
Spring showers forced the concert indoors, but
spirits were far from dampened. Throughout
the afternoon the bands gave it their all, playing to the crowd of mostly students gathered
in the dining room in Randall Hall to celebrate
Earth Day. As evening crept in, Three Shades
of Dirty, a newly formed group featuring Dan
Littleton (A93) on guitar/vocals and Colin
48 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | FAL L 2 015
Meeder (A93) on his trusty Steinberger bass,
delivered a blistering set of music like I’d
never heard before. To this day, the band’s only
cassette is among the most prized items in my
music collection.
This concert also served as an introduction to
St. John’s. My high school graduation was two
months away, and with no imminent plans for
college, I recall the uneasy feeling I had chatting with undergrads who hungrily devoured
such authors as Hegel, Kant, and Plato. (I was
reading Tama Janowitz and Charles Bukowski.) But I also felt an immediate affection for
St. John’s and hoped to someday be a part of
it. It’s funny, the things we remember.
—-Gregory Shook
�EIDOS
“I grew up in a family of artists, always
knowing from a young age that I wanted
to paint portraits. One reason for my
passion is that I am drawn to people.
That fascination was stoked by my
classes at St. John’s, which introduced
me to so many great minds.
People are complex, multi-faceted, and
continually changing. Painting gives me
the challenge to capture those changes
and present a complete sense of someone.
I feel as though painting has given me
the privilege to come to know people in
a truly unique way.
I am now working as a portrait artist,
living in New York City. I feel as though
I have been so blessed. I can go visit
countless museums to enjoy the works of
Spain’s Sorolla, with his bold colors, or a
John Singer Sargent exhibit at the Met.
I am constantly studying to improve my
use of color and my skill in drawing.
My ideal day is sitting with someone,
listening to their thoughts, and painting
what it is to be with that particular person.
Surrounded by inspiring work and people,
every year I enjoy an increasing curiosity
and a deeper appreciation of being alive.”
—Anastasia Egeli (A92)
Learn more about Anastasia Egeli (A92) at
www.anastasiaegeli.com.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | FALL 2015 iii
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Annapolis, MD
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Annapolis, MD 21401
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<em>The College </em>(2001-2017)
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Volume 40, Issue 2 of the <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Fall 2015.
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Shook, Gregory (editor)
Ryder, Brett
Boonparlit, Nutchapol
Gomez, Gabe
Townsend, David
Novash, Paula
Kirby, Melanie M.
Brann, Eva
Weiss, Robin
Lam, Kevin
Borden, Sus3en
The College
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WINTER 2015
•
S T. J O H N ’ S
ANNAPOLIS
•
S A N TA F E
Miguel de
Cervantes
A Bold Vision
�ii | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�from the editor
The College
is published by St. John’s
College, Annapolis, MD,
and Santa Fe, NM
thecollegemagazine@sjc.edu
Known office of publication:
Communications Office
St. John’s College
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
Periodicals postage paid
at Annapolis, MD
Postmaster: Send address
changes to The College
Magazine, Communications
Office, St. John’s College,
60 College Avenue,
Annapolis, MD 21401.
Editor
Gregory Shook
gregory.shook@sjc.edu
Contributing Editor
Gabe Gomez
Contributors
Laura Bartram (A15)
Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
Sus3an Borden (A87)
Jacques Duvoisin (A80)
Jaime Dunn
Claudia Hauer
Susan Kaplan
Eunji Kim (A15)
Jennifer Levin
Paula Novash
J. Walter Sterling (A93)
Cem Turkoz (A16)
Babak Zarin (A11)
Design
Skelton Design
Contributing Designer
Jennifer Behrens
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
LEFT: INSIGHT FOTO, SANTA FE, NM
Shared Ideals
“�When life itself seems lunatic,
who knows where madness lies?
Perhaps to be too practical is
madness. To surrender dreams
— this may be madness. Too
much sanity may be madness —
and maddest of all: to see life as
it is, and not as it should be!”
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes’ (1547–1616) novel Don
Quixote is among the most enduring contributions to the literary world for good reason. The
tale’s idealistic yet flawed hero embodies shades
of the very human elements that each of us see
within ourselves. Furthermore, the story reminds us of our instinctual yearning to strive for
something bigger, and greater, than us. Most of
all, Don Quixote is beloved as a celebration of bold
vision, spirit of adventure, and pursuit of virtue.
This issue of The College magazine is devoted
to the recognition of a vision fulfilled – the founding of the Santa Fe campus – now marking its
50th anniversary. More than 1,600 miles from
where Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan
realized an earlier vision for St. John’s by establishing the New Program, then-president Richard Weigle and a band of hopeful Santa Feans
set out to expand the reach of St. John’s. “This
new founding has brought aspects of our shared
enterprise to the fore that might not have been
quite so visible before,” notes Santa Fe tutor and
Annapolis alumnus Jacques Duvoisin (A80).
Santa Fe tutor Claudia Hauer brings the
founding of the Santa Fe campus to life through
an oral history project that captures the various “perspectives and tales that make up our
story.” With more than an entire day’s worth of
recorded interviews with former officers, tutors
from the earliest years, and many others from
the college’s community, the project casts light
on “a triumph of one man’s will, a fellowship of
new learning, and the start of a quixotic journey
of self-definition for an institution that was not
new in conception, but new to the world,” observes Hauer.
As the stories in this issue attest, the Johnnie
ecosystem contains many voices and viewpoints,
but at its core, shared ideals. Warren Winiarski
(Class of 1952) contributes his own visionary
tale—to pursue his passion for great wine. Voices
of current Johnnies are also heard, from destinations far and near. Eunji Kim (A15), whose journey begins in Korea, ruminates on her nearly
four years at St. John’s and how the experience
has shaped her ability “to examine questions
and issues from infinite perspectives…” Laura
Bartram (A15) travels to the western coast of Ireland, joined by a group of architecture students
led by Washington, D.C.-based architect Travis
Price (A71), to “architecturally reinterpret the
myth and history of a remote culture.”
As we reflect on the Santa Fe campus’ seminal
moments, we also look to the horizon where the
conversation continues. In this issue, we meet
Johnnies who are making history and shaping
the future in the fields of education, health, and
medicine. Aided by the college’s Ariel Internship Program, Rachel Reid (SF14) breaks new
ground in cancer research at California’s City
of Hope, where she learned that “the days of the
lone genius in the lab are gone.” Susan Vorkoper
(SF04), a global researcher and policy analyst,
discovers that collaboration, “partnership, and
coalition-building between people,” is the secret to progress. In the classroom, James Myers
(SF09) shares his passion for classical languages
and great books with the next generation of visionaries. And Greg Toppo (SF85), the national
education reporter for USA Today, explores
how gaming and digital technology can make
students smarter.
On a final note, I wish to express my gratitude
to Patricia Dempsey, director of Communications in Annapolis and editor of The College
magazine, who recently left the college to establish a consulting practice. The pages of this
publication for the past decade, as well as in this
issue, reflect her affection for and dedication to
the college and all that it represents. —GS
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
1
�w i n t e r 2 015
volume 40, issue 1
Quixote’s transition from his naiveté to his selfreferential and self-conscious anxiety creates an analogy
for the Santa Fe campus’s progress, from its ardent youth
to the more mature institution of today. —Claudia Hauer, tutor
F E AT U R E S
page
16��
p a ge
2 0��
page
28
Two Campuses.
Many Viewpoints.
Authors of
Our Own Story
Shaping
the Future
With a country between them,
the college’s two distinctive
campuses share a profound
sameness — and celebrate a
major milestone in Santa Fe.
Through a collection of
recordings and written contributions, voices from early
faculty members, college
friends and officers, among
others illustrate the journey of
Johnnie expansion out West.
Three alumni lend their talents
to make positive societal
change, from examining
gaming technology in education to impacting health
research and policy to exploring the great books with the
next generation of leaders.
on the cover:
Cervantes illustration
by Scott McKowen
2 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
�JAMES KEGLEY
D E PA R T M E N T S
From Our Readers
��
Bibliofile
Alumni
4
34 �Tutor Peter Pesic explores the
36 �
U
� nder the Kudzu
From the Bell Towers
6
W
� estward Vision:
Warren Winiarski (Class of 1952)
8 �
Ariel Intern: Rachel Reid (SF14)
9
On Liberal Education
10 New Directors of Admissions
11
Future Johnnies
12 � For Learning’s Sake:
Eunji Kim (A15)
13 �
Born to Write:
Nathaniel Goldman (A14)
14 � Continuing the Conversation �
15 �The Prison Project:
Andy Blanco (A15)
intersection of science and art in Music
and the Making of Modern Science.
35 �Désirée Zamorano (SF83) sheds light
on the Latina experience in her novel
The Amado Women.
�Deborah Achtenberg (A73) pairs
ancient and modern philosophy in
Essential Vulnerabilities: Plato and
Levinas on Relations to the Other.
Alumni Notes
39 �Profile: Gay Hall (AGI99) is a leader
in military midwifery
43 �
In Memoriam
46 �
Philanthropy: Santa Fe 50th,
Memorial Trees, Gift from the Elders,
Gregory Riley (A93), and Hallie
Leighton (SF92)
48 � Student Voices: Laura Bartram (A15)
�Darrel Moellendorf (A83) brings
a philosophical perspective to key
global issues in The Moral Challenge
of Dangerous Climate Change: Values,
Poverty, and Policy.
reflects on the spirit of place.
50 �
Almuni News: Homecoming 2015
Johnnie Traditions
52 � St. John’s Forever
Eidos
53 Eleanor Peters
above: Susan Vorkoper (SF04), global health
researcher and policy analyst for the Fogarty
International Center at NIH, Bethesda, Md.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
3
�from our readers
Johnnie Women in Film
In response to a notice in the summer 2014 issue
of The College, these Johnnies share stories about
their projects in the film industry.
Carrie Mae Sharpless Newkirk
Claudia (Probst) Stack (A88)
is an educator and filmmaker
whose previous film about historic
African American schools, Under
the Kudzu, won the 2012 Direc-
tor’s Choice Award from the Cape
Fear Independent Film Festival.
Her newest film, Carrie Mae: An
American Life, is the story of Carrie Mae Sharpless Newkirk, one of
15 children born into a sharecropping family in Duplin County,
North Carolina, in 1923. After
her father’s death when she was
in high school, she thought her
dream of becoming a teacher had
died, too. However, with the help
from her principal, she obtained
a work scholarship to attend Kittrell College and went on to earn
her degree from Elizabeth City
State Teachers’ College.
Stack has worked in freshmen
programming and taught seminars
for 17 years at the college level
(Boston University and University
of North Carolina, Wilmington).
She is currently in her fourth year
of teaching special education at
D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy,
a Title 1 middle school in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Jan Lisa Huttner (A73) is an
internationally known film critic
who has been working for more
than a decade to help women filmmakers break through what she
calls “the celluloid ceiling.”
Jan Lisa Huttner (A73)
4 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
“Since I first started the
WITASWA Project (Women in the
Audience Supporting Women Artists Now) in 2004, there have been
over 1,200 International SWAN
Day events all around the world,”
notes Huttner. “And these are just
the ones we know about. We find
out about more all the time.”
Huttner is the author of Penny’s
Picks: 50 Movies by Women Filmmakers 2002-2011.
�from our readers
Letters
A Time for Tolstoy
In the fall of 1976, during my
junior year, Mr. Robert Bart led a
preceptorial on Anna Karenina.
The question of what I would be
when I grew up weighed heavily
on me that fall. My mother also
had died a few weeks before the
preceptorial began. As we read
and discussed the novel, I found
myself identifying deeply with the
character Levin. His struggles
with questions of meaning, identity, vocation, and love helped me
to wrestle with my own questions.
The story gave me hope that I
would find a sense of purpose and
vocation for my own life. Anna
Karenina was the book I needed
to read that season, and that preceptorial was the class I needed
to be in.
—Michael Ciba (A78)
Young Doctors in Scrubs
During the summer before senior
year I worked as a uniformed security guard at various locations.
One assignment was a hospital
entry where my job consisted of
telling people they couldn’t park
there. I did my St. John’s summer
reading to fill the time. Young
doctors in scrubs would rush past
me. One called out, ‘what are you
reading there, War and Peace?’ I
held it up since, of course, it was.
—Alan McVay (SF76)
Kudos from the
Pacific Northwest
Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! Kudos on a wonderful edition
of The College magazine [Summer 2014]. Perhaps it’s having
recently spent a week on the Santa
Fe campus for my sixth consecutive
summer Piraeus and having been
an active member of the greater
SJC community for 25 years now,
but I got a lot of pleasure out of
reading the current issue of The
College from cover to cover.
—Greg Rhoades (SFGI89)
“�Where is the St. John’s College story
told now, in ways that grip the heart
and soul of a generation, a people, and
a public audience, and that reach both
popular media and educated elite; most
of all, in ways that get to the aspiring,
ambitious, thoughtful young person?”
life magazine, February 5, 1940.
The St. John’s Story
I first learned about St. John’s
from a LIFE magazine story that
was written in 1940. I discovered
it while scrounging through the
musty basement of the Boston
Public Library in Copley Square.
It was a story with no age—and
corny as it may sound, a story that
rang as strong and true as a liberty
bell. The story led me to apply
(and just barely get accepted) to
the Annapolis campus, where I
managed to make it through four
exhilarating years with a tight,
tough graduating class of more
than 40 students.
Where is the St. John’s College
story told now, in ways that grip
the heart and soul of a generation,
a people, and a public audience,
and that reach both popular media
and educated elite; most of all, in
ways that get to the aspiring, ambitious, thoughtful young person?
—John Dean (A70)
Future Reading
After St. John’s, I aimed to show
that our liberal education could
lead to the advancement of modern knowledge. I could see that
hopes for an “American renaissance in higher education” were
disappointed. Experience in the
armed forces and travel abroad
convinced me that the work that
needed doing and that was within
my power was to make an intellectual contribution to peace. I
discovered the old-world federalist
movement, which aimed to
replace the international anarchy
with the rule of world law. I determined to write a history of it.
But first I had to meet the challenge of Aristotle’s dictum that
poetry is more philosophical than
history (Poetics, 9:1451b5-7). Now,
only particulars actually exist;
Joseph Baratta (A69)
genera are abstract classes. Soon
I discovered Common Cause, the
old journal of the University of
Chicago’s Committee to Frame
a World Constitution, which was
the perfect place for a Johnnie to
begin. I delved deep into the drafting of the Charter of the United
Nations, the representation of diverse humanity, the powers to establish universal justice. I picked
a universal theme and aimed to
write a great book that would still
be readable in a hundred years,
The Politics of World Federation.
—Joseph Preston Baratta (A69)
Homecoming 2014 set record attendance at both Annapolis and Santa Fe.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
5
�Westward Vision
Warren Winiarski (Class of 1952) is the founder of Stag’s Leap Wine
Cellars and known internationally for producing the Cabernet Sauvignon that bested the finest French wines at the historic “Judgment
of Paris” wine-tasting in 1976. That win brought global attention to
the Napa Valley and California wines. He went on to craft consistently
high-quality wines throughout his long career as a vintner.
In 1964 Winiarski was at the University of Chicago, teaching in the
Basic Program of the University College and studying with the Committee on Social Thought, when he decided to move to California
with his wife and young children to pursue his passion for wine. His
close allegiance to St. John’s leads him to enjoy the synchronicity of
his heading west the same year the college’s western campus opened.
In a recent interview, Winiarski looked back at this bold move, his
work as a vintner, and the role that vision has played in his life.
What made you want to become a
vintner and a wine grower?
I’ve always been interested in growing
plants. I was in charge of growing food during the Second World War in my family’s
victory garden. Later I took summer jobs
as a gardening assistant and became interested in growing things in a horticultural
way. It’s not agriculture because ‘agri’
means field and field crops are treated differently than horticultural crops. ‘Hortus’
means garden. In a garden you treat plants
as individuals. No one singles out a cornstalk for special attention. But you have to
grow horticultural plants individually.
There is also the fact that my name,
Winiarski, is derived from the word for
wine. It means a winemaker’s son. And
my father did make wine. During Prohibition a head of a household could legally
make up to 200 gallons of wine annually
for family purposes. I remember hearing
the fermentation in the barrels he used,
hearing the bubbling of this wonderful
mysterious thing.
Later I spent time doing graduate studies in Italy, where wine was more than a
ceremonial and a celebratory beverage. I
was introduced to the practice of a glass
of wine to accompany a meal, but that
was forgotten when I returned to the
Midwest and its sober ways. One day a
friend brought a bottle of wine for lunch
and it all came back with a rush — all the
pleasure that wine could bring to a meal
— it was an epiphany. Wine revealed itself
as something very special and I began to
read about it, talk to people about different kinds of wine and how they got to be
the way they were.
What enabled you, a new father with a
family to support, to decide to pursue
this career?
It dawned on me that a way of life could be
built around this interest and my family
could be engaged in growing grapes and
making wine. I found a place in a two-man
winery in Napa, about the size that I hoped
to have someday. I was the number two
man, which gave me the opportunity to go
through the winemaking cycle from grape
growing to wine bottling.
My wife Barbara (Class of 1955) also
wanted a rural way of life. It had risk but
6 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
it appeared to offer a fulfilling life. It was
going to take full dedication to make it
work. At some point she said that she felt
we were going over Niagara Falls in a barrel; there was no turning back.
What was your vision for yourself as
a vintner at the time you made this
decision?
In my mind I had a model from Philip Wagner, an editor of the Baltimore Sun. He had
a small winery in the outskirts of Baltimore
where he produced charming wines. He
had written a book called American Wines
and How to Make Them, which was a powerful influence on my thinking. He wrote
about the inwardness of winemaking,
the human element as much as technical
things. His writing was part of a transformation in my own heart.
At what point did you decide to work
your own vineyard?
While I was working as an apprentice I
purchased a small piece of land where
I put in about four acres of grapes. My
grafting process was not successful, and
it had to be done over because I wasn’t
giving the root stock adequate water. But
�I learned from that effort, and in 1970 I
planted a second vineyard on land that
had been used as a prune orchard for
40 years and it was very successful. In
1973 we had our first commercial crop.
That was the wine that went to Paris in
1976 and was preferred over some of the
greatest wines in Bordeaux in a blind
tasting by French experts. A bottle of that
wine is now in the permanent collection
of the Smithsonian Institution and was
chosen by the Smithsonian magazine as
one of “101 objects that made America.”
It fulfilled a prophecy made by Thomas
Jefferson about 200 years before when he
said that American wines would be different from those of Europe but “doubtless
as good.” The moral of that story: never
underestimate what you can do with a
prune orchard when you have a vision.
What role did your St. John’s education
play in your work as a winemaker?
I want to express my indebtedness and my
gratitude to that education because it was
through the St. John’s method of inviting
learning by questioning and by the close
following of the reasoning embedded in
the works that we studied that I developed
the skills I applied to learning grape growing and winemaking. I called it “Books and
Balances in the vineyard and winery.”
“�Grapes die but wine emerges;
LEGACY OF
having the skills to guide
WINEMAKING
it appropriately is critical.
Like a great book, there is truth in
That is all determined by a
great wine. The fifth annual In Vino Veritas, held February 27-28 at the Annapwinemaker’s vision: will it
olis campus, celebrates alumni vintners
be an epic or a short story
and a legacy of the finest American
winemaking. The fundraiser features
or a poem?”
special guest Warren Winiarski (Class
of 1952), founder of Stag’s Leap Wine
Cellars. Winiarski has influenced
generations of winemakers, especially
St. John’s alumni who learned their
craft under his tutelage. The event also
features renowned Napa winemakers
Larry Turley (SF69), founder of Turley
Wine Cellars; Abe Schoener (A82),
founder of The Scholium Project; Zach
Rasmuson (A95), chief operating officer of Duckhorn Wine Company; and
Rory Williams (A07), founder of Calder
Wine Company. For more information,
visit invinoveritasannapolis.com.
What is the role of vision in
winemaking?
Wine is made from grapes, but grapes are
only the material. What wine becomes is
guided by a vision of what it should be.
How you plant, when you harvest, and
what you do to the grapes — each step in
the process of the wine’s coming to be is
guided by the vision of what you want it to
become. You must know at a high degree
of detail what the natural process is, what
the dangers are, where to intervene and
where to stay out. Grapes die but wine
emerges; having the skills to guide it appropriately is critical. That is all determined by a winemaker’s vision.
— Sus3an Borden (A87)
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
7
�from the bell towers
2014-2015 NEW
BOARD MEMBERS
The Board of Visitors and Governors
welcomes these new members:
Bryan Dorland (A92), a former Marine, was
an intern at the Naval Research Laboratory’s Space Science Division while attending
St. John’s. He received his MSc and PhD in
physics from the University of Maryland. In
2001, he joined the Astrometry Department
at the U.S. Naval Observatory to work on
astronomical satellites; he is now the head of
the department. In 2012, he was awarded the
Alumni Award of Merit to recognize his professional accomplishments and work in support
of St. John’s and its students.
Ariel Intern
Makes History in
Cancer Research
Rachel Reid (SF14) spent last summer in
a lab at the City of Hope Cancer Research
Center in Duarte, California, researching
the effects of PP2A activation on Acute
Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) cells. She
received an Ariel Internship, a funded
opportunity to explore a possible career
choice. Stephen Forman (A70), the
Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoetic Cell Transplantation at City of
Hope, facilitates biomedical internships
for Johnnies and spent time with Reid describing his own transition from St. John’s
to medical school. “I learned that the days
of the lone genius in the lab are gone,”
says Reid. “Modern science is largely
a collaborative exercise, and St. John’s
provides a great background in learning
and inquiring with other people.”
Under the direction of mentor Dr. Amy
Cook, Reid began by reading research
on the PP2A gene, which she likens to
translating ancient Greek. At first, she
says, it was “about as excruciatingly slow
as translating the first few pages of the
Meno. But the more I read, the faster I
became. I looked up each unfamiliar word
and built my scientific vocabulary slowly.”
Rachel Reid (SF 14)
Next she ran assays to test which cellular pathways a PP2A activator, FTY720,
worked through. PP2A is the gene that
controls cell growth and proliferation. Up
to 70 percent of AML cases show evidence
of PP2A hyper-phosphorylation, “a fancy
way of saying that the gene is underexpressed in cancer cells,” says Reid.
“This is bad, because the role of PP2A is
to ensure that cell growth does not get out
of hand, which would certainly be useful
as a way to control or prevent cancer.” Dr.
Cook, Reid’s mentor, had been having
some success in treating cancer cells in
vitro with FTY720.
The task Reid took up was to further
the understanding of exactly how FTY720
was able to inhibit the growth of cancer
cells. The two main assays she conducted
were Quantitative Real Time Polymerase
Chain Reactions (rt qPCRZ) and Western
Blots. “What this boils down to is that I
did a lot of moving very small amounts of
liquids into different tubes and then cooking them,” says Reid. “Toward the end
of my internship I was able to prove that
FTY720 can affect an oncogene cluster to
the GSK36 pathway – and I was the first
person in the history of the human race to
know that.”
—Jennifer Levin
8 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
John L. Gray (EC12) was
named the director of the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
in May 2012. Previously, he
was the founding president
of the Autry National
Center of the American
West and created the Institute for the Study
of the American West. During his prior career
in commercial banking, he served as executive vice president of First Interstate Bank of
California in Los Angeles (1987-1996). He is
a member of the Presidents’ Council.
Wilfred M. (Bill) McClay
(A73) is the G.T. and Libby
Blankenship Chair in the
History of Liberty and
director of the Center for
the History of Liberty at
the University of Oklahoma. An award-winning
author, he has taught at numerous universities and served on the National Council on
the Humanities (2002-2008). He and his wife,
Julie Holt McClay, are members of the Presidents’ Council and the parents of two alumni,
Barbara (A12) and Mark (A09).
Joshua Rogers (A98)
founded Arete Wealth
Management, LLC in 2007
and currently serves as the
CEO, president, and wealth
advisor. Previously, he
spent eight years at American Express Financial Advisors/Ameriprise Financial, ultimately serving
as field vice president in the Chicago market
group. As an entrepreneur with Walker Digital,
he was a co-inventor of a number of patents,
including the “name your own price” e-commerce concept, which today is the backbone
of Priceline.com. He serves on various literary,
art, and business boards in Chicago.
�from the bell towers
Preserving Our Socratic Inheritance
In honor of the 50th anniversary
of the founding of the Santa Fe
campus, St. John’s hosted a
national conference on liberal
education in October. More than
two years in the making, emanating from concerns of the college’s
faculty regarding questions
central to today’s debates around
higher education, the event on
the Santa Fe campus was at once
substantive and celebratory—and
noteworthy to a wide audience.
We hosted more than 200 participants, including over 70 paper
presenters.
Under the rubric “What is
Liberal Education For?” the St.
John’s way was often thematic:
tutor David Levine (Class of 1967)
and Annapolis President Chris
Nelson (SF70) addressed the
purposes of the Program; tutors
Eva Brann (H89) and Peter Pesic
explored the “immediacy” and “wonder”
that animate what we do; tutors Chester
Burke (A74) and Cary Stickney (A75)
chaired a roundtable discussion exemplifying our study of “scientific” texts by
discussing a selection from Maxwell.
What was most visible from the outside
was the permanent (and presently acute)
debate regarding whether the liberal arts
stand as ends in themselves or whether
they must serve the practical and political ends of career and citizenship—and
whether this question has a different
character now than it has before.
There were speakers from Zaytuna College and Dharma Realm Buddhist University – the first Islamic liberal arts college
in America and a Buddhist great books
college, respectively – who have looked
to St. John’s for inspiration and who
renew the courageous spirit of “founders” so characteristic of what brought our
Program into existence. Dean GAN Yang
of Boya College (the flagship experiment
Many participants commented on what we at St.
John’s take for granted: the
unafraid, unapologetic, and
direct questions of our students—that great Socratic
inheritance that our college
has passed on to every
generation of Johnnies.
part of the antidote to the creeping
invasion of attention-stealing marketing and proliferating screens.
Many participants commented on
what we at St. John’s take for granted: the unafraid, unapologetic, and
direct questions of our students—
that great Socratic inheritance
that our college has passed on to
every generation of Johnnies. Many
academics reminded us that St.
John’s is still looked to as a model of
what they try to do in their home institutions. At the same time, many
legitimate challenges were raised
to the complacency, self-regard, or
homeostasis of the liberal arts.
In hindsight it seems to me that
the tacit thesis of the conference
was that liberal education is for the
sake of our humanity. The common
thread was a defense of humanism,
in a broad and contested, but rigorous, sense. This connected the talks
of all our featured speakers and many if
not all of the panels. It is through liberal
education, in all its dimensions, that we
become and preserve what we are.
The conference confirmed that, after
50 years in Santa Fe and 77 in Annapolis,
the St. John’s Program remains one of the
most important living examples of the
uncompromising pursuit of the true ends
of a liberal education. There could be no
better reason to celebrate our past and
our bright future.
—J. Walter Sterling (A93), tutor
in a western-style liberal arts education
in China today, anchored in the reading of great books of the East and West)
reminded us that we in the West must
excel not just for ourselves but in order to
support the future of liberal education in
China. Matthew Crawford, author of Shop
Class as Soulcraft, argued eloquently that
philosophy’s present imperative to keep
us close to a world of real things will be
An archive of the conference schedule,
video-recorded sessions, and articles on the
conference can be found at www.sjc.edu/
programs-and-events/santa-fe/50th-anniversary-conference. The college is preparing
an audio archive and digital archive of
nearly all the papers delivered.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
9
�from the bell towers
A Conversation
with New Directors
of Admissions
St. John’s welcomes two new admissions
directors: Thomas Weede, who is serving as
interim director in Annapolis, and Yvette
Sobky Shaffer in Santa Fe. Weede has served
at several liberal arts schools, including
Carroll College, Warren Wilson College,
Iona College, and Butler University. Shaffer
was dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at
Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. They share their thoughts on admissions
marketing and how alumni can support
their efforts.
What skills and qualities does a college
admissions director need?
What is most on the minds of prospective
students?
YS: They are terrified of the college search
process. Some of the top schools only accept
4 percent of applications, and students are
urged to write their college essays earlier. For
this high-pressure decision, they seek professional guidance from counselors. Students
often ask how to make that transition from
high school student to adult. We shouldn’t
discount those very human, very necessary
growth opportunities.
How does the admissions staff reach
prospective students?
TW: We make sure that our website is current, with new [elements] that entice people
to visit. Direct mail and advertising on the
internet are other ways. And we visit schools.
doctors, lawyers, scientists, and entrepreneurs St. John’s has produced. This is a
very relevant education, and our alumni
outcomes are amazing. We should share
that with the world.
How has the Summer Academy impacted
enrollment?
YS: It has been hugely influential. Our
classroom methods are transformational for
some of these students, who are especially
surprised by the math and science components. Many students who weren’t considering St. John’s changed their minds after
attending the Summer Academy. About 25
percent of its participants become St. John’s
students, but the 75 percent who didn’t go
to the Summer Academy also speak lovingly
about their time here.
TW: Be open to new ideas and to what data
suggests, but not ignorant about what your
gut tells you. The best schools compete for
the best students, embracing marketing to
build their brand. This new language for
higher education is used at every level, from
top colleges to community colleges.
YS: In the last 10 to 15 years, schools have
more marketing savvy. The internet has
changed the “gate keeper” admissions
model in which students apply to an administrator processing papers. You have to keep
up with what is happening in the private sector, too, because the most successful schools
are doing so.
How is St. John’s addressing those
changes?
YS: The new website is a big step, optimizing search engines to help students find St.
John’s College. That is really important.
St. John’s should own that we are the great
books school, and our website is a key component. Marketing is not about changing
St. John’s. It’s about being authentic and
finding the people who are interested in who
we are and what we have to offer.
TW: Admissions has always been about relationships, and we encourage our admissions
teams to get to know the students and to be
trusted advisors. Through discussion, we
draw an accurate picture of the institution
and the staff helps to end [possible] misperceptions. It’s a tried and true St. John’s way.
YS: Word of mouth really helps. Our amazing alumni base speaks highly of their education. I’m delighted by the One Alum|One
Referral program. That kind of personal
attention from alumni is key to leading
students to the college.
How else can alumni support Admissions
efforts?
TW: The most important way is by helping
the right students find out about St. John’s.
Alumni can call or meet with students, usually after acceptance, to talk about their St.
John’s experience and life after St. John’s.
We are always looking for volunteers to help
with college fairs.
YS: Every time you give a lecture or talk
to business contacts, mention your alma
mater. People are shocked at how many
10 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Yvette Sobky Shaffer and Thomas Weede,
directors of Admissions
How would you describe the student
who belongs at St. John’s?
TW: Most importantly, someone decides
that he or she belongs. Our students come
from all over, with different backgrounds
and beliefs. There is little to stereotype,
so it’s difficult to target a specific kind of
student. Our alumni play an important role
in finding new students who have a passion
for reading and asking questions. Alumni
can tap them on the shoulder and say that
there is a place where you can have these
discussions, and you’re going to love every
minute of it.
—Interview by Gregory Shook
�from the bell towers
ALUMNI
AMBASSADORS:
RECRUITING
FUTURE JOHNNIES
Alumni in all career fields are encouraged
to talk about St. John’s to college-bound
students. Mentors are adults with whom
“young people have an affinity or connection,” says James Mikkelson (SFGI86), an
English teacher at the Shanghai American
School in China, where he has worked for
the last 10 years. Students “want to hear
when someone thinks a school would be
right for them.” One Alum|One Referral is
a new program that helps alumni connect
relatives, family friends, or anyone they
think will thrive at St. John’s with the college’s admissions offices.
James Mikkelson (SFGI86)
“�When I see intelligent
students who want to read
outside the curriculum, I
suggest they look into St.
John’s. These students are
sincere in their efforts to
get the most out of their
education, [and] willing to
take risks orally and verbally to get that education.”
Word of mouth is also a
valuable resource for the
college’s admissions efforts.
“When I see intelligent
students who want to read
outside the curriculum, I
suggest they look into St.
John’s,” says Mikkelson.
“These students are sincere
in their efforts to get the
most out of their education,
[and] willing to take risks
orally and verbally to get
that education.”
Mikkelson, who keeps a St.
John’s poster on his classroom door, emphasizes how
crucial the liberal arts are.
One of his first students,
Dohee Kang (SF14), was a
member of the Socratic Club
that Mikkelson founded at the
Shanghai American School;
they read and discussed
Plato’s Republic. “People in
my high school were really
competitive, trying to get
into prestigious universities,”
says Kang. “Everything was
geared toward résumés, and
I wanted something different.” Kang had
to convince her parents that St. John’s was
right for her. “I got into the University of
Chicago, where they wanted me to go,” she
says. “Mr. Mikkelson helped give me the
courage to make my own decision.” After
graduating from St. John’s, Kang attended
the college’s Summer Film Institute in Santa
Fe and is now earning her master’s in Eastern Classics at the Graduate Institute.
Cynthia Ma (SF16) attended the Shanghai
American School but was not in Mikkelson’s
class. Her guidance counselor suggested
that she talk to Mikkelson about choosing a
college. They wound up reading Crime and
Punishment together. “I was really nervous
about coming to St. John’s,” says Ma. “But
Mr. Mikkelson made me feel comfortable
with the learning style. Talking to St. John’s
alumni, I got an accurate picture of what
[my experience] would be like.”
ONE ALUM | ONE REFERRAL
www.sjc.edu/1alum1referral
Do you know a student who belongs at
St. John’s? Alumni referrals are one of the
most effective sources for prospective applicants. The Alumni Association is calling
upon all Johnnies to refer promising high
school students to the admissions offices
through the One Alum| One Referral campaign. It’s not too late to refer applicants
for the 2015 admissions cycle. Participate
today and help the college discover the
next generation of Johnnies.
For more information about the
One Alum|One Referral program:
www.sjc.edu/alumni/1alum1referral
—Jennifer Levin
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
11
�from the bell towers
Learning for
Learning’s Sake
During the past three years as a St. John’s
student in Annapolis, I have visited most
of the monuments in Washington, D.C. In
the fall of my senior year, I finally had the
opportunity to visit the Supreme Court
during a field trip arranged by the Career
Services Office, with more than a dozen
Johnnies. Stepping into the U.S. Supreme
Court’s Great Hall, I was surprised by
the vast, empty space, wondering if the
Supreme Court of Korea looked the same.
I kept thinking back to Korea and my
decision to withdraw from the university
there to come to St. John’s.
Leading us into a courtroom that was
much smaller than I had imagined, our
guide explained that people sometimes
camp outside in order to claim a seat for
important cases. I was shocked; I could
not imagine people camping outside the
Supreme Court of Korea. The guide said
that justices have already read the case
documents, so they ask the lawyers questions during the oral argument. Then the
justices meet privately to discuss the case.
This process reminds me of seminar at St.
John’s; we each bring our own thoughts
and opinions to the table and work
together to get closer to the truth and
gain a deeper understanding of important
questions.
The judicial process implies a certain
trust that rightful decisions will be made,
based on the facts of a case, the arguments
of the lawyers, and the wisdom of the
justices. We at St. John’s have the freedom
to examine questions and issues from
infinite perspectives, whereas justices
must make decisions within a given time
frame. Whether in court or in seminar, we
trust human reason and our capacity to
work together.
When I studied U.S. and international
law at my university in Korea, I learned
about famous Supreme Court cases, but it
was through my experience at St. John’s
that I was able to think about the cases
ANYI GUO (A14)
By Eunji Kim (A15)
Whether in court or in
seminar, we trust human
reason and our capacity to
work together.
beyond their summaries. I look forward to
reading actual cases and opinions during
my final semester; I can sense how much
deeper understanding I will have.
At my previous university, I memorized
facts for exams—and then forgot most of
them. I questioned what I was actually
learning. In Korea, many students study
for the sole purpose of doing well on tests,
in order to get into a good college, where
the focus shifts to boosting their résumés
to land a good job. Consequently, education becomes less about learning and
more about competition.
At St. John’s, classes are a collaborative
environment where we learn together. It’s
not about efficiency; discussion is part
of the learning process. We are willing to
take “wrong turns” because sometimes
that is how we get further along the path
of considering the question at hand.
12 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
While watching tutors lead classes, I’ve
learned to value patience and listen to
every voice. Each of us brings something
unique to the table. Our classes have
shown me a way in which education can
happen without being about rankings. Everyone contributes and everyone wins. As
someone interested in working in the education field, I can recall my experience
at St. John’s to figure out what education
should be like. What I read and learn here
becomes part of me, remaining with me in
a way that memorized facts do not.
I have gotten what I expected and more
from my St. John’s experience. I have
confronted texts that I would never have
encountered on my own. The curriculum
has a richness that you don’t get anywhere
else. It can be subtle, but it has changed
how I view myself and the world.
Senior year speaks well to this transition. It has made me question what I know
and be open to a larger world of possibilities. Looking at what I’m reading this
year, I realize how different it would be if
I had read it as a freshman. It makes me
want to reread everything from freshman
year. I have grown and learned so much at
St. John’s and I am very thankful.
�from the bell towers
p a t h way s
“�I plan to pursue a career as
a professor of literature and
WRITING FROM
creative writing. This path
THE START
will allow me to write, to
Nathaniel Goldman’s (A14) fascination with
continue to question what
writing fiction began around the time he
learned to walk. “Reading and writing ficit means to write and why it
tion was always a big part of my childhood,”
says Goldman. By high school, he was ready matters, and to cultivate new
to attend the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio,
voices and join with them in
where he was exposed to a breadth of
literary works and developed an affinity for
studying great voices of the
science fiction. He also wrote flash fiction,
past and present.”
penning a 50,000-word story in a month.
ANYI GUO (A14)
Now he realizes that he prefers writing
short, complete works instead of novels.
Nathaniel Goldman (A14)
At St. John’s, Goldman was co-editor of The
Gadfly and Energeia, edited the admissions
blog “Johnnie Talk,” and assisted students
with their essays. “It was interesting, as I
had mostly written fiction before I came
here,” says Goldman. “I hadn’t done a lot
of journalistic, essay, or expository writing
outside of class. The first thing I wrote [at
St. John’s] was a profile of Ms. Kraus during
her first year as dean.”
In 2013, he received a Pathways Fellowship
to attend the Yale Writers’ Conference in
New Haven; the summer program’s workshops covered general fiction and short
fiction. In 2014, Goldman developed his
portfolio at the Tin House writers’ work-
shop at Reed College. During his “Choosing
St. John’s” speech for the Caritas Society,
Goldman said, “I plan to pursue a career
as a professor of literature and creative
writing. This path will allow me to write, to
continue to question what it means to write
and why it matters, and to cultivate new
voices and join with them in studying great
voices of the past and present.”
Currently based in Madison, Wisconsin,
Goldman is a technical writer for Epic, an
electronic medical record company, and
continues to write fiction.
—Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
Princeton in Africa
On October 23, at its annual gala in New
York City, Princeton in Africa presented
The Princeton in Africa Medal to Paul
Tierney, his wife, Susan, and their children, Michael, Trish, and Matt. Tierney is
a former member of the St. John’s College
Board of Visitors and Governors, who
serves on the Presidents’ Council. The
family received the award for their volunteer and philanthropic work encouraging
innovative, sustainable solutions across
Africa, their expansion of opportunities
for African women, and their company’s
efforts to bring investment funding and
much-needed attention to companies and
communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Princeton in Africa is an independent nonprofit organization based in
Princeton, New Jersey, which develops
young leaders committed to Africa’s
advancement. Since its founding in 1999,
Princeton in Africa has sent nearly 400
Fellows to 35 countries to support dozens
of inspiring host organizations. “Each of
the Tierneys spent a formative period of
time in Africa or Latin America and demonstrates how a year of service as a young
adult, such as the fellowships offered by
Princeton in Africa, can be life-changing,” said Jim Robinson, president of the
Princeton in Africa Board of Directors
and father of a former Princeton in Africa
Fellow. “We are honored to be able to recognize the Tierneys’ individual achievements and their remarkable commitment
as a family to Africa.”
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
13
�from the bell towers
Virtually Socratic
Johnnies yearning to gather around the seminar table for good conversation may look
no further than their computers, tablets, or
smart phones. The Graduate Institute Leadership Series, an initiative launched in January 2013 by Associate Deans Jeff Black and
David Carl, Santa Fe tutor Lise van Boxel,
and former Marine Brian Wilson (AGI13),
is one of the latest offerings for engaging
online dialogue. St. John’s tutors and graduate students with active military experience
host two-hour seminars online (and in
person) on classic works of military history,
as well as leadership and persuasion.
Primarily aimed at active-duty military
service members and alumni with a military
background, seminar readings have included
Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, the “Melian Dialogue” from Thucydides’s The History of the
Peloponnesian War, and Sophocles’s Ajax,
among others. Black and van Boxel have
co-led several seminars, including Machiavelli’s The Prince and Book I of Xenophon’s
Cyropaedia. Wilson, who describes his previous academic background at the U.S. Naval
SANTA FE WELCOMES
MARGARET MERTZ (SF83)
BACK TO CAMPUS
The Santa Fe campus has
welcomed Margaret Mertz
(SF83) as its new director of
Development. Before taking
this position, Mertz served
as the associate dean for
Research, Technology, and
Administrative Affairs in the
College of Fine Arts at the University of Florida.
She also held the positions of executive director
of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute of the Arts, and
dean of the Division of General Studies at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Earlier
in her career, Mertz held many teaching and
administrative posts at St. John’s College in Santa
Fe, the United World College of the American West
(UWC-USA), and New Mexico Highlands University.
Mertz recently stepped down as chair of the
Board of Directors for South Arts, the regional
arts organization serving the nine southern
states of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. She received her bachelor’s
Academy as “an English major trapped in a
mechanical engineer’s body,” says that having military and civilian alumni participants
“helps shape the conversation. The seminars
really speak to young leaders.”
A group of entrepreneurial young alumni
based in San Francisco and Washington,
D.C. are also contributing to the online
revolution. Adam Braus (SF08), along with
Micah Davis (SF10) and Zhenya Ogorodova
(SF08), share their love of great books and
conversation through Conversera.com,
their new online learning company. Braus
describes it as “the next step in a tradition
that goes back to Stringfellow Barr and Mortimer Adler.” The curriculum includes seminars on a variety of short stories, science,
degree from St. John’s in Santa Fe, and her
master’s and doctoral degrees in music from
Harvard University.
“I am thrilled to be ‘coming home’ to St. John’s
College and Santa Fe. This opportunity to work on
behalf of the college is the fulfillment of a lifelong
dream,” says Mertz. “I believe deeply in the St.
John’s Program and the students and faculty who
embody its extraordinary vision and relevance.”
— Susan Kaplan
ANNAPOLIS WELCOMES
NEW DIRECTOR IN
ADVANCEMENT
Ellen Wise joins the Annapolis advancement staff as director of Major and Planned
Gifts with more than 15
years of advancement experience. She previously served
as director of Development
for the College of Arts &
Sciences at the University of
Delaware and as director of Individual Giving for
Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.
She earned a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth
14 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
and novellas. Many of the seminar facilitators are Johnnies – Elaine Bomford (SF79),
Aric Doak (SF08), Steven Ellerd (AGI13),
and Alexander Kast (A06) – who take joy in
introducing other lifelong students to the
St. John’s approach to understanding the
classics. “We do not see ourselves as competition for St. John’s but rather a complementary service,” notes Braus. “We hope that
people who can’t come to St. John’s can use
Conversera to get a similar experience.”
Alumni everywhere can also continue
the conversation through the St. John’s
All Alumni Virtual Chapter. Since October
2013, alumni and tutors have met online
on the first Sunday of each month for
90-minute seminars on great works drawn
from the college’s curriculum and beyond.
Recent seminars have included the first
two books of the Iliad, Plato’s Meno, and
Aristophanes’s The Clouds, among others.
To see upcoming Virtual Chapter seminar
offerings, visit bit.ly/1ySc6fs.
—Gregory Shook
Read more about the St. John’s College
Graduate Institute Leadership Series at
www.facebook.com/SJCLeadershipSegment.
University and an MA in English literature from
Washington College.
Wise describes herself as “the world’s oldest
emerging poet,” due to her late start as a writer
and the slow pace of her work. In 2002 five
of her poems were set to music by American
contemporary composer Adolphus Hailstork. The
resulting song cycle has been performed in the
United States and abroad; she was in attendance at a particularly memorable performance
in Auvillar, France. Wise’s poems have been
published in numerous small journals and online.
She is the recipient of a Maryland Arts Council
Individual Artist Award and a Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation Creative Fellowship, and she serves
on the board of Perugia Press, a prize-winning
publisher of emerging women poets. Wise and
her husband Fred are avid sailors who live on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Wise says she is looking forward to meeting
with alumni and friends of St. John’s, but has a
lot to learn before she begins visiting donors. “I’ll
be spending the first six weeks with the college
immersing myself in what I now know is ‘Johnnie
culture,’ ” she says. “I’ve worked for many years
in higher education, but the experience that St.
John’s alumni share is completely different from
anything I’ve seen before.”
�from the bell towers
A National Prison
Project Internship
Sheds Light on Law
Andy Blanco (A15) finished reading a letter
from a prisoner in Arizona about inmates
who got into trouble because they did CPR on
another inmate who was having a heart attack
while the guards were just watching. This
letter was one of hundreds waiting for him on
his desk last summer when he interned for
the National Prison Project in Washington,
D.C. “It was a state-wide case, where we
were assisting all the prisoners in Arizona to
sue the Arizona prison system over conditions,” says Blanco. “One of my jobs was to
read all the prisoner mail that came in from
Andy Blanco (A15)
“�In this job, you can actually change how the law
works in this country. All
the cases are huge cases.
The Arizona case will affect
every prisoner in Arizona,
and everybody who goes to
prison in Arizona forever.”
Arizona.” With 30,000 people in Arizona
prisons, “that’s obviously a lot of mail.”
Having dealt with murder cases during
his previous internship at a criminal law
office, Blanco knew that his Hodson internship at the Prison Project would not be easy.
But he was shocked by the brutality of some
aspects of prison life. He had to learn to
respond to these letters and to pick prisoners who might be good witnesses. “At least
the office environment was very positive and
stress free,” he says. “It helped me deal with
all the difficult subject matter, and reminded
me that the work was meaningful.”
Until Blanco heard about the Prison Project, working with prisons had never crossed
his mind. He was planning to apply to law
school. When he read an article in the Gadfly about Margaret Winter (Class of 1966),
the associate director of the Prison Project,
he realized that he wanted “to do something
related to criminal defense or civil rights. I
don’t want to be a prosecutor. I want to be
the kind of lawyer that helps people.”
Blanco finds it exciting that in this job,
“you can actually change how the law works
in this country. All the cases are huge cases.
The Arizona case will affect every prisoner
in Arizona, and everybody who goes to
prison in Arizona forever. You can’t be a
zealot and do that kind of work because it
will crush you. But you have to care a lot.
The people here are pushing the needle;
a lot of the stuff they are advocating for is
probably a few decades from happening. But
it might become the norm one day. So they
do a huge service to society.”
Blanco is the first in his nuclear family to
attend college; although both his grandfathers went to college, his parents chose not to
go. He spent a few years as a manager at Papa
John’s Pizza before he chose St. John’s. “I was
making a lot of money and I was pretty successful, but I knew it was a short-term thing.”
He had taken AP courses in high school and
some community college classes, which he
found “dissatisfying.” When he heard about
St. John’s through a friend, he knew it was
exactly what he wanted—the “most superior
education that I could find.” He feels that St.
John’s has “opened a lot of doors for me.”
Before coming to St. John’s, law was one
of several careers that interested Blanco. He
settled on law during his sophomore year;
the internships that followed have confirmed his choice.
St. John’s also led him to appreciate more
aspects of life. “When I was in high school,
I just loathed math and science. I’ve come
to enjoy and appreciate [them] here at St.
John’s, so that’s been a huge gift.” In addition, “St. John’s has opened up the whole
world of literature and music for me to investigate on my own.”
Although Blanco has kept his original plan
to go to law school, he says that his internship
has “opened my eyes to impact litigation,
and the possibility of a career as a lawyer
who’s not only defending people in court for
a particular crime.” As part of the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National
Prison Project is “a big organization. I could
see myself going back there one day.”
—Eunji Kim (A15)
Summer
Academy 2015
at St. John’s College
AN INTELLECTUAL
ADVENTURE
for High School Students
Students from around
the world immersed
themselves in Summer
Academy 2014 in Santa
Fe and Annapolis.
Learn more: www.sjc.edu
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
15
�tutor view
Two
Campuses
16 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Two campuses, one in Santa Fe
and one in Annapolis, 1,628 miles
apart horizontally and a little over
7,000 feet vertically, have the same
Program. It is a bit of a conundrum
when you think about it.
�Of course, the metaphysicians
among us might supply the
reassuring information that for
any two things to be the same,
they must be different.
As puzzling as this may seem
at first glance, it probably
points the way to understanding
the profound sameness that
constitutes St. John’s College.
Many
Viewpoints
By Jacques Duvoisin (A80)
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17
�tutor view
“�In relation to the program of study, all of us
strive for the same ideal, to guide students to
the discovery of their own insights, holding
our opinions at bay, working to provoke them
to fine-tune whatever articulations of their
thought they happen to be working on.”
What’s the same? The program of study is the same in
spirit and implementation.
Naturally, as you might expect,
there are differences—a few
small variations in the selection and sequence of the readings on the seminar list, as well
as more substantial variations
in the design of some tutorials.
But the core practice of the college does not differ.
On each campus, students
sit around a table and discuss
great books together. They go
to the board in math classes
and demonstrate difficult
propositions from memory
while classmates look on, ask
questions, offer assistance, and
so on. They struggle to teach
themselves ancient Greek so
that they can discuss the meaning of a Sappho poem, or a passage in Sophocles, or a dialectical argument in Plato’s Meno,
again around a big table in the language class. In
the labs, they work toward a meaningful encounter with the natural world, at first gropingly, and
then with ever greater sophistication.
The faculty, too, is the same, as much as it is
possible for two groups of individuals, selected
seemingly by chance, to be the same. In relation
to the program of study, all of us strive for the
same ideal, to guide students to the discovery of
their own insights, holding our opinions at bay,
working to provoke them to fine-tune whatever
articulations of their thought they happen to be
working on. We share our meager wisdom with
them, but we do not substitute it for their own
examination of life.
The Santa Fe campus was founded 50 years
ago, in a climate and culture that could not be
18 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
more different from Annapolis. This new founding has brought aspects of our shared enterprise
to the fore that might not have been quite so
visible before. In the shadow of a different state
house, the challenge to study the great books of
human civilization is influenced by the culture
of New Mexico, among a local populace that
speaks English with a Spanish lilt, with all the
marks of Pueblo culture lovingly preserved in
the city’s architecture. The expanse of the sky is
vast, blue, and inviting, and nearby mountains
allow one to approach it in solitude.
In such a setting, away from the bustle of ambitions that inevitably gather around the capital
of a great nation, it is only natural that the pace
would be slower, and students would find a use
for more leisurely reflection. Classes are longer,
and discussions often follow a less direct path in
the pursuit of insight.
Although students at both campuses have organized many clubs, the outdoor settings have played
a role in the development of intramural sports programs and activities. The glorious, lush lawns of
Annapolis are ideal for soccer, handball, Ultimate
Frisbee, and croquet. In the sprawling mountains
of Santa Fe, students and faculty enjoy access to
unparalleled hiking trails and several world-class
ski resorts within easy driving distance.
One notable difference between the campuses
can be found in the Graduate Institute. In addition to the traditional program that finds a
parallel in Annapolis, the Santa Fe campus also
offers a program in Eastern Classics, which has
proved a boon to many alumni, who apply their
curiosity and formidable conversation skills to
a broader canvas of human thought. It also provides an opportunity for the faculty to find intellectual renewal in the Eastern Classics program,
at those moments when their experience in the
undergraduate program begins to feel constricting, as can happen after a decade or two of work.
It is probably a coincidence, since both campuses have experienced a new influx of interna-
PREVIOUS PAGE: INSIGHT FOTO, SANTA FE, NM
�FRANK OOMS
tutor view
With the influx of international students, “freshman
seminars have to find even more fundamental shared
experiences from which to start.”
tional students, including many from Southeast
Asia, but one cannot help wondering if our experience with the Eastern Classics program has
not helped us make Santa Fe a more welcoming
destination for some of these students. For the
many students who come to us from the mountains of Nepal, it is hard not to suspect that living
among the Sangre de Cristo mountains makes
them feel a little bit more at home.
Speaking of international students, one other
trait both campuses share is the wonderful expansion of class discussion they bring “to the
table.” Before these students arrived, seminars
could count on a stratum of shared experiences
as a starting point. But now, with students from
former Eastern Bloc nations like Bulgaria and the
Czech Republic, from Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, or from India, Nepal, China, Vietnam,
South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Singapore, fresh-
man seminars have to find even more fundamental shared experiences from which to start. In
other words, much more of our shared humanity
can be brought into view in our conversations.
Moreover, it certainly does not hurt to have
students in a language tutorial who have already
had to learn to speak English, or who perhaps
already know how to read Sanskrit, to bring a
new sense of courage and adventure to the task
of learning ancient Greek.
In the face of widespread fears of a decline of
liberal arts education in this country, we find that
their relevance and importance has only been
enlivened by sharing these arts with our international students. Any provincial notion of the
liberal arts as being somehow “western” is hardly
credible after working with students from the
other side of the world, and the depth of our own
commitment is enhanced by the experience.
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�20 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
�1964 — 2014
Santa Fe at 50
A Triumph
of Will.
A Fellowship
of Learning.
A Quixotic
Journey.
OPPOSITE: Don Quixote
ABOVE: Early construction
and Sancho Panza, 1935,
by Ferdinand Desnos.
included Peterson Student Center,
Evans Science Lab, Santa Fe
Hall, and the upper dormitories.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
21
�1964 — 2014
Authors
of Our Own
Story
The Santa Fe
Oral History
Project
by Claudia Hauer
In Part II of Cervantes’ delightful novel,
the characters Don Quixote and Sancho discuss the
choices made by the author of their story in Part
I. The Santa Fe campus’s oral history project has
likewise gone forward without the conventional
boundary between author and character, for the
story continues, and the main characters continue
to reflect on how best to tell it. At St. John’s, we
treasure each voice, and each adds something to
the story. A seminar conversation and the people
who participate in it are one. When I began the
oral history interviews in the spring of 2013, my
goal was to create a venue for our community to
listen to the voices of those who remembered the
founding and seminal moments of the Santa Fe
campus, and to build appreciation for the different
perspectives and tales that make up our story.
My contribution to the project consists of more
than 25 hours of recorded interviews with all living former officers of the Santa Fe campus, many
tutors from the earliest years, illustrious friends
of the college, board members, and current officers. Santa Fe Library Director Jennifer Sprague
(SFGI04, EC09) has taken up the project now; she
is conducting alumni interviews and working with
the librarians and Melissa Stevens, art director/
senior graphic designer, to build an archive for the
history displays. In addition to the voices on tape,
Brian Connolly (SFGI10, EC11) assistant director,
Advancement Services, is preparing transcripts
of the interviews. Sarah Palacios, director of the
Alumni Office, has created a venue for alumni to
submit written contributions.
What have we learned? The opening of the Santa
Fe campus of St. John’s College in September 1964
was simultaneously a triumph of one man’s will, a
12
St. John’s
Moves West
In a bold step in 1961, the
Board of Visitors and Governors of the College voted to
establish a second campus in
the western half of the United
States. The new campus was
to be a duplicate of that in Annapolis in facilities, curriculum,
and enrollment: by this unique
plan of colonization St. John’s
answered the need for expansion while retaining the fundamental educational precepts
to which it was committed.
The College thus embarked on
a plan of growth never before
attempted in this country.
“�Dick Weigle always
wanted the Annapolis
faculty to add to the
reading list Eastern
classics. He was just
passionately interested
in that.”
— Tom Slakey, retired tutor
Original Tutors
$2,750
Cost of Tuition, Room,
and Board
260
Acres
42
Santa Fe, New Mexico, was chosen
from 40 possible sites as the location for the new campus. In reaching this decision, the Board and
the Faculty were impressed by the
need for a good liberal arts college
in the Southwest, independent of
the government or the church. They
were encouraged by a group of
Santa Feans who were deeply interested in establishing such a college
in their city. The cultural orientation
of Santa Fe, with its museums, its
nationally famous summer opera,
and its colony of artists and writers,
was a strong attraction. Proximity
to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, with its superb library and
22 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
wealth of scientific talent, promised
helpful cooperation from both
Laboratory officials and individual
scientists. The 7,000 foot elevation
of the city of Santa Fe offered a
fine year-round climate.
The campus, donated by residents
of Santa Fe, consists of 260 acres
of rolling land in the southeast
corner of the city…A comprehensive master plan has been
designed for a complete campus
for 300-350 students. On April
22, 1963, ground was broken for
the first buildings. Since only a
freshman class will enter when the
campus opens in September 1964,
Readings from Great Books
for Incoming Freshmen
– SF Founding Program Readings
81
Students in the
First Freshman Class
“�I was interested in the
cultural approach that St.
John’s offered … I thought
it was good for the community because it was a
prestigious college … ”
— Bud Kelly
�santa fe at 50
fellowship of new learning, and the start of a quixotic journey of self-definition for an institution that
was not new in conception, but new to the world.
The one man was Richard (“Dick”) Weigle.
Founding tutor Tom Slakey recalls Weigle’s role in
bringing the new campus into being: “[Dick Weigle] originated it and he was its principal promoter
from the very beginning. He was passionate about
liberal education in the St. John’s way, and he just
thought it should be offered to more people. And
when we [in Annapolis] couldn’t accommodate as
many students as wanted to come, he wanted to
come out and start this new college. In fact, his
ambition extended further. His idea was actually to
have a string of six of these small colleges.”
The setting in the foothills on the east side
of Santa Fe was chosen as the site for the second
campus due in part to Robert McKinney, owner of
the Santa Fe New Mexican. He diverted the initial
search party, composed of Weigle, board member
Charles (“Chuck”) Nelson (Class of 1945), and
others, from their visit to view land in California,
and introduced the group to John Gaw Meem, a
notable Santa Fe architect and landowner. Meem
and other local entrepreneurs were eager to bring
a college to Santa Fe, having unsuccessfully attempted to get a small Presbyterian college to open
a campus there.
Meem drove the group in his jeep to a ridge
along the foothills. “Dr. Weigle,” he asked, “if you
had a college here, about how much land would
you need?”
Weigle did a quick calculation. He thought Annapolis had 35 acres. “So I doubled it,” he told tutor emeritus Elliott Skinner later. “Seventy acres,”
he told Meem.
“�The transfer of the soul
of the college was very
successful, partly because there were good
tutors who were quite
willing to move to Santa
Fe and to take on responsibility for training
new people who would
need to get inducted
into the spirit and the
academic aspects of the
college that are most
important.”
—Charles Nelson,
Class of 1945, visitor emeritus
construction has been planned in
several phases to keep pace with
the growing student body. The first
phase provides the classroom and
laboratory buildings, the student
center, and dormitories for 106
students. Basically the facilities in
Santa Fe will parallel those on the
Annapolis campus, but will have
the advantage of being designed
as an integrated, functional whole.
The two campuses will be an
interesting study in similarities and
contrasts. Whereas the older buildings in Annapolis are reminders
of the English colonial heritage of
Maryland’s capital city, those of the
western St. John’s will reflect the
Spanish-Indian origins of the New
Mexican capital. The new buildings
have been designed in a modified
“Territorial,” a regional style easily
adapted for contemporary use.
Their flat-roofed masses will recall
their aboriginal American origin;
the balconies, portales and patios
hearken back to Spain; and the
stuccoed walls and brick cornices
recall the period when New Mexico
was a territory rather than a state.
below: The first commencement
on June 2, 1968 had to be moved
indoors due to rain.
—Bulletin of St. John’s College,
June 1963 – May 1964
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23
�1964 — 2014
“You see that tree over there?” Meem asked,
and pointed up to the north.
Weigle was looking around down at his feet, and
Meem said, “No, over there, over on that ridge. If
you’d be interested in coming out here, I’d be interested in giving you this little piece of land here.”
It turned out to be about 200 acres.
Meem and his fellow townies who supported
the new college took a crash course in the great
books concept. “We all got indoctrinated into
the concept of the great books,” recalls Daniel
T. (“Bud”) Kelly, reminiscing on the orientation seminars. “I was frustrated by the seminar,”
he says. “I was in the army, where you study the
problem and come up with a solution. At St.
John’s, you never get a solution.”
Chuck Nelson recalls an early crisis precipitated
by Weigle’s borrowing from the Annapolis endow-
ment to fund the building project. This loan temporarily severed the college’s relationship with
benefactor Paul Mellon and his Old Dominion
Foundation. In his book, Reflections in a Silver
Spoon (William Morrow, 1992), Paul Mellon wrote:
“In 1963, Dick, finding the Santa Fe campus desperately short of money, ‘lent it’ $2 million from
the Annapolis endowment, contrary to his understanding with the [Old Dominion] foundation. As
a result, the foundation temporarily suspended
matching gifts for endowment to Annapolis.... I
had a very high regard for Dick, and for all that he
had done, so I personally made a gift to the Santa
Fe undertaking in 1970.”
The coming-into-being of the new campus presented new adventures, not just of mind, but of
body as well. George Bingham (SF68) recalls visiting his parents (Clarence Cramer, the first dean,
45
The Campus
Expands
Asserting a modern interpretation of the Territorial style popularized by John Gaw Meem,
one of New Mexico’s most influential architects, Levan Hall
suggests a kinship with the
architectural features of the
college’s other building and
dormitories and offers a fresh
outlook for the campus… Just
as the graduate programs in
Santa Fe span the classics of
Western and Eastern civilizations, Levan Hall synthesizes
Western or perhaps more
accurately, Southwestern and
“� ow with the addition
N
of a central library to
our campus, we have a
fitting and appropriate
place to house the
books that are at the
heart of the St. John’s
educational mission.”
— John Agresto,
former President
Students housed in
Winiarski Student Center
700 lbs.
Weight of the bell in Weigle Hall
25,780
Square footage of Meem Library
left: The construction
of Weigle Hall.
Eastern perspectives. The tall,
stuccoed building is nearly two
and three-fourths floors bottom
to top, yet it is impressive without
being imposing. Inside, plastered
walls soar to meet wood-slat ceilings that simultaneously suggest
traditional vigas and the simplicity of Japanese styling. An open
and inviting quality—evident with
the benches, sofas, and chairs
on landings, in the graduate commons room, and in offices—welcomes students and faculty alike.”
Completed in 2008, the Winiarski
Student Center was principally
funded through a gift from alumni
24 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Warren and Barabara Winiarski.
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.
The 26,000 square-foot Student
Activities Center is home to an array
of personal fitness equipment and
athletic facilities including a fullsize gymnasium, weight room, two
racquetball/squash courts, as well
as shower and locker rooms. In addition, three tennis courts, a soccer
above: The installation of the finial
on top of Weigle Hall.
�santa fe at 50
and his wife) over Labor Day weekend, 1964: “I was,
frankly, skeptical about the prospect of opening for
classes two weeks later. You could pretty much predict a three o’clock rain in the month of August and
there was a lot of plywood . . . . Moving around on
the campus required a certain agility at that time.”
Although the new campus initially imported its
program of instruction from Annapolis, faculty
and officers began to make changes consistent with
their own spirit and the unique character of the
new institution. Tutor emeritus Roger Peterson recalled the passionate devotion that the new faculty
had “to inquiry as opposed to knowledge. The important thing is to ask questions and delve strongly
into them—it’s the delving that counts.” Peterson
led a group of faculty who changed the sophomore
year of laboratory to “a completely new evolutionoriented sequence.” Tutors Ray Davis, Don Cook,
and Elliott Skinner all recalled the faculty’s delight
in this new laboratory. As music grew from an
add-on into a full-time course, the laboratory was
eventually edged out; its curriculum was divided
between the freshman and senior years.
Tom Slakey recalls that the mathematics tutorial
also changed, as an early group of tutors “didn’t like
that we were using an ordinary textbook for calculus. They wanted to do calculus from original texts.”
Much like the early settlers of the Southwest,
the new campus acquired its own character from
the challenges it faced, and the open landscape
that housed it. John Agresto (President 1989-1999)
recalls a line from John Adams’s letters: “Once a
great idea is started, nobody, not even the smartest
person, knows where that idea will lead.”
The Graduate Institute was founded as a summer program for inner city schoolteachers in Santa
“�It [Winiarski Student
Center] qualifies as a
LEED Silver building
— Leadership in Energy
and Environmental
Design, a national
standard. The complex
currently uses energy
gathered from photovoltaics on the roof of a
neighboring dorm, and
has new and efficient
boilers and passive
solar windows, which
means it will receive a
lot of natural light.”
field, a 1/8th-mile track, and a ninehole disc golf course are located
next to the Student Activities Center.
The library, which opened in
November 1990, is named after
Faith and John Meem, generous
benefactors to the Santa Fe campus. About 250 volunteers moved
more than 50,000 books into
Meem Library in six hours using
book bags, carts, and trucks.
— Mary-Charlotte Domandi
(SFGI91)
above: The Faith and
John Gaw Meem Library
left: Library
groundbreaking
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25
�1964 — 2014
Fe in 1967 (and followed in Annapolis in 1977).
Dean and tutor Jim Carey added the Eastern Classics program, which officially joined the Graduate
Institute in Santa Fe in 1994. Agresto began the
now widely popular Summer Classics program in
1991 as a single seminar on Thucydides, led by him
and tutor David Bolotin.
Agresto recalls some of the vision and force
of will that went into bringing about these new
programs. “We were being interviewed for The
Chronicle of Higher Education, Jim Carey and I,
and the woman who was interviewing us said, ‘You
have all these people who think what you’re doing
is wrong, who are opposed to what you’re doing,’”
meaning here at the college, in terms of the Eastern Classics program. ‘Have you ever learned anything from your enemies?’
Jim Carey looked at her and said, “Nope, not one
d—n thing.”
She said, “Can I write that down?”
He said, “It’s true.”
At the opening of Part II of Cervantes’ visionary
novel, Don Quixote anxiously awaits news about
how he himself had been put into a book. The oral
history project has a similar aspect—with so many
memories and tales collected, there are many ways
to tell our story. As we go forward, we can take a
lesson from Cervantes’ creativity in breaking down
the boundaries between author and character.
Quixote’s transition from his naiveté to his selfreferential and self-conscious anxiety creates an
analogy for the Santa Fe campus’s progress, from its
ardent youth to the more mature institution of today, which must reflect not just on its own modern
3
Faculty—
Stewards of
the Program
In addition to acquiring competence across the program,
tutors are responsible for
deepening their understanding
of its various parts; they are
responsible for increasing their
understanding of the fundamental questions raised by the
books; they are responsible
for leading classes not from a
position of expertise, but from
a position of active inquiry
through spontaneous collaboration centered on the books
and on where the class is with
respect to the books. For all of
these responsibilities, there is,
to be sure, a private component. All of us must spend a
good deal of time learning
new and difficult things in
the privacy of our offices or
studies. But all of our learning
and preparation culminates in
shared activities: classes with
our colleagues, study groups,
and lectures followed promptly
by a question period.
Classes taught by full-time faculty
7 years
of full-time teaching required
to earn tenure
53
Tenured faculty
3 years
“�I used to drive my professors in graduate school
nuts because I’d go take
these courses in mathematics and whatever
interested me, and my
research would be kind
of secondary. I didn’t fit
in too well in graduate
school, but I fit in very
well at St. John’s.”
— Don Cook, founding tutor
at the Santa Fe campus
26 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Faculty study groups have been a
part of sustaining the intellectual
life of St. Johns tutors since the
New Program was established in
1937. Groups of 4-12 tutors meet
under a variety of circumstances,
reading and working through a
variety of texts, both Program and
non-Program. This kind of study
is important to tutors: it enables
them to think in-depth about a
certain subject or book, when
their normal teaching schedule
calls them to cover material more
quickly; it helps them consider
proposed changes to the Program;
and it helps them prepare to teach
in areas of curriculum where they
may not have much experience.
of service for the Assistant Dean,
who is chosen from among the
tenured faculty
1:8
Faculty to student ratio
5 years
of service for each Dean,
who is chosen from among
the tenured faculty
�santa fe at 50
identity relative to its past, but about a broader context of decline in liberal arts enrollment across the
United States. As Santa Fe President Mike Peters
said with respect to the 50th anniversary: “It’s really important that we recognize the pioneers that
brought the college here, and we celebrate what the
college has accomplished. But it’s also important to
commit ourselves to its being around for another
fifty years, and do everything we can—as individuals
and as a group—to makes sure that it not only survives but that it thrives in the future.”
In this spirit, we hope you enjoy the oral history
project, for it is simultaneously a rich and wonderful
story, and also an opportunity to reflect and dedicate
ourselves anew as the characters who will usher St.
John’s College Santa Fe into its second 50 years.
Michael Peters, president,
Santa Fe
Claudia Hauer is a tutor in Santa Fe.
“�In my first freshman
seminar, my co-tutor was
Sam Brown. He was a
musician who’d gone to
Black Mountain College.
In seminar he’d be really
low-key; the discussion
would be going on, and
[after a while] he would
ask [students to repeat
what they’d said earlier],
and then it was like all
of a sudden everything
would come together
with a great sense of
excitement. Eventually
I realized he was like a
conductor. But it was
so subtle that nobody,
I think, realized it was
going on. We thought
we were just doing it
ourselves. That was a
great lesson in teaching.
— Elliot Skinner, founding
tutor at the Santa Fe campus
David Levine, tutor
“�We, the tutors, are not
content with imparting
bare skills and empty
generalizations, not
sastified with conveying the results of our
own or others’ thinking without requiring
that you develop your
own capacities for such
thoughtfulness.”
— David Levine, tutor
“�The kinds of things our
students study provide
them the opportunity
not only to be well educated and make a life for
themselves, but also to
be great citizens because
they’ve grappled with
the challenges that have
faced mankind since the
beginning of recorded
time, and they’ve been
exposed to the ideas
and documents that
underpin the American
democratic republic.”
— Michael Peters, president,
Santa Fe
below: SuSu Knight, the first
tenured female tutor.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
27
�28 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
�three johnnies today
S H A P I N G
T H E
FUTURE
Greek philosopher Heraclitus is often quoted as saying, “Change is the
only constant in life.” These three Johnnies are proponents of change –
impacting contemporary society as well as the next generation of learners –
by illuminating the evolution of gaming technology in education, exploring
the great books and their timeless questions of human existence, and
helping federal agencies to link health research and policy to practice.
Gaming in the Classroom
Greg Toppo (sf 85) Engages
Students through Technology
I
PHOTO: LISA MELONI RAGUSA
by Paula Novash
n the introduction to Greg Toppo’s (SF85), forthcoming book, The Game Believes in You:
How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter, there is a line that might cause the reader to
think about what has been considered “new technology” through the ages (especially if you’re
a Johnnie). Toppo, the national education reporter for USA Today, writes: “Asking if schools
can accommodate games, according to University of Wisconsin scholar Kurt Squire, is like
asking 500 years ago if universities could accommodate books.”
Toppo’s fascinating account of the evolution of gaming in education and the visionaries who develop these
new technologies will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in April. His research reveals that games make
school more rigorous and interesting by giving kids
engaging systems for learning new material. Gaming
technology has come a long way since elementary
students in the ’80s played “The Oregon Trail” on
bulky PCs. The Game Believes in You features innovators who are creating a video game version of “Walden
Pond,” an app called “Stride and Prejudice” that
features a pixilated Elizabeth Bennet jumping over the
entire 121,873 words of unabridged Austen text, and
an original opera staged entirely in the online game
“Minecraft,” among many other futuristic products.
“The idea is, let’s make school harder and more
fun,” Toppo explains.
Toppo grew up in Port Chester, New York. “I had
a preoccupation with books and reading, though I
wouldn’t say I was well-read,” he says. He applied to
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
29
�three johnnies today
St. John’s after seeing a flyer in his English
class that referred to Plato and similar
luminaries as returning professors. “It
also inspired a lot of my contemporaries to
attend,” he says.
Because he had never been west of
Philadelphia, Toppo decided to study in
Santa Fe after his freshman year. “I spent
a lot of time reading in the French pastry
shop off the Plaza,” he recalls. He also met
Julie Neidorf (SF85), his wife and fellow
Johnnie, the daughter of Robert Neidorf
(H83), longtime dean of the Santa Fe campus. The two began dating four years after
graduation, having become friends during
a teaching internship.
Toppo taught for eight years in both
public and private schools before pursu-
“�Ten years ago, teachers who
were using games were outliers.
Now teachers who don’t use
games are the outliers.”
ing a writing career. He began freelancing
for the Santa Fe daily, The New Mexican,
and was hired in 1995. His story about a
“resplendent day” at the paper highlights
the differences between news reporting
then and now.
“We had an ongoing rivalry with the
other paper in Santa Fe, the Albuquerque
Journal North,” he recalls. “There was a
new injunction forbidding skateboarding
on the Plaza, near where our offices were
located, and one day some police officers arrested a kid on a skateboard. The
crowd got a little rowdy and an almost-riot
on the Plaza broke out. Our newsroom
emptied out to cover it! The other paper
never heard a thing about it so it was a big
scoop—our front-page story the next day.”
“Now,” he continues, “Kids and
onlookers would be tweeting and texting,
and so would the paper.”
As an early adopter of Twitter – he has
almost 19,000 followers – Toppo sees
mostly positives in using social media. “I
think it’s great to have many platforms
to put more news out there,” he says.
“Twitter has been really helpful for finding sources who are willing to talk to me,
especially kids. I’ve done entire interviews
with kids via text messaging.”
It was in Santa Fe that Toppo began doing more reporting on educational topics.
“When our official education reporter
was busy, people would say, ‘Hey, didn’t
Greg teach?’” Toppo recalls. Toppo and
his family, which includes two daughters,
moved back east in 1998 when he took a
job with The Associated Press, working in
the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. bureaus before joining USA Today in 2002.
Toppo began researching The Game
Believes in You during a 2010 Spencer
Fellowship at the Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism. The title
refers to experts’ findings that for many
students, games provide a reassuring environment with opportunities to learn at
their own pace, take risks, and try again.
“A game is a designed system,” Toppo
explains. “School is a designed system too,
just not as well designed as it once was.”
Just as some people used to be suspicious of the corrupting effects of books,
today there is a lively debate about the role
of technology in education. Toppo can
appreciate opposing views, but from his
research, he says, games in the classroom
are here to stay.
“Ten years ago, teachers who were using games were outliers,” he points out.
“Now teachers who don’t use games are
the outliers.”
“For many kids, especially those who
don’t fit the profile of that student in a perfect middle, school may be just awful—boring and disheartening,” Toppo continues.
“So shouldn’t we be looking at what kids
are paying attention to and what’s working
for them, and go down that path?”
30 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Naturally
Gifted
James Myers
(sf 09) Gets Paid
to Learn Latin
by Gregory Shook
J
ames Myers (SF09) calls
several places “home.” A
native of Charlotte, North
Carolina, Myers attended
Woodberry Forest School,
a private boarding school
in Madison County,
Virginia. After two years at St.
John’s in Annapolis, he packed up
his road-worn 1999 Ford Expedition
and drove west to Santa Fe, where he
graduated in 2009. Five years later,
Myers has a new home at Chandler
Preparatory Academy in Chandler,
Arizona, a member of the Great
Hearts Academy network of schools
in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
At Chandler Prep, where Myers is
considered a “master teacher of classical
languages,” he instructs middle and
high school Greek and Latin, as well
as Humane Letters—seminars on great
works of Western civilization, similar to
the St. John’s Program. “I really want to
teach 10th grade Humane Letters next
year,” he says. “Then I’ll be able to say
that I have taught all the seminars on the
school’s curriculum before I’m thirty.”
Myers has a natural aptitude for
teaching, though he admits that he fell
into his profession largely by chance.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do,” he
�three johnnies today
says. “I got really lucky.” On the precipice
of graduation, he met a recruiter from
Great Hearts; he flew to Phoenix for a
round of interviews and soon fielded offers
from two different schools. Self-confidence plays an important role in Myers’
accomplishments as a teacher. “I learned
Latin in order to pretend that I could teach
it,” explains Myers, who says that his first
day at the head of the classroom “felt like
something that I was destined to do.”
As a student, Myers did not enjoy reading until he came to St. John’s, where
discussing books and ideas in seminar
brought the pages to life. “I still don’t
read much unless I’m going to talk about
a book,” says Myers, who has led seminars
this year on Augustine’s Confessions,
Dante’s Inferno, and Aquinas’ Treatise on
Law, among others. In seminar, Myers
says he is playfully serious with his own inquiry into the text. In his language classes,
his secret to success is simple: keep the
pace moving. “You cannot just sit silently
in a class waiting for a student to figure
out an answer to a question,” he says. “If
they don’t know it, you move on quickly.”
Above all, though, Myers wants his students to be fearless of making mistakes for
the sake of learning.
Myers was first bitten by the Latin bug
after his sophomore Greek language
tutorial at St. John’s. During the summer
before his junior year, when most of his
classmates took a reprieve from the rigors
of academic life, Myers enrolled in an
intensive Latin course at the University
of South Carolina. The experience both
deepened his love of classical languages
and set the stage for his future. “My first
year [at Chandler Prep], I taught intro
to Latin to sixth graders,” says Myers. “I
was successful with teaching as well as
classroom management, so the school
asked me to teach Latin 3 the next year to
freshmen.” Once again, Myers dedicated
his summer to honing his Latin language
skills, which he continues to enhance on
“�I had no idea what I wanted
to do. I got really lucky.”
the job. “At the end of my second year I
could read Virgil pretty well,” he says.
“I feel like I have literally gotten paid to
learn Latin.”
Having planted roots more than 2,000
miles from his hometown, Myers has created a good life, blanketed by big sky and
bold sunsets—his favorite attributes of the
Southwest. An avid hiker and Ultimate
Frisbee player, Myers takes full advantage
of his rugged environs, which have slowly
but steadily transformed him. “I have
opened up a little bit [as a person],” he
says. “But that could just be me growing
up and being comfortable with myself.”
James Myers (SF09), right, and his
fellow teachers celebrate his student’s
senior thesis defense.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
31
�three johnnies today
Breaking Down Silos
Susan Vorkoper (sf 04)
Helps Research Become Policy
A
By Jennifer Levin
s a global health researcher and policy analyst for the Fogarty
International Center at the National Institutes of Health
in Bethesda, Maryland, Susan Vorkoper (SF04) attempts
to speed up the time between when something is proven
with research and when it becomes public policy—when the
people on the ground can incorporate it into programs. Lead
poisoning, for example, has devastating neurological effects that can lead to
comas, convulsions, and even death, especially among children. Starting as
early as 1904, researchers and physicians identified the link between lead-based
paints and lead poisoning in children. However, despite continued research and
mounting evidence, it was not until 1978 that the EPA banned the manufacture
and use of lead-based paint.
“The average time it takes for research to
enter day-to-day practice and even become
policy is 17 years,” says Vorkoper. “Sometimes, like with lead poisoning, this is due
to industry resistance, and sometimes, it’s
a matter of establishing effective communication between relevant parties.”
In 2012, while earning master’s degrees
in public policy and social work from
Washington University in St. Louis,
Vorkoper traveled to Haiti with the nonprofit organization Meds & Food for Kids
and wrote a $1 million grant for funding
from the usda to develop a new Ready-toUse Supplemental Food for school children, similar to nutrient-fortified peanut
butter. Today, one of her biggest projects
is with the President’s Emergency Plan for
aids Relief (pepfar).
Working with federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the State Department, and
the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as researchers in the field,
July 2014. Before graduate school, she
spent two years in the Peace Corps with
her husband, Stephen Vorkoper (SF04),
stationed in Cameroon, which was where
she developed an interest in nutrition and
public health. Before that, she worked
with AmeriCorps Vista, running a youth
literacy program in Salt Lake City, Utah.
She plans to stay at the Fogarty International Center for some time, but predicts
that in the future she will continue to
link research and policy to practice. In
addition, she plans to increase the rigor of
program assessments so that the aid they
offer provides maximum benefit.
Vorkoper assesses how best to leverage
I
pepfar’s hiv/aids platforms to diagnose, “� t’s important to know
treat, and care for non-communicable
diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes,
and cervical cancer.
“A lot of what I do is partnership- and
coalition-building between people who are
working in the same area but may not be
talking to each other,” she says. “Everything I do is about breaking down silos, so
I do almost nothing alone.” At particularly
difficult meetings, she wonders if it would
be appropriate to hand out Stringfellow
Barr’s “Notes on Dialogue.” “I use what
we learned [in seminar] every day,” she
says. “It’s important to know how to lead
and guide a discussion, to make sure
everyone is on the same track and headed
in the same direction.”
Vorkoper secured her current position
thanks to a Presidential Management
Fellowship, a two-year program open to
people who have recently earned advanced
degrees and are interested in government work. She spent six months at the
Fogarty International Center during the
fellowship and has been on staff since
32 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
how to lead and guide a
discussion, to make sure
everyone is on the same
track and headed in the
same direction.”
“We talked a lot about what it means to
be a good citizen at St. John’s, and I really
took that to heart,” she says. “It took me
a while to figure out what I wanted to do. I
kept asking myself where the intersection
was of something I’m good at, something
I’m passionate about, and something
that’s needed. It goes back to the Agora.
How are you a participant? How are you
involved in the dialogue? I realized that
this is how I wanted to be a citizen.”
Right: Susan Vorkoper (SF04) at NIH
�JAMES KEGLEY
three johnnies today
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
33
�bibliofile
Peter Pesic:
Seeing and Touching Sound
“Music is the
hinge between
what is felt and
what is thought;
it connects both
worlds.”
For many, music is a pleasant diversion, an ornament to living.
For scientists, whose work does
not depend on feelings, music
can be an important emotional
outlet, though often considered
inherently derivative because
it seems disconnected from
scientific discovery. Peter Pesic,
tutor emeritus and musicianin-residence at the Santa Fe
campus, resisted this train of
thought for many years. Though
playing the piano was an essential part of his life even as he completed his
doctorate in physics, he gradually realized that
sometimes music has preceded and influenced
discovery in science and mathematics.
He began to notice evidence supporting this
view about 15 years ago through his teaching
at St. John’s. He came to think that what he
had found might change our understanding of
the connections between music, the natural
sciences, and math. He compiled his examples,
researched to fill in gaps in his knowledge. His
fourth book, Music and the Making of Modern
Science (MIT Press, 2014), is a challenging
scholarly work with multimedia components
that Pesic hopes will find an audience curious
about the place where science and art meet. According to Pesic, music, entwined at its essence
with numbers, is that place.
Max Planck, the theoretical physicist known
for discovering quantum theory, was a committed musician who worked with a new harmonium that could divide the octave into 104
steps. Interested in this harmonium’s tuning
possibilities and its relation to how people sang,
he began making experiments with choruses.
“These experiments have a very interesting connection to what he went on to do in
quantum theory, which one might describe as
a new way of tuning the world,” says Pesic. His
book features other scientists and mathematicians with musical research interests, including
Kepler, Newton, Euler, Young, Helmholtz, and
Riemann.
34 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
In his book, Pesic explains that 18th-century
experiments with electricity and magnetism
were influenced by experiments with sound and
pitch. “When you take a metal plate, sprinkle
sand on it, and stroke it with a violin bow, you
see amazing patterns,” he says. “Oersted,
Wheatstone, and Faraday began studying how
those sound patterns might be connected to
similar patterns generated by electricity or
magnetism. These developments in the idea
that you could see sound helped people understand how electricity and magnetism interact
with each other.”
Pesic’s book may also be downloaded as an
iBook with sound examples at http://mitpress.
mit.edu/books/music-and-making-modernscience. Activated by touching the iPad screen,
the sound examples span the fundamental elements of musical sound, Kepler’s music of the
spheres, and what Pythagoras may have heard
in a blacksmith’s shop. Pesic plays and sings
many of the examples; more than 50 recordings
and animations also include Gregorian chants,
choral music, and recreations of Planck’s
experiments with choruses. The book has “different levels of depth,” says Pesic. Readers who
“just want to know the argument can read for
that. Or they can go into the musical examples.
There are many paths of access.”
Thanks to support from the Guggenheim
Foundation, he hopes this book will begin a
new phase in his work, including more books
about music.
“Science tends to be dispassionate,” says
Pesic, who has played numerous piano recitals
in Santa Fe and elsewhere in the United States
and Europe. “I can’t decide to make a scientific
discovery just because I feel a certain way, in
the way you can paint and express a feeling. But
music is the hinge between what is felt and what
is thought; it connects both worlds. A sound is
both a physical sensation and something that
has a mental identity. Music combines feeling
and order, joined mentally but also with a physical thrill.”
—Jennifer Levin
�bibliofile
The Amado Women
By Désirée Zamorano (SF83)
Cinco Punto Press, 2014
In her latest novel, The Amado Women—set
primarily in Los Angeles—Désirée Zamorano
(SF83) aims to debunk popular stereotypes of
Latinas and the Latina experience. She eschews
cardboard constructs such as fiery temptresses
and victimized immigrants to tell the story of a
middle-class mother and her three wildly divergent daughters: a teacher, a financial advisor,
and an artist. The women are bound together
by family, but grapple with personal struggles,
Essential Vulnerabilities: Plato and
Levinas on Relations to the Other
By Deborah Achtenberg (A73)
Northwestern University Press, 2014
What meaning does the presence of the other
hold for us? Is the presence of the self fundamentally in relation to the other? Deborah
Achtenberg (A73), a philosophy professor
at the University of Nevada, Reno, explores
these questions in her new book, Essential
Vulnerabilities (Northwestern University Press,
2014). Modern philosopher Emmanuel Levinas confronted these questions. Achtenberg
argues that Plato, like Levinas, is a philosopher
of the other, but the two philosophers conceive
The Moral Challenge of Dangerous
Climate Change: Values, Poverty,
and Policy
By Darrel Moellendorf (A83)
Cambridge University Press, 2014
“Our world is beset with several pressing problems, including war, intolerance, poverty, and
climate change,” writes Darrel Moellendorf
(A83) in the introduction of his new book, The
Moral Challenge of Dangerous Climate Change
(Cambridge University Press, 2014).
With a growing concern that Frankenstorms
such as Hurricane Sandy and typhoon Haiyan
may be the new normal, he illuminates the importance of our initiatives to exit the fossil-fuel
triumphs, and secrets as they strive for upward
mobility and a piece of the American Dream.
Zamorano, director of Occidental College’s
Community Learning Center in Los Angeles,
California, is committed to raising awareness
of Latinas in the fictional worlds found in mainstream books, films, and television. She is a
Pushcart Prize nominee and an award-winning
short story author whose previous novels, Modern Cons (Lucky Bat Books, 2013) and Human
Cargo (Lucky Bat Books, 2011), as well as her
numerous short stories, explore contemporary
issues of injustice, inequity, and the invisibility
of Latinas.
human vulnerability and responsiveness differently. In her book, she carefully delineates
these and other similarities and differences
between Plato’s and Levinas’s philosophies,
aiming to “resituate Levinas’s work, in order to
grasp what is most unique about Levinas.” By
pairing Plato and Levinas, the book sheds light
on how we consider questions such as “What is
knowledge?” “What is virtue?” “What is goodness?” Through extended textual analysis of
the works of both Plato and Levinas, enriched
by the author’s own translations of Plato’s
works, Achtenberg provides an alternate way
of interpreting Levinasian epistemology and
its true origins in the Western philosophical
tradition.
—Cem Turkoz (A15)
regime; he advances the literature on climate
change by bringing a unique philosophical
perspective to the issue. Moellendorf, professor at Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, is an
internationally known political philosopher
with an interest in questions of global justice.
He argues that climate change policy is a public
problem to which normative philosophy can offer a solution. In his book, he combines discussions of poverty and justice with exploration of
the importance of biodiversity preservation and
the aesthetics of nature. For Moellendorf, the
debate about international climate negotiations
is not only about climate change but also a just
framework for energy consumption, the key, he
says, to wiping out poverty.
—Cem Turkoz (A15)
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2013 |
The College | st. john’s college | spring 2015
35
�alumni notes
1948
Raphael Ben-Yosef (A) writes from
Israel, “In 1951, I was working on
making a seawall into the Red Sea
in Eilat. This involved directing a
crane where to put large granite
rocks we had blasted out of the
mountains (using an instrument
I made from a wooden board and
nails according to a recipe from
Euclid). In the midst of waving my
hands to the crane operator, I heard
a shout and looked around. Emerging from the back of a Jeep pick-up
(there was such a vehicle then) was
Winkie Barr. In those days, to get
to Eilat from Tel Aviv was a 12-hour
ride each way, over rock roadbed for
part of the way. There was this Jeep
which took tourists every two weeks
or so. We talked and then he was
gone, perhaps to the Dead Sea. As
you know, Winkie was a man with
much fire under his red hair.”
1960
Katherine Hsu Haas (A) writes,
“Many of you heard that my beloved
Ray (Class of 1958) died two years
ago. I thought I would not find one
moment of happiness without him,
not after 54 years of marriage. But
life is full of surprises; I became
reacquainted with Bob Feldmann,
who taught English with Ray,
and Walter (Class of 1961) and
Cynthia Voigt, at the Key School
30 years ago. Long story short, Bob
and I married this August. Mary
Gallagher (A) came from N.Y. to
join many relatives and friends for
this happy occasion. Last year, I
visited Rosalie Levine Boosin (A)
and her Joel in NYC. We spent a
most wonderful afternoon in the
Metropolitan Museum dining room
together. I will remember that day
forever; I miss Rosalie, who had the
most positive outlook on life.”
1960
Supporting the Opposition
Mary Campbell
Gallagher’s (A)
new organization,
Americans for
the Preservation
of Paris (APP),
is sponsoring a
petition opposing
plans for skyscrapers in Paris. She
invites other St.
John’s alumni to
sign it and send
it to their friends. The letter that accompanies the petition
explains the issues: http://bit.ly/NoParisSkyscrapers. She
has written and spoken widely on this subject, most recently,
on ‘The Destruction of Paris’ on October 8 at the School of
Architecture of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Her
other company, BarWrite®, won the 2014 Global Legal Skills
Award for its recognition of the special bar exam preparation
needs of lawyers and law students from other countries.
1964
Cecily Sharp-Whitehill (A) writes,
“Greetings from Osprey, Fla. In November 2013 I returned to school—
again; this time to a yearlong course
on the ‘hows’ of being a life coach.
For decades I’ve been informally
encouraging, supporting family,
friends, and near-strangers as they
aim to shed confining roles, their
grim predictions for the future
based on grim pasts, and opening
people to their choices of how they
view everything—how not to be
victims of their ‘lot in life.’ Now,
with a pack of tools, unceasing
curiosity combined with learning
and an increasing clientele roster,
Alliance4DiscoveryCoaching is
joyfully moving forward.”
36 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Judith Wood (A) writes, “I chose
St. John’s because it was the perfect
college to get my first degree before
I went to get my master’s in library
science. However, for various
reasons I left the college after two
years. I married my husband in
1963, and we ended up in California, where I went to a junior college
and became an accountant. I
worked for several companies into
my ’50s, and then decided to see
if I could get accepted at a library
school in California. Of course, I
still needed to get my bachelor’s
degree, so I went to California State
University, San Bernardino, and
graduated after three years. There,
I worked in the library, graduated
Phi Kappa Phi, and was the top
student in my business classes. I
later received my master’s in library
science from San Jose State University in 1998 and started working
as a reference librarian at the main
library of Tulare County Library,
where I worked for 12 years. In fall
2010, a biopsy came back positive
for cancer. I went to see a special
surgeon at UCLA, and he arranged
for a surgery of my mouth. I retired
at age 69, just had my 70th birthday, and have been cancer-free for
almost two years.”
1969
Having retired from the practice of
law, Deborah Moll (A) is concentrating on her longtime pursuit
of photography. In 2013, she was
chosen as the featured artist at the
2013 New Mexico Bar Association
Annual Convention. For the past
three years, she has served as a
panelist for the review and selection
of applicants for grants awarded
by the New Mexico Department of
Cultural Affairs, Arts Division, to organizations supporting the arts. In
2013/14 she has shown photographs
in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Los
Alamos, N.M., as well as in the Santa
Fe New Mexican. She can be reached
at deborahmollphoto@aol.com.
1970
E.M. Macierowski (A) writes,
“I have just received word that
my essay, ‘Geopolitics and the
Persian Gulf: Some Philosophical
Reflections,’ should be appearing
in mid-March in the Festschrift
for Henryk Kiere, professor at the
Catholic University of Lublin. And
I have been selected a fellow of the
Adler-Aquinas Institute.”
John Dean (A) writes, “Time rolls
on and I am now a professor at Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w
Poznaniu Wydział Anglistyki Collegium Novum (Adam Mickiewicz
University in Pozna, Poland). In
some ways, it’s a long way from Paris and the University of Versailles,
�alumni notes
1980
Head of the Rock
Jamie Whalen (A)
finished second in
the Men’s Masters
48+ Single at the
Head of the Rock
Regatta on October
12 in Rockford, Ill.
He writes, “The
fellow on the left
is Paul Harrington
from the Quad Cities. I started just ahead of him and stayed
there during the first half of the race. We rowed side-by-side for
much of the second half. He got ahead of me, and then I put on
a sprint at the end. Unfortunately I didn’t choose my line well and
had to stop rowing when I came up on his stern. He still would
have won on time, but I would have at least passed him back. I
felt good afterwards and had more in the tank that I should have
used earlier in the race.”
and, in some ways, not. This place
is in the shadow and aftermath of
a whole different history. But I’m
still professing cultural history, as
ever, though with text in context
of a whole different kind. Where
I’m at is on a road that the great
books helped make possible. So far,
at Adam Mickiewicz University in
Pozna, I’ve found the students wonderful—intellectually mature, lively
and engaging, enthusiastic and
involved, polite, and ambitious.”
1971
Vicky Manchester Garrison (SF) is
in Taos for the winter on a personal
writing retreat to complete publication of The Crying Boy, a utopian
young adult novel. Anne Farrell
(A69) is illustrating.
1979
Meg Rosenberg Wilde (A) writes,
“I am working in the Bronx as a
family physician with the Montefiore
Residency Program in Social Medicine, training family docs and seeing patients. Love the work and the
Bronx, where I have lived for the
past 25 years. My daughter, Emma,
is a sophomore at Green Mountain
College in Vermont, close enough
to visit and far enough to build
independence. My son, Nathaniel,
is a junior at Bronx Science and
concocting various plans to take
over the world. We are all thankful
to be well and engaged with our
work and family.”
Peter Grubb (A) is president
of ROW Adventures (www.
rowadventures.com), a travel
company that leads vacation tours in more than 25
countries around the world,
including African safaris, sea
kayaking destinations, and
more. He and his wife of 30
years, Betsy Bowen, have two
children ages 21 and 23.
1982
Gail Donohue Storey’s (SFGI) third
book, I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool
for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail,
was published in 2013 by Mountaineers Books. A second printing—with
a Readers Guide, including an interview between her and the editor, and
Questions and Topics for Group Discussion—was published in 2014. The
memoir, which won the National
Outdoor Book Award, Foreword
IndieFab Book of the Year, Colorado
Book Award, Nautilus Silver Award,
and Barbara Savage Award, is her
hilariously harrowing story of
hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with
her husband,
Porter, a hospice
physician, in
a career crisis.
Her first book,
the novel The
Lord’s Motel, was
praised by the
New York Times
Book Review as
“a tale of unwise
judgments and
wise humor.” Her second novel,
God’s Country Club, was a Barnes &
Noble Discover Great New Writers
Selection. For more information:
www.gailstorey.com.
1985
The Raven, the Elf, and Rachel, L.
Jagi Lamplighter Wright’s (A) second book in her young adult fantasy
series, was published by Dark Quest
in 2014. The book features a magic
school that is loosely based on St.
John’s. It briefly made it to #1 on an
Amazon bestseller list.
1984
Head of the Charles
1980
Dory Eisenbeis Culver (SF) is retiring after the mid-term elections
as the managing editor of KCBS
Radio, her job for the past 30 years.
She will continue to live in San
Francisco with her husband, Walter
Nirenberg. She plans to do some
recruitment work for the Pulitzer
Center on Crisis Reporting and
hopes to do some writing. Her email is dory.culver@gmail.com.
Damon Ellingston (A84) participated in a race on the Charles
River. He writes, “What a fun race that was! I accomplished all
my goals: broke 21 minutes, finished in the top half of the field
(sort of) and made the 15% cut for qualification next year.”
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
37
�alumni notes
1986
Kristen Caven (SF) writes, “Recently, I had tea with the wife of
Chav Doherty (SF), I edited a story
for Kilian Melloy (SF), and had mac
and cheese for lunch with Jennifer
Flynn Israel (A). Meanwhile my
son, Donald, is shopping for colleges (St. John’s has the best mascot: the Book) and trying to balance
between the tasks of life and the
tasks of the imagination. Follow the
creative struggle at www.kristencaven.com.”
1987
Michael R. Brown (A) (formerly
under step-dad’s surname Vitakis)
writes: “Greetings! I’m living in
Austin, Texas. I was just filmed by
Montana PBS for a documentary on
Mary MacLane (1881-1929), a sui
generis writer from Butte, which
I’ve been working to document and
publicize since my SJC days. I just
published a 600-page anthology of
her writing, Human Days: A Mary
MacLane Reader, and in 2015 I will
publish a 1,200-page collection of
primary sources in two volumes:
Mary in The Press: Miss MacLane
and Her Fame. I continue to break
piano strings just like I used to!”
1988
David Blankenbaker (SF) finally
read The Wind in the Willows. He
is indebted and grateful to David
Johnston (SF97) for his guidance
and contributions.
Rena Ferguson (née Kuntavanish)
(A) is working in private practice
as a psychiatrist, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) provider,
and adjunct professor at SUNY,
Stony Brook. She started out using
TMS as a non-invasive, pain and
medication-free treatment for de-
pression, but has expanded its uses
to other psychiatric disorders. She
can be contacted at www.tmshopecenteroflongisland.com.
Barbara Hahn (A) writes, “I’m an
associate professor of history at Texas
Tech University and the associate
editor of the journal Technology and
Culture. For the next two years, I’m
on leave and serving as a Marie Curie
International Incoming Fellow to the
EU. I’m working at the University of
Leeds in the north of England, where
I’m writing a new history-of-technology treatment of the Industrial
Revolution for the classroom and
with industrial heritage museums.
I’d love to hear from old friends at
b.hahn@alumni.unc.edu.”
Kim Paffenroth (A) became interim
director of the Iona College Honors
Program. He is a full professor in
the college’s Religious Studies
Department.
1989
Nathaniel Herz (A) writes, “We
moved to Peoria, Ill. from Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2013. It wasn’t for work
or any obvious reason. Basically,
we moved on a whim; so far, a very
pleasant one. We look forward to
seeing Johnnies passing through or
living in Central Illinois.”
1990
Kevin Graham (A) has been appointed to serve as the inaugural
Timms Magis Core Curriculum
Professor at Creighton University,
the Jesuit and Catholic university
of Omaha, Neb. In this role, he is
responsible for directing the Magis
Core Curriculum that provides
general education to undergraduate students in four colleges of the
university. He continues to teach
philosophy at Creighton University,
as he has done for 18 years.
Graham Harman (A) has been
named the #68 most powerful force
in the international art world, along
with his three colleagues in the
Speculative Realism philosophy
movement, by the London-based
ArtReview magazine’s 2014 Power
100. The group first appeared on
the list last year, ranked #81. The
entire list can be found at http://
artreview.com/power_100.
1991
1992
On Broadway
Alec Berlin (SF) writes, “I’ve just completed a two-month
sojourn in San Diego as guitarist for the Old Globe’s
production of Bright Star, the new musical by Steve Martin
and Edie Brickell. It was a fantastic experience, filled with
authentically joyous music. My non-working hours were spent
marveling at the landscape in the deserts of Joshua Tree
and Anza-Borrego. Now I’m back to NYC to pick up back at
my other job, as guitarist for the Broadway musical If/Then.
Plans for 2015 include original music as a follow-up to my
2012 CD, Innocent Explanations.”
38 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Andrew M. Schwartz (A) is still
happily married to Marie with three
beautiful daughters, Amelia (10),
Sarah (9), and Emily (5), and living
in the suburbs in the far northeast
of Philadelphia. He was recently
appointed a department chair at his
large law firm, Marshall Dennehey
Warner Coleman and Goggin,
heading up the financial services
litigation group.
Ramona Denk Webb (A) writes,
“I married Thomas Webb (a fair
dinkum Australian bloke) in 2012,
and we are living in Colorado
Springs. His two children live in the
U.K. I have a home birth midwifery
practice that is going well. I spent
five years in Sudan (four in Darfur)
doing safe motherhood projects
from 2007-2012.”
�alumni profile
Military Midwifery
by Gregory Shook
Gay Hall (AGI99) is an
independant practitioner
rest of the semester at home in Pennsylvania. While in recovery, she
was dissuaded from returning to St. John’s. “My family said to me
that I was never going to make a living with that degree,” she says.
“So I thought I’d try something else; nursing seemed like something I could do anywhere.” She enrolled in Columbia University’s
A sudden shift in acanursing program, where she graduated in 1961, but never abandemic plans ultimately
doned her love of the great books or St. John’s College.
led to a life of dedicated
After earning a master’s degree in nurse-midwifery from the
service—and the births of Catholic University of America, Hall joined the Air Force as a public
health nurse in 1975. “The military was actually looking for me
more than 1,000 healthy
because they needed more midwives,” says Hall, who by then had a
babies during a 20-year
child of her own. Over the years, she saw a change in midwifery phicareer. From 1975 to
losophy. “When I started in the military, things were really rigid,”
says Hall, a proponent of alternative birthing environments. “I had
1995, as a public health
nurse and a staff midwife to deliver babies in the delivery room, and that sterile environment
wasn’t comfortable,” she says. “By the time I finished, we stopped
in the United States Air
that nonsense of dragging everyone into the delivery room.” MidForce, Gay Hall (AGI99) wifery, she says, is about creating a soothing, comfortable environment for both mother and child, which is “wonderful because the
cared for female Airmen
mother says what she wants and you work with that.”
and spouses of male Airmen during pregnancy,
Throughout her career, Hall was fortunate to receive several
labor, delivery, and the postpartum period. She also
plum assignments, includtaught midwifery to new recruits. While many births
ing England, Las Vegas,
“You have to make
and the Florida Panhantook place within the safe confines of hospital madle. She rose to the rank of
ternity wards, Hall sometimes had to assist mothers, your own diagnoses...
colonel before her retirequite literally, on the fly. “I was in several situations because you’ll be judged ment in 1995. During her
where I had to take laboring women by helicopter
by your own actions.”
last military assignment
in Washington, D.C., Hall
to a larger Air Force hospital because either the
served as director of the
mother or the baby was in trouble,” says Hall, whose
U.S. Air Force School of
academic and military training prepared her for the Nurse-Midwifery, which works in collaboration with the Georgefield’s inevitable emergency situations.
town University Nurse-Midwifery Program. In this capacity, she
trained her midwives to go above the call of duty, if needed, to do
“Being a midwife is being an independent practitioner,” she
surgical first assisting and navigate adverse situations. “If placed
says, “meaning that you have to make your own diagnoses and
out in the battlefield, midwives need to know how to deliver a baby
know what you’re doing because you’ll be judged by your own
in the field as well as in a clean hospital.”
actions and not anyone else’s.” At the 2014 Homecoming in AnWhile teaching midwifery in D.C. in the ’90s, the lure of great
napolis, Hall received the Alumni Association’s Award of Merit in
books and engaging conversation pulled Hall back to the St.
recognition of her achievements.
Before coming to St. John’s the first time in 1955, Hall fell in love John’s Annapolis campus, where she completed two segments at
the Graduate Institute. After retiring in 1995, she finished the last
with the college during a visit to Annapolis, where her father was a
two sections of the program, earning her Master of Arts in Liberal
Class of 1919 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. A conversation
Arts degree in 1999. Currently working part-time as a commuwith James Tolbert, director of Admissions, sealed her decision,
nity health nurse and full-time founding an Orthodox Mission in
and she enrolled in the college’s fourth class of women.
“I was an intense student,” says Hall. “And I found [the Program] the small town of Big Pine, a couple miles from her home in the
Florida Keys, Hall continues to take on new challenges. “You just
incredible—the amazing books that we read and [discussed] in such
say, ‘I can do anything. Just tell me what the parameters are and let
a short period of time.” In 1958, during the second semester of her
me work on them.’ This is what St. John’s represents.”
junior year, Hall was stricken with influenza and had to spend the
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 | 39
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 | 39
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 | 39
�alumni notes
Lake James H. Perriguey (SF)
recently led the legal effort that
brought marriage equality to Oregon and saved the citizens of the
state $12,000,000 in a proposed
ballot initiative on the civil rights
of a minority. On May 19, 2014, gay
and lesbian Oregonians were equal
under the law for the first time in
State history. While at St. John’s,
he founded the first recognized
GLBTQ student group on campus
in Annapolis and advocated that the
board of governors adopt a school
non-discrimination statement that
included gay and lesbian students.
1993
Laura Anne Haave (formerly
Stuart) (A) writes, “In August, I
accepted the position of director of
the Gender and Sexuality Center
at Carleton College and moved to
Northfield, Minn., a small town
about 45 minutes south of the Twin
Cities. My partner and I bought a
tiny 1961 Usonian house designed
by an apprentice of Frank Lloyd
Wright, known to most people in
Northfield as “that weird little modern house.” After the death of our
beloved Himalayan cat, Mudpie, we
adopted a Kurilian bobtail, Agent
Natasha Meowmanoff. I also took
this opportunity to change my last
name to Haave. This was my greatgrandparents’ last name when they
emigrated from Norway to Chicago.
My mom and I went to Norway last
summer and visited Stavanger,
our family’s former hometown. I
already have my great-grandmother’s first name and have wanted to
change my last name since high
school, and our trip finally inspired
me to do it. We hope to go back to
Norway again next year.”
1995
Janet Sunderland (SFGI) writes,
“My husband, Cliff Kroski, and I
went to visit St. John’s Annapolis
while visiting Baltimore in early
October. Our first stop was in the
Alumni Office where we met Leo
Pickens, director of Alumni Relations, Annapolis. He was gracious
enough to lead us on a wonderful
tour of the grounds, over to the
river, back through buildings, and
into classrooms. It made me homesick. One of the upstairs rooms was
furnished with soft easy chairs and
a fireplace. I know where I would
have spent winter afternoons! And
walking across the old wooden floor
of the ballroom brought back wonderful memories of waltz parties
during my time in Santa Fe. There
was a nice sense of belonging, even
as a GI graduate, to traditions and a
quest for excellence that transcends
us all.”
1996
Douglis Beck (AGI) is now the
graphics coordinator at Jaffe Book
Solutions, a bindery and print-ondemand publisher in St. Louis, Mo.
He continues to maintain a micropractice called Documodern : :
Design Writing Research, focused
on architecture and design. He
was also recently invited by Poetry
Scores to be the visual curator of
the Tractatus project, a new, openended, international translation of
Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus (1921) into
other media, starting immediately
with music and later including
visual art and performance components.
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has
named Brian McGuire (A), longtime chief speechwriter and senior
advisor in his Capitol Leadership
Office, as the next chief of staff in
40 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
1998
Great Books for Kids
Juliana (Martonffy) Laumakis (A) writes, “Anyone out there
looking to indoctrinate the next generation should check out
the Junior Great Books program that’s run through the Great
Books Foundation. The Foundation was started in 1947 by
some of the bigwigs (Adler, Hutchins, etc.) to promote seminarstyle discussions among adults, and in 1962 the concept was
extended to kids. Examples of readings include The Buffalo
Storm by Katherine Applegate and Luba and the Wren, a
Ukrainian folktale as told by Patricia Polacco. We’ve been
doing the JGB program at our eldest daughter’s school with
2nd-5th graders during lunchtime with parent volunteers. The
kids come having twice read a short story from the JGB anthology—really rich, intentionally unknown selections from around
the world—and then parents lead the seminars as the kids
eat. If anyone wants more information about the JGB program,
check out www.greatbooks.org or feel free to contact me at
jlaumakis@gmail.com. It’s really amazing how much the kids
have gotten out of it!”
his personal office. In the new role,
McGuire will assume the duties of a
traditional chief of staff responsible
for home-state priorities while
retaining some of his current responsibilities advising on strategic
communications and policy.
some writing while I’m home. I
just submitted my first piece and
am looking into self-publishing a
novella. I’m starting to post some
short fiction and writing samples on
my classics reading blog:
http://hjhreader.blogspot.com.”
1997
1998
Heidi Jacot Hewett (A) writes,
“We had our second child this summer, a little girl named Cordelia.
My eldest, Ariadne, is three and
loves being read to, so we’re off
to a great start! I’m working on
Sara Barker (A) celebrated her
daughter Fiona’s first birthday in
June. The family flew to Stuttgart,
Germany, in July with Matthew
Corcoran (A97) to attend
Whit Peterson’s (A) wedding.
�alumni notes
Can Atacik (A00) also attended.
When not working in communications for a government contractor,
she continues to tread the boards
in D.C. Her acting schedule is
available on her website: www.
sarabarker.com/acting.
David O’Hara (SFGI) teaches classics and environmental philosophy
at Augustana College in Sioux Falls,
S.D. His third book, Downstream:
Reflections on Brook Trout, FlyFishing, and the Waters of Appalachia, was published in 2014.
The citizens of Alaska’s Fairbanks
Northstar Borough elected Michael
O’Brien (SFGI) to a three-year term
on the borough’s school board. He
continues to work as an associate
general counsel for the University of
Alaska, primarily handling Title IX
compliance, NCAA issues, and labor
and employment law. He and his
wife, Jill, have an eight-year-old son.
2001
2000
In July, Tim Carney (A) and his
wife, Katie, welcomed their fifth
child, Sean. They live in Silver
Spring, Md., and are parishioners
at St. Andrew Apostle Catholic
Church. Tim is the senior political
columnist at the Washington Examiner and a visiting fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute.
Blythe Davenport’s (SF) book of
poetry, Second Oldest: A Poetic History of Philadelphia, was published
by PS Books in 2013.
Sylvaine (Rameckers) Hughson (A) is an Executive Health
& Lifestyle Coach™ and has
recently launched a new website
www.sylvainehughson.com. She is
the founder and director of SNH
—The Art & Science of Optimized
Living™ and works with high-level
executives helping them realize
the fundamental role that health,
wellness, and lifestyle play in
achieving their personal and professional goals. Her focus is Peak
Performance, Personal Excellence,
and Optimized Living™. She was
recently awarded “Woman of the
Year” by the National Association
of Professional Women.
finally come home, but now I am,
of course, finding myself missing
the people and a few aspects of the
culture. I’ve landed a job with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
Ventura, Calif., permitting work in
waters of the U.S. under the Clean
Water Act. I am still getting used to
SoCal and would be glad to catch up
with any Johnnies in the area.”
2004
Michael Looft’s (AGI) book,
Inspired Finance: The Role of Faith
in Microfinance and International
Economic Development, was published in 2014.
2005
Jacob Thomas (A) is married to
his wife of five years, Phoebe, and
continues to work in the Special
Education Department of the
Berkeley Unified School District.
In his free time, he runs two small
record labels out of his living room.
So far this year he has released
seven albums, all on cassette. He
2007
Aiding Afghanistan
2002
John Rogove (A) is teaching and
finishing his Ph.D. in philosophy
at the Sorbonne, on Husserl’s phenomenology, and also teaching at
NYU’s Liberal Studies Program.
2003
Sean McLain (A) and his wife,
Suryatapa Bhattacharya, welcomed
their son, Amartya Christopher
McLain, on August 26. He still lives
in New Delhi, India, where he and
his wife work for the Wall Street
Journal.
Erin Hanlon (SF) writes, “I’m
back from my two years in Moscow, where I taught English at
a parochial school. It was quite
the adventure. I was very glad to
Felicitas Steinhoff (SF) writes, “I am currently working in rural
Afghanistan for a humanitarian aid organization (Help - INGO
from Germany) as the senior project advisor for vocational
training and institutional capacity building. My husband and I
live in the high-altitude mountain valley called Bamiyan, site
of the world heritage Buddha Statues that were destroyed by
the Taliban in 2001. With the withdrawal of the international
forces and the new government, the coming year will be very
important for development in the country, and as you can
read pretty much daily now, the security situation in some
regions already points to a difficult year ahead. What I have
experienced beyond that, however, is a country full of complex
history, intriguing social codes, a wealth of contradictions,
and, above all, people who are amazing storytellers, optimists,
hosts, and colleagues. Therefore, in the spirit of the independent inquiry that we learned at St. John’s, I want to encourage
alumni, current students, and faculty to look beyond the headlines and news coverage, when thinking about Afghanistan.”
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
41
�alumni notes
also participates in a number of
local music projects (most of which
release music exclusively on archaic
technology), which include leading
a black metal band that features
frequent contributions from Aidan
O’Flynn (A). The Atlantic favorably
described them as “lo-fi shoegazebeing-eaten-by-demons.”
Tom Jacobs (A) and Brianne
Jacobs (nee Bell) (A06) had their
first son, David Jacobs, on January
23, 2014.
Scott Dunbar (SF) graduated from
the University of Colorado Law
School in 2011 and landed his dream
job as an assistant attorney general
at the Colorado Attorney General’s
Office. He represents the staff of
the Public Utilities Commission on
cases involving electric and natural
gas rate cases, electric resource
plans, and energy efficiency and
renewable energy matters. “Ray
Gifford (A89), a former chairman
of the PUC, was an informal mentor
to me during law school and a great
help in guiding me along this path,”
says Dunbar. In August 2014, he
married his best friend, Meghan,
in Breckenridge, Colo. John
Gorczynski (SF04) was a groomsman. “We live in Boulder with our
dog and spend our free time hiking,
snowboarding, biking, and brewing
beer,” says Dunbar. “I feel fortunate
to have a small but good contingent
of Johnnies in the area.”
2006
Aran Donovan (SF) was erroneously identified as male in the
summer 2014 issue of The College.
We regret the error.
2007
Chelsea Ihnacik (A) writes, “I
ran the Zooma Annapolis Half
Marathon (my first). It was fun and
challenging! I chose to run a race
in Annapolis because it has been
my surrogate hometown since I
graduated from St. John’s College. I
worked as a retail manager until my
husband and I took an ‘extended vacation’ in the U.S. Virgin Islands for
two years. When we returned to the
mainland, I took up my current job
of full-time mom, which I love. I am
the author of the blog, Whole Food
Vegan (www.wholefoodvegan.com),
and a contributor to the vegan
lifestyle blog, Peaceful Dumpling
(www.peacefuldumpling.com). My
passion is plants: I’m an advocate
for a whole foods plant-based diet,
and I lead workshops for adults in
southern Maryland who want to
follow mom’s advice and ‘eat your
fruits and veggies!’ My current
pursuit is to get as much of our food
at low cost and from local organic
sources as possible, which I achieve
by working for trade as a food photographer in the community.”
Adam Braus (SF) writes, “For the
past few months, Micah Davis
(SF10), Zhenya Ogorodova (SF),
and I have started Conversera.
com, an online great conversation
school. Based in San Francisco and
Washington, D.C., we have a small
curriculum of singleton seminars
on a variety of short stories, science, and novellas. We have more
than 350 students and 12 facilitators and 15 classes in the works,
with participants from across the
United States, Guatemala, and
China. We plan to double every
month, so by Christmas we should
have more than 1,000 students.
Early next year, we are planning to
do an equity crowdfunding raise of
$250k. You can learn more and/
or contact us at hello@conversera.
com or Facebook.com/conversera.”
Will Hollingsworth’s (SF) new bar,
the Spotted Owl Bar, opened in
Cleveland, Ohio, in October 2014.
The bar is located in a circa-1850s
building that once housed a Bible
factory.
2013
In October 2014, Amy Stewart (A)
was inducted into a 10-month term
of service in the National Civilian
Community Corps (NCCC), an
AmeriCorps program. As a corps
member, she will be responsible for
completing a series of six- to eightweek-long service projects as part
of a small team.
Kurt Strom (A) and Audra Zook
(A) were married on October 11,
2014, in Glendale, Ariz.
Zachary Wells (A) and Margaret Reitz (A14) were married in
summer 2014. Mr. Reitz-Wells is
now reading in Eastern Classics in
Santa Fe, where Mrs. Reitz-Wells is
employed by the college.
2014
Micaela MacDougall (A) is currently fundraising for her graduate
studies at St. Andrews, Scotland. To
learn more, please visit www.youcaring.com/SendMKtoStAndrews.
Read the June 10, 2014 article in
the Capital: http://bit.ly/1uRVGnh
2008
Brian Becker (AGI) and his wife,
Melanie, welcomed their second
child, Finn William Becker, in October. He is currently the assistant
headmaster at Washington Jesuit
Academy in D.C.
42 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Micaela MaDougall (A14) and her mother, Lynn, at Homecoming
2014 in Annapolis.
�in memoriam
Chaninah Maschler (H98)
August 7, 2014
Tutor, Annapolis
Chaninah Maschler (1931-2014), formerly
Chaninah Marienthal-Lowenthal, was born
in Berlin, and then moved to Amsterdam.
She was hidden from the Nazis during
World War II, saved by a Christian family
named the Mooks in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Her mother and brother were active
with the Dutch underground resistance
and were captured by the Nazis and sent
to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in
Germany, where her brother died. After
the war, Maschler was reunited with her
mother, who had survived Bergen-Belsen,
and they immigrated to the United States.
Maschler graduated from City College
of New York in 1953. She won a full scholarship for graduate study at Yale University.
She taught philosophy, religion, and other
subjects at Bryn Mawr, Penn State, and
Queens College. Maschler joined the St.
John’s faculty as a tutor in 1976, first at the
Graduate Institute in Santa Fe and then at
the Annapolis campus, until 1998. She is
remembered for her many
contributions to the intellectual life of the college and
remained an enthusiastic
member of the college community after her retirement.
Dozens of former students
have remained her devoted
friends over the years.
The community gathered for a memorial held
on September 14, 2014, in
the Great Hall. Colleagues
remember Maschler for her
abiding curiosity and interest
in wide-ranging subjects,
authors, and people. Among
her many interests were the
works of Darwin, Simon
Stevin, Charles Sanders
Pearce, and Spinoza, as well
as mathematics, the Hebrew
Bible, African American poetry, child
development, gardening, and anything to
do with the Netherlands. She was a founding
member of Kol Ami synagogue (now Kol
Shalom) in Annapolis, Maryland.
István Fehérváry (H89)
October 30, 2014
István Fehérváry (1925-2014)
was a beloved member of the St.
John’s community. An accomplished athlete and scholar, he
was a bold figure in his native
Hungary, fighting in the resistance movement against the
Soviets and eventually spending eight years in the gulag. He
came to St. John’s, Santa Fe in
1969, establishing the Student
Activities Office and serving
as its director for 20 years. He
was instrumental in founding
the St. John’s Fencing Club,
Maschler’s husband, Henry Maschler,
preceded her in death in 2004. She is
survived by her daughters, Rina Maschler of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Toni Maschler
of Alexandria, Virginia; and her granddaughter, Josie Silver.
the Search and Rescue team,
and countless other activities
that benefited generations of
Johnnies. When he became
an honorary member of the
Alumni Association in 1989, his
certificate read, in part: “with
gratitude for the exuberance
and devotion with which he has
dealt with students of the Santa
Fe campus over the years as
Director of Student Activities;
and with respect for the talent
and discipline he has shown in
his endeavors.”
Fehérváry is remembered
fondly for his warmth, courage,
generosity, and love for learn-
ing; he wrote several books.
In the words of the plaque that
hangs in the lobby of Santa Fe’s
Student Activities Center, he
was “a courageous and extraordinary man whose sacrifice,
passion, and wisdom turned our
thoughtfulness into activity.”
He is survived by his son,
István Andras Fehérváry, director of Government and Public
Affairs for Novartis, and his
daughter, Krisztina Fehérváry
(SFGI89), a member of the anthropology faculty at the University of Michigan and associate
director of its Center for Russian
and East European Studies.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
43
�in memorium
George Anastaplo (H90)
February 14, 2014
Norman Levan (SFGI74)
May 25, 2014
Norman Levan (1916-2014) was
quick to say that the St. John’s
College Graduate Institute
changed his life. In the middle
of his thriving medical career,
he found a learning community
in Santa Fe united by a common
love of books and ideas, one
that welcomed students of all
ages. “It was a turning point
in my life: being able to read
the original texts, being part of
a community, experiencing a
faculty so different [from medical school].” Levan generously
demonstrated his appreciation
when he made a $5 million gift
to the college to build Levan
Hall, home of the Graduate
Institute in Santa Fe, which was
dedicated in 2010.
Levan was born in Shaker
Heights, Ohio. After receiving
his bachelor’s degree with a major in literature from the University of Southern California
(USC), he earned his medical
degree there in 1939. He served
in the Army Medical Corps during World War II for nearly five
years, three and a half of which
were in the Central Pacific,
where he experienced the full
fury of the battle of Okinawa.
Levan then embarked upon
a long and distinguished career
in medicine, beginning with
a private practice in dermatology. He was also a faculty
member of the USC School of
Medicine, serving as chair of
the Department of Dermatology from 1961 to 1981 at its Keck
School of Medicine.
In 1962, he established the
Hansen’s Disease Clinic for lep-
Known as the “Socrates of
Chicago,” George Anastaplo, Sr. (1925-2014) was
widely considered a living
institution and one of the
pillars of the University of
Chicago’s Basic Program
of Liberal Education for
Adults. He was nominated
13 times for the Nobel
Peace Prize, according to
Loyola University. After
serving in the Air Force
during World War II,
Anastaplo studied law at
the University of Chicago,
where he rose to be a top student in his class.
His bright legal future ended abruptly in 1950, when he refused
to answer questions from the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on
Character and Fitness on whether he was a member of the Communist Party. This act of principled defiance led to the committee’s
refusal to admit him to the bar. Anastaplo challenged the ban,
ultimately arguing his case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He lost
by a vote of 5-4, but not before Justice Hugo Black issued a famed,
ringing dissent that said, “We must not be afraid to be free.”
In his academic life, Anastaplo threaded law with the work of
Greek scholars, Dante, Shakespeare, and Alfred Lord Tennyson.
He enjoyed engaging with his students at Rosary College (now
Dominican University), the Loyola University Chicago School of
Law, and the University of Chicago’s Basic Program of Liberal
Education for Adults. He is survived by his wife, Sara Prince
Anastaplo; son, George Anastaplo, Jr. (A75); daughters, Sara
Anastaplo (A78) (now Miriam Redleaf), Theodora Anastaplo,
and Helen Newlin; and eight grandchildren.
rosy at the Los Angeles County/
USC Medical Center. During
this period, he married Betty;
the couple spent their early
years in Los Angeles before
moving to Bakersfield. Betty
died in 2005.
Levan also will be remembered as an extraordinary
philanthropist. He made
significant gifts to Bakersfield
College, USC, and a hospital in
Jerusalem. With a combination
of gifts and pledges totaling
$17 million, Levan became the
44 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
single greatest benefactor in
the history of St. John’s College
in Santa Fe. His munificence
supports the Graduate Institute, student financial aid, and
the Levan Faculty Chair.
“He has given so generously
to ensure financial considerations would not preclude any
student from obtaining the
education he felt was so important,” said Victoria Mora, vice
president for Advancement in
Santa Fe.
“Norm Levan was a great
believer in the value of education and especially of liberal
education, and he exemplified
that in his life,” remarked
President Mike Peters. “St.
John’s was honored to have him
as an alumnus.”
Charles W. (Chuck)
Robinson (H93)
May 20, 2014
Charles W. Robinson (19192014) led an extraordinary life.
He earned a cum laude degree
in international relations from
the University of California at
Berkeley. He served as a naval
engineer in World War II on the
USS Tuscaloosa and saw action
at the D-Day landing in France
and at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
After the war, he earned a
master’s degree in business
administration from Stanford
University.
Robinson’s wide-ranging, audacious business career began
in a dairy. He became a consultant. Then a construction
company sent him to Panama to
develop a timber operation. In
1950, he founded the Marcona
Mining Company, shipping
iron ore from Peru around the
world. Shipbuilding was next,
increasingly emphasizing large
vessels that handled both ore
and oil.
During this time, Robinson
met Mara, an opera singer who
had founded the Opera-West
Company in San Francisco. Two
months later, they married.
Their full lives were enriched
with daughters Lisa, Wendy,
and Heather.
�in memorium
In 1961, Robinson built the
first Panamax, the largest vessel
to traverse the Panama Canal.
His involvement with port
development in Brazil, Saudi
Arabia, New Zealand, Australia, India, and Chile helped him
establish a network of governmental agencies and officials.
They proved valuable when he
was appointed undersecretary
of state for Economic Affairs
during the Ford administration,
and U.S. deputy secretary of
state under Henry Kissinger.
Throughout his accomplished business career that followed, Robinson also developed
marine design projects including the M-Ship concept—a boat
crafted to reduce bow waves
and ameliorate erosion in the
canals of Venice, Italy, where
he and Mara lived for many
years. Well into his eighties, he
pursued his passion for tennis,
hiking, and running.
The Robinsons relocated to
Santa Fe in 1978, where Mara
received her master’s degree
from St. John’s in 1983. She
served on the college’s Board
of Visitors and Governors from
1984 to 1990. Chuck and Mara
generously gave their resources
and energy to many worthy
organizations, including The
Santa Fe Opera, New Mexico
School for the Arts, and St.
John’s College. In 2009, the
state House of Representatives
recognized the Robinsons as
New Mexico Living Treasures.
Robinson is survived by
his beloved wife, Mara, three
daughters, two sons-in-law, and
six grandchildren.
Margaret Robson
Olivia Delgado de Torres
Also Deceased:
August 24, 2014
April 18, 2014
Tutor, Santa Fe
Roland J. Bailey, Class of 1935
Margaret Robson (1932-2014)
was the widow of John E. Robson, an honorary alumnus and
St. John’s College Board member who served three separate
terms between 1973 and 2002.
Born and raised in St. Cloud,
Minnesota, Robson received
her bachelor’s degree from
the University of Minnesota.
She left a pioneering career
in Chicago as one of the first
female officers at Continental
Bank of Illinois to work for John
F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential
campaign. After she married
John in Chicago, his career
in government, business,
and academia took them to
Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; San
Francisco; and Santa Fe. They
spent 41 years together; John
passed away in 2002.
Robson devoted herself to
public service as a member of
many boards and commissions,
from Northwestern Memorial Hospital Foundation in
Chicago to the Santa Fe Art
Institute, the President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Defense Advisory
Commission on Women in the
Military, the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities,
and more.
She is survived by her son,
Douglas Robson of San Francisco; a sister and brother; and
several nieces and nephews.
Robson will be remembered for
her devotion to family, kindness
to friends, and service to her
community.
April 22, 2014
Olivia Balfour Maldonado Delgado de Torres (1944–2014),
a tutor at the Santa Fe campus
from 1992 to 1996, died at
age 70. Born and raised in the
Bronx, New York, she attended
Vassar College and studied
at the Sorbonne in Paris. She
married Juan Delgado de Torres, an economist, in 1963. She
became a reporter for LIFE
magazine’s Spanish-language
edition. After earning her
doctorate from the New School
for Social Research, she taught
philosophy at Baruch College of
the City University of New York
and at Long Island University in
Brooklyn. After St. John’s, she
continued teaching at Adelphi
University and the College of
Santa Fe. With her Caribbean
roots, she felt out of place in
Santa Fe’s high desert, but
loved working in her garden.
She told people she was a tropical flower. Preceded in death
by her husband, Juan, and her
sister, Millicent Maldonado de
Jesus, she is survived by her
daughter, Lena; her grandson,
Lucas; and her companion of
almost 28 years, Kenny Pin.
Mary L. Batteen, A73
September 17, 2014
George Brunn, Class of 1945
June 30, 2014
Paul G. Cree, Class of 1952
April 8, 2014
Terrance N. Dilley, SFGI74
April 25, 2014
Suzanne Fielding, SFGI77
May 14, 2014
Egle T. Germanas, SFGI83
April 11, 2014
Paul Heineman, Class of 1953
July 28, 2014
Jeffrey A. Hockersmith, SF69
August 1, 2014
Joel D. Lehman, Class of 1961
June 24, 2014
Jacob D. Martinez, SFGI70
June 9, 2014
John M. Mason, A75
April 10, 2014
E. Leslie Medford, Class of 1939
June 21, 2014
Zoe M. Pantelides, A81
September 1, 2014
Thomas Phelan, AGI93
June 13, 2014
Jerome C. Smith, SFGI74
September 22, 2014
Joseph J. Wase, Class of 1956
September 30, 2014
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
45
�philanthropy
Alumni Support Santa Fe
50th Anniversary
by Susan Kaplan
Because of the generosity of alumni,
friends, board members, and foundations,
the Santa Fe campus has already exceeded
its 50th anniversary campaign goal of
$20 million. With five months still left
of the celebration, $23.5 million in cash
and pledges has been raised and a new
$30 million goal set.
“The vision of the 50th anniversary
campaign is to strengthen the college by
strengthening Santa Fe,” says Victoria
Mora, vice president for Advancement in
Santa Fe. “I mean, if you’re not looking
forward on the occasion of a milestone
anniversary, in addition to celebrating and
reflecting on the past, you’re missing out
on a watershed moment! Concretely this
means raising money to increase the Santa
Fe portion of the college endowment as
well as supporting our three-year investment plan and current operations. The
$23.5 million raised to date encompasses a
53% increase in the Santa Fe endowment,
which promises to strengthen the whole
college as we look forward to the future.”
The success of these efforts is due in
large measure to the generosity of alumni,
friends, foundations, and Board members
who have recognized that a gift in honor
of this 50-year milestone makes Santa Fe a
stronger partner in the one-college, twocampus structure. Alumni, in particular,
have really stepped up to support this effort.
For the first time in the college’s history,
a Santa Fe undergraduate alumnus has
made a seven-figure gift. Dan Raizen (SF79)
presented this gift in memory of his wife,
Teresa (SF78), who died two years ago. Dan
and Teresa met when they were students
at St. John’s. Two of their three children,
Nathaniel and Benjamin, are also alums.
“The impulse of philanthropy ran deep
in Teresa. I wanted to do something in
her memory that would have a big impact
now,” says Raizen. “Since four members
of our family went to St. John’s College, it
made sense to give to an organization that
I was familiar with. More importantly, St.
John’s is a place that I strongly believe in.”
These fundraising activities also have
brought into focus a number of ongoing
endeavors by groups of alumni, efforts
that have been folded into the 50th
celebration. One of these is the brainchild
of the Santa Fe Class of 2004, which has
been working to purchase and install an
operational armillary sphere on the Santa
Fe campus. Inspired by the designs of the
great 16th-century astronomer Tycho
Brahe, the sphere will be designed and
assembled by noted artist David Harber.
He was selected for his aesthetic vision
and his experience creating scientifically
precise armillary spheres.
The Class of 2004 has more than
doubled the funds originally raised in
support of this project and is approaching
the initial goal of $100,000. Since the
class contained about 100 students, many
of whom are in the nascent stages of their
careers, this accomplishment is impressive and shows the power of participation.
This operational work of art serves a
number of purposes. It will enable hands-
46 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
on lab work by freshman and sophomore
students as they study the works of Ptolemy, Kepler, and other astronomers. It will
symbolize the unity of the humanities with
the sciences and enhance the beauty of the
campus environment. As an icon for both
the campus and the college, it will raise
the campus’s visibility and underscore the
enduring value of a St. John’s education.
The same features that make an armillary
sphere useful for our study of astronomy
also make it a valuable aid in introducing
primary and secondary school students to
the most general appearances of the heavens. Once the armillary sphere is installed,
the college plans to engage the services of
one of its own work-study students to elicit
participation from local schools to bring
their students to campus.
“What better image for the work of the
college than the armillary sphere?” adds
Vice President Mora. “An object of beauty
and utility that represents the audacity to
imagine that we might actually understand the universe we inhabit, and our
place within it.”
�Two Trees
Two trees were planted at St.
John’s College this year: a dawn
redwood by College Creek in Annapolis and a golden honey locust
in front of and between Terpsichore and Polyhymnia in Santa Fe.
Both were gifts of love and regard,
reminding us of the value of life
even as we experience tragic loss.
The tree in Santa Fe was planted
in honor of Martha Post (SF79) by
her friends and classmates. Post,
a dermatologist, was married to
Robert Truitt and was the mother
of Erin, Caitlin, and Kathryn Truitt.
She was killed September 1,
2011, in Lexington, Kentucky.
Classmate Suzanne Gill remem-
bers Post as “quietly cheerful,
thoughtful, levelheaded, and gracious.” Laird Durley (SF79) chose
a verse from Philippians for the
plaque that accompanies the tree.
By all accounts, this verse speaks
to Post’s spirit: “Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are
just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if
there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things.”
The tree in Annapolis is a memorial to Helen Higuera, daughter of
tutors Marilyn and Henry Higuera,
who died May 26 at the age of
A Gift from the Geezers
They started out as the Geezers: a
group of Graduate Institute classmates a few decades older than
the typical student, who gathered
to share a meal from time to time.
Jeff Black, associate dean for
Graduate Programs in Annapolis,
renamed them the Elders; they
appear to like both names.
Black says that the Elders made
important contributions to the
Graduate Institute. “Folks who are
mid-career or late-career who come
to the Graduate Institute make a
very important contribution to the
intellectual life of the program.
When the younger students are in
class with people at their point in
life, it sheds the light of experience on the books we read.”
Don Leopold, a charter member
of the Elders, recalls that as
graduation was approaching, the
group started thinking about what
they might do to express their
appreciation for the Graduate
Institute in general and for their
tutors in particular. “Being older,
we appreciated a lot of what goes
into being a tutor, all the good
they do and all the sacrifices they
make. We understand the value
of the dedication they bring to
creating this remarkable learning
community.” Leopold challenged
his colleagues to raise money for
a graduation gift to the Institute
and pledged to match each dollar
they gave.
After consulting with Black, the
Elders decided to start an endow-
24. The class of 1984 arranged
for the memorial. In a letter to the
Higueras, the class explained that
the tree was planted to represent
the deep regard in which we, their
students and friends, hold Marilyn
and Henry, and symbolizes our
profound sorrow at their loss.
Higuera held a BA in history from
Stanford University and an MBA
from the Russian Presidential
Academy of National Economy and
Public Administration. At the time
of her death, she was a student at
Georgetown University Law School
and taught ESL classes in Annapolis. She was known and loved for
her intelligence, kindness, beauty,
creativity, and sense of adventure.
—Sus3an Borden (A87)
ment fund for faculty study that
would support the Graduate Institute and its curriculum and also
have benefits for the undergraduate program. They chose to call it
the Nestor Fund—after Agamemnon’s venerable advisor—although
an alternative name was floated.
Referring to the foolish counselor to King Claudius in Hamlet,
Leopold says, “We did joke about
calling it the Polonius Fund.”
—Sus3an Borden (A87)
Hallie Leighton Memorial Fund Update
In 2013, the Hallie Leighton Memorial Fund for Health and Wellness
was established to raise $50,000 to name the student health office
on the Santa Fe campus in Leighton’s memory. The fund currently
stands at $20,000 with 68 donors to the fund.
Proceeds from this endowment fund will support the development
of education, outreach, advocacy, and delivery of services directed
towards women’s wellness, breast care for women, wellness exams,
stress reduction, substance abuse prevention, and safety in relationships. Specific activities, programs, and services will be developed
each year in response to students’ particular needs and issues.
Class of 1993
Honors Gregory
Riley with
Scholarship
Fund
The Annapolis Class of 1993
lost a lot when it lost Greg Riley,
who died on August 1, 2004.
The class lost the leader of a
study group on the German
language, a striker for the Greenwaves, the coordinator of the
“Miss Randall Hall” beauty contest and, as Chris Denny (A93)
says, “one of the most wellmannered and forthright people
to come through St. John’s.”
Many in the class also lost a
close friend.
Matt Wright (A93) met Riley
the day before they entered
St. John’s as freshmen and
remained close to him until his
death. “He was an extremely
charismatic person, extremely
generous, and interested in
other people being successful
in what they were doing,” recalls
Wright. “He was also very curious about off-program ideas; for
him, being at St. John’s was an
expression of his general interest in everything.”
As a tribute to Riley, the class
recently established the Gregory
Riley Class of 1993 Memorial
Scholarship Fund. “We received
the support of alumni and
mentors on our journey at the
College,” Denny explains. “Now
we have a chance to continue
that tradition of philanthropy
on behalf of current Johnnies in
Greg’s memory.”
To make a gift to the Hallie Leighton Fund for Health and Wellness,
send a check to the college, or visit www.sjc.edu/giving.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
47
�student voices
The Structure of Spirit
MICHAEL McLAUGHLIN
by Laura Bartram (A15)
What is the spirit of place? I started
thinking about this as a freshman at St.
John’s College. The spirit of the freshman
year is unmistakably Greek, yet when I
looked up from my volume of Aristophanes
while sitting on a bench near the quad, I
did not see a circular theater, or glistening
marble. I saw McDowell and Mellon halls—
the former, a charmingly brickish and big
Georgian mansion-to-be, and the latter, a
modernist palace filled with glass and trees
and a glorious pendulum. In the distance,
I see the skyline of Annapolis, precise
and toy-like, reflecting a maritime and
Colonial past to which neither I nor these
books are directly linked (although surely
the influence of the books helped build
this city). I have been immersed in this
world for three years, and it starts to make
sense to me as a unified place. The peculiar
sense of St. John’s in this particular city,
Annapolis, will forever be wound up in my
mind with the task of liberal education.
The spirit of place at St. John’s—bifurcated between colonial and modernist
in architecture, ancient and modern
in books—inspired me to think about
architecture as a career after St. John’s.
Luckily for me, our own Greenfield
Library was designed by a Johnnie, Travis
Price (SF71). I got in touch with him
about a possible internship at his practice
in Washington, D.C., but also was invited
to work on his incredible project, Spirit
of Place/Spirit of Design at Catholic
University. Each year, Price and a group
of architecture students research and
architecturally reinterpret the myth and
history of a remote culture. Before I knew
it, during the summer after my sopho-
48 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
more year, I was helping to define and
reinterpret spirit of place on an expedition to Inishturk Island in County Mayo,
Ireland.
A look at a satellite image of Inishturk
Island exposes its birth as a single geological moment, a violent springing forth from
the sea. Located off the western coast of
Ireland, Inishturk is green and fierce, with
cliffs as sharp and craggy as the meanest
thing someone ever said to you. The bedrock of the island mostly runs in a single direction. It is a treacherous and magnificent
landscape. Only about 40 brave souls live
on the island. They are proud, stalwart,
and above all, mischievous and loving.
The monument was inspired by a story
told by the Inishturkers, the tale of the
tongs. When someone left the island for
a long time on a treacherous coffin boat,
�TRAVIS PRICE (SF71)
Laura Bartram (A15), right, ponders spirit
of place.
Other than the one pub, it is the natural
place to gather. The center structure is a
rectangular building made of steel, glass,
and local limestone, which protects the
firepit within. The glass walls allow for
protection from the biting wind without
compromising the look of the hillside, but
the engineered steel roof allows the smoke
from the fire to exit the room. The steel
columns that support the building curve
like a pair of tongs.
Surrounding the building are a number
of stone and glass walls, which appear to be
drawn toward the center structure. These
TRAVIS PRICE (SF71)
uncertain of any future return, he would
leave his tongs with a bit of burning peat
from his abandoned hearth at the fireplace
of a family member who remained on the
island. If the person ever returned, he
would go to the family’s hearth and grab a
coal with the tongs to take back to his fire.
In this way, their fires never stopped burning; their spirits never left the island.
Our building—designed by Price and his
students—made the invisible parts of this
story visible. First of all, the monument
sits above The Common, a particularly
sacred place on the island that has been
variously inhabited since 5000 BCE.
The monument on Inishturk Island, Ireland was built in nine days.
walls represent the clans of the island and
their yearning to return. The glass walls
are engraved with the names of the families—Heanue, O’Toole, Faherty, and more.
All the walls fall along the natural bedrock
striation of the site and are made from
local stone; to the eye from a distance, they
blend in with the natural color palette, yet
create a definite contrast between the craggy bedrock and their squareness. The built
world and the natural landscape weave in
and out of each other in this creation.
We built the monument in nine blustery, wet, sometimes muggy days. Much
of the material was prefabricated, such
as the steel, glass, and wall supports. But
to build the stone walls, expert Inishturkbred stonemasons came to the tutelage
of us inexperienced masons: the other
student architects-in-training and I, a
Johnnie, trying to mentally consult the
Archimedean center of weight to build
my best wall. We all paled before their
skill, their way of pulling metamorphic
shrapnel from a hillside mine and forming
with their hammers something akin to
the perfect brick. This interaction with
brilliant craftsmen was half of our living
education in the spirit of place.
Our oldest and most precious stories
need the support of a place. When I
struggle, for instance, in reading and understanding the papers of Maxwell that we
study in junior laboratory, in imagining
a field, I look around. The hatched grain
of a wood floor in McDowell aids my mind
in imagining the lines of force curling
through space. The bare steel beams in
the fishbowl in Mellon contain a space. I
might superimpose a wood grain through
the emptiness of the ceiling and be able to
imagine a field filling space.
I have spent time in new buildings thinking old thoughts. And I have spent time
thinking new thoughts in buildings older
than the United States. I have found that
each supports the other. At St. John’s, I
have felt lucky to be habituated to a way of
seeing and thinking that does not preclude
seeing an old idea in a new place. Our two
beautiful examples of old and new architecture have helped me to become a more
versatile thinker and careful looker. As
buildings begin to look more and more the
same around the world, however, some old
ideas get swallowed up. As building materials and practices become more homogenized worldwide, the past’s appearance
risks dissolution.
Do our stories fit in modern design?
In monuments like Price’s, or here at St.
John’s, we see the spirit of our stories,
our past, and our landscape embodied
without excess. The elegance of the form
and the elegance of the story mutually
strengthen each other, creating architecture with no age.
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
49
�alumni news
s av e t h e d a t e
Homecoming 2015
Santa Fe
September 18-20
Annapolis
September 25-27
Johnnie Women in Science
On a crisp November afternoon,
23 Annapolis students —freshmen through seniors—gathered
together in the private dining
room in Randall Hall for a panel
discussion with four St. John’s
alumni who work in science.
Sponsored by the Career Services
Office, the “Women in Science”
panel featured these scientists:
Homecoming is a time to reunite and reconnect with friends,
classmates, and the college community. Both campuses will
offer a wide variety of activities, including seminars, dancing,
career networking events, and the Alumni Association Awards
Banquet that will make your return to St. John’s fun and
memorable. And remember: Homecoming is family friendly
with fun activities offered for all of our future Johnnies, too.
So bring the whole family. Please join us and your classmates
as we celebrate St. John’s College.
Sarah Palacios and Leo Pickens,
directors of Alumni Relations
For more information:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu.
Click on “Homecoming”
Annapolis Alumni Office
410-626-2531
Annapolis.Alumni@sjc.edu
Santa Fe Alumni Office
505-984-6103
SantaFe.Alumni@sjc.edu
50 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Meredith Bohannon (A03),
who recently completed her PhD
in the marine, estuarine, and
environmental sciences graduate program at the University of
Maryland.
Rachel Dudik (A02), an astrophysicist at the United States
Naval Observatory who earned
her master’s in applied and
engineering physics and her PhD
in astrophysics at George Mason
University.
Cara Gormally (A02), an assistant professor in biology at Gallaudet University who earned her
doctorate in plant biology from
the University of Georgia.
Elisabeth McClure (A08), a PhD
candidate in Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology,
where her current research examines the emotional engagement of
very young children during screenmediated social interactions.
The Career Services Office
hosts alumni panels throughout
the year, but this was the first
time the group was exclusively
comprised of women. “You
always hear that Johnnies can
do anything after St. John’s,
but it’s different to actually see
it,” says Jenna Alton (A16). “It
was inspiring to meet so many
Johnnie women in science, who
exhibit such passion about what
they do.”
In addition to sharing knowledge about their respective
fields, the alumnae discussed the
process of applying to graduate
school and the value of internships. Three of the panelists
have sponsored Hodson Interns;
they know what a great resource
Johnnies can be in their labs.
“I continue to be impressed
with the opportunities that are
available for Johnnies, especially
the Hodson Internship,” says
Gormally. “Taking the time to do
an internship is critical, and the
Hodson really lets students follow
their interests.”
—Jaime Dunn, director of Career
Services, Annapolis
�alumni news
Alumni Association Board President Phelosha Collaros (SF00)
“�During my time as the Alumni Association president, I’ve
met many alumni who are passionate about their education
at St. John’s and want to make sure it continues to survive
and thrive—but they don’t always know how to help make
this happen. The Alumni Leadership Forum is a great place
to plug into a community that is moving the college forward
and a great event for alumni to network with each other. Over
the first five years, I’ve seen ALF start to come into its own.
If you’ve been before, it’s time to come back and see how it’s
matured. If you’ve never been, we’d love you to join us.”
Sharing the “St. John’s Approach”
Unlike many graduates who wait
for years to get involved in their
colleges, Johnnies can become engaged in alumni concerns within
a month of graduating, at the
Alumni Leadership Forum (ALF).
Offering two days filled with
seminars and sessions for alumni
of all years, ALF has become a
signature event of the St. John’s
College Alumni Association. It’s
a welcome way for alumni to stay
connected with the college at a
time when many question the
value of the liberal arts and the
method of learning at St. John’s.
“As a professor teaching at another university, I found that the
work done in one class seemed an
isolated endeavor, and the lessons
learned by students were often
quickly forgotten,” says Brenna
Strauss (SF04), a post-doctoral
fellow at Boston College’s Department of Political Science who is
one of two co-chairs for the ALF
Working Group. “The education
at St. John’s, in contrast, is a
whole; the questions raised in one
class are addressed and reframed
in many others. By helping organize ALF, I hope to remind us of
the unique worth of the St. John’s
approach and to help alumni use
their talents and resources to
ensure its longevity and health.”
Beyond the workshops and
seminars, ALF participants have
plenty of opportunities to catch up
with each other and meet alumni
from other classes. A highlight of
the event is the Alumni Awards
Banquet, held on the second
evening, when the Association
presents the ALFie—or Volunteer
Service Award—in recognition of
leadership in the alumni community. The 2014 ALFie recipients
made innovative improvements.
Christopher Denny (A93) of Fresh
Meadows, New York, helped
to develop a model for alumni
chapters’ high school seminar
programs. Michael Sullivan (A07)
of Indianapolis established the St.
John’s College Alumni Association
Internet Chapter. Gloria McGillen
(SF12) of Boston, Massachusetts,
helped to create the Class Agent
Program handbook and the first
networking groups for class
chairs. Many other alumni were
nominated for their work as class
chairs or with Career Services and
Admissions.
To acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
Santa Fe campus, seminar readings and tutorials at the 2015 ALF
will be selected from the Chinese
and Indian traditions of the Eastern Classics Program. “We [tried]
to choose readings that draw out
the themes of service, devotion,
integrity, and education,” said
Briana Saussy (A03, EC05), of San
Antonio, Texas, who volunteers
in the ALF Working Group. “It
turns out that the Gita is an excellent piece to read when thinking
about service in particular, and
Confucius was very concerned
with education.”
The next Alumni Leadership
Forum occurs from June 5-7, 2015,
on the Santa Fe campus.
—Babak Zarin (A11)
Thirsting to return to the seminar
table? Piraeus, a continuing
education program just for alumni,
is offered several times each year
on each campus.
In Annapolis on May 28-31, tutors
Tom May and David Townsend
will lead seminars on Thoreau’s
Walden and Civil Disobedience.
Tutors Eva Brann (H89) and Lise
van Boxel will lead seminars
on selections from Aristotle’s
Nicomachean Ethics and a recent
book by Sherry Turkle, Alone
Together: Why We Expect More
from Technology and Less from
Each Other.
In Santa Fe on June 7-12, tutors
Michael Wolfe and Patricia Greer
will lead seminars on the poetry
of Rumi.
Recent alumni (2004-2014)
receive a 50% discount on tuition.
On-campus housing is available.
Register online: http://
community.stjohnscollege.edu/
piraeus?chid=32
Who are your Alumni Association leaders? To see the current
list of the St. John’s College Alumni Association officers,
directors, and representatives as well as the volunteer
Alumni Association working groups, visit:
http://community.stjohnscollege.edu/page.aspx?pid=403h
The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015 |
51
�st. john’s forever
Bringing Santa Fe
History to Life
Like the oral history project led by Santa Fe
tutor Claudia Hauer, the display project
highlights the people and events that have
helped to define the founding and development of the Santa Fe campus. Created by
Meem Library and Communications staff,
the display project consists of a series of selfstanding storyboards that illustrate aspects
of the Santa Fe campus’s history. The storyboards are located in a number of buildings
throughout the campus.
“All of us have seen photos of the early
years hanging in various places around
campus, but we don’t really know the stories
behind those photos,” says Meem Library
Director Jennifer Sprague. “These projects
are bringing those stories to life, honoring
the people who had the courage and vision
to participate in the founding of the Santa Fe
campus, while also capturing the personalities that have made this such a vibrant community throughout our fifty years. And just as
importantly, these projects serve as a way to
spark a conversation about what we have been
doing and will continue to do at the college.”
—Susan Kaplan
52 | The College | st. john’s college | winter 2015
Architect John Gaw Meem
(left) and Richard Weigle
survey the land donated by
the Meem family to establish
the Santa Fe campus, 1963.
�eidos
“To my mind, potters fall into two main categories: those who are fascinated by the fire and
those who love to have their hands in the mud.
I always loved playing in the mud, from the
time I was a little girl. My mother, who was a
painter, told a story of when I was about three
years old, playing outside in the sun after a
rainstorm. As she watched me standing in a
mud puddle with the sleeves of my sweater
hanging out of my jacket, I dipped my sleeves
in the muddy water and swung my arms in an
arc, watching the sun sparkling on the flying
droplets. Mud was always an attraction! I am
inspired by the creativity of others, shapes I
see in nature, and ideas of how things might
be used to make day-to-day experiences more
beautiful—your morning bowl of cereal or cup
of coffee, a vessel for flowers on your table, or
a colander for washing fresh berries. For colors, I tend to choose shades of blue and green
with occasional red and black or even honey,
depending on the purpose of the piece.”
—Eleanor Peters
Eleanor Peters, wife of Michael Peters, president, St. John’s
College, Santa Fe, is a potter in Santa Fe. She works in the St.
John’s College ceramics studio. “I started taking classes in
the early 1970s, when my husband was in graduate school in
Seattle. One class a week at the local rec center turned into
two, and soon my husband bought me a wheel of my own.”
Peters has worked in a variety of studios over the years, with
different types of clay, mainly stoneware and porcelain. She
usually throws on a wheel but enjoys hand-building as well.
Peters creates mostly functional ware, including platters and
coasters. She glazes by dipping, often applying a second
color along one side of the vessel.
�Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
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Communications Office
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
ad d r ess se rv i c e r e qu est e d
�
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College
The
SUMMER 2014
•
S T. J O H N ’ S C O L L E G E
•
ANNAPOLIS
•
S A N TA F E
Anna
Karenina
The Truth of Stories
�“How glorious fall the
valiant, sword [mallet] in
hand, in front of battle
for their native land.”
—Tyrtaeus, Spartan poet
The St. John’s croquet
team greets the cheering
crowd in Annapolis.
ii | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�from the editor
The College
is published by St. John’s
College, Annapolis, MD,
and Santa Fe, NM
thecollegemagazine@sjc.edu
Known office of publication:
Communications Office
St. John’s College
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
Why Stories?
“He stepped down, trying not to
look long at her, as if she were
the sun, yet he saw her, like the
sun, even without looking.”
Periodicals postage paid
at Annapolis, MD
Leo Tolstoy, ANNA KARENINA
Postmaster: Send address
changes to The College
Magazine, Communications
Office, St. John’s College,
60 College Avenue,
Annapolis, MD 21401.
“Emotions are what pull us in—the character’s
vulnerabilities, desires, and fears,” says screenwriter Jeremy Leven (A64); he is one of several
alumni profiled in this issue of The College who
tell stories. Leven reveals “moments of truth”
with nuanced, often sparse dialogue and subtext.
Although certainly not sparing with words,
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910)
revealed human emotions with great insight,
with what tutor Jonathan Tuck calls “the raw
power of storytelling” in his essay for this issue.
Tolstoy was born at the family estate, about 130
miles south of Moscow. Educated at home by
tutors, Tolstoy enrolled in the University of Kazan
in 1844 to study Oriental languages; he transferred to the less demanding law faculty but left
without a degree. In 1851 he joined the army and
fought in the Crimean War (1853–56). Tolstoy’s
two masterpieces are War and Peace (1869) and
Anna Karenina (1877). He deftly paints intimate
details of his characters’ lives, set against the
sweeping canvas of history. Notes Santa Fe Dean
J. Walter Sterling (A93) in this issue, “Tolstoy
brings to life (or to the work of art) Napoleon as
man and myth, the great movements of modern
Russian politics, the general tumult of enlightenment rationalism (and nationalism), and the
many other forces by which Europe was convulsed in the 19th century....”
Tolstoy’s fictions reveal truth. It is no surprise
that they continue to be embraced by popular
modern culture—for instance, both Greta Garbo
(1935) and Keira Knightly (2012) starred in film
adaptations of Anna Karenina. We care about
what happens to his memorable characters—
Pierre, Prince Andrei, Anna, and Kitty Levin,
to name a few. “We come to know these people
inside and out, better perhaps than we know our
own families or close friends. It is very hard to
remember that they are not real,” notes Tuck.
Film director Domenic D’Andrea (A15) tells us it
Editor
Patricia Dempsey
patricia.dempsey@sjc.edu
Contributing Editor
Gabe Gomez
Associate Editor
Gregory Shook
Design
Skelton Design
Contributors
Thomas Alleman
Anna Perleberg Anderson (SF02)
Chelsea Batten (A07)
Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
Sus3an Borden (A87)
Domenic D’Andrea (A15)
John Emerson
Erin Fitzpatrick (A14)
Anyi Guo (A14)
Eunji Kim (A15)
Jennifer Levin
Adam Maraschky (A13)
Paula Novash
Jonathan Tuck
Copyeditor
Cathi Dunn MacRae
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
is not just the suspense, but the connection made
through storytelling that matters: “Storytelling
ought to be done by people who want to make
other people feel a little bit less alone.”
In this issue we meet Johnnies who are storytellers in modern and ancient forms, filmmakers,
poets, even a fabric artist. N. Scott Momaday,
Pulitzer Prize winner and artist-in-residence on
the Santa Fe campus, says, “Poetry is the highest expression of language.” Along with student
poets, he shares insights on this elegant form
and how it touches our spirits and hearts.
The Johnnies in film featured in this issue
each transform an individual vision for a story
with their craft—screenwriting, directing, film
editing, and digital animation, to name a few—
and close collaboration with others; the end result is there for all to see on the big screen.
James Schamus (A81) describes what it took
to be CEO of Focus Features, where he stewarded films that speak to the historical context
of our times, and, as great stories do, captivated
a generation of filmgoers. For Hanna Jayanti
(SF07) film editing “is a form of writing in the
visual world.” She collaborated on a documentary shown at the New Yorker Festival. Mavericks such as Mike Lacy (A12) direct music videos
in which lyrics are like characters, and Geoff
Marslett (SF96) jumps from writing a software
program for his animated feature to directing
actors without scripted dialogue. Richard Saja
(SF93) transforms the art of toile.
These Johnnies have in common a deep
appreciation of universal stories that connect
us all. Screenwriter Lee Zlotoff (A74) shares his
method for tapping these stories from the subconscious: “We are a narrative species; each
night we dream and each of our dreams is a story.
We need these stories,” he says.
We need oral stories as well. In this issue, tutor
Claudia Hauer describes her oral history project
about the founding of the Santa Fe campus 50
years ago, and the spirited pioneers who envisioned it. Chelsea Batten’s (A07) search for connection reminds us that a good conversation just
might be better than anything—even a great film.
Thank you to our contributors, and especially
to our readers for sharing stories! I look forward
to hearing from you. —P.D.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
1
�su m me r 2 01 4
volume 39, issue 1
ART RESOURCE
ILLUSTRATION BY JULES FEIFFER, THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH
...We want desperately to find out what will happen next....It’s this
very curiosity that keeps us reading; though the book [War and Peace]
is long, we fly through it after a while, hoping that our favorites will
find the happiness they have been seeking for years. —Jonathan Tuck, tutor
F E AT U R E S
page
18
p a ge
24
page
38
Why Stories?
Modern Takes
Vision Realized
Faculty members consider
Tolstoy, and how reading
the works of the greatest
minds can illuminate
historical context.
Seven alumni touch our
deepest emotions and reveal
a truth of the moment through
the power of narrative stories
in feature films, animated
shorts, documentaries,
television characters, even
embellished toile.
Oral histories on the founding
of the Santa Fe campus, from
faculty innovations to horse
rides to seminar, reveal the
passion of the early pioneers.
on the cover:
Anna Karenina illustration
by Gayle Kabaker
2 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�THOMAS ALLEMAN
D E PA R T M E N T S
From Our Readers
Bibliofile
Alumni
4
42
45
Alumni Notes
55
In Memoriam
58
Philanthropy: Anjali Pai (SFGI08),
Tolstoy Stories
From the Bell Towers
6
Spirit of Poetry: N. Scott Momaday
Alexandra Wick (A15)
Alexandra Welm (A14)
Joshua Sturgill (SF17)
9
Lunch with Anna Karenina
10
First Person: Domenic D’Andrea (A15)
11
Summer Film Institute in Santa Fe
12
Ariel Intern: Elizabeth Fedden (SF15)
13
Reading Tolstoy: Tutor emeritus
Sam Kutler (Class of 1954)
Johanna Omelia (SFGI03) and
Michael Waldock (SFGI03) celebrate
Come Fly with Us! A Global History
of the Airline Hostess.
Wright (A84) create fantasy and sci-fi
in Moth and Spark and Judge of Ages.
44 Hilary Fields (SF97) follows her bliss
in the City Different.
Nora Gallagher’s (SF70) memoir,
Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic,
chronicles her medical system struggles.
Tutor Gregory Recco and University
of Kentucky professor Eric Sanday’s
essays explore Plato’s Laws.
14
Hodson Intern: Rachel Howell (A16)
15
Larry Clendenin (SF77) Retires
Profiles
16
Santa Fe Celebrates 50 Years
50 Jamaal Barnes (A10) advocates
17
On Liberal Education: Chris Nelson
(SF70), Annapolis president
Larry Saporta (A91), LCDR Erik
Kristensen (AGI00), Curtis Wilson,
Annapolis tutor and dean
43 Anne Leonard (A89) and John C.
60
Almuni News: Homecoming 2014
Johnnie Traditions
62
Croquet: A Toga War
64
St. John’s Forever
Eidos
65
Adam Maraschky (A13)
above: Screenwriter and director Lee Zlotoff
(A74) at work in his Malibu home
public service.
53 Elizabeth Powers (A89) sheds light
on workplace bias.
54 Chelsea Batten’s (A07) search
for conversation
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
3
�from our readers
Readers Share
Tolstoy Farm
My main memory of Tolstoy is of
Leo Pickens’s (A78) brilliant oral
exam on his senior essay on War
and Peace in the reading room
of the old library. Separately, I
learned that Gandhi was inspired
by Tolstoy and lived in an ashram
called Tolstoy Farm during his formative years in South Africa. There
he led nonviolent protests against
the “Black Law,” which deprived
Asians of their civil rights, until it
was repealed in 1914, seven years
after its promulgation.
struggle of the Transvaal Indians,
and asked him to air his views on
the subject of morality....”
—Chris Olson (A78)
Channeling Prince Andrei
I will never forgive Tolstoy for
what he did to Natasha and Anna
K. That said, I was ferociously
devouring War and Peace, for the
second time, this past autumn (a
book that improves with age—my
age!). On the very night I was
in the thick of the Borodino
aftermath, I got a deep cut from
“Gandhi attributes the success of the final
phase of the satyagraha campaign in
South Africa between 1908 and 1914 to
the ‘spiritual purification and penance’
afforded by the Tolstoy Farm.”
—Chris Olson (A78)
Gandhi attributes the success
of the final phase of the satyagraha
campaign in South Africa between
1908 and 1914 to the “spiritual
purification and penance” afforded
by the Tolstoy Farm. The Tolstoy
Farm was the second of its kind of
experiments established by Gandhi.
The following is an excerpt from
www.tolstoyfarm.com:
“It was Tolstoy’s writings that
impressed [Gandhi] the most. The
Russian’s ideas about renouncing
force as a means of opposition were
akin to Gandhi’s own thoughts,
although he did not share Tolstoy’s
intense dislike for organized
government. The Indian had read
Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God
Is Within You in 1894. This had
stimulated his search for truth and
nonviolence in his own religion . . . .
Prompted by his deeper appreciation of the Tolstoyan philosophy,
Gandhi wrote in October 1909
the first of his four letters to the
Russian. He described in it the
a piece of glass straight into my
upper thigh in an around-thehouse accident. Rather than take
my one-inch gaping wound to the
ER in Baltimore at midnight on
a Saturday, I channeled my inner
Prince Andrei. I washed out the
wound, poured half a bottle of peroxide over it. I tore a big strip off
a clean tee shirt and wrapped my
thigh. The next day—not awakening in a pool of my own blood—I
walked to the ER, got my stitches,
and walked to Fell’s Point in time
for noon tea with fellow alum João
Santa Rita (A09).
—Samantha Buker (A05)
Free Speech
I remember reading Tolstoy’s War
and Peace at St. John’s with great
interest. I was asked to talk about
it in my senior oral exam and, for
once, did not feel tongue-tied, as I
often did in seminar.
—Julia du Prey (née Busser)
(Class of 1966)
4 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
A view from inside the Tolstoy Literary Museum in Moscow.
Literary Sites
My wife and I were in Moscow last
year and visited the Tolstoy Literary Museum there. We intended to
get to Tolstoy’s house in Moscow,
where he lived for a time with his
wife and 13 children after writing
his masterpieces, but we never
got there.
—Mike Woolsey (Class of 1965)
Train Trips
I wrote my senior essay on Tolstoy’s
War and Peace in 1975, and it
won the senior essay prize, tied
with my esteemed classmate Cary
Stickney’s (A75) essay on Hegel.
My paper was typed by Jane H., my
helper-typist and I on three different typewriters at the last minute,
up in my room on the third floor
of the dorm with the bookstore in
the basement. Probably Tolstoy
typed on a typewriter, too? Don’t
bother looking up a copy of the
paper; it was not well written! I
realize this now, but I loved the
experience of spending a couple of
months pondering one great book
and author. I retain images such as
that of Nicolai lying face up on the
earth, wounded, looking up at the
clouds, pausing in the midst of life.
All my life, I’ve been a religious
seeker, and I’m in a very different
place from where I was in ’75. I live
back in central Maine, whence I
began my journeys from home with
train trips to St. John’s College in
Annapolis and back. Here is peace
and many distant wars. Didn’t
Tolstoy’s life end with a train trip?
—Laura Bridgman (A75)
A Battlefield Revelation
Think of New Mexico. Now think
of Russia. There’s probably not a
lot of overlap in your mental Venn
diagram. But that wasn’t the case
for me when I was working towards
my MA at St. John’s four years ago.
Tolstoy wrote that “Russia and hot
weather don’t go together,” and it
was a harsh winter in Santa Fe the
first time I read War and Peace.
I slogged through the snow and
slush two nights a week to attend
my preceptorial on the novel. And,
of course, keeping up with the
assigned readings meant taking
Tolstoy along with me wherever
I went that frigid winter. During
a post-lunch lull at the pizzeria
where I worked, Prince Andrei and
I had a battlefield revelation involving an infinite and lofty sky. While
my clothes were drying at the
Solana Laundromat, I was hunting
wolves with a nobleman and his
loyal team of serfs and borzois. I
swaddled myself in every blanket
I owned when my heater was on
the fritz and felt decidedly well-off
compared to Napoleon’s retreating
troops. Russia and hot weather
don’t go together, but, for me, Russia and New Mexico somehow do.
—Wint Huskey (SFGI10)
Disruptive Conclusion
I remember that [Tolstoy] seminar
very well because of our discussion
of the characters of Andrei and his
pal Pierre, and because of War and
Peace’s addendum—that disruptive conclusion—which we jointly
concluded in seminar did not go
�from our readers
with the rest of War and Peace.
Tolstoy’s historical P.S. was a declaration of faith, which he wanted
to make happen because he
declared it so. It was the beginning
of a new book. It almost spoiled
the whole novel—like the extra
chapter added on to T. H. White’s
The Once and Future King (which
White’s editor wisely cut). Years
later, I’ve re-read both War and
Peace and Tolstoy’s addendum,
but never together. In my humble
opinion, War and Peace works infinitely better on its own, without
that false handle of religious faith
which Tolstoy glued to its end.
—John Dean (A70)
The Third Epilogue
Time travel to the Graduate
Institute, Santa Fe, 1971: My preceptorial was War and Peace. My
dilemma: A week before the work
was due, what to write? A strong
thought passed through my mind,
“Why don’t I write the Third Epilogue?” That was followed immediately by, “But you’ve never written
fiction in your life.” What then
ensued were six intense days, during which time I wrote a more than
90-page extension to Tolstoy’s epic
work. The words just flowed to the
point that there were entire pages
without one typo—and this was in
the days before correcting typewriters. There were times that I had no
idea what would happen next in the
story. As the words flowed, I cried;
I laughed. I truly felt as if Tolstoy
were directing what was appearing
on the page. Back to 2013: A friend
said, “Why don’t you put the Third
Epilogue on Kindle?” After going
through the learning curve of designing a cover, figuring out how to
publish something on Kindle, and
re-typing the document, War and
Peace: The Third Epilogue is now
on Kindle under the pseudonym of
Samantha Jean Wiley.
—Margaret Sansom (SFGI74)
A Well-Worn Copy
Here is a picture of my copy of
War and Peace from my senior
essay. Obviously, that system
was color-coded!
—Erin Martell (A98)
“Tolstoy wrote that ‘Russia and hot
weather don’t go together,’ and it was a
harsh winter in Santa Fe the first time I
read War and Peace. I slogged through
the snow and slush two nights a week to
attend my preceptorial on the novel.”
—Wint Huskey (SFGI10)
Contributors
Behind the Lens:
Anyi Guo (A14)
“I like revealing things to people
that they don’t know,” says Anyi
Guo (A14). “Sometimes they don’t
know how beautiful they are.”
Guo prefers dramatic portraits to
poses and finds that she captures
the moment best when the subject
is relaxed, allowing their personality to shine. “It helps when you
genuinely like the person because
I believe that a picture reflects
how you—the photographer—really think of them,” she says. Her
lively images of student life appear
throughout The College magazine,
in a 2011 yearbook she created,
and in other print and digital
publications.
Guo favors film photography
over digital. “The process is very
slow, so you can’t see what you just
took,” she says. “It’s almost like a
Christmas gift when you look at the
film and think, ‘I don’t remember
taking that.’” Yet she doesn’t eschew digital photography entirely.
“I love that [digital photography]
captures every moment, and by just
pressing the button, one of [the
photos] will eventually come out
right,” says Guo. “That’s the trick
to digital photography—a bit of
patience and a bit of luck.”
Not much of a gear head, Guo
keeps it simple. She uses a Pentax
K-5 digital single-lens reflex, an
entry-to-middle-level DSLR that’s
“not really professional, but it’s
good enough for the work that
I do.” She uses only two lenses:
one for portraits and another for
everything else. “Good lenses are
expensive,” she says. “They cost
around $3,000, while my camera
only cost $300. But what can I
say? Photography is more about
the eyes than the equipment.”
—Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
5
�Although N. Scott Momaday is best known as a
novelist—his first novel, House Made of Dawn, won
the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1969—poetry is his
most abiding love. He is also a visual artist and was
appointed artist-in-residence on the Santa Fe campus
in April. Of Kiowa-Cherokee heritage, Momaday
was raised first on the Kiowa Indian Reservation
in Oklahoma and then in Arizona, where he was
exposed to the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo Indian
cultures of the Southwest. After graduating from the
University of New Mexico, he won a poetry fellowship
to Stanford University’s Creative Writing program
and earned a doctorate in English literature in 1963.
Momaday has received numerous awards, including
the National Medal of Arts.
When did you start writing poetry?
I started thinking of myself as a poet when
I was just a child. My mother was a writer;
I followed in her footsteps. I watched her
work and she read to me. There were always
books in the house that were inspiring to
me that led me to become a writer.
What compels you to write a poem now?
How do you go about writing a poem?
Poetry is the highest expression in language. It’s my goal to be as responsible
in language as I can be and that leads me
directly to poetry, the crown of literature.
I try to find an idea that I want to explore
in poetry and then I work it out mostly in
terms of traditional English forms. I do a lot
of traditional work in iambic pentameter,
but I also write free verse (a contradiction
in terms). I like prose poems, short, lyrical
pieces that are not written in free verse but
in a kind of free style. My most recent poem
is “The Sake of Appearance.” I was interested in the idea that nothing—nothingness—is an important concept. I composed
a poem of about nine lines; it’s written in
iambic pentameter with a definite rhyme
scheme. That’s how a poem comes about:
TERI THOMSON RANDALL
The Spirit of Poetry
you have an idea and put the idea into the
highest possible expression.
Can you describe the work you’re doing
as artist-in-residence?
I meet with students every two weeks or
so. I assign a poem to read or a painting
to study and we have a discussion. It’s a
wonderful exercise in the seminar form
and I’m delighted with the students I’ve
encountered here. I look forward to continuing in this post for a good, long while.
Some of the works we have discussed are
“The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens,
“Poem in October” by Dylan Thomas, Peter Brueghel’s “Hunter in the Snow,” and
Munch’s “Cry” and “The Red Vine.”
Is talking about a painting similar
to talking about a poem?
They are different expressions of the spirit.
A poem is composed in language as we
understand the term. A painting is vivid and
uses visual expression, so they’re worlds
apart in many ways. But you can talk about
them in the same terms: What is on the
poet’s or painter’s mind? How does he realize his vision? What are the techniques he
uses to convey his expression? How does he
communicate his spirit?
6 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
“It’s my goal to be as
responsible in language
as I can be and that leads
me directly to poetry, the
crown of literature.”
N. Scott Momaday
How did you develop an interest
in painting?
My father was a noted Native American
painter, so I watched him work when I was
growing up. I didn’t want to be a painter at
that time; it was not until I was well into my
adulthood that I began painting and drawing and making prints.
What is your goal in working with
St. John’s students?
I’m trying to give the students the benefit
of my experience as an artist and to share
with them something of the oral tradition.
St. John’s students can benefit from it
because oral tradition is very powerful. The
best expression we have of it is theater: You
go to a production of Hamlet and you see
oral tradition in the raw, people speaking
�PHENOMENAL POEM
to each other on the stage and giving
meaning and expression through voice
and body language in the way you don’t
find in the pages in a book. It’s a welcome
addition to reading.
Does your new position mark a change
in your relationship with St. John’s?
I have been associated with St. John’s College for some time in different ways. I’ve
given the Commencement address, delivered public lectures, and [Mike Peters], the
president in Santa Fe, is a good friend. I’m
pleased to have a relationship with the college; I think the world of it and want to keep
my ties to it alive. This is [my] first chance to
meet with students in a discussion situation. I’ve had a whole career of teaching in
large institutions. I taught at Stanford [and]
other colleges, and I find that St. John’s
students probably have a greater freedom
of thought than students have elsewhere.
Being exposed to great books is wonderful
and I want to know more about that process,
how it works having such close association
with the greatest thinkers of the human
experience. That’s not something you can
say about most places.
— Interview by Sus3an Borden (A87)
“Earth and I Gave You Turquoise” is the
first poem Momaday kept, written when
he was an undergraduate.
Earth and I Gave You Turquoise
Earth and I gave you turquoise
when you walked singing
We lived laughing in my house
and told old stories
You grew ill when the owl cried
We will meet on Black Mountain
I will bring corn for planting
and we will make fire
Children will come to your breast
You will heal my heart
I speak your name many times
The wild cane remembers you
Poems were popping up everywhere on the
Annapolis campus on April 24—National Poem
in Your Pocket Day. Since 1996, April has been
National Poetry Month, started by the Academy
of American Poets to celebrate poetry. In 2008,
the Academy made New York City’s Poem in
Your Pocket Day a national event; several students read about it in the Gadfly. There were
poems taped on walls and placed on tables
in the Mellon fishbowl. Chinese poems had
accompanying English translations. A Chilean
poem was posted on a student’s Facebook
wall. Students pulled iPhones from their pockets to read poems aloud.
When it was Wick’s turn, she read “Revolution
Within an Electric Embrace,” her original twopage poem. “I’ve been thinking about all these
things throughout the year, and I put them into
rhyming couplet form.” In the machine, she sees
the force that she learned about from Newton:
In a Mellon science lab, a poem moved several
students to tears—and joy. Tutor Patricia Locke
had previously agreed that the student who
came up with a name that everyone agreed
to adopt for the “Faraday Machine” would be
exempt from the end-of-the-year paper. Alexandra Wick (A15) thought of a name, “Revolution
Within an Electric Embrace,” that was also
a poem: “I didn’t have any confidence that I
could win it with a name alone, so I decided to
write a poem and appeal to the end-of-the-year
nostalgia,” says Wick. When she learned that it
was also Poem in Your Pocket Day, she found it
a perfect convergence of forces.
“This embrace, though stable,
can never be at rest—
The wire cannot linger and put its head on
electric’s chest.
Here the wire reminds me of Phèdre herself,
longing to clutch.
Her passion hovers about Hippolyte but never
allowed to touch.”
It was not the first time Wick had read a
poem in lab class. “I really like the junior year
because of the holistic experience of math,
lab, and seminar. Ms. Locke has prepped us
to see lab this way; she has brought in poems
about the experience of bursting into tears
and what kind of phenomenon it is, or a video
of birds flying in what looks like magnetic lines
of force. So we’ve been primed by her to see
science as poetry, and poetry as science; I like
that transitive property of phenomena.”
My young brother’s house is filled
I go there to sing
We have not spoken of you
but our songs are sad
When Moon Woman goes to you
I will follow her white way
Tonight they dance near Chinle
by the seven elms
There your loom whispered beauty
They will eat mutton
and drink coffee till morning
You and I will not be there
I saw a crow by Red Rock
standing on one leg
It was the black of your hair
The years are heavy
I will ride the swiftest horse
You will hear the drumming hooves
“If attractive force spins the planets above,
Why not be simple and just call it love?
Then force is love and love is God,
And the world’s a stage on which we’ve all
starred.”
And the motion of the machine reminds her of
Phèdre’s struggle:
By the end of the reading, everyone agreed
they had a winner. Locke modified the assignment and gave students the option of writing a
poem instead of the paper. Whether handwritten on paper or read from an iPhone, Locke
says, “the whole idea is to encourage people
to start reading poems and realize that they
do have poems in their pockets at all times,
and have it be more part of their daily life. I
like poetry because it seems to be the most
intensified language we have. It has meaning
on multiple levels that act with each other and
it really is an entity itself. It’s not just pointing
to something else; it is its own being.”
— Eunji Kim (A15)
briefly quoted
“The uniqueness and glory
of St. John’s is not about the
outside world or our next steps,
it is about a life absorbed and
obsessed with books, ideas, and
the importance of those who
thought and wrote before us.
But the question remains, even if
unspoken,‘What are we going to
do, and from your perspective as
a graduate, why?’”
John L. Gray (EC12),
director, National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution,
2014 Commencement speaker, Santa Fe
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
7
�from the bell towers
Alumnus and Tutor
Co-direct NEH
Summer Institute
POEMS FROM THE HEART
JENNIFER LEVIN
Alexandra Welm’s (A14) first publication, My
Eden Home (Alondra Press, 2013), is a collection of poems accompanied by her illustrations,
completed when she was 19 years old. Putting
the book together, she says, “was as close as
I could possibly feel to having a baby.” Having
worked with magazines in high school, she
downloaded a layout program and positioned
the poems and art. “It was so entirely my own;
I’ve never had anything like this that’s mine.
When I realized it was actually going somewhere, I could hardly believe it.”
Joshua Sturgill (SF17)
BOOKSTORE POET
Welm loves fiction, but poetry has always
been a more accessible medium for her. “I
loved dabbling in other people’s stories; I loved
writing extensions to them and exploring what
my favorite characters did, but I don’t have an
expansive enough imagination to make my
own stories. Poetry was something I felt I could
always tap into.”
Joshua Sturgill (SF17) doesn’t call himself a poet.
The oldest freshman on the Santa Fe campus,
Sturgill, 37, worked in a bookstore in Kansas for
10 years while keeping a journal and writing essays and reviews about literature and philosophy.
Many of his journal entries were fragments and
impressions—poetic and otherwise—recorded for
future reference; some he turned into poems.
My Eden Home is not only the title of the book, it
is also the title of a poem that Welm cherishes.
“I wrote it after my father passed away and it
felt powerful to me,” she says. “It seemed to say
everything I wanted to say about an event which
otherwise I simply couldn’t put into words.”
When Muse Times Two, a poetry series in Santa
Fe sponsored by the nonprofit organization Lore of
the Land, announced its first annual competition
for local college students, Sturgill decided to work
with the notes he took during Holy Week in 2013.
The result: a three-part poem called “The Narrow
Year” was selected as the winner for St. John’s.
Welm believes in the storytelling power of
poetry. “It allows both the reader and the
writer to experience powerful emotions in a
condensed space,” she says. “What would take
many chapters in a book, you feel instantly with
a poem. You feel great loss, great pain, great
love. And it washes over you immediately in
just a couple of lines.”
On Sunday, April 13, Sturgill read his poem at
Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse, in
a lineup that included the winners from the other
colleges in town—Santa Fe University of Art and
Design, the Institute for American Indian Arts,
and Santa Fe Community College. Each school
was asked to submit poems by three students;
the Muse Times Two jury selected one winner
from each institution.
— Eunji Kim (A15)
“I’m an Orthodox Christian and Holy Week is a
really intense time—lots of services but also a
meditative period,” says Sturgill. “I wrote about
events from last year and it’s interesting that one
year later, I read my poem on Palm Sunday.”
To read these poems in full visit: www.sjc.edu/
news-and-media
Joshua Parens (A84) and Joseph
Macfarland (A87) are co-directing the
National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) Summer Institute on Medieval
Political Philosophy, from June 16 to
July 11, 2014, at Gonzaga University in
Spokane, Washington. Parens is dean of
the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal
Arts and a professor of philosophy at the
University of Dallas; Macfarland is a tutor
in Annapolis. They are co-directing the
Institute with Douglas Kries, professor of
Christian philosophy at Gonzaga.
The Summer Institute is intended to
address the relative neglect of medieval
political philosophy in undergraduate
education (compared to ancient and
modern thought), and more specifically,
the relative neglect of Islamic and Jewish
medieval thought.
Examining writings by Alfarabi,
Maimonides, Thomas Aquinas, and many
others, participating faculty and graduate
students will be able to rediscover and
contemplate the confrontation between
reason and revelation free from many
modern presuppositions.
It is hoped that the 25 participants from
colleges and universities across the country
will subsequently incorporate medieval
political philosophy into their courses.
Learn more about the Institute: http://
medievalpoliticalphilosophy.gonzaga.edu
Sturgill’s winning three-part poem traces a challenging yearlong journey that culminates in this
verse, a resurrection of hope:
3.
I drank an ode
this morning: sunlight
ANYI GUO (A14)
standing in a cup of tea. I saw the leaves
Alexandra Welm (A14)
unfold a solemn reflection
of life, lending the water
green memory. Imperceptibly (except
by intuition) the cup pulses, rings, to my pulse
and I hold myself uncoiling
from a point of concentrated hope—there!
that hint of rainbow! rising
in an angle of the steam
— Jennifer Levin
8 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
briefly quoted
“We are stories, each of us
an imagination, each of us
tracing an arc of beginning,
middle, and end, on the
course of which each of us
must struggle…”
National Book Award finalist
Andrew Krivak (A86),
2014 Commencement speaker,
Annapolis
�from the bell towers
“Reading Anna Karenina might well take
time, but it is time very joyously spent,”
says Annapolis tutor Brendan Boyle, who
was part of a yearlong study group on the
Tolstoy novel. Although Tolstoy’s War
and Peace has been read by Johnnies since
the inception of the New Program, Anna
Karenina is usually relegated to preceptorials and post-graduation reading. It is
clearly worth the community’s attention.
Dostoevsky called it “flawless as a work
of art” and Faulkner said it was the best
novel ever written.
The study group, made up of faculty,
staff, students, and other community
members, met at lunchtime for 15 Mondays throughout the year, reading roughly
50 pages for each session. Participants
looked forward with “delight” to each
reading, Boyle reports, as they followed
married aristocrat Anna’s struggle with
questions of marriage, passion, society
and her affair with Count Vronsky.
Annapolis President Chris Nelson
(SF70) launched the study group nine
years ago out of a desire to stay in touch
with what he calls “the real work of the college.” In the early years of his presidency,
he often led undergraduate seminars.
When his job became more demanding,
tutor Debbie Axelrod became the group’s
co-leader. They began with short fiction
but have recently been reading long works
including War and Peace and Ulysses.
Axelrod says that Anna Karenina shows
Tolstoy’s great sense for human emotion
and interaction: “Tolstoy gets it,” she
says. “When he describes what a person is
feeling or how a relationship is unfolding,
so many times he writes exactly what they
would say, exactly what they would feel.”
Nelson agrees. “Tolstoy seems to create
a character who behaves in a certain way,
but these characters are complex,” he
says. “Just when I think: ‘Well, they fit that
mold,’ it turns out they don’t. And that’s
true of every character in this book.”
Sophomore William Brown (A16)
believes that this surprise is part of a
ANYI GUO (A14)
Lunch with Anna Karenina
“Tolstoy seems to create a
character who behaves in
a certain way, but these
characters are complex.
Just when I think: ‘Well,
they fit that mold,’ it turns
out they don’t. And that’s
true of every one of the
characters in this book.”
Chris Nelson (SF70), Annapolis president
narrative ambiguity that is characteristic
of Tolstoy. “In Anna Karenina, Tolstoy
often writes in a style that suggests he
shares opinions with the characters when
he is writing about them, but then it
changes when he’s talking about different
characters.” Brown sees an interesting
technique throughout the book: “There’s a
way that the characters infect the narrative
and the narration becomes much less certain as a result,” he says. “That’s one of the
things I find myself most interested in.”
Linda Tuck, wife of retired tutor Jon
Tuck, joined the group this year after
retiring from a career as an elementary
school librarian in Anne Arundel County.
She notes that one of the strengths of the
group is the variety of people participating: staff, undergraduates, GIs, retired
tutors, current tutors, and other members
of the community. Often, she says, the
chemistry of the group is working so well
that she holds back from participating.
“Lots of times the discussion is so lively
that I’ll have things I want to say and I
don’t say them because the conversation
is going and it’s wonderful to listen to,”
says Tuck.
Boyle agrees that the participants work
extraordinarily well together. “The group
itself is, I think, a model of humanistic
investigation,” he says. “If one takes a
class on Tolstoy or, say, Dostoevsky, it will
invariably be occupied with questions
about political, economic, and cultural
developments in late 19th-century Russia.
The works themselves have a tendency to
get lost. Our seminar, by contrast, allows
the book to question us about love, marriage, children, happiness, God. ‘Why
might Anna love him?’ ‘What would a free
life look like for Anna, for Vronsky, for
Levin, for us?’ In our seminar, that’s what
we’re trying to figure out. As, I think,
Tolstoy himself was.”
—Eunji Kim (A15)
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
9
�from the bell towers
THE MIRACLE OF FILM
I applied to St. John’s not because I
wanted to be a filmmaker but because
I wanted the films that I made to be for
something great. This is what I told those
who said, “Aren’t you a film major?” “But
there’s no film department?” “But wait—
philosophy?” In truth, the real reason I
applied is that I was insecure at parties,
decidedly unable to hold my own (read: to
sound “smart”) when stuck at the punch
bowl with a friendly stranger.
I came to St. John’s because I wanted to
learn how to hold a conversation. I knew
that depended on my ability to think well
and deeply, and to collaborate—a concept
with which I was familiar, but practiced
little. None of my adolescent friends were
terribly interested in making movies, so the
films that I made were almost always solo
projects. To make a truly good film is to
find some collaborative center of gravity, some harmonization of all its parts.
If a film, miraculously, turns out to be
good—and a good film, regardless of the
individual talent involved, must always be
a miracle—then it is both everyone’s and no
one’s fault.
Toward the end of my freshman year,
some friends and I made a short halfnarrative, half-documentary film, And for
My Next Trick. It was about an eccentric freshman who was with us for a few
months before he abruptly disappeared,
leaving behind most of his possessions
and a cryptic message scribbled in darkpurple sharpie on his dorm-room wall.
The movie premiered during “Dead
Week,” and a surprising number of students—about 50—showed up.
We tried to make it funny. A lot of
people laughed, and reportedly, some
cried. I say this not to congratulate myself
(although I will occasionally re-watch
the film’s frankly awesome and climactic
swing-dance-turned-fight-scene), but
rather to note that the movie united my
class in a way that was meaningful and
unexpected. Without realizing it, we had
told a story about the caricatured versions
PHOTOS: ANYI GUO (A14)
by Domenic D’Andrea (A15)
SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY,
WE TOLD OURSELVES THAT
STORYTELLING MATTERS, THAT IT
MEANS SOMETHING AND OUGHT
TO BE DONE BY PEOPLE WHO
WANT TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE
FEEL A LITTLE BIT LESS ALONE.
of ourselves to which we cling when thrust
into a new community. We’d made a movie
about how it felt to be a freshman. As I
sat in the projection booth and the crowd
below me laughed, I knew that with this
clumsily shot and hastily edited movie,
I had struck that fine chord between the
Bitter and the Sweet of something true.
A few days after the screening, one
Very Cool Upperclassman told me, “Film
is the culmination of the liberal arts, a
marriage of visual art and narrative and
music and dialectic and philosophy—all
unfolding in time.” This is true, but what
I like about film is that it is an expression
of the visible. There must be something
real before the lens of a camera. And that
something begs to be seen both for what
it is—the light through a tree or the subtle
crack of a smile—and for how it fits into
a greater narrative: that tree the place
where a painful longing first was felt, that
smile a hint of mirth during an argument
between two old but not close friends. Is
this any different from poetry or theater
or music? We experience and repurpose
things to tell stories. We know this. We do
it all the time, but film reaches the places
that words struggle to touch.
This is why a coherent film—not necessarily a good or great film—is a miracle.
This statement is a slightly pretentious
10 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
way of saying that
a good story—be it
visual or musical
or spatial or all of
the aforementioned
at once—requires a
whole lot of work
and collaboration. I
don’t just mean collaboration between
myself and the audience or myself and the crew, but between
myself and the film’s subject matter. For
this reason, film is not just a liberal arts
thing or a conversational thing. It’s a tender thing. More accurately, it’s a trusting
thing. That is why I like film so much.
At the Annapolis Film Festival last year,
I heard this sentiment articulated by Albert
Maysles during a screening of his acclaimed
documentary, Gimme Shelter. “If when
you’re making a film you’re not trying to
make friends,” he said, “then I don’t really know why you’re making that film.”
I’m happiest when I’m chasing a
moment with a steadicam, with a few
friends and a small window of time to get
a shot “in the can” before the sun sets,
or before that ominous storm cloud eats
it whole. Make no mistake: this description is romantic because it has to be. In
truth, setting up a scene is arduous. The
amount of time it takes to shoot something is typically quadruple the duration
of the final result. I’ve talked here mostly
about the “making” because it is the
“telling” of storytelling that interests
me. In the telling—that is, in the making, in the long nights of editing hours of
footage with some faithful friends and a
big bag of candy, a filmmaker anticipates
how the story will be seen and understood. Somewhere along the way, we told
ourselves that storytelling matters, that
it means something and ought to be done
by people who want to make other people
feel a little bit less alone. And if we get
good at making things together, odds are
we’re doing something right.
View Domenic D’Andrea’s (A15) films at
www.vimeo.com/domdandrea.
�from the bell towers
o f f t h e wa l l
GIMME FIVE
The virtual world was buzzing with
comments from students, alumni, and
parents in response to Annapolis President Chris Nelson’s SignPosts blog, “Five
Reasons to Attend St. John’s College”:
www.sjc-christopherbnelson.com
“I am a parent of a sophomore, and whenever
I have to describe the kind of college my
daughter attends, my short pitch default
answer is always this: ‘Every single kid
going to this school is incredibly employable
when they come out. Because every day, in
every class, they have to fully participate in
their own learning, thinking, and defending
their understanding of something. Most
important, they have to do it with respect
for every other person in the room.’”
—Lisa, St. John’s parent
“As a fellow parent, I am simply amazed at
the level of maturity and thoughtfulness
that my 19-year-old son has demonstrated
since being here a little over one semester!
It is hard to believe how much growth he
has realized in such a short time. Not to
mention him literally telling me—for the first
time in his life—that ‘I’ve fallen in love with
a man who has been dead for 2,089 years—
Euclid! I really love math.’”
—Anonymous parent
“Is no degree better than a liberal arts
degree?” is a new study published
on Forbes.com in May that considers
millennials (born between the early ’80s
and the early 2000s).
“The only ones who could find this study, its
premises and findings, to be valid are those
who have not been trained in critical thinking.”
—Caroline Killian (SF05)
“If your sole aim is to get well paying jobs,
and you have no interest in meaning,
thoughtful reflection, or understanding of
different worldviews, then focusing solely on
money makes sense. To those who desire a
thoughtful life, a life better prepared for all of
the interesting twists and turns, our college
motto makes the case.”
—Anonymous alum
A still from Nosferatu, F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film.
READING GREAT FILMS
Moved by the power and beauty of early
cinema, Scott Buchanan once envisioned the
New Program with a fifth year devoted to the
study of great cinematic works. More than
75 years later, this summer marks the arrival
of the St. John’s College Film Institute (June
15 to August 8) at the Santa Fe campus.
Several alumni, including Hannah Jayanti
(SF07) and Bob Tzudiker (A75) are leading
workshops. An idea spawned by Santa Fe
Graduate Institute Director David Carl and
other film-minded tutors at the Santa Fe
campus, the Film Institute emphasizes
reading films as well as viewing them; it
includes seminars, tutorials, and workshops
with film professionals. “A great film has
to work on multiple levels, with many possible interpretations,” says Carl. “It has to
exceed the artist’s intentions and provide
a forum in which [audiences] can engage
serious questions.”
Summer
Academy 2014
at St. John’s College
AN INTELLECTUAL
ADVENTURE
for High School Students
Students from around
the world immersed
themselves in Summer
Academy 2014 in Santa
Fe and Annapolis.
Learn more: www.sjc.edu
Local theater groups are showing films on
large screens at venues throughout the city.
Films include: F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu
(1922), Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story (1953),
John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939), Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries (1957), and Andrei
Tarkovsky’s Mirror (1975), among others.
Each week focuses on films by a different
director as well as books that either they or
critics have written about their work. “Like
poetry, a director or cinematographer is very
deliberate about what we see,” says Carl.
“Images are inseparable from the story.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
11
�from the bell towers
Ariel Intern Finds
Order and Purpose
ANYI GUO (A14)
In July 2014,the Laboratory of Anthropology (LOA) Research Library at the
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on
the piñon-studded Museum Hill in Santa
Fe will migrate its catalog to the Koha
Integrated Library System, a move that
will make the library records searchable on
the Internet for the first time.
Helping to facilitate the migration is
Elizabeth Fedden (SF15), who was awarded
a second Ariel Internship to work for LOA
Library Director Allison Colborne. Fedden started working at the library in fall
2012 when she helped with a book sale to
PROGRAM
PAGE TURNERS
Is there a work of fiction or storytelling
on the Program that you find to be
especially compelling?
JENNIFER LEVIN
“My favorite narrative on the program
is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
because the language of the story transcends the story itself. Its cadence and
rhythm become the central characters.”
— Josh Kelly (SF15)
Elizabeth Fedden (SF15)
raise funds. She continued to work with
Colborne on other projects; when Fedden
learned about the database migration project, she applied for the Ariel Internship to
fund the work. “I’m not very tech-savvy,
and it was a good opportunity to work
more with computers,” says Fedden.
Fedden, 29, a native of Normal, Illinois,
came to St. John’s after serving as a U.S.
Army nurse at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She then
spent five years working in cafés, becoming
a competitive barista, and volunteering at
the World Barista Championship in Bogotá, Colombia.She eventually came to realize
that in order to move beyond the espresso
machine, she needed a college degree.
At first, the LOA Library database
cleanup was overwhelming—detailed and
often tedious—moving authors’ names and
book titles into the correct fields, deleting
“Herodotus’s Histories. I find the best
way to learn about people is through actual actions. I think it is easier to learn
about people, philosophy, virtue, and
anything through actual human actions.”
— Sally Jankovic (A17)
“One of my favorite narratives so far
has been Don Quixote. I can identify
with someone who sees all around him
what he needs in order for the outer
world to match his inner world.”
“As You Like It, because the hero is
a woman, and it is hilarious to watch
[the characters] run around the forest
and pretend they know what’s going on
when no one really understands.”
— Caroline Snizek (A15)
“I love the Iliad. It was the first book we
read here during freshman year and I
remember being enthralled by it. It is so
exciting—tales of glory and the gods. I
have two copies in my room, a Lattimore and a Fitzgerald translation. I plan
on rereading them both this summer.”
— William Kinum (A17)
“The thing that really moved me was
both of the Euripides plays. But I would
choose the Bacchae because it is so
sensual and violent at the same time.
It’s a very disturbing combination and
unlike anything else on the Program [so
far]. It certainly leads to a very interesting discussion. I’m still not sure what it’s
about, but it was definitely compelling.”
— Collin Ziegler (A17)
— Joseph Leakakos (SF15)
or merging duplicate records, running into
the stacks to confirm the location of an
obscure holding, and making sure records
are precise. “If periods aren’t in the right
places, the record won’t come up,” says
Fedden, who is exploring a master’s program at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign; she is particularly interested
12 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
in library conservation, digitizing fragile
materials, and making them searchable.
Colborne calls Fedden a librarian in the
making. “I’ve had other interns, and you
can just tell,” says Colborne. “I never have
to explain things to her. She understands
the order and the purpose.”
—Jennifer Levin
�from the bell towers
Spurred by Henry Robert (Class of
1941), this spring the Annapolis alumni
chapter, headed by Beth Martin (A94),
formed a study group to read the Pevear
and Volokhonsky translation of War
and Peace. Erin Fitzpatrick (A14) met
with participant Sam Kutler (Class of
1954), retired tutor and dean emeritus, to
discuss Tolstoy’s great work.
How many times have you read
War and Peace?
I’ve read it more than four times. As many
senior seminars as I’ve done, I’ve read it
at least that many times. The small things
get changed because you’ve forgotten
exactly where they are, but you know
where the large movements are; you know
what’s coming.
Is there a particular scene or line
that has stayed with you?
When Pierre speaks to Andrei and says,
“You gave such a beautiful talk about
forgiveness. This is the time to forgive
Natasha.” And Andrei says, “I never said I
could do it.” He’s too proud. That’s a very
important part of the novel. Tolstoy says
“this is not a novel,” but he’s wrong.
People have often described
Tolstoy’s novels as “character driven.”
Do you agree?
Tolstoy wants War and Peace to be history
driven, but the book is character driven.
Many years after reading War and Peace,
fine memories of Natasha, Pierre, and all
the other characters linger. I cherish most
Pierre’s statement to Andrei about forgiving Natasha. Pierre was always in love
with Natasha, even when she was a child,
and he would have given anything to be in
Andrei’s shoes so he could have forgiven
her. That would have been the greatest act
of his life. I’ve always thought about that
business about forgiveness.
Do you have a favorite character
in the novel?
I’ll tell you a story instead of answering
that question. I think the Program was
made solid by Jacob Klein. I went to Mr.
Klein’s seminar before I joined the faculty in ’61. He went around the room and
asked every single person, “What is War
and Peace about?” When he’d finished,
he said, “You’re all wrong. It’s about
Natasha.” Tolstoy doesn’t mind repeating the same phrase. He wants to drive
it home the way Beethoven does. He’s a
very musical writer. The main problem
for me is thinking of what a strange
couple Prince Andrei and Natasha would
be. He’s so stern and unusual and half of
him is his father. A little bit like Hamlet
in that respect. I don’t know if that had
any effect on Tolstoy.
to read. I wince a bit with Tacitus. I enjoy
the freshman and sophomore readings
more than those of the junior and senior
year. They seem more plausible and richer.
But the last time I did the junior year, I
thought they were strange books and very
well chosen. Every time I reread a book, it
was a new adventure, and every time I did
it in seminar, it was never the same. People
were always interested in talking about
different things.
Why should we read War and Peace?
We should read it because of its extreme
richness. I love its repetitions, I love that
everything’s there on the surface, but
Tolstoy doesn’t mind
repeating the same
phrase. He wants
to drive it home the
way Beethoven does.
He’s a very musical
writer.
How would you compare Anna
Karenina to War and Peace?
I recognize it as a masterpiece.
I can’t find time to read it often,
nor can I compare the two
novels, for they are so different.
War and Peace is dear to my
heart because of the well-drawn
characters and because Tolstoy
is anxious to disabuse us of our
false notions about war.
How can we find joy in reading
an assigned book?
JEN BEHRENS
Return to the Novel
The list of books on the Program is so
good that I always delight in reading any of
them, even if not especially Adam Smith.
I would have found it hard, year after year,
to do Justinian—we used to read Justinian
on how the Romans freed their slaves. It
was a bit tedious. We got rid of books like
that when we started the preceptorial list.
There’s hardly anything that isn’t a delight
the surface is so huge. The hard part is to
integrate it all in your imagination. Seminars are very helpful because somebody
will speak who has an entirely different
way of looking at it. Every single time I’ve
read it, it got better. That’s one test of a
great book: its “rereadability.”
—Interview by Erin Fitzpatrick (A14)
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�from the bell towers
Working at Talmar Gardens in Baltimore,
Maryland, last summer was the perfect
first internship for Rachel Howell (A16).
Talmar Gardens is a nonprofit organization that provides horticultural therapy,
which uses plants and horticultural
activities to assist in improving one’s
body, mind, and spirit. Howell turned
to horticultural therapy in hopes of
merging two of her interests: psychology
and nature. “The brain is an amazing
thing,” she says. Growing up on a small
farm surrounded by gardens and animals
nurtured her love of nature and working
with plants. At Talmar Gardens, Howell
interned in a vocational program in
which students with mental disabilities
learn a horticultural trade. “It involved
working out in the field, transplanting
plants in the greenhouse, and showing
the students how to use the tools and how
to work with others.”
Howell’s Hodson internship helped
her refine her interest in horticultural
therapy and exposed her to expectations
of the work world. “Class will go on without [me], but if I’m not there [at my job],
they’re going to have a problem getting
the group going,” she says. She sought
to develop leadership and communication skills through the internship, taking
charge of her assigned group of students
and learning to communicate clearly. “I
had to be direct, lay everything out, and
be specific when I was talking to the students.” This experience complemented
the communication skills that she has
been developing at St. John’s College. “I
also learned patience,” she says, “from
dealing with things like rush-hour traffic
to working with students with mental
disabilities.”
Howell did not receive much instruction on how to work with the students,
so she learned on the job “by watching
what other people did. We would have
meetings once a week about the students.
We talked about their progress and I
would ask questions: ‘This happened,
this is how I dealt with it. Is there a better
way to deal with it?’” The most fulfilling
moment was at the end, when her group
graduated from the vocational training
program. “I was so proud of them and
happy to see them be proud of themselves
for what they had accomplished. I was
really glad to have had a part in it.”
— Eunji Kim (A15)
CHILDREN’S LITERACY
ADVOCATE
Joanna Purpich (A14) takes the idea of “find
a need and fill it” to heart. While volunteering
as a math and reading coach for elementary
and middle school students this past year at
the Bloomsbury Square Community Center in
Annapolis, Purpich discovered that the organization’s supply of children’s books needed
a serious boost. An avid reader and advocate
for children’s literacy, she sprung to action. On
April 9, she launched a children’s book drive
on the Paca quad, inviting the college community to donate new and gently used books,
primarily for ages 7 to 14. She collected more
than 200 books, including classics such as
Roald Dahl’s Matilda, Rudyard Kipling’s The
Jungle Book, and Anne McCaffrey’s The Coelura. “The drive was a success,” says Purpich.
“Being a community of book lovers, St. John’s
is a great place to do a book drive.”
The following day, Purpich delivered the books
to the community center. “The kids were
excited to see the boxes. We sat in a circle
and read Shel Silverstein poems.” Purpich is
looking forward to organizing another children’s
book drive. “I want to make sure teachers have
tools to effectively reach students.” Purpich
hopes to forge a career in publishing; this
summer she is attending the University of
Denver Summer Publishing Institute.
ANYI GUO (A14)
ANYI GUO (A14)
Plants and Psychology:
Hodson Intern Finds the Link
Purpich was raised on classics by Roald Dahl
and Tolkien. “My favorite was The Hobbit.”
Growing up in Houston, Texas, her parents
encouraged reading. “For a bedtime story, my
mom read Don Quixote to me. I felt comfortable with epics and books with cool plotlines.”
One book, in particular, she holds dear to this
day. “I keep a copy of Harry Potter, to comfort
me when I’m sick or not feeling well,” says
Purpich. “My original copy is missing its spine
and completely worn out from use—and from
being dropped in the bathtub.”
— Gregory Shook
14 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�from the bell towers
Hitting the Global Airwaves
LARRY CLENDENIN (SF77)
RETIRES
Pictured (left to right): Linda Lin, co-op producer, U.S. Department of State; Maria Acosta,
Teleamazonas reporter; Francisca Soto Bravo (A17); Edison Choco, Teleamazonas cameraman
After nearly three decades as admissions
director on the Santa Fe campus, Larry
Clendenin (SF77) officially retired in July.
“Every student who has signed the college
register at Convocation over these years, and
therefore every student who has received a
diploma at Commencement for most of those
years, owes something to Larry’s work,” says J.
Walter Sterling, Santa Fe dean. “I am deeply
grateful for his service to the college.”
During the last 30 years, Clendenin has
witnessed tremendous changes in higher
education, particularly in the ways that colleges and universities reach out to prospective
students. “What is really different is the communication—the connectivity and mediums
that are available to us,” says Clendenin. “That
really pushes on our lives and on our private
time, and opens up more public avenues. But
young people keep up with it.” Clendenin has
also seen the cost of higher education rise,
St. John’s College garnered international attention when television documentary film crews
visited the Annapolis campus last fall. They traveled to the U.S. on separate assignments,
but with a similar interest: discussion-based higher education. A noted television journalist,
producer, and camera crew from the Korean Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), one of
the leading networks in Korea, visited in October. In a partnership with the U.S. Department
of State, a similar team from Teleamazonas, a major television network in Ecuador, arrived
in November. Both news teams immersed themselves in campus life: they met with students,
faculty, and staff, and attended seminars, labs, and concerts. They were especially interested
in the college’s emphasis on original sources and classroom discussion. Each news team
noted the heightened interest among youth in their respective countries in studying classic
works and perfecting conversational English. Among the students who participated in the
documentaries were JuChan Park (A16) from Korea, and Francisca Soto Bravo (A17) from
Chile; they shared their experiences as international students at the college.
talk of the tow ers
Santa Fe Admissions staff and Larry Clendenin
In Annapolis, four new tutors have joined
the faculty. Robert Abbott (A04) is from the
University of Chicago, where he is working on
completing his joint PhD from the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of
Germanic Studies. Karin Ekholm (A00) joined
the college from the University of Cambridge,
where she was a teaching and research fellow
in the Department of History and Philosophy
of Science. She received her PhD in history
and philosophy of science from Indiana University. Rebecca Goldner (AGI02) comes to
the college from Villanova University, where
she earned her PhD in philosophy. Matthew
Holtzman (A00) earned his PhD in philosophy
from Johns Hopkins University.
In Santa Fe, Mary Anne Burke is the new
Facilities and Athletics manager, and Aaron
Young is the new director of Human Resources.
Chris Gruber is the new Webmaster, and Lisa
Neal is assistant director of Communications.
In Annapolis, several new directors have
joined the college: Bill Hocking, director for
the President’s Initiative for a Liberal Education; Tim Leahy, director of Information
Technology; and Susan Jenkins, director of
Web Initiatives and Social Media. Annapolis
Treasurer Bronte Jones left the college in
September; Bud Billups, interim treasurer,
retires (again) this summer.
which he says can be “overwhelming for a lot
of families. St. John’s is doing a good job of
addressing that. One thing I tell parents is that
our graduates go on to write great literature,
make movies, and become businesspeople,
doctors, lawyers, and teachers.”
Clendenin emphasizes that St. John’s is
about finding the right fit. “We’re talking about
a particular student and whether or not it’s
going to be practical,” says Clendenin. “It’s
not a question of whether it’s practical for all
students. But for those of us for whom this is
perfect, it brings out the best in us. It brings out
great things that take us where we want to go.”
— Jennifer Levin
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
15
�from the bell towers
Santa Fe Campus
Turns 50
This summer, St. John’s College kicks
off the 50th anniversary of the founding
of the Santa Fe campus. The yearlong
celebration includes activities and events
that will recognize and honor the people
and the community that make St. John’s in
Santa Fe so distinctive. “This year marks
a significant milestone in the history of
the college and the Santa Fe campus,
conclusively demonstrating for more than
50 years that the St. John’s Program is an
education for all and has no geographical
or cultural bounds,” says Santa Fe
President Mike Peters.
THE ST. JOHN’S EDUCATION IS
FOREVER YOUNG. THE PIONEERS,
THE WESTERN COLONY, THE
ODYSSEAN WANDERING, WERE—
AND ARE—IMPLICIT IN THE GENETIC
MAKEUP OF THE PROGRAM.
Richard Weigle, founder and president
of the Santa Fe campus
It was a bold and visionary move to establish a campus in Santa Fe, offering the
college’s unique, and in many ways radical,
academic program to more students. “The
founding of the Santa Fe campus in 1964
was a reminder that the educational program installed in Annapolis in 1937—one
that could be mistaken for something traditional, if not hidebound—is in fact radical,
volatile, and nomadic,” says J. Walter
Sterling, Santa Fe dean. “As was said of the
Greeks, the St. John’s education is forever
young. The pioneers, the Western colony,
the Odyssean wandering, were—and
are—implicit in the genetic makeup of the
Program, waiting to be expressed.”
The commemoration of 50 years in
Santa Fe “gives us a perfect opportunity
to highlight the significant place that the
college has in higher education, reaffirm
together our core values as a community,
and heighten the visibility of St. John’s
locally and nationally,” says Victoria
Mora, Santa Fe vice president. “It also
is important for Santa Fe to step up and
leverage gifts to the campus in honor of the
anniversary, making us a stronger partner
in our one college, two campus structure.”
The college also will salute innovations
first established in Santa Fe—such as the
Graduate Institute, the Eastern Classics
program, and Summer Classics.
On June 20, a public media event
launched the celebration with proclamations and remembrances. The campus is
taking every opportunity to mark the anniversary throughout the summer, beginning
with Music on the Hill, Summer Classics,
and the first-ever Summer Film Institute
(www.sjc.edu/events-and-programs/santafe/summer-film-institute). The celebration
will continue throughout the academic
year and will include a national academic
conference, “What is Liberal Education
For?” on October 16 through 18 (www.sjc.
edu/events-and-programs/santa-fe/50thanniversary-conference). The conference
is envisioned as a broad platform to speak
about the challenges and opportunities for
liberal education today, and to engage in
exemplary studies in the liberal arts.
Sterling reflects on the value of the
conference and its place in the campus’s
50th anniversary celebration: “Our
insight into the true ends and appropriate
means of an education for the human
being as such suggests an alternative to
what has sadly become mainstream and
conventional. Such an education should be
made available to, and pursued by, many
more people—ever more people. This was
audacious in Annapolis in 1937 and in
Santa Fe in 1964, and seems more so now.
But it happens to be true.”
— Jennifer Levin
16 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
2013-2014 NEW
BOARD MEMBERS
Elizabeth (“Betsy”)
Ann Bassan (A75) is
founder, president,
and CEO of Panagora
Group, a womanowned small business
providing integrated
and novel solutions in
health and development. Previously she
held executive and leadership positions with
Chemonics International, Save the Children,
and the Society for International Development
(SID)-Washington. She is a senior planner and
management specialist with more than 30
years of experience designing, implementing,
and evaluating international development
projects, strengthening institutions, and building public-private partnerships. Her sector
expertise includes global health and private
sector development. Her regional experience includes Africa, Asia, Europe, Eurasia,
and the Middle East. She lived and worked
overseas for seven years in Kenya and Sudan.
She speaks French and holds an M.A. from
Columbia University, where she participated
in a joint degree program on Planning in
Developing Nations.
Robert Mass is head
of Goldman Sachs’s
International Compliance, which comprises
Europe, Middle East,
and Africa (EMEA) and
Asia Pacific Compliance. He is also global
head of Securities
Division Compliance.
He joined Goldman Sachs in 1992 as the first
head of Compliance for the J. Aron Currency
and Commodities Division. He managed FICC
Compliance for eight years until 2004. He
was named managing director in 2001 and
partner in 2010. Prior to joining the firm, he
was an assistant district attorney in New York
County, where he served as deputy chief of
the Investigation Division and chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit. Before that, he worked
at Kramer, Levin, Nessen and Kamin, a New
York corporate law firm, and at the American
Civil Liberties Union. He is a graduate of the
University of California, Santa Cruz, and Harvard Law School. Mass has participated in the
New York Executive Seminars for many years, as
well as in Summer Classics in Santa Fe.
�from the bell towers
TONY J. PHOTOGRAPHY
Committed to Liberal Education
Chris Nelson (SF70), Annapolis president
Last October, more than a dozen college
and university presidents dined at the
Penn Club in midtown Manhattan while
fielding questions from a select group of
editors, producers, and journalists—from
CBS News, the New York Times, Inside
Higher Ed, Bloomberg News, the Christian
Science Monitor, Money magazine, NPR,
and Forbes, to name a few. What was on
their minds? Questions such as “How can
you show the success and value of a college degree?” and “How is the increasing
student-debt burden impacting college
and career choices?” Annapolis President
Chris Nelson (SF70) was one of the few
liberal arts college representatives in the
mix. The media’s take on higher education
heavily influences public opinion, so it is
important for St. John’s College and liberal
education to be well represented.
This higher-education media dinner is
one of many events Nelson attended this
year as part of his outreach campaign to
increase the visibility of St. John’s College
and liberal education. Nelson’s message
is reaching alumni, students, and friends
who are familiar with and support liberal
education as well as audiences who—after
listening to Nelson—want to learn more:
prospective applicants, parents, donors,
teachers and guidance counselors, policymakers, and, of course, the media.
Nelson, a respected national spokesperson for liberal education, is regularly
publishing and making appearances.
His blog for Huffington Post (www.
huffingtonpost.com/christopher-nelson)
touches on topics such as “Lincoln and
Liberal Education,” “The Miracle of
Imagination,” and “The World’s Longest
Running Seminar of Free Government.”
His “SignPosts” blog (www.blogs.sjc.edu/
christopher-nelson) celebrates everything
at St. John’s from Senior Orals to the joys
of original thought and Euclid. His blogs
are linked to a growing number of other
sites—further increasing the reach of the
message about St. John’s.
Nelson is recognized as a leader in
national, state, and local higher education
circles. As an advocate for liberal education, he is a regular contributor to higher
education-specific and mainstream media.
Nelson is invited to comment and join
forums for noted publications such as Time
and The Hechinger Report. His letter to
the editor, “The Fervor for Great Books
and Big Ideas Isn’t Dead,” appeared in the
New York Times in May. He was invited by
the Washington Post to review an important new book, Beyond the University:
Why Liberal Education Matters by Michael
Roth, president of Wesleyan University.
Nelson is also writing his own book.
In fact, the cornerstone of his outreach
campaign is a book intended for a wide
audience; he plans to meld his congenial
“deskside” conversations with stories that
speak to the values of St. John’s College
and liberal education.
Nelson reflects, for instance, on his
son’s encounter with liberal learning and
“repairing an old junker, a 1960s vintage
Volkswagen bug.” As his son tried to fix
the broken washers for the windshield
wipers, Nelson says “he was led to find
for himself the answer to the problem just
by a series of questions. His experience
was liberating and a reminder that we all
practice the liberal arts constantly. The
“All members of the
St. John’s community
are potential ambassadors
for liberal education and
for St. John’s College.”
only question is whether we practice them
well or poorly. If we open ourselves to the
possibility of learning something new,
without relying on manuals or seasoned
experts, we can all make new discoveries
for ourselves.”
Nelson is working closely with a team of
staff and faculty and a media consultant,
as well as alumni and friends, as he moves
forward with his campaign. “But of course,
all members of the St. John’s community are potential ambassadors for liberal
education and for St. John’s College,”
says Nelson. “My role is to spur on that
continuing conversation about the value of
what we do at the college, so that it can be
better understood and appreciated.”
—PD
Learn more about Nelson’s activities:
www.sjc.edu/about/leadership/presidents/
annapolis-president
Subscribe to the SignPosts blog:
www.blogs.sjc.edu/christopher-nelson
briefly quoted
“In the end, liberal education
must take its bearings from
the most fundamental
question of all: What does it
mean to be human?”
Annapolis President
Christopher Nelson (sf70), in his
book review for The Washington Post
of Beyond the University:
Why Liberal Education Matters,
by Michael Roth, president,
Wesleyan University
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
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�18 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�tutor views
Why
by Jonathan Tuck
For rising seniors at St. John’s College, summer provides
an important rite of passage. In preparation for the first two
seminars of the fall, each of them must read Tolstoy’s War and
Peace. It’s prudent not to begin too late: the vast historical novel
of the Napoleonic wars occupies 1,215 pages in the excellent
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, apart from notes and index.
The Use of Stories:
Faculty members
consider Tolstoy and
compelling works of
fiction on the Program.
OPPOSITE: A scene from
War and Peace
ART RESOURCE, NY
At the rate of 90 pages per week, it’s enough to fill the whole summer
with seminar readings for each Monday and Thursday. The action ranges across most of Europe and involves armies of hundreds of thousands
of men. It is truly a “great book” in size and scope as well as in power and
beauty; yet most of the reader’s concern is narrowly focused on the fates
of six or seven characters, members of three noble Russian families.
We come to know these people inside and out, better perhaps than we
know our own families or close friends. It is very hard to remember that
they are not real. As Isaac Babel said, “If the world could write by itself,
it would write like Tolstoy.” When the narrative proper concludes with
Part One of the Epilogue, we feel betrayed. It cannot be that there is no
more! Another generation is growing up: what will become of young
Nikolenka? And what about Pierre? Will his political activities get him
into trouble? How happy are these marriages? We want desperately to
find out what will happen next. It’s this very curiosity that keeps us reading; though the book is long, we fly through it after a while, hoping that
our favorites will find the happiness they have been seeking for years.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
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�Q&A
tutor views
Why is Tolstoy on the
Program?
An old saw I have heard is that
St. John’s students graduate
unaware of the Protestant
Reformation and the French
Revolution. It is one of many
variants on the theme that
we somehow neglect “history.”
The particular variant and the
general charge have some
force to them, though the true
force is not what is most often
intended. What is most often
intended is the idea that we
do our students a disservice
by leading them to neglect the
“historical context” in which
the authors wrote (and which
shaped their ideas). The typical
argument is upside down: In
fact, we come to understand
the historical context by reading the works of the greatest
minds that illuminate such
context. It is in this light that
some of the power of reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace
emerges for us. Tolstoy brings
to life (or to the work of art)
Napoleon as man and myth,
the great movements of modern Russian politics, the general tumult of enlightenment
rationalism (and nationalism)
and the many other forces by
which “Europe” was convulsed
in the 19th century, the
twilight of the ancient regime,
and the lived experience of
the consequences of Hegel’s
interpretation of the “worldhistorical.” Without reading the
great literature that comments
on, or animates, the times, we
do indeed have a “historical”
lacuna. Reading the enlightenment philosophy of the late
18th and early 19th centuries,
without reading War and
Peace, is something like reading Plato and Aristotle without
reading Homer, Aeschylus, and
Sophocles.
—J. Walter Sterling (A93),
Santa Fe dean
This longing is inspired by the raw power
of pure storytelling. Most of us have stayed
up all night to finish a compelling tale. We
have to find out; it seems like a matter of
life and death, as it was for the Sultan and
Scheherazade. Sometimes the story will
lack the grandeur and dignity of Tolstoy or
Homer; we call them “guilty pleasures”—police procedurals, country-house whodunits, Gothic romances, beach reading, pageturners. But why should this pleasure make
us feel guilty? As Aristotle reminds us, our
desire to know, to “have seen,” is natural to us
as human beings. Unlike gossip, for example,
even the most trivial fictional narratives don’t
seem to harm anyone else. Perhaps certain
kinds of coarseness in a story can harm us, but
often the shame we feel at having squandered
a few hours on the wrong sort of book springs
20 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
from a tacit comparison: we could have spent
that time reading something more useful,
something good for us. What use can we make
of stories?
At St. John’s, novels usually appear in the
seminar list right after a lengthy vacation. War
and Peace, Don Quixote, Middlemarch, The
Brothers Karamazov—each long book gets
only two evenings of discussion. The usual result, of course, is that we try to see the work
as a synchronic whole, rather than focusing on
the diachronic experience of reading. We look
back and try to pick out themes and ideas. At
the end of his book, Tolstoy does the same
thing. In Part Two of the Epilogue to War and
Peace, he discards his characters and suddenly
turns philosopher, telling us what we should
infer from the events of the story about causation in history and human freedom. Many of
�the truth of stories
Q&A
his claims have appeared before, embedded in
the text. (For example, see the beginnings of
Volume III, Parts 1, 2, and 3; Volume IV, Parts
2 and 3; and Epilogue, Part 1.) Like many other readers, I have always thought that Tolstoy
marred his great novel slightly by giving in to
the temptation to preach a moral at the very
end. He should have trusted his tale more. But
in our seminars, in our necessarily retrospective treatment of his story and other stories,
we often do something very similar. We distance ourselves from the events narrated in
searching for their meaning.
Should we first approach a seminar work
from the outside, as a whole, or work through
it from the inside? If we are reading a work
that is not a story—say, a philosophical work
with an argument—we often try first to restate
the argument with precision. But when we
read a story, we seldom feel the need to retell the plot. Instead, we reach into the story
from without, looking for what it is “about.”
We are used to arguments; it is tempting to
try to find a doctrine, a truth-claim, in everything we read. Our desire to make our stories
philosophical may assure us of our own seriousness, but do we then misrepresent the
concreteness of our experience of reading? I
have sometimes flippantly tried to deflect students who try to turn a novel into a treatise by
saying, “The moral of every great novel is that
There is and should be wisdom in the best stories,
even if it is hard to specify it in the form of a
proposition. Although Tolstoy’s story seems to tell
itself, as Babel said, there is always a teller behind
the tale, and a reason for telling it. Stories that
provoke reflection and repay rereading are never just
about themselves. Pace Socrates, the war between
philosophy and poetry need not last forever.
It’s no doubt foolhardy to try
to write a short paragraph
about a writer with such epic
proclivities. But Tolstoy himself
suggests that small drops may
reflect entire globes. At a key
moment in War and Peace,
Pierre has a brief vision of
a vibrating globe composed
of water drops. In an urge to
reflect the divine being at the
center of this globe, each drop
strives to expand, spreading
until it eventually merges with
the whole and loses its identity. The peasant Platon Karataev embodies this essential
tendency: his every feature and
gesture is “round,” he doesn’t
distinguish one person from the
next, and his speech consists
mostly of common folk-sayings.
Even the dog that has attached
itself to Karataev is characterized only by an absence of particularity—by “its not belonging
to anyone, and the absence of
a name and even of a breed,
even of a definite color.” The
impulse to dissolve the bounds
of individuality extends even to
the central characters: Pierre
and Natasha finally appear
as a typical married couple,
talking contentedly “as only
a husband and wife can talk.”
This drive toward the archetypal
isn’t peculiarly human: the old
oak that initially attracts Prince
Andrei’s attention by its apparent refusal to put out leaves in
expansive springtime gestures
has, a month later, become
indistinguishable from the other
trees in the forest. Only after
some effort does Andrei discern it “spreading out a canopy
of juicy, dark greenery.” As the
old oak comes to life it looks
more and more like every other
tree in springtime. Perhaps we
read Tolstoy, then, for the very
reasons we read every other
great writer: to catch sight,
if we can, of how particulars
reach out toward the universal.
—Margaret Kirby, tutor
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�Q&A
tutor views
When we tried to take him off
once on the Santa Fe campus,
the rising seniors wouldn’t let
us. We could not persuade
them that there could really be
a substitute.
I think Dostoyevsky is right
to say that Tolstoy writes the
way a dreamer dreams: with
every detail in place, fully
realized down to the last cuff
link and collar button. Or so
at least it seems to the rapt
audience. The deployment of
such Old Master portraiture
on the biggest story of the
19th century—the story of
Napoleon’s conquest of Russia
and subsequent ignominious
retreat—makes a book unlike any other I know. Tolstoy
means to step into the same
arena as Homer: War and
Peace is his Iliad and Odyssey
in one. And he is worthy of his
model without ever seeming a
mere imitator.
Robert Bart once proposed
that we read great works of
literature partly in order to approach the various Medusas of
human life as Perseus did the
Gorgon: not looking directly
into their petrifying faces but
in the reflection of a shield.
Tolstoy offers a shield for
anyone who hopes not to wind
up paralyzed by Love or War,
Ambition, Ideology, Politics,
or History. One comes to live
inside his book and through
his characters for the weeks
one reads it, and perhaps (especially after a good seminar
or two) never entirely leaves it
behind again. The characters
are unforgettable. Sixteen-yearold Natasha is able to look into
a mirror before her first ball
and say, in all sincerity, “Who
is that charming girl?” Pierre
is saved from a firing squad
because of how he looks into
an officer’s eyes. For Prince
Andrei, living becomes an
insoluble problem. How does
one know that the pictures a
book shows of human hearts
life is complicated.” Similarly, Mark Twain
begins Huckleberry Finn with the disclaimer:
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this
narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished;
persons attempting to find a plot in it will be
shot.” Apart from a desire to be funny, Twain
may have other motives here, but he knows,
and we know, that his story has a moral content that can be questioned and discussed.
That’s why Huck Finn is a great book. There
is and should be wisdom in the best stories,
even if it is hard to specify it in the form of a
proposition. Although Tolstoy’s story seems
to tell itself, as Babel said, there is always a
teller behind the tale, and a reason for telling
it. Stories that provoke reflection and repay
rereading are never just about themselves.
Pace Socrates, the war between philosophy
and poetry need not last forever.
The heroes and heroines of War and Peace
all suffer greatly in their search for happiness and meaning. Some of them, especially
Pierre Bezukhov, continually ask about the
meaning of their experience, even while it
is happening; but all of them engage in such
questioning at the novel’s end. Though most
readers love Pierre, it is hard not to consider
22 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
him somewhat comical, at least some of the
time; part of the reason is that he sometimes
seems to think that the meaning of life should
be easily expressible in the form of doctrine
or a proposition. If learning comes through
suffering, perhaps these characters learn not
to expect such easy answers. Because they
seem so real, we suffer along with them, and
we learn, too. If the story can make us wiser,
it must be a complex kind of patient, experiential wisdom. It’s fitting, then, that we survey the events of the story in retrospect, as
the characters do themselves.
If Tolstoy erred in Part Two of the Epilogue,
it was only in his tone of impatience and overt
didacticism. In the greatest stories—and
War and Peace is one of them—the ideas, the
themes, the world view are fully incarnated in
the action and the characters. Often it’s necessary to abstract them in order to speak of
them, but it should feel like an act of violence,
like a translation or a prose paraphrase of a
poem. The way to regain the perfect interpenetration of Aristotle’s big three—plot, character, and thought—is to read the novel again.
Jonathan Tuck is a tutor in Annapolis.
�the truth of stories
Illustrations: below and page 18:
Illustrations for War and Peace
found in the collection of the
State Borodino War and History
Museum, Moscow. Paintings
by Andrei Nikolayev.
page 20: The reading of the
novella, The Kreutzer Sonata,
at the Leo Tolstoy House (1889),
painting by Grigori Myasoedov.
opposite page: Tolstoy in his
study. Engraving in “The Artistic
Illustration” (1892).
Our desire to make our stories philosophical may assure
us of our own seriousness, but do we then misrepresent
the concreteness of our experience of reading? I have
sometimes flippantly tried to deflect students who try
to turn a novel into a treatise by saying, “The moral of
every great novel is that life is complicated.”
are true pictures? Maybe the
great books are the ones that
help you start to know. Tolstoy
writes that kind of book.
—Cary Stickney (A75), tutor
into the past, scarcely holding in
check the frailties and tensions
in their lives and those of their
several guests. And yet the
revealing, unsettling power of
the past is made beautifully and
clearly present through song
and memory, in Joyce’s words.
—Pamela Kraus,
Annapolis dean
I like to think of the four years
as starting with adventure
stories. In my romantic way of
looking at things, the freshman
year would be better served by
the Odyssey, but you can’t read
the Odyssey before the Iliad.
The sophomore year used to
start with the Aeneid. The junior
year begins with Don Quixote.
War and Peace fits right in there
with that—a large adventure
story for every year. One
might say that War and Peace
shouldn’t be on the Program
because it doesn’t fit in so well
with the other books. We don’t
have a good way of studying
Napoleon, and War and Peace
is not a good way of studying
Napoleon because you just get
a caricature of him.
—Sam Kutler, (Class of 1954),
tutor emeritus
Is there a work of fiction or
storytelling on the Program
that you find to be especially
compelling?
James Joyce’s “The Dead” is
a story I return to again and
again. It is, to my mind, one of
the great short stories in the
English language. A pensive,
gentle, but uncompromising
spirit pervades the annual
dance and dinner at the Misses
Morkan’s. Their small evening is
a civilizing force that is slipping
ILLUSTRATIONS: HIP, ART RESOURCE, NY
“Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War
was the first thing I had ever
read that showed me there was
movement toward order in the
world (as well as chaos).”
—Jim Beall, tutor
What story is more compelling
than the story of Odysseus’s
homecoming? And who can
tell a better tale than Odysseus
himself? Disguised as a beggar, he responds to Penelope’s
insistent questions about his
identity by claiming to be a man
from Crete who entertained
Odysseus on his way to Troy.
Penelope melts in tears at the
story, but tests him by asking
what Odysseus wore and “what
sort of man he was.” The beggar
describes a purple mantle and a
tunic made of exceptionally fine
fabric, but pins his reply on the
description of a golden brooch
that fastened the mantle. So
artfully did it depict a hound
attacking a fawn that the viewer
forgot he was looking at an
image and simply saw the fawn
struggling convulsively in the
hound’s grasp. The beggar’s tale
takes Penelope back, vividly and
concretely, to that day, some
twenty years earlier, when she
saw Odysseus off, and “attached
the shining pin, to be his adornment.” At the same time, the
brooch, on which the story fastens, begins to bind Penelope to
her husband in a new way. The
object itself is long lost; what
remains and makes itself present is their common memory
of it. Whoever the stranger now
before her is, Penelope must be
bound to him by the memory
of that marvelous brooch, as
she was bound to her departing husband by its tangible
presence and the physical act
of pinning it on his cloak. By
focusing on a work of visual art,
Odysseus also binds them in the
knowledge that this story never
fully reaches its conclusion—the
fawn is forever struggling in
the hound’s grasp; the hound is
forever unable to relax his grip.
—Margaret Kirby, tutor
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
23
�CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Mike Lacy (A12); Lee
Zlotoff (A74); detail of
textile art by Richard
Saja (SF00); sketch by
Jules Feiffer of himself
with Norton Juster in
Hannah Jayanti’s (SF07)
film; detail of animated
film, Mars, by Geoff
Marslett (SF96)
24 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�Modern Takes
Storytellers
What makes a story memorable and compelling? When these alumni connect
with our deepest emotions, we recognize ourselves in their stories. They use
everything from modern digital filmmaking and editing techniques to traditional,
time-honored methods—visualizing a great story, observing character, directing
a scene, writing a screenplay, scribbling notes and plot outlines on napkins and
whiteboards, dreaming, even embroidering fabric—to reach us.
Great Expectations
A Film by Hannah Jayanti (sf07)
Premiers at the New Yorker Festival
Norton Juster’s children’s book The Phantom Tollbooth, with illustrations by cartoonist
Jules Feiffer, has inspired love bordering on worship for generations. It’s the story of a boy
named Milo “who didn’t know what to do with himself—not just sometimes, but always.”
He comes home one day to find a mysterious package containing
materials for a small purple tollbooth. After putting it together for
lack of anything better to do, he idly drives a toy car past it—and
finds himself in the Lands Beyond. There, he explores a world both
fantastic and overly literal, and sets forth on a quest to free the
princesses Rhyme and Reason, “without whom wisdom withered.”
A few years ago, Hannah Jayanti (SF07) felt as aimless as Milo.
She left St. John’s not intending to follow in the footsteps of her
father, a documentary filmmaker. Instead, she was torn between
“building incredibly hippie eco-houses” and academia. At first,
the latter won out. Then she moved to New York City to study
photo and video at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). She found
herself struggling with the visual side of the MFA. Then she
made an experimental film for a video class that took the opening narration of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and rearranged
ELLI CHUNG
by Anna Perleberg Andersen (sf02)
the dialogue into stream-of-consciousness. This “strange little
piece” required extensive editing, and Jayanti “lost herself” in
the process, discovering that “this is the way my mind works.
Editing is a form of writing in the visual world.”
After that, she left SVA to explore forms of film that relied
heavily on the editing process. Among other freelance projects,
she made book trailers for Random House—a strange new genre,
“half commercial and half artistic.” While they often resemble
movie trailers, book trailers are not excerpts of a previous visual
work; a book trailer must film scenes that reference an entirely
different medium. Jayanti also made documentary-style author
videos, which she enjoyed: “Editing is half of directing [a documentary],” she says. “You have no idea what the story will be
until you get into the editing room—it’s where the story really
comes together.”
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25
�storytellers
Her chance to make a feature-length
documentary came in 2011. Janice Kaplan,
a communications consultant she had met
in Washington, D.C., sought Jayanti out
in connection with the 50th anniversary
of The Phantom Tollbooth. They intended
to make a short video commemorating the
anniversary, but after spending a weekend
with Juster at his home in Amherst, Massachusetts, they knew there was enough
material to sustain a longer film. “After
that, people came out of the woodwork,”
says Jayanti. That project became The
Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations, which premiered at the New Yorker
Festival in October 2013. It continues to
appear at venues throughout the country:
“art institutions, libraries, universities,
museums, non-profits.”
Jayanti herself was a big fan of the book
as a child. She loves “how many levels [the
book] works on, how much you can get out
of it at any age. The combination of really
sharp wit and real, real warmth—that’s a
really tricky combination to get for a writer.” She finds herself thinking often of the
Terrible Trivium, a blank-faced monster
who delays Milo’s quest by asking him and
Tock to do menial tasks such as moving
a pile of sand grain by grain—a metaphor
that rings painfully true for anyone who
has had a day job.
When she started filming, Jayanti was
still managing a photography studio in
Chelsea. “For the first eight months, I
just paid for things, worked nights and
weekends,” she says. Gradually she went
part-time as she realized how much work
The documentary showcases
interview footage with Juster,
Feiffer, Jason Epstein, New
Yorker staff writer Adam
Gopnik, children’s illustrator
Eric Carle, and kids sharing
their enthusiasm for the story.
the movie would entail, and she is now
fully freelance. To raise money for the film,
she turned twice to Kickstarter, the crowdfunding website. Both times, she raised
twice what she was asking for. She liked
that “with Kickstarter, people feel they’re
part of the process, like a mini shareholder
in the film.” It’s a way for artists to connect directly with their audience and vice
versa—readers for whom The Phantom Tollbooth has “tremendous emotional value”
were able to contribute meaningfully to
what they loved.
Still, Jayanti didn’t want to make just a
fan movie. So she explores general themes:
the importance of books in shaping our
worldview, and the decades-long friendship
between Juster and Feiffer, who trade quips
and memories on screen together. Through
them, she hopes viewers who haven’t read
the book will be able to connect to the film.
“You can love these men, and then fall in
love with the book.”
The documentary showcases interview
footage with Juster, Feiffer, Jason Epstein
(the editor at Random House who
published the book), New Yorker staff
26 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
Hannah Jayanti (SF07) in the field directing.
An illustration by Jules Feiffer from The
Phantom Tollbooth used in Jayanti’s film.
writer Adam Gopnik, children’s illustrator Eric Carle, and kids sharing their
enthusiasm for the story. To break up the
film’s inevitable talking-head nature,
Jayanti commissioned two sequences from
Eleanor Stewart, a Scottish stop-motion
animator. During the opening credits, the
first sequence is accompanied in voiceover
by actor David Hyde Pierce, describing the
book’s creation: Juster and Feiffer lived
up and downstairs in a Brooklyn Heights
brownstone, and would climb the stairs to
share pictures and chapters.
The second sequence brings to life some
of Juster’s philosophy, “which is, essentially, that facts aren’t important in and of
themselves;” it’s “the connections between
them.” Jayanti points out that “everyone in
the Lands Beyond is a specialist.” Words are
a separate kingdom from math, the borders
jealously guarded. Milo’s rescue of Rhyme
and Reason unites the kingdoms and brings
harmony to the Lands Beyond, which can
be read as Juster’s argument for a liberal
arts education. “That’s really what life and
learning is about,” according to him, “making connections with things, not how much
you know or what specifics you know,” says
Jayanti. “Which is quite St. John’s.”
The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations
is available on DVD or live streaming at
phantomtollboothdoc.com. More information:
www.facebook.com/TollboothDocumentary
and hannahjayanti.com.
�storytellers
Accidental CEO
When did you realize that you
have a gift for storytelling?
Writer, producer, scholar, film executive–
James Schamus (a81) takes up cycling
Interview by Patricia Dempsey
“
T
here have been a couple of film scholars who wrote scripts, but he’s the only
person in the business I’ve ever seen who said, ‘I can’t go to Cannes because
I’ve got to work on my doctorate,’” notes Variety editor Tim Grey in a New
York Times story ( “The Professor of Micropopularity”). It’s a wonderful
quote about James Schamus (A81), an Oscar-winning collaborator. Brokeback
Mountain, which Schamus produced and Ang Lee directed, won, among other
honors, three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and four BAFTA Awards. This
year he stewarded Dallas Buyers Club, which was nominated for six Oscars and won three.
Schamus is a delightfully eclectic, passionate professor in Columbia University’s School
of the Arts, where he teaches film history and theory, an academic whose career as a film
executive is legendary. Many of the films he wrote, produced, and distributed around the
world during his 12-year stint as CEO of Focus Features not only won awards, they broke
barriers. Films such as Lost in Translation and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have a
captivated a generation of filmgoers. “Think of all the great films you’ve seen in the past 15
years—chances are James Schamus was behind them,” notes The Guardian.
On leave for a year from Columbia, the visionary film executive has traded in funding
frenzies and boardroom politics—everything, it seems, except his bow ties and love of film.
Schamus lives on the Upper West Side with his wife, novelist Nancy Kricorian. He shares a
Manhattan moment with us, taking a break from cycling and the writing life.
Probably when I got away with a
number of bald-faced lies when I
was quite young.
Tell us about working with
award-winning film director
Ang Lee. You wrote and
produced many of his films.
Is he a mentor?
Ang and I are kind of co-mentors. We have come of age, and
have indeed aged, together.
We both have a combination of
ambition on the one hand, and
a kind of childlike interest in
new things we’re ignorant about
and humbled by, on the other
hand. Hence, I suppose, the wide
variety of films [for example,
Brokeback Mountain; Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Sense and
Sensibility; The Ice Storm] we’ve
done together.
Is there a favorite film, one that
“sets the standard” for you?
The thing about movies is that
your favorites can be less than
classics and your most-admired
works can be less-than-loved.
And often truly imperfect movies have moments of profound
sublimity and emotion that more
perfectly crafted films can’t
compete with.
PETER BOWEN
You are known for your interest
in films about “outsiders,”
such as films about the West,
the story of America, and
immigrants. Is this still true
today? Examples include films
that you stewarded at Focus
Features, such as Dallas Buyers Club, Brokeback Mountain,
The Pianist, and Milk.
Outsider narratives will always
draw me in at first blush, but
sometimes you find them by going “inside,” too; The Ice Storm
concerns wealthy, privileged
suburbanites, but emotionally I find them all compellingly
outsider-y.
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27
�storytellers
Give us a glimpse into a “day
in the life.” How do you spend
most of your time?
I’m on leave from Columbia
this year, so my commute is the
1-train to my office in Chelsea,
supplemented by my current addiction to New York’s bike-share
program, an addiction that has
resulted in the saving of hundreds
of dollars in taxi fares and the
burning of thousands of calories.
Since October and my departure
from my former job running
Focus Features, I’ve written two
screenplays (and I am working on
a third), have set up as a producer
of a few movies, and have been
doing my usual compulsive movie
going and reading. (Current
obsession, one embarrassingly
shared with much of New York’s
hipsterdom, is Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle).
How did you come to be CEO
of Focus Features? What skills
did it take to do this job well?
I was an accidental CEO, but
found the work very gratifying,
though the past few years I found
it increasingly difficult to balance
my creative work with the business side of things. What makes a
good CEO? Like teaching, there
are no hard and fast rules—great
teachers tend to mold their methods around their own strengths
and weaknesses. I’d say my own
strengths centered around an
attention to creating an environment of trust and support at the
company, making sure everyone,
from assistants to presidents, felt
secure raising their voices and
safe knowing they had permission
to fail. I made it a point to applaud everyone’s failures, my own
included, as well as our successes.
If you don’t fail, that means you
haven’t risked anything.
At Focus, how did you know
which films—many were “indies”—would be popular at the
box office?
“Outsider narratives will always draw
me in at first blush, but sometimes
you find them by going ‘inside,’ too;
The Ice Storm concerns wealthy,
privileged suburbanites.”
You have successfully financed,
produced, distributed, and
written many major, awardwinning films. Did you ever
consider directing?
No—when you have a choice
between yourself and Ang Lee
to direct your screenplay, whom
would you choose?
In a Guardian (January 2014)
interview, you say that being
a “boy wonder screenwriter”
would not have been a good
thing for you. If not writing,
what aspect of filmmaking is
your passion?
Producing—making things possible for creative people to do
their best work.
Is there a film you saw in
your youth that moved you,
inspired you to write and
produce movies?
No. I loved all films and all kinds
of films—from the trashiest to
the most artsy. As a kid, I was
odd enough to enjoy watching
the Friday night classics line-ups
on my local public television
station. Hard to imagine PBS
actually running D. W. Griffith’s
Intolerance for its full duration!
If you could take one book and
one film with you, marooned on
a deserted island, what would
they be?
A handbook and video on boat
making.
It has been said that films
rather than books are the
dominant storytelling medium
of our century. Do you agree?
Do you enjoy going to the
movies alone? Or is it always
a social occasion? Favorite
theater?
Neither is the dominant form.
The dominant forms of storytelling of our time are the result of
the algorithms which track and
construct our digital identities
and experiences. Every day,
some 300 pieces of data you
generate through your phone,
computer, car, etc., are sold or
bartered, and that data is constantly reconfigured and repackaged to shape what you see, hear,
and interact with. The story of
your life has become a function
of this constant feedback loop
between the data you produce
and the data field constructed
for you as the space you have to
signify and produce more data.
I make it a point to head to the
multiplex at least once a week,
usually by myself, to check out
the latest on offer from the
studios, as well as the trailers
and pre-roll. New York has still,
thankfully, a great range of arthouse screens; I’ll bike to any of
them for the right film.
I didn’t.
28 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
At the Cannes Film Festival,
did you take to the red carpet?
No. I’m not much of a tuxedo fan.
What, if anything, has changed
in the film business since
you got into filmmaking and
producing?
The complexity of the business
and the corporatization of the
culture.
Any essential differences in
the film industry in Hollywood
as compared to New York?
Yes, there really isn’t a New York
film industry—though there are
very good crews, producers, and
filmmakers who live in New York.
How do you “teach” film? Are
you a film critic as well as a
teacher?
I actually don’t teach film—I teach
film history and theory, and often
teach philosophy and aesthetics.
My undergrad lectures are not
Johnnie-style, but my graduate
seminars—in which we often read
folks such as Plato and Kant—are
run “revolving-chair” style, so
the last person to speak chooses
the next, a habit difficult for nonJohnnies to form. But they get
there after a few weeks.
Any changes with this generation of students—are they
more sophisticated readers
or filmgoers than previous
generations? Are they better
storytellers?
Students today are much more
at home thinking of audiovisual
media as forms of communication rather than as forms of
mystifying entertainment. For
them it’s another language they
can learn.
Any up and coming filmmakers
whose work excites you?
Happily, way too many to list
here. There is an ocean of great
work being done in so many different genres today. It’s dizzying.
Do you wear signature bow
ties in the classroom? Or was
that more as a film executive,
and for black-tie affairs?
Somehow, the whole bow-tie thing
became a schtick, but yes, I do
wear them often when I teach, too.
Tell us something about
yourself that readers may be
surprised to know.
I’m a VERY slow reader.
�storytellers
Love Story
Jeremy Leven (a64):
Writing the Subtext of Our Lives
by Paula Novash
I
n the romantic comedy Don Juan
DeMarco, written and directed
by Jeremy Leven (A64), the title
character declares, “There are
only four questions of value in
life. What is sacred? Of what is
the spirit made? What is worth living for,
and what is worth dying for? The answer
to each is the same: only love.”
It’s a compelling line typical of its author.
Leven is a successful Hollywood screenwriter, director, producer, and bestselling
novelist who infuses his storytelling with
thought-provoking, soulful subtexts.
“Everything I do has a spiritual and
philosophical underpinning,” he says. “I
think that’s true for almost anybody in the
creative arts. We experience some energy
within us that reconstitutes into inspiration and vision, and where does that come
from?” Leven explores this mystery in
modern fables, where the stakes—love,
fortune, and destiny—loom large.
“You try to create dialogue
that reveals the truth of
the moment, so that what
the characters say and do
sounds real.”
Leven’s career spans five decades. His
films, which have taken him to locations
across the U.S. and Europe, include The
Notebook, Don Juan DeMarco, Alex and
Emma, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and
My Sister’s Keeper. He is also the author of
the novels Creator and Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr.
Kassler, J.S.P.S., both of which he adapted
for the screen.
Leven’s early credits include directing
the musical, “The Perils of St. John’s,”
for the Johnnie’s Modern Theater Group—
which he founded and directed—during his
college years. “I always thought I’d begin
Jeremy Leven (A64) discusses a scene on the set
of Don Juan DeMarco with Johnny Depp.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
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�storytellers
an Oscar speech with ‘I owe my whole professional life to St. John’s College, where I
learned how to think, write, and read,’” he
says with a smile.
Leven began that professional life as
a Harvard-and-Yale-affiliated clinical
psychologist and neuroscientist. After
the breakout success of Creator, he took a
leave from Yale University Medical School.
Leven realized he was at a crossroads.
He consulted a Yale mentor who told
him, “You will never not write; you are a
writer.” Leven began adapting his novels
for the screen.
“Writing and psychology are both about
problem solving, which is what I like to
do,” Leven says. Both professions also
involve examining the complex behaviors,
emotions, motivations, fears, and desires
that connect us. On film, Leven says, the
magical process of creating a believable
character is collaborative. “You try to create dialogue that reveals the truth of the
moment, so that what the characters say
and do sounds real. It’s like a blueprint,
and hopefully you’re giving the actor
something interesting to work with.”
Another powerful layer is the subtle art
of subtext, infusing what is felt, but not
explicitly stated, into a scene. “In the best
acting, the viewer is seeing two emotions
from the character. For example, say we’ve
set up a story of abuse that reaches back
through generations. A man and his elderly
father are driving by a playground and they
see a child being spanked. The father tears
up and the son, who is driving, reaches out
and places his hand on his shoulder. This
gets that double emotion, as we sense that
the father is saddened by what he did to
his son but is also feeling vulnerable as he
remembers how he was beaten by his own
father. And the son is both comforting his
father for what the father went through
himself, and in doing so, forgiving him.”
When writing a screenplay or adapting
one from a book, how does Leven show the
studio, director, and actors that his script
will make a good film? He says it’s by tapping into the emotions underlying his characters’ actions. “Emotions are what pull us
in—the characters’ vulnerabilities, desires,
and fears. We can relate to them even if the
“Everything I do has a spiritual and philosophical
underpinning. I think that’s true for almost anybody in
the creative arts. We experience some energy within
us that reconstitutes into inspiration and vision, and
where does that come from?”
details of our lives are different from what
the characters are experiencing.”
Leven was reminded of this when he
wrote the screenplay for The Notebook,
adapting the love story from the book
by Nicholas Sparks. “Lots of what’s in
my screenplay isn’t in the book. I added
events and made the characters much
more complex,” he says. “But Nicholas
told me the movie was the closest adaptation he’s seen of any of his books.”
“Emotions can be conveyed powerfully
in film, because you can get in so close and
really focus on tiny facial movements and
gestures,” Leven continues. “It’s completely different on stage, for instance,
where gestures have to be larger than life
to be appreciated by the audience.”
As a Hollywood veteran, Leven has
worked with many A-List actors, from
whom he has learned subtleties of subtext
and dialogue. He tells a story about
Marlon Brando, whom he directed in Don
Juan DeMarco. “I jokingly said something
in an Irish accent and he said, ‘Well, you
know, there’s not just one Irish accent.’”
Leven says Brando proceeded to perform
at least a dozen different roles: “a barkeep,
a farmer, a barrister, a judge, an aristocrat.
And with every one not just the accent, but
his body, muscles, and face changed as he
tapped into the emotion, the essence of
the character. It was riveting, and every
character was someone who will keep me
watching a screen for two hours.”
As a novelist, work is solitary bliss. As
a screenwriter, Leven compromises and
collaborates with directors, actors, and
other writers, changing characters and
plot lines. Even the music, says Leven, is a
character in the film. “For a movie script,
there are specific rules to follow,” he
continues. “One page equals one minute
of screen time, and you have to capture the
30 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
audience by the 12-minute mark. There’s
a set, three-act structure: You can have
a great idea and a great ending, but you
have to make sure you have enough story
to fill that 60 minutes in the middle.”
And, Leven explains, “You’re writing
with others in mind. A screenplay needs to
show studio executives that the story will
appeal to a wide audience. It needs to give
the director enough information to see
how to make it, and also create characters
that actors will want to play. The fun part
of this is it becomes a scientific process,
a challenge.”
Leven jokes that in Hollywood, studios
look for a “high concept” film—which
refers to a concept so low it can be
expressed in one sentence. “It used to
be that films like One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest or The Lion in Winter had
more substance dramatically,” he says.
“This doesn’t happen anymore. Executives look to invest $100-200 million and
make billions of dollars.”
Leven’s most recent film, 2013’s Girl
on a Bicycle, (which the New York Times
called a “sweet, often witty romantic
comedy”), is set in Paris. The plot revolves
around a recently engaged tour-bus driver
who dreams about a beautiful woman he
encounters on his route.
One of the movie’s themes is “the imagined life, the life you might lead,” says
Leven. “What is life without dreams? Our
dreams keep us going.” His new novel,
The Savior and the Singing Machine, is
about a young woman who may be a messiah. He’s also working on a stage musical
for his love story, Don Juan DeMarco.
“Love is the greatest emotion, and arguably the one people identify with most,”
he says. “It is probably the most spiritual
thing we can experience.”
�PHOTOS: THOMAS ALLEMAN
storytellers
“There is no limit to what is possible,” says Lee Zlotoff (A74). “We need to get out of the way so our creative process can succeed.”
Whiteboarding
in Malibu
Lee Zlotoff (a74) Taps
the Narrative Power
of the Subconscious
W
by Patricia Dempsey
hat a view.
Some 2,500 feet above the
legendary surf of Malibu, Lee Zlotoff
(A74) is in his living room, scribbling on
a whiteboard. It’s an infinite horizon for
ideas, a place to dream big. He works in
his mountaintop home amid simple inspiration: the folk
art he collects, a studio for building models, and the view—
when the foggy “June-gloom” lifts—of the blue Pacific.
The noted writer, producer, and director often sketches with
colored markers to visualize plot outlines and character and
screenplay ideas. “I do most of my creating on the whiteboard—
not the keyboard. By the time I sit down to write on the computer, the heavy-duty lifting is done. I turn to the computer to flesh
out, say, dialog that I’ve already imagined for the piece.”
Zlotoff, known for his hit television series MacGyver
(launched in 1985), has a new gig: he is writing a book to share
his creative process. It will help everyone—from writers and military officers to entrepreneurs and teachers—to be more effective.
The book, The MacGyver Method, provides a step-by-step process for tapping into the power of the subconscious to solve problems, discover new ideas, and clear the cobwebs of “conscious
interference,” says Zlotoff. “It’s about having an active dialog
with your subconscious; that’s the key, so you can, whenever you
choose, tap into the most effective part of your mind.”
Zlotoff calls the subconscious “the storehouse of our stories.
We are a narrative species; each night we dream, and each of our
dreams is a story. We need these stories. This is why film is so compelling—it connects directly with your subconscious in a way that
books do not. Between the visual images, the music, and the dialog
of a film, your mind is being subtly stimulated on many levels.”
Certain stories endure, he says, because they resonate or connect with deep, internal narratives shared by a large population.
“Ironically—or should I say paradoxically—the more unique and
specific the details of a given story, the more universally it tends
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
31
�storytellers
to be embraced and accepted—as
opposed to the frequent homogenizing that is a hallmark of many
Hollywood films. Some examples
are The Graduate, Star Wars, or
The Godfather series, which are
very specific visions that tap into
the universal narratives of the
search for identity, purpose and
family.” In fact, the great turns in
stories, says Zlotoff, are based on
paradox. “What you don’t expect
happens, but it still makes perfect
sense, like John Nash’s journey in
A Beautiful Mind. You follow the
story, accepting all that you see,
only to realize midway that you’ve
been sharing the delusions of the
main character.”
How does one tap into this power
of stories and the subconscious—
whether making a film, writing
a screenplay, or trying to solve
a business problem? The steps
are simple. To name a few: Write
down the problem. Task the subconscious. Incubation. “We need
to get out of the way so our creative
process can succeed,” says Zlotoff.
To let his ideas incubate, Zlotoff
builds models, a skill acquired
during his high school years at
Brooklyn Tech, working with molten metals and other materials. He is currently
building a World War I trainer plane.
“I like to work with my hands. I started
by making paper models of world monuments: the Empire State Building, the Taj
Mahal, the Vatican, whatever I could find
a kit for,” he explains. “I then progressed
to wood models of ships and planes, as
model building proved the best ‘incubation
activity’ for my creative process.” Zlotoff
describes how it helped him develop a
character’s narrative story in The Spitfire
Grill feature film script. “Whenever I
would return from model building, I kept
seeing this man hiding behind a tree,
watching the main character, who was
a young woman. I made a note of it but,
having no clue who this man was, I put
it aside. He continued to reappear when
I worked on the story, so I realized I had
to figure out who this guy was, and why
he was there. Eventually he became an
who now directs a preschool in
Los Angeles. (They are divorced,
with four children and four grandchildren).
Zlotoff got his start as a screenwriter in the mid-1970s in New
York City as a secretary on a soap
opera, The Doctors. He told the
producer that he could write a better show, and gave him Disasters
in the Sun, a sample script. “You
have to be gutsy to survive—it’s
a rough business,” says Zlotoff.
“He liked the script and I became
a soap opera writer.” Zlotoff’s
speed as a writer was invaluable.
“I could create an okay script in
10 days. My speed, in part, fueled
my meteoric rise from freelance
writer to story editor to being approved to write pilots.”
Later came MacGyver.
Although CBS/Paramount still
retains the rights to the original
series, all the “so-called separated
rights reverted back to me,” says
Zlotoff. But those 139 episodes
of the original show continue to
run all over the world. In some
places, MacGyver is a household
word. “In Korea,” Zlotoff notes,
“a pocket knife—any kind of knife
that one carries—is called a ‘MacGyver.’”
Zlotoff sees MacGyver as “Johnnie perfection. He takes a Johnnie approach of thinking across disciplines to solve problems.”
The character merges an “ability to think
outside the box, as we’re encouraged to do
at St. John’s,” with “my technical exposure
from Brooklyn Tech.” Zlotoff also attributes a good part of Mac’s character to his
father—“certainly the Swiss Army Knife.”
Currently Zlotoff is in discussions with
several publishers for his book, The MacGyver Method. MacGyver walks its pages,
sharing Zlotoff’s step-by-step method for
creating—and living. Zlotoff is also developing a feature film about MacGyver. “I don’t
usually quote Yoda,” says Zlotoff, “but
Yoda did say, ‘There is do or do not. There
is no try.’ You must believe you can do it,
that there is no limit to what is possible.”
“Whenever I would return from model
building, I kept seeing this man hiding
behind a tree, watching the main
character, who was a young woman.”
integral part of the final story. Clearly,
something in my subconscious was telling
me I needed this figure.”
To give voice to his creative method,
Zlotoff draws not only on his ability to visualize on a whiteboard; he uses his well-known
character, MacGyver, a pragmatic, can-do
Boy Scout of a cop who sports a Swiss Army
knife and a blonde mullet. Through “Mac,”
Zlotoff has found a voice. The fictional MacGyver is rooted in Zlotoff’s own experiences.
“He is non-violent, resourceful. MacGyver’s
world,” says Zlotoff, “is ‘you take what
you got, turn it into what you think you
need, not what you want.’ He has a sense
of honor, humor, and humility. MacGyver
uses a Swiss Army knife for everything.”
Zlotoff , whose name means “gold” in
Russian, is as enterprising as MacGyver.
His flair for business emerged as an undergraduate, living on Maryland Avenue, and
running a contracting company with David
Huston (A74). He married Rebecca Ann
Soloff (A74), his high school sweetheart,
32 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
More information: www.macgyvermethod.
com and www.macgyverglobal.com.
�storytellers
Toile Tales
Richard Saja’s (sf93) Whimsical Threads
A
by Paula Novash
JOHN EMERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
t first glance, the textile art in a wooden frame appears to portray
a scene from classical mythology. A cupid sits atop a rearing
steed, and a young maiden in a long gown makes an offering to
a reclining figure wearing a crown. The group is surrounded
by colorful bunches of grapes, lush foliage, and stylized birds,
embroidered on a background of pale linen.
When you look closer, another layer of complexity appears: the figures are
stitched in metallic and glow-in-the-dark threads. The crown is actually a blackand-blue Mohawk, the witnesses include a rabbit, and the fluffy-haired maiden is
holding not wine or sacred fruit, but a box that looks a little like a birthday cake,
emanating spiky rays. Its title? “Behold: ELECTRICITY!”
Richard Saja (SF93) savors irreverent twists in a modern retelling of traditional stories.
This creation is typical of textile artist
Richard Saja (SF93), who gives centuriesold fabric patterns a modern sensibility by
infusing them with fanciful style, a touch of
mystery, and most of all, a sense of humor.
Saja embellishes traditional toile fabrics
(think Colonial Williamsburg) with whimsical embroidery, creating delightfully
offbeat stories that celebrate the quirkiness
of everyday living while exploring themes
such as tolerance and acceptance.
“Toile is similar to a coloring book in
that it’s begging to be enhanced,” Saja
explains. “What I do is draw out a story
with my embroidery, embellishing so you
can see yet another narrative.” It’s reminiscent of what a fool or joker in medieval
times might do, revealing a greater truth
within a cheeky, irreverent presentation.
The word “toile” means cloth, and the
fabric most often replicates traditional
French designs that depict pastoral scenes
in a repeating pattern, using a single color
on a light background. What Saja does
with his needle, he says, is create a sort
of “playful subversion to toile’s traditional role, where everything blends and
has equal weight. By giving attention to
some element and making it special and
individual, I’m taking something old and
making it relevant again.”
Saja grew up in the Jersey Shore town
of Point Pleasant, where he felt out of
step with many of his peers. Navigating
“summer crowds and deserted boardwalk in winter,” he was “kind of a weird
and imaginative kid,” Saja says. “I was
constantly making things, like dioramas of
haunted houses and superhero costumes.”
He was also an avid reader, whose
favorite books featured kids who had “to
fend for themselves, like My Side of the
Mountain or From The Mixed Up Files of
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
33
�storytellers
COURTESY RICHARD SAJA
“It’s not my intention to tell someone what to think about
it. People see my art all at once, like a painting, but then
it can unfold more like a book or film, depending on
the viewer. My work appeals to many types of people
because it can be interpreted on many different levels.”
At that time, there was little “awareness
about tolerance and acceptance, or the
impact of bullying,” he continues. “So I
came to identify with the marginalized,
misunderstood monster types from old
movies and comic books.” In Saja’s works,
unusual characters often interact seamlessly with conventional ones; in “Scenes
from a Marriage,” for example, an alluring masked woman in a ball gown holds
the hand of a gentle green, fur-covered
creature as they dance the minuet.
“A monstrosity is added to something
bucolic, and it can co-exist and be accepted within that framework,” Saja explains.
“It celebrates difference; the freaks are
recognized, accepted, and affirmed.”
Saja moved to New Mexico after high
school and created ceramic art before
enrolling at St. John’s Santa Fe campus.
After completing his degree, he worked
as an art director in a Madison Avenue
advertising agency. Then, laid off during
the dot-com bust, he started a decorative
arts business with fellow Johnnie Martha
Alexander. While working on a design
project for cushions, Saja recalls, he woke
from a dream picturing Maori facial tattoos embroidered onto figures in toile. A
self-taught artist, he soon realized that
embroidery was “a natural outlet for my
overall fastidiousness, and I fortunately
have some innate talent for it.”
Saja says an endless number of
tales exist within every toile; his
interpretation is only one among many.
“I usually have some general idea in mind
when I begin a piece. For example, I liked
the idea of using candy colors, which
then became “Dionysos in Candyland.”
34 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
(See it at http://historically-inaccurate.
blogspot.com.)
“But then it evolves organically,” he
continues, “It’s not my intention to tell
someone what to think about it. People
see my art all at once, like a painting, but
then it can unfold more like a book or film,
depending on the viewer. My work appeals
to many types of people because it can be
interpreted on many different levels.”
In a hard-edged, high-tech world,
people seem to appreciate the time and
energy that goes into his creations. “There
are no shortcuts; these are labor-intensive
projects that need care and love to bring
them to life,” Saja says. “I will probably
never have copycats because it takes too
long to do this kind of work well.”
Creating his art is contemplative, even
meditative, says Saja. He often embroiders
to documentaries, which serve as a sort of
“white noise” to his creative process. “I’ll
turn on something about apes or Egypt—
it’s learning while doing.”
Saja’s art constantly surprises him.
“There’s a magic that comes through
in some pieces that I couldn’t possibly
plan for, where the stitching is imbued
with emotion,” he explains. “When I was
young, I was different. That was oppressive. Now being different has become a
positive for me, with external affirmation
coming from many quarters. My design vocabulary is conveying a message of acceptance and hope, and I love that emotion
can be conveyed through my embroidery
and shared and felt by the viewer.”
Saja’s art has been featured in outlets
such as the New York Times and Vogue. It
is displayed in museum and private collections around the world. He has partnered
with designers that include Mother of
Pearl, Opening Ceremony, Keds, and
Christian Lacroix. Examples of his art are
currently on display at the SnydermanWorks Gallery in Philadelphia.
SEEKING WOMEN IN FILM
If you are a Johnnie, a female,
and working in the film industry,
please share your stories with
The College.
�storytellers
Swerve: Walk on the Wild Side
From Sci-fi Animation to Live-action Drama and a
Rocker Documentary, Geoff Marslett (sf96) Hops
By Anna Perleberg Andersen (SF02)
I
LAUREN MODERY, SWERVE PICTURES
“
like delving into things, at least for a little while, and storing them for later on,”
says indie filmmaker Geoff Marslett (SF96). This intellectual restlessness drives
his art: he has written, produced, and directed short films both animated and liveaction, including the first video for cartoonist/musician James Kochalka’s epic
ditty, “Monkey vs. Robot” (sadly, no longer available to watch online). His production company, Swerve Pictures (yes, it’s a Lucretius reference), has made two very
different feature films, Mars (2010) and Loves Her Gun (2013). Lately, he has directed trailers and even acted in a few films—he enjoys providing just a little of other people’s stories.
Off-camera, he teaches at the University of Texas at Austin, having earned an MFA in film
production there in December 2000.
Mars is an animated sci-fi
romantic comedy that Marslett
wrote and directed. He also had
a hand in editing and producing, as well as leading the arduous process of animation. For
the film’s unique look, Marslett
wrote a computer program that
reduced images of actors in
front of a green screen to between 16 and 64 colors, then
into vectors—scalable graphics
defined not by the position of
pixels but by the mathematical
curves that make up the image.
Marslett’s math background
came in handy; while at St.
John’s, he studied theoretical
physics and differential equations on the side, and pursued
an associate’s degree in math
during a few summers.
Processed through this
program, Marslett explains,
footage acquires “weird,
drifty color palettes” similar
to traditional rotoscoping,
where an animator draws over
film footage. Marslett and his
team used this technique for
features like eyes and mouths
that they wanted to look more
polished. All the backgrounds
were CGI-generated. Creating these composite images
took years to accomplish,
with five animators working
nearly nonstop in a kind of
artistic delirium. In 2007 and
2008, the terabytes of space
required to store the images
were “expensive and ridiculous,” says Marslett. Now a
four-terabyte drive is $150 on
Amazon. Techne moves ever
more rapidly.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
35
�storytellers
LAUREN MODERY, SWERVE PICTURES
Independent Film Festival,
along with many others. Loves
Her Gun has won accolades
from the Los Angeles Review of
Books and Indiewire. Marslett
thinks Mars will have more longevity, despite the film world’s
snobbery about animated films.
Marslett estimates that making
an animated film takes roughly
ten times as much work as
a live-action movie, yet the
festival circuit often takes an
“aw, it’s almost like you made
a real film” attitude toward
them. As a filmmaker outside
the New York-Los Angeles axis,
he’s happy with modest success, with “doing something
because I like doing it,” even if
it doesn’t pay well—yet.
Marslett’s new feature project is, as one
would expect, entirely different from
those that preceded it: a documentary on
“costume rockers,” bands with a shtick to
their outfits or songs that occupy a “strange
place between music and theater.”
The final result of all this labor
is stunning. Part dream, part
comic book, part solid reality,
it’s a perfect visual complement to a story of space
exploration and romance,
two human endeavors that
Marslett feels have much in
common. “As soon as you
talk to [a person who catches
your eye], you change her, she
changes you—neither of you
is really the same as what you
saw across the room. That’s
always completely unattainable.” Exploring a new country
is the same, he says: “The
minute you get there, you’re
slightly different, the country’s
slightly different. Going to
Mars is the same way.”
Marslett is always looking for
different ways to tell stories.
“I’m gonna call it a strength,”
he asserts. “Some people
call it a problem.” So where
Mars was “very much about
construct, very controlled,”
Loves Her Gun takes a nearly
opposite approach. A liveaction drama shot on location in Greenpoint, Brooklyn,
and Austin, it’s the story of
a woman who flees the city
after being mugged and finds
herself caught up in Texas
gun culture, struggling to find
an emotional middle ground
between safety and paranoia.
Marslett and his co-writers,
Laura Modery and Geoff Lerer,
36 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
above left: Geoff Marslett (SF96)
talks barbeque and film at an
Austin eatery. above: Frames from
Marslett’s animated film, Mars.
scripted the action of every
scene tightly, but wrote no
dialogue. The actors improvised every word, which was
“probably terrifying,” says
Marslett, but results in a naturalistic rhythm not often found
in film. Hesitations, misspoken
words, and filler syllables are
all intact. This approach to
storytelling—obviously far from
the constraint of the multi-step
animation in Mars—adds to
the tale’s gritty, bleak nature.
Even in the trailer, it’s eerie
and effective.
Both movies have had some
success at film festivals like
Austin’s own SXSW. Loves Her
Gun won the Louis Black Lone
Star award in 2013, an unexpected achievement. (Marslett
almost skipped the award ceremony.) In addition, Mars has
shown at BAMCinemaFest in
Brooklyn, the BFI London Film
Festival, and the San Francisco
Marslett’s new feature project
is, as one would expect, entirely different from those that
preceded it: a documentary
on “costume rockers,” bands
with a shtick to their outfits or
songs that occupy a “strange
place between music and
theater.” He knows that place
well, since he plays accordion
in a band that performs songs
inspired by The Karate Kid,
while wearing prosthetic arms
and legs frozen in permanent
crane-kick position. (One of
the bands on his radar is The
Pizza Underground, a Velvet
Underground cover band that
sings songs like “I’m Beginning to Eat the Slice” and
“Papa John Says”; it consists
of four of his friends and Macaulay Culkin. Really.) There is
no firm date for the documentary’s completion, but it’s sure
to be quirky and thoughtful,
like Marslett himself.
Learn more about Geoff
Marslett’s (SF96) filmmaking:
www.swervepictures.com
�storytellers
Pursuing a Dream
Nashville’s Music Row Sets
the Stage for Mike Lacy (a12)
B
by Gregory Shook
It’s such a moment that motivates Lacy to
pursue his longtime dream of a career in
film. After graduating from St. John’s in
2012, he moved to Nashville to be part of
what he calls the city’s “developing industry with a thriving freelance community.”
A year later, he launched his own freelance
company, Prometheoid Films, creating
music videos, short films, and multi-media
projects. At age 24, he can practically do
it all—act, direct, produce, and edit. Lacy’s
industrious nature is the main ingredient
for his success. “I spent a lot of last week
uploading 160 hours of footage for a Jimi
Hendrix documentary,” he says. “On the
weekend, I was second camera on a music
video shoot. We shot overnight in this
motorcycle shop from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. It’s
nerve-wracking to think about making a
creative life for myself, but it’s something
I’ve been passionate about since I was
about 12 years old.”
Lacy’s first music video with his company is for the 2013 single “Not So Much
Anymore” by David Berg, an acclaimed
songwriter who has worked with country
music luminaries Kenny Chesney, Carrie
Underwood, and Keith Urban, and has
penned chart-topping hit songs for Reba
McEntire and others. The video centers on
a young woman in anguish over a troubled
romantic relationship, who finds comfort
in her circle of friends. “I had a vision for
the video, but I wasn’t making a good elevator pitch,” says Lacy, who says that the
project almost didn’t happen. “I finally
“A hard thing for me,
as someone who likes
storytelling, is that music
videos are not about
telling a story as such.”
said [to Berg], ‘Look, I don’t know how to
explain my [idea], but this [video] is something that is really important to me.’”
Music has always been close to Lacy’s
heart. In high school, he played guitar and
keyboards with his band, The Shel Silversteins, and absorbed a steady diet of MTV
and VH1. Today, he admits that making
a music video is among his greatest challenges. “A hard thing for me, as someone
who likes storytelling, is that music videos
are not about telling a story as such,” says
Lacy. “There may be a beginning, middle,
and end, but it’s not always clear whether
there’s a protagonist and a clearly stated
conflict.” Being a Johnnie, Lacy views
ambiguity as an opportunity to explore,
learn, and be creative. In a music video, he
wants to elevate the song, using images to
elicit emotion and bring out fresh, sometimes unexpected elements of the music.
“A good video conveys something that
cannot, or maybe should not, be put into
words,” says Lacy, who typically avoids
literal visual interpretations of a song.
“If the lyrics are about the Los Angeles
skyline, you don’t want to show images of
JOSH ANDERSON
arely a decade after making his first film, Mike Lacy’s (A12) work
appeared on the silver screen—and took him by surprise. Alone at the
movies, Lacy watched in amazement as the 2011 PSA for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, in which he had acted and helped
to produce, rolled with the commercials. He announced to everyone
in the theater, “I made that. That was me playing the drug dealer.”
the L.A. skyline.”
During his sophomore year at St.
John’s, Lacy experienced an existential
dilemma that ultimately led to a fateful discovery. “I was conflicted because
here I was learning ancient Greek and
astronomy,” says Lacy. “I thought, ‘What
am I doing with my life? Is this really my
passion?’” He found his answer in books
by renowned film editor Walter Murch,
whose résumé includes The Godfather,
The English Patient, Cold Mountain,
and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Lacy discovered that classical literature is
woven into Murch’s work; he once edited a
film scene inspired by a canto from Dante
and used Kepler’s harmonic theory to figure out how to interplay music with edits.
The summer before his junior year,
Lacy sought out the film editor at his San
Francisco home. “I looked him up on the
Internet and wrote him an e-mail,” says
Lacy. A few weeks later, he was in Murch’s
kitchen, where the like-minded souls
talked for hours about the role of music in
the lives of human beings and the ways that
classical thought can be applied in modern
films. “We sometimes draw a line between
classical learning and modern day, making
them seem at odds,” says Lacy. “But there
are people like Murch, who are in love with
creating things for modern audiences and
don’t think it’s such a harsh dichotomy. I
find that inspiring.”
Learn more about Mike Lacy (A12):
prometheoidspeaks.wordpress.com
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
37
�A Vision Becomes a View
by Sus3an Borden (A87)
38 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
�For 50 years, students and tutors in
Santa Fe have been inspired by the view
of neighboring mountain Atalaya and
the tantalizing snow on the Santa Fe Ski
Basin as they read, write, meet, study,
and socialize in the campus coffee shop.
This vista, it turns out, is not a lucky
accident, according to Charles “Chuck”
Nelson (Class of 1945), a former member
of the Board of Visitors and Governors.
It is part of the earliest vision of the
campus. Nelson recalls a day in 1962
when John Gaw Meem drove him and
other board members to the site of what
would be the Santa Fe campus:
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
39
�“He showed us where he thought the main
buildings would be put and I remember him
describing to us where the dining hall would be
[and saying that] there would be large windows
with panoramic views of the mountains while
you’re sitting there having your lunch.... That, of
course, all came out as he indicated it would.”
This experience of a vision realized is a theme
often repeated when people talk about the
founding and history of the Santa Fe campus.
It’s a theme that tutor Claudia Hauer is capturing and preserving as she works on an oral history project in celebration of the 50th anniversary
of the founding of the Santa Fe campus.
Hauer had just returned from a leave of absence in October 2012 when Santa Fe Vice President Victoria Mora mentioned that she was planWilliam Darkey (Class of 1942)
ning to start an oral history project interviewing
Santa Fe’s founders. Hauer,
who has a long-standing
“He [Weigle] was passionate about
interest in creative nonfiction, told Mora to sign her
liberal education in the St. John’s
up for the project.
way and he just thought it should
Hauer began the project
that December with interbe offered to more people. When
views of the people who
we couldn’t accommodate as many
were present at the founding, including Nelson and
students as wanted to come in
[Annapolis], that’s when he wanted to former board member Bud
Kelly (H02). She then spoke
come out and start this new college.”
with all of the living former deans and presidents,
— Tom Slakey, tutor emeritus and
former dean, Annapolis
along with tutors who
were either present at the
campus’s opening in 1964
or came to the campus in the following three
years. She expanded the project to include
board members, campus benefactors, the current dean and president, and a few alumni.
“What we’ve got is a treasure trove of memories and reflections,” says Hauer. “The goal for
the 50th anniversary is to disseminate these
recordings as much as we can. But the database
will stay with the college after the celebration as
an archive we can use to remember our history.”
The treasures she has collected include tutor
Clementine Peterson (H88)
Roger Peterson (H94) and former buildings and
grounds journeyman Johnny Zamora reflecting
on the campus’s early culture of pranks, tutor Ray
Davis discussing the summer senior program,
40 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
and tutor and former assistant dean Don Cook
(H97) talking about riding his horse to and from
the campus: “I can remember times I would ride
home after seminar. It was a nine-mile ride each
way, and I would go out and saddle my horse and
go home in the complete dark down the arroyo
behind school. That was before any houses were
back there. I remember the sense of solitude, and
it made me think about the west and how people
were alone for long periods of time. I remember
the ice cracking under the horse’s hooves, just
that one sound going down the arroyo. I remember feeling the isolation and how welcoming it
was to come up over the hill about three or four
miles down and see lights and [thinking about]
what that must have meant to people who were
out here in places like Arizona and New Mexico,
to be weeks by themselves and then to come
upon a campfire or some other sign of human
life. I got quite a bit out of those rides back and
forth to school.”
Richard Weigle’s vision is another common
theme in the oral histories. It reveals itself in
the campus’s history through the visionary endeavors of those who sought not to recreate the
Annapolis campus out west, but to create a St.
John’s College of their own.
Hauer describes the work of the founders and
early tutors: “That core group brought incredible passion to building this campus. They felt
that the more they put into it, the more they
could get out of it. The founding faculty in Santa
Fe drew their inspiration from Dick Weigle’s vision of multiple campuses of St. John’s.”
Tom Slakey (H94), tutor emeritus and former
dean of the Annapolis campus, recalls Weigle’s
commitment to the Program: “He was passionate about liberal education in the St. John’s way,
and he just thought it should be offered to more
people. When we couldn’t accommodate as
many students as wanted to come in [Annapolis], that’s when he wanted to come out and
start this new college.”
�Hauer’s interviews capture this passion and include stories of how Santa Fe tutors reworked junior math, developed the biology and chemistry
sequences in lab, and had the Evans Science Laboratory built with private lab spaces for students
to pursue independent research. Stories from later years show how the Santa Fe faculty continued
to innovate, creating the Graduate Institute and
later its Eastern Classics program, Summer Classics for the community, and the art program that
was on the curriculum from 1990 to 2003.
In his interview, Warren Winiarski (Class
of 1952) and founder of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, draws Hauer’s attention to the carvings in
the beams in the new Winiarski Center, which
“I can remember times I would ride home after
seminar. It was a nine-mile ride each way and I
would go out and saddle my horse and go home
in the complete dark down the arroyo behind
school….I remember the ice cracking under the
horse’s hooves....the sense of solitude...and how
welcoming it was to come up over the hill about
three or four miles down and see the lights….”
— Don Cook (H97), tutor and former assistant dean
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:
Richard Weigle, president
and founder of the Santa
Fe campus, realizes his
vision (photo circa 1961).
The finial, detailed
with books, placed atop
Weigle Hall (opened
in 1971 and named
for Weigle in 1973). In
the early years of the
campus, some students
rode horses to seminar.
depict animals that undergo a metamorphosis:
frogs from tadpoles, butterflies from moths,
dragonflies from larvae. While the carvings reflect the transformative effects of a St. John’s
education, Hauer notes that the view from the
Center, like the view from the dining hall, also
matches the transformative spirit of the Santa
Fe founders. “The view is meant to show the
skyline and the hills behind, which is an aspirational vision that you see with that background
of hills reaching up and pointing toward heaven,” Warren explains. “It’s a kind of American
Indian vision, which I believe is meant to suggest reaching upward beyond yourself to what is
above and beyond.”
Alumni are invited to participate in the oral history
project; please contact: SantaFe.alumni@sjc.edu).
The College magazine will celebrate Santa Fe’s
50th in the next issue; if you are from one of the
early classes (1960s-70s) and wish to share a story
please email: TheCollegeMagazine@sjc.edu.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
41
�bibliofile
Johanna Omelia (SFGI03)
Michael Waldock (SFGI03):
Come Fly With Us!
Celebrating a decade
since its original
date of publication,
Come Fly With Us! A
Global History of the
Airline Hostess: Tenth
Anniversary Edition
(Ailemo Books, 2013)
provides a colorful
history of the airline
hostess in “an industry
started by a woman for
women,” according to its
authors Johanna Omelia
(SFGI03) and Michael
Waldock (SFGI03). Beautifully illustrated
with more than 200 images of commercial
airline advertisements and archival photos, this
expanded edition documents the industry’s
83-year history, during which flight attendants
have been the face of the airline companies.
The book explores the social, economic, and
political trends that have affected the role of
the airline hostess as well as the public’s ever
changing perception of sky travel. In addition,
the book features flight attendants’ stories
about the early days of aviation.
Come Fly With Us! traces the profession’s
origin to 1930, when a young Iowan named
Ellen Church convinced an airline executive to
hire her, thus becoming the world’s first airline
hostess. In the 1930s, Church and seven other
stewardesses—known as the Original Eight—
represented United Airlines and established the
foundation of passenger care and safety standards. They were registered nurses whose duties
included repairing loose seats, loading baggage,
soothing nervous passengers, and even touching up paint on planes.
For the next two decades, flight attendants
were cabin safety professionals, thoroughly
trained in safety procedures. In the 1950s,
they were viewed as the “perfect wife,”
celebrated in the media for being “as adept at
warming a baby’s bottle as mixing a martini.”
The Swinging Sixties and Groovy Seventies
saw flight attendants as sex symbols, marketed
to lure passengers aloft. Come Fly With
42 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
Us! shows how uniforms played an integral
part in this image, incorporating stylish
and innovative elements that reflected high
fashion as well as evolving social mores. This
expanded edition highlights “even more
coverage of the 1960s, when, astoundingly,
women wore hot pants and short (flammable)
paper dresses,” says Omelia. Waldock’s
interest in flight attendants began in this
decade, when he first came to California from
England. “When he changed planes, the
stewardess kissed him,” says Omelia. “I was
never kissed by a flight attendant, but I think
the history of working women around the
Boeing’s 747 elevated the
status of air travel; passengers
could book tables for dinner,
view in-flight movies, and
gather around a piano for a
song or two—in Coach!
world over the decades is fascinating.”
As the book points out, the advent of the
first “jumbo jet,” Boeing’s 747, elevated the
status of air travel; passengers could book
tables for dinner, view in-flight movies, and
gather around a piano for a song or two—in
Coach! However, in 1978 the airline industry
was deregulated, resulting in an influx of new
carriers, furious competition, the collapse of
some established companies, and, ultimately,
decreased legroom and in-flight amenities
that remains the standard today.
In January 2014, Omelia and Waldock
launched the online publication, Come Fly
With Us Magazine. The premier issue features
articles on 1970s Hawaiian Airlines fashion,
travel in Iceland, and more. Read the magazine
at www.comeflywithusmagazine.com.
—Gregory Shook
�bibliofile
Anne Leonard (A89) and John C. Wright (A84):
Storytelling and Sensawunda
When it comes to storytelling that involves
princes, dragons, and sorcery, “avoiding
stereotypes is a challenge,” says Anne Leonard
(A89), a lawyer-turned-writer who lives in
Northern California. To keep it fresh, Leonard
infuses her debut novel Moth and Spark
(Viking Books, 2014), with colorful details
from her life. “The book has an entire chapter
that takes place at a ball, which is influenced
by St. John’s waltz parties in Annapolis,” says
Leonard. Fantasy devotees and readers beyond
her intended demographic can appreciate the
novel’s nuanced characters and panoramic
prose. “[Moth and Spark] was written as a
love story for a niche audience: teenage girls
and young women,” says Leonard. “But I’ve
been thrilled and amazed by the response from
middle-aged guys!”
In her book, a young prince, Corin, and
Tam, a doctor’s daughter, are torn between
Corin’s quest to free dragons from an evil
“I get my ideas from the subconscious
mind, the persistence, the work—and
the muse Sensawunda.”
Science fiction author John C. Wright’s
(A84) highly-anticipated Judge of Ages (Tor
Books, 2014) is a space opera for the ages. In
this third volume in his Count to the Eschaton
Sequence, Wright says that science fiction’s
hallmarks of “the gigantic, the over-the-top,
with extreme villains and lots of action”
are abundant. “The term space opera is a
little tongue-in-cheek. Being a St. John’s
graduate, I write philosophy, deep thought,
and other abstract theory into my stories. But
entertainment is the first priority. I want to
beguile on an idle afternoon.”
Set in the year AD 10,515, the novel centers
on two adversaries who endeavor—each in
their own different ways—to thwart an alien
threat, the Hyadas Armada, headed to Earth
to assess humanity’s value as slaves. In Judge
of Ages, opposing leaders Ximen del Azarchel
and Menelaus Montrose ultimately converge
in a climactic battle, replete with hi-tech
weaponry and cliometric calculus, for the
Empire and their mission to save their country
on the brink of battle. Leonard embraces
fantasy’s most compelling elements:
intrigue, magic, war, and forbidden romance.
“Conventions put a [story] structure in
place,” says Leonard, an avid reader of fantasy
fiction. She also looks beyond fantasy for
inspiration, observing authors such as Jane
Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and W. B. Yeats to
create archetypal and distinctive characters.
“I try to put my own twist on the fantasy
genre,” says Leonard, who models her novel’s
heroine on Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist
of Pride and Prejudice. Leonard also gives a
nod to contemporary best-selling works such
as The Hunger Games and the Twilight saga;
there is a heated romantic tension between
Prince Corin and Tam, Moth and Spark’s
dual protagonists. “I wrote this book for my
15-year-old self,” says Leonard. “I always liked
making up characters.”
fate of the planet
and its human
inhabitants.
At its core,
the story is
conventional
science fiction,
riffing from
legendary
authors such as
Isaac Asimov,
widely regarded
as a master of science-fiction storytelling.
“On some level, though, my attitude and
personality come through,” says Wright. “I
get my ideas from the subconscious mind,
the persistence, the work—and the muse
Sensawunda.” Sensawunda, or “sense of
wonder,” is one of science fiction’s defining
characteristics. “The sense of wonder of
science fiction differs from other natural
wonders or personal miracles in a man’s life—
the wonders of first love, or childbirth, and so
on,” says Wright. “Science fiction concerns
only those specific wonders that are not
eternal and not known to all men.”
—Gregory Shook
The College || st.john’s college || spring 2014 |
The College st. john’s college summer 2013
43
�bibliofile
Bliss
By Hilary Fields (SF97)
Redhook Orbit (Hachette Book Group), 2013
Santa Fe-based writer Hilary Fields (SF97)
wrote her first novel at age 16 and later penned
three historical romances under another name;
today she continues the bliss of reading and
wordplay. A voracious reader since childhood,
Fields cites Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and
Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy as her all-time favorites. Set in the
City Different, her new novel, Bliss, centers on
Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic
By Nora Gallagher (SF70)
Alfred A. Knopf, 2013
Anyone who has experienced a baffling illness or
struggled to have a health condition diagnosed
may well empathize with Nora Gallagher’s
(SF70) journey recounted in her new memoir,
Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic. A
preacher-in-residence at Trinity Episcopal
Church in her hometown of Santa Barbara,
California, Gallagher begins her quest in 2009,
when a routine eye exam reveals an inflamed
optic nerve, a mysterious condition called
optic neuritis. The cause is unknown, and if
left untreated, it can lead to total vision loss.
Plato’s Laws:
Force and Truth in Politics
Edited by Gregory Recco and Eric Sanday
Indiana University Press, 2013
For this collection of 14 interpretive essays by
as many authors, editors Gregory Recco, an
Annapolis tutor, and Eric Sanday, an assistant
professor of philosophy at the University of
Kentucky, organized a team of scholars. Due
to its length and density, this work of Plato’s
is not as well studied as the others. This
volume looks at all the individual books of the
dialogue and reflects on the work as a whole.
Rather than provide interpretation of every
44 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
Serafina Wilde, a pastry chef whose seemingly
perfect life begins to unravel. Her eccentric
Aunt Pauline comes to the rescue when she
offers to let her take over the family business,
“Pauline’s House of Passion,” and turn it into a
bakery, so long as she retains the shop’s “adult
store” in the back room. Throughout the novel,
Fields makes clear her love of baking; the
book is chock-full of sumptuous descriptions
of gooey pastries and other delectable baked
goods. But food is secondary to the novel’s
exploration into matters of the heart: finding
courage, friendship, family, and self-discovery.
Gallagher set off on a yearlong search to find
a diagnosis and treatment for her mysterious
condition. A meditation on faith, spirituality,
and vulnerability, the memoir is structured
in three sections—“Drowning,” “Limbo,”
and “Recalled to Life”—each chronicling
significant phases of her pilgrimage. Devoid
of sentimentality, she candidly describes her
encounters with the marvels and madness of
the modern medical system and illuminates
the sometimes dark path that ultimately leads
her to the renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minnesota, a place built for those seeking
answers and cures. “It’s the nature of things to
be vulnerable,” says Gallagher. “The disorder is
imagining we are not.”
detail, the contributing authors explore the
facets of the text that they found to be most
interesting and rich. In addition, they read
drafts of each other’s essays and, in some
cases, included responses to other essays
within their own compositions. Although its
contributors come from different backgrounds
and concentrations, this collection has a
sense of connectedness throughout. Both
newcomers and veterans of the Laws can
discover fresh and valuable insight into Plato’s
work, reminding us of its relevance today.
—Erin Fitzpatrick (A14)
�alumni notes
1946
Peter J. Davies, Class of 1948,
writes, “Peter Weiss (A) was
honored on April 2, 2014, at a
reception following a forum on
Law’s Imperative: A World Free of
Nuclear Weapons, which examined
the current state of the law on
nuclear weapons and what needs
to be done to bring the obligation
to fruition. The event recognized
Weiss’s contribution to nuclear
disarmament and the rule of law,
and raised funds for the future
work of the Lawyers Committee on
Nuclear Policy (LCNP), which he
co-founded in 1981. He retired in
2013 as president, having served
in that position since its founding.
Weiss and LCNP played a key role
in the 1996 advisory opinion of the
International Court of Justice at the
Hague, which held unanimously
that ‘there exists an obligation to
negotiate in good faith for the total
abolition of nuclear weapons.’”
1952
A Contemplative Life
Pierre Grimes (A) reflects: “In 1948, my freshman year, I discovered in Plato’s Parmenides the roots of a profound metaphysics. In his Republic, I found the primary role of dreams,
dialectic, and contemplation. Clearly, with the Dark Ages we lost
that legacy.” In 1961, while earning his PhD from the University
of the Pacific’s graduate school, the American Academy of Asian
Studies, Grimes studied the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna,
and, with Zen, contemplation. The publication of Grimes’s 1961
study of the Alcibiades dialogue in Yale Journal, QJSA, marked
the beginning of his “philosophical counseling,” says Grimes,
“as philosophical midwifery. Later, as the founder of the international philosophical movement, American Philosophical Practitioners Association, I have given more than 20 demonstrations
and papers at international conferences held at the University
of Liverpool, Oxford University, the University of Athens, the
University of Vancouver, and the University of Ontario. In 1978,
I founded the Noetic Society, Inc., for the Study of Dialogue
and Dialectic, and directed its Philosophical Midwifery Program,
which included dream study. In 1983, I joined with Chong-An
S’nim of the Korean Chogye Ch’an Sect to form the Opening
Mind Academy, which joined the Platonic tradition with Buddhism. Chong-An sealed me as Hui-An, his Dharma Successor
and master dharma teacher. In his autobiography, In My Own
Way, Alan Watts described me as a Jnana Yogi who ‘comes to
an authentic realization, or satori, by an intellectual rather than
an emotional or physical discipline.’”
1966
1967
Julia du Prey (née Busser) (A)
writes, “I now have four grandchildren who keep me feeling young.
Last October, I was in Bhutan on
a special tour, hiking to remote
monasteries and temples in this
very Buddhist country. My cousin,
Ian Baker, was the tour leader, a
Buddhist scholar and mountaineer.
Otherwise, my life has continued
more or less predictably. I still sing
and play the flute, do some writing,
and participate in a philosophy
study group.”
Sandra Hoben’s (A) volume
of poetry, The Letter C, will be
published by the Ash Tree Poetry
Series in 2014.
1969
Lee McKusick (SF) writes, “My
partial (three years) St. John’s education continues to fiercely interact
with my Cal State Los Angeles
American Studies education. I am
in my third career as a paraeducator
working with children. One of the
language problems I have run into
(with a nod to Wittgenstein) is how
to describe a young person without
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
45
�alumni notes
1975
Class of 1969
Memory Book
Celebrates
45 Years
To celebrate their 45th
class reunion, members
of the Class of 1969 are
invited to share their memories for an online memory
book. Joseph Baratta (A)
will assemble the book,
which will be shared with
alumni at Homecoming
2014 in Annapolis from
September 12 to 14.
Alumni may submit text as
well as a photo or two. He
suggests you answer questions such as: How has
the college influenced your
life? What memories of the
years in college particularly
stand out in your mind?
Where have your travels
taken you?
Send your responses to:
Joseph P. Baratta
32 Hilltop Circle
Worcester, MA 01609
508-756-6015
josephbaratta@mac.com
using the painfully closed phrase,
‘severely mentally disabled.’ Every
day I bring both a scientific and
emotional attentiveness to my work
with individual special-education
children. I am often puzzling over
the learning pathways. For these
children, learning is a physical
process. While most of what I do is
simply caring for kids and keeping them safe, I get to see learning
as an interaction between brain,
memory, senses, and muscles. I have
been studying human motor-skill
development to provide words and
ideas to clarify what I observe in my
students. A side puzzle: Where and
how do disabled and slightly disabled
children show up in the great books
and other classical literature? Where
are portrayals of children with
cerebral palsy, non-verbal conditions, and autistic behaviors? What
are some of the books that explore
how the classical Athenian Greek
culture reckoned with the Spartan
Greek infant practices? Separately, I
recently ran for a local elected office
[in San Mateo County, Calif.], and
had the fascinating experience of
knocking on doors and establishing
face-to-face political understanding
with hundreds of voters. Others running for the same position outspent
me by an enormous margin. While I
did not win, I drew a fair number of
community votes.”
1971
Victoria Manchester Garrison (SF)
completed reading All On Fire, the
inspiring biography of the abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, her
ancestor by marriage. She is frequently in Taos doing grandmother
volunteering at the Waldorf School.
46 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
“Stone Boat’s” Personal Best
Annapolis Alumni Director Leo Pickens (A78) writes, “Kudos
to Mike ‘Stone Boat’ Van Beuren (A) on his personal best
performance at the Head of the Charles Regatta held on
October 19, 2013. Stone Boat finished sixth in a field of more
than 50 competitors in the Men’s Veteran I & II Single Sculls
with a P.R. [Personal Record] of 20 minutes and 5 seconds.”
Commenting on the photo from the race, Van Beuren says,
“I had just made a move to the inside of the long turn at mile
two here. The wake of the boat in front is visible to the right.
I was by him 300 meters later.”
1973
1978
Since June 2013, Constance
McClellan (SF) has been serving
a two-year term in Moldova
with the Peace Corps. She is
working with Moldovan teacher
partners as an English teacher
for grades 5 - 12 in a village of
7,000 outside of the capitol city
of Chi in u. Although Moldova
may be Europe’s poorest country,
Connie enjoys the Internet,
hot water, Western toilets, and
excellent Eastern European food,
including homemade wine. After
almost a year and much language
training, she is finally beginning
to understand conversations in
Romanian, and to be more or less
understood when speaking about
concrete things (or about matters
with lots of English cognates).
Read her blog at cdmcclellan.
wordpress.com.
The 35th class reunion also capped
off 30 years of international living
and banking work for Chris Olson
(A), and 12 years of evaluation work
at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in
London, England. (The curious can
read his study of “EBRD’s Response
to the 2008-09 Financial Crisis”
at www.ebrd.com/downloads/
about/evaluation/1011.pdf.) In the
evenings, he practices as a trainee
psychotherapist with the Independent Group of Analytical Psychologists (IGAP.org), in the classical
tradition of Carl Gustav Jung, who
discovered psychological types
(familiar as Myers-Briggs typology)
and the collective unconscious.
He hopes to complete the training
within four years and to practice
analytical psychology at his home in
Rotherhithe, London.
�alumni notes
1982
Rob Crutchfield (A) has started an
online fundraising effort to help
Ruth Johnston (A85), who has a
debilitating illness. For more information, visit www.gofundme.com/
help-ruth-johnston.
1988
1983
Désirée Zamorano (SF) writes that
her novel, The Amado Women, a
family drama, will be published in
summer 2014.
1984
1979
To Greece and Back
Karen Bohrer (Anderson) (A) writes, “After 12 years living and
working in Greece, first at the American College of Thessaloniki
and then at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens,
I have repatriated. I am now the collections assessment and
development librarian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in
Massachusetts. It’s a big change in ever so many respects, but
I’m jumping in with both feet, knowing it’s never the same river.
Before I left Greece, I had a wonderful experience related to the
college. A friend in the U.S. had advised a young acquaintance
who was traveling through Europe to look me up when she got
to Athens, and she came to see me at the library of ASCSA,
expressing a particular interest in the ancient authors. When I
asked why, Zara Amdur (SF11) revealed the name of her alma
mater. Neither of us was aware until that moment that we were
both alumnae. Despite our circumstantial differences, age being
not the least among them, the shared experience of St. John’s
enabled us to immediately connect on the human and intellectual levels that matter. E-mail is probably the best way to reach
me for anyone who’d like to. My addresses are karenbohrer@
yahoo.com or kmbohrer@wpi.edu.”
Bryan Cave, focusing on international and domestic litigation, arbitration, and regulatory disputes.
Ryan will serve as the Miami office’s
managing and hiring partner, and I
will serve as co-leader of the firm’s
international dispute resolution
practice (together with Rod Page).”
Pedro J. Martinez-Fraga (A)
writes, “I am pleased to announce
that, effective March 17, 2014, C.
Ryan Reetz and I have opened a Miami office for the law firm of Bryan
Cave LLP, a leading international
law firm with offices across the
United States, as well as in Europe
and Asia. The firm’s commitment
to its ‘one firm’ culture has resulted
in a strong track record of collaboration and cooperation across
the firm, with obvious benefits for
clients that have endured since its
founding 141 years ago. We will be
continuing our existing practice at
Tobias Maxwell’s (A) fifth book,
1977: The Year of Leaving Monsieur,
was published in March 2014.
1993
Inspired from her own experience,
Rachel Blistein (A) launched her
hair-care business, Original Moxie,
in 2009. She credits her ability to
teach herself basic chemistry and
to formulate complex hair-care
products to her St. John’s education.
“The process of reading original
texts on subjects from ancient Greek
to advanced physics gives you the
tools to learn anything,” says Blistein. “It also breaks down the fear
of tackling a totally foreign subject
from scratch and without intermediaries. Once you get over that fear, it
opens up a whole new world of possibilities.” Visit the company’s online
store at www.originalmoxie.com.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
47
�alumni notes
Correction: Richard Field (SFGI)
writes, “I received my PhD in 1993
from the University of New Mexico
in health, physical education, and
recreation, not history and philosophy as stated in the fall 2006 issue
of The College.”
1999
1997
1998
In addition to running her bee
farm (www.ziaqueenbees.com) and
having her second child a couple
of years ago, Melanie Kirby (SF)
served as the president of the Western Apicultural Society of North
America in 2013. Currently she is
the editor for an online beekeeping
newsletter with more than 30,000
subscribers (www.kelleybees.com).
She started the Rocky Mountain
Survivor Queenbee Cooperative,
which is an educational service organization helping to build capacity for
local pollinator preservation, promotion, and production. She shared
their efforts at the 2013 Apimondia
World Beekeeping Conference
in Kiev, Ukraine. This spring she
organized the 2014 North to South
New Mexico Pollinator Benefit
Lecture series, bringing pollinator
scholars to the Land of Enchantment. St. John’s hosted a lecture
by Dr. Thomas Seeley, a worldrenowned conservation biologist
from Cornell, on May 3, 2014. More
information: www.survivorqueenbees.org. Kirby is buzzed to be
sharing her apicultural academia
with her beloved alma mater.
In fall 2013, Santa Fe Advancement
Services Director Nick Giacona
(SFGI) returned as guest lecturer
to a Native American music class
at the University of Oklahoma. He
discussed the mythology behind
some of the ceremonial music and
dance the class was studying. He led
the class in a comparative mythology exercise by examining the local
differences and universal similarities between the Native American
Corn Maiden myths and the Classical Greek myths of Demeter and
Persephone. On the home front,
Nick’s daughter, Sarah, graduated
from New Mexico State University
last spring with a degree in fashion
design. She begins an internship
with the Walt Disney Company
in January. His son, Kyle, has
been accepted to the University of
Hawaii for the spring semester; he
plans to major in food science and
human nutrition, with an emphasis
in sports and wellness. Nick and his
wife, Keiko, are looking forward to
becoming “empty-nesters.” (Don’t
tell Sarah and Kyle.)
48 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
On October 1, 2013, at Camp
Pendleton, Major Benjamin I.
Closs, USMC (A) received a medal
for outstanding meritorious service
while serving as the Executive
Senior Briefer, Intelligence Department, Headquarters Marine Corps,
Washington, D.C., from July 1,
2010 to June 30, 2013.
Mike Soejoto (A) and Abby Soejoto (A) write, “We had another
baby—Peter Dominic, born March
6—who slots in at the bottom of the
totem pole after Lucy (10), John
(8), Cecilia (6), James (4), and Beatrice (2), but ahead of McDuff the
dog. Abby continues to homeschool
the kids. Mike is partner at Pircher,
Nichols, & Meeks in Century City
and is head of the firm’s tax department. The older kids are playing
club soccer, which keeps us busy
and on the road most weekends.
We are excited to celebrate our
15th wedding anniversary this
summer. Feel free to drop us a
line, especially if you will be in Los
Angeles: asoejoto@gmail.com and
msoejoto@gmail.com.”
Dana (Ostrander) Warford (A) and
her husband, Mark, welcomed their
daughter, Peyton Avery, into the
world on July 30, 2013.
2001
Paige Maguire (A), who still lives
in Austin, Texas, has remarried.
In December 2012, she and Kevin
M. Schneider, a composer and producer, welcomed a son, Asa Wilder,
who joins his older brother, Daschel
Auden Maguire, now 11. Paige is senior strategist at Springbox Digital
Partners in downtown Austin. She
is also @fluxistrad on Twitter.
Cosmina Popa (A) is managing
director at Conscious Venture Lab
(CVLab), a new impact-focused
Mike and Abby Soejoto (A99) are homeschooling their family.
�alumni notes
business accelerator being created
in conjunction with the Howard
County Economic Development
Authority and the Maryland Center
for Entrepreneurship. Their goal is
to create new businesses that operate at the intersection of profit and
purpose, using the power of capitalism to create a more joyful, just,
and equitable society. For more
information, visit www.consciousventurelab.com.
2002
Ronald Osborn’s (AGI) new book,
Death Before the Fall: Biblical
Literalism and the Problem of
Animal Suffering, was published
in February.
Shelley Saxen (née Walker, SFGI,
EC03) and her husband, Doug
Saxen (EC03), are starting their
third and final year living in Peru.
Shelley covers human rights and
social conflicts as a diplomat with
the U.S. Department of State. Doug
continues his love of writing and has
been dedicated to his new digital illuminated manuscript project. They
hope to be back in Santa Fe later this
year for a visit and always joyfully
welcome Johnnie visitors to Peru.
Thanks to that fateful debut in
Rigoletto, she fell into the arms of
a British baritone. His role in Act
I was to grab her as she was about
to deck the reprobate Duke across
the face with a right hook—and
drag her, kicking and flailing, off
stage right. Helluva first meeting.
The baritone, an Oxford man, is
a chorister and a Catholic. Ms.
Buker would like to take a moment
to thank Mr. Tomarchio for his
Thomas Aquinas preceptorial,
since the sacred, the profane, and
the reason lying underneath come
up quite a bit with her fancy man.
Who knows, she may have to move
to London yet .. . and nay, even
confess? Next up, Santa Fe tutor
Jacques Duvoisin and she have been
compiling an anthology about St.
John’s College, with a working title,
The Selected Life. It’ll be chock
full of essays from tutors, alums,
current students, and others with
an abiding relationship with St.
John’s. The project was the positive outcome of various Facebook
interactions in which dissatisfied
alums were offering no active
solutions to telling the “story” of
SJC. “If there’s one thing I learned
CELEBRATE
Homecoming 2014
Annapolis
September 12–14
410-626-2531
Santa Fe
September 19–21
505-984-6103
alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
Lauren Shofer (A) is living in Aalst,
Belgium, where she is a chiropractic physician and mother of four:
Amelie (5), Julien (4), Emile (2),
and Celestine (7 months). Her
husband, Baldwyn Bourgois, is also
a chiropractic physician.
2005
On February 18, Samantha Buker
(A) got a request from the director
of Lyric Opera Baltimore: “Are you
interested in being a lissome Hebrew maiden in Nabucco?” Given
her wonderful first time onstage
last year in the Belle Époque house,
how could she resist a reprise?
left: Samantha Buker (A05) shines
in the 2013 production of Rigoletto
at Baltimore’s Lyric Opera. above:
Celebrating at the Nabucco cast party.
from seminar, it’s that saying what
something is NOT, is not the same
as saying positively what it IS,” says
Buker. Incidentally, her nine-to-
five financial publishing gig still
goes gangbusters, and she’s on the
board of PostClassical Ensemble,
the D.C.-based orchestra, which is
enjoying its 10th-anniversary season. She’s pleased to announce her
involvement in the newest thing in
so-called “classical” music: Future
Symphony Institute. This “think
tank” for music provides innovative
research and new initiatives whose
impact reverberates from her Mt.
Vernon neighborhood around the
world. Au fond de l’Inconnu pour
trouver du nouveau....
In what time might be called spare,
Samantha runs a portrait studio
(photography, drawings, paintings)
and can be reached for sittings via
7veilsstudio@gmail.com.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
49
�alumni profile
Generous Leadership
by Chelsea Batten (A07)
Jamaal Barnes (A10) shines as mentor, musician, and advocate
Those who graduated with Jamaal
“THE THING THAT CONNECTS
MY LIFE’S ACTIVITIES IS
A FIRM COMMITMENT TO
SUPPORTING THE HOLISTIC
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
AND YOUTH FROM ALL
ENVIRONMENTS.”
Barnes (A10) will remember a highlight
of his junior year: he was summoned
to the office of President Nelson and
informed that he had won the Harry S.
Truman Scholarship, commonly viewed
as the Rhodes of public service.
“It was funny,” he chuckles,
remembering the “hurrahing” of his
friends when they found out about it.
Looking back, he imparts credit for this
accomplishment to those who celebrated
with him. “The community at St. John’s
is a huge part of why I’m passionate
about public service.”
Barnes’s passion for public service
has taken him to various parts of the
world, as well as deeper into the relationships he has been cultivating since high
school. He made progress on his longterm goals by earning an EdM degree
50 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
2014
in 2011 at Harvard; he is currently an
admissions officer at Harvard Graduate School of Education and proctor at
Harvard College. In addition, he serves
on the Alumni Advisory Board for the
Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, and
as a trustee of the Touchstones Discussion Project (founded by tutors Howard
Zeiderman and Nicholas Maistrellis).
“I’d say that the thing that connects
my life’s activities is a firm commitment
to supporting the holistic development
of children and youth from all environments,” Barnes reflects. That key word—
environment—gives Barnes’s work in
public service a character unique to his
field. His insight that personal development is heightened by responding to a
given environment’s opportunities and
challenges was fostered by his experience with St. John’s College.
The setup for Barnes’s story reads like
the opening act of a highbrow comedy.
You take a first-generation college
applicant with energy, vision, and a 12year plan to pilot his life. You give him
one of the country’s most competitive
scholarships, and send him off to an
“East Coast” school, launching him on
his promising future.
What happens then? This goaloriented, energetic activist finds himself
in the midst of about 500 philosopherpoets who spend hours pondering the
question, “What is virtue?”
Of course, Barnes’s story is not
extreme. But his choice to attend St.
John’s, and the day-to-day experience
of life and study at the college, was
somewhat lost in translation when he
described it to family and friends.
“It’s one thing to be a first-generation
college student in a traditional sense;
it’s a completely different thing to be a
first-generation college student and go
to St. John’s,” he says.
�Despite the challenges and his
expectations of how he would function in
the college community, Barnes quickly
came to appreciate the opportunity
presented by the contemplative framework
of learning. “The ability to listen to each
other carefully, to take what we’ve learned
and cooperate effectively, was something
I learned to refine over the next few years.
The most wonderful deliverable that came
out of it was the Epigenesis project.”
In December 2007, Barnes joined forces
with three other Johnnies in creating a
leadership and mentoring program for
low-income youth in Annapolis. For 10
weeks the following summer, Epigenesis
led workshops based on the cornerstone
texts of the St. John’s Program, to help
participants identify their community’s
most urgent needs, and consider what it
meant for them to be good citizens.
“It’s hard for me to talk about justice
and equality,” Barnes says, “and not
think about what goes on at Clay Street.
I tried to play that out by being actively
engaged in the St. John’s community,
as well as being actively engaged in the
Annapolis communities.”
Following the success of Epigenesis,
Barnes devoted his energies to Crossroads
for Kids. As the director of their outdoor
youth leadership program, Barnes was
repeatedly confronted with a gadfly-like
question: “How do you measure growth in
leadership behaviors?” In the midst of the
rigors of junior year, he was led to answers
through several formative influences.
One was Michel de Montaigne, whom
Barnes calls—laughing but with perfect
sincerity—his “self-help guide” in what it
means to be socially responsible. Another
was tutor Chester Burke, who offered to
reread several Platonic dialogues with
Barnes as graduation approached.
“We read the Apology, the Crito, and
three or four other texts, and really
struggled with what does it mean to be
a person of society? To be good, both to
yourself and to others?” Those discussions, Barnes says, exemplified for him
the kind of generous leadership he was
striving to grasp. He also cites former
staff members Maggie Melson and Bronte
Jones as profound influences.
“It’s one thing to be a firstgeneration college student
in a traditional sense; it’s a
completely different thing
to be a first-generation
college student and go to
St. John’s.”
Barnes says that singing with the
college choral group, Primum Mobile,
brought him back to the human element
of living in community. “One of the
most beautiful things about music—in
particular, when there are multiple
people singing in polyphony—is a
moment of unity that’s created. Music
can create the ideal community.”
He brings up the example of singing
“Sicut Cervus” in Freshman Chorus.
“These voices coming together, weaving
their ways. You take any line by itself and
it’s an individual, but when you tie it all
together, it’s this beautiful community,
and the remarkable thing is that you don’t
have to be great singers. Freshman chorus
singing ‘Sicut Cervus’ is just as beautiful
as Primum Mobile.” He pauses and adds
this amendment: “The tenors can be a
little iffy sometimes.”
He pauses again, and when he
continues speaking, his voice is choked
with emotion. “The fact that music can
make me feel like I’m in community with
someone, that it can bring about emotions
that I can’t articulate in words...I don’t
get that sensation with anything else. My
hands are actually shaking right now.”
Barnes was also struck by the impact of,
as he puts it, “that quiet person in class,
[who] opens their mouth one time, and
really changes the way thoughts are built
in seminar.” It showed him that everyone
is able to play a valuable role in shaping a
community, whether their strengths are
in speaking, doing, listening, or simply
waiting for the right moment.
To those students who, like himself,
are burning to take their education
beyond the conversation and into
the greater community, Barnes says
that St. John’s provides an important
opportunity to generate self-momentum.
“If I didn’t go to St. John’s, I wouldn’t
have won the Truman, I wouldn’t
have won the Reynolds Fellowship in
Social Entrepreneurship from Harvard
University. If you learn through taking
action, the ability to be independent
and entrepreneurial in terms of creating
opportunities to be active in your
community is powerful.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
2013
51
�alumni notes
2008
AMANDA RITTER
Aerospace Award
Wint Huskey (SFGI10) is a writer based in Philadelphia.
Toby Burress (A) and Alena
Sinacola (A) welcomed their
daughter, Jane Woolf Burress, on
December 4, 2013, in Cambridge,
Mass. Named in honor of Jane
Goodall and Virginia Woolf, baby
Jane is a delight. Their dogs Charlie
and Maggie have accepted the new
human into their pack with grace
and understanding. In other news,
after seven years in the Boston
area, they have recently moved to
Brooklyn, N.Y. Toby is enjoying his
new job as a systems administrator
with Google in Manhattan, and
both Jane and Alena are having a
wonderful time being a baby and a
mama, respectively. They’d love to
meet up with other Johnnies in the
area: alenasinacola@gmail.com.
2006
Aran Donovan (SF) was featured
in the annual anthology, Best New
Poets 2013: 50 Poems from Emerging
Writers, edited by Brenda Shaughnessy. Equally exciting, she is now
living in New Orleans, where several
other ’06 and ’07 Johnnies have also
congregated. Let her know if you’re
passing through the Big Easy!
2007
Maia (Huff-Owen) Nahele (SF)
writes, “I now live in Paris, where
I have a research and teaching
position in the Department of Philosophy at the Sorbonne (Paris IV).
In the whirlwind of the last few
years, I’ve regrettably lost touch
with many of you, and welcome
the chance to reconnect. I also
welcome visitors and passersthrough! I am looking to sublet
my lovely, quiet, light-filled, onebedroom apartment in the fourth
arrondissement for July and/or
August of this year. If there are
any Johnnies (students, alumni,
faculty, or staff) who would be
interested in landing in Paris for
the summer and need a fantastic
home-base, please drop me a line
at mnahele@gmail.com, and I’ll
send more information.”
2010
Wint Huskey’s (SFGI) first
novel, Blowin’ It, is scheduled to
be published in August.
52 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
Trystan Popish (SF08) and
Carol Mohling at the 2014
NSTA Teacher Awards Gala
in Boston, Mass.
Trystan Popish (SF) was selected by the National Science
Teachers Association (NSTA)
Awards and Recognitions
Committee as the recipient for
the 2014 Wendell G. Mohling
Outstanding Aerospace Award
for her exemplary work with
informal aerospace science.
Popish, an Aviation Learning Center educator at the
Museum of Flight in Seattle,
Wash., was presented with
the award at the NSTA Teacher
Awards Gala during the association’s national conference
held in Boston, Mass., from
April 3 to 6.
2012
A New Course
Alexander Schmid (AGI)
has joined the faculty
at Escondido Charter
High School (ECHS),
one of the American
Heritage family of
charter schools
based in Escondido, Calif. Schmid teaches freshman logic and
rhetoric—a new course that he developed—and a law and
debate elective for juniors and seniors. Shawn Roner, the ECHS
Traditional Classroom program director, says that Schmid is a
valuable addition to the faculty “because we are focusing more
attention on developing student thinking skills in the freshman
year.” Schmid says, “I was delighted to have the opportunity to
teach a subject which I both love and live. When I was offered
the position, I knew I had to take it.”
�alumni profile
Mentoring Women in Business
by Gregory Shook
Elizabeth Powers (A89) Reveals
Hidden Bias in the Workplace
As a senior principal
at the New Yorkbased IMS Consulting
Group (IMSCG),
serving clients that
include four of the top
15 pharmaceutical
companies, Elizabeth
Powers (A89) has
followed a career
trajectory full of twists
and bends. At one point, her plans were nearly
derailed altogether. “I had a daughter early in
my career at Booz & Company (formerly Booz
Allen Hamilton),” says Powers, who spent nearly
13 years with the company, working her way up
from associate to vice president and partner.
“When I came back [to work], there weren’t that
many options for alternative schedules.” Powers
soon learned how hidden biases, or unconscious
bias—an implicit preference for certain types
of people based on their upbringing, gender,
race, experience, and values—can influence
important decisions, such as hiring, promotions,
assignments, performance reviews, and dismissals.
For the next six months, Powers shuttled back and forth between
New York and Chicago “on a team that wasn’t particularly family
friendly.” With the pressure to succeed at her job at the expense
of spending considerable time apart from her husband and
newborn daughter, Powers says that she nearly imploded. When
she was on the brink of leaving the company, a colleague came
to her support as both a mentor and a champion. Recognizing
that Powers had been put in an unfair situation based on her
circumstances as a new mother rather than her talent and ability,
“he convinced the firm to keep me and for me to stay on parttime,” says Powers, who continued to work part-time with the
company for the next five years. “That never would’ve happened
without that particular champion.”
That experience helped Powers become aware of hidden biases
and their potential impact on a person’s career. “Integrity and
equality are always at the forefront of my mind,” says Powers.
“Both men and women carry around unconscious bias which says
that women don’t belong in the workplace. It’s quite acceptable
now to be a woman as an entry-level associate or a mid-level
manager, but it’s still very hard [for women] to rise to the top
ranks.” To thwart the trend, Powers is coordinating a women’s
initiative at IMSCG to empower future business leaders to
become champions of their own careers and to raise awareness of
unconscious bias in the workplace. “I’m in a client service field,
and I love what I do,” says Powers, whose work on unconscious
bias is a topic at the forefront of many large businesses today.
A Wall Street Journal article (January 9, 2014) reports that as
many as 20 percent of large U.S. employers who offer diversity
training programs now provide unconscious-bias training.
Powers looks at what
“Integrity and equality other companies are
doing in terms of
are always at the
shedding light on
hidden biases in the
forefront of my mind.”
workplace—in particular,
understanding
communication style.
“It can be challenging to coach others to hit the right level of
assertiveness without being too assertive,” she says. “There’s a
different solution for everybody.”
Inspired by Robert Greenleaf’s book, Servant Leadership,
Powers advocates mentorship and the idea of a servant actually
being a leader. “That’s at the core of how I operate,” she says.
“I wish I could do that a lot better with my family, but when
I manage to do it, I’m always successful.” A graduate of the
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, she mentors
Wharton students and alumnae but is “even happier to mentor
Johnnies. [Mentoring] is absolutely a way of paying back into the
karma bank,” says Powers. “And it’s just fun.”
Whether with her family, at the workplace, or at her Brooklyn
dojang (Powers is a red belt in hapkido), Powers says that being
successful means “living up to my commitments. I was given many
gifts, both in terms of talent and in terms of people who have cared
for me. It’s all about how I can live up to those gifts.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
53
�transitions
A Good Conversation Is Hard to Find
LAUREL FISCHER (A11)
By Chelsea Batten (A07)
“It’s hard to find a good conversation,
after St. John’s.” This was the warning
delivered by Dr. Bernard Davidoff (A69)—
or, as classmates of his daughter knew
him, Bernie. He would say it while casting
a long glance around the perimeter of the
quad, part resigned, part wistful, and part
something else that I never could define.
It’s only now, seven years out from the
college, that I realize what he meant.
First, there’s the deflated anticipation
that follows most Johnnies after attending
their first Homecoming or croquet match
as alumni. There are new kids sitting on
your bench, living in your dorm room,
occupying your spot on the basketball
court or the FSK stage.
The tutors will talk to you, of course, but
even that’s not the same. Much as you love
their appreciation of your life, their undying
enthusiasm for whatever you’ve chosen to
do (or your efforts to make a choice), what
you really want to talk about with them is
what you used to talk about: Great Books.
Many Johnnies experience this, postgraduation. If you don’t live within
proximity of an alumni group, or can’t
make it back to your campus for alumni
events, you’re stuck in that wistful malaise
that Bernie was talking about: A good
conversation is hard to find.
Two years ago, two alumni, Harry
Zolkower (A82) and Nicole Levy (SF92)
decided to do something about this. In
collaboration with Annapolis Alumni
Director Leo Pickens (A78), they created
a virtual format for homesick Johnnies to
engage with tutors and with each other.
An online seminar? According to Mr.
Pickens, it was a hard sell to many tutors.
It’s difficult to recreate the magic of
seminar by dint of screenshots and earbuds.
In addition, says Mr. Pickens, some
members of the faculty feel that having
different groups of alumni, led each time
by different tutors, isn’t as pure as the
undergraduate experience, the thematic
unity achieved by one group that spends a
year in discussion together.
But perhaps alumni hunger for a good
conversation merits a leap into the digital
age. Many first-time participants came to
the online seminar I attended with skepticism. “It doesn’t surprise me anymore,”
says Mr. Pickens, chuckling. “But every
online seminar I’ve participated in has that
feeling of a genuine St. John’s seminar!”
“If you can’t get out of the
house and cross an easy
distance to a room where
people are gathered, this is
the next best thing. There’s
a hunger out there for this
kind of conversation.”
One tutor, Michael Dink (A75), who gave a
seminar in March, reported to other faculty
members that the reason it felt genuine to
him was “because everybody in the seminar
is seasoned in this form of conversation.”
Admittedly, Mr. Pickens says, nothing
can equal the synergy of 12 to 20 minds
in a room—despite the technical hiccups:
broken audio feeds, the tendency for
participants to look at their own faces while
talking. (Mr. Pickens chuckles again as he
recounts these hiccups.)
54 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
“That said,” he continues, “folks are
getting together and having a St. John’sstyle conversation—a serious conversation
about a difficult reading—in a way that
feels genuine to what we try to do in our
community. If you can’t get out of the
house and cross an easy distance to a room
where people are gathered, this is the next
best thing. There’s a hunger out there for
this kind of conversation.”
The online seminars have attracted
alumni as far apart as Karen Immler
(AGI07), who lives in Slovenia, and Sunny
Hills (SF78), who lives in Maui. In the
online seminar I attended from Phoenix,
Arizona, nine other participants from
around the U.S. gathered together with Mr.
Pickens and tutor Michael Dink. Mr. Dink
chose the book of Jonah as the reading. It
was, I thought, a perfect selection—short
enough that it was easy to read at the last
minute (which, it turns out, is even easier
to do when you’re not a full-time student),
but full of opportunities for contention,
thoughtful silence, and questions following
upon the one with which Mr. Dink opened:
“Why is Jonah angry?”
What followed was, in fact, a powerful
rewind to freshman seminar, with all
its exaggerated tropes. There were the
stock participants: the over-talker, the
chronically silent one, the one who
consistently brings everyone back to the
opening question. There were the outside
references, the stalled silences, the odd
autobiographical analogy, and the followup question that starts as a statement,
devolves into a ramble, and ends with a
confession that the asker has forgotten the
question he intended to ask.
Also true to freshman seminar fashion
is the kindly tolerance with which the
tutor views the seminar’s foibles. Mr. Dink
seemed satisfied, even mildly surprised,
by the discussion. The online format, he
allowed, did lend itself to serial speechmaking. “I believe it’s important that
people be able to interrupt one another in
seminar.” But, he adds, he’s sanguine that
online conversations have all the potential
�in memoriam
provided opening and closing remarks.
Santa Fe tutors Janet Dougherty, Philip
LeCuyer, Michael Ehrmantraut, and Gregory Schneider, along with alumnus Adam
Visher (SF11), shared testimonials in honor
of their colleague and friend. The following
are some remembrances and excerpts from
remarks at the service:
“Laurence taught me many things as a
teacher, but one thing stands out. He
always tried to figure out what made a
student care and what things a student
cared about. Laurence could also make
you laugh, a gift that I appreciate more
and more every day. His skill with the quick
remark and the friendly jab were to be envied. In some ways, he was one of the best
conversationalists that I have ever met.”
– Gregory Schneider, Santa Fe tutor
Laurence Nee
August 5, 2013
Tutor, Santa Fe
In 2005, Laurence Nee (1970-2013) joined
the faculty in Santa Fe, where he was
treasured for his sense of humor, thoughtful insights, and gift for conversation. The
community gathered for a memorial held
on November 2, 2013, in the Junior Common Room. Santa Fe President Mike Peters
“Through his efforts as a tutor, my
appreciation for a much beloved novel
awakened, and my understanding and
appreciation continually grows. I will
never re-read Pride and Prejudice without
reflecting upon Mr. Nee’s love and respect
for the work. I am eternally grateful.”
– Lealia Nelson (SFGI11)
“I had the great pleasure of having
freshman summer seminar with Mr. Nee.
His presence was felt strongly at every
session and his sense of humor—especially
his tolerance of what I tried to pass as
humor—is something I shall never forget.”
– Nareg Seferian (SF11)
During the five years that he taught at the
college and the years that followed, Nee
made a remarkable impact on the community as a teacher, colleague, and friend.
He is remembered for his extraordinary
character and service to the college. “Personally, I have seen in him a kind of answer
to a question I consider significant, that I
first heard posed several decades ago: ‘Can
a Christian be a great-souled man?’ says
Santa Fe Dean J. Walter Sterling. “Laurence’s character is, for me, evidence in
favor of such a possibility. Be that as it may,
what one heard from his colleagues at the
memorial was that he possessed an extraordinary range of virtues of character, as well
as of intellect, a combination as beautiful as
it is rare. He made us a better college.”
The College magazine is grateful to Laurence
Nee for his article, “The Greatness of Shakespeare’s Plays,” in the summer 2012 issue.
www.sjc.edu/news-and-media
A Good Conversation (continued from p. 50)
of those that take place in the classroom,
if cultivated the same way: “I thought with
practice, and experience, participants
could get pretty good at it.”
It’s still a young endeavor, and alumni
are still being attracted to it. I imagine that
as these seminars go on, they will be like the
learning curve within a St. John’s class, in which
students become stronger, more generous,
and honest conversants with each other.
I recognize now that the look on my
friend’s father’s face was determination. I’ve
found that life after St. John’s requires such
resolve, if you’re not going to spend it in perpetual mourning for four irrecoverable years
of community and culture, all intense and
endearingly weird, threaded together by a
love of deep conversation. In some ways,
I’m loath to rejoin the online seminar.
Like going back for Croquet or Homecoming, it was hard to revisit that environment
without it being exactly the same as I remember. On the other hand, I’m not ready
to resign conversation to the past. Like the
books themselves, great conversation is
a daunting endeavor, especially when displaced by culture and time; nevertheless,
it’s worth pursuing.
The next virtual seminar will be in September.
For more information: leopickens@sjc.edu
CONNECT TO THE COLLEGE
Alumni online community:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
Agora career mentoring network:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
Click on “Career Services”
Alumni offices:
annapolis.alumni@sjc.edu
santafe.alumni@sjc.edu
Facebook:
facebook.com/stjohnscollege
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
55
�in memorium
John Dendahl (H87)
November 9, 2013
Martha B. Jordan (SFGI86)
October 24, 2013
Martha Black Jordan (1932-2013),
alumna and member of the Board
of Visitors and Governors, died at
her son’s home in Coronado, Calif.
She was 80.
Jordan was
born in Mexico
City and educated
in the United
States. She first
visited Santa Fe
in the summer of
1980 and fell in
love with the city. As a student at St.
John’s, her favorite readings were
the Russians, especially Dostoevsky.
“I like Dostoevsky’s view of how the
world could be changed, and not
necessarily through revolution,” she
recalled.
Known for her generosity,
quiet grace, and inquisitive mind,
Jordan was also a gifted poet and
translator. She was a founder of the
Tramontane Poets of Mexico City,
a collective dedicated to being a
bridge between the poetry worlds
of Mexico and North America.
Jordan read her own work, as well
as translations, on The Poet and
the Poem, National Public Radio in
Washington, D.C.; at the Society of
the Americas and the Poetry Project
at St. Mark’s Church in New York
City; in Mexico City at La Casa del
Poeta and the Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México; in San
Miguel de Allende at the Instituto
Nacional de Bellas Artes; and at St.
John’s in Santa Fe.
Jordan committed herself to a
long but fulfilling journey when
she decided to pursue ordination
in the Episcopal Church of Mexico.
She enrolled in a graduate pastoral
theology program at St. Mary of
the Woods College in Indiana. In
John Dendahl (1938-2013),
former Board of Visitors and
Governors chair, former Santa Fe
treasurer, and one of the founders
of the St. John’s College, Santa Fe
campus, passed away in Colorado.
He was 75.
Born in Santa Fe, Dendahl attended the University of Colorado
in Boulder, where he earned
degrees in electrical engineering and business administration.
During that time, he won two
NCAA titles with the university’s
ski team and was a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic ski team. He was
inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame and the
New Mexico Ski Hall of Fame.
In the 1960s, Dendahl worked as an engineer for the Eberline
Instrument Corporation (now a subsidiary of the Thermo Electron
Corporation) and later became CEO. Later that decade, during an
extended absence from the company, he served as chief financial officer
for the new St. John’s College, Santa Fe campus. From 1985 to 1987,
Dendahl served as chair of the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors.
Transitioning to a career in politics, Dendahl was appointed to the
State Investment Council and later served as secretary of New Mexico’s
Economic Development and Tourism Department. In 1994, he ran
unsuccessfully for governor. However, that same year he was elected
as state Republican Party chairman, a position he held until 2003.
Several years later, Dendahl and his wife moved to Colorado, where he
continued his interest in politics and wrote columns and letters to the
editor of The New Mexican.
He is survived by his wife, Jackie, and his five daughters: Debra
Hadley, Ellie Thurston, Katherine, Karen, and Lisa West.
2006 she was ordained a priest at
Christ Church in Mexico City, the
church where she was baptized and
married. That same year, Jordan
and her husband established the
Jordan Tutorship on the Santa
Fe campus, which has been used
to support the director of the
Graduate Institute.
She is survived by her husband
of more than 50 years, Purdy; three
children, Stephanie, Colebrooke,
and Robert; and four grandchildren,
Cecelia, Daniel, Nicholas, and David.
56 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
Jules O. Pagano
Class of 1948
July 14, 2013
Jules Pagano (1925-2013), who
helped launch President John F.
Kennedy’s Peace Corps program,
passed away at his home in
Jamesville, N.Y., surrounded by
family members. He was two days
shy of his 88th birthday.
Pagano helped to formulate
Peace Corps policies in training and
education of volunteers for overseas
assignments, and established the
first Peace Corps Training Centers.
After the passage of the Higher Education Act in 1965, he was named
the first director of the Adult Education Division at the U.S. Office of
Education, and began a long career
in higher education. Pagano served
as dean and associate vice president
of Florida International University,
during which time he earned his
MPA and DPA from Nova University.
In 1979, he was recruited by Bard
College to serve as vice president
and provost of Simon’s Rock. He
later served as president of the Saybrook Institute, a graduate school
and research center.
Pagano and his elder brother,
Lee, attended St. John’s College
in Annapolis, where Pagano’s lifelong love affair with education was
cemented. He authored dozens of
articles on higher education, as
well as vocational and adult education. Pagano served as director
of the St. John’s College Alumni
Board from 1984-1988.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy;
brother Mo; son Ed; daughters
Debbie and Penny; grandchildren
Joy, Erin, Elise, Tiffany, and Jack;
great-granddaughters Rylee, Ellie,
and Arianna; and stepchildren
Angela, Jimmy, and Karen.
Robert Stewart (A09)
December 5, 2013
Born in Winston-Salem, N.C.,
Robert Stewart (1977-2013) found
his home at St. John’s, where he
explored his many interests and met
others who shared and appreciated
those interests. “His dream job
was to be a tutor at St. John’s,”
says his mother, Brenda Stewart.
The community gathered for a
memorial held on March 15, 2014,
in the Great Hall. “The room was
full of laughter and joy, as we all
remembered the sting of his wit,
the depths of his wisdom, and the
warm, all encompassing feeling
�in memorium
Also Deceased:
Ernest Dominguez, SF95
August 24, 2013
Harry O’Neill, SFGI79
December 10, 2013
Joseph Ablow, Class of 1950
November 14, 2012
Paul Ehrlich, Class of 1942
October 26, 2013
LeRoy Pagano, Class of 1948
February 6, 2013
Rachel Abrams, A72
June 7, 2013
Arthur Fort IV, SF91
December 20, 2012
Milton Perlman, Class of 1943
February 18, 2014
George Ackerman, A74
January 3, 2014
Douglas Fraser, AGI90
February 15, 2014
Emanuel Pushkin, Class of 1940
October 24, 2013
Lewis Alexander, Class of 1941
May 9, 2013
Charles Gentile, Class of 1950
July 24, 2013
Richard Rickard, SFGI72
October 24, 2013
Rodney Arthur, AGI88
November 7, 2013
Josef Gilboa, Class of 1962
December 4, 2013
Caroline Saddy, SF81
March 31, 2013
Lydia Aston, Class of 1955
December 26, 2013
Raymond Haas, Class of 1958
September 1, 2012
Roberto Salinas-Price, Class of 1959
August 13, 2012
Roland Bailey, Class of 1935
April 22, 2014
Darrell Henry, Class of 1961
August 16, 2013
Louis Shuman, Class of 1938
August 3, 2013
Eugene Blank, Class of 1945
July 15, 2013
Joseph D. Hines, SFGI70
December 27, 2013
John E. Siemens, Class of 1956
November 5, 2013
February 19, 2014
Rosalie Levine Boosin, Class of 1960
November 1, 2013
Constance “Connie” Weigle Mann,
(1947-2014), daughter of Richard
D. Weigle—president of St. John’s
College in Annapolis for 31 years,
and founder and president of the
Santa Fe campus—died at age 67 in
Winston-Salem, N.C.
A graduate of St. John’s College
in Santa Fe, she had an affinity for
the “Land of Enchantment” and
cherished her time and the many
friends she made there. After
graduating, she attended Yale
Divinity School, where she met
her husband, Tom. She also held
a master’s degree from Rutgers
University and worked as a sales
representative for an organizational
management company.
Known for her kindness, generosity, and loving spirit, Connie had
a special concern for hunger, and
served as a volunteer at the Second
Harvest Food Bank of Northwest
North Carolina, where she was a
Volunteer of the Year in 2013.
She is survived by her husband of
45 years, Tom; her daughter, Mary
Liz; her sister, Marta; and countless
other family members and friends.
Henry DeMuth Jawish, Class of 1952
October 21, 2013
Warren Skidmore, Class of 1947
December 21, 2013
William S. Bradfield, SFGI79
January 16, 1998
George W. John, Class of 1949
March 27, 2014
Robert Snower, Class of 1944
July 2, 2013
Wayne Brandow, Class of 1966
September 14, 2013
Beverly Kincaid, SFGI72
February 11, 2014
John M. Sommer, SFGI90
May 18, 2013
Gerald Buchen, SF72
July 31, 2013
Thomas D. Lyne, Class of 1946
May 20, 2008
Edward Paul Thomson, A80
October 10, 2013
Catherine Ann Caffrey, A69
February 12, 2014
Patrick Ramsey Magee, SF16
July 12, 2013
Judith S. White, Class of 1964
May 23, 2013
Richard B. Carter, Class of 1954
October 19, 2013
Stephen Mainella, Class of 1954
March 4, 2014
Cary Wilcomb, SF79
March 17, 1987
Lindsay Clendaniel, Class of 1944
March 10, 2014
Richard T. Mallon, Class of 1943
June 9, 2013
Peter Clogher, Class of 1947
June 28, 2013
John Mark Mason, A75
April 10, 2014
Norma Eleanor Williams,
Class of 1967
March 19, 2014
Cornelia Corson-Reese, Class of 1957
August 9, 2013
Richard Matteson, Class of 1948
February 13, 2014
Paul G. Cree, Jr., Class of 1952
April 8, 2014
Wilbur Matz, Class of 1940
March 29, 2014
Cyril K. Crume, SF81
September 28, 2013
David McMorran, SF75
February 24, 2014
Ellen Nancy Davis, Class of 1960
July 15, 2013
Grace McNeley, SFGI75
July 25, 2013
Anna Dietz, AGI80
February 20, 2013
Harry Neumann, Class of 1952
March 31, 2014
of his friendship,” says Elizabeth
Burlington (A08).
To read remembrances about
Robert Stewart, visit www.sjc.edu/
news-and-media
Constance Weigle Mann
(SF68)
Everett Wilson, Class of 1956
October 22, 2013
Bernard E. Wolsky, AGI91
November 8, 2013
Kevin C. Young, A78
June 5, 2013
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
57
�philanthropy
The Philanthropy of Memory
by Sus3an Borden (A87)
James McClintock was a member of the
Class of 1965 who excelled in mathematics.
William O’Grady was a tutor with a strong
commitment to helping students in times
of need. Kitty Kinzer was a library director
on the Annapolis campus who cared for
the college community as much as she
cared about its collection of books. Tom
McDonald was a tutor who enthralled
students with his enigmatic but brilliant
analyses of poetry. All four were beloved
while they lived and all share something
in common after their deaths: Each was
honored by a memorial endowment fund
established by loved ones, contributed to
by friends and family, and appropriate to
preserve the memory of the way they lived.
Endowment funds are perpetual; they
serve as a solid foundation for the college,
which spends about five percent annually
on the purposes set out by those who establish each fund. The principal remains
intact and can grow through market performance or additional gifts to the fund.
For McClintock, who had won both the
geometry and the analytical mathematics
prizes as a student, the James R. McClintock (1965) Memorial Prize Fund was
established to permanently endow the prize
for analytical mathematics. For Kinzer, the
Kitty Kinzer Library Fund was established
to support all aspects of the library’s mission. For O’Grady, the William O’Grady
Fund was established to continue his work
helping students stay in school when financial concerns put their continued attendance in jeopardy. And for Tom McDonald,
a scholarship endowment established in his
name means need-based aid for students
who could not otherwise afford tuition.
These are just four of more than 400
funds that make up the college’s endowment, and they are among the roughly 10
percent that are memorial funds. These
funds serve both as tributes to the people
they memorialize and a way for their survivors to channel their grief and ensure
that a silver lining accompanies what is
usually a very dark cloud.
Dinesh and Jyotsna Pai chose to create
such a fund when their daughter Anjali (SFGI08) died in a traffic accident
“Anjali believed in paying
it forward. She felt that
knowledge was to be shared,
love was to be shared,
affection was to be shared.”
in March 2008, just a few months after
she finished her studies at the Graduate
Institute. Anjali was teaching in the AVID
program with the Santa Fe Public Schools
and preparing to move to Japan to teach
English. Her parents decided that the fund
should be used to support financial aid for
Graduate Institute students who plan to
become teachers. Her mother explains the
decision: “It’s not a profession that will
make anybody rich, it’s a profession of the
heart. And Anjali was all about heart.”
Lisa Boughter Saporta also chose to
create an endowment fund to honor her
husband, Larry Saporta (A91), a professor
of art history at Rosemont College in Pennsylvania. A few months after Larry’s death
in September 2011, Bryan Dorland (A92)
contacted her to suggest that they create
an endowment fund in Larry’s memory. “I
responded without hesitation that it was a
great idea,” she recalls. “It was a concrete
way to keep Larry’s spirit alive at an institution he cared deeply about. I knew it was
58 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
one of the things we could do for Larry that
would be truly meaningful for him.”
It turned out to be truly meaningful
for Lisa as well, playing what she
describes as a tremendous role in
processing her grief. She decided that
the fund would support scholarships
for students who, like Larry, intend to
pursue a PhD after graduating from
St. John’s. After establishing the fund,
Lisa created a website for it (www.
lawrencelsaportaphd.org/memorial_
scholarship.php).
The Pais have also found that establishing the fund has helped them in their
sorrow. “Grieving is one thing, but keeping Anjali’s memory alive is even more
important,” says Dinesh.
Thanks to the permanence of endowment funds, every year, in perpetuity,
one student in Annapolis will be named
the Lawrence Saporta Scholar, and one
student in Santa Fe will be named the
Anjali Pai Scholar.
Lisa hopes that future Saporta scholars
will share Larry’s enthusiasm for St.
John’s College and his love of learning:
The Pais hope that Anjali’s values will
be transmitted along with the scholarship
that bears her name: “Anjali believed in
paying it forward. She felt that knowledge
was to be shared, love was to be shared,
affection was to be shared.”
�Lecture Fund in Memory
of Lieutenant Commander
Erik S. Kristensen (AGI00)
Erik S. Kristensen (AGI00)
June 28, 2005
An alumnus of the St. John’s
College Graduate Institute in
Liberal Education and the United
States Naval Academy, Lieutenant
Commander Erik S. Kristensen
died on June 28, 2005, while
he led a daring mission in
Afghanistan to rescue a four-man
SEAL reconnaissance squad
engaged in a firefight with Taliban
forces. LCDR Kristensen, seven
other SEALs, and eight Army
aviators were killed when their
helicopter was shot down. Four
soldiers fought courageously,
though only one survived. The
2007 book and 2013 film Lone
Survivor tell the story.
In 2013, Michael A. Zampella
(A92), a Navy Reserve
Lieutenant, founded a lecture
series, jointly sponsored by
St. John’s College and the
U.S. Naval Academy, to be
held annually at St. John’s
in Annapolis to honor LCDR
Class of 1963 Honors Curtis A.
Wilson with Endowment Fund
traditional for the 50th anniversary
of a class to make some contribution to the college to mark our
passage there,” note Class of
1963 alumni Robert Thomas and
Miriam Duhan in a letter to their
classmates. “One that everyone
felt we could rally around would
be some memorial or tribute to
[Curtis], whom almost all of us
knew and respected.”
Curtis A. Wilson
August 24, 2012
Tutor and dean, Annapolis
Inspired by his many contributions to St. John’s, and to scholarship in the history of science,
members of the Class of 1963
established a fund to honor the
memory of Curtis Alan Wilson.
Wilson was a world-renowned
historian of astronomy who twice
served as dean of St. John’s College in Annapolis. “It has been
The endowment will provide
funding for the prize awarded at
Kristensen’s memory. Known
for his great love of the arts
and literature, Kristensen spoke
French and was selected as an
Olmsted Foundation Scholar. He
planned to attend the Institute of
Political Studies in Paris after his
tour in Afghanistan.
Kristensen is survived by his
father, Edward K. Kristensen,
RADM, USN (Ret.), and his
mother, Suzanne Carrico Samsel
Kristensen, of Washington, D.C.
To make a gift to the Kristensen
Lecture Fund, send a check to
the college, or use the online giving
form for the Annapolis campus
at www.sjc.edu. (Select “other”
and designate the Kristensen
Lecture Fund.)
Commencement to the student
who carries out a fine laboratory
project. Members of the Class
of 1963 thought offering the
prize would recognize Wilson’s
devotion to the college and his
example of scholarship in the
sciences.
To read more about Curtis
Wilson, visit www.sjc.edu/news/
memoriam-wilson.shtml.
To make a gift to the Curtis Wilson
Scholarship Fund, send a check to
the college, or use the online giving
form for the Annapolis campus
at www.sjc.edu. (Select “other”
and designate the Curtis Wilson
Endowment Fund.)
About the St. John’s College Endowments
The college has three separate endowments that are composed of more
than 400 individual funds: one that benefits the Annapolis campus,
one that benefits the Santa Fe campus, and a common endowment
that benefits both. The total value of the funds as of June 30, 2013, was
about $145 million. Managed by the Board’s Investment Committee, the
endowment is invested in diversified products, from equities to bonds
to real estate; some alternative and hedge fund investments are also
included in the mix. For more information on the funds, please contact
Barbara Goyette (A73) at barbara.goyette@sjc.edu in Annapolis and
Victoria Mora at victoria.mora@sjc.edu in Santa Fe.
Milestone
Senior Gifts
The 2014 senior classes in
Annapolis and Santa Fe are
each leaving behind recordhigh class gifts, thanks to their
strong philanthropic spirit and
support from college staff and
alumni. The Class of 1984
offered a $2,014 tribute gift
when senior classes from both
campuses as a whole reached
84% participation. Board of
Visitors and Governors member Claiborne Booker (A84)
says, “When students both in
Annapolis and Santa Fe said
they wanted to raise money for
student scholarships, [several
of us from the Class of 1984]
had a thought: What if we could
do a little something in tribute
to them, some of whom are, in
fact, our progeny? At the very
least, we share that final digit
‘4’ with them, which means
we’ll see them at Homecomings
to come.”
Annapolis seniors raised
$13,792, which will be used to
create the Class of 2014 Scholarship Endowment Fund. Santa
Fe seniors raised more than
$7,100 for financial aid and
scholarships. Although 100%
participation has been reached
before in Santa Fe (Class of
2002), this was the first time
that 100% participation was
reached without a single caution deposit gift or pledge. Staff
on both campuses also offered
generous matching gifts.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
59
�alumni news
s av e t h e d a t e
Homecoming 2014
Annapolis
September 12-14
Santa Fe
September 19-21
Alumni Mentors Change Lives
Annapolis Career Services Director
Jaime Dunn with Hodson interns.
Homecoming 2014 is gearing up to be a fantastic weekend for
alumni. In addition to the annual Homecoming festivities—
seminars, banquets, dancing, student/alumni networking
events, and more—both campuses are commemorating special
occasions this year that will make your return to St. John’s
even more fun and memorable. Be a part of celebrating 200
years of the “Star-Spangled Banner” in Annapolis and 50 years
of great books in Santa Fe! Please join us and your classmates
as we celebrate and support St. John’s College. Online
registration will open in early June. A special rate is offered to
recent alumni. Reserve your lodging accommodations early.
Sarah Palacios and Leo Pickens,
directors of Alumni Relations
For more information:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu.
Click on “Homecoming”
Annapolis Alumni Office
410-626-2531
Annapolis.Alumni@sjc.edu
Santa Fe Alumni Office
505-984-6103
SantaFe.Alumni@sjc.edu
60 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
Many alumni who provide internships for St. John’s students find
the experience so rewarding that
it becomes a lifelong mentorship
opportunity. The Hodson Internship Program in Annapolis and
the Ariel Internship Program
in Santa Fe provide alumni with
such opportunities.
Each program offers stipends
ranging from $2,000 to $4,000
and encourages students to
gain practical experience while
exploring potential career
fields. Alumni-sponsored Ariel
opportunities include working
with Adam Braus (SF08) at his
new computer entrepreneurial
venture, 100State, in Madison,
Wisconsin and establishing
a self-sustaining community
garden at Fresno State University
with Christina Raines (A12).
Thirty-seven Hodson Internship Program grants were awarded for summer 2014, the most in
the Hodson program’s 14-year
history; students accepted 31 of
the awards. Hodson sites include
the National Prison Project
with the ACLU in Washington,
D.C.; the Center for Cognitive
Neuroscience in Philadelphia;
the Hainan Provincial Cultural
Heritage Research Association
in China; and Center Stage in
Baltimore.
This summer, four Hodson
interns will work with two
alumnae: Dr. Rachel Dudik (A02)
at the U.S. Naval Observatory
and Elisabeth McClure (A08) at
Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology in its Culture
and Emotions lab. Dudik, who
has hosted four Hodson interns
over the last few years, and McClure, who has hosted three, still
keep in touch with past interns.
McClure meets every few weeks
with Robert Malka (A15) via
Skype to analyze data for the
survey study he designed while
in her lab; they are hoping to
present the data as a conference
poster sometime in the next year.
McClure says that another former
Hodson intern, Liyu Jiang (A12),
stayed in her lab for nearly a full
year as a volunteer before returning to China. “She remains the
standard by which we judge research assistants,” says McClure.
“We often say, ‘For this task, we
would need a Liyu!’”
TEXAS SUPPORTS SUMMER ACADEMY
The Austin/San Antonio alumni
chapter, in an initiative led by
Kelly Bradford (SF79), Larry Davis
(SFGI87), and Paul Martin (SF80),
raised scholarship funds for six
high school students from the
East Central Independent School
District to attend this year’s
Summer Academy at St. John’s.
The chapter also plans to present
a complete 54-volume set of the
Encyclopedia Britannica’s Great
Books of the Western World to
one or more underclassmen from
the Austin/San Antonio area.
Does your alumni chapter
have a story to share? Please
send your stories to:
thecollegemagazine@sjc.edu
�alumni news
Alumni Association Board President Phelosha Collaros (SF00)
Truth by the Glass
“Alumni are passionate about making sure current students
have advantages they didn’t have in the past by providing
networking and mentorship opportunities. Alumni volunteers
also benefit by building their leadership and coaching skills,
the ability to recruit for their organization or industry, and
the satisfaction of helping someone achieve their goals.”
Piraeus 2014
Piraeus is offered several times
each year on each campus.
In Santa Fe on August 3-8,
Santa Fe tutors Jim Carey (Class
of 1967) and Marsaura Shukla
(A93) will lead five seminars
on selected Greek and Roman
Lives by Plutarch.
Tuition: $575 for seminars;
$250 for on-campus housing
and meals. Recent alumni
(graduates of the classes of
2003 and later) receive a 50%
discount on tuition.
Register online: https://
community.stjohnscollege.edu/
piraeus2014-august
CROQUET GOES GREEN
Kudos to the Annapolis Alumni Office, the student Environmental Club,
and Ted Canto, general manager of Bon Appétit Dining Services in
Annapolis! They took the initiative to make the annual Croquet match
an example of sustainability. “Our event sponsor, Waste Neutral, set up
several recycle stations around the front campus,” says Canto. “By the
end of the day, we recycled 4,000 pounds, about two tons, of products.”
During Homecoming 2013 in
Annapolis, Ruth A. Johnston
(A85), Michael Berger (A78), and
Jan Lisa Huttner (A73) signed
copies of their recent publications.
Berger’s Writing Well in School
and Beyond and Thoreau’s Late
Career and the Dispersion of Seeds;
Huttner’s Penny’s Picks: 50 Movies
by Women Filmmakers 2002-2011;
and Johnston’s A Companion to
Beowulf and Excavating English,
are available at the Bookstore.
GARY PIERPOINT
HOMECOMING
BOOK SIGNING
“Red wine is in the realm of
Apollo, white wine is in the realm
of Dionysus,” says August Deimel
(SF04) of Keuka Spring Vineyard,
New York, one of several alumni
winemakers at the second
annual Judgment of Annapolis
at In Vino Veritas on April 25.
Representing wineries from
California to New York, the event
also featured former tutor Abe
Schoener (A82) of The Scholium
Project; Dan Speck (A96) and
Paul Speck (A89) of Henry
of Pelham; Christina Turley,
daughter of Helen Turley, Class
of 1967, and John Wetlaufer,
Class of 1967, of Turley Wine
Cellars; Rory Williams (A07)
of Calder Wine Company;
and Zach Rasmuson (A95) of
Goldeneye. The group joined a
discussion on “Transparency,
Truth, and Terroir” and explored
the virtue of various grapes,
soils, and vines, as participants
tasted their wines. “A good wine
translates time and space,” says
David White, founder and editor
of the website, Terroirist.com; he
moderated the discussion.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
61
�johnnie traditions
History-Making Match
by Gregory Shook
For all its beloved nostalgia, the annual St. John’sU.S. Naval Academy Croquet Match on April 12 broke
a few barriers this year: Navy walked off with the
Annapolis Cup for the second year in a row. Spectators
donned hats as large and colorful as parade floats.
Leader of Togas
“As I thought about competition and what
it means at St. John’s, I became more concerned with making sure that everyone just
has a good time,” says Imperial Wicket Sam
Collins (A15) a junior from Fallsington, Pennsylvania. He admits that “it was “intense to
play such a close match again this year.”
Collins and Hector Mendoza (SF14) wowed
the crowd with a comeback shot that won
the only match in the Johnnies favor.
Secret Weapon
from Santa Fe
Certain Johnnie traditions still reigned:
alumni reunited with friends and
faculty, alumni from the Class of 1984
and Class of 2009 hosted friends in
courtside tents, the Freshmen Chorus
sang a spirited rendition of “St. John’s
Forever,” and the crowd of more than
4,000 spectators in festive attire—top
hats, seersucker, feathers, and pearls—
gathered for champagne picnics and
swing dancing. Imperial Wicket and
St. John’s junior Samuel Collins (A15)
led the charge against Navy after the
Johnnies revealed their uniforms: Greek
togas. Bursting through the doors of
Barr Buchanan, with mallets hoisted
in the air, the Johnnies greeted the
cheering crowd. “I wanted something
that would make a statement,” says
Collins. “The togas are a return to
our roots.” For nearly eight hours, the
Johnnies and Midshipmen jousted for
the Annapolis Cup, the longest match
since the rivalry first began. As the
sun set, the Johnnies lost 4-1, though
conviviality won the day.
Photos by Anyi Guo (A14)
62 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
“Let’s make history!” says Hector Mendoza
(SF14), a senior from Tucson, Arizona, who
flew more than 1,600 miles to play with
the St. John’s croquet team. He played
an amazing game (he calls it “risky”)
and helped win the first match of the
day. “During my junior year in Annapolis,
I joined the team, along with this year’s
Imperial Wicket Sam Collins (A15), and fell
in love with the sport. I flew in the night
before, so I could help prepare the lawn on
the morning of the match. Croquet is the
best event at St. John’s.”
�Know Thy Neighbor
Navy Team Captain Midshipmen 1st Class
Ryan Lluy and Imperial Wicket Sam Collins
(A15) are comrades. “We played a match
or two against each other last year, so
we’re friendly,” says Collins. “He is a great
competitor and a good guy.”
Freshmen
Have Spirit, Too!
A newcomer to the team, Stephanie Hurn
(A17) (left) from Darien, Connecticut, made
the spirit-spot video for this year’s croquet
match. “It was a really great collaboration
and a lot of fun to make,” says Hurn. “We
were a bit nervous because we were doing
it a week before croquet, but we pulled
it together.” Visit: www.youtube.com/
watch?v=QlcVVQKiBc8
Design Champion
Daniela Lobo Dias (A13) was this year’s
winner of the annual 2014 Croquet
postcard/t-shirt design contest. “I wanted
to include the platypus, the unofficial
mascot at the Annapolis campus, as its
uniqueness and combination of many species suits St. John’s students quite well,”
says Lobo Dias, who plans to attend the
New York Film Academy this fall. Lt. Bobby
Schmidt, 28th Company officer, happily
accepts a t-shirt gift.
Navy’s Secret Weapon
Surprise! Navy alumnus, Dr. Ed O’Loughlin
from Hunt Valley, Maryland, has recently
begun mentoring both the Navy and the St.
John’s croquet teams. “St. John’s students
are a phenomenal group of men and women
who really get the idea of the sport—the
style, tactics, and play,” says O’Laughlin, who
invites the Johnnies several times a year to
play at his home croquet court. “It’s been a
wonderful thing to be involved with them.”
Feminine Touch
“Croquet is such a unique aspect of the St.
John’s life,” says Catherine Moon (A14) a
senior from Wolcott, Connecticut and one
of three women on the team of twelve.
“We just had a wonderful team dynamic
this year. We’re all close friends and like
doing things together outside of croquet.”
Mallet Man
Gary Dunkelberger, laboratory technician
in Annapolis and this year’s Prime Mover
(who has the honor of opening the
game with the first shot), handcrafts the
St. John’s team’s mallets. “I built nine
mallets last year and eight this year,”
says Dunkelberger. “I give the students
their choice of woods, weights, and sizes,
although all of the handles are made of
one wood (ash) and of a standard pattern.
A couple of players provided wood from
home, of familial/sentimental nature.
Those who purchase them treat them as
souvenirs of their St. John’s experience,
as much as sporting implements.”
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014 |
63
�st. john’s forever
Simian Souls
What are Annapolis tutors Peter Kalkavage, Eva
Brann (H89), and Eric Salem (A77) telling us?
“The occasion was the publication of our very
first Plato translation, the Sophist, in 1996 by
Focus [Philosophical Library],” says Kalkavage.
“We were supposed to do a ‘straight’ photo op by
the [original] Liberty Tree, but decided to ham
it up instead. There are three pictures, with each
of us taking turns being one of the monkeys.
Several years ago, I had them framed for us.”
64 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2014
The trio of tutors collaborated on translations of
two of Plato’s other masterpieces, each of which
was published by Focus Philosophical Library.
In 2003, Brann, Kalkavage, and Salem translated
Phaedo, the great dialogue of Socrates talking
about death, dying, and the soul due to his
impending execution. In 2012, they translated
Plato’s Statesman, including an introduction,
glossary of key terms, and essay.
�eidos
“I never had a plan to be a photographer. I am
just an amateur. My punk friend in middle
school was into filming skateboarding and
encouraged me to get a film camera because
they were better cameras for less money. I
liked the feel of film and stuck with it. I
learned from the books of Ansel Adams. I have
photography to thank for nourishing my love of
science and laboratories. I developed a deep
connection with the darkroom at the college
and actually cried pretty hard when I left it. I
think its presence in my life is evident in my
work—the strange loneliness I felt while reading those difficult books, and the real struggle
to seek after things beautiful . . . . I am a photographer rather than a painter or a sculptor
because I love light and chemistry....Photographers are, at least in some way, operators
of machinery. I think photographers push the
boundaries of tools just like other artists. For
a photographer like me, luck is a big part of
the task: you cannot plan to stumble upon
something odd or intriguing. Since reading
War and Peace and some of the senior laboratory readings, I have come to appreciate
things that are beyond my own control.”
PHOTOS: From Etude for Freedom
by Adam Maraschky (A13). He
developed them in the college
darkroom, then self-published the
digital scans as a book. To raise
funds, Maraschky “jumped on the
Kickstarter bandwagon” and is
“grateful to all those who donated
to or encouraged the project and
hope they find joy in the images.”
In the Annapolis Admissions
office, there is a copy of the
book inscribed by Maraschky: “To
the prospective students of St.
John’s, may this book excite your
imaginations about the College.”
www.maraschkyphoto.com/
st-johns-college.html
�Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Annapolis, md
Permit N0. 120
Communications Office
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
ANYI GUO (A14)
ad d r ess se rv i c e r e qu est e d
�
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College
The
summer 2013
•
S t. J o h n ’ s C o l l e g e
•
Annapolis
•
S a n ta F e
Copernicus
Imagination & Discovery
�from the editor
The College
is published by St. John’s
College, Annapolis, MD,
and Santa Fe, NM
thecollegemagazine@sjca.edu
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.
Editor
Patricia Dempsey
patricia.dempsey@sjca.edu
Contributing Editor
Gabe Gomez
Associate Editor
Gregory Shook
Art Director
Jennifer Behrens
Contributors
Anna Perleberg Andersen (SF02)
Chelsea Batten (A07)
J.H. Beall
Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
Erin Fitzpatrick (A14)
Charlotte Lucy Latham (SF02)
Jennifer Levin
Robert Malka (A15)
Paula Novash
Greg Recco
Henry Robert, Class of 1941
Design Consultant
Claude Skelton
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
ii | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
On Copernicus
“�... I began to be annoyed that
the philosophers, who in other
respects had made very careful
scrutiny of the least details of the
world, had discovered no sure
scheme for the movements of the
machinery of the world, which has
been built for us by the Best and
Most Orderly Workman of all.”
Copernicus’s Preface and Dedication to Pope Paul iii
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was born in
Royal Prussia, a region of Poland. He studied at
universities in Poland and Italy and was, among
his many pursuits, a mathematician, astronomer, classicist, linguist, and economist. He
proposed a groundbreaking idea, in which he
upended Ptolemy’s observations with a heliocentric model that placed the sun, rather than
the Earth, at the center of the universe.
Copernicus’s book, De revolutionibus orbium
coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial
Spheres), was published in Germany during the
last year of his life; it was met with controversy
and debate, a resistance not so unfamiliar to
those who propose revolutionary ideas, even in
modern times. Copernicus’s heliocentric theory marked a fundamental shift in assumptions.
Although his model was not proven until later,
it “supplanted forever the former way of understanding our place in the universe,” notes Annapolis Dean Pamela Kraus. As Santa Fe Dean J.
Walter Sterling (A93) tells us, “The Copernican
revolution became both (partial) cause and icon
for Modernity and for the intellectual and spiritual revolutions that propel it,...”
In this issue, faculty consider Copernicus and
Ptolemy and how, at St. John’s, the sequence of
study requires of students “a combination of reasoning and imagination employed in a different
way than they are used to....” notes Dean Kraus.
Do such leaps of scientific insight rely on the
imagination? Annapolis tutor Jim Beall considers Ptolemy’s Almagest and Copernicus’s work
in his essay, “Imagination and Creativity,” noting that “for all its vividness and limitations,
imagination seems to go hand in hand with creativity.” The alumni profiled in the feature “Seeing Stars” would agree. They seek a “delicate
balance,” as U.S. Naval Observatory astronomer
Rachel Dudik (A02) says, with analysis and observation, instrumentation and imagination. Not
surprisingly, the technology at their fingertips is
sophisticated. Yet aspects of their work exploring
the cosmos have not changed since Copernicus’s
time: the deep curiosity to know more, the challenge of unanswered questions.
Can a black hole hurl across galaxies? Erin
Bonning (A97) contributed research to the
discovery of such a gargantuan “runaway.” At
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Kevin Parker (A79) creates futuristic simulations that allow
communications with satellites. Gabrelle Saurage (EC04) flies most evenings on the “Clipper
Lindbergh,” the largest airborne observatory in
the world. For Donna Contractor (SF82), celestial observations are woven into tapestries.
Copernicus had not only tremendous powers
of observation and the imagination and intellect to articulate his ideas, but also the courage
to be committed to them. This commitment,
along with “resiliency and a strong set of analytical skills,” says Harold Hughes (A84), senior
managing director at Alliance Bernstein and St.
John’s Board of Visitors and Governors member,
is among the qualities lauded in this issue by
visionary entrepreneurs.
In his essay, “Shadow of War,” Henry Robert
(Class of 1941) recalls a different kind of commitment: a fight for democracy and freedom. He
describes how the conflict in Europe was brought
to campus. At the other end of the generational
spectrum, Charlotte Lucy Latham (SF02) invites
recent graduates to candidly share—as she does in
this issue—their journeys: life after St. John’s.
Thank you to all those who have contributed
their time, talent, and insights to this issue.
Thank you, dear readers, for your letters and
stories! We heard from many of you, young
and old, who applaud The College’s new design
(it debuted with the Shakespeare issue) and
stories that celebrate St. John’s through the
voices of alumni, students, and faculty. Please
let us know how we are doing. I look forward to
hearing from you. —PD
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
1
�su m me r 2 013
volume 38, issue 1
feat u res
page
16��
james kegley
Greenfield Library archives
NASA, esa
Donna Contractor, Tunnel Vision (detail)
From the thought experiments of Huygens or Einstein to
Copernicus’s model of nested circles with the sun at the
center, the very nature of thinking through a scientific
challenge involves the imagination. —Greg Schneider, tutor
departments
p a ge
2 4��
page
3 4��
Imagination
and Creativity
Seeing
Stars
Shadow
of War
Faculty members consider
Copernicus and a revolution
that required “bold, imaginative insight.” Images from
the Hubble Space Telescope
illuminate the universe.
Five alumni explore the
cosmos, whether observing
the birth of a star, detecting
phenomena in deep space,
coding satellites, even
weaving wool thread to
illustrate a theorem.
Symbols on a brick wall
during the 1940s spoke
louder than words. The
traces of a prank remain
visible today.
��From Our Readers
Bibliophile
42 �Alumni Notes
4
38 �Gary Borjesson, tutor, dissects the art
46 �Profile: Mimi Nguyen (A09) riffs
C
� opernicus Stories
�Letters
From the Bell Towers
6
E
� ntrepreneurs: The Value of Ideas
Harold Hughes (A84)
Dominic Crapuchettes (A97)
Jac Holzman (Class of 1952)
7 Visionaries: Robert Malka (A15)
8 �
Judgment of Annapolis
9 �Polity Radio: Jessica Kjellberg (A14)
10 �� onversations with the Chair
C
11
Starry Nights
12 �Ariel Intern: Bilsana Bibic (SF13) �
13 �
Ancients Google Earth
14 �
Investing in Banking: Gordon Seltz (A14)
H
� odson House Welcomes Alumni
on the cover:
Copernicus illustration
by Gary Kelley
2 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
al u mni
15 �Mike McQuarrie: New Athletic Director �
Sarah Palacios: New Alumni Director
of friendship and the role of authority
in Willing Dogs and Reluctant Masters.
39 �Thomas Simpson (Class of 1950), tutor
emeritus, illuminates connections
among three thinkers in Newton
Maxwell Marx.
on identity and high fashion in the
blogosphere.
50 �Profile: David Drury (SFGI09)
deciphers Tocqueville in a mobile
classroom.
51 �In Memoriam
40 ��Ellen Dornan’s (SF93) Forgotten Tales
of New Mexico celebrates the rich
heritage of the Land of Enchantment.
�Tutors Eva Brann (HA89), Peter
Kalkavage, and Eric Salem’s (A77)
Statesman, the latest installment in
their series of Plato translations.
�
Richard McCombs on the irrationalism of Søren Kierkegaard.
54 �Philanthropy: Hallie Leighton (SF92)
and Michael Chiantella (A97)
55 Transitions: Charlotte Latham (SF02)
56 �Almuni News: Homecoming 2013
Johnnie Traditions
58 �Croquet: Johnnies Lost in Wonderland
60 � t. John’s Forever
S
Eidos
61 Ebby Malmgren (AGI88)
above: Rachel Dudik (A02) at the
U.S. Naval Observatory.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
3
�from our readers
Magical Moment
Explaining St. John’s is tricky,
whether to the world outside
(“great basketball team?”), to
our inner circle (“great books?”),
even—perhaps especially—to
ourselves (“what do we mean by
great?”). For me, it is Copernicus ,
or rather, the way we read him, that
embodies the Program’s essence.
us, that Earth is not the center
of the universe. That the Earth
is just another planet and that
all of us are moving around the
sun. And though it was but a few
years before the start of the third
millennium, with space shuttles
in orbit and a flag planted on the
moon, the suggestions came to us
as nothing short of a shock.
“�We shake our heads in disbelief that
Copernicus’ book was for centuries
banned by the Vatican, or that Galileo
was brought to trial for upholding similar
ideas. (“E pure muove, he muttered as
”
he trudged defeated out of court).”
Jennifer A. Donnelly (A96)
The sophomore reading list
is celestial, from Genesis to the
Almagest. In Santa Fe, where I
spent that year, the expansive sky
seemed to bring the heavens even
closer. As the summer became fall,
our mathematics tutorial resumed
the work on Ptolemy begun in
freshman year. Under the goodhumored guidance of our tutor
Mr. Pesic (who, rumor had it, had
discovered an element), we picked
painstakingly through the classic
model—Earth standing stock still,
sun, moon, and stars spinning
around it. Chalk dust drifted from
the blackboard and ink-stained
fingertips as all through winter
we drew circle after circle backing
this up. The premise was contrary
to the received wisdom of our day,
the geometrical manipulations
were long and complex—but they
worked.
Then spring rolled around,
bringing warm sun and De Revolutionibus. The title, already, was
suspect; and the contents between
the cover were revolutionary indeed: consider, Copernicus asked
In our day, the solar system is
a truth taught to schoolchildren.
We shake our heads in disbelief
that Copernicus’ book was for
centuries banned by the Vatican,
or that Galileo was brought to trial
for upholding similar ideas. (“E
pure muove,” he muttered as he
trudged defeated out of court).
But after the journey through
Ptolemy’s equants and epicycles,
the St. John’s scholar comes to feel
how a now commonly accepted
fact was once earth-shattering.
Soon enough, the effect wears
off and Copernican ideas become
acceptable—as they did, eventually, to the Vatican. But this return
to our familiar notions never
completely eclipses that magical,
fleeting moment when we saw
our world in a way contrary to the
ways we always believed it to be.
T.S. Eliot has written: “the end of
all our exploring / will be to arrive
where we started / and know the
place for the first time.” What better way to sum up St. John’s?
—Jennifer A. Donnelly (A96)
4 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
copernicus haiku
not at some center.
more over here. with us guys.
now. how bad is that?
Charles Jones (A79)
Double Dactyl
This is the first double dactyl I
ever wrote. Inspired may be too
strong a word, but after all that
study of Ptolemy I was impressed
by the superior economy of the
Copernican hypothesis.
Tollemie, shmollemie.
Heliocentricists,
Sun down to sun up they
Reckon aright,
Save the appearances
With an hypothesis
Counterintuitiive,
Earth in its flight.
—Robert Main (A71)
Courage of Copernicus
I remember being fascinated in
sophomore math class by the nerve
(read “courage”) of Copernicus. I
also remember reading his description of motion, during which he
cites a passage from the Aeneid
that we had only just read for seminar. Coincidence? I think not.
But a couple of years earlier, I
had had the pleasure of visiting the home town of the man
himself—Torun, in the north of
Poland. They have his house, and
a monument to him at a central
square that bears the inscription,
“Nicolaus Copernicus Thorunensis, terrae motor, solis caelique
stator,” meaning, “Nicolaus
Copernicus of Toruń, mover of
the Earth, stopper of the Sun and
heavens,” or so Wikipedia tells me
today. I myself remember reading
back then, “Nicholas Copernicus:
he stopped the sun with one hand,
and moved the Earth with the
other.” Don’t ask me whether or
not I made that up. All I know is
that Copernicus got to hold the
universe on his fingertips in a way
that our smartphone-abundant
age cannot quite match.
—Nareg Seferian (SF11)
heather wilde (a09)
Readers Share
from our readers
Critical Thinking in Warsaw
I just returned from Warsaw,
Poland, setting up a new satellite
office, and went on a tour that
started at the Copernicus statue....
I’d never been anywhere in the
Eastern block, and I was surprised
by the people there. They had a
pragmatism that I associate with
their Russian neighbors; they were
able to explain the good and bad
of Communism without any hint
of shame. It was my own American
guilt that I had to drop at the door
when speaking to these phenomenal people.
Whenever I travel anywhere,
the way that I speak and phrase my
thoughts makes it hard for people
to immediately believe that I’m an
American. I’m able to argue any
point. ... People are amazed at the
seemingly unbounded knowledge
I have. I always point out that you
do not need to know about a topic
ahead of time to be able to discuss
it thoughtfully. I teach critical
thinking to everyone I can. That’s
what St. John’s means to me, and
that’s what I do for a living.
—Heather Wilde (A09)
allowed you to insert a location
and a date, so one of the things Mr.
Beall did was to input Alexandria,
Egypt around Ptolemy’s lifetime,
showing us what the stars could
have looked like at that time. But
the best part was that after resetting the date to the then modern
time, he asked the audience to
pick the location. My immediate
response (I can’t remember if I was
the first to speak—I want to say I
was) was to ask for the sun. That
was awesome: most planetariums
that I’ve been to were geocentric,
and I remember a few students
commenting how useful that’d
be when you got to Copernicus,
because you could switch back
and forth between having Earth
and the sun at the center. Another
popular request was Pluto, giving
you the ultimate outsider’s look
into our solar system (Man, are we
so tiny from that perspective). If
I remember right, there was even
a request to go onto an asteroid—I
can’t remember if we did that one.
—Babak Zarin (A11)
Good, Gooey Gravy
The best parts of lab at St. John’s
were the first year basics and
then our biology labs. First year
had all the magic and creativity
of the best learning experiences;
genuinely at work with material
which evoked ideas about both
the universe of “stuff” around us
and the principles inherent in all
this good, gooey gravey. Secondly,
Biology and the wonderful world
of dissecting frogs and pigeons—
plus the funky fruit flies—opened
up a whole world of awareness. It
profoundly deepened one’s sense
of the designs at work in nature.
As Melville wrote, one came faceto-face with a “dull blankness full
of meaning”; nature’s unceasing
change and infinite variety, an
order one had to learn to obey in
order to command.
Unforgettable. Great stuff.
Thank you!
—John Dean (A70)
Letters
An Exemplary Tutor
The new issue of The College
[Summer 2012] landed in my
mailbox. . . I like the new format
very much. In his Shakespeare
story on page 4, John Dean refers
to Mr. McGraw. I am certain that
he talking about Hugh McGrath,
whose name is pronounced “McGraw.” Mr. McGrath was indeed
an exemplary tutor with a special
gift for languages and literature.
After nearly 40 years, I remember
many of the things he said in my
junior-year language tutorial. He
deserves to be remembered under
his real name.
Jessica Weissman (A73)
A Minor Wonder
Before I put it in the recycling bag,
I wanted to send you this belated
note of thanks for the Summer
2012 issue. I appreciate not only
the color photos and illustrations,
but the quality of the articles. The
increased focus on alumni who are
doing outstanding and/or unusual
things will make the magazine a
better promotional tool for the
college. . . . Considering that St.
John’s is a small college and many
of its alumni, like myself, either
“march to different drummers” or
fall out of step and do not achieve
material affluence, The College is
a minor wonder.
—Kevin Snapp (SF72)
Praise Deserved
Congratulations on a very fine
Summer 2012 issue.... And thank
you, Mr. Kowalski (SF84) for your
class note (1994) on the acclaim
bestowed on your 1999 novel,
Eddie’s Bastard. The book was
read; it deserves the praise on the
cover and The Guardian’s citation.
—H.A. Hammond, Class of 1947
Choosing the Sun
Mr. Beall opened the planetarium
for students to see a demonstration
of the new planetarium software
that had just been installed. Seeing
as how I had missed going in my
freshmen and sophomore years, I
jumped at the chance . . . . The show
was fantastic. The new software
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
5
�“�It’s amazing what happens
when the world understands
that you are committed
to something.”
Gary Pierpoint
A group of aspiring Johnnie entrepreneurs packed a forum during
Homecoming in Annapolis to talk with three visionary alumni: Harold
Hughes (A84), senior managing director at Alliance Bernstein, an
investment management company, and Board of Visitors and Governors
member; Jac Holzman (Class of 1952), record executive and founder of
Elektra Records; and Dominic Crapuchettes (A97), founder and copresident of North Star Games.
Harold Hughes (A84), Dominic Crapuchettes (A97), and Jac Holzman (Class of 1952) mentor students.
What are the skills and qualities needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
HH: You need to be relentless and willing
to take calculated risks. We often read stories about entrepreneurs who took ridiculously stupid risks [that] somehow work
out well. What we don’t hear about are
[endeavors] that failed. Resiliency, a strong
set of analytical skills, and the ability to
take calculated risks are so important.
JH: Most important for me is understanding what commitment is and making
it—not only to a project, but also to every
minute aspect of an idea. In the early
’70s, for example, I was given a finished
tape of the band Queen’s first album to
demonstrate a London studio’s [capabilities]. The band was going to sign a deal
with Columbia [Records], but they had
only committed verbally. I pursued them
relentlessly for three and a half months,
waiting for Columbia to drop the ball.
Ultimately, I was able to swoop in and sign
Queen to Elektra. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have a strong belief in yourself. Part of commitment is saying, “I’m going to pretend I’m right and
see how it turns out.” It’s amazing what
happens when the world understands that
you are committed to something.
DC: Being a Johnnie, when considering an idea, I look to Plato and Aristotle
and ask myself: What is the good? How
am I serving the community? With any
pursuit, it’s important to understand how
to bring value to the community and determine efficient ways to do [it]. To be an
entrepreneur requires commitment to an
idea, [which] usually takes considerable
6 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
by Robert Malka (A15)
interpreter who has just bailed
from his scheduled appointment, or a prospective investor
has important questions about
our company’s financials.
Suddenly, everyone (including
me) forgets I am a student as I
rush out the door.
Jac Holzman, Class of 1952,
founder, Elektra Records
time—sometimes 10 to 15 years—to come
to fruition. Fundamental skills such as
understanding finance, accounting, and
marketing are also essential.
Why do Johnnies excel as
entrepreneurs?
HH: In order to be a good entrepreneur,
a person needs to have the ability to make
decisions sometimes without having all
the data. Johnnies have a strong set of
analytical skills based on their deep understanding of truth and ethics, not just
right and wrong, but the laws of nature.
Business school offers one equation and
one variable. Entrepreneurs need to make
decisions using multiple variables. Johnnies are adept at making [such] decisions.
I’ve been in my career for 29 years, but I
know that in another 29 years, my job may
not exist. I’ve trusted my decisions to stay
[in a position] or move on.
JH: Listening is something Johnnies typically do quite well. It took me a long time
to learn how to listen because I have so
many ideas, but it has been so important
to me. My St. John’s experience was the
perfect incubator. I did a lot of listening [because my] class had a number of
seasoned [World War II] veterans who
had seen a lot of life. I’ll never forget the
opening question at the first seminar: Do
you think Achilles wanted to die to achieve
immortality on the battlefield? One of the
veterans started talking about [his experience at] war, and I learned to respect the
real-life grounding they had. I had grown
up [in New York City] in a protected environment, so for me, being a Johnnie was
about shedding that and connecting with
the world. Connecting with the world is
the seed of our entrepreneurship.
DC: Johnnies are really good at learning how to solve problems and to work
through them in order to determine a best
course of action. For someone interested
in a start-up venture, success is dependent on one’s ability to work well with
other people. For example, my business
partner and I partnered with a company
that went bankrupt, and they owned the
rights to all our games. I maxed out three
credit cards to win back our inventory.
That was a huge risk, but I felt I could
declare bankruptcy and start over if I had
to. Fortunately, sales went very well, and
our leap of faith paid off.
Anyi Guo (A14)
Entrepreneurs:
The Value of Ideas
(Trying) to Live the Great Books
What advice would you give to
budding entrepreneurs?
HH: At a time when so many people
emphasize service to society, there is a
feeling that making money is evidence of
a lack of service. But that’s not always the
case. While Frederick Smith was a student at Yale, he wrote a paper that became
his business plan for Federal Express. He
received a low grade on that paper, but
he persevered and found something that
serves society’s need.
JH: An important aspect of entrepreneurship is knowing when to let go. Follow
your instincts. Trust yourself and don’t be
afraid. Pursue an idea because you love
it, and hope that others will see its value.
You may inspire others to accomplish
things. You never know how it’s going to
turn out. [At the forum,] I was impressed
by the student interest. The idea to put
the plaque up between the two dorm
rooms I had at St. John’s was great.
DC: I’m an advocate for finding your passion. In business, it may take three to five
years to develop a brand and work out the
kinks. If you lack passion for what you’re
doing, you’ll run out of steam and likely
give up. Focus on adding value to others.
Any good business is serving the community, which Johnnies do well. Determine
what the community needs, and provide
value in the most efficient way possible.
Read more: www.stjohnscollege.edu/admin/
AN/careers
– Gregory Shook
My first don rag included a
warning to fix an early bad
habit: I kept walking out of
class to take phone calls. I had
to be in class, I was told, if I
wanted to learn something.
Since then I have rarely, if ever,
left class to answer a phone
call. So it goes.
Now I am a sophomore, and I
still run a telecommunications
company that I co-founded with
my mom and a fellow Johnnie,
Zeke Schumacher (A15). I
work full-time. (The immediate
relevance of those calls speaks
for itself.) Our company, Malka
Communications Group, Inc.,
provides a number of communications solutions for the
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, such
as mobile-phone data plans
and interpretation services.
For example, an office with a
Deaf employee or client can
download our app onto an
iPad, which allows him to dial
one of our interpreters, who
mediates between both parties
remotely while both clients
are in the same room. We are
also an international consulting firm that cooperates with
several countries to implement
communications services for
their Deaf populations.
This business venture was
a natural choice for me, a
Child of Deaf Adults (CODA).
In addition to learning sign
language, I grew up in and
Of all the issues I
must face, maintaining my role as a
serious, committed
student is the hardest. It can be jarring
to jump from the
quiet solitude of
reading Chaucer to
lobbying European
Union Representatives via Skype.
around Deaf culture, my first
home. I am protective of
that culture. I have also been
interested in business since
childhood; when I was twelve,
I tried to create a card game
company and almost made it.
At seventeen, I was on the way
to founding a non-profit to help
provide legal services to the
disenfranchised, but lacked the
infrastructure and experience.
Juggling my business and St.
John’s can be overwhelming,
especially since headquarters
are located in my hometown
of Los Angeles. I often wake
up early to catch up on work
from the evening before,
wolf down lunch, and have a
“morning” meeting by noon.
Several times, I have been in
the fray of a great discussion
in the coffee shop when my
phone buzzes. An employee
asks me what to do about an
Of all the issues I must face,
maintaining my role and image as a serious, committed
student is the hardest. It can
be jarring to switch gears from
negotiating contracts with
vendors to allocating money
as a student on the Delegate
Council, or to jump from the
quiet solitude of reading Chaucer to lobbying European Union
Representatives via Skype.
Why do I stay at St. John’s?
Because running a company
requires understanding people
and motivating them toward
a fleshed-out vision. To do so,
I must know how to listen,
articulate, and think critically.
St. John’s has taught me these
skills very well.
“But,” says my inner Devil’s
Advocate, “valuable skills or
not, you seem to be missing the
point of St. John’s. Why are you
running a company when you
are supposed to contemplate,
and be otherwise immersed
in the Johnnie bubble?” Good
question, Devil-Friend. On one
level, this is my income, and
on another, it’s my life. But
more than that, I seek to live
the Great Books. For me, that
means more than just discussing and thinking about them; it
means doing Good in the world.
Why wait, if I can do my best
to live them now? I love the
learning that we do together at
the College, but I cannot do it
without also giving back to the
community.My education feels
incomplete without it.
Although eventually I want to
move on to other ventures,
this business niche has a
special place in my heart, and
the experience will continue
to change me for as long as I
pursue it. I think I can say the
same thing about St. John’s,
itself a niche venture with a
special place in my heart.
To reach Robert Malka:
(818) 943-7350
or rjmalka@gmail.com
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
7
�from the bell towers
from the bell towers
New
Pathways
briefly quoted
In Your Dreams
Recently, the St. John’s alumni Facebook
page was buzzing with comments from
Johnnies who have all had the same
reoccurring dream: they are in the
basement of McDowell Hall, unable to
open their mailbox.
“Glad to know I’m not the only
Johnnie with that dream. The
schedule, the mailroom...and
the tutor who is disappointed
because you haven’t been to
class in months.”
—Edward Conway (SF00)
“�OMG, I have the same mailbox/class
schedule dream too! That and the one
where I show up on the last day of
math class and haven’t done the
readings all year.”
—Hillary Fields (SF97)
Carroll Barrister’s
School Spirit
Considering that the Annapolis campus was
the site of a Civil War camp and hospital, it
is no surprise that for decades, students and
staff have reported seeing ghosts, including
soldiers and a shadowy cloaked figure, on
campus and inside the historic buildings.
On June 14, Carroll Barrister reopened its
doors as home to Admissions. How do
the spirits feel about the renovation? They
declined to be interviewed.
Dr. James Schamus (a81),
CEO of Focus Features
and professor of professional
practice at Columbia University’s
School of the Arts,
2013 Commencement speaker,
Annapolis
The Judgment of Annapolis
You’re traveling through another dimension—a journey into a
wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.
Your next stop: Polity Radio!
© Mary Ella Jourdak/maryellajourdak.com
“� am highly entertained that I’m not the only
I
one with this dream! What’s really funny is
that I almost never dream about the dorms,
dining hall, boathouse, classrooms, etc.
But that MAILBOX gets me constantly!”
—Cindy Lutz-Spidle (A98)
Read more at:
www.facebook.com/stjohnscollegealumni
What is Chris Nelson (SF70), Annapolis
president, reading to Cady, the college
dog? Let us know:
thecollegemagazine@sjca.edu
Polity Radio
Breaks New Ground
Gregory Shook
o f f t h e wa l l
“For if you’re just out there
blindly and instinctively
reacting to stuff, you’re
definitely not free; you’re
an automaton or a mere
animal . . . . whether or not the
world will always be able to
make use of you, the world
needs you—thinker-doers,
doer-thinkers, genuinely free
human beings.”
Johnnie winemakers gathered on April 5 for the
third annual In Vino Veritas wine event, organized
by The Friends of St. John’s. From left: August
Deimel (SF04) of Keuka Spring Vineyards in Penn
Yan, New York; Zach Rasmuson (A95) of Goldeneye Winery in Philo, California; Abe Schoener
(A82) of The Scholium Project in Fairfield, California; Sue Bishop (AGI03) of Bistro Freres Wines
in Arnold, Maryland; Alex Kongsgaard (SF05) of
Kongsgaard Wine in Napa, California; Christina
Turley, daughter of Helen Turley (Class of 1967)
and John Wetlaufer (Class of 1967) of Turley
Wine Cellars in Templeton, California. Evan Frazier
(SF04) of Kongsgaard Wine is not pictured.
8 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
The two-day event led with the Judgment of
Annapolis, a reimagining of the Paris Tasting of
1976 that put Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (founded
by Warren Winiarski, Class of 1952) in Napa
Valley—and California wines—on the map. A
wine-paired reception, with a dinner created by
renowned Baltimore chef Jerry Pelligrino, followed at the home of President Nelson. Johnnies
kept the wine and conversation flowing the next
day in the Francis Scott Key Lobby, where alumni
and other noted winemakers talked about
their craft, and poured and discussed nearly
100 wines and craft-brewed beers arranged by
country of origin.
With the launch of the premiere
episode last May, which featured
a dramatic reading of “The TellTale Heart,” on-campus music
and bands, and a radio serial
starring a St. John’s vigilante superhero, Johnnies have entered
new terrain. And the response
has been “overwhelmingly
positive,” says Jessica Kjellberg
(A14), producer and co-founder
of the college’s first-ever online
radio program. She also serves
as the program’s creative
director, bringing together segments that reflect the diversity
of the students who submit
them. Other segments include
readings of essays and poetry,
music, student-written radio
dramas, and more drawn from
the college community. The
fall 2012 episode featured a
candid interview with Annapolis
President Christopher Nelson.
“Some students just walk in
and do something spontaneous,” says Kjellberg. “Others
help by lending their ears and
offering opinions. We want to
be mindful of the listener.”
“� wanted to create
I
a forum that is fun
and entertaining
but would
foster greater
communication
between students,
tutors, and staff.”
Jessica Kjellberg (A14),
producer and co-founder of
Polity Radio
Kjellberg, who is considering a
possible career in journalism,
has discovered hidden talent of
her own through Polity Radio.
“I learned how to edit on the
first episode,” she says. That
D.I.Y. spirit is at the core of the
radio program and its group of
dedicated student organizers.
“We set up the equipment
ourselves and do a lot of problem solving,” says Kjellberg,
undaunted by teaching herself
new skills and figuring things
out as she goes. “Being Johnnies, we’re pretty comfortable
working with systems that are
unfamiliar.”
The idea for Polity Radio came
to Kjellberg while working as
an admissions tour guide at
the Annapolis campus during
summer break. “It was the
first time I really took notice
that there was a much larger
community here beyond the
students and tutors,” says
Kjellberg, who approached
fellow classmate and Polity
Radio co-founder Robert Malka
(A15) with her idea. “I wanted
to create a forum that is fun
and entertaining but would
foster greater communication
between students, tutors, and
staff,” she says.
Kjellberg hopes that the radio
program will continue to grow
after she graduates. “I don’t
see it as an end in itself,”
she says. She envisions the
program someday developing
into a live, on-air radio station,
but for now, she’s focused on
the program’s primary mission. “Polity Radio is valuable
and needed. It’s indicative of
ideas of the polity as a whole,”
says Kjellberg. “Everyone is
encouraged to be part of the
conversation.”
Listen to Polity Radio at
polityradio.wordpress.com.
–Gregory Shook
An award from the new Pathways Fellowship will help Adam Maraschky (A13)
decide which branch of chemistry he
wants to pursue after he graduates from
St. John’s. “The Pathways Fellowship
provides funding and enables rising St.
John’s juniors and seniors and graduating
seniors from both campuses to transition
into graduate study or careers that call
for special or prerequisite work,” says
Jaime Dunn, director of Career Services
at the Annapolis campus.
Maraschky will use his award to study
organic chemistry courses at the University of Maryland in College Park. In the
summer of 2012, Maraschky received
a Hodson Trust internship grant and
spent three months studying plasmonic
solar cell technology at the University of
Maryland. “In my case, organic chemistry was a bit of a dream,” says Maraschky,
who took AP chemistry courses in high
school. “I wanted to take the course
before attending St. John’s because I like
thinking about the shapes of molecules
and the energetics of reactions.”
With a Pathways Fellowship, students
can spend their summers gaining specific prerequisites and knowledge, and
immerse themselves in their St. John’s
education during the academic year.
“My plan for now is to spend two years
doing more undergraduate course work
while researching and working, then apply for a master’s program in materials
engineering,” says Maraschky.
—Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
briefly quoted
“I am quite sure that
everything we do—consciously
or unconsciously—makes
a difference. Every act of
kindness and every act of
cowardice. There are always
consequences. It has been said
that if anything matters, then
everything matters.”
Jill Cooper Udall,
member, St. John’s College Board
of Visitors and Governors,
2013 Commencement speaker, Santa Fe
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
9
�from the bell towers
Hello, dear friends. I am
never too old for games.
This year, the night before
Croquet, there was a
“thunder-battle.” The
term comes from
chapter IX of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and
nothing better describes
the explosive downpour
that hung in Annapolis
until the late hours of the
night. It was ominous, a
warning that it would be
a long battle for the Cup
with an unhappy end. Nevertheless, Croquet Saturday
dawned with clear skies.
at St. John’s College
AN INTELLECTUAL
ADVENTURE
for High School Students
More than 145 students
from around the world
immersed themselves in
Summer Academy 2013 in
Santa Fe and Annapolis.
Learn more: www.stjohnscollege.edu
Starry Nights
Conversations
with the Chair
“She was looking about for
some way of escape, and
wondering whether she could
get away without being seen,
when she noticed a curious
appearance in the air: it
puzzled her very much at
first, but, after watching it a
minute or two, she made it
out to be a grin, and she said
to herself, ‘It’s the Cheshire
Cat: now I shall have somebody to talk to.’”
-Alice, Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Do you know
a student
who belongs
at St. John’s?
Let us know.
annapolis :
admissions@sjca.edu
or 410-626-2522
santa fe :
admissions@sjcsf.edu
or 505-984-6060
10 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
That morning I was called
upon to aid in seminars on
Alice in Wonderland (chapter
VII, “The Mad Tea Party” and
chapter VIII, “The Queen’s
Croquet Field”). I listened to
chair sitters ponder Alice’s
journey and her interactions
with the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, the Queen, the King,
and the Cheshire Cat who
after Alice is my personal favorite character. Admittedly,
this could be because I, like
so many others, identify with
Alice: the dizzy journey Alice
takes, a tumble in which
language seems almost nonsensical, the logic puzzling,
but where the games are
fun in their intricacy. Indeed,
my own journey has been
filled by the characters of my
sitters, quite a few of whom
that day were already in their
Gatsby-esque seersucker
(something I confess I wish
to see more of: the Jazz Age
was closer to the fashion of
my childhood).
By noon, the Croquet match
popped open like champagne. Unlike Alice’s match,
there were no warring
hedgehogs, no flamingo
mallets that flew away, no
human-card arches, and no
complaints that people were
not attending to the rules
of the field. And unlike the
Chesire cat, Cady (the college
dog) was well behaved.
Sadly, the thunderous omen
of the night before came
true: the match went on and
on and on, a great “thunder
battle” between the Imperial
Wickets. You know the rest.
Within moments, my wall
on Facebook was filled with
anguished cries –“sobs” and
“scowls” and “will wonders
never cease”– followed by
jokes that the loss required
a new drinking policy and
athletic director. Thankfully,
no one followed the example
of the Queen of Hearts in
calling for beheadings.
I must admit a kind of quiet
welcome of the fact: there is
no shame in the Naval Academy winning a round once a
decade; the match becomes
more interesting when the
result isn’t a predetermined
given. After all, look at Alice
and her adventures. —JC
(www.facebook.com/johnnie.
chair)
On clear evenings after seminar, Johnnies
experience firsthand the deep fascination
that humans across the centuries have
had with the night sky. From Ptolemy
to Newton and Copernicus to Kepler,
the stars and planets have played an
important role in the study of not only
astronomy but physics and theology.
“Astronomy addresses the question of the
Whole,” says Margaret Matthews (A14),
archon of the Astronomy Club on the Annapolis campus, “which are implications
for everything else we learn in the world.”
The Astronomy Club conducts not only
stargazing but also planetarium shows
for classes and community members who
are interested in learning more about the
motion of the heavenly bodies. “Anybody
NASA, esa, hubble space telescope—Taken Under the “Wing” of the Small Magellanic Cloud
Summer
Academy 2013
from the bell towers
“�Astronomy addresses the
question of the Whole,
which are implications for
everything else we learn
in the world.”
Margaret Matthews (A14), astronomy archon
who wants to come and look at the stars is
welcome,” says Matthews. “We invite all
guests to join us.”
By witnessing and understanding the
laws that govern the motion of the stars,
we can better comprehend the laws that
govern everything from the orbits of a
planet to the path of a falling stone. The
planetarium shows offered by the Astronomy Club provide students with the
opportunity to observe these phenomena
directly, seeing what Ptolemy saw in the
night sky over Ancient Greece. “By placing
Earth at the center, Ptolemy is thinking
of the heavenly bodies themselves as they
appear to an observer on Earth,” says
tutor Nicholas Maistrellis.
During planetarium shows, archons
guide students through various motions of
the stars, replicating many of the observations that early astronomers made in their
studies. They host special shows for freshmen when they begin to study astronomy
in their second semester. Students are
introduced to the motions of the stars that
Ptolemy uses as references so they can
grasp the line of reasoning he pursued
in developing such ideas as epicycles and
eccentric motion.
Stargazing hosted by the Astronomy
Club is open to all members of the community. “In the winter, we saw the Andromeda Galaxy. In the spring, we see Saturn,
Mars, and a bit of Venus,” says Matthews.
Archons are always present to help visitors
learn how to use and operate the telescope.
“It takes a lot of practice and patience to
become familiar with the various stars and
constellations, but it helps to be curious
and have a sense of wonder.”
briefly quoted
“We must have intellectual
bravery, that is, the
courage to push forward,
to continue seeking truth
even in the face of doubts
about its very existence....
St. John’s has given me the
tools: the ability to listen,
think, speak, write, and
ultimately act.”
Grace Tyson (ao13),
speech to The Caritas Society, April 2013
—Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
To learn more visit: www.stjohnscollege.edu/
admin/AN/observatory
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
11
�from the bell towers
from the bell towers
Bilsana Bibic (SF13):
Ariel Internship at
the United Nations
How the Ancients
Googled Earth
Bilsana Bibic (SF13)
One of the more unique structures on both the Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses is the Ptolemy stone, an
ancient Greek tool used to measure changes in the motion of the sun at apogee. “Ptolemy is one of the very
earliest to take something that seems very complicated
and reduce it to rational and comprehensible ideas,”
says tutor Nicholas Maistrellis. “The Ptolemy Stone has
only one function: it allows you to measure how high
the sun rises at noon. By doing so, we can measure how
quickly or slowly the sun orbits around the Earth.”
gabe gomez
Inspired by her life experience and activities at St. John’s, Bilsana Bibic (SF13), a senior from Montenegro, has chosen a career
in international relations and development, focusing on immigrant and refugee
rights. “My country was very involved with
refugees during the war in Kosovo,” says
Bibic. “Refugees especially have problems with traveling documents and basic
necessities for life. There is also the issue
of education, to prepare students to face
the world with a necessary set of skills.” In
addition, she hopes to fight unemployment
in her country and internationally.
Bibic became interested in international
relations and conflict resolution as a high
school student at the United World College
in Costa Rica, where she lived with people
from 80 different countries. At St. John’s,
she served on the Student Review Board,
building upon her skills by participating
in mediation. That experience helped
prepare Bibic to address opposing views
and face challenging questions “without
being paralyzed by fear,” she says. “You’re
not just an observer. You learn that you
can’t know everything on your own, that
you need a community to see the openings
for improvement.”
To prepare for her career, Bibic took on
Rousing production of Kiss Me, Kate
Artist-in-Residence Roy Rogosin (SFGI09) directed Santa Fe campus students, alumni, and staff in a
rousing, fully-staged production of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate in the Great Hall last December. The
Tony Award-winning musical involves the often amusing difficulties encountered by a troupe of players
performing a musical version of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. At the center of the
conflict is Fred Graham, the director, producer, and star, played by Sidney Velasquez (SFGI14), and his
leading lady and ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi, played by Elizabeth Hyde (SF16). Pictured are members of the
company. Back Row: Sidney Velasquez, Elizabeth Hyde, Joseph Muse (SF16), Cody Winning (SF12), Hania
Stocker (SF12), Dana Relue (SF15), Ruochen Bo (SF14), and staff member Susan Kaplan. Front row: Yue
Gong (SFGI13), John Panagiotidis (SFGI14), Hope Lang (SF15), Roy Rogosin, and Melissa Balch (SFGI14).
two significant projects last summer that
also allowed her to work on current, pressing problems. During her Ariel internship
at the United Nations in New York, she
worked one-on-one with the Ambassador
of Montenegro on his mission and agenda.
“I really got to see what it means to represent my country and how we represent
ourselves to the world—what our priorities
are, what we’re looking to gain from the
international community. Since we became independent from Serbia, we’ve had
to learn how to develop a country based on
democracy. A true republic, I suppose.”
Using the pass that came with her internship to attend many U.N. meetings, Bibic
gained a broad perspective on the needs
and interactions of many nations.
Before heading to New York, Bibic
joined three other Johnnies in the Republic of Georgia to work on a Project for
Peace with high school students who were
affected by Georgia’s civil war, a conflict
that remains unresolved. The Johnnies
held seminars for the participants as a
prelude to a political conference where the
teens discussed new ways of looking at the
civil conflict with refugees and representa-
12 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
tives from government and NGOs. In seminars, they read and discussed the Oresteia,
focusing on questions of war. They also
studied history, took conflict resolution
training, and visited refugee camps to see
what it was like to live under such conditions, witness the consequences of war,
and learn from the refugees’ stories.
These experiences opened the teenagers’ eyes. “At the political conference,”
says Bibic, “the adults were a bit hostile
because they didn’t think the kids had
the right to ask them questions about
the conflict. A proud moment for our
team” occurred, she says, when one girl
explained “they’d been learning about
conflict resolution and the importance of
listening, and it really hurt them that the
adults weren’t giving an example of that. A
lot of Georgians still blame Russia for what
happened during the civil war, and the kids
asked if the conflict could be resolved without Russia. I think the people there were
very impressed with their approach.”
—Jennifer Levin
“It’s very important for studying Ptolemy,” says Nino Benashvili (A16). “It’s what we use to measure the angle
of the sun relative to the Earth.” Ptolemy states in the
Almagest that the sun’s highest point in the sky changes
during the year due to its angular orbit around the sun.
This slanted revolution is what causes the differences in
length of daylight and determines the seasons.
Freshmen in math tutorials in Annapolis can study a
smaller version of this phenomenon through a twelveinch wooden model called the armillary sphere. Built
by St. John’s College craftsman Gary Dunkelberger, the
model uses a set of rings to illustrate the differences in
the revolutions of bodies around the Earth. The lateral
ring represents the motion of the heavenly spheres; an
angular ring represents the motion of the sun. “Ptolemy’s universe can be very hard to imagine, so the
armillary sphere gives you a three-dimensional model
of the whole thing,” says Maistrellis. “You can actually
use the Ptolemy Stone in correlation with the armillary
sphere and information from the Almagest to find your
location on the Earth.”
– Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
talk of the tow ers
This spring, four longtime tutors at the Annapolis campus, Deborah Axelrod, Nancy Buchenauer, Nicholas Maistrellis, and Jonathan
Tuck, have formally retired. Students, faculty,
and staff gathered on April 24 in the Great Hall
for a ceremony to honor their combined 150
years of dedicated service to the college.
Two new tutors have joined the faculty at the
Santa Fe campus. Marsaura Shukla (A93) joins
the college from the University of Chicago where
she received her PhD in theology. Raoni Padui
comes to the college from Villanova University
where he received his PhD in philosophy.
In Annapolis, four new tutors have joined the
faculty. Sarah Stickney (A04) joins the college
from Johns Hopkins SAIS Center in Bologna,
Italy, where she was also a Fulbright Scholar. She
received her MFA in poetry from the University
of New Hampshire. Brendan Boyle comes to the
college from the University of North Carolina
in Chapel Hill, where he taught classics. He
received his PhD from the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago. Leah Lasell
(SFGI04), who received her BA in mathematics
from the University of Chicago and her PhD in
philosophy from the University of Texas, taught
mathematics at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H.
Christine Lee joins the college from the
University of Bristol. She received her PhD in
political science from Duke University.
Terry McGuire (HA12), assistant to the dean
and a 44-year staff member at the college, was
named an honorary alumna.
briefly quoted
“At St. John’s, we acquire
the skill of interacting with
other people’s minds. By
not restricting ourselves to like
minds, we discover what’s
weak about our minds
and what’s really strong
about them.”
Hannah Crepps (SF13),
interview with The Santa Fe New
Mexican, May 17, 2013
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
13
�from the bell towers
Michael McQuarrie:
Gordon Seltz (A14) credits his interest in
business and economics to his experience
with the math tutorials during his freshman and sophomore years. “For math, we
have this logic-based system that we use to
explore and explain the world,” says Seltz.
“Economics is simply taking that a step
further by applying it to human behavior.
By doing so, we can see how business and
finance affects us in very real ways.”
Seltz, who plans to pursue an investment-banking career, was awarded funding by the Hodson Trust and interned last
summer at George K. Baum and Company, a middle-market sized investmentbanking firm in Denver. “Economics
is an amalgamation of political factors,
environmental factors, and business
factors,” says Seltz. “It’s an abstraction
of everything working together, similar
to the liberal arts program at St. John’s
where we see all the subjects as being interconnected. Economics is a field where
that mentality is carried on.”
“I was responsible for research, taking
aggregate data, analyzing it, and putting it in a logical and comprehensible
format,” says Seltz. “I was also in charge
of monitoring the market and updating
various databases. There was a lot of opportunity for learning by osmosis.” Seltz
recalls how, as an intern, he was asked to
do calculations to update the database for
the firm. “The executive vice president
asked me to consult an analyst about how
to do them. The analyst wasn’t there. So
I found the document where the calculations were already done and sort of
reverse-engineered it to find the formula.
It is similar to what we have to do in a St.
John’s math tutorial: we have to figure
“�Economics is... an
abstraction of everything
working together, similar
to the liberal arts program
at St. John’s where we see
all the subjects as being
interconnected.”
The Hodson House-Carroll Barrister
House project was funded by gifts from
the Hodson Trust and by a grant from
the State of Maryland. Extensive new
landscaping, including four gardens and
new seating areas, are also featured
in the space between Chase Stone,
Pinkney, and the new building.
out how one gets from a general question
to a specific answer. My St. John’s education helped me adapt to this completely
foreign and new environment.”
This summer, 34 students received
funding through the Hodson Trust
Internship Program. They will work at
organizations such as the U.S. Naval
Observatory, the Library of Congress,
and the University of Chicago’s Institute
for Mind & Biology.
Gary Pierpoint
Hodson Intern
Investing in Banking
Representatives from the Hodson Trust
and the Board of Visitors and Governors,
along with Annapolis faculty and staff,
gathered to dedicate the new Hodson
House on June 21. Its modern, urban
design blends seamlessly with its historic surroundings. The building houses
the Advancement Office and the new
Alumni Center. Featuring a seminar/
meeting room as well as administrative
and faculty offices, the Hodson House
served as a temporary space for the
college’s Admissions staff, which moved
out of the Carroll-Barrister House while
it underwent a full renovation that was
completed in June. The Carroll-Barrister
House, originally constructed in 1722
and located on Main Street in Annapolis, was moved to campus in the 1950s.
This major renovation is the first since
then. The newly refurbished Admissions
Office will provide a welcoming first stop
on the campus for the college’s visitors
and prospective students.
– Nutchapol Boonparlit (A14)
14 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Hodson House, home to the new
Alumni Center
New Athletic Director
in Annapolis
Lauds Amateurs
Among many pleasant surprises since
joining the St. John’s faculty, new Annapolis Athletic Director Michael McQuarrie
discovered a collection of old photos and
records of the college’s sports history.
In the 1880s, when St. John’s had more
intercollegiate teams, the college played
basketball and football against McQuarrie’s alma mater. “I was going through
all these old records, and I saw photos
of Elon University. I thought, ‘St. John’s
College really played Elon? How long ago
was that?’”
programs, thinking that students need that
push. At St. John’s, students don’t require
that push quite as much, if at all.”
Previously McQuarrie was the director
of recreation at the New School in New
York City. At this university containing
seven different colleges, “much of my job
entailed marketing and advertising, simply making sure the college community
knew what was happening in the athletics
program,” he says. Dedicated to creating
and continuing programs centered on
students’ needs, McQuarrie essentially
built the New School’s athletic program
from scratch; he focused primarily on the
intramural program and clubs as opposed
to competition with other schools. It
prepared him well for St. John’s. “When
I first started, I said to one of the gym
assistants, Eric Shlifer (A13), that I love
“�I’ve worked and been a
student at schools that claim
to be student-centered,
but that term takes on new
meaning at St. John’s.”
gary pierpoint
Katie Matlack
Hodson House
Opens Its Doors
Since his arrival last summer, McQuarrie has grown increasingly appreciative of
the student-centered athletics program
at St. John’s. The fact that Johnnies are
often proactive in their education—from
tennis to Tchaikovsky to Tocqueville—has
been a refreshing but not entirely surprising discovery. McQuarrie, who grew up
in Montgomery County, Maryland, was
drawn to St. John’s largely because of how
athletics are taught here. “I’ve worked and
been a student at schools that claim to be
student-centered, but that term takes on
new meaning at St. John’s,” he says. “At
other colleges and universities, administrators, faculty, and staff usually manage
amateur athletics,” says McQuarrie.
“He replied, ‘Well, you’re going to love
it here!’ My role is to be here for the
students and to be able to, as best I can,
produce the [results] they want.”
As an athletic director, McQuarrie best
serves the college community by being
“flexible, understanding, and above
all, an educator. Anyone who works at
a college is an educator,” he says. Not
surprisingly, mentors have played an
important role in his athletic and intellectual development. “When I was a kid,
my mom was my baseball coach for three
years,” says McQuarrie. “During college,
I had two sociology professors, one at
Elon University and one at the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro, who
taught me how to teach and how to help
students learn.”
—Erin Fitzpatrick (A14) and Gregory Shook
New Alumni Director
in Santa Fe is a
Johnnie at Heart
Anne Staveley
from the bell towers
Sarah Palacios,
the new director of
Alumni Relations at the
Santa Fe campus, has a
Johnnie-like spirit. This
winter she participated
in Piraeus in Santa Fe,
where the focus was on
Dante’s Inferno. Aside
from loving the reading
and the discussion, Palacios was thrilled to receive feedback from an alumna who stated that
if she had not known Palacios wasn’t a Johnnie,
she never would have guessed. An avid reader
who cites Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy
among her favorite authors, she also looks forward to re-reading works such as Oedipus Rex.
Originally from Pojoaque, New Mexico, Palacios
previously served in alumni relations at her
alma mater, Stanford University, where she
worked with young alumni as well as in student
development. Palacios recognizes the importance of reaching out to what might be referred
to as the “future alumni” population. “In alumni
relations, we have four years to help current
students create a love for and connection to the
St. John’s community,” says Palacios. “You’re an
alum for far longer than you were ever a student. You’re an alum for the rest of your life.”
Palacios welcomes the opportunity to be
working for a small, private college. “Private
colleges have more unified communities,” she
says. Seminars and alumni events, such as
Piraeus and the alumni-student ski day, have
helped her get to know the St. John’s alumni
community. “I can learn so much from alumni,” says Palacios. “I invite everyone to reach
out to me, even if I haven’t had the chance to
reach out to them yet. Send me an e-mail, or
call, or drop by the office. My door is open.”
Palacios earned her bachelor’s degree in cultural psychology with an emphasis on American Indian identity; she also has an MBA from
the University of New Mexico. She hopes that
her research on the challenges encountered
by first-generation college students, specifically minority students, can benefit St. John’s.
Her background will also be useful in
understanding the varying needs of alumni.
Palacios says, “I get the sense that no matter
how long it’s been since alumni have been to
St. John’s for a visit, they step on campus and
it feels like home.”
—Jennifer Levin
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
15
�tutor views
Imagination
and
Creativity
by J. H. Beall
Imagination and creativity seem at first gloss to be positive
things that hold high sway in the court of modernity. They are said
to be responsible for much of the good in our lives and the source
of the relative comfort in which the majority of us can live. These
claims are, to my mind, true. Given the high regard in which these
terms are held, it is of interest to investigate them in some detail.
Exploring the Cosmos:
Faculty members
consider Copernicus and
a revolution that, to be
understood, requires
“careful observation,
study and reflection and
bold, imaginative insight,”
notes Annapolis Dean
Pamela Kraus.
opposite: A barred spiral
galaxy was captured in
spectacular detail in this
image taken by the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope.
Superimposed over the
photo is Copernicus’
diagram from 1543 of the
movement of the planets
around the sun—a page from
De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelestium, published the
same year.
photos: courtesy nasa, esa,
the hubble space telescope.
16 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
As the word suggests, imagination seems
to be associated with an image that one
can hold in the mind, like the “picture” of
a cat or a unicorn. But the idea of imagination can be extended beyond that of a
simple picture. In Psychology: The Briefer
Course, William James talks about the different kinds of imagination. For example,
he catalogs an “auditory imagination”
that can be as delightful as “Fingal’s
Cave” or some terrible tune that keeps
reprising itself in one’s head, mewling
like a hungry cat, but for no good reason.
My favorite example in James’s work is
the kinesthetic imagination. Anyone who
has ever seen a friend (or especially one’s
child) fall down and felt the shock of it for
themselves has had the experience of the
kinesthetic imagination.
There is also a species of imagination
that James doesn’t directly address. Most
of us have felt it when we are alone, walking at night. It’s that strange feeling that
makes us afraid to turn around and look
behind us, dreading what we suppose to
be there. The vividness of this experience
is much like a kinesthetic occurrence. It
can be quite arresting—and not particularly positive.
James is quick to point out that the
imagination is of different degrees for
different people. In some individuals,
it is remarkably vivid, and in others, it
is barely a capacity. To illustrate this,
imagine three “dots,” like dots on a
piece of paper. Now imagine four dots.
Now imagine five. Now imagine seven.
Now imagine thirteen. At some point for
most of us, the image gets fuzzy. Yet it is
easy to think about the number seven or
a million or 106. This by way of analysis.
It is not my intention to cast aspersions
on the imagination or to say that it is not
powerful in some ways. To say the least
of it, imagination is a complex subject.
Eva Brann’s wonderful book, The World
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
17
�Q&A
tutor views
imagination and creativity
Q&A
The introduction of Copernicus, which follows, presents
another kind of imaginative
challenge, to return to the
familiar assumption that the
sun is the center. Students have
to revolutionize their thinking
twice, then, once to register
the appearances and imagine
them accounted for through
Ptolemy—this is an undoing
of a former opinion; and then,
again, to take stock of the revolution through Copernicus. They
are in an optimum position to
appreciate and even appropriate the fuller meaning and
consequence of the Copernican
revolution—that to understand
the appearances, or our experience, however fundamental,
requires careful observation,
study and reflection, and bold,
imaginative insight.
How do we encounter
Copernicus in the program of
study at St. John’s?
This study of Ptolemy continues into the fall semester of
the sophomore mathematics tutorial, as his account
becomes more complex in
order to address the various
positions of the planets, which
do not appear to travel in an
uninterrupted circle around the
earth. We focus on the motions of Venus. After that study
we turn to Copernicus, whose
account revolutionizes astronomy, since it replaces the
geocentric with a heliocentric
model. Although the account
was not finally proven until
later, after the telescope was
invented and certain measurements could be taken, it supplanted forever the former way
of understanding our place in
the universe.
This is an important sequence
for our students. The astronomy sequence in these years
first restores the appearances,
that is to say, our experience,
to a kind of primacy; and then
students begin to appreciate
Ptolemy’s achievement, how
he combined the observed
regularities of the heavenly
bodies, representing them and
accounting for their movements through geometry.
This requires in our students
a combination of reasoning
and imagination employed in
a different way than they are
used to.
Ptolemy then proceeds to turn the world upside down. He applies
his mathematical knowledge to the motions of the heavens, a
region between the Earth and the divine.
of the Imagination: Sum and Substance, is an intensive consideration of the topic.
Imagination for all its vividness and limitations seems to go hand in hand with creativity.
This was brought to mind recently when my
niece, an accomplished photographer, posted
an image of a deer track on Facebook with the
footprint oriented upside down. That is, the inverted deer track—filled with water in the soft
earth—looked “heart-shaped.” She posted the
image on Valentine’s Day with an appropriate
caption. This simple re-orientation of an existing image now had a new aspect, a new meaning
for someone looking at the picture.
This bears on the question of what creativity actually is. In certain glosses, the word can
suggest creation “ex nihilo,” which in the Latin
means literally “out of nothing.” One can think
of the Prime Mover in Aristotle’s Physics and
Metaphysics, or the Lord’s “Let there be light”
from the Old Testament. In Aristotle’s case, the
example clearly shows that the essential source
of motion has no antecedent cause. And clearly,
God has no cause beside itself.
But this interpretation of the word “creativity” might be too strict. In the case of the photograph of the deer’s footprint turned upsidedown, the new aspect that is revealed brings
together a particular image with a particular day
and a particular set of associations. It connects
an image with an understanding. This is essential for coming up with something new.
18 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Ptolemy’s Almagest and Copernicus’s work
are particularly fine examples of this more general idea of creativity.
In Ptolemy’s case, as students at the college
discover in the second semester of the freshman
year, there is a metaphysical justification for using mathematics to discover the regularity behind
the flux of experience. Ptolemy begins with Aristotle’s division of the “theoretical [sciences] into
three immediate genera: the physical, the mathematical, and the theological.” Ptolemy despairs
of finding the regularity behind physical things,
those below the lunar sphere, since they are too
changing and complex. In addition, he believes
theological science is too high, too transcendent
for us, being related as it is to Gods or Prime Movers. Yet the mathematical is within our grasp, and
Ptolemy has Euclid’s Elements to show the truth
of that. Yet there is little or no motion in Euclid’s
Elements. Ptolemy, however, proceeds in a way
worth quoting whole cloth:
And therefore meditating that the other two
genera of the theoretical would be expounded
in terms of conjecture rather than in terms of
scientific understanding [emphasis mine]: the
theological because it is in no way phenomenal
and attainable, but the physical because its matter is unstable and obscure, so that for this reason
philosophers could never hope to agree on them;
and meditating that only the mathematical, if
approached enquiringly, would give its practi-
−Pamela Kraus, Annapolis dean
The Heart of the Whirlpool Galaxy
The freshman mathematics
tutorial spends much of the
academic year studying Euclid’s Elements, going through
many of the propositions in
its twelve books. In the spring
semester, the tutorial turns attention to Ptolemy’s Almagest,
the work that assumes that
the earth is at the center, and
ends the year by introducing
Ptolemy’s geometrical account,
concentrating on his account
of the sun.
tioners certain and trustworthy knowledge with
demonstration both arithmetic and geometric.
. . . [W]e were led to cultivate most particularly
. . . this theoretical discipline” (Almagest, trans.
by R. C. Taliaferro, University of Chicago Press:
Great Books edition, 1952.
Ptolemy then proceeds to turn the world upside
down. He applies his mathematical knowledge to
the motions of the heavens, a region between the
Earth and the divine. This bears on his fascination with circles, since the most manifest motion
of the sky is the rising of the Sun in the east and
its setting in the west. More properly, there are
also the uniform circular motions of the “fixed”
stars that Ptolemy uses as his elements to show
this underlying order behind the flux of experience. As such, Ptolemy’s Almagest is the forerunner of every modern physical theory.
Of course, “saving the appearances” by
showing their underlying regularity in spite of
manifest variations requires a bit of artifice, and
Ptolemy’s theory is a fine example of such amplification. The point here is that he took elements
he already knew from Euclid and from his own
One of our Socratic hypotheses
is that to come to know for
oneself, even just to inquire for
oneself, presupposes recognition of one’s own ignorance, i.e.
our knowing that (or what) we
do not know. In many respects,
our “knowledge” that the earth
revolves around the sun is the
paradigm specimen or occasion for breaking open our too
easy confidence in what we
know. What we think we know
is counter-intuitive (it appears
that the sun is moving and we
and the earth are still). It does
not seem to be derived from
our everyday experience (or our
ways of talking: the sun rises
and sets). Furthermore, most
of us cannot “replicate” or even
narrate the body of theory and
evidence and experimentation
that have gone into this knowledge. Under cross-examination,
it seems that we are trusting in
the authority of others: books,
scientists.
Now, at St. John’s, we do
“cross-examine” this knowledge (and we do replicate
or narrate its history and
development). It turns out to
be a long and hard question
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�Q&A
tutor views
imagination and creativity
Q&A
as to what would decide the
issue between a geocentric
and heliocentric “hypothesis”
or “theory.” As I understand
it, it is not until the nineteenth century (roughly 300
years after the publication of
Copernicus’s theory) that some
astronomical measurement or
observation appears to weigh
decisively in favor of the Copernican theory.
The comparative study of
Ptolemaic and Copernican
astronomy (and its later
development) is one of the
most powerful introductions
to the hidden questions of
the philosophy and history of
science. It is probably the most
significant and the most telling
case of the problems associated with science’s “ascent”
from appearance to reality, as
well as the most telling case
of the problems associated
with relating mathematical
models to nature and natural
phenomena.
–J. Walter Sterling, Santa Fe dean
The Copernican revolution
became both (partial) cause
and icon for modernity and for
the intellectual and spiritual
revolutions that propel it. Kant,
very famously, analogized his
philosophical revolution in the
Critique of Pure Reason to the
Copernican revolution. This icon
has meant different things for
different thinkers: a defiant challenge to received authority, philosophical and theological, in favor
of one’s own reason (this may
be seen as “political” as well,
e.g. with Galileo’s trial and his
alleged “And yet it moves”); the
displacement of Man from the
center of the cosmos (or the loss
of a “center”), a displacement
that arguably undermines Biblical cosmology, or Providence; the
abandonment of “naïve” observation; the movement toward a
consistent mathematical physics
of matter in motion, freed from
religion and metaphysics; the
paradigm for the indefinite and
open-ended revision of scientific
theory. And so on.
Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370
Hubble’s Sharpest View of the Orion Nebula
The point is not to generate
a fixed skepticism among
our students or faculty, nor
to rehabilitate geocentricism,
but rather to bring to the fore,
for our conscious study and
reflection, a variety of hidden
assumptions that lurk behind
our everyday knowledge or our
tacit acceptance of scientific
knowledge. How do we apply
mathematical models to
“physical” phenomena? How
do we “save the appearances”? What kinds of arguments
or evidence can persuade us of
the truth of a physical model
or theory? Can such theories
be “proven” at all? The “facts,”
or the “appearances,” admit of
various interpretations. What
criteria are most important in
adopting one over the other—
predictive power, coherence
and consistency, elegance or
beauty, theological argument,
physical argument, mathematical argument?
Did Copernicus change
scientific thought?
–J. Walter Sterling, Santa Fe dean
Copernicus’s inversion from a geocentric to a heliocentric model
of the universe still required something other than simple circles,
which led him to place an epicycle at the center of the Sun.
and others’ observations of the motions of the
sky, and brought those together to give us a new
understanding of the regularity behind the appearances of the world. Ptolemy’s epicycles are,
of course, the key part of the model.
One of that model’s complexities is the assumption that Venus’s and Mercury’s epicycles are
centered on the Sun. This in turn is necessary
because of the observations that Mercury and
Venus never exceed certain angular distances
from the Sun.
For example, when Venus is the “evening
star” (that is, when it is in the sky after sunset),
it gradually attains a greater and greater distance away from the Sun, a phenomenon especially noticeable because Venus is so bright. The
maximum angular distance of Venus from the
Sun—Venus’s maximum elongation—is around
20 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
44 degrees, so that when Venus is at maximum
elongation after sunset, it is remarkably far from
the Sun. Yet immediately after this, it begins to
approach the Sun again, eventually moving past
the Sun in order to lead it across the sky, thus becoming the “morning star.” Mercury is the only
other planet that has this apparent association
with the Sun, although Mercury’s maximum
elongation is much smaller at 15 degrees of arc.
Ptolemy seeks to explain these observations by
placing each of the planets on an “epicycle,” a circle upon which the planet moves as the center of
the epicycle moves in a perfect circle around the
center of the Earth. In the special case of Venus
and Mercury, the center of their epicycles is tied
to the position of the center of the Sun, as the Sun
moves around the Earth. For Mars, Jupiter, and
Saturn, the centers of their epicycles have no spe-
cial relation to the Sun. Ptolemy uses his model
to explain the special motions of each of the planets, but makes an ad hoc assumption about where
Venus and Mercury’s epicycles are centered, albeit an assumption required by observation as it
manifests itself in his theory. That is, there is no
explanation arising from Ptolemy’s model that
explains the special status of Venus and Mercury.
It is precisely this sort of complexity that Copernicus seeks to address with his heliocentric or
Sun-centered model in his work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. By placing Earth as
the third planet after Mercury and Venus, Copernicus gives a natural explanation not only for the
maximum elongations of Mercury and Venus, but
also for the retrograde motion of Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn, without resorting to epicycles.
Yet Copernicus’s inversion from a geocentric
(Earth-centered) to a heliocentric model of the
universe, while it solved the problem of the maximum elongation of Venus and Mercury and the
retrograde motions of the “outer planets,” still
required something other than simple circles,
which led Copernicus to place an epicycle at the
center of the Sun.
Of course, Newton’s interpretation of Kepler’s laws provided a simpler explanation still:
an inverse-square force law for the attraction
of the planets, and a force directed to the Sun’s
center. Newton’s model saved the appearances
by placing the regularity in the understanding
and not in the imagination.
In these examples, creativity and imagination
have more modest poses. They help us rearrange
the elements given to us by experience (or our
predecessors’ observations and theories) into a
new understanding of the ever-changing flux of
experience before us. At the heart of this fluence
are certain “regularities” which we now call
physical laws and theories. These relate matter,
time, motion, and our experiences with a mathematical regularity that is truly remarkable. And
even if the day-to-day world seems like shadows
on a cave wall, the regularities we have begun to
notice suggest an underlying structure and light
from which these shadows are cast.
Visit Jim Beall, Annapolis tutor, on Facebook
for daily astronomical postings.
He presented the first modern
account of a unified, systematically arranged planetary system
revolving around the sun. The
world no longer is what it looks
like. There is now a split between
being and appearance. Perspective and relative motion enter
as major players in physical
science.
--Peter Kalkavage, tutor
Was imagination essential
to a scientist such as
Copernicus?
Absolutely. It is a real challenge
to the imagination to think that
perhaps this world upon which
we are standing is moving! And
that the sun is standing still! It
takes even more imagination
to grasp how what we seem to
see can be explained on those
grounds. It takes almost as
much imagination, however, to
think that the world is round,
and that the sun is millions of
miles away, larger than the earth
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�tutor views
But in addition to all this, Copernicus’s system did not make any better predictions than Ptolemy’s, and it
was also not primarily based on new
evidence. (He was before the telescope: new evidence did not begin
to pour in until Galileo.) Perhaps Copernicus’s most important argument
is that in his theory, the solar system
makes more sense as a whole, as a
system: and that argument appeals
powerfully to the imagination. Ptolemy’s planets were not related to
each other in any satisfying way; he
analyzed each separately. It wasn’t
even clear which were closer to the
sun. In Copernicus, the planets are
all locked into one easily imaginable
whole. The relative sizes of the orbits and their arrangement is more
satisfying to the intellect because it
is so graspable by the imagination.
--Henry Higuera, tutor
Imagination was indeed essential
to Copernicus, as it was for all the
astronomers who came before
him. We cannot stand outside the
cosmos to see its scheme. Nor
can we perform experiments on it.
We can only observe, and based
on our observations, formulate
hypotheses that are true to what we
observe. This is where imagination
comes in—as the power of devising
hypotheses.
--Peter Kalkavage, Annapolis tutor
It strikes me that many aspects of
science involve imagination. For
the sake of argument, let’s define
imagination as the faculty or act of
forming ideas or conceptions using
images beyond what is present to
the senses. Though scientists rely on
the senses for observations and in
experimentation, many of their ideas
involve an imaginative act. From the
thought experiments of Huygens or
Einstein to Copernicus’s model of
nested circles with the sun at the
center, the very nature of thinking through a scientific challenge
involves the imagination.
--Greg Schneider, tutor
Mathematical astronomy is the most beautiful application of
mathematics to the visible world. The heavenly bodies exhibit
an unsurpassed regularity in their motions. Chance seems to be
either absent or negligible. The heavens are deeply connected
with the divine—with theology. — Peter K alkavage, tutor
Why is astronomy included
in the Program?
We don’t do “astronomy” as a
subject. To be frank, I think that
what we do is string together brilliant excerpts by three or four very
great thinkers (Ptolemy, Copernicus,
sometimes Kepler, and Newton) who
treated astronomy. These works and
their authors are worth appreciating
on their own and comparing each to
each on many levels: geometrical,
logical, imaginative, methodological,
and even theological.
Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Newton
each give different answers as
to why we study astronomy. As a
college, we think that each is worth
taking seriously.
--Henry Higuera, tutor
Mathematical astronomy is the most
beautiful application of mathematics to the visible world. The heavenly bodies exhibit an unsurpassed
regularity in their motions. Chance
seems to be either absent or negligible. The heavens are deeply connected with the divine—with theology. Also, mathematical astronomy, to
a greater extent than other sciences,
brings to the fore the curious thing
we call a hypothesis. It also gives
us an opportunity to discuss what it
means to “save the appearances.”
Ancient thinkers, especially those
influenced by Pythagoras, believed
that mathematical astronomy was
good for our souls. Mathematical
astronomy is the effort to think of
the visible world in its wholeness.
--Peter Kalkavage, tutor
You will probably get many different
answers to this question. Among
the various reasons that occur to
me, one is that astronomy was
included among the original liberal
arts. To be an educated human, you
had to know something about the
22 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
cosmos of which we are a part. To
the ancients, the heavenly spheres
were eternal, so contemplating their
motions was a way to reflect upon
the eternal. And even the ancients
acknowledged that astronomy has
practical features for agriculture, for
navigation, etc. In the introduction
to On the Revolutions of Heavenly
Spheres, Copernicus himself argues:
“Unquestionably the summit of the
liberal arts and most worthy of a
free man, it is supported by almost
all the branches of mathematics. Arithmetic, geometry, optics,
surveying, mechanics and whatever
others there are all contribute to it.
Although all the good arts serve to
draw man’s mind away from vices
and lead it toward better things,
this function can be more fully
performed by this art, which also
provides extraordinary intellectual
pleasure.”
Also, what are we to make of the
sun’s not really being at the center
of the earth’s movement? The “center” in Copernicus is a mathematical
average of the centers of all the
non-concentric planetary orbits. Also,
what physical assumptions does
Copernicus have to make in order to
reject Ptolemy’s arguments against
a moving earth, and how secure is
the ground for these assumptions?
What physically must be going on in
a sun-centered cosmos? Is the sun
somehow a cause of motion? Why
are the planets (and now the earth)
moving at all? And why in circles?
In our world of atomic clocks
and light-obscured night skies,
my students and I have less daily
contact with the heavens. We tend
not to think of the eternal or the
gods when we look up at the stars,
but looking at the motions of the
sun and the planets and the moon
raises many fascinating questions
about motion, mathematics, and
physics, not to mention our place in
the order of things.
To me, Copernicus occupies this
fascinating place between Ptolemy
and Kepler. He retains Ptolemy’s reverence for circles while being willing
to take the bold step of asserting a
sun-centered universe. Why does he
insist on circles and spheres in his
model?
--Greg Schneider, tutor
Describe an opening question
on Copernicus that still
fascinates you.
Why is Copernicus not more bothered by his little epicycle, the radius
of which in effect reduplicates the
eccentricity of the equant? How big
a problem is it that the orbit that
results from this little epicycle is a
circle that has a slight bulge, or, as
Copernicus puts it, “differs imperceptibly” from a circle?
Another important and persistent
question is the following: Has the
meaning of “hypothesis,” and of
“saving the appearances,” changed
in the transition from Ptolemy to
Copernicus?
--Peter Kalkavage, tutor
--Greg Schneider, tutor
Is there a certain proposition
or mathematical element of
Copernicus’s work that amazes
or puzzles you? Why?
It puzzles me why Copernicus, who
boasts of having more systematic
unity than Ptolemy, doesn’t say more
about the sun’s not being the mathematical center of the system.
--Peter Kalkavage, tutor
Active Galaxy Centaurus A
itself, which Ptolemy already argued
for. In this way Ptolemy was also “a
scientist such as Copernicus.”
tutor views
Related to the last question, as a
predictive model, Copernicus’s approach turns out to be less accurate
than Ptolemy’s. Both rely on circles,
but Ptolemy’s arrangement gives
remarkable results in predicting the
positions of the planets, compared
to Copernicus’s model. This fact has
always puzzled me. It raises intriguing questions about what makes a
scientific model more compelling or
powerful, from its predictive features
to its agreement with experiment to
its more aesthetic features.
With regard to a specific proposition,
his proof of the immensity of the
heavens compared to the size of the
earth in Chapter Six for some reason
fascinates me. It relies, to some extent, on lines drawn from the center of
the earth and from a point on its surface, seeming, at immense distances,
either parallel or the same line. The
proof anticipates some things that
Newton does much later and highlights interesting ways in which our
sense experience does or does not coincide with a mathematical portrayal
of the same phenomenon.
Perhaps Copernicus’s most important
argument is that in his theory, the solar
system makes more sense as a whole,
as a system: and that argument appeals
powerfully to the imagination.
— Henry Higuera, tutor
--Greg Schneider, tutor
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23
�Seeing
Stars
Most of us gaze at the night sky with the naked eye or a backyard telescope, yearning
to know more. These Johnnies have pursued, with deep curiosity, answers to the
mysteries of the cosmos. Using sophisticated instrumentation, they are observing
and recording celestial phenomena in far-flung galaxies, communicating with
satellites that observe Earth, bringing their Johnnie imaginations to the puzzles of
binary black holes, and illustrating mathematical theorems with thread.
“�Instrumentation remains
‘a delicate balance’
because you need to
know what the question
is before constructing a
means to an answer.”
Charting the Cosmos:
Rachel Dudik (a02)
is a Star Detector
—Rachel Dudik (a02)
by Anna Perleberg Andersen (sf02)
photos of Rachel Dudik by James Kegley
In Plato’s Theaetetus, Socrates tells a humorous anecdote
about Thales of Miletus, often considered the first philosopher
proper in the Greek (and hence the Western) tradition.
24 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Thales, he claims, was so focused
on looking upward at the stars
one night that he fell down a well,
prompting a servant girl to laugh
at him “because he was so eager
to know the things in the sky that
he could not see what was there
before him at his very feet.” We
have no way of ascertaining how
much of this tale is true, of course;
it has been suggested that Thales
was in the well on purpose, knowing he’d be able to see the stars
better through such darkness.
The story illustrates how closely
philosophy has been linked to
astronomy since the beginnings of
both—from Aristotle and Ptolemy
to Newton and Copernicus.
So it’s no surprise that the field
of astronomy attracts Johnnies—
although it’s not a career that
Rachel Dudik (A02) ever expected.
Growing up in central Pennsylvania, Dudik “was good at math and
science,” she says, “but I really
liked art and literature.” Now she’s
an astronomer employed by the
Department of Defense at the
U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) in
Washington, D.C, surrounded by
dyed-in-the-wool stargazers, most
who “knew they wanted to be
astronomers from the time they
were seven,” she says. “So they
were out with a telescope looking
at the constellations; I was in my
room drawing.”
During her senior year, Dudik attended a lecture on black holes by
Shobita Satyapal, a professor at
Virginia’s George Mason University.
She was immediately (forgive the
pun) sucked in by “the fact that
there were these massive things
lurking out there in the centers of
galaxies and that their presence
could only be observed through indirect means. Also, I just like very
powerful exploding things.”
Dudik’s lab tutor, Jim Beall—also
an adjunct professor at GMU at
the time—arranged this lifechanging lecture. He describes
Dudik today as an “intelligent,
resourceful, and accomplished
scientist.” In 2002, Beall recommended her for Satyapal’s summer internship at GMU immediately after graduation. When the
university began to offer doctorates in astronomy, they actively
recruited St. John’s students—an
unusual resource for the so-called
“hard” sciences. Dudik was one of
these initial recruits: “There were
two Italians and three Johnnies,”
she recalls. In January 2009, she
became the first to earn a doctorate from the new program—a
PhD in Physical Sciences with a
concentration in physics and astronomy. (The program has since
changed slightly.)
“Going from the Socratic method
to advanced coursework in modern
physics wasn’t an easy transition,’”
she recalls. Although she took a
few undergrad astrophysics classes
to get up to speed, Dudik attributes her success to the program’s
chair, Maria Dworzecka, who was
a strong supporter of St. John’s students, and Satyapal, who became
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
25
�Rachel Dudik (A02) is
on a quest to increase the
precision with which we
chart our universe.
knowledge of astronomy. Dudik
needs to understand some engineering to guide their work, as she
must decide what the detector is
supposed to do and how to make
it happen. Instrumentation remains “a delicate balance,” Dudik
says, “because you need to know
what the question is before constructing a means to an answer.”
Dudik’s advisor. As a graduate of
Bryn Mawr, Satyapal understood
the liberal arts approach to math
and sciences. “She was an amazing advisor for someone with my
background,” says Dudik. “It was
like I hadn’t left home.”
“�You need to catch
every single light
particle, and not
confuse them with
According to Dudik, modern astronomy can be roughly subdivided anything else.”
into three spheres: observation,
theory, and instrumentation. During her graduate studies, which
included a fellowship at NASA’s
Goddard Space Flight Center, she
concentrated on observation, using
astronomical data to investigate
how black holes are formed. A layperson might imagine a figure in
a white lab coat, squinting through
the eyepiece of a telescope and
taking furious notes. Today, however, a camera, spectrometer, or
other device far more precise than
the human eye plays the role of
squinter, and the telescope itself
might be in space.
Because data is only as good as
the instrument that gathers it,
ever more sensitive (and expensive) equipment must be built for
discoveries to continue. As Dudik
began her post-degree career, she
moved away from the observational
side of astronomy. “I’m the kind of
person who likes to study something really hard for about six years
and then wants to do something
else,” she says. Since May 2008,
her work at the USNO has primarily involved instrumentation. Once
again, she has benefited from a
St. John’s mentor—Bryan Dorland
(A92), chief of USNO’s Astrometric
Satellite Division, who has allowed
her to learn engineering on the job.
“His having the background that
I did has been very important for
me,” says Dudik. “He’s also very
supportive of my career, teaching
me what I don’t know.”
The U.S. Naval Observatory was
founded in 1830 as the Depot of
Charts and Instruments, caring
for the Navy’s nautical charts and
chronometers—the means for
ships to orient themselves in time
as well as space. Both are vital to
celestial navigation. Throughout
the 19th century, the observatory honed the accuracy of these
tools. Systematic observations of
heavenly objects led to scientific
achievement. In 1877, using the
largest refracting telescope in the
world, Asaph Hall discovered the
two moons of Mars. That telescope
is still in use today.
Although technology has evolved
considerably, the USNO’s mission
has changed little; they determine
the positions and motions of celestial bodies, the Earth, and precise
time; they keep the official time of
the United States, now determined
by atomic clocks aboard GPS satellites. Those same satellites act as
26 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
high-tech sextants, allowing ships
to determine their exact positions.
The quest for increased precision
in celestial observation—and
the expansion of our charted
universe—requires constant innovation. Dudik and Dorland work
in detector development, seeking
ways to improve the informationgathering capabilities of the
USNO’s telescopes. These detectors are sensitive to visible light,
similar in purpose to those found
in any camera phone. Since their
extraterrestrial quarry is often
too faint to be seen, they are far
greater in strength: “When you
take a picture with your phone,”
explains Dudik, “there’s light everywhere.” Stars, however, can’t be
seen without the most expensive
detectors. “You need to catch
every single light particle, and not
confuse them with anything else,”
she says. No mean feat in the
blackness of space.
Each “hybrid” detector has two
layers. One layer consists of a
material sensitive to a certain
wavelength of light—silicon for
the visible spectrum, and usually
mercury cadmium telluride for
an infrared detector. The second
layer is an electronic readout;
data from both layers is “smashed
together” to create a single detector. Additional electronics “send
signals to the readout layer on
the detector to tell it when to integrate and when to stop integrating,” says Dudik.
The detectors are built by engineers
in California, who may have little
While the USNO’s main mission
is practical astrometry, the Navy
realizes that its scientists must do
research, too. At the end of March,
Dudik spent two nights at Palomar
Observatory in California, using
data from its telescopes to search
for planets orbiting different stars.
Sometimes ground-based
observation isn’t enough for the
research Dudik wants to do –she
needs an instrument far out in
space. NASA’s multi-billion-dollar
space telescopes are, of course, in
high demand. Detailed proposals
must be submitted and reviewed
before a project is granted observation time. “You’re competing
against hundreds of astronomers
across the country who all have
really great ideas on science
targets to use these particular
telescopes,” says Dudik. “You have
to look at the science idea from
every angle.” Luckily, that is a skill
familiar to Johnnies.
“An essential part of being a good
researcher is reading on your own,
coming up with your own ideas,
writing really good papers—and being critical of your own ideas,” she
says. She has noticed that traditionally trained physicists are often able
to solve problems, but less able to
think of new ones. The numerous
philosopher/astronomers on the
St. John’s Program have inspired
her. Beyond the usual suspects,
she mentions Kant, whose 1755
monograph, Universal History and
Theory of the Heavens, was the
first work to theorize that nebulae
glimpsed through telescopes were
actually distant star systems like
our own Milky Way, later called
“island universes.” Now they are
known as galaxies, and we can see
farther into the heavens than Kant
or Thales ever imagined.
seeing stars
Searching the Universe:
Night Flights with
Gabrelle Saurage (ec04)
by Anna Perleberg Andersen (sf02)
Gabrelle Saurage (EC04)
considered herself “done with
astronomy” after years as a
telescope operator. She was
pursuing a master’s degree in
philosophy from the University
of New Mexico until this past
January, when she was offered
a chance to fulfill a childhood
dream: to work for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The telescope she drives these days—or
rather, these nights—makes its
home in the guts of a converted
747 airplane, and casts its
infrared eye on celestial objects
far and near, recording images
at wavelengths that no other
telescope can.
The project, which has a
planned 20-year lifetime, is
called the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy,
SOFIA for short—an evocative
name for any Johnnie. It’s the
largest airborne observatory
in the world, the result of a
partnership between NASA
and its German equivalent,
the Deutsches Zentrum für
Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR).
SOFIA’s revamped 747, dubbed
the “Clipper Lindbergh”
after the pioneering aviator,
contains a 17-ton telescope
with three internal mirrors,
which reflect and focus energy
from space through an infrared
camera called FORCAST
(Faint Object Infrared Camera
for the Sofia Telescope). The
camera was developed by scientists at Cornell University;
its largest mirror is 2.7 meters
across. Operating from NASA’s
Dryden Aircraft Operations
Facility in Palmdale, California, SOFIA’s night flights carry
anywhere from 14 to 38 people
within the gutted and rebuilt
interior of the aircraft.
Evenings at Dryden begin
with a crew briefing where,
clad in her khaki flight suit,
Saurage joins other members
of the team to go over the rules
and objectives for that flight,
such as what objects they’ll be
observing and what specialized instruments will be used.
Many sub-groups take part in
the mission: the flight crew;
the operations crew, which
includes Saurage and another
telescope operator; and visiting
astronomers gathering data on
a particular heavenly body or
phenomena. All are shepherded
by a mission director. In addition, NASA’s public outreach
means that media and science
educators are often present.
Saurage’s role is crucial, as she
is responsible for the exacting,
computer-driven process of
actually moving the telescope,
“working with astronomers
trying to get observations of
different things. Every night it’s
something different.”
Many objects in space
emit their energy at infrared
wavelengths, hidden not only
Inset photo: Gabrelle Saurage (EC04)
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
27
�from the human eye but from
ordinary cameras and telescopes located beneath the
earth’s stratospheric clouds.
Other objects are obscured
by interstellar dust or gases
that visible light cannot pass
through—but infrared can. SOFIA, then, is able to perceive
things previously invisible,
such as newborn stars at the
hearts of galaxies, exotic
molecules never before detected in space, or the vibrant
Modern science
“wasn’t really tackling
the questions I was
looking for,” which
were Big Questions:
“How did this all
get started?
layers of cloud surrounding
the planet Jupiter, with the
heat of the planet spilling
through. Wavelengths emitted
by a given object tell scientists
much about the materials it
is made of, providing insights
into the construction of the
universe as well as its turbulent
history. And because NASA is
a government agency, SOFIA’s
awe-inspiring images are freely
available to the public: a visit
to the project website, sofia.
usra.edu, is the best kind of
Internet black hole.
For Saurage, some of the information that SOFIA collects
speaks directly to her intellectual interests: “You tend
to lean either macro or micro
[in science]. Some people are
interested in DNA and genetics, so they might lean toward
biology and chemistry, even
particle physics,” she says.
“I’m interested in galaxy
structure and star formation.
seeing stars
Because of that, the part of
physics that always interested
me was cosmology, the story of
the beginning.”
While other Johnnie astronomers followed philosophy with
physics, Saurage took the opposite path. She earned a B.S. in
physics in 1996 from Southwest
Texas State University (which
dropped the “Southwest” in
2003). She “drove” telescopes
at various observatories: McDonald in west Texas and W. M.
Keck in Hawaii—near the summit of Mauna Kea, Keck houses
the largest optical telescope on
Earth. Although Saurage found
the work rewarding, she felt
that modern science “wasn’t
tackling the questions I was
looking for,” which were Big
Questions: “How did this all get
started? What is all this?”
Saurage enrolled in the Eastern Classics program, where
her favorite readings were from
Indian philosophy, exploring
“the relationship of humanity
to divinity.” Cosmology stories
from the Upanishads continue
to influence her work. After
receiving her master’s, Saurage put in time at the Apache
Point observatory in southern
New Mexico, but found herself
drawn back to philosophy—until SOFIA came along.
Saurage finds that her St.
John’s education occasionally
confounds the scientists with
whom she works. “I’m an oddball—but to me it makes sense,
because it fits in the realm of
pursuing these ideas. I have
always been more oriented
toward math and science in
the classical Greek way. I don’t
see the divisions that we create in the modern American
university. If I’m interested in
how the universe works, I’m
not going to isolate myself in
any one of those fields. It’s all
up for grabs.”
28 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Intergalactic Wanderers:
Erin Wells Bonning (a97)
Trails a Nomadic Black Hole
by Anna Perleberg Andersen (sf02)
In 1971, British astronomers Donald Lynden-Bell and Martin
Rees hypothesized that the center of the Milky Way galaxy contained a black hole—no run-of-the-mill black hole, either, but a
gargantuan one now known to be the mass of four million suns.
Three years later, a pair of Americans, Bruce Balick and Robert
Brown, discovered an enormous
source of radio waves in a region
of our galaxy called Sagittarius
A, now widely accepted as the
theorized black hole. In fact, the
astronomical community now believes that most, if not all galaxies
contain what is termed “supermassive” black holes. How these
are formed, however, and their
connection with the creation of the
galaxies themselves, is still a topic
of intense debate and research.
Erin Wells Bonning (A97), along
with her University of Texas at
Austin colleague Greg Shields,
recently gained the attention of
Science News with a paper that
may contribute greatly to our
understanding of these giant
phenomena. Scientists believe
“�You have to go on
faith that there is
reason and meaning
to be found there,
and you struggle
with it. [Science] is
the same process.”
rick dahms
seeing stars
that when galaxies combine, their
two central black holes sink to the
center, orbiting each other until
they eventually merge. Computer
simulations, says Bonning, suggest
that these pairs “are giving off
gravitational radiation, ripples in
space-time propagating away from
the binary black hole. It’s something that’s predicted in Einstein’s
theory, and there are experiments
going on right now attempting to
detect this phenomenon.”
These simulations also imply
something perhaps more astounding: that the union of two black
holes can release energy so great
as to fling the new object entirely
out of its home galaxy, sending it
flying across the universe until it
settles elsewhere. The idea of such
a “runaway” black hole remains
unproven, however. Researchers
like Bonning and Shields have
combed through dozens of likely
candidates, and now believe they
have identified one. In 2012, a
team of Dutch astronomers led by
Remco van den Bosch discovered
an anomalous black hole at the
heart of a galaxy called NGC 1277,
250 million light-years from Earth.
This black hole is much larger than
the galaxy’s size would predict—a
staggering 17 billion solar masses.
Bonning and Shields’s explanation
is that it’s a nomad, having been
hurled quintillions of miles over billions of years to reach its position.
If true (and in theoretical astrophysics, it’s a long road to certainty), this would be the first definite
evidence supporting the “runaway”
theory. As such, it is exciting to the
scientific community—although
difficult for laypeople to wrap their
heads around. (Andrew Grant’s Science News article on Bonning and
Shields’s paper can be read online
at www.sciencenews.org/view/
generic/id/348554/description/
New_home_for_runaway_black_
hole.)
Astronomy was always an interest for Bonning, as “a little geek
girl [who] read all about black
holes and relativity and quantum
mechanics, and it was just the
coolest stuff I’d ever heard of.”
While she devoured “anything
and everything” in the space and
physics section of the library, her
supportive parents nurtured her
interest in science, giving her a
small telescope, a microscope,
and a chemistry set. “One of my
fondest childhood memories is of
the day when my dad and I played
hooky (me from second grade) to
go visit the Air and Space Museum
in D.C.,” she says. “For the longest
time, I thought it was the ‘Erin
Space Museum’ because obviously
it was built for me!”
Like other Johnnie astronomers,
Bonning cites Annapolis tutor Jim
Beall’s influence in her choice of
astronomy as a career: “He was
my freshman seminar tutor, and
we eventually ended up working
together at the Naval Research
Lab for a couple of summers
while I was an undergrad” in 1996
and 1997.
Beall calls Bonning “a young woman of enormous energy, focus, and
goodwill.” He is “especially fond” of
her postdoctoral discovery of the
concurrent radio and gamma ray
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29
�seeing stars
seeing stars
variability of an active galaxy—because he discovered the first such
concurrent variability years ago.
During her junior and senior
years at St. John’s, Bonning was
invited by USNA professor AnneMarie Novo-Gradac to work in her
optics lab. (Novo-Gradac is now a
program executive in astrophysics at NASA headquarters.) “She
allowed me to audit her class, gave
me homework sets. She was just
amazing,” Bonning says. “I learned
so much from her in the lab, about
science and also about the professional reality of being a scientist.”
In 2004, Bonning earned a PhD
in physics from the University of
Texas at Austin. She has since
held a Marie Curie Fellowship at
Observatoire de Paris à Meudon,
“�I was a little geek
girl [who] read all
about black holes
and relativity and
quantum mechanics, and it was just
the coolest stuff I’d
ever heard of.”
and was the Debra Fine Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University.
Currently she is a teaching fellow
in physical sciences at Quest
University Canada in Squamish,
British Columbia. Quest’s educational philosophy is “in some
respects very similar to St. John’s,”
Bonner says. “It’s very studentcentered, discussion-centered,
everyone around a big table.” (The
school’s chief academic officer is
former Santa Fe tutor Jim Cohn.)
As an educator, Bonning believes
her job is “not to place knowledge
into the mind of the student, but
to lead the student through the
process of learning.”
Bonning divides her time between
teaching and research, which for
her and other astronomers in
Hypatia’s Legacy
If Thales of Miletus was the first classical astronomer, Hypatia of Alexandria was the first woman
to gain wide renown in the field. Hypatia, who
flourished in Roman Egypt during the fourth
century C.E., was educated by her father, Theon,
and is said to have authored The Astronomical
Canon. She also studied and taught mathematics and Neoplatonist philosophy. Apparently she
was murdered by a Christian mob, caught up in
a conflict between the bishop and the prefect
of Alexandria. Although her work is lost, she is
immortalized not only in numerous historical
novels but in the heavens themselves; her name
has been given to an asteroid in the belt between
Mars and Jupiter, and to a crater on the moon.
In the modern era, it remains common to hear
concerns that women are under-represented in
the hard sciences. Whether this lack of diversity is the result of institutional discrimination,
cultural conditioning, or inherent gender differences is an ongoing and controversial discussion. Physics (of which astronomy is considered
a sub-discipline) is the most male-dominated
of the sciences—but many St. John’s-educated
women who have gone on to astronomy careers
feel comfortable in their field. Rachel Dudik
(A02), an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, and Erin Wells Bonning (A97), a teaching
fellow at Quest University in Canada, agree that
astronomy has changed drastically in the past 10
to 15 years in terms of gender balance, as a new
scientific generation advances.
academia involves more computermodeling and data-crunching than
direct observation of the heavens.
“The vast majority of time is not
spent at the telescope,” she says.
“You go and take your data, and
then bring your data back to your
home institution, where you use
it to answer whatever questions
you’re posing to the universe at
that time.”
The topics of Bonning’s questions
are nigh incomprehensible to
the outsider: “Multiwavelength
observations and theoretical
modeling of active galactic nuclei
and relativistic jets. Astrophysics
of strongly gravitating systems.
30 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Both are grateful for the example and guidance of older female scientists, like George
Mason University’s Shobita Satyapal (Dudik’s
post-graduate advisor) or NASA’s Anne-Marie
Novo-Gradac, who mentored Bonning in her
optics lab at the U.S. Naval Academy. “At the
observatory,” Dudik says, “I’m really outnumbered, but I don’t think that’s for lack
of effort. We have tried to hire a number of
women there, and most of them end up choosing not to come.” She thinks many prefer to go
into education.
Bonning, too, admits that “you can be the
only woman in a room, but we’ve really come a
long way. My advisor has experienced overt sexism—professors actually saying, ‘Women do not
belong in this class; you’re taking the space of a
man.’ I’ve never heard that, and most of my female colleagues have not.”
Gabrelle Saurage (EC04) studied physics as
an undergraduate at Southwest Texas State University, where she was the only woman in her
department, among both students and faculty
members. “There was always an awkwardness
about that,” she says, “but I was never harassed,
just looked over.” The university now has a female professor on staff, who contacted Saurage
years after her graduation, just to check up on
how her career was progressing. “I thought that
was great!” says Saurage. “Because there are
so few women, we all need to take care of each
other and encourage each other to keep doing
what we’re doing.”
— Anna Perleberg Andersen (sf02)
Electromagnetic signatures of
binary black hole mergers and
post-merger recoils. Sources of
gravitational radiation, binary
black holes, numerical relativity.”
In less technical terms, these
subjects of study seek to learn
about the origin, construction, and
continuing life of the universe.
Asked about which Program
readings have most influenced
her scientific career, Bonning
names not Ptolemy, Newton, or
Copernicus (although they certainly
helped), but Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. “Not because of any
questions it made me ask about
astronomy, but because it’s the sort
of training we’re given at St. John’s,”
she explains. “We’re given a book
and we’re asked to read it, and we
trust that it makes sense. You have
to go on faith that there is reason
and meaning to be found there,
and you struggle with it. [Science]
is the same process. We observe
the universe, and there seems
to be a system of physical laws
that describe what we see, that
are knowable through reason.” Although most of her scientific training took place outside St. John’s,
Bonner is grateful for an education
in “being fearless when presented
with something that doesn’t seem
to make sense at all.”
Donna Loraine Contractor (SF82) at her loom, and one of her tapestries, Involute Curve.
Weaving Theorems:
Donna Contractor (sf82)
Intertwines Art and Science
by Gregory Shook
Is it possible to express the
hundreds of ways to solve the
Pythagorean Theorem using
only cotton yarn and a loom?
For Donna Loraine Contractor (SF82), a mathematicianturned-weaver, this question
speaks to the heart of her work.
Sharing her love of quadratic
equations, elliptical curve
theory, irrational root rectangles, and the golden mean, last
year Contractor put out a call to
scientists and mathematicians
to collaborate in creating woven, visual models of intricate
and beautiful constructs; an
example of which is Apollonian Gasket, a piece from her
“Universal Language” series.
As a part of her “New Math
Plus” series, she may feature a
tapestry based on a Copernicus
theorem. Contractor has a gift
for illustrating complex ideas in
ways that are easy to understand. “I meet a lot of adults
who think, Math? I hate math!”
says Contractor. “And then they
look at the piece and start letting go of their mathophobia.”
Contractor did not go to art
school. In true Johnnie fashion, she learned to weave by
reading, observing, and engaging with other artists. Her selftaught approach coupled with
a passion for great minds such
as Apollonius of Perga, Helge
Von Koch, Gerog Cantor, and
Copernicus help her create
distinctive works of art. “I’m
good at finding books, reading
them, and pulling in all that
information,” says Contractor.
“Part of the reason I got into
working with mathematical designs was through the process
of self-teaching about color
and design theory. Throughout
the history of art, so much of
design and composition were
thought out in terms of mathematics. I’m showing those
actual concepts in my tapestries. With my designs, I pull
the mathematical idea—things
like where the horizon line and
focal point should be—to the
forefront and illustrate that.”
Contractor first came to New
Mexico in 1977 to attend St.
John’s. Arriving in Santa Fe by
Greyhound bus, the Midwest
transplant from Kenosha,
Wisconsin connected with
the Southwest spiritually and
intellectually. She has called
New Mexico home ever since.
Planting roots in Albuquerque,
Contractor works from home
inside a 350-square-foot studio
built from a converted garage
by her architect husband,
Devendra Contractor (SF79).
The setting is ideal. “He’s done
a wonderful job lighting it, with
lots of windows to let in sunlight
from all directions,” she says.
“�Throughout the
history of art, so
much of design
and composition
were thought out
in terms of mathematics.”
“I put crystals in the window,
which cast lovely rainbows.”
Having originally set out to
pursue interests in math and
science, she increasingly found
herself wanting to nourish her
artistic soul. Contractor discovered weaving by happenstance—a moment that would
forever change her life. “I
walked into my friend’s house,
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
31
�seeing stars
seeing stars
Back to the Future:
“�We had to basically
write our own operating systems. Now
it’s more a matter of
integration, what we
call ‘glueware,’ or
putting all of those
pieces together.”
Kevin Parker (a79) Helps
Humans “Talk” to Satellites
by Paula Novash
and there was a beautiful,
six-foot loom with these great
baskets full of colorful yarn.
That attracted me to weaving
right away,” she says. Given
her mathematical bent, it is no
wonder she was fascinated by
the loom, with all its intricate,
moving parts. “My primary
loom has a dobby mechanism,
pneumatic tensioning system,
and a worm gear,” says Contractor. “I love the parts!”
Contractor enjoys weaving tapestries that teach, tell
stories, and express ideas.
Though math and science are
perhaps the themes closest to
her heart, she looks to other
weaving traditions such as Old
French, Native American, and
Oaxacan as well as other artists’
work as sources for ideas. “I
have a series of tapestries called
‘The Fractured Square’, which
is about looking at artists who
I am excited and inspired by,
such as Gustav Klimt,” says
Contractor. “I like the idea of
the seemingly fractured nature
of life in this modern world.
You try to pull yourself together
and make a whole out of all the
pieces.” Creating tapestries
that celebrate theorems, precision and elegance of geometric
forms, formulas and the beauty
of color and balance, Contractor finds peace in the fine
details of weaving. “You have
to love the process and how the
loom works.”
In the 1985 science fiction film, Back to the Future, teenager
Marty McFly is accidentally transported back thirty years
using a time-traveling DeLorean automobile.
When scientist Emmett Brown
proposes returning him to his
own era with a plan that involves
harnessing electrical energy from
a bolt of lightning, Marty is skeptical. “Don’t worry,” Dr. Brown reassures him. “As long as you hit that
wire with the connecting hook at
precisely 88 miles per hour the
instant the lightning strikes the
tower, everything will be fine!”
Kevin Parker (A79) may not be a
professor of sci-fi lore, but he also
juggles precise, high-tech options
while trying to predict the future.
As a software engineer, he creates
satellite simulators at the NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is
currently working on the Joint
Polar Satellite System (JPSS),
developing the next generation of
polar-orbiting weather satellites.
NASA Goddard has several dozen
satellites in space, doing a variety
of jobs that include gathering
information about global climate
change. In addition to ensuring
a continuation of over 50 years
of weather satellite observations,
these new JPSS satellites will generate more accurate and timely
weather- and climate-related
data, ultimately saving lives and
property by allowing scientists to
monitor catastrophic phenomena
like tornadoes and hurricanes
more closely than ever before.
Parker is creating the Flight Vehicle Test Suite, a high-fidelity simulator that tests ground systems
32 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
for the JPSS project and trains the
engineers who run it. Once a satellite is launched, Parker explains,
it streams data to these engineers
in the control center. They make
sense of the data and respond,
he says, with “messages that the
satellite will understand.” Calling
himself a “fake rocket” scientist,
Parker makes replica systems—
literally “fake rockets”—that
allow scientists and engineers to
practice this process.
“�It is like composing
a response that
not only makes
grammatical sense,
but endeavors
to sound like [a
particular] person.”
Parker uses e-mail as a metaphor
to help laypeople understand the
different types of simulation tools.
A low-fidelity simulator, he says, is
like a program that can generate
“To” and “From” fields, a subject
line, and maybe some gibberish
for a message. A medium-fidelity
simulator could go a bit further
and respond to a message in
a routine way, by picking out a
phrase like “How are you?” and
answering “Fine.” But Parker’s sophisticated high-fidelity simulators
have the ability to respond to the
spacecraft itself. That, he says, is
like “having some sort of artificial
intelligence parsing an e-mail and
composing a response that not
only makes grammatical sense,
but endeavors to sound like [a
particular] person.”
Parker provides this example to
illustrate the simulators at work:
A satellite’s ground system sends
a command to fire a thruster
that will turn the spacecraft. A
low-fidelity simulator would track
the command. A medium-fidelity
simulator would realize that the
thruster is being fired and is
now hot. A high-fidelity simulator
would do all of these things plus,
says Parker, “register the force on
the spacecraft, gradually increase
the temperature readings from
around the thruster, reduce the
amount of fuel remaining, and
indicate to any device on the
spacecraft that looks outward that
it’s turning, and that whatever it’s
looking at now is different from
what it was looking at before.”
Parker describes the bricklayer
in the traditional story, who says
he’s not simply slapping together
masonry, but building a cathedral.
For instance, during Superstorm
Sandy, weather satellites helped
forecasters determine that the
hurricane, which was expected to
shift out to sea, was actually turning back toward the New York/
New Jersey coastline. “Without the
weather satellite input, they would
never have seen that,” he explains.
“So that’s the ‘great cathedral’
part of the work” that Parker’s
simulators make possible.
more a matter of integration,
what we call ‘glueware,’ or putting
all of those pieces together. You
can actually go out and buy the
software that is the core of a
spacecraft control center.” Parker
has also seen many technologies
developed by NASA scientists
filter down to the wider public.
For instance, charge-coupled devices (CCDs), instrumental to the
Hubble’s photographic processes,
now are widely used in digital
cameras and medical imaging.
“The Hubble,” he jokes, “is like
a digital camera the size of a bus.”
jen behrens
Donna Loraine Contractor,
Tunnel Vision
This integrated view is natural for
a Johnnie; a long tradition connects astronomy and the liberal
arts—Kepler united theories of astronomy, mathematics, music, and
theology in his Harmonices mundi,
for example and early Christians
recognized astronomy as one of
the seven liberal arts as far back
as the sixth century AD. Parker
thinks the connections between
disciplines could be strengthened
as society is increasingly shaped
by engineering and technology.
“Even at St. John’s, which has a
decent science program, it’s still
very much weighted towards liberal arts and literature and history,”
he says. “Both sides really need to
talk to each other a lot more.”
After graduating from St. John’s,
Parker spent several years in
Illinois while his wife Tina (A79)
was in graduate school; she has
an master’s in zoology. When they
returned to Maryland, he got a job
with a Goddard contractor. During
his 30-year tenure there, he has
completed two advanced degrees
(a computer science master’s
from Johns Hopkins University
and a Master of Astronomy from
James Cook University) while
contributing to a variety of highprofile projects that include the
infrared-optimized James Webb
Space Telescope. At NASA Goddard, visitors can peer through
huge glass windows to view a
dust- and contaminant-free “clean
room” where scientists and technicians clad in full-body white suits
are working on James Webb. The
telescope, scheduled to launch in
2018, will seek out some of the
youngest planetary systems and
oldest galaxies in the universe.
Parker’s contributions included
writing scripts to ensure that science instruments work together
within the Webb’s framework, so
that “all the pieces are talking to
each other,” he explains. Parker
has also developed simulators
and code for the Hubble Space
Telescope and the Fermi Gamma
Ray Space Telescope.
Over the years, Parker has
observed major shifts in his work
due to radical changes in technology. When he started, “We had to
basically write our own operating
systems,” he recalls. “Now it’s
Parker enjoys the creative challenges of his work—“It’s like
getting paid to solve puzzles,” he
says—but in his day-to-day routine
of writing and testing code, he
sometimes loses sight of how
much he’s contributing to the
advancement of science. A good
reminder, he says, comes from
visitors to NASA Goddard. “It’s
really appealing to show someone around, because I see the
enthusiasm. I remember [walking
past] a bunch of scientists, and
on their door it said ‘Origins of the
Universe Section.’ And I was like,
‘holy cow.’”
For more information on the JPSS
project and the James Webb and
Hubble Space telescopes, visit
www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
home/index.html.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
33
�Shadow
of War
by Henry Robert, Class of 1941
Some who attended or worked at St.
John’s in Annapolis may have wondered about certain discolorations
of the brick on the outer northeast
wall of Chase-Stone House (facing
King George Street). For a long time,
the stains were prominent. They
have faded through the decades, but
what’s left of them is clearly visible if
one looks closely. Their origin may
be of some interest.
Members of St. John’s College class of 1941
34 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Between the window frames of the first and second stories
(above the basement) is a horizontal line of lighter-colored
brick a few inches wide, running from front to back. The
building had a side porch until its
complete renovation in 1963, and the
line of lighter brick is where the porch
roof was attached to the building wall.
Below the porch roofline at a
level that would have confronted you
Henry Robert, class of 1941
directly if you stood on the porch,
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35
�When I went to bed, it must have been around
two a.m.; nothing seemed amiss. That morning
when we got up, lo and behold, staring passersby
in the face on the outside brick wall of Chase
House’s side porch, were two accurately drawn,
neatly painted swastikas.
We knew that in
all probability, we
were moving toward
war, even if much
of the country’s
population wouldn’t
face the fact.
opposite page: Members of
the Class of 1944, St. John’s
College 1944 Yearbook,
p.30. Photos courtesy of
The Greenfield Library
archives. Class of 1941 and
Henry Robert images:
SJC-P-1906; SJC-P-0214.
are two squares of similarly lighter-colored brick
approximately 30 inches on a side, centered
from front to back on the wall, maybe fifteen feet
apart. These discolorations arise from a very
different cause from the one along the porch
roofline, and they make a bit of a story.
The relevant incident happened one weekend
in the early spring of 1941. The student body
of the college, if I remember correctly, then
numbered about 125. It was my senior year as
a student in the first New Program class, the
only class that had students in both programs.
There were nine of us New Programmers and
my recollection is then in the Old Program.
A few words about the campus climate at that
time may be appropriate. That period may
have been looked upon as part of a “golden
age.” It was exciting, to be sure. Apart from the
many directions in which this was true at the
intellectual level, I believe we as students took
a certain devilish satisfaction in thinking of our
college as a place where “anything can happen
and usually does.”
Among the factors that contributed to this
atmosphere, the college had been through a
period of “civil war” between the Old (elective)
Program students on the one hand, and the
college administration on the other, supported
by the New Program students. For a couple
of years, there evidently was a feeling among
Old Program students that they were merely
tolerated. Through those two years, acts of
vandalism, particularly window breaking, were
a regular occurrence. These acts most often
happened in the wee hours of Sunday mornings,
doubtless done by students after drinking. This
conflict had subsided by the year 1940-41. The
ten or so Old Program students in my class were
the only ones left, and by then our small senior
group had become one happy brotherhood. Yet
much of the student body’s conditioning as to
what might be expected on Sunday mornings
persisted.
The other significant overriding element in
campus outlook was that we knew that in all
probability, we were moving toward war, even
36 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
if much of the country’s population wouldn’t
face the fact. England was deep in it. The
continent of Europe was blacked out, cut off
from civilization, overrun by Hitler’s Nazis
the preceding June. The Navy, in their outpost
across the street, well knew that we were already
at war in the Atlantic.
On the Saturday evening of the weekend of
our episode, there was a formal dance in Iglehart
Hall. I lived on the top floor of Stone House that
year. When I went to bed, it must have been
around two a.m.; nothing seemed amiss. That
morning when we got up, lo and behold, staring
passersby in the face on the outside brick wall of
Chase House’s side porch, were two accurately
drawn, neatly painted swastikas. These 30-inch
squares with arms two or three inches wide,
inscribed with green paint, were the emblem of
the enemy, the symbol of Hitler’s Nazis!
The Navy obviously didn’t think it was funny.
An “unconfirmed report” had it that Winkie
Barr’s telephone rang promptly at 9:00 a.m.
Monday. A voice demanded to speak to him, and
instantly barked, “This is the Superintendent’s
Office. Get those things off that wall NOW!” At
that time, it was easier said than done. Today
you could call a power-wash man who does paint
removal. He would come with his machine, fitted
with an attachment to feed certain chemicals
into the spray. Armed with this rig, he would—
for a fee of several hundred dollars—quickly wash
away all traces of paint.
Evidently, that technology did not exist or
was not readily available in 1941. A laborer
from the college’s Buildings and Grounds force
went to work with a pair of heavy-duty rubber
gloves, a bucket of acid, and a scrub brush, with
which he scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed.
Two days later, the swastika patterns were
gone, but in their place on the wall were two
thirty-inch squares of brick uniformly stained
a conspicuous yellowish-green. And there they
stayed! Apparently that was the best anybody
knew how to do, leaving the wall for the weather
to do what it would—very slowly—through the
years to come.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
37
�bibliofile
bibliofile
Gary Borjesson:
Dogs and the Art of Friendship
“Dogs have four
hundred times the
power of sense
that humans
have.”
With a nod to Aristotle,
Gary Borjesson, tutor at the
Annapolis campus, says that
friendship is an art. Like
all arts, it requires mindfulness and practice in order to
flourish. In his debut book,
Willing Dogs & Reluctant
Masters: On Friendship and
Dogs (Paul Dry Books, Inc.
2012), Borjesson uses our
relationships with dogs as
a way of examining themes
central to all friendships,
such as spiritedness and the
role of authority with those
we love and want to love us
in return. “I was already
interested in dogs, but as a
teacher and as a student of philosophy, I was
especially interested in friendships, particularly
in the moments when one friend has to tell
another friend something hard and when we
find ourselves judging or holding something
against another friend,” says Borjesson. “Those
moments are really difficult for human beings
to sort out.”
As the book’s title suggests, Borjesson is
interested in exploring inequalities in friendships, in which one person has some responsibility toward the other. He conducted his
research from both scientific and philosophical
points of view, refining what he learned by
working with his canine companions, Kestra, a
mixed-breed of German shepherd and Border
collie, and Aktis, a nine-year-old German
shepherd. The dogs helped to illustrate the
book’s themes and bring them to life. “We
often want to keep friendships unconditional,”
says Borjesson. “We don’t like the idea of judging our friends, and yet at the same time we are
always engaged in keeping score. The point
of practicing friendship is to get beyond the
inequalities, to develop trust through mutual
understanding.” Part of the path to achieving
this in our relations with dogs—or children or
students, for that matter—is by compassionately
using our authority to educate them. Borjesson
also points out that with his dog, Aktis, “the
best promise for reaching a kind of equality was
38 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
to figure out what sorts of activities he takes joy
in doing and bring him a sense of accomplishment.” Tracking turned out to be the perfect,
shared activity. Says Borjesson, “Dogs have four
hundred times the power of sense that humans
have, so I’m meeting Aktis where he can be
fully realized, which is part of the way Aristotle
defines happiness—activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.”
Borjesson argues that a friendship is a journey wherein both parties have a choice. “If dogs
are to be called friends, and not merely friendly
in the natural, familial sense, then they, too,
must be capable of choosing us as friends,”
says Borjesson. Training a dog, he says, builds
a dog’s capacity to choose and creates a world
that is more coherent and trustworthy. This
point relates to the role of spiritedness in
friendships. “Spiritedness is the drive in the
soul, both in the human and the canine soul, to
be sociable and put oneself out there, to fight
and love, to compete and cooperate.” Part of
what masters try to achieve through training
and education is to use authority to nurture the
cooperative nature of spiritedness.
Many dog owners may agree with Borjesson’s comparison of friendships with dogs and
parent-child relationships. In the classroom,
Borjesson sees a similar dynamic in his role as
tutor. “Like most teachers, I naturally want
my students to like me,” says Borjesson. “Yet
I can’t let this desire override my responsibility to compassionately use my authority when
doing so is in the student’s best interest. At St.
John’s, those occasions are relatively rare, as tutors and students feel more of a connection and
regard for our mutual interest. When classes are
at their best, the issue of authority disappears
because we’re all sharing responsibility for
making the conversation fruitful and enlightening.” Borjesson relates that experience to working with Aktis and Kestra. “There are moments
when you use your authority to encourage and
praise, others when you use it to discourage and
correct, but as the training proceeds, you and
the dog begin simply to enjoy cooperating on
behalf of common good.”
—Erin Fitzpatrick (A14) and Gregory Shook
Thomas Simpson:
A Vision of Science
Simpson
illustrates that
there is much to
be gained from
revisiting the
major works of
this familiar—
albeit unlikely—
trio of thinkers.
What do Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell,
and Karl Marx have in common? In his recent
publication, Newton, Maxwell, Marx: Spirit,
Freedom, and the Scientific Vision (Green Lion
Press, 2012), Thomas Simpson, Class of 1950
and tutor emeritus, proposes that these three
iconic figures share a vision of science that
lends itself to achieving intellectual, material,
and spiritual freedom. The book is a collection
of three of Simpson’s earlier essays (“Science
as Mystery: A Speculative Reading of Newton’s
Principia,” “Maxwell’s Treatise and the Restoration of the Cosmos,” and “Toward a Reading
of Capital”). These essays were first published
more than 20 years ago, under the editorial
direction of John Van Doren, in the Encyclopedia
Britannica’s annual series, The Great Ideas
Today, as supplements to the Great Books of the
Western World. Simpson expands beyond the
essays—reprinted in their original form—adding introductory and concluding essays. He
considers each separate work as an inquiry into
and also a response to the fundamental ideas of
science and nature of each of the three authors’
time—one’s concepts of which, says Simpson,
necessarily concern one’s beliefs about society
and freedom.
Simpson reads the three essays anew. Inspired
by fresh insights, he connects the material and
proposes a dialectical thread that begins in the
17th century and develops a vision of science that
remains challenging today. Simpson illustrates
that there is much to be gained from revisiting
the major works of this familiar—albeit unlikely—
trio of thinkers; their intense regard for the
human spirit is what unites them.
Beginning with Newton, Simpson writes: “We
once approached the Principia as the founding
work of modern physics; now we see it as the culminating work of serious alchemy—a mathematical biology of all natural functions, inclusive of
the very cause of life itself—and indeed, as Newton’s book of life. The unity of Newton’s thought
may astound us, as we ourselves try to piece
together in our own time a coherent picture of
the world; thus, the Principia holds a central
place in Newton’s theology, since the concept of
force restores scope for God’s active presence in
the world, a presence crucial to Newton’s faith,
for which mechanism had left no room.”
Simpson is passionate about the scientific
contributions of Maxwell. He has published
three books on the subject: Maxwell on the
Electromagnetic Field: A Guided Study (Rutgers
University Press, 1998), Figures of Thought: A
Literary Appreciation of Maxwell’s Treatise
on Electricity and Magnetism (Green Lion
Press, 2006), and Maxwell’s Mathematical
Rhetoric: Rethinking The Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (Green Lion Press, 2010).
Simpson writes, “Maxwell perhaps reflects the
larger course of human history when with equal
concern he carries this same human spirit to the
level of its democratic manifestation.”
Arguably, Simpson’s connection to Marx is
the most curious, as he examines the science
behind Marx’s vision of human society. “It
is almost as if we had read Capital until now
only as ideology, failing to confront the vastly
expanded concept of science which Marx is
proposing, in which society itself, its institutions and its practices, become objects of serious
scientific thought,” writes Simpson. According
to Simpson, Marx extends the scope of science,
and would have us reason as a community, intelligently and cooperatively, in matters belonging
to the social domain as we do in those of nature
and technology.
A dyed-in-the-wool Johnnie, Simpson reminds
us that a great work of science is a great work of
literature. He invites readers to explore Newton’s Principia, Maxwell’s Treatise on Electricity
and Magnetism, and Marx’s Capital with fresh
eyes and open minds, receptive to the possibility
of rethinking prior notions about these individuals whose revolutionary ideas have been reduced
and even distorted over time. When taken together and presented as an intertwined scientific
vision, these complex works underscore that
history is never left behind, but always remains
an integral part of the present.
—Gregory Shook
Thomas Simpson and illustrator Anne Farrell
(A69) recently released an e-book, Lewis
Carroll Meets the Imaginary Number,
available on iTunes. To learn more:
http://thomasksimpson.com.
The College ||st. john’s college ||summer 2013 |
The College st. john’s college spring
39
�bibliofile
Forgotten Tales of New Mexico
By Ellen Dornan (SF93)
The History Press, 2012
Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of New
Mexico’s statehood, Ellen Dornan’s (SF93)
Forgotten Tales of New Mexico takes readers
on a voyage through the state’s colorful past,
from the Apache Wars to Los Alamos. In the
collection of 40 quirky stories rife with complexities and controversies, Dornan carefully
balances oral history, genealogy, and scraps of
400-year-old documents to present alternate
The Paradoxical Rationality of
Søren Kierkegaard
By Richard McCombs
Indiana University Press (Indiana Series in the
Philosophy of Religion), 2013
In his new book, The Paradoxical Rationality
of Søren Kierkegaard, Santa Fe tutor Richard
McCombs presents Kierkegaard as an author
who used irrationalism as a deliberate strategy
to present rational arguments about reason and
faith, often via the use of pseudonymous writings. McCombs finds Kierkegaard’s pretense
“rational enough to be instructive and mistaken
Plato Statesman: Translation,
Introduction, Glossary, and Essay
Eva Brann (HA89), Peter Kalkavage, and Eric
Salem (A77)
Focus Philosophical Library, 2012
This valuable new translation of Plato’s Statesman by three St. John’s tutors does justice to
the distinctive character of the philosopher’s
style. Plato’s artistry exists in the nuances of
diction and register, metaphor and allusion
that leave the reader with much to think about
when the resources of the argument turn out to
be insufficient to answer all our questions. It is
particularly useful to have a translation of Plato
40 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
interpretations of individuals and events that
shaped the course of the state’s development.
From heroic outcasts and scheming governors
to women warriors and fierce revolutionaries,
she sheds light on stories unfamiliar even to
New Mexicans. For those who have ever wondered about the tiny plaque commemorating
Fray Geronimo de la Llana in Santa Fe’s
St. Francis Cathedral, or why New Mexico leads
the nation in midwifery care, Dornan’s tales
surprise and delight and give readers the inside
scoop on the rich heritage of the Land
of Enchantment.
enough to need correction.” Initially, McCombs
explores Kierkegaard’s conception of reason
and why Kierkegaard thought his irrational
rhetorical pose was necessary to communicate
its opposite. In subsequent chapters, he delves
more deeply into the paradox that Kierkegaard
creates through his use of indirect communication regarding the paradox. McCombs shows
evidence of Kierkegaard’s respect for reason
in several instances, such as his great admiration for Socrates, whom he could not respect
so highly if he did not respect reason, “For to
esteem Socrates but not to respect reason would
be like loving circles but detesting roundness.”
that acknowledges this supreme importance of
style by its exquisite attention to detail and its
unerring ear for what is both readable English
and faithful to the peculiar speech and thought
of the dialogue’s main speaker, the stranger
from Elea. The translators include thoughtfully chosen aids that prepare the novice for the
journey and help the serious student to delve
into Plato’s restless political and philosophical
imagination. —Greg Recco, tutor
“�Students have to revolutionize their
thinking twice, then, once to register
the appearances and imagine them
accounted for through Ptolemy—this
is an undoing of a former opinion;
and then, again, to take stock of the
revolution through Copernicus.”
— Pamela Kraus, Annapolis dean
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
41
�alumni notes
1934
Celebrating a Century
Mary J. Leslie writes, “My grandfather, James F. Leslie (Class
of 1934), turned 100 years old on March 30, 2013. From him, I
have heard many stories of his time spent at St. John’s, including missing his graduation ceremony, to the deep disappointment of his mother because he was ill (I think he told me he had
the measles). He was a Naval Officer during World War II and a
history teacher and guidance counselor at Towson High School in
Towson, Maryland. He lived many years in Stevensville, Maryland, and is presently fairly healthy and living well for a 100-yearold in Tappahannock, Virginia. He can be reached at P.O. Box
2025, Tappahannock, VA 22560.”
1942
At Homecoming last September,
Ernest Heinmuller, Class of 1942,
had planned to have his new book,
A Different Reading, available
for signings. It did not come from
the publisher on time. The book
is a series of Bible passages, each
followed by a poem that conveys a
different idea about the passage.
1951
Tony Hardy (A) announces the
publication of his new book, Symbol Philosophy and the Opening
into Consciousness and Creativity,
in which he explores the symbol
philosophy of Ernst Cassirer (not
on the St. John’s reading list!).
1961
Richard Freis (A) has released his
debut novel, Confession, an intense
and engrossing thriller of psychological suspense. It was published
by Sartoris Literary Group in May
2013 and will also be available in an
e-book edition. A Mississippi resident for almost 40 years, Freis is a
poet whose work has appeared in
Poetry, The Southern Review, Drastic Measures, and other magazines
and anthologies.
1963
Easing into retirement, Marcia E.
Herman (A) enjoys doing a blend of
scientific and garden writing. She
writes, “A second edition of my first
gardening book, Sipping My Garden, came out in the spring of 2013
and is available at www.seedpodpress.com. I have several more in
mind. I hope to make Homecoming
in Annapolis this fall.”
1966
Ian Harris (A) writes that a third
edition of his book, Peace Education (co-authored with Mary Lee
Morrison), is being published by
McFarland Press.
1971
George Elias (A) and his wife just
sent their youngest daughter off
to Vassar, while their 21-year-old
daughter announced she was
taking a year off after completing
her junior year at Columbia. Their
42 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
alumni notes
older sister graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley
several years ago. Alas, none of
them wanted to attend his alma
mater. More than five years ago,
George changed careers to become
a financial advisor (and trader)
at Merrill Lynch. He expects to
continue working in this field for
at least another 20 years, perhaps longer. He also finished the
manuscript for his second book,
New Genesis: A Creation Story for
Global Civilization. Championing
monotheism and evolution, it is
a sequel to his first book, Breakout Into Space (William Morrow,
1990). Visit his website at www.
newgenesis-creationstory.com. He
is looking for severe and articulate
critics to review his work.
1973
Susan Martin Dressel (SFGI)
writes, “If I survive my husband,
for whom I am now caregiver, I will
definitely come for some alumni
seminars in a year or two. It will
be nice to see new faculty and
students.”
Barbara Rogan (SF) has a new
novel titled A Dangerous Fiction,
coming out with Viking Penguin
in July 2013. She writes, “I think
that Johnnies, as people who appreciate the power of books, will
get a particular kick out of this
mystery set in the New York City
publishing world. I’m delighted
to announce that my last three
books, Suspicion, Hindsight, and
Rowing in Eden, have been reissued as e-books and paperbacks
by their original publisher, Simon
& Schuster, and two more backlist
titles will follow shortly. On a
personal note, we had the pleasure
of seeing our elder son marry this
year. He and his Israeli wife have
moved from Tel Aviv to New York,
and we couldn’t be happier about
that. Our younger son lives in D.C.
and works for the government. We
could tell you what he does, but
then we’d have to kill you.”
1974
During the last few years, Roberta
Faulhaber (SF) has been developing a new business in visual facilitation. She writes, “It’s a fascinating
field, first developed by David
Sibbet in the 1970s and inspired by
watching designers and architects
work and applying their visual
thinking-based approach to the
business environment. I’m based
in Paris and have been working 15hour days to introduce the French
to using visual facilitation in meetings, especially in collaborative
and creative sessions such as world
cafés, open-space meetings, and
innovation development. During
the process, I find myself calling
on skills I developed at St. John’s,
such as active listening, the ability
to wade through verbiage to the
salient points in record time, and a
complete faith in people’s ability to
solve their issues through dialogue,
if one can call that a skill. As a
side benefit, I’m finding the work
incredibly stimulating for my personal idiom as an artist, and have
taken to creating pieces using the
Surrealist technique of automatic
writing/drawing by doing both at
once while listening to Collège de
France lectures in metaphysics. I
suppose that’s a start!”
1976
Alice Joy Brown (A) writes, “I
spend a great deal of time when
I’m on the Internet learning Torah.
Great sites for learning are www.
chabad.org, www.aish.com, www.
torahanytime.com (try Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein, among others);
and www.torahlectures.com (try
physician and rabbi, Rabbi Akiva
Tatz, among others). I’d welcome
hearing from anyone who wants to
recommend other speakers, spe-
cific articles, videos or audios, and
other Torah sites. You can contact
me at ajbluv@yahoo.com.”
Christian Burks (SF) and Janet
Moody (SF) had their first grandchild, became dual citizens (Canada
and U.S.A.), and relocated to Seattle. Janet is working in recruiting
on the creative-design front, and
Christian is working in biotech.
Their daughters are in Portland
and the Bay Area. Christian and
Janet write, “Look for us on any
map of seismic, volcanic, or career
hotspots/risk in North America.”
Miriam Marcus-Smith (SF)
writes, “I’ve worked in the fields
of health-care quality improvement and patient safety for about
15 years in the Seattle area, and for
several years have split my work
life between the Foundation for
Health Care Quality, where I’m the
program director of the Washington Patient Safety Coalition, and
the University of Washington,
where I’m a research manager in
the Department of Health Services.
It’s a mix that works well for me. My
boys are growing up: Nathan (25) is
in grad school at UMass Amherst,
working on his masters in biomechanics; Aaron (23) lives in Seattle
and is nearly done with an associate
degree; his plan is to become a
history teacher. When not working,
I play a lot of chamber music, sail
whenever I can find a boat that will
take me, hike, cross-country ski,
read, and weave. I may be the only
person in Seattle who does not
have a computer at home by choice.
(I don’t have a TV or microwave
either, but it’s the lack of computer
that people seem to find odd.)”
1977
Paul Kneisl (A) writes, “Recently
at work I soldered the (top secret)
CPU on the motherboard of
the computer that controls the
look-down-shoot-down-target-
1983
An App for That
Peter McClard (SF)
writes, “I’ve just released a new iPad app
called Biographer, which
helps people organize
the events of their lives
into chapters and then
within those chapters to
sort out the memories,
anecdotes, pictures,
etc. The final result is a
nicely formatted e-book
that can be shared or
not, with no knowledge
of design or layout
required. Love to all my
fellow Johnnies! Send
me your stories.”
acquisition device of the hit-to-kill
kinetic warhead of the SDI Missile
Interceptor, for a program sometimes known as Star Wars.”
Carla Schick (A) won first place in
the 2012 Barbara Mandigo Kelly
Peace Poetry Contest for her poem,
“Their Grandmother’s Palm,”
which is in the style of a Pantoum,
although modified. During most of
her time, she is teaching mathematics at a high school in Hayward, California. She is currently teaching
the AP calculus class. Her St. John’s
background prepared her well to
teach this course that focuses on
critical thinking and problem solving rather than rote memorization.
1979
Lisa Simeone (A) reports that since
being blacklisted by NPR in 2011 for
her involvement with the Occupy
movement, she’s as politically
active as ever. She still hosts two
nationally syndicated public radio
programs, World of Opera and
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Broadcast Series, and she continues
to write for Baltimore’s Style Magazine, where she’s the beauty editor.
She keeps in close touch with Bruce
Babij (A) and his family, who live
only half a mile away.
Rosenberg, have issued The Bretton
Woods Transcripts as an e-book
from the Center for Financial
Stability in New York. A hardcover
version will appear in the spring.
Schuler’s discovery of the transcripts was the subject of stories
in the New York Times and foreign
newspapers. The book is available
at www.centerforfinancialstability.
org/brettonwoods.php. Read the
New York Times story here:
www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/
business/transcript-of-1944-bretton-woods-meeting-found-at-treasury.html?_r=1&.
1983
Ann Walton Sieber (A) and
Coldwell “Khyber” Daniel IV
(A84) married each other twice, in
Quaker meetinghouses in Houston
(July 2011) and Memphis (May
2012). Both are independent writers, and they are living a two-city
life. In addition, Khy continues his
theater work, and Ann cooks for
meditation retreats. After a 25-year
separation, they rediscovered each
other on Facebook in 2008. They
are pretty tickled about this whole
turn of events, and welcome contact and tidings from other Johnnie
friends.
1987
1981
While browsing in the library of
the U.S. Treasury Department
where he works, Kurt Schuler (A)
found the transcripts of the Bretton
Woods financial conference. The
conference, held in Bretton Woods,
New Hampshire, in 1944, established the International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank, and the
world exchange-rate system that
lasted until the early 1970s. The
transcripts, never intended for publication, show previously unknown
details of how it all happened.
Schuler and his co-editor, Andrew
Scott Cuthbert (SF) is pleased
to announce the publication of
two new chiropractic textbooks:
Applied Kinesiology Essentials:
The Missing Link in Health
Care, and Applied Kinesiology:
Clinical Techniques for Lower
Body Dysfunctions, which bring
the outcomes and basic-science
research underlying applied kinesiology chiropractic technique up
to date. Another textbook, Applied
Kinesiology: Clinical Techniques for
Upper Body Dysfunctions, is under
development.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
43
�alumni notes
alumni notes
1989
1986
Bullies Beware!
Kristen Caven’s (SF) new book, The Bullying Antidote: Superpower Your Kids for Life (Hazelden, 2013), will hit the shelves in
July. Caven, who co-wrote the book with her psychologist mother,
Dr. Louise Hart, says that it provides a “unified field theory” of
bullying. Aiming to help parents teach their children to develop
the communication skills, self-respect, and self-esteem needed
to be confident and resilient when facing a bully, Caven writes,
“The book also includes a pretty thorough presentation of the
best current thought on positive parenting.” In addition, she just
released a new e-book, The Souls of Her Feet, a postmodern,
magical-realism version of Cinderella, and is currently writing a
blog column, “Life in the Fast Brain,” for ADDitude magazine. Her
books can be ordered through the St. John’s bookstores. Visit
www.kristencaven.com for more information.
1988
Tobias Maxwell’s (A) book, Homogium, was published in January.
Jimmy McConnell (SF) is now a
published author. He can be found
on Amazon under Curtis James
McConnell. His other work appears
in a free podcast at drabblecast.org
and two anthologies from thirdflatiron.com. He welcomes contact
from Johnnies at cjmfanbase5@
ymail.com.
Kim Paffenroth (A) edited three
essay collections in 2012: Augustine
and Psychology (Lexington Books,
2012); Augustine and Science
(Lexington Books, 2012), which
includes a back-cover endorsement
by Mr. Kalkavage; and The Undead
and Theology (Pickwick Publications, 2012). The latter was recently
announced as a finalist for the Bram
Stoker Award, which was given
on June 15 at a ceremony in New
Orleans.
44 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Burke Gurney (SFGI) was recently
promoted to full professor with
tenure at the University of New
Mexico School of Medicine Physical
Therapy Program, where he is an
active researcher, teacher, and
clinician. In addition, he directs a
yearly trip to Guatemala, where his
students study Spanish and do volunteer work in physical therapy at a
hospital/orphanage in Antigua. He
is married with two children, both
of whom chose small liberal arts
schools (but alas, not St. John’s).
His older daughter just graduated
from Colorado College with a degree in comparative literature and
is studying in Colombia on a Fulbright scholarship, and his younger
daughter is finishing her degree at
Carleton in economics.
Sarita Cargas (A) has just changed
jobs and will be teaching human
rights at the University of New
Mexico in Albuquerque. She is excited to be near a St. John’s campus
and looks forward to catching up
with her dear alma mater.
1990
Kilian Garvey (SF) writes, “My
wife and I welcomed our second
daughter into the world. Margaret
MacEachern Garvey was born on
June 8, 2011. I also just recently
joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Louisiana,
where I teach social cognition and
evolutionary psychology, among
other things, and conduct research
primarily at the intersection of affect, (ir)rationality, and motivated
cognition.”
David Long (A) lives in Baltimore
with his wife, Dr. Liz Selvin, an
associate professor of epidemiology
at Johns Hopkins, and his two boys,
Benjamin (5) and Eli (2). He writes,
“My work is divided between my
management consulting firm that
specializes in pre-K-12 and higher
education, and my film production
company. That and writing puppet
shows for my boys.”
Jon Ying (A) earned a PhD from
Cornell University’s School of
Industrial and Labor Relations. His
dissertation was entitled
“Essays on Translational Bioscience
Entrepreneurship: Evidence from
America, China, and Taiwan.” Currently he is an assistant professor of
global business and society at the
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,
where he teaches courses on global
corporate social responsibility and
on China.
1993
Rachel E. Blistein (A) has been
meaning to share the news of the
launch of her natural hair-care
company for some time. She writes,
“I went from a graduate degree
and career in landscape design to
formulating, manufacturing, and
selling my own hair-care products.
Everyone always asks me if I have a
degree in chemistry (I do not), but
I do feel that my education at St.
John’s gave me the tools I needed
to educate myself, and the belief
that I can do anything! As far as an
update on the personal front, I am
living in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with
my husband of eight years, Paul
Alexander, who is a senior research
engineer at General Motors, our
two active dogs, and one surly cat.
Life is good!”
James Craig (AGI) has published a
book of his photography, The Moon
has been Eaten—Images from a Year
on Easter Island, in the form of a
signed, limited edition (500) hardbound volume. The book features
98 tritone images, with anecdotes
and extras. More information is
available on his website, www.
jamescraigphotography.com.
1994
1997
William Kowalski (SF) and Alexandra will celebrate 11 years of marriage this March. They have been
living in Nova Scotia for 10 years
now. He writes, “Our girls are aged
7 and 9: beautiful, healthy, smart,
bilingual in French and English.
Alexandra is over a decade deep
into a rich, tantric yoga practice; I
write and teach adults how to read,
find jobs, and use computers. Life is
quiet and good. My fifth novel, The
Hundred Hearts, will be published
by Thomas Allen Publishers in
April of 2013. Please visit my website (www.williamkowalski.com) for
more details, or just to say hello.”
Heidi (Jacot) Hewett (A) writes,
“I’m temporarily taking a break
from my career in data analysis to
be a stay-at-home mom. My daughter, Ariadne (good classical Greek
name!), is almost a year and a half
now, very bright, very curious, very
into everything. We live in Woodstock, Illinois, with my husband,
Bob, a sculptor, teacher, and the
art department chair at a local high
school. I’ve recently started a classics reading blog based on Clifton
Fadiman’s ‘Lifetime Reading Plan’
at http://hjhreader.blogspot.com.”
1995
Janet Sunderland (SFGI) has a new
book of poetry, At the Boundary,
published by Finishing Line Press
and available through the press
and on Amazon. Some of the work
is thanks to studies at St. John’s.
“If I hadn’t read the Iliad again,”
she writes, “I’d never have found a
line like “bronzed green-gold like
Hephaestus forging eternity.’”
1996
Heather Pool (SF) writes, “I
graduated from the University
of Washington with my PhD in
political science in December 2011,
and, after a year and a half on the
academic job market, landed a
tenure-track job at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, starting
in August 2012. Denison, like St.
John’s, is a small liberal arts school
(enrollment is a whopping 2,200),
and I’m thrilled to be on faculty
there. If folks are passing through
Columbus and want to get in touch,
give me a shout at heatherpool@
gmail.com.”
Jill Nienhiser (SFGI) started a blog
last summer to promote sustainable agriculture and food freedom.
Read it at farmfoodblog.com. She
continues to work as a consultant
for Mind & Media in Alexandria,
Virginia, and as the webmaster for
the Weston A. Price Foundation
(westonaprice.org and realmilk.
com). In addition, she is developing
new shows for children as a member
of Kaleidoscope Theatre Company
(ktheatre.org).
1998
Philip Armour (EC) married
Amanda Dumenigo (EC), whom
he actually met in the Eastern
Classics program and eventually married in 2006. He writes,
“We have two boys (7 years and 9
months) and have much to thank
St. John’s for—and Santa Fe and
New Mexico, in general. We still
have many dear friends in the area,
and my graduate degree helped me
kick-start my journalism career at
Outside magazine, where I worked
from 1998-2004. Amanda now does
therapy work using horses (mainly
to help children), and we live on a
five-acre farm/ranch in north Boulder County, Colorado. We thought
a lot about St. John’s recently, with
Baltimore’s run to the 2013 NFL
championship; our elder son is
named Raven, which amused us all.
Max Fink (SF) returned to the
States after living for eight years in
South America. He is raising boisterous 3-year-old Anastasia with
“Porteña” wife Gabriela. He works
in Internet marketing in the finance
industry and resides in Las Vegas,
Nevada. He is happy to meet any
Johnnie who comes through town!
Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt (A)
(nee Shuman) and her husband,
Matt, gave birth to Juniper Evening
Sarahs-Borchelt on December 9,
2012. Juniper joins older siblings
Wolfy (8), Robin (6), and Daysi (3).
The family is now living full-time in
Philadelphia, home/unschooling
away, and hoping to sell their house
in Maryland as soon as it’s worth
more than its mortgage.
2000
Doug Howard (SFGI) is one of 10
attorneys who have been named to
the partnership at Duane Morris
law firm, where he is a member
of the firm’s Corporate Practice
Group in Baltimore.
Zach Warzel (SF) and Erika
(Carlson) Warzel (SF) welcomed
the birth of their second child, Rye
Samson Warzel, on November 21,
2012. Rye, Corrina, and parents are
happy and healthy. Erika also took
a new position as the National and
State Register Historian for History
Colorado, the State’s historical and
preservation arm.
Abby Weinberg (SF) has been
working for nine years at the Open
Space Institute directing conservation research. She is currently
doing a deep dive into climate
adaptation, water quality, and
sustainable forestry. Her 3-year-old
son and learning about physics and
meditation are providing great joy
outside of work.
2001
Raife Neuman (SF) graduated from
Lewis and Clark Law School in
2008 with a certificate in environmental and natural resource law.
Two years ago, he founded Intelekia
Law Group (named after his favorite Greek word!) with two other
partners, in Portland, Oregon.
Intelekia focuses on forming and
advising sustainable businesses and
working with entrepreneurs of all
types. Raife also works extensively
with homeowners facing foreclosure. If Johnnies are in the Northwest, he’d love to hear from you at
raife@intelekia-law.com.
2002
Dillon and Justin Naylor (A) write,
“Thomas John was born on August
30, 2012, weighing 8 pounds, 15
ounces. He joins brothers Peter
(5) and James (3). We’re still dorm
parents at Wyoming Seminary, a
college prep school in northeast
Pennsylvania, where Justin teaches
Latin. Our labor of love is Old Tioga
Farm, our four-acre property where
we raise vegetables and run a farmto-table restaurant on weekends.
Staying busy, as always!”
2003
Cassie Sherman (A) and Martin
Marks (A04) married on April 19
in a small ceremony at the Cloisters
in Baltimore. Many thanks to
Aidan O’Flynn (A05) for his design
of invitations and all graphics for
the wedding website, which can be
chuckled at here: mermansharks.
com. Neil Swanson-Chrisman
(A02) officiated, and various Johnnies were in the party, including
Sarah Peters (A02), Katherine Nehring (A), Tori Tyrrell (A), and Remi
Treuer (A00). They write, “We are
very happy that St. John’s gave us
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
45
�alumni notes
In Eloquent Fashion
FASHION WATCH
Mimi Nguyen’s fashion sense was inspired
by a few SJC tutors. Some of the tutors
are fondly remembered for their sartorial
panache—described by the Johnnies who
admired them:
by Chelsea Batten (A07)
With insight, humor and disarming intensity, Mimi Nguyen
(A09) sports the personae of fashionista and bookworm
Like much of literary fiction, Mimi
casey danielson
“� may not entirely enjoy
I
Mies van der Rohe’s
architecture, but I do
subscribe to his
philosophy of less is
more when it comes to
clothes.”
Nguyen (A09)—fashionista, bookworm,
first-generation Vietnamese American
—does not fit neatly into a category. No
matter where you encounter her—in the
main branch of the Washington, D.C.
public library, where she works as an
associate in the Popular Services division, or on her edgy fashion blog—you’re
seeing only one side of a multifaceted
person who has spent as much time
examining her lens on life as looking
through it.
Read her blog, “Mimi+Pravi,” to find
references to Mimi’s favorite literature.
Canonical Russian novels keep company
with pulpy urban fiction: “I learned
English largely because of the Sweet
Valley High series, so just ’cause I’ve
read, like, Kant in college (re: read, not
understood), who am I to get all high
and mighty about tastes?” she writes.
46 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
“People who read totally rule. High five,
lovely, literate humans.”
Mimi observes that “the way people
present themselves through dress is
literally a snapshot of history.” Her own
history can be graphed through the
evolution of her personal style. Growing
up as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants made it hard to fit into her high
school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Fashionable clothes helped her to blend in with
her peers. But her deep respect for her
mother kept Mimi from becoming one of
the crowd. Mimi describes her mother as
“really intense, but down-to-earth, kind
of a feminist.” As an original hipster, she
bought her clothes at thrift stores before
it was cool. “Back then, I was really
ashamed,” Mimi says, “because as Nabokov says in Lolita, there’s nothing more
conservative than a child.” Eventually
“the way she carried herself, the way she
dressed really influenced me. She was
always interested in the unique.”
Mimi’s own sense of style was established by the time I met her on the third
floor of Pinkney Hall, when she was a junior and I was a senior. With her striking
appearance counterbalanced by demure
poise, Mimi seemed like Billy Wilder’s
Princess Anne reimagined by Wong Kar
Wai. One day, she knocked at my door,
holding an armful of clothes. She’d been
cleaning out her closet, she said, and
thought I might be interested in some
of her clothes. I caught my breath at the
sight of what must have been the eidos
of trench coat. It was the perfect color
(camel beige), the perfect weight (assertive but flexible), and boasted ideal
proportions between its length and the
spread of the lapels. It was the kind of
garment that advertises nothing but the
wearer’s discerning taste.
Last year, I was elated to learn that
Mimi was launching a fashion blog.
“Mimi+Pravi,” a bicoastal collaboration with her friend Pravisti, is nothing like the what-to-wear guides that
glut the genre. Like Mimi herself, the
blog recombines facets from several
categories to create something novel.
It’s free of label-worship; if a designer
is mentioned, it’s likely to be someone
from another field. “I may not entirely
enjoy Mies van der Rohe’s architecture,
but I do subscribe to his philosophy of
less is more when it comes to clothes,”
she writes. “This dress is very minimal,
structured, and, to me, lovely. Paired
with maroon red heels for a bit of pop,
and a little belt, and this entire outfit
took me from work to after-hours play
with no fuss.”
She includes affectionate tributes to
her upbringing: “Built-in accessories are
an excellent economical choice for those
who want to look fairly fancypants nice
without spending over $7 on any given
clothing item. Hey, I’m a proud product
of immigrant parents, OK? Cut me some
slack.”
And yes, even homages to Program
authors: Feeling “good in this color,”
she says, “is the sartorial equivalent of
Baudelaire’s ‘Enivrez-vous’; on wine, on
poetry, on virtue.”
As a fashion blog must, “Mimi+Pravi”
features headlines both silly and snarky,
such as “The Return of Flower Power”
and “Space, the Final Frontier.” Plenty
of photographs appear, with sources for
each clothing ensemble. Would-be imitators beware: Nearly everything shown on
Mimi’s blog was thrifted or gifted—part
of Mimi’s style ethic. “I don’t believe in
spending a lot of money on clothes,” she
writes. “I really want to stress that. You
can find beautiful, well-made clothes in
thrift stores.” This statement reveals the
blog’s subtle ethnographic slant.
Mimi says she’s “obsessed with
identity as a narrative expressed through
clothes.” As “a first-generation Vietnamese woman who grew up in Arkansas,”
she explains, “sometimes I feel like I
don’t have cultural legitimacy in either
country. Sometimes I don’t know who I
am, beyond my experiences and personal
preferences. Perhaps these experiences
and preferences are precisely what build
identity. I am always concerned about
what sort of narrative I’m projecting
when I pull on a certain sweater, wear a
certain hat, throw on a certain scarf, because, at the age of 26, I haven’t decided
yet what sort of human I am. But clothes
are pretty expressive.”
When Mimi began working in the
library after graduation, her first foray
into the blogosphere, “POP! Street
Fashion,” featured photographs and interviews with library patrons about their
varied, distinctive styles: WASPs dressed
in J. Crew read Tobias Wolff, punkers in
torn jeans and imitation leather checked
out comic books. Like Mimi herself,
most of her profile subjects defied
categorization. Yet the details of dress
offer glimpses into intriguing stories. In
a Raymond Chandler-like spirit, Mimi
charges each scene with visual details,
and leaves you to imagine the rest.
These days Mimi prefers to wear
clothes with “clean, classic lines. I like
red a lot. I like to wear things that fit
me, that are unusual, that punctuate
subtly, that evoke a mood.” Although she
hasn’t yet defined her personal style, her
blog requires her to carefully assemble
interesting outfits that “maintain a sense
of self.”
Mimi often finds books to be better
companions than people. Her life has
more in common with the originality and
unpredictability of a great novel than
with the average Washington twentysomething. She shares that experience
in much the same spirit as she gave me
the trench coat. Feeling as though some
ineffable wisdom had been passed on to
me, I wore the hell out of that coat during life after graduation.
Ms. Kraus always reminded me of Jacqueline
Kennedy with her classic sweater-skirt-andpearls combination.
Mr. Zuckerman had a set of linen suits, and
could rock a corduroy sport coat better than
any man in history.
Ms. Heines’s perfectly styled hair and coordinated jewelry set off her striking eyes. Not
sure if that was a coincidence or a calculated
move.
Mr. Maistrellis was like a pre-hipster prep
poster boy.
Ms. Kronsberg’s pencil skirts, paired with tall
leather boots, made it look as though she
was carrying a riding crop. (It was actually
Cady’s leash.)
Mr. Sageng had a dapper-looking white
mustache and long white hair, and often
wore bow ties or loud ties with clashing
button-down shirts. But with his horn-rimmed
glasses and smile, the effect was charming.
Mr. Badger’s wardrobe appeared to have
been lifted from the set of The Matrix—
trench coat and all—and the gorgeously
greasy hair of a ’90s grunge rocker.
Mr. Milner always wore bow ties with exceptional conviction.
Mr. Page’s tweeds and perfectly laundered
shirts, all in a color spectrum evocative of
the Scottish moors.
Mr. Beall gave a Sean Connery vibe, especially when crossing the field from the
observatory in his leather jacket and aviator
glasses.
Mr. Bell talking with Mr. Simpson—“one glorious shock of white hair nodding to another.”
Brother Robert seemed to possess exactly
two suits, two hats, and two different pairs
of Birkenstocks. He always looked exactly
like Brother Robert, and more than this we
cannot ask.
FASHION STANDOUTS
Ms. Seeger’s chunky folk-art necklaces
Mimi Nguyen’s personal fashion blog is at
mimipravi.com. Find “POP! Street Fashion”
at dclibrary.org.
Mr. Aigla’s magnificent black beard
Mr. Lenkowski’s safari vest
Ms. Delgado De Torres’s urban black chic
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
47
�alumni notes
alumni notes
2005
1997
2004
Award for Exceptional Service
Emma Elliot (A) was married to Lucas Grassi Freire on December 22,
2012 in College Park, Maryland.
A large number of Lucas’s family
in Brazil was able to travel to the
wedding. After their marriage, the
two moved to Exeter in the United
Kingdom, where Lucas works at the
University of Exeter.
Juan G. Villaseñor (A), Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the District of Columbia, received the U.S. Department of
Justice’s Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service
for Securing the Extradition of Five Terrorists from the United Kingdom. He writes, “This award was presented to a group of 11 individuals responsible for securing the extradition from the United Kingdom of
five terrorists who now face charges in the United States in connection with, among other things, the 1998 East African Embassy bombings and the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998. The ceremony
was held on December 10, 2012, in the Great Hall of the Robert F.
Kennedy Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.”
Pictured from left to right: Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole,
William Nardini, Stephen B. Reynolds, Juan G. Villaseñor, Susan Prose,
Chris Synsvoll, Lystra Blake, Berit Fitzsimmons, Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz, and Assistant
Attorney General Lanny A. Bruer.
so many wonderful friends to stand
by us—not to mention each other.
The date was planned so that the
celebration could continue the next
day at Croquet in Annapolis. We
recently bought a house in the improbable and charming Dickeyville
neighborhood in Baltimore; are
reading about the care and feeding
of its slate roof and how to vanquish
English ivy in our absolutely nonexistent spare time.”
Michael Tereby (A) is moving to
Arizona from China. Michael and
his wife, Yan Ma Tereby, celebrated
their first anniversary at the Grand
Canyon after their marriage in the
Great Hall on August 13, 2011.
48 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Annette Prapasiri (SF), after four
children (Sam turned 8 in March,
Rose and Claire turned 5 in February, and Fin will be 3 this August),
is venturing back into the world of
design. She writes, “Keep an eye
out for my interpretation of the
Johnnie Chair in the 2013-2014
Calendar due to be released this
summer. Reserve your copy of this
limited-edition print at aprapasiri@gmail.com.”
Justine Schneider (SF) and her
husband, Jason, have welcomed
their first child into the world.
Gabriel John Schneider was born
on November 14 at 12:06 p.m.,
happy and healthy. They write, “He
was born at our home in southern
Utah (yes, we planned to have him
there).”
Amy E. Taylor (A) finished her
clinical psychology PhD in 2012 at
Duquesne University, in a psychology program that finds its roots in
philosophy and is a good fit with the
St. John’s Program. She writes, “At
that point, I began a postdoctoral
fellowship at the Austen Riggs
Center, a top-ranked psychiatric
hospital using psychodynamic and
systems approaches to treatment.
At Austen Riggs, my primary task
is to engage in intensive fourtimes-weekly psychotherapy with
individual patients. The hospital
offers research internships for
undergraduate students, which may
be of interest to current St. John’s
students or recent grads.”
2006
Allison (Ali) Bastian (AGI) is
graduating from the University of
North Dakota School of Medicine
and Health Science this May. She
is looking forward to residency in
family medicine somewhere in the
Rocky Mountains.
Aran Donovan (SF) received his
masters in Italian from Middlebury
Language School in May 2012. He
is now finishing his MFA in poetry
and translation from the University
of Arkansas.
Christopher Stuart (A) and April
Sharp (A07) welcomed Kallan
Stuart (A35?) into their lives this
past October. They write, “He is
beautiful, fine, noble, and good.”
Emily Terrell (A) (formerly Nisch) is
having a baby due in August!
Hollis Thoms (AGI) has been
invited to submit 11 of his major
musical scores, which include
operas, oratorios, and three
symphonies, for a special collection at the Maryland State Archives
in Annapolis. Thoms has written
more than 125 works for a variety of
ensembles. His Symphony 2 will be
premiered in January 2014 by the
Londontowne Symphony Orchestra
under the direction of Dr. Anna
Binneweg. Visit www.hollisthoms.
com for more information.
2007
Chelsea Batten (A) is a writer and
itinerant journalist. She profiled
Mimi Nguyen (A09) for this issue
of the magazine. You can read more
of her work at www.chelseabatten.
com.
Christopher Benson (SFGI) now
teaches literature at The Cambridge School of Dallas, a classical
Christian school. He continues
to write for Christianity Today,
Books & Culture, and The Weekly
Standard.
Anna Fenton (SFGI) is one of the
founders of a new venture, Sustainable Learning Inc., a nonprofit
incorporated in the state of New
York for the purpose of facilitating
experiential and theoretical learning on the subject of environmental
sustainability. She writes, “Under
the name Sustainable Summer, we
operate summer educational travel
programs for teen student groups
with a curricular focus on sustainability issues, while also providing
an enriching, safe, and exciting
travel experience. My business
partner and I have combined our
expertise in teen travel programs
and environmental education
with the resources and experience
of like-minded organizations in
developing communities that possess dynamic opportunities for the
experiential teaching of sustainability.”
Blair Thompson (A) traveled to
Hong Kong, where she taught for
three months. She writes, “After
my return, I applied to law schools,
and received a full scholarship
to attend law school at Drexel
University. I graduated and passed
the Maryland bar exam in 2011. I
served as law clerk for the Honorable Robert B. Kershaw on the
Circuit Court of Maryland for one
year, and am now an attorney at
the Maryland Office of the Public
Defender in Baltimore City, where I
represent indigent persons charged
with crimes who cannot afford to
hire private attorneys. I wanted
to go to law school so that I could
become a public defender, and I
am living the dream, fighting the
good fight, and always contemplating what justice means. I encourage anyone interested in public
criminal defense to contact me at
bthompson2@opd.state.md.us.”
2008
Ashley Cardiff’s (A) new book of
humorous essays, Night Terrors:
Sex, Dating, Puberty, and Other
Alarming Things (Gotham Books,
2013), will be published in July.
Reid Pierce (EC) writes, “After
St. John’s, I received my JD from
the University of New Mexico. I am
about to start a cool job as manager
of legal affairs for a tech startup in
Kathmandu.”
2009
Sara Luell (A) was recently promoted to the position of Public Affairs
Officer I for the State of Maryland
at the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, where she has
served as Public Affairs Specialist
since August 2009.
João Santa-Rita (A) graduated in
2012 with a JD from the University of Chicago Law School. He is
currently working at a private firm
in Washington, D.C. Students or
alumni considering law school may
contact him at santarita.joao@
gmail.com.
Pauline Stacchini (A) became
the new reference and instruction
librarian for the Bellevue University
Library in Omaha, Nebraska, after
graduating from the University of
Iowa with a masters in library and
information science in 2011.
2010
Kirstie Dodd (A) just received notification that she has been accepted
as a Fulbright Scholar, and will be
teaching English in Luxembourg
starting September 2013-June
2014.
Aldona Dye (SF) is currently working on her masters in musicology
at Brandeis University, from where
she expects to graduate in 2014.
Drew Nucci (SFGI) currently works
at Santa Fe Prep, where a very exciting summer program for teachers
is starting. Information on the
program as a whole can be found
at www.sfprep.org/index.php?/
colloquium/C184, and information
specifically on the course that he
is teaching can be found at www.sfprep.org/index.php?/colloquium/
mathematics_as_the_gateway_to_
western_metaphysical_thought.
Theater
Goes
National
San Francisco playwright
Candice Benge (SFGI) is in
her second year as a founding member of a national
traveling theater cooperative, Transient Theater
(www.transienttheater.com),
a group she started last
year. Following the group’s
first production in summer
2012, they did a tour to 14
cities in nine states across
the country. The group
performed at the New York
International Fringe Festival, where it received great
reviews and won several
awards, including the
Overall Excellence Award for
Directing, as selected by a
panel of 40 theater professionals. This year, Transient
Theater plans to perform
in 20 cities from coast to
coast, and has recently
hired current St. John’s
sophomore, Gabriele Montequin (A15), as Annapolis co-producer. Candice
writes, “Our mission is to
increase empathy in our
culture by producing new
plays from various communities and giving those
plays a national audience.
There’s a short documentary video (about 13
minutes) that summarizes
our process last year.” View
the video at https://vimeo.
com/58157656. The password is “sweetpotato.”
2013 New Year card by Annette Prapasiri (SF04)
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
49
�in memoriam
alumni notes
David Drury (SFGI09): Firefighter Turned Teacher
Inspires Future Johnnies
David Drury (SFGI09) understands what it means
to triumph over adversity. After 20 years as a
New York City firefighter, Drury was looking at
retirement and planning to go to college. Then the
World Trade Center was attacked on September
11. “Certainly it was a crossroads for me,” says
Drury, who was one of the first-responders that
morning. Following his intended plans, he
ultimately pursued his undergraduate degree at
Columbia University. Two years later, his wife
passed away. With school as his solace, he threw
himself into his studies, setting his sights on
graduate school. “Life just changed,” says Drury.
“But I told myself, ‘I can do this.’”
Armed with a bachelor’s in history and a minor in teaching,
Drury came to the Graduate Institute at Santa Fe with the goal of
becoming a teacher. As a firefighter, he taught courses in rescue
and hazmat skills at the New York City Fire Academy on Randall’s
Island. Until recently, Drury taught middle-school history both in
a classroom and on a moving bus. His students were professional
singers at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, N.J., the
country’s only non-sectarian boychoir boarding school. The students, who tour four times a year for up to a month at a time, sing
at churches, schools, and larger venues, including Carnegie Hall.
In 2005, they performed at the Academy Awards.
Drury was drawn to the American Boychoir School because of
its emphasis on discussion-based learning; the head of the school,
Lisa Eckstrom (A84), is a Johnnie. In his regular classroom, Drury
and the students engaged in texts while gathered around a seminar
table in St. John’s style. “In sixth grade, they’re learning how [the
seminar process] works,” says Drury. “By the eighth grade they
handle it really well.” He was recognized at his school for his ability
to motivate his students and instill in them a passion for learning.
“I call our history classes an ongoing historical discussion with a
little bit of philosophy thrown in,” says Drury.
Observing Drury’s classroom, Eckstrom was surprised to find
the boys reading a Supreme Court decision. “To be honest, I was a
little skeptical that middle-school boys would be able to decipher
the text,” says Eckstrom. “But within 15 minutes, I was silently
applauding. David’s teaching style—grounded in the St. John’s approach to discussions—has had a wonderful impact on our students.
Imagine finding your seminar voice as a middle-school boy!”
Curtis A. Wilson
August 24, 2012
Tutor and dean, Annapolis
John Drury
by Jennifer Levin
Drury’s discussion approach was also useful when the students
were on tour, as classes on the bus vary in duration and are often
disrupted. Being able to pick up where the class left off is a way
of keeping the learning engaging as well as flexible. “It’s not a
stationary classroom,” says Drury. “You have to get your sea legs,
which is certainly challenging, but it’s a great experience.”
This summer, Drury returned to New Mexico, where he will be
teaching at the Estancia Valley Classical Academy, a new charter
school in Moriarty. He relished the opportunity to parlay his St.
John’s experience at the American Boychoir School, inspiring
a new generation of future Johnnies. Last school year Drury’s
seventh-grade class read portions of Tocqueville’s Democracy in
America, a book he first encountered at St. John’s. It continues
to resonate with him today, especially ‘The Unlimited Power of
Majority’ chapter. Tocqueville writes, “If these lines are ever read
in America, I am well assured of two things: in the first place, that
all who peruse them will raise their voices to condemn me; and in
the second place, that many of them will acquit me at the bottom of
their conscience.” As a teacher, Drury finds the book an excellent,
if challenging, source of inspiration. “I fought Tocqueville—that
book and that line—tooth and nail,” says Drury. “And then I came
to love it for its accuracy, its impressions, and its philosophy.”
Drawing from his own life experience, Drury looks to his young
students, as they, too, grapple with the text, and tells them the
same thing he told himself several years back: “We can do this.”
“Curtis stood for something, a
kind of moral perceptiveness
and intellectual integrity. He
showed himself genuinely
unselfish and completely
honest. Invariably his words
were deeply considered and
deeply human in the highest
sense.”
—Nancy Buchenauer
“Curtis Wilson was universally
admired and loved by
everyone whose life he
touched as tutor or dean,
friend or colleague, including
those who knew him mainly
as a renowned scholar of the
history of astronomy.”
—Joseph Cohen
Gentle of heart and wise in spirit, Curtis Alan Wilson
(1921-2012), a widely recognized historian of astronomy who twice served as dean of St. John’s College in
Annapolis, died in Petoskey, Michigan, at McLaren
Northern Michigan Hospital. He had been vacationing at nearby Mackinac Island when he sustained a
heart attack. He was 91.
A 1945 graduate of the University of California at
Los Angeles, Wilson received his doctorate in 1952
from Columbia University. He undertook two separate, four-year stints as dean of the Annapolis campus
and, as part of the original faculty, taught for two
years on the Santa Fe campus when it opened in 1964.
Wilson’s association with the college began in 1948
during the formative years of the New Program.
During his first deanship (1958-62), Wilson effected the first major change in the New Program when
the college approved his proposal for preceptorials
for the junior and senior years, the only elective part
of the curriculum. Another change occurred during
his second deanship. In 1976-77, the faculty, under
his guidance, decided that five sophomore classes
were too many, and the sophomore laboratory should
be discontinued, with its components absorbed into
the three other years. An important effect of this
decision was that the college was able to strengthen
the sophomore music tutorial. He also was respon-
sible for planting the seeds of what was to become the
Mitchell Gallery.
Wilson retired in 1988 but continued an active
association with St. John’s. His extensive writings
resulted in an international reputation. He became the
first recipient in 1998 of the LeRoy E. Doggett Prize for
writings in the history of astronomy, awarded by the
American Astronomical Society. Wilson was “the most
highly regarded historian of astronomy of this generation,” wrote the Journal for the History of Astronomy.
Besides Wilson’s final book, The Hill-Brown Theory
of the Moon’s Motion: Its Coming-To-Be and ShortLived Ascendancy (1877-1984), published just before
his 90th year, and many articles and reviews, he edited
the second volume of The General History of Astronomy: Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the
Rise of Astrophysics, published by Cambridge University Press. Wilson belonged to both the International
Academy of the History of Science and Commission 41
of the International Astronomical Union.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, the former
Rebecca Marston, their two sons, and a number of
nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held on
September 30 in the Great Hall. Gifts in his memory
may be made to St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800,
Annapolis, Maryland 21404.
At Wilson’s memorial service, he was lauded with
speeches by five tutors—former Dean Thomas Slakey,
Nancy Buchenauer, Joseph Cohen, Thomas May,
and Louis Petrich—by Professor Paolo Palmieri, a
Galileo scholar from the University of Pittsburgh,
and by Wilson’s two sons, John (A81), of Blacksburg,
Virginia, and Topper (Christopher), of Pueblo,
Colorado. Repeatedly, speakers cited three qualities
for which Wilson was known: his gentleness,
kindness, and integrity.
“Curtis was more than a historian and
a philosopher of science. Curtis was a
master of humane scholarship. He was a
rare figure of humanist and scientist. His
rigorous methodology was never divorced
from poetic imagery. He cultivated the
history of astronomy, combining the rigor
of intellectual analysis with the most
sophisticated elegance of exposition.”
—
Paolo Palmieri
50 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
51
�in memoriam
in memoriam
David Hanford
Stephenson
November 29, 2012
Tutor, Annapolis
David Hanford Stephenson (19362012) joined the college as a tutor
50 years ago. An informal gathering in the Great Hall was held on
November 30, 2012, the day after
he died. Students, faculty, and staff
remembered him in speech and
joined in singing Sicut Cervus in his
memory. The community gathered
again for a memorial held on April
14 in the Great Hall.
Over the course of his devoted
service, Stephenson led every one
of the seminars and tutorials that
comprise the curriculum of the
New Program. When asked what his
favorite class was, he replied that it
was usually the one he was teaching
at the moment. Accordingly, his
Elliott C. Carter
November 5, 2012
Tutor, Annapolis
Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (19082012), the Pulitzer Prize-winning
composer and St. John’s tutor, died
at his home in New York City. He
was 103.
From 1940 to 1942, Carter was
a tutor and director of music at the
Annapolis campus during a time
when the college was establishing
the New Program. He approached
music as an art form closely intertwined with the liberal arts. In the
years after St. John’s, Carter wrote
two essays that relate to his tenure
at the college: “Music as a Liberal
Art” (1944) and “The Function of
the Composer in Teaching and the
General College Student” (1952).
Carter received his bachelor’s
in English literature and his
master’s in musical composition
from Harvard. He is best known as
favorite author was Montaigne or
Sophocles or Leibniz or Dante or
Kant, though he confessed that he
was drawn back to Homer every
other year. Stephenson’s very first
seminar, in 1962, had been with
Jacob Klein and John Sarkissian
as co-leaders. His students and
advisees remember him as a leader
rather than an expert, one who met
them from the start as an equal and
then patiently drew them forward
and upward, as curious and delighted as they were in what could
be found and seen together.
This was equally true of the
way Stephenson conducted the
St. John’s Chamber Orchestra for
many years. In his very gestures, he
expressed Schopenhauer’s claim
about the absolute uniqueness and
universality of music. Similarly, in
freshman music he firmly believed
the class capable of the most
difficult and beautifully splendid
things, whether it was the final
chorus of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion or the finale of Mozart’s Magic
Flute. He led his laboratory classes
with a confidence born from his na-
a composer who fused European
and American modernist traditions
in seminal but formidable works.
“As society evolves,” he once said,
“people will have to become much
cleverer and much sharper. And
then they will like my music.”
Igor Stravinsky was credited with
calling Carter’s “Double Concerto
for Harpsichord, Piano, and Two
Chamber Orchestras” (1961) the
first American masterpiece.
In the late 1930s, Carter created neoclassical, approachable,
“American” works such as the
ballet “Pocahontas,” which had
its premiere in 1939. That same
year, he married sculptor Helen
Frost-Jones. She died in 2003. In
the mid-1940s, Carter wrote the
“String Quartet No. 1,” which was
considered his first real breakthrough. The work won him the first
of his two Pulitzer Prizes in 1960;
the second was for “String Quartet
No. 3” in 1973. In addition to his
two Pulitzer Prizes, Carter’s awards
include the National Medal of Arts,
the Edward MacDowell Medal, and
two Guggenheim fellowships.
He is survived by his son, David,
and a grandson.
52 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Journet G. Kahn
Class of 1942
October 7, 2012
Tutor, Annapolis and Santa Fe
Journet Gordon Kahn (1921-2012)
dedicated his life to the art of the
Socratic seminar and innovation in
interdisciplinary program design.
A tutor at both the Annapolis and
Santa Fe campuses, he died at 90.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland,
Kahn was the oldest of four children
of Rose and Ellis Kahn. After graduating from the Annapolis campus in
1942, he joined the faculty for the
following year. Kahn received his
Licentiate from Quebec’s Laval University, his doctorate in philosophy
tive interest in all things natural,
as well as from his formal study
of physics and music at Columbia
University. The phenomena
themselves as well as their theoretical illumination interested
him deeply, and he was delighted
by the restoration of the Foucault
pendulum in Mellon Hall.
Stephenson was a poet as well
as a composer, and he hosted a
poetry writing group in his home
on Prince George Street for a number of years. His final lecture this
past November, a meditation on
the Meno, was a typically profound,
wide ranging, and witty exploration
of questions and analogies suggested by this dialogue so central to
the program he loved. It was truly a
poignant ending to a half century of
joyful inquiry and dedicated service
to this community.
from the University of Notre Dame,
and completed 14 post-doctorate
courses in graduate psychology.
He taught at numerous Midwest
universities, including Notre
Dame, Marquette, and St. Xavier in
Chicago. From 1964 to 1965, Kahn
returned to St. John’s, where he
was one of the original tutors at the
Santa Fe campus.
In addition to his passion for
education, Kahn was an accomplished photographer and an avid
supporter of the arts. He lived
in Chicago for 48 years, raising
two families, his first with Peggy
Kahn, and his second with Barbara
Moriarty. Preceded in death by his
parents and one sister, he is survived by his eight children, David,
Carl, Stephen, Judy, Elizabeth, Margaret, Jonathan, and Daniel; two
sisters, Harriet Kessler and Thelma
Richman; 13 grandchildren; a greatgrandchild; and numerous nieces
and nephews.
Carl A. Linden
Tutor, Annapolis
April 2, 2012
In 1965, Carl Arne Linden joined
the faculty in Annapolis, where he
taught for five years and led study
groups with students on 19th- and
20th-century political writings of
Russian authors. Born in Greenwich, Conn., Linden received
a master’s degree in Russian
studies from Harvard in 1956 and
a doctorate in political science and
international affairs from George
Washington University in 1965.
He did intelligence work with the
Air Force during the Korean War
and was a political analyst for the
CIA-affiliated Foreign Broadcast
Information Service from 1956 to
1965. At the time of his death at 82,
Linden was a professor emeritus at
George Washington University’s
Institute for European, Russian and
Eurasian Studies. He taught fulltime at GWU from 1971 to 2001.
Teresa (Engler) Raizen (SF78)
December 13, 2012
Teresa Raizen (1955-2012) of
Cambridge, Mass., died of metastatic breast cancer. She was 57. After
earning a JD from the University of
Chicago, Raizen spent three years
practicing law. She worked for several
years as the director of development
at the Waldorf High School of Massachusetts Bay and volunteered as
a La Leche League leader. She also
enjoyed writing short stories, singing, playing recorder, knitting, and
travelling. Raizen was thrilled to see
both of her sons find their way to St.
John’s. She was a strong supporter
of the college and gave generously to
it. Raizen was loved for her devotion
to her family, strength of character,
steadfast courage, and the loving
kindness she displayed to all. She is
survived by her husband, Dan (SF79),
Carol Lackman, A78
June 9, 2012
John C. “Jake” Smedley
Class of 1944
December 9, 2012
Gloria Lagasse-Page, SF76
February 24, 2013
Born in England, John C. “Jake” Smedley (1921-2012) moved to California to live with his aunt and uncle in 1930, following the death of his
parents. Smedley studied at St. John’s from 1940 until he entered the
Army in 1942. After marrying Georgianna “Georgie” Rogers of Baltimore, he served in General George Patton’s Third Army in Europe. Following Smedley’s discharge in 1945, he returned to Annapolis, where
he graduated from St. John’s in 1948. He pursued a career in social work
and received his MSW from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951. His
career took him from Ruxton, Maryland, to Hastings-on-Hudson, New
York. In 2007, Smedley and his wife moved to Silver Spring, Maryland,
to be closer to family. Smedley is survived by his four children Beth,
Bill, Joe, and Webb; five grandchildren, including Giovanni (A08); and
three great-grandchildren.
and her three children, Nathaniel
(SF10), Ben (SF13), and Claire.
William A. Rohrbach (A85,
SFGI-EC98)
January 15, 2013
William Alan Rohrbach, a Santa Fe
resident for 37 years, died at home
at 50.
Devoted to his family and to his
community, he will be remembered
for his intellect, warmth, and
imagination, and for his fidelity to
St. John’s College. Rohrbach was
a member of the St. John’s Search
and Rescue team from 1995 to 1999.
He became an accomplished artist
over the past decade and enjoyed
playing the piano. Rohrbach also
served on the board of the William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris
Foundation for 20 years. Over the
years, the foundation has been a
champion of the Eastern Classics
program. He is survived by his wife
of 24 years, Elizabeth Rohrbach,
(SF85, SFGI-EC03); son Alan;
mother Louise Heydt, (SFGIEC95); father Charles; and many
other caring family members.
Also Deceased:
Irving Abb, Class of 1947
July 13, 2012
Harvey Alexander, Class of 1961
November 23, 2012
Anne Allen, Class of 1954
May 23, 2012
Dawn Osoff Andrews, SF80
October 2012
H. Richard Bixby, Class of 1951
September 19, 2012
Lorin Blackstad, SF08
November 7, 2008
Louis Brin, Class of 1947
December 23, 1998
George Cochran, AGI82
March 30, 2013
Thomas Eaton, Class of 1965
March 1, 2013
Hallie Leighton, SF92
April 30, 2013
Barry Lexton, Class of 1960
April 28, 1995
Paul Liebow, Class of 1964
April 30, 2012
Kathleen MacDuff, A68
October 20, 2012
Gordon McNamee, Class of 1949
October 16, 2012
Don McQuoid, Class of 1961
February 10, 2013
John Meehan, Class of 1952
January 29, 2013
John Miller, Class of 1948
April 16, 2013
Ernest Piron, Class of 1954
December 23, 2012
John Povejsil, A92
June 26, 2012
Gilbert Renaut, A68
February 27, 2013
Nicolas Richardson, A99
February 8, 2013
Tevell Scott, SFGI69
August 28, 2009
Haven Simmons, Class of 1944
May 15, 2012
Vernon M. Smith, Class of 1945
July 30, 2012
Gerard Sparaco, A90
February 20, 2013
Raymond Starke, Class of 1951
March 22, 2013
Robert T. Everett Jr., Class of 1942
F. Elizabeth Tapia, SFGI94
October 12, 2012
Lawrence Scott Fitzpatrick, A83
April 4, 2013
George Van Sant, Class of 1947
January 20, 2013
Jack Cruz Hopkins, SFGI78
March 30, 2004
Peter Whipple, Class of 1950
January 2, 2013
Robert Hunter, Class of 1943
June 3, 2012
Diane Katz, Class of 1965
September 5, 2012
Samuel Kramer, Class of 1964
November 13, 2012
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
53
�philanthropy
transitions
The Graduate’s Odyssey
By Charlotte Lucy Latham (SF02)
Fund for Health and Wellness
Honors Hallie L. Leighton (SF92)
At the time of her death, she was
working on a documentary on her
father’s career.
Hallie L. Leighton (SF92)
April 30, 2013
Leighton is survived by her
mother, Lynda Myles; her brother
Ross Leighton; her Aunt Wendie
Myles; and a large, loving extended family.
with Bill Fant (A79) in the 1990s.
The board served as a mechanism for alumni diaspora communication about job openings,
rental property availability, and
other short announcements.
Hallie Leland Leighton, who
fought successfully for passage
of New York State’s Breast Density Inform Bill, a bill that would
require doctors to notify patients
if they had dense breast tissue,
which can hide cancer during a
mammography, died while fighting
her own battle with metastatic
breast cancer. She was 42.
Born and raised in New York
City, Leighton attended the High
School of Performing Arts where
she majored in drama. After
St. John’s she worked in writing
and publishing.
At St. John’s, Leighton was
known for her many friendships
as well as her intellectual and
leadership contributions, among
which was the creation of JohnnyXpress, an electronic bulletin
board for alumni that she started
With her late father, the actor/
impersonator Jan Leighton, she
co-authored two books: Rare
Words and Ways to Master Their
Meanings I and II (Levenger
Press, 2003, 2008), a collection
of useful but little known words.
Scholarship Fund in Memory of
Michael A. Chiantella (A97)
Michael A. Chiantella (A97)
May 30, 2012
Michael A. Chiantella was only
16 when he started his freshman
year at the college. We first met
when I showed up looking for a
corkscrew on the second floor of
Randall. We began a conversation
that lasted 18 years.
We sat in his room, smoking
cartons of cigarettes and drinking
cases of Coke, and talked about
everything young Johnnies talk
about. Even early on, he knew
exactly what he wanted from his
life. My greatest memories of him,
selfishly, have to do with how he,
through our interactions, made me
feel about myself and the hope he
gave me for my future. Through
who he was innately and the
generous soul he had cultivated,
he gave me a glimpse of who and
how I wanted to be.
Chiantella was a gallant dreamer.
He married his childhood love,
Karen. They had two children,
Dylan and Morgan, and lived in
Venice, Fla., where Chiantella had
a successful estate law practice.
I saw him build the life that he
had so wanted and so clearly
described as a 16-year-old boy.
Chiantella’s dreams included
not only helping his family and
friends, but also buying a house
across from the college and getting a third master’s degree from
the Graduate Institute.
54 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Inspired by her many contributions, fellow alumni, friends,
and family have launched the
Hallie Leighton Fund for Health
and Wellness at St. John’s College. The group hopes to raise
$50,000 to name the student
health office on the Santa Fe
campus after Leighton. It will
serve as a tangible and lasting
memorial to Leighton’s legacy
of advocacy, commitment, and
action. In addition, it will provide
needed health-related services
and support to St. John’s College
students. The goal is to raise
$50,000 by June 30, 2014, in
time to hold a naming ceremony
as part of the Fiftieth Year Celebration of the Santa Fe campus.
To make a gift to the Hallie Leighton
Fund for Health and Wellness, send
a check to the college, or visit www.
stjohnscollege.edu/giving.
The Fund will serve as a tangible and
lasting memorial to Leighton’s legacy of
advocacy, commitment, and action.
It would belittle his memory to
solely state the obvious: that he
was brilliant, beloved, and generous. This man was a catalyst. He
changed people and the course of
their lives. From the charity work he
did with his law practice, helping
thousands of veterans create wills,
to telling me to change my major
in graduate school, he nurtured
and encouraged those he knew.
The last book he gave me was a
volume of Marcus Aurelius. As I
sat in the church while they held
his funeral mass, I found a passage that did not comfort, but did
explain why my dear, dear friend
was now dead.
I have thought so many times
about the Oxford English Dictionary sitting on his bookshelf,
surrounded by books from the authors whose names we all know.
His OED was both the latest and
the last edition. That large collec-
tion of words, with its history and
dedication to helping us more
fully understand the words we
use each day, is married in my
mind to my memory of Michael
A. Chiantella. The OED will not
be printed again; a renewed,
physical version will not enter
new peoples’ lives. Accessing
the OED online is not the same
as pulling one of its volumes off
the shelf, just as the memory of
Chiantella is not the same as him
living in the world with us.
–Vada Mossavat (A00)
To make a gift to the Michael A.
Chiantella Memorial Scholarship
Fund, send a check to the college,
or use the online giving form for
the Annapolis campus. (Select
“other” and designate the Michael
A. Chiantella Memorial Scholarship
Fund.) The online form is available
at http://community.stjohnscollege.
edu/AN-DonationForm-CURRENT
“�I have brought you here with intelligence and art;
Now you must take your pleasure for your guide;
You are out of the steep and narrow way.
[...] No longer wait for words or signs from me.
Your will is free, just and as it should be,
And not to follow it would be a fault:
I leave you master of your body and soul.”
thought, and watched their
little ones become conscious
of the world around them.
And so did I. Working
with children was, I learned
after another year, no longer
for me. From working as an
artist model at an art gallery
and school in Santa Fe, I
—Virgil to Dante, The Divine Comedy: Purgatory Canto 27
became their interim art
director. My organizational
experience (from previous work as a
stage manager and as Polity Chair) got me
planning one-week workshops, helping
visiting students, overseeing the bookkeeper, writing content for the website,
and pretending every day that I knew
what I was doing. I learned most of it after
hours. Unfortunately, I found the owner
careless and stupid, and argued with her
vehemently. Though everyone thought
my work was excellent and expected that I
would be promoted, she fired me.
I was devastated. Not knowing what to
do in Santa Fe, I moved to Vermont where
I don’t remember the day after graduamy boyfriend had family, where we could
tion. I had a job to teach in France, but
live and reassess our options. I went online
halfway through the summer, I refused
to do personality tests. I read horoscopes.
it. Not because something else appealed,
I talked to friends. I think we all felt guilty
but because I didn’t know why I was going
admitting how much we were flounderother than to do the next thing, always the
ing. With no clear goal in mind, I decided
right thing. I remember a lot of fear that
to become a family therapist. When I was
summer while others seemed so relaxed.
rejected from an MSW program, I tried
By August, I found work as a governess,
not to cry. Visiting an aunt in New York, I
tending a six-year-old girl and eightdecided to stay. With a few hundred dollars
year-old boy for a wealthy Texas family. I
to my name, I needed employment, an
spun romantic stories for them about my
apartment, and a new life.
life in Pecos, living in an old, baby-blue
I left messages with everyone I knew
Airstream trailer on top of a hill made of
that I was looking for a job. I would take
rose quartz, though the long drive each
anything. A week later, over a Diet Coke,
way felt lonely. However, their troubles
the owner of a medical publishing compadid not need the addition of mine; in fact,
ny to whom I had been referred asked me
they needed me to help them learn how
many unexpected questions, including
to handle their challenges. The job ended
“Pick: black or white?” I answered red.
after eighteen months, whereupon I deWhat I knew about publishing came from
cided to work with another family. I moved working as an editor at my high school
with the family to a plot of land deep in
paper, but I made it sound good. I had a
Santa Fe National Forest. I got a truck that job. Promotions came regularly, until I
could make the hill out of Tesuque up to
launched the education division, overseethe stone cabin where I lived and read and
ing a half-million-dollar budget in the
“�With a few hundred dollars
to my name, I needed
employment, an apartment, and a new life.”
first six months. The job was grueling but
I learned about work, life, business, and
myself across those four years. I left the
job, despite my success there, because I
realized that I really could learn anything,
and the compelling work I sought would
only come from a new direction.
I’m now in graduate school at the City
University of New York. My dissertation
thesis focuses on how poetry and prose
can help us look at fine art—full circle to
the conversations I had with the artists
in Santa Fe. I have discovered a niche:
helping artists and writers break through
creative and business challenges by offering them readings that shake them out of
mental stupor. This fall I will be on the job
market again because a PhD isn’t the end
of the road.
All is not settled, but my liberal arts
education at St. John’s College helped me
immeasurably in finding my way. I learned
non-linear geometry and the rationality
of freedom in the books, but also the faith
to persist, to keep on discovering. Virgil
spoke to Dante with sincerity, and though
Dante wept, he knew that the stories from
their travels had taught him much. Now in
my conversations with Johnnies, we admit
how complicated the first decade out of
school was. Yet we describe our quests
with pride. We were lost innumerable
times, but learned to incorporate missteps into our journey, to tread paths we
couldn’t have imagined. Life is an odyssey,
and it’s the adventures—and terrors—that
make the story so satisfying in the end.
Charlotte Lucy Latham seeks stories
from liberal arts graduates about how
they have fared in the first decade after
graduation. www.scriptandtype.com
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
55
�alumni news
alumni news
s av e t h e d a t e
Homecoming 2013
Santa Fe
Friday, September 20Sunday, September 22
Annapolis
Friday, September 27Sunday, September 29
Homecoming 2013 is gearing up to be a fantastic weekend for
alumni. Both campuses will offer a wide variety of activities,
including seminars, dancing, and career networking events,
that will make your return to St. John’s fun and memorable.
Early Bird registration opened June 7. A special rate is offered
to recent alumni. Please join us and your classmates as we
celebrate and support St. John’s College.
Sarah Palacios and Leo Pickens,
directors of Alumni Relations
For more information and to register:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu.
Click on “Homecoming.”
Annapolis Alumni Office
410-626-2531
alumni@sjca.edu
Santa Fe Alumni Office
505-984-6103
alumni@sjcsf.edu
56 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Inviting Conversations in Texas
Admissions staff and alumni
worked together to host two
“Inviting Conversations”
events in Texas that combined
alumni gatherings with receptions for prospective students
and their families. On April 20,
at the Driskill Hotel in Austin,
and the following day at Hotel
Icon in Houston, alumni played
a key role in recruiting new
students. According to Larry
Clendenin (SF77), director
of Admissions in Santa Fe,
anywhere from 50 to 75 percent
of prospective students who attend these events go on to apply
to or confirm their decision to
enroll at St. John’s.
“We’ve been doing these
joint receptions for a few years
now,” says Clendenin. “Alumni
introduce themselves and talk
about when they graduated and
what they’ve done with their
St. John’s education since then.
We had a wonderful mix of
younger and older alumni, men
and women—scientists, professors, attorneys.” The alumni
introductions in Houston went
especially well, convincing one
applicant’s father of the college’s virtues. He approached
Clendenin at the opening of
the reception to say that he
just wasn’t sure how St. John’s
stacked up against the other
colleges where his daughter had
applied, despite her enthusiasm
for St. John’s over the other
schools. “He didn’t know why
she wanted it so much or how
practical it was going to be,”
says Clendenin. “But at the
end of the event he told me
the alumni had sold him, that
they’d made the case for the
college perfectly.”
In addition to talking to
prospective students and their
families at “Inviting Conversations” events, the Austin/San
Antonio alumni chapter has
found a number of ways to give
back to the college, including
raising scholarship funds for
the Summer Academy at St.
John’s. Each year for the past
five years, Larry Davis (SFGI87)
has also searched all the Half
Price Books locations in Austin
“�We had a wonderful
mix of younger
and older alumni,
men and women—
scientists, professors,
attorneys.”
—Larry Clendenin (SF77)
for complete 54-volume sets of
the Encyclopedia Britannica’s
Great Books of the Western
World to give to an underclassman from the Austin/San
Antonio area. He uses coupons
and sales to further reduce the
cost to as low as $100 per set.
He then asks other chapter
members to help underwrite
the gift. This year, Davis found
two sets. One was given to a
rising sophomore from Austin
and, after the college confirmed
there were no other currently
enrolled underclassmen from
the area at either campus with
financial need, the other set
went to an incoming freshman
from San Antonio.
—Jennifer Levin
Lincoln Comes to Baltimore
The elegant 1847 mansion at 14
Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore’s
historic Mount Vernon neighborhood—one of nine buildings in
that area belonging to Agora Inc.—
was the ideal setting for a seminar
led by Annapolis President Chris
Nelson on Abraham Lincoln’s
second inaugural address and the
Gettysburg Address. “These two
documents, more than any others
since 1790, have provided the
basis for the re-founding of the nation on the ‘proposition’ (requiring
demonstration) that all men are
created equal rather than the ‘selfevident truth’ that this is so,” says
Nelson. “I think this has profound
implications that would be good
to explore. And for those who have
seen the recent film, Lincoln, the
time is fortuitous.”
Baltimore chapter Johnnies
gathered in March for lively conversation. “During the discussion,
an interesting question came from
the Gettysburg Address regarding
political philosophy and the nature
of being tested,” says chapter coleader Nathan Betz (AGI09). “We
talked about whether or not war
is a suitable example for testing
humanity.” Betz and fellow chapter
co-leader Talley Kovacs (A01)
were among the approximately 20
alumni, along with President Nelson and Annapolis Alumni Director
Leo Pickens, who participated
in the seminar—and kept the
conversation lingering afterward
over glasses of wine at a local
watering hole. “This was definitely
one of the best attended seminar
events we’ve had,” says Betz, who
initiated the reading. “At first I
proposed that we read Lincoln’s
and President Obama’s respective
second inaugural addresses. It was
President Nelson who suggested
we read two Lincoln documents
instead, which actually worked
even better.”
As for the chapter’s future
activities, Betz says the members
balance socializing with scholarly
pursuits. They welcome Johnnies
in the Baltimore area to connect with them via their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/
groups/71905982751. “We’ve got
plans to catch an Orioles game
and do a seminar on Euripides’
The Trojan Women. There’s a real
desire for ongoing interaction
among Baltimore Johnnies.”
—Gregory Shook
To read President Nelson’s “Lincoln
and Liberal Education” blog, visit
www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-nelson/liberal-arts-educationlincoln_b_2966192.html
CONNECT TO THE COLLEGE
Alumni Association Board President
Phelosha Collaros (SF00)
“�The Alumni Association and St. John’s staff
are working together to create meaningful
ways that alumni can volunteer to support
the mission of the college. Together, we can
make sure the life-changing education we
had is available to new students for many
years to come.”
Alumni online community:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
Agora career mentoring network:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
Click on “Career Services”
Alumni offices:
alumni@sjca.edu
alumni @sjcsf.edu
Facebook:
facebook.com/stjohnscollege
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
57
�Croquet Mix
Waltz archon Virginia Early (A13) provided a local radio
station deejay with the playlist for dancing during croquet,
including these favorites:
Waldo in Wonderland
“After I Say I’m Sorry”
Throughout the afternoon on April 20,
2013, St. John’s croquet players, decked
out in red-and-white-striped shirts and
hats and round black glasses, peeked
through the crowd of more than 3,000
spectators gathered on campus for the
31st annual St. John’s-U.S. Naval Academy croquet match. This year’s croquet
team, led by Imperial Wicket Drew
Menzer (A13) of Granville, Ohio, sported
uniforms inspired by the globe-trotting
character from the Where’s Waldo? children’s books created by British illustrator
Martin Handford—and rather convincingly at that. Unlike in the books, in which
Waldo is clearly hidden, the team’s outfits
popped against the backdrop of bow ties,
spats, umbrellas, vintage suits, and festive
frocks. “I got the idea for the uniforms
during the summer after my sophomore
year, long before I knew I would become
Imperial Wicket,” says Menzer. “Out of
nowhere, the idea just popped into my
head, and I went with it.”
With new wooden mallets in hand,
courtesy of the Annapolis campus master
craftsman, Gary Dunkelberger, the players burst onto the front lawn with vigor
and gusto. This year’s “Prime Mover”
award recipient, Shaun Callahan, U.S.
Naval Academy Class of 1985 and the
Imperial Wicket that competed against
former St. John’s Imperial Wicket, John
Ertle (A84), struck the opening shot. The
“You Are My Sunshine”
“Bei Mir Bist Du Schein”
“Oh, Lady Be Good”
“C-Jam Blues”
“720 in the Books”
“They All Laughed”
“On a Slow Boat to China”
“I’ve Got the World on a
String”
“Lean Baby”
“Take the ‘A’ Train”
“Jersey Bounce”
“Route 66”
“I’m in the Mood for Love”
“My Blue Heaven”
“I Can’t Give You Anything
But Love”
by Gregory Shook
“Bye Bye Blackbird”
“Crazy Rhythm”
“�When it comes to game time,
we’re not afraid to make the bold
move—and we’re not afraid to
have it go wrong either.”
“Jive at Five”
“Hey, Good Lookin’”
“Sailing Down the
Chesapeake”
“Hallelujah, I Love Her So”
“Tainted Love”
“Hard-Hearted Hannah”
“Ja-Da”
“Oh, When the Saints”
“All God’s Children”
“Bidin’ My Time”
Imperial Wicket Drew Menzer (A13)
“Moon River”
kenneth tom
johnnie traditions
“Honeysuckle Rose”
game was afoot! Geared up for another
St. John’s triumph, the teams tapped and
swung their mallets for more than five
hours, one of the longest matches—if not
the longest—in the event’s colorful 31-year
history. Alas, like Waldo, for the Johnnies
victory was hard to find. Their seven-year
winning streak ended. The Midshipmen
paraded downtown with the Annapolis
Cup after a decisive 4-1 win. Josh Cohen, Annapolis mayor and son of tutor
emeritus Joseph Cohen, Class of 1956,
presented the victors with the trophy. “I
have never even seen the Annapolis Cup
until today,” says Midshipman First Class
Ross Herman, the U.S. Naval Academy’s
Imperial Wicket.
For students on the croquet team, the
sport is not only about having fun; it is an
opportunity to build relationships with
their neighbors on the other side of King
George Street. Menzer was impressed
with the level of camaraderie established
between the two schools during the past
several months. “More than any other
year, the St. John’s and Navy teams really
made an effort to spend time together and
get to know each other as friends,” says
58 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
Menzer, who plans to start law school in
the fall. “Croquet’s been such a fun part
of my experience at St. John’s. I hope
to keep playing for years to come.” The
match is a centerpiece for the waltz and
swing dancing, a grand lawn party, and
alumni homecoming. “Croquet is a great
second Homecoming, when alumni can
catch up with each other and their friends
at the college,” says Babak Zarin (A10), a
law student at Elon University who hopes
to attend the match each year—and the
alumni-student seminars.
“A Mad Tea-Party” and “The Queen’s
Croquet-Ground,” two chapters from
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll,
were the readings at the alumni-student
seminars led by President Christopher
Nelson (SF70), and tutors Eva Brann
(H89), Sam Kutler (A54), and Joseph
MacFarland (A87). Gathered in one of the
McDowell Hall classrooms, Brann posed
the opening question, “How can you
achieve depth through pure zaniness?”
Alumni and students explored the value of
silliness and the meaning of Wonderland,
which, it seems, is always close at hand.
Opposite page:
Saul Leiken (A13), master of ceremonies,
introduced the players from both teams.
Clockwise (from top):
Swing dancing all afternoon; spectators
toast the match; Patrick E. McDowell
(A01), his wife, Citali, and their newborn
son in the vintage outfits that Citali
designs for the match each year; former
Imperial Wicket John Ertle (A84) and
Shaun Callahan (U.S. Naval Academy
Class of 1985), former U.S.N.A. Imperial
Wicket (1983-1985); Mandee Glasgo (A14)
prepares a shot; the “Prime Mover”
mallet. Photos by Anyi Guo (A14) unless
otherwise noted.
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
59
�st. john’s forever
eidos
Continuing the
Conversation
anyi guo (a14)
“This photo resonates with Johnnies because
of our fierce, and occasionally irreverent,
pride in the Program,” says Hugh Verrier
(A14). “Johnnies appreciate the freedom of
thought that is encouraged at the college, and
we are glad to see that culture grow and renew itself with each generation of students.”
During Homecoming in Annapolis, Verrier and Noam Freshman (A14), joined by
photographer Anyi Guo (A14), immortalized
their Johnnie pride by recreating the familiar
photograph of Stringfellow Barr and Scott
Buchanan, founders of the New Program, in
conversation on the steps of McDowell Hall.
“We were both trying to stand there and
look as accurate as possible, even standing
on the exact steps they did. As the photo was
being snapped, I couldn’t help but think of
what Barr and Buchanan were thinking when
the original was taken, and what courage it
took to start the college and embark on the
New Program,” says Freshman.
After the image was posted on Facebook,
the trio was surprised by the response from
fellow classmates. “It was this outpouring
of appreciation that really made me feel like
we had tapped into a deep tradition, which
was very fulfilling,” says Verrier, who credits
Freshman for originating the idea. “His
passion for the Program and his good nature
drive him to find new and fun ways to participate in our college traditions.”
“During our summers in Taos, I worked and
talked often with another potter and
St. John’s graduate, Betsy Williams (SF84).
Our conversations ranged widely over many
things besides clay…. We also talked about
printmaking, and one winter day I got a
package from Betsy, enclosing used tea bags
with the opening question, ‘What can you do
with these?’ This series of [collagraphy] prints
is my attempt to answer that.”
—Ebby Malmgren (AGI88), member,
Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisers
Ebby Malmgren (AGI88), a printmaker, potter, and
writer, lives in Annapolis, Maryland. Her work can
be seen at The Harwood Museum of Art in Taos,
The Rift Gallery in Dixon, New Mexico, and The
Eastport Gallery, in Annapolis. Her interest in
printmaking began with a chance invitation to a
monoprint workshop in Taos. After about a year of
monoprinting, Malmgren realized she missed the
three-dimensional aspect of her work in clay; she
has adapted her Bret clay slab roller as a printing
press, and uses polymer clay—“Sculpey”—which
can be run through a press without breaking.
Collagraphy, from the Greek koll or kola, describes
a printmaking process in which materials such as
clay are applied to a rigid surface, inked with
a roller or paintbrush, then printed onto paper or
another material.
From top to bottom: Imaginary Journey, Meditation,
There is Always a Bright Spot.
Photos: Courtesy The Eastport Gallery
60 | The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013
The College | st. john’s college | summer 2013 |
iii
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U.S. Postage
paid
Communications Office
P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, Maryland 21404
a d d r e ss se rvi ce r e qu e st ed
Annapolis, md
Permit N0. 120
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College
The
SPRING 2016
•
S T. J O H N ’ S C O L L E G E
•
ANNAPOLIS
•
S A N TA F E
Martin
Luther
King, Jr.
On Serving Others
�A day of service: alumni, students,
faculty, and staff plant daffodil
bulbs outside Mellon Hall.
ii THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�OPENING NOTE
What can you do with a St. John’s
degree? I love this question because
the answer is so surprisingly simple:
anything. And it’s not hyperbole.
With commencement just around
the corner, a new crop of Johnnies
will bid adieu to the place they called
home for the past four years, to the
friends and faculty who tirelessly
helped them grapple with such great
minds as Euclid, Hegel, Aristotle,
and Kant, among others, and mold
big ideas into imaginative and
valuable contributions—often in the
spirit of service to others.
In his final sermon, “The Drum Major Instinct,” delivered at Ebenezer
Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia
exactly two months before his assassination, Martin Luther King,
Jr. (1929-1968) called on people to
consider the notion of service, saying
that it is within everyone’s capacity;
the only true requirement needed
to serve, he says, is “a heart full of
grace, a soul generated by love.” This
issue of The College shines a light
on just a few among so many alumni
who apply their “great books degree”
to improve the lives of individuals
and communities, both far and near,
from advocating human rights to
addressing women’s global health issues to transforming young students
into powerful storytellers. Suffice to
say, not only does such work require
passion and dedication, it also takes
a special kind of courage.
Gregory Shook, editor
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 1
�SPRING 2016
VOLUME 41, ISSUE 1
“� ntelligence plus character—
I
that is the goal of true education.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
FEATUR E S
P A G E 1 6��
P A G E 2 0��
PA G E 2 6
A REFLECTION
ON SERVICE
ROOSEVELT
THE REFORMER
A PLACE WHERE
EVERYONE MATTERS
A thoughtful examination
of the meaning and value of
service deepens our understanding of what inspires and
motivates people to serve.
Santa Fe’s new president
is ready to show the world
what matters most in
education—and it’s not the
glittery, superficial things.
On Maine’s waterfront, an
after-school program helps
refugees and migrant youth
become powerful storytellers
and academic achievers.
ON THE COVER:
Martin Luther King, Jr. illustration
by Francesco Francavilla
PREVIOUS PAGE: JENNIFER BEHRENS
2 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�D E PAR T ME N T S
��FROM THE BELL TOWERS
BIBLIOFILE
FOR & ABOUT ALUMNI
4 �
Serving Women Worldwide:
Rachel Seay (A02)
30 �
John Sifton (A96) investigates
war’s devastating effects in
Violence All Around.
32 �lmuni News:
A
SJCAA 2016 Election Notice
6 An Alumni Leader
7 �
Project for Peace
8 �
Global Pathways:
Jiujun Tang (SF16)
10 History on the Hill
11 First Folio!
12 �he Science Behind
T
14 �
Together in Song
34 �lumni Notes
A
31 �Tutor David Lawrence Levine
(Class of 1967) examines tyranny
in Profound Ignorance: Plato’s
Charmides and the Saving of Wisdom.
� Silvermintz (AGI01) explores
Daniel
the ancient Greek sophist in
Protagoras: Ancients in Action.
� Keyser (SF91) shares a
Amber
story about healing in The Way
Back from Broken.
.
37 � rofile: Erinn Woodside (AGI)
P
leads a life of service.
42 �In Memoriam
45 �hilanthropy: Donald Esselborn (A80)
P
and Edmond Freeman
46 �
Johnnie Voices: Russell Max Simon
(SFGI06) discusses his
most valuable investment.
JOHNNIE TRADITIONS
48 �t. John’s Forever
S
EIDOS
49 Liz Hyatt (SF85)
ABOVE: Rachel Seay (A02) in Sierra Leone
with Doctors Without Borders
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 3
�From the
BELL TOWERS
A JOHNNIE MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Serving Women Worldwide
Rachel Seay (A02) Works with Women in Africa
through Doctors Without Borders
A woman dies from pregnancy-related complications every other minute, says
Rachel Seay (A02), an OB/GYN and researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
“Most of those can be prevented,” she adds ruefully—common causes are postpartum hemorrhage, infection, and unsafe abortion. And it’s women in developing
nations who suffer most, as Seay observed firsthand while working under the
auspices of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Sierra
Leone and South Sudan. Last October in Annapolis, as a featured speaker for
the Career Services Office, she gave a presentation on global women’s health
challenges in support of MSF’s Because Tomorrow Needs Her project.
A 2001 Hodson Trust internship allowed Seay
to shadow several doctors and helped cement
her interest in medicine. She earned her M.D.
from the University of Colorado Denver in
2009, and completed her OB/GYN residency at
George Washington University in Washington,
D.C. In 2015, she received the American College of Gynecology’s history fellowship, which
allowed her to research the management of
postpartum hemorrhage in the United States.
Her first mission for MSF was in fall 2013,
at a maternal and pediatric hospital in Bo,
Sierra Leone; in South Sudan, she worked with
local midwives at a government-run hospital.
At both facilities, she provided emergency
obstetric care to women in need. Not all could
be saved: she recalls two girls in Bo, both 17
and pregnant for the first time, who had both
labored fruitlessly for days at home before coming to the MSF clinic. “By the time one of the
girls had arrived,” she said in a 2015 interview,
“her baby had died, while the baby of the other
was still alive. Both girls delivered by C-section
and ended up having really bad pelvic and
abdominal infections.” The woman whose child
died eventually died as well, while the other
recovered along with her baby. “The complications and suffering of both of these girls were
happening at the same time—they even shared
the same room! To me, this story paints such a
stark picture of two different outcomes from a
problem that is completely preventable.”
Seay emphasizes that the issues facing
women’s health are multifactorial; “often the
actual medicine or health care piece is a small
piece of a much bigger problem that requires
political action” or infrastructure improvements. Poorly maintained roads, for example,
keep patients from reaching the care they need,
and it can also be difficult to find specialized
service providers. Lack of access to contraception is a huge concern as well. The largest
obstacle, however, is the lack of priority many
world governments and health administrations
place on women’s health. Because of this, Seay
believes it’s not enough to raise awareness
among her fellow medical professionals; talks
such as the one she gave at St. John’s are part
of her outreach to the general public.
But Seay also feels that St. John’s students
are uniquely placed to make an impact in the
medical field. “One of the strengths of the
Program is that we learn to consider other
perspectives than our own, and I think that
very directly relates to cultural competency,
and being able to relate to patients who are
coming from a very different context than you.”
Seay points out that a doctor who doesn’t make
4 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Rachel Seay (A02) working with women
and children at hospitals in Sierra Leone
and South Sudan.
the effort to connect with patients will likely
find those patients less willing to comply with
recommended medications or therapies.
For Johnnies interested in medical school,
Seay urges them to take advantage of the
Career Services Office. “[They’ve] been really
important to me, both to help guide my own
career path and [now] to pay that back, to
continue to be involved and offer my own mentoring to current students.”
— Anna Perleberg Andersen (SF02)
�“� ne of the strengths of the Program is that
O
we learn to consider other perspectives
than our own, and I think that very directly
relates to cultural competency, and being
able to relate to patients who are coming
from a very different context than you.”
—Rachel Seay (A02)
ALUMNI MAKE A DIFFERENCE
THANK YOU to all the alumni volunteers who supported the Career Services Office this
past year! Your efforts are appreciated and valued, and we couldn’t accomplish our goals
without you. The alumni listed here have generously given their time, energy, talents, and
resources to help current St. John’s students and their fellow alumni through information
sessions, webinars, panels, networking events, e-mail connections, and much more:
Martha Acosta (A92)
Matthew Albanese (A02)
Robert Ard (A94)
Jim Bailey (A83)
Shirley Banks (SF88)
Jamaal Barnes (A10)
Cynthia Barry (AGI05)
David Bohannon (A99)
Meredith Bohannon (A03)
Donald Booth (A68)
Matt Calise (A01)
Ellen Chavez de Leitner (SF73)
Thea Chimento (A09)
Jonathan Coppadge (A06)
John Cottrell (A02)
Jennifer Dalton (A13)
Samuel Davidoff (A99)
Joshua DeSilva (A12)
Mimi Desjardins (A84)
Lyn Des Marais (A83)
David Dillard (A89)
Cole Donovan (AGI13)
Kieran Dowdy (A09)
Rachel Dudik (A02)
Virginia Early (A13)
Jeff Edwards (AGI94)
Peter Faulhaber (SF78)
Megan Field (A10)
Gary Gallun (A69)
Samuel Garcia (A99)
January Hamill Gataza (A75)
Lexi Goetz (A12)
Cara Gormally (A02)
Diane Hanson (A89)
Chelsia Hetrick (SF03)
Michael Houston (A82)
Nathan Humphrey (A94)
Maria Ironside (SF80)
Bren Jacobson (SF83)
Leslie Kay (SF83)
Brittany Keehan (A12)
Caroline Killian (SF05)
Melanie Kirby (SF97)
Katie Kolodzie (A12)
Amy Kosari (A93)
Louis Kovacs (A02)
Marielle Kronberg (A70)
Nathan Kross (A09)
Tambra Leonard (SF85)
Alex Leone (A12)
Julia Leone (A12)
Aaron Lewis (A96)
Ronald Long (A91)
Chris MacPherson (A14)
Samuel Matlack (AGI11)
Constance McClellan (SF73)
Elisabeth McClure (A08)
Brian McGuire (A96)
Aaron McLean (A03)
Jeremy Melvin (A98)
Reynaldo Miranda (A99)
Matthew Mokey (A03)
Alistair Morrison (SF84)
Amie Neff (SF93)
William Nooter (A76)
Nate Oesch (A09)
Roweena Oesch (A10)
Sam Ose (SF05)
Tia Pausic (A86)
Anna Perry (A11)
Micah Pharris (A95)
Justin Phelps (A07)
Allison Pittman (A08)
Temple Porter (Class of 1962)
Ephrem Reese (A10)
Barbara Rogan (A73)
Ryan Rylee (A04)
Richard Schmechel (A97)
Daniel Schoos (A86)
Ellen Schwindt (A88)
Salvatore Scibona (SF97)
Jessie Seiler (A08)
Erin Shadowens (A12)
Jon Kara Shields (A08)
Suzannah Simmons (SF01)
Marin Skokandic (A12)
Michael Allen Smith (A87)
Nancy Solzman (SF88)
Elizabeth Spagnoletti (A12)
Leonard Sponaugle (A85)
Eric Springsted (SF73)
Courtney Stange-Treagar (A00)
Christopher Stuart (A06)
Janet Sunderland (SFGI95)
Jennifer Sweeney (A06)
Janice Thompson (A95)
Elliott Tulloch (SF91)
Heather Upshaw (SF04)
Austin Volz (SF09)
Melissa Warren (A83)
Cornelia Weierbach (A77)
Scott Williamson (A03)
Iva Ziza (A01)
Alumni who are interested
to volunteer with the college’s
Career Services Offices,
please contact us at:
Jaime Dunn (in Annapolis)
jaime.dunn@sjc.edu
410-626-2500
Margaret Odell (in Santa Fe)
modell@sjc.edu
505-984-6067
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 5
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
JOHNNIES BREAK
ALL-MALE TRADITION
Carolyn Leeuwenburgh is a member of an
elite group—the first class of women to graduate from St. John’s College. Fifty years later,
Leeuwenburgh and four other alumnae from
the Class of 1955 celebrated this important
milestone in the college’s history at Homecoming last fall in Annapolis. She shares the
following with The College:
In 1950, St. John’s College decided to admit
women, for the year of 1951. This was motivated partly for financial reasons as a result of
the post-WWII economy, and secondly because
women did not have full access to education
in America. St. John’s was the first all-male
college in Maryland to admit women.
Alumni Leader
Finds His “Rushmore”
Chris Coucheron-Aamot (SF04) has the distinction of being a double dropout. Bright but
bored in high school in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Aamot placed third in
the state’s academic decathlon and yet carried
a 1.8 GPA. As a freshman at the University of
New Mexico, he earned straight As but got
lost in the crowd and ditched higher education
for a job as a religious radio news producer for
Moody Broadcasting in Chicago. He might still
be in the broadcast booth had he not produced
a series of pieces about Christian colleges
adopting great books programs. Researching
the great books naturally led him to St. John’s
College where he found a challenge, a calling, a
home—and, finally, a diploma.
Aamot graduated on a Saturday in 2004,
took Sunday off, and started work at the college on Monday. He has never left the place
he calls his “Rushmore,” referring to the cult
classic Wes Anderson film. Aamot’s official
title at the Santa Fe campus is associate
director of Alumni Relations, but it is no
stretch to call him the college’s most ardent
and grateful Johnnie. “St. John’s shaped who
I am as a person,” says Aamot. “It is rare now
in this world to have a place of such grace
and curiosity and whimsy. What we do and
Chris Coucheron-Aamot (SF04) at “home”
who we are is not common. And so to be able
to be part of it for such an extended period is
a tremendous privilege. It’s a great gift.”
While many people leave their jobs behind
at the end of the day, that’s not Aamot’s
relationship with St. John’s. “In addition to
the [alumni relations] work that I do I have a
“� t. John’s shaped who I am
S
as a person. It is rare now
in this world to have a place
of such grace and curiosity
and whimsy.”
deep love for this place, so that leads me to
involvement in all kinds of informal ways,” he
says. Aamot often takes a seat at lectures and
in study groups. He goes to campus parties,
sits in on senior orals, chaperones the ski
team, and for five years he lived on campus
as a senior resident, walking the high desert
campus several times a night with his Tibetan
terrier, Lucy. “I do what I do because I love
the place, and I consider myself a member
of this community,” says Aamot. “And that
means something special.”
—Leslie Linthicum
6 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
MARION WARREN, SJC ARCHIVES
I N S A N TA F E
The 50th anniversary of our graduation was
a good reason to acknowledge this event, but
there is yet another reason. There were 19
single women and six married ones that were
willing to undertake this experiment. They
combatted prejudices from the administration,
the staff, the tutors, and the students. The
tradition of 255 years had been broken.
Unfortunately at that time, the school was not
prepared to offer a support system for the
problems that arose. Many women left before
completing the full four years. Those women
who survived the four years did so because
the St. John’s Program enhanced their desire
to learn and become enlightened. Learning at
St. John’s superseded the personal integration
problems because it offered a lifetime direction of learning.
�PROJECT FOR PEACE
Inspiring Young
Journalists in Nepal
Growing up in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jon Shrestha
(A17) remembers being in only one earthquake.
It measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and lasted
less than a minute. Afterward, he couldn’t sleep
for days.
Last April an earthquake again struck the
city—this time an even more massive 7.8 magnitude shock—a month before Shrestha and his
classmate Sagar Aryal (A18), also from Nepal,
returned home to lead a three-day conference
that summer for aspiring young journalists.
Shrestha and Aryal organized the conference,
an initiative supported by the Projects for Peace
with the Davis United World College Scholars
Program, to promote microjournalism in Nepal
by bringing together like-minded, socially conscious writers, ages 15 to 24. Plans got delayed
for several weeks while the two students joined
the post-quake recovery effort, but they were
determined that the conference go on, inspired
in part by the outpouring of support from the
international community to aid Nepal.
Shrestha and Aryal invited 75 young journalists from all over the country to join the conference; with much of the city’s infrastructure
damaged, including the venue that was originally reserved for the conference, they needed
to secure a new location fast. Shrestha and
Aryal never lost hope—or their dedication to the
cause. “In Nepal, there are many rural areas,
and the people and events taking place in these
areas are often neglected by the media,” says
Shrestha, who is not alone in his desire to promote microjournalism. Ultimately, 64 intrepid
souls attended the conference, some taking an
arduous 12-hour bus ride to get there.
Months prior to the conference, Shrestha
and Aryal worked closely with media professionals and sustainable development researchers in Nepal to discuss ideas and create a
robust program schedule. “One of the goals
of the conference was to meet youths from
various districts throughout the country and
to help them bring to light new and untold
stories,” says Shrestha. They also invited journalism professors, an editor of a national daily,
United Nations representatives, a media law
expert, and a mediation counselor for plenary
presentations and training sessions.
Sagar Aryal (A18) and Jon Shrestha (A17)
earned funding for the Projects for Peace.
“� n Nepal, there are many
I
rural areas, and the people
and events taking place
in these areas are often
neglected by the media.”
During the conference, participants
held discussions on a range of topics, from
journalism ethics and culture to networking
and mediation techniques. The conference
concluded with the World Café Discussion,
which provided young journalists the opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas, share
experiences, and explore more deeply some of
the issues discussed during the conference. “I
am hopeful about the future,” says Shrestha.
“I am hopeful that Nepal will not be down for
long, hopeful that young Nepalese are still
excited to serve their communities.”
The College
is published by St. John’s
College, Annapolis, MD,
and Santa Fe, NM
thecollegemagazine@
sjc.edu
Known office of
publication:
Communications Office
St. John’s College
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
Periodicals postage
paid at Annapolis, MD
Postmaster: Send
address changes to
The College Magazine,
Communications Office,
St. John’s College,
60 College Avenue,
Annapolis, MD 21401.
Editor
Gregory Shook
gregory.shook@sjc.edu
Contributing Editor
Sally Baker
Contributors
Anna Perleberg Andersen
(SF02)
Nutchapol Boonparlit (A15)
Eva Brann (H89)
Barbara Goyette (A73)
Charles Green (AGI02)
Liza Hyatt (SF85)
Bob Keyes
Brady Lee (AGI14)
Carolyn Leeuwenburgh
(Class of 1955)
Leslie Linthicum
Lisa Neal
Jan Schlain
Jon Shrestha (A17)
Russell Max Simon
(SFGI06)
Robin Weiss
Design
Skelton Design
Contributing Designer
Jennifer Behrens
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 7
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
G L O B A L P A T H W AY S
Jiujun Tang (SF16)
Ventures Where the
Wild Things Are
International student Jiujun Tang’s (SF16) first
experience in the United States was when she
arrived on the college’s Santa Fe campus in
August 2011. Since it was late in the evening,
her memory of that moment is less about what
she could see and more about what she could
smell: the brisk, invigorating scent of pine. For
Tang, studying the classics in the mountains
of Santa Fe felt like an ideal setting. “Where
you learn contributes to the way you learn,” she
says. Now the recipient of a Global Pathways
Fellowship from St. John’s, Tang will have the
opportunity to put her theory into practice in
Tanzania, Africa this summer.
Global Pathways is the study abroad component of the Pathways Fellowship program
that helps Johnnies transition into graduatelevel study or careers that call for prerequisite
courses. Funding is available for credit courses
in many fields as well as certificate programs
and professional conferences. Recipients are
chosen by a small committee of tutors and
staff. Tang is unique in that she has been
awarded both fellowships.
With a passion for wildlife medicine, she
plans to pursue wildlife research, conservation,
and rehabilitation. Currently, she volunteers
weekly at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter to
gain practical experience. As a Pathways
recipient last summer, Tang got started on
the academic requirements she will need
to apply to vet school. She received the
funding to take organic chemistry and
statistics courses at the University of
New Mexico in Albuquerque. “I had the
luxury of being completely focused on my
schoolwork without having to think about
finances,” she says. “It also made me feel
clearer, not only about what I want to do, but
also the path I’ll need to take to get there.”
Following graduation in May, her Global
Pathways Fellowship will take her to the
Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem of northern Tanzania, home to indigenous communities, such
as the Maasai, and many wildlife sanctuaries in
which elephants, lions, baboons, and other animals roam. “So far I have only been exposed to
caring for domestic animals,” says Tang. “Global
Pathways will allow me to study wild, African
animals in their natural habitat, and also afford
me the opportunity to examine changing landuse and resource availability in the region. The
focus of the program is safeguarding biodiversity conservation while fostering the wellbeing of local communities. It’s an experience I
couldn’t have anywhere else.”
—Lisa Neal
Jiujun Tang (SF16) pursues her passion for wildlife medicine.
8 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
A R C H E RY I N S A N TA F E
Aiming for Gold
Move over, croquet, you’ve got company. Johnnies in Santa Fe boast a new game of their
own—and their first intercollegiate sport—
archery.
Started last fall, the college’s archery club
is officially registered with USA Archery, the
civilian face of the USA Olympic Team and the
national governing body of collegiate archery.
“It was the number one activity requested by
students,” says Mary Anne Burke, facilities and
athletics manager at the Santa Fe campus.
“Archery gives students a sport they can compete in, not just amongst themselves, but with
other colleges on a national level. That was
very important to our students.”
Coach Richard Dew has the chops to lead
the popular club. He set a New Mexico record
last year at the sport’s indoor nationals and
was a gold medalist at the state’s Senior
Olympics. He has more than a decade of
archery experience and is classified at level
three within the Olympic training system.
“The techniques and structures I use to teach
St. John’s students are the same ones used to
train the Olympic team,” says Dew. “Our students love to see Olympians perform using the
same equipment and techniques they do.” In
fact, collegiate archery teams are the foundation for Olympic team recruitment, says Dew,
who describes this pathway to the Olympics
as “very doable for someone who wants to
compete at that level.”
�DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Meet the Veeps
“� he crucial elements of
T
the St. John’s scholastic
system carry over into
archery. The discipline,
honesty, rigor, and focus
that students discover
through seminar are just
as important in archery.”
—Archery Coach Richard Dew
The club already has 18 student members,
a mix of active competitors, beginners, and
intermediate-level archers. Devon Ketch (SF18),
Zachary Thomas (SF16), and Chris Cullinane
(SF16) participated in tournament competition
for the first time in early 2016. Students shoot
under regulation conditions and are judged
and scored by their coach in order to compete
digitally. The club goal is to see some students
nationally ranked by the end of the year.
“Archery is a purely individual sport that
both requires and teaches physical and mental
discipline,” says Dew, adding that it is a perfect
fit for the college. “The crucial elements of the
St. John’s scholastic system carry over into
archery. The discipline, honesty, rigor, and focus
that students discover through seminar are just
as important in archery.”
—Lisa Neal
St. John’s welcomes Phelosha Collaros
(SF00) and Laurie Reinhardt as the new vice
presidents for Development and Alumni Relations in Santa Fe and Annapolis, respectively.
Alumni know Collaros from her previous
leadership roles at the college. Reinhardt is
a new member of the community.
Reinhardt was most recently associate vice
chancellor for development and campaign
director at North Carolina State University. In
that capacity she led university-wide development and campaign efforts in the context of
a $1.5-billion comprehensive campaign. Prior
to her appointment at North Carolina State,
she was associate vice president for development at Rutgers University, managing the
fundraising programs for the School of Arts
and Sciences, the Graduate School in New
Brunswick, New Jersey, and the School of
Communication and Information.
“Laurie brings a wealth of experience,
a warmth of spirit, a firm commitment to
our purposes, and a desire to advance the
cause of liberal education,” says Annapolis
President Christopher Nelson (SF70). “She
promises to be a terrific addition to our
leadership team.”
With more than 20 years of experience
in development and development management, Reinhardt also has led development
programs at the University of Miami School
of Nursing and Health Studies, as well as
for nonprofit arts and humanities organizations in Miami and New York. She completed
her Ph.D. in musicology at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her M.A. in
musicology at the Eastman School of Music
at the University of Rochester, and her B.A.
in music (cello performance) at Houghton
College. Reinhardt also holds an M.B.A. in
management from the University of Miami.
Phelosha Collaros (SF00) comes to her new
role at St. John’s from the American Society
of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Foundation, where she served as foundation director/director of development and launched the
foundation’s first multi-million-dollar campaign. She led the organization’s strategic
planning efforts, daily operations, major and
planned gift initiatives, and individual donor
Phelosha Collaros (SF00) and Laurie Reinhardt
and fundraising engagement. She served in
a variety of capacities at ASRT prior to her
appointment as foundation director in 2010.
Collaros also has served in various leadership positions in the St. John’s College
Alumni Association. She was a member of the
association’s Executive Committee, association president-elect (VP) from 2011-2013,
president from 2013-2015, and, currently,
past president. She has been instrumental
in implementing structural changes through
the introduction of a new mission, a strategic
and operations plan, and new board member
recruitment and onboarding practices. Especially significant during her tenure, a strong
focus on collaboration and trust between the
college and the alumni body has resulted in
a more effective and supportive volunteer
framework for the college.
Collaros earned dual master’s degrees
in business administration and public
administration, with nonprofit management
concentration, from Walden University in
Minneapolis and was a Robert Wood Johnson
Ladder-to-Leadership Fellow.
“We are so pleased to welcome these two
new vice presidents,” said Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations
Victoria Mora. “Each is highly experienced,
talented, and brings exceptional skills to our
development and alumni relations efforts.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 9
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
S A N TA F E C A M P U S
History on the Hill
The National Register of Historic Places and
the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties
have recognized the St. John’s Santa Fe campus for it historical and cultural importance.
The state group honored the campus for
its significance in education, architecture,
landscape architecture, and art. The national
register recognizes as historically significant
the Peterson Student Center, Evans Science
Laboratory, Santa Fe Hall, and upper dormitories, all built in 1964; the lower dormitories,
built in 1967; Weigle Hall, built in 1971; and the
Fine Arts Building, built in 1973. Also included
are the central landscape plan by modernist
landscape architect Garrett Eckbo (1910-2000)
and the iconic mural inside Peterson Student
Center by artist Alexander Girard (1907-1993).
In addition, the Historic Santa Fe Foundation
voted to add the campus to its Register of
Resources Worthy of Preservation.
The buildings at 1160 Camino de Cruz Blanca
have the modified adobe look of the Territorial Revival style developed by famed architect
John Gaw Meem in the early 1930s: earth-tone
walls and flat roofs, but with sharper corners,
brick coping along roof lines, and white-painted
windows, doors, and portals. Because of the
campus’ concentration of historical significance,
Clockwise from the top: A scenic
view of campus; cover of the New
Mexican, 1963; Eckbo’s landscape
plans; painting the Girard Mural.
10 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�the plan and ensemble of buildings were
deemed more significant as a group than
any one building. As such, the campus is the
only college in New Mexico to be listed as a
historic district.
Meem Library Director Jennifer Sprague
began work on the college’s application for
these designations in fall 2014 as part of the
campus’s 50th anniversary celebration. In
the process, she and library staff members
Laura Cooley, Heather McClure, and Chris
Quinn consulted letters by John Gaw Meem
and Richard Weigle, architects Edward O.
Holien and William R. Buckley, and other
early visionaries, detailing plans to construct
the campus. “The process helped us see
how important the college is to our Santa
Fe community and the effort Santa Feans
like John Gaw Meem and Robert McKinney
made to bring St. John’s College here,” says
Sprague. “Our ties to the local community
are very strong.”
—Lisa Neal
FIRST FOLIO!
Shakespeare
Takes Center Stage
in Annapolis
St. John’s and the Annapolis
Shakespeare Company Celebrate
400 Years of the “Bard of Avon”
Shakespeare will make a
special appearance at St.
John’s, in the form of a
national traveling exhibition titled First Folio! The
Book that Gave Us Shakespeare. St. John’s College,
Annapolis, was named
Maryland’s only site to host an original 1623
First Folio. The Folger Shakespeare Library
(www.folger.edu), in partnership with the Cincinnati Museum Center (www.cincymuseum.org)
and the American Library Association (www.ala.
org), is touring a First Folio throughout 2016
to all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto
Rico. This first-ever national tour of one of
the world’s most influential books celebrates
400 years of Shakespeare and his legacy. The
exhibition will be on view from November 1
through December 4, 2016 at the Mitchell
Gallery on the Annapolis campus.
To celebrate the First Folio, St. John’s
and programming partner, the Annapolis
Shakespeare Company, will present a host of
exhibit-related programs, including teacher and
student workshops, plays, a family fair, lectures,
dramatic readings, and more. There will be an
online component to the exhibition, too, that
will include a calendar of events listing related
Shakespeare programming that is going on
throughout Maryland during this time.
The First Folio includes 36 Shakespeare
plays, 18 of which had never been printed
before. Without the First Folio, all of those
plays—including Macbeth, Julius Caesar,
Twelfth Night, The Tempest, As You Like It,
and more—might have been lost forever. Compiled by two of his friends and fellow theater
colleagues, the First Folio was published seven
years after Shakespeare’s death in 1616. “From
Shakespeare experts to students studying the
Title page with Droeshout engraving of
Shakespeare. Shakespeare First Folio, 1623.
Folger Shakespeare Library.
Bard’s plays for the first time, this exhibit is
a rare opportunity for the St. John’s College
community and others to experience one of the
most influential books in history,” says Cathy
Dixon, library director in Annapolis.
First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare
is made possible in part by a major grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities and by
the support of Google.org, Vinton and Sigrid Cerf,
the British Council, and other generous donors.
To learn more about the First Folio! exhibition
at St. John’s, visit www.sjc.edu/shakespeare.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 11
�ILLUSTRA
TION: PO
LLY BECK
ER
F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
of interns in my lab,” says her project mentor Michael Power, an animal scientist at the
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute,
National Zoological Park. “She asked intelligent
questions, learned quickly…and was able to
understand and appreciate the science behind
the research.”
During her internship, Hill, who plans to
pursue veterinary school after graduation,
took advantage of opportunities outside the
lab as well. She went on rounds with zoo staff,
saw some of the pathology cases, and spent a
week in the commissary preparing diets for the
animals in the birdhouse. “I got to hand-feed
an anteater live mealworms and watch the two
Andean bear cubs nurse from their mother,”
she says. “I also got to take a private tour of
the Great Ape House, where Lucy, a forty-twoyear-old orangutan, continually made raspberry
noises at me.”
—Brady Lee (AGI14)
AT T H E S E M I N A R TA B L E
HODSON INTERN
SUMMER CLASSICS
IN SANTA FE
Going Ape at the
Smithsonian
What will you do this summer? Consider
Summer Classics in Santa Fe—a chance to
return to the seminar table to explore the
perplexing, the rousing, and the compelling.
For one, or two, or three weeks in July, join
fellow alumni and other curious minds from
across the country to read and discuss
timeless works, meet new people, and
encounter bold ideas. Seminars are led by
St. John’s tutors; this summer’s offerings
include “The Magic of Macondo: An
Exploration of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One
Hundred Years of Solitude,” “Herodotus’s
Persian War,” Proust’s The Prisoner and The
Fugitive,” “Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon,”
and many others.
To register and learn more about the
2016 Summer Classics program, visit
www.sjc.edu/summer-classics.
A lover of great books as well as great apes,
Andrea Hill (A16) spent last summer as a Hodson intern at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park’s nutrition lab, where she studied the
eating habits of the chimpanzee populations at
Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park. Working with evolutionary biologists, field researchers, and clinical nutritionists, Hill studied the
same chimpanzee populations that renowned
primatologist Jane Goodall began studying in
1960. “There was no data about the nutritional
content of the foods that these chimps eat,” says
Hill, who helped develop a foundational data set
for ongoing research. “It was up to me and four
other interns to gather that data.”
Having a natural curiosity and a desire to dig
deep into her work, Hill stood out among her fellow interns. “As a biomedical field, there is more
to vet medicine than just the medicine—there’s
the science behind the field, which is something
that I had yet to experience [and] why I chose to
work in a research lab rather than a clinic,” says
Hill. She quickly moved up the ranks, training
others on procedures and offering guidance
on running assays and data interpretation.
“Andrea performed at the highest level I expect
12 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Andrea Hill (A16) at work in the lab
“� here was no data about
T
the nutritional content
of the foods that these
chimps eat. It was up to
me and four other interns
to gather that data.”
—Andrea Hill (A16)
�ON SOCIAL MEDIA
ONLY AT ST. JOHN’S...
Follow St. John’s College on Instagram:
#johnniefaces
Instagram.com/sjcannapolis
Instagram.com/sjcsantafe
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 13
�F R OM T H E B E L L T OW E R S
COLLEGIUM
Together in Song
In ancient Rome, “collegium” was a term used
to describe a political or business group that
came together for executive purposes. At St.
John’s, Collegium has nothing to do with executive power, or politics for that matter. Instead,
Collegium is a widely anticipated “talent show”
at the college, held once a semester. Students
typically gather with friends to give a performance, which may range anywhere from piano
solos, choruses, and small bands to a classical
sonata, folk song, or parody. Tutors and staff
may join the onstage festivities, too. “It’s a
Collegium is open to virtually any type of
performance, so adventurous students take the
opportunity to show off skills they have never
before shared with their friends. Students may
perform challenging or unorthodox songs, too,
comforted by the encouraging atmosphere. “It’s
a time for people to come together and sing
and play for each other,” says Stoltzfus. “There
is a feeling of amateurism in the spirit of love,
the love of music making.” Performances at the
most recent Collegium held in the Great Hall
in December included Heart of Courage, an
original piece by current Annapolis Graduate
Institute student Luke Dougherty; Clair de
Lune by Debussy, performed on piano by Bennett Wildauer (A18); The 12 Days of Christmas,
“� t’s a real celebration.
I
Students unwind and let off
steam—and the audience is
incredibly supportive. We
are a very musical college,
and people value making
music with each other.”
Top: Maxwell Dakin (A16), Evan Frolov (A16),
Marina Weber (A16), and Anna Perry (A12) sing
a festive tune. Bottom: The Hamann Hawkins
Tortorelli Trio swing. Right: The Singing
Sensations Youth Choir captivate the audience.
real celebration,” says Eric Stoltzfus, tutor
and music librarian in Annapolis. “Students
unwind and let off steam—and the audience is
incredibly supportive. We are a very musical
college, and people value making music with
each other.”
performed by the acapella group, the Equant;
and Don’t Explain, by Billie Holiday, performed
by MisterSix, a group of mostly Annapolis
tutors.
Every year there are a few staple performances that are highlights of the event. Per
tradition, tutor Judy Seeger leads the audience
in a round of song, and the St. John’s Chorus,
led by tutor Peter Kalkavage, closes the event
with a piece of classical music, typically Mozart
or Bach. Since Collegium takes place before the
winter break and again before graduation, students savor the occasion, with the college community together in song. “The divide between
audience and performer seems to disappear,”
says Stoltzfus. “And people are just simply
happy to see their friends on stage.”
—Nutchapol Boonparlit (A15)
14 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
TONY J PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOS: XINYUAN ZHANG (A17)
—Eric Stoltzfus, Annapolis tutor & music librarian
�LIFT EVERY VOICE
Gospel music filled the Francis Scott Key Auditorium at the ninth
annual “Lift Every Voice” concert, celebrating the life and legacy
of Martin Luther King, Jr. Each year in January, the concert draws
several hundred people to the Annapolis campus, many for the first
time, to share in the uplifting sounds from some of the region’s
finest vocalists, choirs, and musical groups. The King Celebration
Chorus, led by tutor Judy Seeger, welcomed the audience with a
rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”—one of the most cherished
songs of the African American Civil Rights Movement and often
referred to as the Black National Anthem—and encouraged
everyone in the auditorium to lift their voice and sing together.
“I lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 15
��TUTOR VIEW
A REFLECTION ON
by Eva Brann (H89)
There are two ways to go about almost all things that I know of:
You can just go at it or you can think about what you’re doing.
Which first? Well, “thinking about” can come at either end.
“Before” is surely a good time. Students often tell me that they
want to “change the world,” “make a difference”— and seem a
little nonplussed when I ask “for the better?” Yet nothing is more
in need of prudence (= pro-vidence = foresight = imaginative
thinking-things-out) than inducing change.
But so is “after,” a good time, that self-debriefing when you
ask yourself: What did I think I was doing? What unintended
consequence have I called down on the beneficiary-victim of my
deeds —particularly of the kind of action called service?
PHOTO: TOM HOLLYMAN, GETTY IMAGES
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 17
�TUTOR VIEW
“
ervice” is a strange word. It’s derived from the Latin
servitium, “slavery.” And that makes sense. Our chief
service is in “The Service,” the Armed Forces. The
primary law of the military is to obey unconditionally1 and immediately. Here’s another word with a
hidden meaning: “to obey” is from Latin ob-audire,
“to listen to.” (The German word Höriger, literally
“one who listens,” means someone subservient to
another’s bidding—a slave.)
It gets stranger. We have no draft; people
enlist—voluntarily. The Service is voluntary.
“Voluntary” means “of one’s own free will
(voluntas).” Service-men and women freely lay
their life on the line—for wages hardly commensurate with the possible sacrifice.
I think something similar holds for all serious service. Our peaceful civil life depends largely on service, that is, on a sort of self-enslavement. Being
voluntary, it is willingly free, that is, unpaid, and
being serviceable it is obedient to, listens to, makes
That drum major instinct is the desire to
march out front in the parade, to be seen
in the lead of doing good, to shine with
virtue. King, however, tells his flock to be
great by Jesus’s new norm: He “who is
greatest among you shall be your servant.”
itself subservient to, the needs of others. The actual
labor performed may be practically simple, as simple
as ladling out soup, but the two notions involved
are conceptually complex in their very entanglement.
This little essay is supposed to be written under
the aegis of the Reverend Martin Luther King’s sermon “The Drum Major Instinct.” This sermon adds a
third notion to service, besides those of freely giving
up one’s freedom to serve others: That drum major
instinct is the desire to march out front in the parade,
to be seen in the lead of doing good, to shine with
virtue. King, however, tells his flock to be great by
Jesus’s new norm: He “who is greatest among you
shall be your servant.” The Greek text of the New Testament, I might inject here, always says doulos “slave”
and douleuein “to serve as a slave,” to be least.
18 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Yet King also assures his flock that they need
not give up their desire to feel important. He tells
them that they don’t have to know Plato, Aristotle
or Einstein to be good servants. In the interests
of carrying them along, he even suppresses Jesus’s
reputation as a learned young rabbi. His point is:
Jesus “just went around serving and doing good.” I’m
not so sure it works so simply for us; the drum major
instinct, the third notion, has its dangers, which
vibrate through King’s homily.
Before I conclude, here’s a quotation that makes
all my points, linguistic and conceptual at once:
For brothers, you have been called to freedom; only
do not use freedom as a jumping-off place for the
flesh, but by caring-love serve (dia tes agapes douleuete) one another (Galatians 5:13).
So now I’ll introduce a fourth notion, the one to
which I can wholeheartedly subscribe. I found its
formulation in a speech quoted by the contemporary
American novelist I most admire, Marilynne Robinson: 2
…Love knows no servitude. It is that which gilds
with liberty whatever it touches…
Service is to people in need from those who have
the means. It is, ipso facto, top down, from haves to
have-nots, from benefactors to beneficiaries who are
not required to say thank you or to return the favor.
The service, if individual, is—except when delivered
with bumptiously oblivious energy—fraught for the
giver with some residual embarrassment about the
“Lady Bountiful Syndrome” and with some resentful
submission on the part of the beneficiary. And if it
issues from a faceless organization, there’s always
the regulatory hand in the welfare glove and its complementary effect of entitled dependency—unless…?
Unless it’s done as the Reverend Henry Ward
Beecher says: with love, which nullifies the servitude
in service and transmutes the labor of service into
the work of love. This love is not sappily sentimental. It’s anything but unconditional. It has judgment
behind it and withdrawal as a possibility. It’s cheerfully impure: ready to rejoice in its own virtue and to
revel in its achieved effects—as King says it may. But
all that’s on the side.
At the center is interest in and liking for the
people or the place served. “Interest” is my favorite word: from Latin inter-esse, “to be among, to be
there with” the world. “Liking” to me means “Love
toned down for permanence, reliable affection.” It
�can have its moments of sheer being-in-love, but is
more stable than romance.
Since I’m a tutor, there’s got to be a little—
obliquely administered—lesson. It’s this: One, service
is to be done with simplicity and to be reflected on
with subtlety. Two, serve only what you can and do
love.3 Then listen for and freely obey its demands.
Such service may well turn out to be the delight of
your life, even if it’s not unimpeachably esthetic. I’ve
baby-sat two generations of boys (my oldest friend’s
sons and grandsons). Of course, that service included
diaper change. While at it, I often reflected on the
indubitable fact that something so smelly could be so
sweet. It was, of course, the effect of a labor of love.
A last point: it is a fair question where there is
room for leadership in this view of service as selfsubjection—the leadership not of King’s preening
drum major, but of a modest initiator. Well, guessing
what is truly wanted, judging what is in fact needed,
is surely a part of self-dedicated service, and that is
leadership. Students have occasionally asked me how
in their first, probably small-scale, environments as
alumni they can lead, how they can effectively apply
their education to serve their, as-yet-small, world. (My
own faith is mostly in small worlds, the best venues
for humanly efficacious service.)
Here’s a paradigm. Post a notice: “Would anyone
like to read some poetry together?” Give time, place,
possible poem, and promise cookies (essential). Presto,
you’re a founder, the founder of the kind of minuscule
community that does actual good. So you’ve led and
served by daring to be out front. Now do the same
by resolving to be within (interesse), to be within as
a mole, so to speak—a mole being both a burrowing
animal that digs out underground corridors and an
internal spy who prepares clandestine reforms.
One, service is to be done with simplicity
and to be reflected on with subtlety. Two,
serve only what you can and do love. Then
listen for and freely obey its demands.
There is one exception: If the command breaches a
higher law of morality.
HIP / ART RESOURCE, NY
1�
In her book of essays, The Givenness of Things, p. 170
(2015). The speech is by Henry Ward Beecher, an abolitionist and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle
Tom’s Cabin.
2�
My colleague, Peter Kalkavage, recalled an episode from
The Twilight Zone that features the dangers of a hasty rush
to serve, as well as of ambiguous language. Aliens land
on earth, bringing a book of which only the title has been
translated: To Serve Man. Some eager-beaver do-gooders
are preparing to board the spaceship for service in outer
space. Other earthlings, who’ve been examining the volume
more closely, come running: “Don’t go! It’s a cookbook!”
3�
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 19
�20 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�I N S A N TA F E
ROOSEVELT
THE
REFORMER
SANTA FE’S NEW PRESIDENT
HITS THE GROUND RUNNING
BY LESLIE LINTHICUM
MARK ROOSEVELT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MAN IN A HURRY.
Elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1986, three
years after graduating from law school, he pushed
through gay rights legislation that had languished for
decades and overhauled the state’s public school
system. Not yet 40, he became the Massachusetts
Democratic nominee for governor in 1994. After getting
outspent by six to one and beaten by the Republican
incumbent, William Weld, Roosevelt dived back into
public service as an education advocate and with two
challenging rehab projects: taking over the Pittsburgh
public schools and resurrecting shuttered Antioch
College in western Ohio. Roosevelt describes both
projects as “really, really rough,” with institutions in
immediate crisis and communities in deep dissent.
Roosevelt is now 60 and, on the job since January as
the president of the St. John’s Santa Fe campus,
he says he’s exactly where he wants to be.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 21
�S
itting in his airy Weigle Hall office
surrounded by books and overlooking high desert scenery, the lifelong
fixer of broken systems is ready to
become a salesman for liberal arts
education—and especially the rigorous and particular brand that is
offered at St. John’s. “Who have I been before in
my life? I’ve been a reformer. That’s who I am,” says
Roosevelt. “So now I have to be a little bit more of
an evangelical. A seller of a gospel. Because that’s
really what St. John’s needs. It needs more people
to be aware of what it does and how powerful it is.”
Coming to an institution that isn’t essentially broken is a refreshing change for Roosevelt, an avid
reader and historian who also has a fondness for
Santa Fe since eloping there in 2005 and staying for
five months. “I never hesitated in wanting the job,”
says Roosevelt. “It just felt so completely right for
me at this point in my life.”
Roosevelt taught at Brandeis while in Massachusetts and at Carnegie-Mellon during his tenure as
22 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Pittsburgh school superintendent. “So being part of
a larger community of learners, of aspiring learners,
really appeals to me,” he says.
His wife Dorothy and their nine-year-old daughter,
Juliana, have joined him in Santa Fe. “I know this
sounds trite. It is trite,” he says. “But we do feel like
we’re coming home.”
Roosevelt will begin to preach the gospel of St.
John’s at a time when the liberal arts are being
assailed by economic analyses that measure the
value of an ever-more-expensive college education
against future earnings, by collegiate trends away
from core curricula and toward non-academic amenities and by the question of whether college actually
teaches much. He is dismissive of the idea that to
be more attractive to 18-year-olds, colleges should
throw out general education requirements and allow
free-range grazing among electives. Or that colleges
should lower expectations so students don’t struggle.
Roosevelt jumps up from his desk and retrieves a
volume from one of the new shelves recently added
to the president’s office to house part of his collec-
�ROOSEVELT
ON READING
“� HO HAVE I BEEN
W
BEFORE IN MY LIFE?
I’VE BEEN A REFORMER.
THAT’S WHO I AM.”
tion of some 4,000 books. It is Academically Adrift,
by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, which uses data
from the Collegiate Learning Assessment to track
the academic gains of students at four-year colleges
and universities. The authors concluded that nearly
half of students learned nothing in their first two
years of college and about one-third had learned
nothing after four years. “Not a little,” Roosevelt
stresses. “But nothing.”
Although he emphasizes that he has a lot to learn
about the college, Roosevelt believes St. John’s can
find greater success standing in opposition to alarming educational trends. “I think that St. John’s deals
“[Reading] plays a huge part
in my life. Our own worlds,
our own individual lives are
almost by definition very
limited in their scope. We
can only know so many
people. We’re limited by
our personalities. Reading
explodes all of that. I think
reading can also make you
feel much less alone. I think
especially younger people,
some of the emotions and
thoughts and feelings you
have, you wonder, ‘Am I the
only one thinking or feeling
this?’ And reading should
make you feel not alone in
that aspect. I wouldn’t know
what it would be like not
to read. And I actually find
myself, like during this move
when everything’s been very
frenetic, I feel something
missing and suddenly I realize
I’m not reading. I can feel it
like an absence. I also tend
to get too preoccupied with
my own life if I’m not reading.
There’s something about
reading that takes you out of
your own life and gives you
perspective.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 23
�ROOSEVELT
ON LINCOLN
“I’m a Lincoln fanatic,” says
Roosevelt, gesturing to
shelves crammed with books
on the 16th president. “He’s
a wonder to me. One, how
much he suffered. And how
much he tried to do the right
thing, I believe, all the time.
I find criticism of Lincoln to
say much more about the
criticizer than about Lincoln.
I find no evidence that he
didn’t try to move on slavery
as aggressively as he could,
given the circumstances.
And then there’s just the
overwhelming decency
of the man. He was so
unpretentious. I know of no
greater writer in America.
Totally self-taught. Lincoln’s
second inaugural, which I still
think are the greatest words
ever spoken by an American,
is this magnificent, complex
theological document.”
“� T. JOHN’S DEALS IN DEEP,
S
DURABLE THINGS IN AN
ERA THAT IS ATTRACTED
TO MORE GLITTERY,
SUPERFICIAL THINGS.”
in deep, durable things in an era that is attracted to
more glittery, superficial things,” he says. “The fear—a
fear I don’t happen to share—is that it’s so against the
prevailing winds of the dominant culture that it has
lost its relevance. I have exactly the opposite feeling,
which is that the dominant culture needs things like
St. John’s to remind it of what matters more.”
In addition to raising money and being conscious
of costs, Roosevelt says his most immediate task is
to help attract more applicants and build enrollment
on the Santa Fe campus. The college as a whole, he
says, can do more to spread the word to high school
students, parents, and college counselors so that St.
John’s is on the radar of many more students who
might find it to be a good fit.
“I think there’s a certain frustration here that we
haven’t been as successful as we might in telling
people who and what we are,” says Roosevelt. “So
one of the things that I believe I have been hired to
do is be an aggressive proselytizer for what there is
here. And that is a very comfortable role.”
Maxwell King, the executive director of the Pittsburgh Foundation, who worked with Roosevelt in
Pittsburgh, has no doubt Roosevelt is up to the
challenges of raising money and aggressively promoting the merits of St. John’s. He once went with
Roosevelt to a donor looking for funding to launch
The Pittsburgh Promise, a scholarship fund for the
Pittsburgh Public Schools graduates that was Roosevelt’s creation. They went in thinking they might
get $10 million and came out with $100 million. “He
is really persuasive and collaborative,” says King.
“Another of Mark’s great attributes is persistence.
He does not give up.”
24 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�ROOSEVELT
ON ROOSEVELT
Roosevelt is the greatgrandson of President
Theodore Roosevelt and,
like many descendants of
famous people, he has had
a complicated relationship
with the connection,
especially wanting to avoid
the appearance of selfaggrandizement. “But yet,”
Roosevelt says, “I like the
fact that the three famous
Roosevelts were mostly
people I would want to be
associated with and mostly
did things of which I am
proud. So I guess I’ve come to
a point as I’ve aged of being
willing to see myself as an
inheritor of a tradition that
I’m happy to be a part of.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 25
�26 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�SUCCESS STORIES
A PLACE
WHERE
EVERYONE
MATTERS
by Bob Keyes
A fourth grader
hones his skills
during a writing
and photography
field trip.
Heather Davis (SF01) felt the pull
of public service when she first
felt the pain of a broken world.
A friend suffered a violent assault
while studying abroad, and a veil
of innocence fell away.
avis was studying ancient astronomy at a sheltered
campus, nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains, while people around the world, including
someone very dear to her, suffered as victims of violence,
oppression, and prejudice. Shocked and ashamed at
her privileged life, she committed herself to doing
something to alleviate at least a little of the suffering
in the world. Davis learned the ideals of a good, just,
and virtuous society at St. John’s, and put those lessons
into practice with community-building work at nonprofit
organizations in New York City, Austin, Texas, and, now,
Portland, Maine. “I’ve always had a bias toward action,”
says Davis. “I was always interested in what good and
virtue mean in the real world.”
PHOTO: MOLLY HALEY
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 27
�Davis is executive director of The Telling
Room, a nationally recognized writing center
on the Portland waterfront that empowers
students and young adults, many of them
immigrants and refugees, with communication tools to succeed in school, at work,
and in the world. She teaches students to
express themselves in their own words, with
confidence, conviction, and clarity. She turns
shy, quiet kids into storytellers.
Last fall, Davis stood beside First Lady
Michelle Obama at the White House, where
she accepted a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nation’s
highest honor for an after-school arts
program. The White House recognized The
Telling Room’s Young Writers and Leaders
program as a national model for its effectiveness in helping refugees and migrant
youth assimilate American life and culture
by engaging in the arts and humanities. It
serves 45 international, multilingual students, who collectively speak 20 languages.
Among its successes is a 100-percent
college-acceptance rate. There’s a long wait
to get in, and Davis hopes to turn the publicity of the White House award into funding
to expand the program.
The work is timely. With the backdrop of
the ugly national discourse about immigration, The Telling Room personalizes the
issue by helping Maine’s newest residents
tell their stories in their own words and
voices, neighbor to neighbor. “We have the
unique opportunity to let people know who
these kids are, who their families are, and
what they’ve been through,” says Davis.
Davis grew up in Easton, Maryland, in a
home largely without books, the daughter
of parents who were not readers. The school
and town library expanded her horizon
and imagination, and turned her into a
bookworm. “My favorite things were always
talking about reading and writing, and talk-
MOLLY HALEY
SUCCESS STORIES
Heather Davis (SF01) works with a young writer during a workshop.
“� was always interested in what good
I
and virtue mean in the real world.”
ing about books.” She applied for admission
to one college: St. John’s, Annapolis, just
45 minutes from her home. She enrolled in
1997, and transferred after her freshman
year to the Santa Fe campus. She thrived
in the relaxed lifestyle of the Southwest,
while studying Plato, Homer, and Aristotle.
Her junior year, she got a job helping other
students improve their writing by reviewing their papers and offering tips, ideas,
and feedback. “I just loved it,” says Davis. “I
couldn’t believe it was a job I got paid for.”
After St. John’s, she earned her master’s
from Goddard College, a progressive liberal
arts college in Vermont, where she specialized in transformative language arts. After
28 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
college, she searched for work with meaning
as a tutor and volunteered on a crises hotline. She joined the Peace Corps, but left her
assignment in Haiti early because of illness.
She cast a wide net, and toyed with environmental education as her path, but nothing
stuck until she started teaching writing to
kids. She landed at the Harlem Children’s
Zone in New York, where something clicked.
“It was magic for me, and I knew that teaching, writing, arts education, and nonprofits
were where I could make a difference and
feel happy and alive doing it,” says Davis. “I
was in love with it, and still am.”
From there, she moved to Austin, Texas,
where she co-founded a youth writing center
�SMITH GALTNEY
SMITH GALTNEY
called Austin Bat Cave and served as senior
grant writer for Creative Action, a nonprofit
arts education organization. She and her
husband moved to Maine in 2008, after the
birth of their first child. She volunteered
at The Telling Room, was hired as a senior
staff member in 2008 and became its director in 2011. In practice, Davis sits side by
side and gets to know her students.
When they land on a memory, experience,
or significant place or person in their lives,
she asks them to write a few sentences. “We
do it until there’s a framework for a story
about something that really matters to them.”
This is The Telling Room model: Writers tutoring students one on one, coaxing
stories, and building confidence through
self-expression. It’s hard when working with
kids from different cultures, and harder still
when many students are homeless, living
in poverty, or suffering from mental health
issues. “Though in the moment, when sitting
with a kid to talk about their lives and work
on the writing process together, it’s pretty
much just you and that kid connecting as
human beings, which is an incredible experience,” says Davis.
It was front-page news in Maine when
The Telling Room received its award from
the White House. The coverage generated
dialogue in the community and commentary
on newspaper websites, much of it racist
and derogatory. Davis urged her staff to
resist answering the commentators directly.
Instead, she told them to keep doing their
jobs. The best answer is teaching kids to
write and publishing their stories. She told
them what she learned years ago at St.
John’s: “You are participating in the discussion. You are taking a stance, and you are
acting on your beliefs, which are that the
world should be a just, peaceful place where
everyone matters, and everyone has access
to what they need.”
Clockwise from top left: First Lady Michelle
Obama presents a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award to student Ibrahim
Shkara and Executive Director Heather Davis
(SF01) for The Telling Room’s Young Writers and
Leaders program; Telling Room staff members
Heather Davis (SF01) and Andrew Griswold
stand with student Ibrahim Shkara and his
brother at the Capitol building; Ibrahim Shkara’s
mother and younger brother on their way to the
National Arts and Humanities Youth Program
Award ceremony in Washington, D.C.
“� e have the unique opportunity
W
to let people know who these kids are,
who their families are, and what
they’ve been through.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 29
�BIBLIOFILE
JOHN SIFTON (A96)
Uncovering
Abuses of Power
The world Sifton
works in is permeated by a new kind
of violence—its two
sides are terrorism
and the so-called
war on terror.
W
hy do humans engage in violence?
Why do people find it difficult to kill
other people? What is terrorism? Why
are we so fascinated by war? These
are some of the questions that John
Sifton (A96) strives to answer in Violence All Around
(Harvard University Press, 2015). Working with Human
Rights Watch, he has spent time in troubled spots
throughout the world: Afghanistan during the American
invasion, Egypt shortly before the Arab Spring, and
around Africa and Europe searching for the CIA’s secret
detention centers. He combines his personal observations and experiences with philosophical reflections and
historical analysis in this exploration of violence.
Sifton’s book is filled with heart-piercing descriptions of war’s devastating effects on families, cultures,
parents and children, cities and villages—those we
know as victims of violence as well as those who
perpetrate violence. His accounts of visiting sites in
war-ravaged Afghanistan, before September 11 and
the subsequent attacks on Afghanistan by the U.S.,
open the book and set the very personal tone.
Violence is pervasive, from our creation myths (Cain
and Abel, Osiris and Set) to symbols like the Christian cross, and even our white-picket fences (which
come from the French word piquet, “to prick”). The
world Sifton works in is permeated by a new kind of
violence—its two sides are terrorism and the so-called
war on terror. While this battle follows traditional
patterns of military advance and retreat, of political
persuasion and strategic uses of power, of religious
fervor and the justification of certainty, it also
embraces new kinds of alliances, intelligence activity
of previously unknown ferocity, new technology, and
weapons that take war to a new level of impersonality.
As Sifton observes, opportunities for abuses of power
are abundant.
A fascinating focus of this book is Sifton’s long
investigation into the treatment of prisoners on all sides
of the terrorism conflicts. It’s important, he notes, for
humanitarian aid work to be understood as neutral
politically; the aim is to uncover abuses and recommend actions to rectify them. In 2004 and 2005, Sifton
tried to find out what was happening with missing
CIA detainees; in addition to Guantanamo, there were
a number of locations where terrorism suspects and
other persons of interest were held and, presumably,
questioned. He concludes that there were probably CIA
detention centers in Poland and Bulgaria, at least, but is
30 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
unable to prove it conclusively. He picks up the threads
several years later while working as a consultant for
an international law group. His research rivals that of
the journalists he often meets with from the New York
Times and other major media outlets, and his account
is cinematic in its detail—meetings in smoky cafes in
Kabul and in tiny, cold police offices in Warsaw.
In any discussion of violence, one must confront
the idea of nonviolence. Sifton traces back the history
of nonviolence, from Gandhi to Jesus, Vardhamana
(founder of the Jainist religion), and the Buddha;
he observes that while these leaders all promoted
nonviolence (indeed, devout Jainists today wear masks
to avoid inhaling germs or insects), these teachings
seem to find little staying power in the real world. For
instance, while many early Christians were pacifists
and mystics who tended to withdrawal from the
greater world, those of the later Roman Empire, when
Christianity became the official religion, were deeply
engaged in politics. The Catholic Church was an
incredibly powerful political entity, which required using force to achieve its ends. When religion enters the
political realm, it seems the ideals get re-directed and
pragmatism takes hold. Sifton is astute in his analysis
of the paradox, calling on philosophers from Plato to
Descartes to Wittgenstein (and Reinhold Niebuhr, his
own grandfather).
In a world permeated with violence, what role do
human rights organizations play? The book summarizes the discussion within Human Rights Watch about
the possible effect of the group’s support of or opposition to the invasion of Iraq; human rights groups hold
to the tenet that they must remain neutral, judging
only whether a war is fought justly, not whether the
conflict itself is just. Sifton’s ideas on this point and
on his mission are nuanced. While it’s possible to see
the work as invoking “sentimentality,” he also suggests
that in documenting and publicizing abuses, these
groups can “wake the giant” and probe the consciences
of nations into rectifying them. He recognizes, though,
the limits and ironies of such work.
—Charles Green (AGI02)
�Profound Ignorance: Plato’s Charmides
and the Saving of Wisdom
By David Lawrence Levine (Class of 1967)
Lexington Books, 2016
In his new book, Profound Ignorance: Plato’s
Charmides and the Saving of Wisdom, Santa Fe
tutor and former dean David Levine (Class of 1967)
examines Plato’s dialogue and its exploration of
tyranny and Socratic ignorance. Charmides begins
paradoxically; it seeks to have a conversation about
sophrosyne (moderation) with two of Athens’ most
notorious men, Charmides and Critias, who in the
dialogic future are associated with the Thirty Tyrants.
Protagoras: Ancients in Action
By Daniel Silvermintz (AGI01)
Bloomsbury, 2016
The ancient Greek sophist Protagoras (c. 490-420
BC) remains one of the most elusive figures in the
history of philosophy. In the lengthiest surviving
fragment known as the “Great Speech,” Protagoras
argues that virtue is a teachable trait that is common
to all mankind. Despite his upright appearance, his
contemporaries condemned him for having corrupted
his students rather than educating them in virtue.
In his new book, Protagoras: Ancients in Action,
Daniel Silvermintz (AGI01), associate professor and
The Way Back from Broken
By Amber Keyser (SF91)
Carolrhoda Lab, 2015
Amber Keyser’s (SF91) debut young adult novel, The
Way Back from Broken, is the story of 15-year-old
Rakmen and 10-year-old Jacey, who are brought
together by separate traumatic events in their lives.
While spending a summer in the Canadian wilderness,
the two are forced to confront the difficult topic of
death and dying. The book is a slow burn that builds
in intensity as Rakmen and Jacey each struggle to
come to terms with being a survivor and the complex
The dialogue was written after the two became
notorious. The young Charmides, praised as already
possessing all the Athenian virtues, and his guardian
Critias, widely thought “wise,” show their reputations
to be ill-deserved. In addition, Critias thinks himself
a student of Socrates, but, closely examined, his
“Socratic opinions” only show how Socrates’s “beautiful
speeches” can be perverted. Indeed Socrates’s
association with Critias and Charmides was held
against him at his trial. The dialogue can thus be
seen as a defense of Socrates against the corruption
charge, further explicated in the Republic, that Levine
calls “the best commentary on the dialogue.”
director of humanities at the University of HoustonClear Lake, accounts for the conflicted views that
surround Protagoras by showing how a subversive
secret teaching is conveyed between the lines of his
moralistic public teaching. Silvermintz also advances
a provocative argument concerning Protagoras’s
influence on Pericles—the architect of Athenian
democracy—that helps to explain the aristocratic
statesman’s abrupt shift in political allegiance in
support of the poor masses.
emotions—guilt, fear, anger, sadness—that brings. Can
they find healing in the great outdoors? Keyser’s own
personal loss is at the core of the story, as is her deep
connection to the backcountry of northern Ontario.
“Writing this book was part of my own ‘way back from
broken,’” says Keyser. “And although I’ve been told it’s
a tear-jerker, the book’s pages also contain more than
a small portion of hope.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 31
�For & About
ALUMNI
Homecoming 2016
Homecoming is a time to
reunite, reconnect, and
reminisce with friends,
classmates, and the college
community. It is also a time
to make new memories,
meet new friends, and share
SJC with the special people
in your life. We invite you
and your friends and family to celebrate Homecoming 2016
in Santa Fe or Annapolis (or both!) this September! Both
campuses offer child-friendly activities and childcare options.
Don’t forget to make your hotel reservations early.
Santa Fe accommodations:
SJC rates offered at Sage Inn,
La Posada, Hotel Santa Fe, and
Drury Inn on the Plaza.
www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/
santa-fe/santa-fe-business-friends
Annapolis accommodations:
SJC rates offered at Historic
Inns of Annapolis and Sheraton
Annapolis Hotel.
www.sjc.edu/friends/businessfriends/#accommodations
CAST YOUR
VOTE
in the 2016 SJC
Alumni Association
Election:
May 16–June 3
This June, alumni will elect
the treasurer, secretary, and six
at-large members of the Alumni
Association Board of Directors,
as well as one alumni-elected
member of the college’s Board of
Visitors and Governors.
Save the Date
Homecoming 2016
September 16-18 in Santa Fe
September 23-25 in Annapolis
St. John’s College Alumni Office
Annapolis
410-626-2531
annapolis.alumni@sjc.edu
Santa Fe
505-984-6114
santafe.alumni@sjc.edu
Alumni are encouraged to cast
your vote using the online or
paper ballots between May 16
and June 3. Or cast your vote
at the All Alumni Meeting
during the Alumni Leadership
Forum on June 5 in Annapolis
(see next page for ALF details).
HOW TO VOTE
In Person:
Alumni Leadership Forum 2016
The Association’s Annual
Meeting will be held during
ALF weekend on Sunday,
June 5, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on
the Annapolis campus.
32 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Online:
community.stjohnscollege.edu
For an online ballot, login and
click the link under Notice of
Elections and Annual Meeting.
By Mail or Fax:
Request a Paper Ballot
Contact Leo Pickens, Annapolis
director of Alumni Relations,
at 410-295-6926
or leo.pickens@sjc.edu.
Online and paper ballots must
be received by June 3, 2016.
Alumni Association Mission
To strive for the continued
excellence of our college and
fellow alumni by celebrating our
distinctive educational experience,
connecting our community in
efforts toward shared support and
benefit, and fostering a culture
of intellect, generosity, and service.
�7TH ANNUAL
ALUMNI LEADERSHIP
FORUM “To Kindle a Light”
June 3-5, 2016 | Annapolis
The Alumni Leadership Forum
(ALF) is an annual, three-day
event that rotates each year
between the Annapolis and
Santa Fe campuses. Since its
founding in 2010, ALF’s seminars and sessions have brought
together St. John’s alumni to
learn about the current state
of the college and how alumni
can engage with and support
the St. John’s College community, whether through alumni
chapters, as a Class Chair, or
as part of one of the Alumni
Association’s working groups.
Through seminars and workshops, participants of the
2016 ALF will have the opportunity to:
• � evelop tools to support and
D
improve career services
• � iscuss and develop admisD
sions strategies with admissions professionals
• � eceive training in and help
R
formulate social media strategies to build community and
support for the college
And much more
ALF attendees also enjoy a
multitude of social gatherings, seminars, and other
opportunities to catch up with
one another and meet alumni
from other classes. The most
notable of these is the Awards
Banquet held the evening of
the second day of ALF, where
the Association presents
the Volunteer Service Awards
(or “ALFies”) to alumni in
recognition of their leadership
and volunteerism in the
Alumni Community.
To register and for more information, visit sjc.edu/alumni.
Below: Alumni participate in a
workshop at the annual Alumni
Leadership Forum.
PIRAEUS 2016
Thirsting for good conversation?
At Piraeus, St. John’s College
welcomes Johnnies back to the
seminar table. Held on both
campuses and led by tutors,
Piraeus seminars provide
an opportunity to relive the
rigorous classroom experience
over the course of a leisurely
weekend. Named for the port
city that served Athens, Piraeus
brings alumni from all career
paths and geographical areas
back to their educational roots.
Said Thucydides of ancient
Piraeus, “From all the lands,
everything enters.” In that
spirit, we invite you to bring
your voice back to the seminar
table and share in the reflection,
discussion, and community
that Piraeus offers. Upcoming
Piraeus offerings include:
In Annapolis on June 9-12,
tutors Eva Brann (H89) and
Lise van Boxel will lead
seminars on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
novel Tender Is the Night and
the John Keats poem “Ode to a
Nightingale.” Tutors Tom May
and David Townsend will lead
seminars on Leo Tolstoy’s novel
Anna Karenina.
In Santa Fe on August 5-7,
tutor Grant Franks (A77) will
lead a seminar on James Joyce’s
Dubliners, a collection of 15
short stories that form a sparse
and detailed, yet deeply moving,
tableau of middle-class life in
early 20th-century Ireland.
Recent alumni (2006-2016)
receive a special tuition rate.
On-campus housing is available.
To register online and read more
information, visit sjc.edu/piraeus.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 33
�ALUMNI NOTES
1964
Julie Wiggenhorn Winslett (A)
writes, “I’m still teaching English
at the University of North Georgia
and enjoying life in the foothills of
the Blue Ridge Mountains. I feel
lucky to be part of several lively
groups of writers and poets who
have inspired me in my writing.
I’ve finally finished my mystery
novel set in Taos and am now
trying to navigate the intricacies of social media marketing.
If anyone knows of an agent or
publisher in New Mexico who
specializes in mysteries set in the
Southwest, e-mail me at juliewinslett@windstream.net.”
1969
Mark Bernstein (A) published an
article in the Drexel Law Review,
Thomas R. Kline School of Law,
Volume 7, Number 2, titled “Jury
Evaluation of Expert Testimony
under the Federal Rules.” In
the article he explains how the
Federal Rules of Evidence have
detrimentally affected the ability
of the jury to find the facts and
created a highly paid cadre of
professional witnesses.
1972
Washington, D.C. The trio caught
up on family, friends, and the infamous McDowell Hall Bell Clapper
Napper Mystery dating from 1970,
among other things. This spring,
Williams will retire from his
college teaching job to temporarily
relocate to D.C. to be closer to his
new grandson and family.
1966
Constance (Bell) Lindgreen (A)
sends a note from France to
say that one of her short stories
was published last year by the
International Club of Bordeaux
and a second will appear in May,
published by the Gascony Writers
Association.
1967
Rebecca Tendler (A) lives in
Philadelphia, where she loves her
work as a psychologist in a private
practice.
1968
Thomas Keens (SF) received the
Robert M. McAllister Faculty
Mentoring Award from the
Department of Pediatrics at
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
and the Keck School of Medicine
of the University of Southern
California. This prestigious award
is given most years to a faculty
member who “demonstrates the
most effective mentoring through
guiding and nurturing the collegial and professional development
of junior faculty.”
Bob Shimizu (SF) released his
second jazz album, titled “Let’s
Get Together.” The album garnered four stars in Downbeat
Magazine and held a place on the
JazzWeek charts for 10 weeks.
More information can be found at
www.bobshimizu.com.
After 42 years, Irv Williams (A)
reconnected with fellow Johnnies
Christel Stevens (A) and Steve
Hanft (A70) for an afternoon in
Irv Williams (A72), Christel
Stevens (A72), and Steve Hanft
(A70) enjoy a long overdue
reunion in the nation’s capital.
34 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
1973
Galen Breningstall (SF) is working
as a pediatric neurologist at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minn. Insights
into his current state of mind can
be obtained at http://childnervoussystem.blogspot.com.
The art and design work of
Howard Meister (A) were part of a
retrospective group exhibit held in
December by the Magen Gallery in
NYC. The exhibit featured works
by the influential Art Et Industrie
gallery between 1979 and 1999.
Meister and the other prominent
Art Et Industrie gallery artists
were interviewed for a forthcoming documentary film on the art
movement.
Frazier O’Leary (SFGI) is still
teaching in D.C. Public Schools
after 45 years and is a member
of the board of the Toni Morrison
Society. He is also a member of
the board and past president of
the PEN/Faulkner Foundation
and is active with the foundation’s
Writers in Schools program.
Nick Patrone (A), above, made the
front page of the Rocky Mount
Telegram for his 4,300-mile
bicycle trek across the United
States to raise funds for multiple
sclerosis research and treatment. This June 1 to August 1 he
is planning a 62-day ride from
Yorktown, Va. to San Francisco,
covering 3,685 miles as part of the
Trans Am ride for Bike the US for
MS. Learn more and donate at
www.biketheusforms.org/cyclists/
detail.asp?cid=823.
1974
Proud Johnnie parent Jena Morris
(SF) writes to say that her son
Jeremy Breningstall (AGI01)
became a student again in September, having been accepted into
a prestigious cross-disciplinary
program at the University of
California at Berkeley. He is part
of a family of Johnnies that also
includes his father, Galen Breningstall (SF73); his aunt, Aimee Morris
(SF79); and uncles Joe Morris
(SF80) and Jack Morris (SF87).
Janet O’Flynn (A) writes, “It’s a
long way from the Piraeus to Portau-Prince, but a group of Johnnies
is trying to make the connection.”
She and Donnel O’Flynn (A73),
Janis Popowicz Handte (A77),
Malcolm Handte (A75), and Aidan
O’Flynn (A05) are working together
to start a new program in rehabilitation science at the Episcopal
University of Haiti. “Several
�other Johnnies have also, of their
generosity, contributed financially.
Estimates of at least one million
persons who are disabled in Haiti
but not receiving therapy show the
problem they are trying to address.
The school is one of the first in
Haiti to offer academic education
in physical therapy, and the only
one to offer academic education
in occupational therapy, both at
the bachelor’s level. Starting an
educational program like this in
a country with few resources is a
daunting challenge. However, this
group of people was willing to read
Hegel, Homer, and Herodotus,
so courage is not lacking.” Read
more about the O’Flynns’ daily
life in Haiti at haitiotptdegrees.
wordpress.com and more on their
project at www.haitirehab.org.
1977
ONE HIKE AT A TIME
1976
Last summer Robert Godfrey (A)
took a bicycle trip from his home
in Oakland, Calif. to Annapolis,
where he concluded his journey
with a dip in College Creek.
Godfrey happily reports that the
water was cool, clear, and full of
little fish—and did not have a
jellyfish in sight.
After being nominated by President Barack Obama, William W.
Nooter (A) was confirmed by the
U.S. Senate in November and
sworn in on December 22 to serve
as an associate judge on the
Superior Court of the District of
Columbia. Nooter served on the
D.C. Superior Court as a magistrate judge since 2000.
Dave Pex (SF) reports that he has successfully completed hiking the entire 2,650-mile Pacific
Crest Trail (PCT). He completed this endeavor over a five-year period, on nine separate trips, hiking
the trail in sections. Pex completed his first section in 2010, a trip on the John Muir Trail of just
under 250 miles in 16 days. The following year he completed a PCT section from northern Oregon
to central Washington. Since then, he had hiked about two sections a year, the longest being from
Cajon Pass, in southern California, to Mount Whitney (14,505 feet, the highest point in the contiguous U.S.). On September 5 he hiked north from Mount Rainier and headed to Canada. Two days
later he reached Monument 78 at the Canadian border. His wife Jill hiked eight miles south from
the Canadian trailhead and met him with celebratory piña coladas.
1977
Jonathan Wells’s (A) second collection of poems, The Man With Many
Pens, was published by Four Way
Books in October 2015. It includes
poems that had been published
previously in The New Yorker,
AGNI, the Academy of American
Poets Poem-a-Day project, and in
other journals.
Acting D.C. Superior Court Chief
Judge Frederick H. Weisberg swears
in William W. Nooter (A76), with
his wife Elissa Free beside him.
1978
The Princeton Friends of Opera, led
by Anne McMahan (SFGI), helped
bring a semi-staged performance of
Ludwig van Beethoven’s sole opera
Fidelio to audiences there. The
performing ensemble was Grand
Harmonie, a Boston-based periodinstrument group focused on classical and romantic repertoire. The
January 23 performance was the
first one with original instruments
in the United States.
1979
Lisa Simeone (A) made a splash at
the Homewood Museum’s Harvest
Ball, which raised money for the
Baltimore museum’s programs
and collections. Her affection
for vintage fashion was noted in
the Baltimore Sun. She was also
featured in Current’s “The Pub”
podcast that addressed the question, Are public media journalists
really all liberals? Listen to the
podcast (#48) at www.current.org.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 35
�ALUMNI NOTES
After retiring from teaching high
school mathematics, Paul Anthony
Stevens (A) now spends his
time helping family and friends,
reading, playing music, going
to church, riding his bike, and
walking three miles every day.
While recently studying to write
on Plato’s Meno, Stevens learned
that he was born next to the
temple of Zeus in Athens.
1978
Great Books on the Go
1986
1980
Lisa Rosenblum (A) made a huge
career and life change by moving
to Brooklyn, where she is the
new director/chief librarian for
the Brooklyn Public Library. She
is responsible for overseeing the
activities and services offered
at all the system’s 59 branches
as well as the Central Library.
“BPL is doing some amazing
work in meeting the needs of
the community,” she writes. “My
experience working not only as a
library director but also directing
social services in a number of
cities in California was one of the
reasons Brooklyn recruited me.”
James C. White (A) joined the
law firm Parry Tyndall White in
Chapel Hill, N.C. His practice
is evenly divided between
bankruptcy and complex
litigation, and he handled large
lawsuits against banks during the
financial crisis. However, he says
that some of his most satisfying
work involves helping people stay
in their homes, particularly after
wrongful foreclosures.
1984
John L. Bush (SF) won re-election
on November 3 to his third term
on the Blacksburg (Virginia) Town
Council.
In Don Dennis’s (SF) note that
appeared on p. 34 in the fall 2015
issue of The College, the text
should have read “Bohmian” not
Bohemian.
St. John’s makes free (wo)men
from children by means of books
and a balance, but we grow up
through experience. There’s not
an app for that.”
Rita Collins (A) hit the road last summer with her new
traveling bookstore, making appearances throughout
Montana at festivals, fairs, farmers markets, private parties,
and even a galler y opening. She is planning the bookstore’s
itinerar y for 2016, to take it to other states and perhaps
across the countr y. She hopes to run into Johnnies along
the way. “It really is a great way to have a bookstore that
meets people’s needs wherever they happen to be,” she
writes. “Although compact, it can carr y about 600 volumes,
which I keep stocked with a variety from classics to
children’s books to, of course, travel.”
1985
Rob Crutchfield (A82) writes,
“After several years of hard work,
Ruth Johnston (A) has published
her fourth book, Re-Modeling
the Mind: Personality in Balance
(Pannebaker Press, 2015). In it
Ruth outlines a new model of
human personality, based on brain
science, the theories of Carl Jung,
and the Jungian typology of the
Meyers-Briggs personality test.
She uses the model to account for
individual differences in innate
tendencies of thinking, feeling,
and behavior and to explore
the difference those differences
make in life. Jung’s types have
been known and used for many
36 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
years, but this book stands out
in articulating the underlying
system which gives rise to them.
One of the book’s most original
and interesting sections deals with
which different types of personality tend to get along best in marriage. Ruth’s debilitating illness is
still unidentified and untreated.
Donations are welcome and can be
made at www.gofundme.com/helpruth-johnston.”
Maggie Hohle (A) writes,
“I moved to Japan after
graduation, wrote nonfiction
for fifteen years there and
fifteen here. My daughter just
returned from Europe, now
with friends from everywhere.
Kristen Baumgardner Caven (SF)
kept busy in 2015. In January,
she wrote lyrics to Franz Liszt’s
Invocation, with pianist Daniel
Finnamore. In March, she blogged
about her trip to Italy with Jennifer
Flynn Israel (A). In September her
novel The Souls of Her Feet came
out in paperback, and she began
hosting “shoe salons.” In September she spoke at Mills College
about chronicling the historic 1990
student revolt and began co-producing “The Heart of the Muse,” a
salon for creatives. In November,
she launched a city-wide reading
group of her book The Bullying
Antidote for 3,000 Oakland, Calif.
readers. (Throughout the year, she
gave talks to parents on “Zorgos,”
the superpower described in this
book.) During the summer, she
was fortunate to spend a weekend
in Santa Fe and visit the campus
for the first time in over a decade,
visiting with Will Fischer (SF) and
Janette Hradecky Fischer (SF85).
Highlights were soaking in mud
with Mike Ryan (SF), the molé
sauce at Pasquales, and (deep
breath!) a 20-minute writing
retreat at Abuquiu Lake. Visit
www.kristencaven.com for all
the details.
1987
Michael R. (Vitakis) Brown (A)
is currently living in Austin,
Texas and hungering to return to
northern California. In late 2014
he was featured in a film on the
American feminist proto-Surrealist Mary MacLane (1881-1929),
about whom he has written and
published several books. Future
book projects include a first-ever
biography and detailed study of
MacLane and a philosophicalspiritual synthesis provisionally
entitled Beyond Fragmentation.
�PROFILE
CLARITY OF
MISSION
By Robin Weiss
Erinn Woodside (AGI)
Leads a Life of Service
JENNIFER BEHRENS
A
fter deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and a U.N. peacekeeping mission during the peak
of the Ebola crisis in Liberia,
30-year-old Captain Erinn Woodside (AGI) finds that civilian life, “sitting at
a desk,” makes her antsy. Raised in a Navy
family, Woodside and her two siblings were
homeschooled by their mother. At age 10,
inspired by her grandmother’s work on the
Atlas Rocket Program, Woodside savored
what she calls “astronaut dreams.”
The science curriculum and discipline of a
service academy initially drew Woodside to the United States Air Force
Academy, where she graduated in 2008. “It was the best and worst
time of my adult life,” says Woodside, who found the “very mechanical,
lecture-based” teaching methods disappointing. As one of the 15 percent
of women among four thousand cadets, she endured teasing and insults.
But “living daily with nasty jokes makes you tough,” she says, and the
whole program, “designed to keep you stressed, as a constant state,” was
excellent preparation for deployments.
When cyber warfare was relatively new, her first assignment, as a
communications officer in San Antonio, trained her in cyber development.
Two years later, Woodside volunteered to serve in Iraq and arrived at
Camp Victory Base, a city of fifty thousand within Bagdad, between two
campaigns: Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. As platoon leader,
working 12 to 18 hours a day with her soldiers in a signals battalion, she
recalls her experience as both wonderful and awful.
Woodside made time to engage with 65 Iraqi girls, ages 4 to 15,
from on and off base, in a popular scouts-like program. However, two
weeks before leaving Iraq, she sustained a percussive brain injury from a
rocket bomb. “We call it ‘getting blown up’,” she says. Though tests found
no brain bleeding, cognitive problems affecting memory and attention
plagued her for years. Firefighter friends took her in and cared for her,
until she was flown back to Texas for months of medical hold.
During her next assignment in Fort Meade, Maryland, Woodside,
dismissing her injury, volunteered for Afghanistan, just nine months after
returning from Iraq. She loved what she calls “the clarity of mission.”
But despite the rewards of working off base 18 hours a day, seven days a
week, she could no longer ignore her symptoms from the blast.
Back at Fort Meade in fall 2012, Woodside received intensive medical
attention at Walter Reed Hospital. Neurological exams revealed lesions
consistent with blast damage; she was diagnosed with a mild traumatic
brain injury. Woodside learned that overwhelming guilt and denial are
common symptoms following trauma. Without a missing limb or bullet
wound, “I felt I was taking resources away from others,” she says. Woodside received a Purple Heart, the military decoration awarded to soldiers
wounded or killed while serving.
In summer 2014, after hearing an ad on NPR, she applied and jumped
into the St. John’s Graduate Institute while still an active duty officer.
Three GI segments later, she volunteered to serve in Liberia. “It’s one
of the poorest countries in the world, just this side of a failed state,” she
says, noting that it has only five paved roads and little to no hydro and
electrical infrastructure. Woodside felt welcomed as the only woman in
her “truly global” team, representing at least 10 countries and five religions. With “no touching, no physical contact,” they tracked the spread of
Ebola, while living alongside, interviewing, and educating locals.
In her fourth GI segment, Woodside values “the soft skills” gained
from the St. John’s curriculum. “The heart of the program, to suspend
pre-conceived notions and look at something from a different perspective, to withhold judgment” creates, for her, “a similar mindset to
deployment. The openness of mind that the program fosters produced
the very skills I needed in Liberia and elsewhere.” She tolerates no
excuses for fear-based ignorance, and loves to shatter stereotypes. “If
there is one thing I’ve learned, both in the world and at St. John’s, it’s
that there is so much gray.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 37
�ALUMNI NOTES
around the country, and it has won
several awards, including First
Prize for the Providence Film Festival Award at the Rhode Island
International Film Festival.” More
information is available at www.
happygramthemovie.com.
Joyce Turner (A) moved back to
South Carolina last year, though
she regularly returns to Iowa,
where she still works for the
Writers’ Workshop. Last fall she
taught composition as an adjunct
lecturer in South Carolina and is
currently working on a novel and
some nonfiction projects. “I miss
the St. John’s Coffee Shop, waltz
parties, and long walks through
the bricked streets of Annapolis,”
she writes. “Please feel free to
drop me a note if you’re planning
to be in the Charlotte, N.C. area.”
Max Ochs (AGI) released a collection of 65 poems titled Just Caws.
Daniel Reilly (SF) is beginning his
10th year with the National Democratic Institute, a D.C.- based
NGO that provides democracy and
governance support in challenging
environments around the world.
He enjoys his work on operational
security for National Democratic
Institute missions and offices.
Now based in Maryland, Reilly
and his wife Seheno are celebrating 13 years of marriage and have
two daughters, Diamondra (8) and
Holisoa (5), and three guinea pigs.
1988
Elaine Pinkerton Coleman (SFGI)
has two books scheduled for
upcoming release: Santa Fe on
Foot (Ocean Tree Books) and All
the Wrong Places (Pocol Press), a
suspense novel set in the Southwest. Look for her musings on
adoption and life on her blog www.
elainepinkerton.wordpress.com.
Erin Milnes (A) reports that she is
now creative director for Catchword Branding, a national naming
firm based in Oakland, Calif.
“Being a generalist with language
skills is key for this work, so
naming could be a great fit for
Johnnies, particularly if they are
into language, symbols, messaging, semantics. I love it!”
1990
Kilian James Garvey (SF) gave
a TEDx talk last October on
“Geography of Morality.” The
talk, a non-data discussion of
the empirical research he does
analyzing the pathogen prevalent
theory of human values, is
available on YouTube.
Fritz Hinrichs (A) finished two
videos on Homer’s Iliad and
Odyssey, which are both available
on YouTube.
1993
Erika Suski (A) welcomes Johnnies
to drop her a line at P.O. Box 1133,
Dumfries, VA 22026.
1996
1991
Kemmer Anderson (AGI91) made
his fourth trip to the Holy Land.
1992
research into what had caused her
mammogram to miss her cancer
until it had metastasized.” They
discovered that mammograms are
ineffective for the 40 percent of
women with dense breast tissue
who account for 70 percent of
invasive cancers, missing 50 to
75 percent of cancers in these
women. “This is the main reason
that breast cancer screening
has failed to reduce the rate of
metastatic breast cancer in the
U.S., and it is the source of neverending controversy surrounding
mammography. Happygram is a
documentary about this issue that
I started before Hallie died. It has
been screened at film festivals
Kemmer Anderson (AGI) and his
wife traveled to Israel and Palestine in October. In Bethlehem
he read the poem “Bethlehem
2002” from his new book Songs of
Bethlehem: Nativity Poems. His
poem “Mary of Nazareth: 2015”
was published in Sojourners in
January 2016, and he is currently
working on a new set of poems.
Julie Marron (SF) writes, “Hallie
Leighton (SF) was one of my
closest friends. In 2010, she was
diagnosed with metastatic breast
cancer after several years of mammograms. She died in 2013 at the
age of 42. After she was initially
diagnosed, the two of us conducted
38 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Loreen Keller (AGI) completed her
doctoral studies at Northeastern
University and was awarded her
Ed.D. in September 2015. Her
dissertation “Adjunct Faculty
Engagement: Connections in
Pursuit of Student Success” was
published in October.
Jake McPherson (SFGI) started a
new job as the consumer affairs
chief for Hawaii’s Department
of Health’s Adult Mental Health
Division.
1997
Heidi (Jacot) Hewett’s (A) first
story The Curious Case of the
Clockwork Doll (18thWall Productions) was published in January
as part of a new anthology of
Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Read
more on her blog http://hjhreader.
blogspot.com.
�2000
Leo Vladimirsky (A) had two
more short stories published:
“Dandelion” on Boing Boing and
“Squidtown” in the January/February 2016 issue of the Magazine
of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
INSPIRING CHANGE
2002
MAXIMILIAN FRANZ, THE DAILY RECORD
James Marshall Crotty’s (SFGI)
feature-length documentary
Crotty’s Kids has secured global
distribution through Passion River
Films. Learn more at www.passionriver.com/crottys-kids.
2003
Melanie Santiago-Mosier (A) (center) was named one of 2015’s
Leading Women by The Daily Record, Maryland’s premier legal and
business newspaper. Leading Women recognizes women age 40
or younger for the tremendous accomplishments they have made
so far in their career. They are judged on professional experience,
community involvement, and a commitment to inspiring change.
An award ceremony was held December 7 in Annapolis; her profile
appeared in the December 8, 2015 issue of The Daily Record in
its special Leading Women publication, available online at http://
thedailyrecord.com/leading-women/melanie-santiago-mosier.
Jane McManus (A), who is still
covering the NFL for ESPN and
a columnist for espnW, has taken
on two new roles. In December
she began co-hosting a national
radio show on Saturdays for ESPN
Radio and is co-teaching the
sports journalism class this spring
at the Columbia Graduate School
of Journalism. In other news, she
finally hung up her skates after
seven years of playing roller derby
and is on the lookout for another
challenge.
1998
Richard Field (SF) published From
the Sands of the Arena: Ancient
World Trivia for the 21st Century.
The book contains trivia from
three eras: ancient and classical
Greece, Hellenism, and Republican and Imperial Rome.
2001
Jonathan Culp (A) is now an
associate professor of politics at
the University of Dallas. He and
his wife Natalie and their five
children live in Irving, Texas.
Kagan Coughlin (A) is a trustee
at Base Camp Coding Academy,
which provides Mississippi’s underadvantaged youth with vocational
training in computer programming
to support the technology needs of
local and regional employers. The
charitable, nonprofit organization
was recently awarded a grant to
help train the state’s next generation of software developers.
Wilson Dunlavey (A) had a momentous year. He graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley
School of Law last spring and
defended his Ph.D. thesis at the
Humboldt-Universitaet in Berlin
in September, earning him the
dubious distinction of receiving
two doctoral degrees in the same
calendar year. His dissertation
examines the history of German
public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, and nation-branding in the
United States in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. He is now a
civil rights and class action attorney at the firm Lieff, Cabraser,
Heimann, and Bernstein in downtown San Francisco.
Alexandria Poole (A) joined Elizabethtown College as assistant
professor in the Department of
Politics, Philosophy and Legal
Studies. She teaches introductory
courses in ethics and philosophy,
as well a course in comparative environmental philosophy:
perspectives from the Americas.
She also is associate managing
editor of Environmental Ethics,
a founding journal of the field.
Her primary research interests
are comparative environmental
philosophy, environmental ethics,
and sustainability.
Lewis Slawsky (A) and Alexander Wall (A) have established a
publishing imprint, digest, and
online magazine called Political
Animal, dedicated to elevating the
quality of political discourse in
North America. It also addresses
the subject of politics in a manner
that will be familiar to many
Johnnies, with a special concern
for philosophy and an eye to the
unity of knowledge. Political
Animal welcomes article submissions and book manuscripts from
SJC alumni. Visit them at www.
politicalanimalmagazine.com.
Michael Waldock (SFGI) completed a new novel How I Saved
the British Empire: Reminiscences
of a Bicycling Tour of Great
Britain in the Year 1901 (Ailemo
Books, 2015). He notes that
most of the ancillary characters
and events were real, and he
immersed himself in the year
1901 using the annual versions
of such publications as The
Illustrated London News, Tatler,
The Sphere, among others, to get
timing and content right.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 39
�ALUMNI NOTES
2004
Suzie (née Vlcek) Lee (SF, EC05)
recently earned a second master’s
degree in nutrition and functional
medicine and is a clinical nutritionist and chiropractic physician in
private practice in Alameda, Calif.
Angus MacCaull (SF) managed to
combine his two passions, food
and writing. His new picture book
for kids, Lawnteel at the Store, is
the story about a young lentil that
faces a tough financial question:
What to buy with your only leaf?
David Penn (SF) and Britt Hofer
(SF) announce the release of their
first wines, under the label Krater.
Inspired by former Santa Fe tutor
John Cornell and many notable
alumni winemakers, they are
thrilled to have wines of their own
to offer to the fray—and be part of
St. John’s’ rich and long connection with wine. Learn more at
kratercellars.com.
After working in the industry for
five years, Eric Schaefer (SF) seized
an opportunity to open up his
own sightseeing company in San
Francisco. SF Adventure Tours is
a one-man operation that offers
unique city tours, Marin County
and Muir Woods tours, and beer
tasting trips. He invites alumni in
the area to come by to say hello.
2006
Norman Allen’s (AGI) play The
House Halfway was named a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre
Center’s prestigious National
Playwrights Conference, and his
children’s play A Lump of Coal
for Christmas opened at Adventure Theatre in Maryland to rave
reviews. In addition, his essay
“Finding a House that Fits,” which
features his time at St. John’s,
was published in Yes! Magazine.
Constantino Diaz-Duran (A) writes,
“I’m getting married in May to
David Khalaf, an author based
in Portland, Oregon, where I also
live these days. We met two years
ago through the Gay Christian
Network, and I’m grateful to be
able to do life with someone who
shares my faith. We’ve launched
a blog (http://daveandtino.com)
discussing the sometimes complicated issues surrounding Christianity, sexuality, and marriage.”
2007
Charles Kitchen (A) is the Nevada
deputy operations director for
the Bernie Sanders Presidential
Campaign.
James Wrigley (A) lives in North
Conway, N.H. and works for the
Appalachian Mountain Club. On
New Year’s Eve, he and his wife
Courtney celebrated the birth of
their baby, Evelyn Jean Wrigley.
2008
After graduation, Jack Brown
(A) lived and taught in Lebanon
for six months, and then joined
the Peace Corps. While serving
in Senegal, West Africa, he met
Emily, the love of his life. They
moved to Seattle in 2013 and
were married on August 29, 2015
in a delightful affair, with many
Johnnies in attendance. Brown
is a software engineer and looks
forward to buying a house, acquiring pets, and eventually starting
a family.
Kayla Gamin (A) got married in
2014. Later this year, she will
graduate from the University of
Chicago Law School and begin
work at a D.C. government agency.
2009
Marcello Kilani (SF) is the current
Macricostas Professor of Hellenic
Studies at Western Connecticut
State University. This one-year
visiting professorship, endowed by
the Macricostas family, supports
courses in ancient Greek philosophy and culture. Kilani delivered a
public lecture “Ethics and Identity
in a World of Chance” on March 16
at the university.
Left: David Penn (SF04)
crushes the Cabernet
Franc at Krater winery
in Sonoma County.
BRITT HOFER (SF04)
Do you have news to share
with The College? Send your
note, along with your name,
class year, and photo(s), to
thecollegemagazine@sjc.edu.
40 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
�2008
Renaissance Woman
Terrill Legueri (SFGI) and Kane
Turner (SFGI) were married on
September 12 in Santa Fe at
Church of the Holy Faith, with
many Johnnies in attendance.
KATHI BAHR
From the left: Ross Hunt (A05,
SFGI10); Clara Terrell (SFGI10);
Ian Dag (SFGI); Terrill Legueri
(SFGI); Stacia Denhart (SFGI);
Kanishka Marasinghe (SFGI10);
tutor Matthew Davis; Lisa Marasinghe (Johnnie by association);
Kane Turner (SFGI); Allison Roper
(SFGI10); John Hobson (SFGI);
and tutor Natalie Elliot.
Laura (Waleryszak) Zak (SF) co-wrote, co-produced, and stars
in the new six-episode series Her Story. Featuring predominantly
LGBTQ women, the first season, which premiered online on
January 19, follows two transgender women in Los Angeles who
had given up on love until chance encounters suddenly give them
hope. Zak plays a reporter with a passion for social change and
an endless curiosity for experiences that differ from her own.
Watch the series and learn more at http://herstoryshow.com.
Kea Wilson’s (SF) first novel is
scheduled for release on August 23
from Simon and Schuster/Scribner. We Eat Our Own is about the
production of an Italian horror
film in the Amazon rain forest in
1979, based loosely on true events.
He says Euripedes, Aristotle,
Dante, and Rousseau were key
touchstones for him as he wrote
the book.
2010
Marianna Brotherton (A) and Jake
Crabbs (A09) were married in Killington, Vt. on June 20. The couple
currently resides in Chicago.
JR Johnstone (SF) recently
accepted a position as a research
coordinator at the Johns Hopkins
Berman Institute of Bioethics.
2011
Brittany (Olson) Johnstone (SF)
will graduate in June from the
University of Denver with an education specialist degree in child,
family and school psychology.
2013
Michael Fogleman (A) writes, “I
am currently a resident at the
Center for Mindful Learning,
where I work, live, and meditate
full time. I began practicing
meditation while at St. John’s,
something that was born out of
my relationship to the books I
was reading. After graduating,
it seemed fruitful to spend even
more time dedicating myself
to that practice. Moreover, the
Center is a very interesting organization. Not only are we what we
call a ‘modern monastery,’ but we
are also a nonprofit, and one that
is run like a start-up organization. I am heavily involved in the
process of seeking a new business
model and putting the skills I
learned at St. John’s to good use.”
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 41
�ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, GREENFIELD LIBRARY
IN MEMORIAM
Nancy Lewis (H01)
December 7, 2015
Registrar, Annapolis
Nancy Rawlings Lewis (1933-2015), who served for 20 years as
the registrar at St. John’s, Annapolis, died peacefully at her home,
surrounded by family. Born in Washington, D.C. to Nellie Morton
Rawlings and Herbert Lee Rawlings, she spent her childhood in
Forest Glen Park, Maryland and attended the University of Maryland. There she met and married artist Eric Winter and traveled
with him to Juneau, Alaska, where the first of their four children
was born. Two years later they moved to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin
Islands, where they raised their children in a home they built out
of ruins of the Christensen farm in Estate Tutu. In St. Thomas,
Lewis managed the A. H. Riise art gallery and the Sheltered
Workshop for disabled adults. After the marriage ended, Lewis
moved with the children to Barcelona, Spain, where they settled
for five years in the seaside town of Sitges. There she became part
of a creative international expatriate community.
In 1976, she relocated to Annapolis and joined the staff at
St. John’s, where she worked until her retirement in 1998. She
was on the board of the Friends of St. John’s and a member of
the Caritas Society. In 1984 she married an old college friend
42 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Nancy Lewis (H01) in 1992, working with student Devin Rushing-Schurr (A93)
“Nancy conducted all duties of [the
Registrar’s Office] with astute attention to detail and calm organization.
Her natural grace and her care for
others, especially students, permeated
every part of her responsibilities.”
—Annapolis Dean Pamela Kraus
Fred Lewis; the couple remained together for 31 years. At a
celebration of life service held in McDowell Hall, Lewis was
remembered for her warmth, kindness, humor, and grace. She
is survived by her husband, Fred; two daughters Page Winter
and Leslie Winter Mills; two sons Eric Winter and Cy Winter;
stepson, Freddie Lewis; brother, Herbert Rawlings; eight grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren.
�IN MEMORIAM
Matthew Frame (A73)
July 24, 2015
Known for his sharp wit and
gentle nature, Matthew Albritton Frame (1951-2015) passed
away peacefully at home in
Raleigh, North Carolina. After
a rewarding 30-year career as a
software engineer and systems
architect with IBM, Frame
retired in 2008, and began his
second career as a full-time
bridge professional. His natural
ability to understand and process complex information, and
his extremely logical mind, fueled his success in both careers;
his generosity was evident in his
volunteer work and mentorship
to aspiring bridge players. Two
maxims that Frame lived by
throughout his last year were:
“It’s never too late to do the
right thing” and “Relish every
moment left on this earth.”
In this spirit, he devoted his
abbreviated time to the people
and passions he cherished most,
including his four children
Laura Knox, Mark, Rebecca,
and Susannah; his granddaughter, Allie Knox; six surviving
siblings David, James, Jr., Margaret Lipton, Martha, Ruth, and
Shannah Frame Whitney; and
numerous other relatives.
Jeremy Tarcher
Class of 1953
September 20, 2015
Jeremy Phillip Tarcher (19322015), who founded the publishing house that bears his name,
died at his home in Los Angeles.
Considered a maverick in the
industry, in the early 1960s
Tarcher packaged book deals
for celebrities, including Phyllis
Diller’s Housekeeping Hints and
Johnny Carson’s Happiness Is a
Dry Martini. Later inspired by
New Age thinking about human
potential, he brought California’s counterculture to the
mainstream with such works
as Drawing on the Right Side of
the Brain by Betty Edwards and
The Aquarian Conspiracy by
Marilyn Ferguson. “I published
books I cared about rather than
books people thought would
sell,” he told Publishers Weekly
in 2013. “But it turned out that
there were thousands of readers out there like me.” In the
early 1970s, Tarcher founded
the house, known first as J.P.
Tarcher, specializing in nonfiction books on health, psychology, and New Age spirituality.
Today it is part of the Tarcher
Perigee imprint of Penguin
Random House, the company
where Tarcher remained until
1996. He published numerous
bestsellers, including Women
Who Love Too Much by Robin
Norwood, The Faith of George
W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield,
Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class
by Bikram Choudhury, and The
United States of Wal-Mart by
John Dicker, among others. He
married the television puppeteer and children’s author Shari
Lewis in 1958 and went on to
produce her Saturday morning TV show for several years
and publish some of her books,
including The Kids-Only Club
Book. The couple also collaborated on a script for an episode
of Star Trek. Tarcher grew up in
a prosperous family of readers, with him as the exception.
After he was rejected by nearly
every other college he applied
to, Tarcher found a home at
St. John’s. In a 1982 interview
with the Los Angeles Times he
recalled, “I would not be what I
am now, where I am now, had it
not been for St. John’s.”
Ernest Heinmuller
Class of 1942
December 5, 2015
Ernest Jean Heinmuller (19212015) was a member of the first
class to graduate from the New
Program at St. John’s College.
Born in Baltimore to Ernest
Richard and Angeline Magne
Heinmuller, he grew up in
Easton, Maryland. In 1943, he
married Donna Hoyt, his high
school sweetheart, and later
joined the U.S. Coast Guard.
He served in three theaters of
WWII as a submarine hunter
off the U.S. coast, troop rescue
in the English Channel during
the invasion of Normandy, and
other assignments in the South
Pacific. His ship was awarded
the Coast Guard Outstanding
Service medal with star and
the Defense medal with star.
At the end of WWII, he and
his wife returned to Easton,
where he opened an office for
Monroe Systems for Business
A portrait of Ernest Heinmuller,
Class of 1942, as a senior
and served as manager and
head of sales for the next 28
years. Heinmuller is survived
by his son H. Hoyt of Alamo,
Texas; his daughter Jodie
Peirce of Chapel Hill, North
Carolina; four granddaughters
Dee, Lynn Heinmuller Fisher,
Shayn Peirce Cottler, and Leyf
Peirce Starling; eight greatgrandchildren; and two greatgreat-grandchildren. Heinmuller
was preceded in death by his
wife, and his daughter Frances.
Amy Kass
August 19, 2015
Tutor, Annapolis
Amy Apfel Kass (1940-2015),
who taught at St John’s in the
early 1970s, died in Washington,
D.C. She grew up in New York
City and earned degrees at the
University of Chicago, Brandeis,
and Johns Hopkins, where she
wrote a history of the great
books movement and founding of
the New Program at St. John’s
College. In 1976 she returned to
the University of Chicago, where
she taught humanities and great
books classes for 34 years. Classes on works by Homer, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Melville, and
G. Eliot were among the most
popular. She co-founded the “Human Being and Citizen” course,
and taught in the “Fundamentals: Issues and Texts” program.
During her teaching career,
she organized the “Toqueville
Seminars on Civic Leadership,”
and “Dialogues on Civic Philanthropy,” and edited anthologies
of readings on American autobiography, philanthropy, courtship
and marriage, American identity,
and American national holidays,
all widely used in high school
and college classes, workshops
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 43
�and seminars, and by independent readers. She served on the
Council on Humanities for the
National Endowment for the Humanities, and was a fellow at the
Hudson Institute in Washington.
Kass lectured at St. John’s and
was a familiar visitor at Friday
Night Lectures and the question
periods that follow. Whenever
she met students she thought
would thrive at St. John’s she
urged them to consider attending. Many St. John’s alumni
met her in graduate school at
Chicago; some of them and
others have returned as tutors
in Annapolis or Santa Fe. Kass
was the living proof of how very
important like-minded friends
are to St. John’s College as an
institution, to its students, and
to the faculty that make this
their primary home. She is
survived by her husband, Leon
R. Kass, of Washington; two
daughters; four granddaughters;
and hundreds of students whose
lives she helped to shape.
Larry Dutton (SF74)
Terry McGuire (H12)
July 14, 2015
March 6, 2016
Maria Kwong (SF73) shares the
following remembrance about
her friend Larry Roscoe Dutton
(1950-2015): Larry’s life spanned
many realms, from his beginnings in the heart of the Midwest to his years at St. John’s
College, where I and many
others forged a lifelong bond with
him; to his more than 10 years in
Los Angeles, where he lived with
my family, began his practice in
Tibetan Buddhism, and met his
life partner and wife, Sharon
McMillan. Returning to Santa
Fe, they continued to practice
Tibetan Buddhism and furthered the teachings of Chögyam
Trungpa Rinpoche. Those who
loved him remember a man of
many passions, particularly
music, and whose sense of the
absurd informed his wit. A
spiritual, intelligent, kind, caring, and fiercely loyal friend, he
will be deeply missed by those
who knew him.
Theresia “Terry” J. McGuire
(1947-2016), assistant to eight
deans on the Annapolis campus,
passed away from cancer. Terry
joined St. John’s in 1969 as
secretary to the assistant dean.
Her extraordinary talent was
noticed quickly, and she was
singled out to be the dean’s
assistant, beginning with the
deanship of Curtis Wilson, in
1976. She retired in May 2015
after 46 years at the college.
Her powers of organization,
prodigious memory, and gracious professionalism informed
Also Deceased:
John R. Garland, Class of 1950
October 23, 2015
Anne M. Ahern, A69
June 26, 2015
Christopher Gillen, A90
August 24, 2015
Gerald (Jerry) Milhollan,
Class of 1958
September 26, 2015
William Randall Salisbury,
Class of 1962
November 14, 2015
Joseph L. Berkman,
Class of 1951
April 8, 2014
George Gilbert Graham, SF73
December 18, 2015
Edward W. Mullinix,
Class of 1945
December 9, 2015
Jon Sanford, SFGI79
October 20, 2015
Frederick James Blachly,
Class of 1966
November 21, 2015
Jeffrey Frost Burnham, A01
August 2, 2015
William F. Church III,
Class of 1967
September 1, 2015
Paul Ringgold Comegys, Sr.,
Class of 1941
January 13, 2016
Caryl Actis-Grande, SFGI09
November 28, 2015
Ernest C. Hammond, Jr.,
Class of 1962
September 13, 2015
Amy (Carle) Jobes, Class of 1959
August 23, 2015
Michael C. Jordan, A74
January 24, 2016
Susanne Elizabeth Martin, A68
August 14, 2015
Elisabeth Funnell, Class of 1966
October 24, 2015
44 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
and fortified the deans in their
duties, from their initiation in
the office to completion of their
terms. Her natural good cheer,
forgiving nature, courtesy,
and uncomplaining fortitude
enriched the spirits of all in
countless ways. She was a force
of benevolent togetherness, for
us as members not only of the
St. John’s community but that
of all living things.
Terry McGuire (H12) with various deans
with whom she had worked. From left:
George Doskow, Eva Brann (H89),
Terry McGuire, Michael Dink (A75),
Pamela Kraus, Sam Kutler (Class of
1954), and Harvey Flaumenhaft.
Jonathon Josiah Orbeton, SF00
November 12, 2015
William Westerman Simmons,
Class of 1948
January 18, 2016
Maryrose Vigna Patrone,
SFGI80
November 2, 2015
Helen Roelker (Sparrow) Sisk,
SF85
October 1, 2015
Royal Parker Pollokoff,
Class of 1947
January 8, 2016
Rina Swentzell, SFGI70
October 30, 2015
Robert (Bo) H. Reynolds,
Classof 1940
November 27, 2015
Eric Daniel Rosenberg, A01
October 14, 2015
Susan Tixier, SFGI03
October 8, 2015
Suzy Ellin Van Massenhove,
Class of 1962
September 7, 2015
Nathan James Walker, A86
January 3, 2014
�PHILANTHROPY
A Lasting Tribute
Donald Esselborn (A80) (1951-1991)
died too young. Twenty-five years after
his death on October 30, his classmates,
led by Charlotte Murphy (A80) and with
help from Steve Edwards (A80), Rebecca
Krafft (A80), Kate McCullough (A80),
Annapolis Director of Alumni Relations
Leo Pickens (A78), and members of the
college’s grounds crew, planted a tree in
Esselborn’s memory on the front campus in Annapolis. The linden basswood,
native to North America, with beautiful,
heart-shaped leaves, stands along the
brick walkway that stretches from Prince
George Street to McDowell Hall. Years
previous at a Homecoming celebration
in Annapolis, Murphy joined with Dante
Beretta (A80) and Josh Kates (A80), and
held a wine tasting in honor of Esselborn.
There they heard stories, often filled with
humor, from fellow classmates and alumni
Great Gift
Edmond Freeman first set eyes on Santa
Fe in the early 1980s, when he and his
wife June stopped there on the way to a
Southern Newspaper Publishers Association meeting in Colorado Springs.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy
in Annapolis, Freeman knew that St.
John’s had a campus in Santa Fe and
made a point to visit. He and June fell in
from other class years. “He had made a
lot of friends through singing and acting
on campus and hanging out at the Coffee
Shop,” says Murphy. “Many students
found comfort in talking with him and
listening to his take on being a Johnnie—
he loved it.”
During the planting ceremony, the
group buried a sugar bowl in the tree
roots, filled with ashes of classmates’
written notes about Esselborn, photos,
his favorite play titles, and sheet music
of beloved songs. Following a rendition of
“People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield,
the intimate ceremony concluded with
a moment of silence. “I loved Donald,
and the tragedy of his death has not left
me,” says Murphy. “I had to plant this
tree, and I feel lucky that circumstances
conspired so I could. Trees capture the
abiding strength of love like few other
tributes can.”
love with the city—the Spanish-Native
influences in the architecture, the jogging
and hiking trails, the majestic mountain
backdrop. It was the start of a relationship that culminated in 2015, when June
gave $25,000 to establish the Edmond
Wroe Freeman III Scholarship Fund to
honor her husband’s lifelong love of learning and teaching.
Graduating from high school in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas during WWII, Freeman
always straddled two worlds; while serving as an Ensign on an aircraft carrier,
he was reading Plato and Hume for a
correspondence course in philosophy
from the University of Chicago. He left
the Navy in 1949 to study philosophy
and English at Chicago. After he and
June got married the following year,
Freeman joined his family’s newspaper,
the Pine Bluff Commercial. “At that time
I wasn’t sure whether I was going to
make that my life’s work,” says Freeman. “But as it turned out, that was.”
He served as editor and eventually
succeeded his father as publisher, where
he was known for his curiosity, thirst
for knowledge, and great eye for talent.
One of the paper’s editorial page editors,
Paul Greenberg, won the Pulitzer Prize
in 1969 under Freeman’s editorial direction. “He made people better writers,”
says Freeman’s daughter, Gretchen.
Edmond recently made a second gift
of $25,000 to the fund, and both of their
children have also given to the fund. The
family says that the scholarship criteria
will be set by St. John’s, but Edmond has
a clear vision of the kind of student it
will encourage: “Curious. Open-minded.
Interested in reading. Having a thirst for
knowledge.”
—Jan Schlain
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 45
�JOHNNIE VOICES
MY MOST VALUABLE INVESTMENT:
A MASTER’S DEGREE IN GREAT BOOKS
By Russell Max Simon (SFGI06)
I
n April 2015, I made the final payment on my student loan. I borrowed nearly $21,000—about half
the amount it costs to get a master’s
degree from St. John’s College.
Unless you obtain a professional degree
in a field such as law or medicine, I
believe graduate school to be generally a
waste of time and money. Time should be
spent learning what is needed to get the
job you want by apprenticing or working to gain real-world experience—not to
mention money.
Yet as I make my final payment eight
years into a twenty-year loan for what
many consider to be a glorified philosophy
degree, I can say without hesitation that
my graduate education is the most valuable thing I’ve ever bought.
The most obvious value comes from my
first, most crucial jobs: rungs on the career
ladder given to me by St. John’s alumni or
employers who sought St. John’s graduate
students. An editor who was sick of hiring
journalism school students gave me my
first job as a journalist. A St. John’s alumnus gave me my first job as a marketing
professional, and continues to recruit from
St. John’s. Both employers wanted a St.
John’s grad. Perhaps only one out of ten
employers appreciates my degree, but
they only want someone like me. It made
getting those jobs extremely easy.
Jobs are just the beginning. Here’s
the long answer as to why my St. John’s
education is so valuable.
Americans collectively hold $1.2 trillion
in student loan debt. Most took on that
debt because of a misconception about what
has value. People think education is mainly
about skills transference, yet our education system transfers skills that will soon
be out of date, if they aren’t already. Our
competitive economy moves too fast for an
education based on skills transference.
Yet many people take massive time out
from building their careers and pay tens of
thousands of dollars—or go into debt— to
learn skills that will soon be out of date, or
were never useful in the first place.
Like them, with my undergraduate history degree in hand, I thought that I had
the skills that would help me succeed in
life. If someone had asked me what those
skills were, I couldn’t have identified them.
Soon after finishing undergraduate,
I read Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the
American Mind, a scathing critique of
what liberal education has become in
the past forty years: not a tool to develop
great thinkers, but a means of instilling
openness, which Bloom calls the great
American virtue.
At liberal arts institutions across
America, Bloom observes, every culture is
valid and every idea deserves respect. In
classes such as “comparative politics” or
“comparative religion,” we compare and
contrast republicanism to communism or
Islam to Christianity in a non-judgmental
manner. That is a mistake. In life, everything requires judgment. Some ideas are
less valid than others. Such judgment is
what helps people and companies succeed.
The most difficult question for most
of us in our daily work is what do I do
next? That’s judgment. For menial jobs,
including those occupied by over-educated
graduate interns in the think tanks and
nonprofits of Washington, D.C., where I
live, judgment is not necessary. But as
soon as you achieve a modicum of success
in any industry, judgment becomes essential, including the ability to judge which
ideas are valid, which are idiotic, and
which ones require an honest discussion.
46 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
Nearly every creative pursuit, including starting or managing a business,
requires incisive judgment. The typical
liberal arts education, which emphasizes
non-judgmental cultural understanding
and openness to every idea, works against
your chances of succeeding.
Judgment is the first thing that gets
blown up at St. John’s, so that it can be
rebuilt from the ground up. Not all ideas
are considered equally valid; some are just
plain wrong. Not everyone is entitled to
their own unique snowflake of an opinion.
Each great thinker in history became
so in part by calling out some ideas as
wrong, arguing for what they considered
the correct idea. It started with Aristotle
faulting Plato, and continued from there.
A great, three-thousand-yearlong conversation about fundamental questions
regarding the nature of humans, reality,
knowledge, and more, has been ongoing
since the time of the Greeks.
The higher one rises in any profession, the more one must make judgment
calls with which people will disagree. At
the highest levels, most people disagree
with your judgments. Which brings me
to the next skill that St. John’s teaches:
an assurance in your ability to learn new
things, one of the most valuable skills for
succeeding in the economy of the future.
No curriculum keeps up with the pace
of change in today’s world. The skills you
learned in school will be obsolete by the
time you leave. All that matters is your
capacity to adapt.
St. John’s students think they can learn
anything, because of the difficulty of the
readings and their source. Go ahead—
try to read Heidegger. Then try to learn
calculus from Newton’s Principia Mathematica, widely understood as the most
�difficult textbook ever.
St. John’s students learn through the
eyes of the first mover, the first discoverer,
the first thinker. Renaissance artists’
experiments in color inform a painting
class. The replication of experiments by
Niels Bohr are among the foundations for
learning the principles of physics. Geometry is taught by working through Euclid’s
Elements; every St. John’s student can recite the definition of a point from memory:
“That which has no part.” It’s no wonder
that St. John’s students are perfectly
comfortable swinging between abstract
philosophy and hardcore math and science.
They understand how one discipline relies
upon and interweaves with the other.
It’s no wonder that we think we can
learn anything. We experience the same
process as those who first learned the
greatest things, from a phenomenology of
the spirit to the theory of relativity. We
receive road maps to the thinking of the
greatest minds in history. We are helped
to find our way through to the end, and
are then asked to make a major judgment
call: is it true?
Those with pre-existing bias are told
to address the argument. Those who rely
on flimsy logic are swiftly taken down by
the Socratic method, through withering
questioning from wicked-smart professors
called “tutors,” none of whom accepts the
fallacy that all opinions are equally valid.
The confidence I gained by communing,
grappling with, and defending (or attacking) the great thinkers led me to launch
into careers in which I had no formal
training—and succeed. I have embarked
on crash-course self-training regimens
in evolving industries that advanced my
career and earnings potential, inventing new ways of doing things and new
processes. In investment-speak, dividends
will continue for decades to come.
If you require conventional measures
of success in order to accept the value
I’m describing, consider that I am director of marketing for a $60-plus million
“�Perhaps only one out of ten employers
appreciates my degree, but they only
want someone like me.”
company; that I do most of my work from
the comfort of my home in Silver Spring,
Maryland, which I own with my partner;
that we have three amazing kids; that I
follow my passions of travel, writing, filmmaking, and adventuring as passionately
as I do my career; and that I consider
myself rich in material wealth, meaningful relationships with family and friends,
and creative fulfillment.
My education led me to think in the
grandest terms possible, and to expect
great things from myself. When you shoot
for the stars, every once in a while you
are able to reach the moon. I would say
you can’t teach that kind of thing. But
evidently, you can.
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 47
�JENNIFER BEHRENS
S T. J O H N ’ S F O R E V E R
THE COLLEGE 1.0
A previous incarnation of The College
appeared in the mailboxes of alumni in
the 1960s and early 1970s. “Our aim is to
indicate . . . why, in our opinion, St. John’s
comes closer than any other college in
the nation to being what a college should
be. If ever well placed beacon lights were
needed by American education it is now.
By publishing articles about the work of
the College, articles reflecting the distinctive life of the mind that is the College,
we hope to add a watt or two to the beacon light that is St. John’s”—so went the
editorial mission. The College contained
news, lectures and talks, and alumni
notes. Many of Jacob Klein’s writings first
appeared in its pages.
48 THE C OL L E GE | ST. JOH N ’ S C OL L E G E | S PR I N G 2 016
In 1974 The College was discontinued and
The Reporter, a tabloid format newsprint
quarterly, launched. It contained St.
John’s news and alumni notes, while a few
years later the St. John’s Review was conceived to publish lectures, reviews, and
thought pieces reflective of the St. John’s
Program. The last issue of The Reporter
appeared in fall 1999. The St. John’s
Review continues to publish twice a year,
and it can be found on the college website
at www.sjc.edu/blog/st-johns-review.
The College 2.0 was born in 2000. Reader,
it’s in your hands.
—-Barbara Goyette (A73)
�EIDOS
I have been an art therapist for twenty-five
years, beginning at a women’s clinic for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault,
and childhood abuse, later developing an
arts-in-healthcare program for a cancer hospital, and most recently providing therapy
at an eating disorder treatment center and
teaching within two art therapy graduate
programs. My career requires I tend two
identities: psychotherapist/clinician and
artist. Because clinical work pays the bills,
it is challenging to keep in focus my asessential artist self. With patients, I use a
variety of art modalities including visual art,
creative writing, movement, storytelling, and
music. My primary personal art practices are
poetry, Celtic harp playing, and kinesthetic,
process-focused drawing/painting/printmaking. I have published three books of poetry
and one nonfiction book on environmental
stewardship through the arts.
that reconciles mind, body, and spirit, and
unites the person to the world. I experience
poeisis within each art therapy session as
an improvised collaboration between three
partners: myself; another person who is suffering emotionally, spiritually, and physically;
and the universal field of imagination/soul.
—-Liza Hyatt (SF85)
Learn more about Liza Hyatt (SF85)
at lizahyatt.com.
Liza Hyatt,
Grief Angel,
1995,
monotype.
One word that best sums up the work of
art therapy is the ancient Greek poiesis,
meaning “to make.” Poiesis is a creating
THE CO LLEG E | S T. JOH N ’S C OLLEGE | SPRING 2016 iii
�Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Annapolis, MD
Permit N0. 120
Communications Office
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
JENNIFER BEHRENS
Address Service Requested
�
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Volume 41, Issue 1 of the <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Spring 2016.
The College
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Text
The
College
St. John’s College
•
Annapolis
f a l l
•
2 0 0 3
Santa Fe
Virgil
A n d t h e Pow e r
of Language
�On Virgil
n the introduction to his celebrated verse translation of the Aeneid, Allen Mandlebaum acknowledges he came late to Virgil, having been influenced by other great
minds (Mark Van Doren and Samuel Coleridge among them) to think that Virgil
was less worthy of serious attention than others in the canon. Mandlebaum, who
spoke at Santa Fe’s commencement this May, writes that Virgil often loses out in
the Homer-Virgil-Dante triangle, but he makes a case that Virgil’s poetic voice is
one worth listening to, something he discovered in the six years he worked on the translation.
Virgil “speaks of a time of peace achieved, and no man ever felt more deeply the part of the
defeated and the lost,” writes Mandlebaum.
Publius Vergilius Maro was born near Mantua in Northern Italy in the year 70 BC. He was
the son of a small farmer, but the family lands were confiscated by the Triumvirs, later restored
to Virgil, and then lost again. By this time, however, good connections—particularly his friendship with Octavianus, the future Emperor Augustus—gave Virgil status and financial means to
pursue the life of the poet.
Virgil’s first biographer, Aelius Donatus, writing in the fourth century, described him as
“large in person and stature, with a swarthy complexion, a peasant’s brown, and uneven health,
for he commonly suffered from pain in his stomach, throat, and head; indeed, he often spat up
blood.” Because of his status with Augustus, Virgil had it made, says Donatus: “No matter what
he asked of Augustus, he never met with refusal. Every year he supported his parents with gold
in abundance.” Like Homer, Virgil didn’t lack for detractors—including those who labeled him
as a political opportunist or propagandist for Augustus. Donatus pictures Virgil as a careful
critic and editor of his own work: “It is handed down that, while he was composing the
Georgics, he usually dictated a great number of verses which he had thought out in the morning, and would, in revising them throughout the day, reduce them to a very small number...”
Samuel Johnson recommended Virgil’s method to the writers of his time.
Virgil’s Eclogues, or Bucolics, completed in 37 B.C. in Rome, celebrate rural life, a theme
he continued in the Georgics, completed in 30 B.C. Virgil next turned to the Aeneid, which
consumed the last 10 years of his life. He died in Brindisi in 19 B.C., his plans to revise his work
cut short. The story is that on his deathbed, Virgil ordered that the Aeneid be destroyed, but it
was saved from the flames and protected by Augustus—giving Romans more than a work of
literature—an enduring hero and a national epic of a scale appropriate to their role in history.
In this issue of The College, we consider Virgil in the context of language, specifically Latin.
The 1949 Bulletin of the college is a good document to consult if you want to understand a little
about language and its place in the Program. That was the year Latin, originally part of Barr
and Buchanan’s New Program and taught at the College for more than 200 years, was dropped
to make way for two years of Greek.
Language, according to the Bulletin, is “man’s most intimate external possession. The
trained language sense extends man’s imaginative powers. We therefore move on it with an
organized strategy. The effects are in sustained powers of imagination and therefore in
increased attention and powers of analytic thought.”
I
—RH
The College (usps 018-750)
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.
Annapolis
410-626-2539
reharty@sjca.edu
Rosemary Harty, editor
Sus3an Borden, managing editor
Jennifer Behrens, art director
Advisory Board
John Christensen
Harvey Flaumenhaft
Roberta Gable
Barbara Goyette
Kathryn Heines
Pamela Kraus
Joseph Macfarland
Jo Ann Mattson
Eric Salem
Brother Robert Smith
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
alumni@sjcsf.edu
Laura J. Mulry, Santa Fe editor
Advisory Board
Michael Franco
David Levine
Andra Maguran
Margaret Odell
Ginger Roherty
Mark St. John
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�fall 2003
Vo l u m e 2 9 , I s s u e 3
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
12
Living Languages
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
Johnnies in linguistics contribute to
human understanding.
•
•
•
16
Johnnies and Latin
page
•
•
•
Sona si linguam latinam ames.
18
A Moment of Glory
11
page 12
page
27
28
What goes into preparing commencement ceremonies in Santa Fe and
Annapolis? Plus, speeches, serious
and light-hearted.
John Balkcom Steps Down
An Extraordinary Gift
Tales from the Tour Guides
Making Room in Annapolis
Rankings, Ratings and Plaudits
Increasing Diversity
Sharon Bishop Leads Board
letters
bibliofile
alumni
P RO F I L E S
29 Lovejoy Duryea (A67) and the eidos
of design
30 Tony Miller (class of 1961), Hot Wheels
designer
22
Santa Fe Comes Home
37 Geoff Marslett (SF96), animator and
page
college instructor
40
The pioneering class of 1968 was among
those returning to campus in July.
from the bell towers
Kitty Kinzer (AGI87)
Jimmy Matthews (HA99)
Vernon Derr (Class of 1948)
page 18
24
Hobbes in Prison
obituaries
page
42
campus life
Great books authors provide croquet
commentary
Alumnus Mark Lindley (A67) takes great
books discussions behind prison walls.
44
tutors
Grant Franks’ (A77) odyssey on Shadowfax
48
page 38
on the cover
Virgil
Illustration by David Johnson
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
Moving On
Santa Fe’s President John Balkcom, SFGI00, Steps Down
In early June, after much soulsearching, Santa Fe President
John Balkcom decided to step
down, just short of three years
in office. The college community responded to the news
with shock, dismay, and questions—chief among them, why
would someone who seemed so
perfect for a job walk away
from it?
But for Balkcom, a huge
weight was lifted from his
shoulders. After months of
feeling that he wasn’t doing the
job he had hoped to do, his
decision was firm, and he had
gained a measure of peace. As
he met with Annapolis President Christopher Nelson and
Sharon Bishop, chair of the
Board of Visitors and Governors, Balkcom decided to
speak “plainly and truthfully”
about his difficult choice.
“I simply said, ‘I don’t like
this job,’” Balkcom said. “I
could not see my way clear to
what I would find both excellent and satisfying. I could have
gotten by and done enough
things to be satisfactory, at
least in the minds of many, but
I wouldn’t be satisfied with it.
And that decision would lack
integrity.”
On September 1, Balkcom’s
term as the third Santa Fe
president ended; Annapolis
President Christopher Nelson
became acting president and
will serve both campuses while
the board launches a presidential search.
To explain the state of mind
that led to his decision, Balkcom reaches for the analogy of
The Ed Sullivan Show act in
which a performer juggles
spinning plates. “I felt as if I
had plates spinning on a lot of
poles and I was dropping too
many of them,” he said. “In
recent months, I didn’t have a
sense of gaining on the job.”
A successful management
consultant who had risen to
partnership in a major Chicago
firm, Balkcom was a popular
choice, particularly among
Santa Fe faculty who found
both a scholar and an able businessman in Balkcom. He had
earned a bachelor’s degree in
philosophy from Princeton and
an MBA from the University of
Chicago. After accompanying
his daughter Rachel (also
SFGI00) on a visit to St. John’s
in Santa Fe, Balkcom became
intrigued with the college. He
enrolled first in the college’s
Summer Classics program,
then the Graduate Institute,
and in 1995 joined the college’s
board.
Balkcom began his duties
soon after his November 2000
appointment. He won respect
on campus by postponing his
inauguration ceremony, initially scheduled for three days
after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. When the college lost
its natural gas because of a
pipeline problem, he invited
students to his home, Hunt
House, to do their laundry.
Students were drawn to his
friendly manner and sincere
interest in them. By 2002, faculty salaries were finally equalized with those of Annapolis
and a campus master plan was
nearly complete this spring.
But Balkcom felt a growing
unease and frustration.
By way of an example, Balkcom describes a campus meeting that seemed interminable;
every possible solution to what
Balkcom saw as a black-andwhite issue was being analyzed
and debated. “Why can’t we
wrap this up?” he was thinking
to himself. “I came to see that
much greater patience is essential for a president at St. John’s.
teri thomson randall
by Rosemary Harty
Carol and John Balkcom expect to remain involved in the life of
the college.
Students, faculty, staff—these
are not three bodies that automatically agree.”
An article in the Santa Fe
New Mexican questioned
whether the college’s structure, in which the dean is given
authority over matters of
instruction, rendered Balkcom
powerless to make some important decisions. Balkcom firmly
dismisses this idea, along with
questions about whether the
Management Committee structure of the college or domination by Annapolis contributed
to his departure. This July,
Balkcom was scheduled to take
over leadership of the Management Committee from Nelson.
Balkcom is pleased that in
Santa Fe, the college has
enjoyed three straight years of
operating surpluses, an accomplishment he quickly shares
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
with Santa Fe Treasurer Bryan
Valentine. He’s pleased that
the Santa Fe campus has an
excellent advancement team,
led by Vice President Michael
Franco, in place. There’s no
question that the presidency is
a challenging job. “It’s a hard
job, a complex job, a seven-daya-week job, a thrilling job.
There’s no question that it can
be done here and it can be done
well,” he says.
The hardest thing Balkcom
has to do, he says, is to walk
away from the students. He has
enjoyed his conversations with
them more than any other
aspect of his job. “The greatest
sense of loss I have is with
respect to the students. I’ve
loved hanging out with them,
going to dinners and waltz parties, I love going down to the
continued on p. 3
�{From the Bell Towers}
3
“An Extraordinary Gift”
Alumnus Ronald H. Fielding Gives the College $10 Million
St. John’s College has received a $10 million gift from investment
fund manager Ronald H. Fielding of Rochester, N.Y., a 1970 graduate of the Annapolis campus and member of the college’s Board
of Visitors and Governors. It is the largest single gift from an individual in the college’s 300-year history.
Fielding, who built a $3 billion mutual fund group by ignoring
Wall Street conventions and persisting against the odds, has
directed his gift to an endowment for need-based financial aid.
“Part of the reason for this gift is to thank the college for having
provided me with financial aid at a critical time in my life,” said
Fielding. He has also remained grateful that the college’s rigorous
program prepared him to succeed in business.“My St. John’s
education has been invaluable in meeting my investment career
challenges more than a quarter-century after completing business
school,” he said.
The third of six children raised in a modest home, Fielding
began earning money delivering newspapers at the age of 7. He set
his sights on a prep-school education and won a nearly full scholarship to the prestigious Putney School in Vermont. He had
applied to four colleges, but passed over St. John’s because two
older brothers (Richard, A66, and Robert, A68) attended. Though
he got into Reed College, his first choice, the financial aid Reed
offered fell short. So Fielding applied to St. John’s on his high
school graduation day. Already keenly ambitious, he spent a
summer riding the train to Boston and working in a menial job at
MIT, wondering about his future. He was greatly relieved when
his acceptance letter, conveying a full-tuition financial aid package, arrived from St. John’s.
Still, Fielding expected to transfer after his freshman year. He
applied to Reed again and this time received enough financial aid.
But by then, he had fallen in love with the Program. He stayed.
“It wasn’t a particular book or tutor. I was hooked on the learning experience,” he explains.
Fielding came to St. John’s expecting to pursue a career in science, but reading Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations steered him to
the business world. After graduating from St. John’s, he went on
to earn a master’s degree in economics and an M.B.A. from the
University of Rochester. He
worked in financial analysis
and portfolio management in
banking before launching his
own enterprise, Fielding Management Company, in 1982.
He built from the ground up a
high-performing bond group
that caught the attention of
OppenheimerFunds Inc.,
which bought his firm in 1996
for an estimated $80 million.
Fielding is now senior vice
president and portfolio managRonald Fielding’s $10 million
er of OppenheimerFunds’
gift makes a promising start for
municipal bond division.
the college’s next fund-raising
In announcing his gift at
campaign.
the July board meeting in
Santa Fe, Fielding described
a conversation he had the
previous night with a Johnnie who was thinking about an investment career. “I told him not to worry that he may lack certain
practical investment buzz words or operating tips. Ultimately the
St. John’s education is perfect in providing students with the mental tools to face new problems and provide logically sound solutions to issues and opportunities which only emerge after business
school classes and texts are completed.”
Annapolis President Christopher Nelson (SF70) applauded his
former classmate’s generosity. Nelson and Fielding both served on
student government together, Nelson as president, and Fielding
as treasurer. Fielding’s gift is a promising start to the college’s
next capital campaign, expected to begin in 2005.
“I think Ron has done what so many of us alumni wish we could
do: give something meaningful back to the school that changed
our lives,” Nelson said. “In his case, this extraordinary gift will in
turn change the lives of many, many more to come.” x
Balkcom
dining hall and just sitting
down and joining in their conversations. I think they’re
fascinating, engaging, brilliant,
and fun.”
As of late summer, Balkcom’s next steps were undecided. His wife, Carol, was committed to completing her work
as a volunteer coordinator of
the Tecolote Group, an independent program for public
school teachers created by
Tutor Steve Van Luchene and
hosted by the Santa Fe campus;
for that reason, the couple
expected to be in Hunt House
through September. Balkcom
had already received several job
inquiries by late summer,
accepting none because he
prefers to take time to read,
think, and watch some of the
baseball movies (he’s been a
Cubs fan for decades) that were
farewell gifts from Nelson and
the board. He and Carol
expected to move back to their
home in Evanston, Ill.
He has also offered to contin-
ue to serve the college by coleading weekend seminars—
such as the seminar he expected
to co-lead with Tutor Michael
Rawn in late September with
representatives of the Santa Fe
Institute and the Boston Consulting Group—and assisting
with fund-raising efforts. He
and his wife Carol will host a
reception for prospective students on Saturday, November 8,
in the library she had built for
him during his last term in the
Graduate Institute. He’s also
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
hoping to return to the G.I. in
the summer of 2004 to take the
history segment.
Even though he has the
degree, Balkcom is still curious, still eager to learn something new, looking forward to
discussing great ideas with his
classmates, and still committed
to the board’s vision of assuring “this brilliantly conceived
small college” (a phrase he borrows often from Tutor Emeritus William Darkey) has another 300 years in its future. x
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
Tales from the Tour Guides
that there are no electives.
You’ll spend the whole tour
with them, talking about the
Program, and later on they’ll
ask ‘what kind of visual arts
classes do you offer?’” Jenna
Questions that indicate
you’ve got a lot of
explaining to do:
“Some of them just can’t handle
the altitude in Santa Fe, so we
don’t always make it to the gym.
I just point it out.” Jenna
“So this is a liberal arts
school?” Siobhan
“Is this a liberal school?”
Roseanna
“Is this a Catholic school?”
Siobhan
“How do you decide what a
great book is?” Molly
“What do tutors do?” Roseanna
“What were your SAT scores?
What was your GPA? It’s hard to
explain scores and grades and
all the things from high school
that you leave behind when you
come to St. John’s.” Siobhan
“Some of them can’t fathom
No. 1 parent question,
hands down:
“What are you going to do
when you graduate?” Siobhan,
Jenna
Brutal honesty:
“I tell them the chairs are
uncomfortable.” Roseanna
“Sometimes they will ask ‘what
don’t you like about it here?’ I
could cite specific readings, but
I also talk about why we can’t do
things like study abroad. And
it’s too small a community to
offer a really diverse experience.” Jenna
dave trozzo
They don’t always wear sensible
shoes. They don’t dress formally, wear t-shirts with the college
logo, or pin on a name badge.
But they are infinitely patient
with questions from prospectives, parents, and sometimes
people just passing through
town on their way to a college
they really plan to apply to.
They’re diligent in responding
to querulous e-mail questions
and always give the honest
answer, not necessarily the
viewbook line. They smile a lot.
This summer, on the Annapolis campus tour guide duties fell
to Siobhan Aitchison, a rising
junior from San Diego, Calif.,
and Roseanna White, a rising
senior from Wiley Ford, W.Va.
In Santa Fe, rising senior Jenna
Beck, of Bishop, Calif., and
Molly Wright, rising junior of
St. Joseph, Mo., led tours. Each
gave at least a tour a day, traveling the same pathways and
describing the Program for
three months in the summer.
By August, they sounded a little
weary, but still managed enthusiasm for Euclid, Barr and
Buchanan, the Great Hall, and
the view of Monte Sol.
Here are some of their observations:
Above, tour guides Siobhan Aitchison and Roseanna White led
tours in Annapolis. Molly Wright and Jenna Beck shared the
duty in Santa Fe this summer.
“They won’t look you in the
eye.” Roseanna
“The roughest tours are when
the student isn’t really interested and no amount of telling
them how excited you are about
the Program will do any good.”
Molly
remember Faraday’s name. I
think I ended up saying, ‘this
guy.’” Siobhan
“I had an alumnus take over my
tour. He just walked up to the
group, started talking to them
about various hiking trails, all
kinds of things. Then he trailed
off and I took the opportunity to
end the tour.” Molly
“The brochures all make a big
deal of there being no tests and
there is the music quiz and the
algebra quiz.” Roseanna
When you know you’ll be
seeing them at Convocation:
“And ‘no textbooks’—our lab
manuals are like poorly bound
textbooks.” Siobhan
“When they say, ‘I’m applying
here and nowhere else.’”
Roseanna
“I love the fact that I get to talk
to people who are excited about
the Program.” Molly
“When they ask good, hard
questions about the Program.
Those are the people who will
make the best students in seminar.” Molly
“One woman gave me a bag of
jelly beans.” Roseanna
It’s not the heat, it’s the
altitude:
“When they ask, ‘is it really as
good as it sounds?’” Jenna
You know you’ve lost
them when:
Most embarrassing
moment:
“They don’t ask any questions.”
Siobhan
“I fell down a flight of stairs during a tour of Santa Fe Hall. I just
got up and continued the tour.”
Molly
“Their parents ask all the questions.” Roseanna
“One girl just couldn’t get over
the math in the Program. I
tried to tell her how I didn’t
like math, but how sophomore
math was beautiful. It’s not like
high school math. But she just
couldn’t get over the math.
Siobhan
“I had a tutor come up to me
while I was giving a tour and
ask, ‘oh, is this your family?’”
Roseanna
“I was giving a tour of the labs
in Mellon Hall and describing
the Faraday experiment where
you put your friends in a cage
and electrify it. I couldn’t
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
Perks of the job:
“The more I give tours, the
more I appreciate what I’ve
done here. No, I don’t remember everything I did in freshman
laboratory. But I realize how
[the Program] has affected me
and how glad I am that I came
here.” Siobhan
Strangest e-mails:
“I had such fun with one e-mail
that asked whether we harbor
creative, cutting-edge thinking.
My first response was ‘what do
you mean by cutting edge?’ The
ideas that are popular today or
the timeless ideas that are and
always will be cutting edge?”
Jenna
“One person asked, ‘how do you
treat people with green hair?’”
Siobhan x
�5
{From the Bell Towers}
Announcements
Four new tutors have joined
the faculty of the Santa Fe
campus:
DEBORAH GARFIELD
received a B.A. in English from
Agnes Scott College and a
Ph.D. from the University of
Virginia in 1990. Her dissertation was titled “Emersonian
Eros: Women, Privation and
Power in the American Novel,”
and she has a work in progress:
“Alternative Origins: American Culture, Female Narrative
and the Aesthetic of New
Beginnings, 1871-1936.”
JONATHAN HAND received a
B.A. in political philosophy
from Harvard University and a
Ph.D. from the Committee on
Social Thought at the University of Chicago. His dissertation
was titled “Tocqueville’s ‘New
Political Science’ a Critical
Assessment of Montesquieu’s
Vision of a Liberal Modernity.”
ERIC POPPELE is a 1989 graduate of St. John’s College,
Santa Fe. Poppele received a
master’s in environmental
engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and
is a Ph.D. candidate in civil
engineering at the University
of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
His thesis is titled “The Cohesive Strength of Biofilms.”
A 1993 graduate of St. John’s
in Annapolis, JOSEPH WALTER
STERLING pursued graduate
studies in the Department of
Philosophy at Emory University and expects to receive a
Ph.D. from Emory in the fall of
2003. His dissertation is titled
“Exigencies of the Political.”
For the last four years, he has
been working as an adult learning instructor for Project
H.O.M.E., designing, implementing, coordinating, and
teaching adult learning programs, and integrating educational services with special
needs of homeless, mental
health, substance abuse, and
low-income populations.
In addition, Tutor MATTHEW
DAVIS has taken the post of
assistant dean in Santa Fe. A
1982 graduate of St. John’s
College, Annapolis, Davis
holds a master’s from Dalhousie University and a Ph.D.
in political science from
Boston College. x
Agresto to Baghdad
Former Santa Fe President
JOHN AGRESTO has been selected as senior adviser to the Iraqi
Ministry of Higher Education
and Scientific Research. He
assumed his post in Baghdad in
early September. American
occupation authorities named
Agresto to the post of senior
adviser, an 18-month assignment that could be extended.
Iraq’s former Minister of
Higher Education, who was
No. 43 on a most-wanted list
published by the United States,
was captured earlier this year.
Agresto is also president of
Agresto and Associates, an
educational consulting firm.
He served as president of the
Santa Fe campus from 19902000. x
New Alumni Director
Roxanne Seagraves (SF83) of
Tucson, Ariz., has been named
director of Alumni Activities
for the Santa Fe campus,
replacing Tahmina Shalizi,
who stepped down last spring
to pursue other career
avenues.
In addition to her St. John’s
degree, Seagraves has a master
of divinity from the Starr King
School for the Ministry in
Berkeley, Calif., and a Ph.D.
from the Graduate Theological
Union, also in Berkeley. Most
recently she served as a prevention specialist at a Tucson elementary school, providing
intervention and counseling
support for students and their
mary ruffin
New Faculty in Santa Fe
Aspiring Musician Wins
Cooke Scholarship
Junior TIMOTHY KILE is one of
only 30 undergraduate students
nationwide to land a Jack Kent
Cooke Scholarship for undergraduate study.
Kile attended high school in
Amherst, N.H. For three years
during and after high school, he
played with a band called Arcade
Fire and recorded an album of
original songs that received radio
airplay. Kile also spent a year
studying literature at McGill
University in Montreal, but after a
semester, he began to feel “that
there were personal and philosophical questions I needed to
confront before beginning my life’s work of music.”
Kile felt that only St. John’s College could offer him the continued personal challenge he seeks. He enrolled at St. John’s in Santa
Fe, where he spent two years. He transferred to Annapolis this fall.
“In Santa Fe it’s outrageously, absurdly beautiful, but I’ve got the
East Coast in my bones,” he says.
In his essay for the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, Kile wrote of
the modern implications of the burning of the Library of Alexandria, discussing the destruction of the world’s single greatest
archive of knowledge in the context of the few remaining works of
Plato and Aristotle.
Why are the great books so important to someone who plans to
make music his life’s work? “The yearning that drove me to
St. John’s to confront philosophical and personal questions is
indistinguishable from my yearning to create meaningful music,”
says Kile. During his first year at St. John’s, Kile received the
award for best freshman essay. An essay he wrote his sophomore
year, “On Love, Knowledge, and the Shield of Law: Understanding the Book of Job,” netted Kile an acknowledgement of excellence at this year’s commencement exercises in Santa Fe. While
holding a work-study job with buildings and grounds, Kile sang
with the St. John’s College Chamber Choir, participated in a
Hebrew study group, and played guitar and piano.
Although writing and playing music are still a part of his daily
life, Kile has cut back on performing. “St. John’s is a time commitment, much more than McGill. I often feel that the thing at stake
in this education is my own life, as thinkers from Plato to Nietzsche
constantly force me to ask myself, what is the life that is worth
living?” x
families. She has extensive
experience in various other
community-based and educational organizations, having
held key administrative roles in
such areas as public relations,
fund raising, coalition-build-
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
ing, finance, and event planning and execution.
Seagraves also has worked as
a professional storyteller, freelance artist, and stand-up
comic. She begins her new job
Sept. 29. x
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
Quaint 1BR apt. Walking dist.
to City Dock. W/D, window
AC, gas heat. Modern int. in
200 yr. old bldg. $895/mo
Quaint comes at a high price
these days in Annapolis. Soaring property values mean higher rents, apartments in the historic district are dwindling as
property owners convert buildings back to single-family
dwellings, and even one-bedroom apartments in nearby
suburbs command rents
approaching $1,000.
All this has meant more
students in the spring housing
lottery each year. About 60 students each year end up on the
waiting list for campus housing. And as anyone who’s ever
been unlucky enough to share a
cramped triple in Humphreys
can attest, dorm space is tight
on the Annapolis campus. Not
only have more doubles been
turned into triples, and singles
into doubles, but common
space also has been sacrificed
to make room for beds.
The housing crunch prompted the Annapolis Campus Planning Committee to kick new
dormitory projects into high
gear this year. In July, construction began on the first of two
new dormitories on the lower
campus. The first will house
48 students; the second 32.
After the completion of the
first building, the college will
be able to house about 75 percent of the student body on
campus.
The new complex is situated
north of the steam plant, parallel to College Creek. Intended
to alleviate another chronic
campus problem, a parking
structure is the third component of the project. The total
cost of the project is about
$20.3 million, including
$2.7 million in renovations and
updates to existing dorms on
campus. Construction on the
second dorm and parking structure will begin when the college
has raised enough funds to
ziger/snead
New Dorms Slated
for Annapolis
complete the project, says Steve
Linhard, assistant treasurer.
The dorm project also recognizes that housing more students on campus isn’t just a
matter of economics: A community of learning works better
if fewer students are heading to
their cars after seminar and
Friday lectures, says Assistant
Dean Judith Seeger.
“Our students in this allrequired program are here to
talk to each other, and they
love to do so,” Seeger says.
“Part of our job is to do all we
can to support their ongoing
conversations.”
The new dorm will be the
first new residence hall on the
Of Rankings and Ratings
What’s a Hot College to Do?
St. John’s was a top pick for
several college guides this
year.
Yes, we completely ignore
those who would rank us. We
delete their e-mails, we withhold data, we politely tell them
we don’t believe that rankings
really serve students making
one of the most important decisions of their lives.
And yet they persist in saying
nice things about us.
In its annual college guide,
U.S. News & World Report singled out St. John’s to exemplify
the intellectual aspects of college life. The three-page article titled “The Life of the
Mind” touched on all we at
St. John’s hold dear: the value
of genuine dialogue, the inte-
grated nature of an allrequired program, the power
of an opening question. For
the better part of a week
reporter Dan Gilgoff immersed
himself in the culture of the
Annapolis campus, visiting
seminars, labs, and tutorials.
In his article, Gilgoff concluded: “There’s no other place
quite like St. John’s (except
perhaps its sister campus in
Santa Fe, N.M.). Yet its singleminded approach to academics
gives a window into the undergrad experience at the dwindling number of colleges where
the life of the mind reigns
supreme.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
The first new dormitory in 50
years will be ready next fall.
campus since Campbell Hall
opened in 1954, and the first
new building since the Harrison Health Center was completed in 1971. The two-story
buildings each feature a spacious common area with communal kitchen, a combination
of single and double rooms,
and a resident apartment.
Baltimore architectural firm
Ziger/Snead has designed the
brick buildings to reflect both
the modern features of Mellon
Hall and the colonial buildings
on campus. x
Newsweek-Kaplan’s How to
Get into College guide chose
St. John’s as one of its “12
Hottest Schools,” gracing the
college with the label “Most
Old-School.” (Reed got “most
quirky.”) Says the story: “The
curriculum, with its focus on
classical education, is unique
and relentless.”
Santa Fe was number 25 in
Outside magazine’s “40 Best
College Towns,” a feature in
the magazine’s September
issue. The high-desert location
and proximity of the mountains
were noted; the great books
curriculum made it into the
last paragraph.
And our vote for most
quirky: The Princeton Review,
which placed St. John’s atop
those academies that encourage classroom discussion. x
�7
{From the Bell Towers}
Admissions and Diversity, East and West
by Rosemary Harty
job is to let students know what
the Program is like and encourage them to ask the right kind
of questions.
Baca, of Hispanic origin, was
born in Santa Fe and lived outside nearby Espanola for most
of his adult years. “I know that
I feel very privileged to have
been a student here,” says
Baca, whose family wasn’t
enthusiastic about his seeking
a liberal arts degree.
Baca’s convictions about the
St. John’s Program tend to
command attention. Recently,
he was able to sit down to a
feast with leaders of the Jemez
Pueblo and discuss seminars
and great books. “One of the
Pueblo governors was an
assistant dean at Stanford; he
really didn’t know much about
St. John’s,” Baca recalls. “I
guess he’ll still send some students to Stanford, but now I
think he’ll be on the lookout for
the Native American students
who would love St. John’s.”
Tutor Victoria Mora has also
been engaged in the diversity
initiative in Santa Fe. She met
with minority upperclassmen
to discuss how best to pursue
recruiting and retaining minority students. With their input
and that of the dean, assistant
dean, and Instruction Committee, Mora fashioned an advising program for all incoming
freshmen, a version of which is
in place for this academic year.
Mora has been involved in outreach efforts to prospective students, parents, and New Mexico high school students. She’s
traveled as far as Tsalie, Ariz.,
to involve alumni in spreading
the word about the college.
And this year she plans to step
up outreach efforts to high
school teachers, beginning
with Albuquerque, Bernalillo,
and Santa Fe. “As a native New
Mexican who didn’t hear about
St. John’s until two years into
an undergraduate degree at the
University of New Mexico, this
initiative is very close to my
heart,” says Mora.
In Annapolis, where minority enrollment ranges from 6 to
8 percent of the student population each year, the admissions office has pursued many
different avenues to present the
college to more minority students. Some have been effective, and others have yielded
not a single application, says
John Christensen.
“We’ve attended many fairs
for African-American students
and joined many partnerships.
For several years, we joined in a
partnership with the Northern
Virginia public school system
and hosted groups of students
as young as ninth grade to talk
about how to afford private college and how to apply to college in general. We never got
any response,” he says.
A promising avenue Christensen is pursuing is the large,
urban high school—particularly
magnet schools or preparatory
schools with highly motivated
students, an emphasis on the
liberal arts, and diversity in the
student body. He’s found such
schools in Louisiana, Philadelphia, and Massachusetts, and
has been successful in bringing
their graduates to St. John’s.
Although no minorities were
among them yet, he still
believes the audience is primed
for the college’s message.
“We think those places offer
the best forums to meet minority students. And whenever
we’re in a city, we’re trying to
find out if there are other
schools like that: diverse environments where students are
interested in the liberal arts
and willing to go out of state to
college,” he says. x
teri thomson randall
A new initiative to recruit more
minority students to the Santa
Fe campus is off to a good start.
The percentage of minority
students, which has hovered at
about 10 percent every year,
has risen to 17 percent, the
highest in the history of the
campus, says Larry Clendenin
(SF77), director of admissions
in Santa Fe. Of this year’s freshman class of 142, 15 percent are
minorities. Clendenin attributes the increase to the Opportunity Initiative, an effort to
devote more resources to
recruiting from among the
state’s minority students. The
initiative is funded by a gift to
the college from a member of
the college’s Board of Visitors
and Governors.
What the grant has given the
college is more time to talk to
students on New Mexico’s
reservations, in small-town
high schools, and at college
fairs. Among other expenses,
the grant provides salary and
travel expenses for Joaquin
Baca (SF95), assistant director
of admissions.
“One of the big challenges in
New Mexico is how spread out
it is,” Baca says. For example,
it’s nearly four hours to Gallup
from Santa Fe, but last year,
Baca was able to make three
trips to Gallup, one of the
biggest reservation high
schools in the state, and several
trips to smaller schools such as
Tohatchi and Pine Hill.
With a limited recruitment
staff, it was more difficult to do
focused recruitment and follow-up in New Mexico, says
Clendenin. Adding Baca to the
staff has meant six more weeks
of recruitment time and at least
20 more high school visits.
“We see in college fairs that
90 percent of the Hispanic and
Native American students go
straight to the state university
tables,” Clendenin says. “Our
A spirited game of Spartan Madball during Reality Week
marks the end of the spring semester in Santa Fe.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�8
{From the Bell Towers}
“I Just Never Let Go”
Sharon Bishop, A65, Leads St. John’s Board
For nearly 30 years, Sharon
Bishop has been one of the most
committed and involved of
St. John’s College alumni.
But had she been the type of
person to hold a grudge, the
college might have had to do
without her service as a member
of the Board of Visitors and
Governors, president of the
Alumni Association, and now,
chair of the BVG.
In the late 1960s, Bishop was
an underpaid social worker in
the city of Philadelphia. She
had borrowed her way through
St. John’s and was burdened by
loans. Her employer paid for
graduate school, and Bishop was
preparing to apply to Bryn
Mawr College.
“St. John’s would not release
my transcript because I still
owed them about $500,” Bishop recalls. “I tried to explain
that if I had the master’s
degree, I would make more
money and be able to afford to
pay the college.”
The story has a happy ending:
St. John’s accepted her repayment plan and sent out the transcript. Bishop thrived in graduate school, went on to a
successful professional career,
and helped establish an enormously successful consulting
firm, of which she is now vicepresident.
She has never stopped giving
back to the college since her
first $1,000 donation, made as
soon as her professional salary
allowed, in 1974. The following
year, she was asked to run for
one of six elected alumni positions on the Board of Visitors
and Governors by an Alumni
Association eager to draft more
women for the board. In 1976,
she attended her first board
meeting. “When I was a student, I remembered thinking
that the BVG were mostly old,
rich people who would give the
college money and it wasn’t
clear to me that they knew anything about the college. By the
time I got on the board I found
other alumni who were, along
with non-alumni, deeply committed to the welfare and wellbeing of St. John’s College as an
institution.”
After earning her master’s,
Bishop went to work for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton,
where she became a principal.
In 1983, she took a chance by
leaving a well-established firm
to join Gerald Croan in an
enterprise he started in his
basement in Northern Virginia.
Their firm, Caliber Associates,
has grown from just the two of
them to more than 300 employees, occupying six floors of an
office building in Fairfax, Va.,
and working for government
agencies including the Department of Education and the
Department of Justice, nonprofits such as AARP, and private
firms. “We do work in the
child/family/ community studies arena, studies of child welfare systems, evaluations of programs focused on juvenile
justice, and operate technical
assistance and training centers
for victims’ assistance programs,” to name a few, Bishop
says.
Bishop is a good choice to
lead the board at a time of transition; she was involved in
choosing three presidents over
her many years of service. In her
initial term as alumni representative, 1976 to 1982, she served
on the search committee that
recruited Edwin Delattre to the
presidency. In her 1985-90 term
as a regular elected member, the
board voted for a two-president
structure. Bishop was a board
member when Michael Riccards
was chosen president for Santa
Fe and William Dyal Jr. for
Annapolis. In 1992, she was
elected president of the Alumni
Association, a post she held
until 1998. She stepped down
from the board in 2002 because
of commitments at Caliber, then
agreed to return to the board as
its chair earlier this year.
What motivates such commitment? “This absolute belief that
what you’re doing is worthwhile
and needs to be done. It’s very
rewarding to work with really
fine people on behalf of something you care about.”
One of the helpful attributes
Bishop will bring to the board is
an ability to “talk people into
doing what they don’t want to
do,” says Ray Cave (A48), who
just finished his term as board
chair.
“About two years ago, Sharon
and I were on the nominating
committee and it was time to
look for another chair. Sharon
said, ‘Ray I think you’d be an
ideal chairman.’”
Cave firmly rejected the proposal. Bishop persisted, and
Cave became board chair. “I
found myself saying, ‘all right,’
and it was all her fault,” Cave
says.
Cave describes his successor
as well-organized, skilled in
managing people, and able to
make difficult decisions. “She
came in at a very tough time,
just when John Balkcom
resigned. And to watch the way
she handled that was to see what
a good manager she is. She really cares about people.”
teri thomson randall
by Rosemary Harty
Sharon Bishop chairs the
Board of Visitors and Governors.
Alumni should be pleased
with the college’s board, Bishop
says, because about 60 percent
of its members are alumni. The
rich assembly of talent and
experience of BVG members has
always impressed her.
“Ultimately, the board is
responsible to ensure the
survival of the college,” says
Bishop, “and the college is in
good hands.”
Bishop’s family would have
been happy if she’d gone to
college to be a teacher, but once
she’d heard about St. John’s she
saw “this was the only worthwhile thing to do.”
“The whole concept of
beginning with Euclid and
ending with Einstein, beginning with Plato and ending
with War and Peace—and it was
the way it was done, the small
groups, the seminars, the discussions,” Bishop says. “You
were to think for yourself. I just
glommed on to St. John’s and
never let go.” x
Presidential Search
The Board of Visitors and Governors has appointed a search
committee to oversee selection of the next president of the
Santa Fe campus. The committee is chaired by Michael E.
Uremovich of Santa Fe, board member and Graduate Institute
student. The committee comprises the deans of each campus,
David Levine in Santa Fe, and Harvey Flaumenhaft in Annapolis; a faculty representative of each campus: Victoria Mora,
Santa Fe, and Nancy Buchenauer, Annapolis; and four board
members: Thomas R. Krause (SFGI01), Robert Bienenfeld
(SF80), Mikael Salovaara, and Julia Wilkinson (HSF94). x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�9
{Philanthropia}
Senior Class Gift
Learning and community.
Wisdom and fun. These are the
legacies of the 2003 senior
class. In Santa Fe, 65 seniors
contributed $3,459 to build an
adult swing set near the new
Student Activities Center. In
Annapolis, 64 seniors contributed $6,100 for the digital
re-mastering and transcription
of classic lectures that now exist
only on audiotape.
The Senior Class Gift is one
of the ways that Philanthropia,
the alumni organization dedicated to alumni fund raising,
increases awareness of the college’s needs among younger
alumni. Class Gifts introduce
students to the opportunity to
support St. John’s and seniors
carry that sense of philanthropy
with them after graduation.
Marguerite Pfoutz, a member
of the Senior Class Gift Committee in Santa Fe, says that Erin
Hanlon (SF03) supplied the idea
for the swing set. “She wanted to
have a playground that would be
suitable for tutors’ children so
that we could build stronger
bonds as a community,” says
Pfoutz. “And it’s also been a
longstanding tradition to drive
around Santa Fe looking for
swingsets in parks to play on. We
need to exorcise—and exercise—
our demons.”
Pfoutz says she wishes the
playground had existed during
her years at St. John’s, but vows
to come back to play on it as an
alumna. Right now she’s applying to the Peace Corps and
hopes to teach elementary
school at the British Educational
Institute International in the
Sudan while her application is
processed.
Alexander Wall chaired the
Annapolis Senior Class Gift
Committee. The idea for the
transcriptions came from his
experience listening to tapes of
old lectures. “I’ve taken them
out and some of them are in terrible condition,” he says. “But
those that were already transcribed were very useful. It’s
nice to hear what someone has
to say about a book that isn’t
being read in seminar.” Despite
How Aristotle Would
Explain the Annual Fund
College financial reports can be
confusing to the uninitiated.
There’s tuition—more than
$27,000 this year. There’s the
endowment. There are wonderful gifts, like the $10 million
from Ron Fielding (A70) for
financial aid endowment. There
are expenses like building projects, tutor salaries, and financial aid. A key component in the
total picture is the Annual
Fund, the money raised from
alumni, friends, and parents
that is used to help meet annual
expenses in the college’s operating budget. Tuition covers
about 70% 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.
During fiscal year 2003
(which ended June 30), even
in the face of a tough and
uncertain economy, St. John’s
alumni, friends, and parents
supported the college’s Annual
Fund. The college met its
Annual Fund goal of $2.148
million—which constitutes
about 6% of the operating
budget for the campuses.
The college received more
than 2,700 alumni gifts, meaning that 34% of alumni supported the college this year. That is
an all-time high for one year and
the most significant indicator of
the future health of St. John’s.
For the first time, St. John’s is
their questionable audio quality, Wall managed to listen to a
number of lectures by Leo
Strauss as well as several on the
Gorgias, the topic of his senior
essay.
When he told his classmates
his idea for the gift, the response
was overwhelming. “It was nice
to see how excited everyone got
about giving something back to
St. John’s,” Wall says. “Everyone
wanted the gift to be something
that would show how St. John’s
had helped them in their learn-
ing, how they cared about the
Program. Most people thought
that the library was key to their
time at St. John’s and they liked
the idea of giving a gift to the
library that was a bit more individual than just giving money for
books.”
The time Wall spent struggling with the poor audio of the
tapes seems to have paid off
beyond its intrinsic value. He is
now enrolled in a Ph.D. program
in political philosophy at Harvard University. x
Visitors to the Peterson Student Center might think they’ve
stumbled across George Plimpton asleep in a wing chair, but
this new addition to the Santa Fe campus is actually a sculpture by J. Seward Johnson. Johnson’s remarkably lifelike
sculptures of ordinary people doing ordinary things grace
many American cities. Johnson’s son, J. Seward Johnson III, is
an alumnus of the class of 1993. This piece, “After Lunch,”
was donated to the college by Mr. and Mrs. Rick Levin,
residents of Santa Fe.
approaching the gift levels of
other liberal arts colleges like
Swarthmore, Oberlin, and
Franklin and Marshall, where
around 40-60% of alumni make
a gift every year.
Philanthropia, the group of
alumni volunteers who are
working to increase financial
support for the college among
their peers, has emphasized the
importance of the alumni participation rate. When the group
began in 1997, St. John’s alumni
participation rate was 19%. “It
was clear that alumni felt
strongly about the college, but
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
they weren’t demonstrating
that,” says Barbara Goyette
(A73), vice president for
advancement in Annapolis.
“The Philanthropia volunteers
have worked hard to make connections with their classmates
and to deliver messages about
the college. What many people
don’t realize is the importance
of participation. This could
even be explained in Aristotelian terms: When an alum
makes a gift to the Annual
Fund, it is the actualization of a
potential positive force, carrying the college forward.” x
�10
{From the Bell Towers}
Hans von Briesen: A Tribute
When Hans von Briesen Jr.
came to St. John’s College, he
was already a man with an
impressive—if unusual—history.
He held a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in physics;
had taught at Stanford, the
University of Rochester, and
Northeastern University;
served as treasurer and coordinator of the Lama Foundation
(a spiritual community and
educational center in Northern
New Mexico); and worked as a
journeyman plumber and gasfitter. In 1979 he overcame his
unease with academe to leave
plumbing and accept the position of director of laboratories
in Santa Fe. When he retired
this spring, he left to us in
Santa Fe a legacy of trust, ingenuity, and excitement in the
laboratory.
Hans realized
that if he put
responsibility in
our hands, we
would inevitably
meet any
challenge.
Hans says he didn’t feel it
was his place to make any
changes to the laboratory program, but it’s widely acknowledged that the program developed significantly during his
tenure. He computerized the
lab manuals so he could make
additions and corrections as
soon as the tutors requested
them. He tapped his plumbing
experience to fix equipment
and reinforce the value of
“recycling” in the scientific
method. “His 24 years as lab
supervisor have made my
as-many years as a lab tutor
purely pleasurable,” says tutor
Glenn Freitas. “He has taken
constant great care to develop
better and better practica [and
also] develop experiments and
demonstrations that were relevant and powerfully related to
the textual arguments of the
classes.”
Nowhere else on the Program do students, whether
assistants or class members,
receive this kind of hands-on
learning. “He opened up a new
world of problems—and I mean
that in a good way,” says Devin
King (SF03).
Perhaps the most significant
development that Hans made
to the lab program was
through relationships with student laboratory assistants.
When he came to St. John’s,
Hans increased the number of
assistants and added to their
responsibilities, providing for
a richer experience for those of
us fortunate to be named laboratory assistants. Under his
tutelage, we gained knowledge
and experience from those who
had come before us; we then
passed that knowledge along to
the students who followed us in
these positions. This tradition
calls for an exchange of ideas
that is integral to the Program
and essential to the laboratory
assistantship.
On a more practical level,
Hans was the man who could
help us fix anything. If we had
it, he knew how it worked and
where to find it. Rumor has it
that among tutors his notes are
a valuable commodity. But
despite being “the man with all
the answers,” he put an amazing amount of trust in us, his
student workers. He let us
work out our own problems,
even if that meant a certain
amount of frustration and even
pain (largely mental pain, if
occasionally a bit of physical
pain). These are the most valu-
able lessons that
student enthusiasts of the
St. John’s labs
will ever learn.
Cobalt Blue
(SF92, EC97)
reminded me
that the amount
of faith that
Hans puts in his
workers inspires
them to work
harder. We want
to finish jobs and
solve more problems than we ever would if he
hadn’t believed in our ingenuity, creativity, and diligence.
Hans realized that if he put
responsibility in our hands, we
would inevitably meet any challenge. As a student, this will
always be the way I think of and
remember Hans von Briesen.
I love the St. John’s Program, and one of the bigger
reasons is the opportunity I’ve
had to be a laboratory student
and work as an assistant under
such a director. Hans symbol-
teri thomson randall
by Megan Sielken, SFo3
Megan Sielken and Hans von
Briesen on the Santa Fe campus.
izes so much of what the lab
program is, from freshman
biology to senior genetics,
from cat dissections to the
blender experiment. I will
always remember the crazy
white hair, the strict recycling
policy for equipment, and the
plumber’s ingenuity that
defined my own career as student, assistant, and head freshman assistant. x
More Santa Fe retirements:
GLENN FREITAS joined the college in 1969, bringing with him
a background in Biblical studies and a mastery of Greek, Latin,
French, and German. An early supporter and participant in the
Eastern Classics program, he spent five summers learning classical Chinese. He served as assistant dean for three years and
acting dean of the college for one year. His favorite author is
Montaigne.
A tutor since 1985, ROBERT RICHARDSON earned a doctorate
at Yale. After directing and teaching in university programs
designed to foster thought about ethics and technology in engineering and science, he left academics and worked as a carpenter
and milk tester for many years before coming to St. John’s. He
still writes about farming, enjoys writing fiction, and indulges
in golf.
RALPH SWENTZELL came to the college in 1966. He put together junior mathematics and sophomore music tutorials, and was
crucial in forming senior math and laboratory curricula. About
10 years ago, he scanned every character in Mathews’ Chinese
Dictionary to prepare a computerized lexicon that even beginners could use. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�{Letters}
Greenhouse Picture
Tells A Second Story
The College Spring 2003 report,
“Community Building in Santa
Fe,” has two texts—the article
and the photograph. Both merit
careful attention to what is said
and not said.
Without saying whether the
greenhouse used pressure treated lumber or might have, the
article creates its ideological
strawman by asserting without
evidence that “one piece of pressure treated lumber…represents
a significant expense of petroleum in the course of its harvest,
transport, milling, delivery and
installation.” “Community
building” is the virtuous alternative, the implication being no
use of petroleum. Certainly
kudos go to the volunteer laborers and the sense of community
developed along the way.
I assert, equally without specific evidence but with long
knowledge of economics and
manufacturing, that petroleum
expense in timber production,
pressure treated or not, is much
less than trivial on a per piece
basis.
Then there are the questions
implied by the story and the photograph. Was the local timber
harvested and the boards and
pillars cut without power tools?
Was it taken to the college without using petroleum? My guess
is that recycling the glass
required heat, efficient production of which typically involves
petroleum, natural gas or coal.
Or was the heat generated using
wood, an inefficient source?
Further clues appear in the
photo. The roof is metal, produced most likely by a firm
organized as a corporation. Skylights typically are plastic of
some sort, which means made
from petrochemicals, a big company product.
More information comes from
a quick visit to the greenhouse.
The door fixtures look quite conventional, meaning they were
made by a corporation (that capitalist word, again) and perhaps
purchased from a big box build-
ing materials retailer of the sort
that provides large selection for
low prices. Did the community
building team walk or ride a
bicycle or horse to the retailer to
buy the door fixtures or did they
drive? The same questions apply
to the screws holding the building together. The bricks on the
floor appear manufactured
rather than formed by hand.
“The greenhouse
is a worthy
project, perhaps
possible only with
volunteer labor.
A straight tale
would have
been nice.”
My conclusion is that the
project used economically efficient high production technology when convenient and trashed
technology and economic efficiency when convenient, a situational morality worthy of a
seminar.
Annoying as are the smug,
precious, ideological assertions,
a bigger problem lies in the
appearance of such a rampantly
politically correct tract masquerading as a straight report in
a college publication. Through
the publication, the college in
effect embraces the ideology,
something I hope wasn’t on purpose. The greenhouse is a worthy project, perhaps possible
only with volunteer labor. A
straight tale would have been
nice.
Harold Morgan (SF68)
Praising Brann
This letter heartily seconds the
praises sung in Barbara
Goyette’s review of Eva Brann’s
Homeric Moments (“Rediscovering Homer,” Spring 2003).
Ms. Goyette qualifies her apt
review with two somewhat selfeffacing disclaimers: that she
“can’t do an honest review”
because she so much admires
the author’s intellect and imagination; and, as an “insider”
employed by the college, is rendered incapable of giving an
“honest appraisal.” She need
not have been so diffident about
her commendation of the high
achievement, and thoroughly
charming qualities of Homeric
Moments. As an alumnus who
was a student of Ms. Brann’s,
with more than 40 years of
friendship following, I too
might disqualify myself as a
biased “insider.” I have, however, been privileged to review
books of Ms. Brann’s in publications other than those of the
college (e.g., What, Then, Is
Time?, reviewed in 28 Interpretation 173, Winter 2000-2001)
without such trepidation. Having been instructed by Aristotle
during my student days that
“while both are dear, piety
requires us to honor truth above
our friends” (Nichomachean
Ethics, I, 6), I have not been
shy—when I thought it conveyed
some truth—to criticize, for
example, hardships encountered in some of Ms. Brann’s
writing. Homeric Moments, on
the other hand, is simply as delicious a work as a lover of Homer
might wish. It not only refreshes
delights experienced from prior
readings of the Iliad and
Odyssey, but through recollections stimulated by Ms. Brann’s
novel survey, it exquisitely
expands those pleasures by its
exploration of Homer’s most
supernal points of light and
dark; passion, pathos, and
tragedy; lyricism and drama;
comedy; and complex humanity.
With Homeric Moments, Eva
Brann has given us as much of
the poetry of reading Homer, as
anyone is ever likely to offer
readers in one compact volume.
Harrison Sheppard (class of 1961)
The Tutors Who Stayed
The Winter 2003 issue of The
College, page 32, refers to John
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Winter/Spring 2002 }
11
Kieffer as “one of only two
tutors who remained at the college after the New Program was
instituted in 1937.”
There were more than two:
Mr. Kieffer, of course, was one.
Two others were my tutors during my freshman year (1941-42):
Ford K. Brown (mathematics)
and Tench Tilghman (Greek).
I am almost positive that Mr.
Brown had been on the
St. John’s faculty for many years.
My recollection about Mr. Tilghman is less clear, but the personal sketch about him on the jacket of his The Early History of
St. John’s College in Annapolis
says that “from 1934 to 1942
[he] was an Instructor in English
and later tutor at St. John’s.”
…The following appears on
page 28 of J. Winfree Smith’s A
Search for the Liberal College:
The Beginning of the St. John’s
Program: “Some of the faculty
left right away, some stayed for a
few years, and four continued to
the end of their teaching
careers: George Bingley, a mathematician; Ford Brown, a former
Rhodes Scholar and an authority
on the Evangelicals in the
Church of England; Richard
Scofield, another Rhodes scholar who had previously taught art
and English and very quickly
proved the breadth of his interest and ability by the excellence
of his teaching within the new
program; and John Kieffer.”
Edward W. Mullinix (class of 1945)
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 or The College
Magazine, Public Relations
Office, St. John’s College,
1160 Camino Cruz Blanca,
Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599.
Letters can also be sent via
e-mail to: reharty@sjca.edu.
�12
{Johnnies on Language}
LIVING
L ANGUAGES
At St. John’s we spend four years talking, reading, and writing.
What more can we do with words? Four Johnnies
discuss their work with language.
By Sus3an Borden, A87
ome 50 years after his family
had left Germany, Walter
Kissinger was asked why he
did not share his famous
brother
Henry’s
heavy
German accent. “I,” he
replied, “am the Kissinger who listens.”
S
—from www.anecdotage.com
This bit of linguistic legend is well known to Jim Stone (class of
1955). During his 33-year career working with State Department
language training for government employees, the linguistic tendencies of Henry Kissinger were often a source of speculation for
him and his colleagues.
“When we were thinking about how to evaluate language skills,
we thought about different odd cases. Kissinger was an extreme
case; his brother speaks ordinary American. I think he has chosen
to maintain that German-professor style to a great extent,” says
Stone. “People do, consciously or unconsciously, choose their
styles to fit in where they want to fit in. I know Southerners who
have carefully moved away from their Southern accents and others
whose accents have gotten stronger and stronger from year to year.
It’s a matter of displaying your allegiance.”
Linguist Mark Mandel (A69) is personally familiar with this phenomenon:
“My daughter, who is in literary criticism and is very languageconscious, asked me a number of years ago, with some apparent
annoyance, why I seemed to change my language into a much more
guy-style in certain situations like at gas stations. I explained that
language does many things; it is not just to convey information. We
also use it to express concepts of affiliation: ‘I’m a member of this,
not that. I’m better than you, you’re better than me. I’m like you,
I’m not like you.’ Those are the uses you hear when I unconsciously or half-consciously change my style when I go into the gas station
and ask the attendant to check the oil.
“Every native speaker of a language uses many different styles
and registers them fluently, but they’re not always aware that they
do,” says Mandel. “A lot of what linguistics involves is analyzing,
making explicit, understanding, and systematizing the tacit knowledge we have as native users of languages.”
Mandel’s current project, biomedical information extraction for
the Linguistic Data Consortium, demands such analysis. Mandel
and his team are developing a suite of computer programs that will
read an abstract or full-text article in electronic form to extract
facts that will be placed into databases in a uniform format that
researchers can query. The project’s Web site (www.ldc.upenn.
edu/myl/ITR) gives this example:
We want a program that will read a phrase like
Amiodarone weakly inhibited CYP2C9, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4mediated activities with Ki values of 45.1—271.6 ?M
and add to a database a set of entries whose ordinary-language
presentation is
amiodarone inhibits CYP2C9 with Ki=45.1—271.6
amiodarone inhibits CYP2D6 with Ki=45.1—271.6
amiodarone inhibits CYP3A4 with Ki=45.1—271.6
That example manages to both clarify and mislead. While it aptly
defines the project’s goal, it hides the complexity of the endeavor.
“In order to get the relationships between items in a database, you
need to understand sentences, know what words are. You need to
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�howard korn
13
Does the language used at St. John’s change
according to the class? In seminar, students
tend to convey their points seriously and
with conviction.
“Linquistic knowledge extends beyond
written and spoken language.”
Jim Stone, class of 1955
know syntax, shallow semantics, syntactic annotation,” says Mandel. “Native speakers, and I include signers in that category, are
constantly applying a zillion kinds of real-world knowledge to
speech. This ranges from assuming that my friend knows where I
live when I give directions as if starting from my house, to knowing
that ‘bush,’ if it is the first word of a sentence, is likely to be a public figure rather than a shrub, although that was not the case 50
years ago.”
Stone adds to the complexity that Mandel describes, pointing out
that linguistic knowledge extends beyond written and spoken language. He describes elements of communication that aren’t—or
shouldn’t be—spoken.
Stone recalls, for example, Vienna-born tutor Viktor Zuckerkandl, whose sense of conversational space was so different from his
own WASP sense that the esteemed tutor once backed Stone all the
way through the coffee shop in the course of a conversation.
He recounts a situation he encountered more than once during
his numerous visits to India: “I’ve seen Indians really blow up
about our thank-yous: ‘These Americans, they keep thanking me!
What do they think I am? What’s wrong with them?’ They find our
thank-yous really offensive and I’ve never been able to find out why.
It’s something so basic in their culture that it’s hard to verbalize, a
kind of behavior that’s so offensive they couldn’t mention it.
“The gestures that are obscene in one culture are ordinary in
another. From the Middle East all through India, you can’t point
the sole of your shoe at anybody, that’s filthy, the whole room will
begin to squirm.”
Stone has encountered cultural taboos on a number of communication practices: making comparisons between people, engaging
in role-playing, even smiling. And he’s managed to break some of
his own taboos in order to enter other cultures: “When I was in
Libya I found I had to hold hands with men. Two men walking down
the street in conversation hold hands. I tried putting my hand in my
pocket or carrying something, but the Arabs I was with would get
very uncomfortable. One day the ambassador saw me crossing the
plaza holding hands with the commanding general. He didn’t know
what to think about that.”
While Stone crossed cultural barriers by following the customs of
other countries, Michael Sloper (SF79) seeks to bridge these barriers through language itself.
In the summer of 1990, Sloper was about to embark on a career
in international teaching. His first stint would be two years in Israel
and he planned to follow with a number of two-year stints in countries around the world.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�14
{Johnnies on Language}
Esperanto class when he learned that the Esperanto League for
“When I was preparing for the job, I decided that two years
North America was looking for a director. Sloper put in his applicawould not be enough to learn Hebrew, and then the next two years
tion and was chosen for the job. He spent every day of the next
would not be enough to learn Japanese. Instead of getting a little
seven years speaking and writing in the language. Part of his work
taste of this and a little taste of that, I thought, ‘There are Esperanwas encouraging the United Nations to adopt Esperanto as its
to speakers in Israel and Japan and Brazil. If I’ve got an internaofficial language.
tional job, I should learn the international language.’”
The U.N. seems a perfect fit for Esperanto. With six official
Sloper took an intensive three-week Esperanto class at San
languages and more than 400 interpreters and translators,
Francisco State University before he went to Israel. At his first
logistics could be greatly simplified and costs reduced if Esperanto
meeting with the Esperanto club in Tel Aviv, he found out he
were adopted. Sloper cites other benefits. “So much of politics hapcould converse, albeit not deeply or profoundly, about anything
pens outside of official chambers where you can’t have interpreters;
and everything.
you need to have a common language.”
“You can learn as much Esperanto in a year as Spanish or French
And, Sloper adds, there are advanin four years,” he points out. “What if
tages to official conversation in a laneverybody in the world took a semesguage that is native to no one: “When
ter or a year of this international lanyou’re speaking a language that doesguage? It makes incredible sense to
n’t identify you as a member of a
have a common language for diplonation, you treat your fellow man as a
mats and tourists, even if you don’t
member of the human race.
master it.”
Michael Sloper, SF79
“The inventor of Esperanto,
Sloper’s stint in Israel ended early
Ludovic Zamenhof, created a word—
when he was sent back to the U.S. at
the start of the first Gulf War. Back in
homaronismo—which means, basicalSan Francisco, he was taking another In tutorials, the language is often looser, as students
ly, member-of-the-human-race-ness.
“It makes incredible sense to
have a common language...”
howard korn
focus on understanding.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�{Johnnies on Language}
15
In historical linguistics, David says, texts and spoken words only
This word expresses a philosophical concept that says that any pertell part of the story—history also yields some clues. “You need an
son’s identity is, most profoundly, as a member of the human race.
awareness of who lived next to whom and their interactions over
“If people had access to tools to get beyond nationalism, the
the years. Who was the conqueror, who was conquered? Who was
world would be a much happier place,” Sloper says. “Every utterthe slave and who was the master? These are among the external
ance in Esperanto is advocacy for putting aside nationalism, and
factors that affect how language changes.”
recognizing that internationalism is the path to peace.”
These historical changes, David explains, gives the world PidIt is the path of war, however, that linguist Anne David (A86)
gins and Creoles: languages that arise when people who don’t
sometimes uses to reconstruct the languages she studies. Her field,
speak a common language are thrown together and create a new
historical linguistics, traces the changes in languages through war
language.
and peace, conquest and trade, enmity and amity to determine the
“Adults in these situations speak just to
common roots of related languages.
make do,” David says. “They don’t use a lot
Historical linguistics, David explains,
of vocabulary or form a full-fledged lanbegan at the end of the 18th century when
guage. They speak what we call a Pidgin. But
the English tried to impose their law on
the next generation, their children, speak a
parts of the Indian culture. Knowing that
full-fledged language, which we call a
the best way to impose the law would be to
Creole. They can’t make do with the limited
meld it with the culture, an English judge,
Mark Mandel A69
Pidgin language. It’s not sufficient for their
Sir William Jones, learned Sanskrit so he
linguistic needs.”
could study the laws of Manu, an ancient
The natural linguistic needs and abilities of children are the subSanskrit law book that helped form the basis of Hindu law. James
jects of both science and legend. “I saw a great slogan: ‘children
was also well versed in Greek and Latin, and as he studied, he saw
catch languages the way they catch colds,’ ” says Mark Mandel.
too many similarities between Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin to believe
“When we’re born, we’re language-learning machines. Learning
they were coincidental.
our native language is not something we learn in the way we’re used
A whole field of linguistics sprang from his observations, and
to thinking about learning. Any American first grader, with the
since then, linguists have attempted to establish a system of correappropriate caveats, knows more English than any adult can learn
spondences among certain language families (including Indo-Iranof English in two years, or maybe in six or seven years.”
ian, Hellenic, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Albanian, Celtic, Italic, and
As for second languages, Mandel says, “if a second language is
Germanic) that connects them to their original form. The hypothelearned through immersion, as in the case of an immigrant family
ses of what that original form was is called the Indo-European
that speaks its family language at home, the child will grow up comHypothesis, and historical linguists have spent the last 200 years
pletely bilingual.”
filling in the blanks in that system.
Which brings us back to another linguistic legend:
David’s work is with the Dravidian languages of South Asia,
Shortly after nominating Henry Kissinger as his secretary of
which include Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada—about 24
state, President Richard Nixon met with his Israeli counterpart,
major languages that go back at least 1,000 years. The Dravidian
Golda Meir. Both leaders, Nixon observed, now had Jewish forLanguage Hypothesis, which came out soon after the Indo-Euroeign ministers. “Yes,” Meir replied, contemplating Kissinger’s
pean Hypothesis, is way behind in filling in its blanks. David made
heavy German accent. “But mine speaks English.” x
her contribution to the Hypothesis with her doctoral dissertation
on infinitives in Dravidian. “A typically esoteric linguistic dissertation,” she says of the work, which she successfully defended in
1999, earning her a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
READING LIST
After four years away from formal academia (she’s raising two
The Loom of Language
daughters—Guenevere, 8, and Rosalind, 4—with her husband,
by Frederick Bodmer and Lancelot Hogben
St. John’s tutor Amirthanayagam David, A86), David recently won
On Language: Chomsky’s Classic Works Language and
a grant from the American Institute of Indian Studies for further
Responsibility and Reflections on Language in One Volume
work in Old Tamil. She and her daughters are now in Madurai, in
by Noam Chomsky, Mitsou Ronat
South India, for six months as the first part of a project to study Old
Course in General Linguistics
Tamil verb forms in poetry. “Poetry tells us more about how the
by Ferdinand De Saussure, et al
language sounded,” she says. “Shakespeare tells us things about
The Story of Language by Mario Pei
Elizabethan English that prose wouldn’t tell us.”
The Language Instinct by Stephen Pinker
There are about 32,000 extant lines of poetry in Old Tamil, as
Spoken Soul by John Russell Rickford and
well as long commentaries—five lines of poetry might generate two
Russell John Rickford
pages of commentary. Her time abroad, therefore, will mainly be
That’s Not What I Meant: How Conversational Style Makes
or Breaks Relationships by Deborah Tannen
spent gathering texts and reference books, and consulting with
regional scholars. Her trip will also help her gain a sense for the
area’s geography.
“When we’re born, we’re
natural language
machines...”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�16
{The Program}
FOR THE
LOVE OF L ATIN
hristine Kalkavage, visiting tutor, freely acknowledges that as far as languages go, ancient Greek was
her first love. “I always loved reading the Odyssey in
Greek,” Kalkavage says. Latin came second—an
equally thrilling and rewarding relationship—but if
she had to choose, Homer wins out over Virgil, hands down.
But here is Kalkavage on a summer morning, leading a group of
erstwhile students through a kind of Latin boot camp. Eight weeks
of Latin, three days a week, four hours a day. A mix of graduate students, recent graduates, and undergraduates, the class is translating sentences about women with torches, lazy sailors, and enraged
queens. Their textbook, Moreland and Fleischer’s Latin: An Intensive Course, is aptly named. It features a punishing set of exercises
that this group has been working through daily after shifts at
restaurants and other summer jobs.
“There are a slew of these sailors in these exercises,” Kalkavage
acknowledges, but she reminds the class that a great reward awaits
them. “We’re going to be reading the Aeneid in six weeks.”
Among the students is Hayden Brockett (A04), whose notebook
bears the signs of many erasures and corrections. Why is he, after
just completing a rigorous junior year, taking on the extra work of
studying a language bounced from the Program more than half a
century ago?
“Well, for it’s own sake of course,” Brockett says quickly, as if
dave trozzo
C
that should have been
obvious to anyone. “It’s
also a good foundation for
going to school in the classics. And it’s easier than
Greek. It doesn’t have so
many nuances.”
Most of the students
share similar motivations,
with one reason dominant:
They want to read works
like the Aeneid in its original language, just as sophomores follow Antigone’s
angst in ancient Greek,
and Eastern Classics students in Santa Fe take on
Sanskrit or classical Chinese. For several years
now, Kalkavage, who has a Ph.D. in classics from Johns Hopkins
and has also taught Greek to G.I.s, has been leading these summer
workshops for Latin devotees.
The language of Virgil was a fundamental of St. John’s College for
much of the college’s 300-year history. The three-year-college program in 1792 began with Livy; Horace, Longinus, Epictetus,
and Quintilian were among the subjects for upperclassmen.
Barr and Buchanan included Latin in their New Program,
along with Greek, French, and German. Latin, studied by
sophomores in language tutorial, was the first to go, to make
way for a second year of Greek; German hung on until 1962.
“With some regret, because of the role of Latin in the genesis of the English language, the decision was made in favor of
two years of Greek,” wrote J. Winfree Smith in A Search for
the Liberal College. “The reasons for this were the greater
‘flexibility and expressiveness’ of Greek and the more important part that books originally written in Greek have played in
human thought.”
Christine Kalkavage, visiting tutor, on a summer morning
spent with Latin grammar and 10 diligent students.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
dave trozzo
by Rosemary Harty
�17
{The Program}
dave trozzo
Between Latin and Greek,
middle of the fall readings.
the choice was an easy one:
Lucretius and Tacitus are on
Few of the seminar books are
the Program, but Horace
Latin, many are Greek says
and Ovid are not, though
Annapolis Dean Harvey
they turn up in an occasional
Flaumenhaft, who studied
preceptorial or extracurricLatin in high school, and
ular study group, Tuck says.
French and German in colAs a doctoral student in
lege. “Not only are Latin
English literature, Tuck took
works derivative, but as a
an intensive Latin workshop,
body of literature, they are
then followed it up with the
also not as profound as
study of Greek. “I started it
Greek works,” says Flauto support the work I was
menhaft. “The greatest
doing in English Renaisworks of literature, science,
sance writers and became
and mathematics were writmore and more interested in
ten in Greek. The Romans’
doing these things for their
genius was in law and adminown sake. If I’d stayed at
istration. Virgil recognized
Berkeley any longer, I probathat Homer was his master,” Matthew Gates (A04) labors on a translation for a summer intensive
bly would have become an
says Flaumenhaft. “And workshop in Latin. In both Santa Fe and Annapolis, students seek
Egyptologist or studied SanHorace wrote that the outside opportunities to learn languages not on the Program.
skrit. You always want to find
Greeks took their ‘captors
the roots of things.”
captive.’”
It was much the same for
As for why French and not German? “It
Christine Kalkavage. As an undergraduate
was felt that French had a larger, more constudying English literature at Penn State,
tinuous tradition,” Flaumenhaft explains.
she developed great appreciation and interIt all goes back to the simple fact that we
est for epic poems written in Greek and
can’t do everything in four short years.
Latin. By declaiming short poems in their
Nevertheless, Latin has always found a
original language, she found “you can hear
place on campus. Like an underground
more of the poetry.”
movement, tutor and student groups have
“Horace’s lyrical poetry really taught me
sprung up to pursue Horace, Virgil, or Ovid, says Tutor Jonathan how to read English lyrical poetry,” says Kalkavage.
Tuck, who has participated in faculty study groups and led workUltimately, why make a choice between Greek and Latin? Anyone
shops in Latin grammar at the request of students. Tutors Nancy with enough time on his hands should study both, she says. Both
Buchenauer and Eric Sangeng also have led Latin groups.
languages share the important trait of preparing their students for
While agreeing with the sentiment that Greek poets are superior whatever comes next: law school, graduate school, or a deeper
to the Romans, Tuck still believes Latinists are too readily dis- understanding of almost any work. “The mind is trained to undermissed by the Hellenists of St. John’s. He noted that Virgil’s Aeneid stand logic,” Kalkavage says. “It carries over into being attentive in
once kicked off sophomore seminar, but is now buried in the other areas of your life.” x
Latin was dropped
from the curriculum
to make room for
two years of Greek.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�18
{Commencement}
FOR ONE MOMENT
O F G L O R Y,
A YEAR OF
PL ANNING
by Rosemary Harty
“On the STAGE, give yourself the TIME to revel in the moment.
Consider the saunter instead of the lope.”
– Instructions for Degree Candidates, Santa Fe.
“Mortarboards should be worn parallel to the ground, after the
fashion of Euclid.”
— Commencement Protocol, Annapolis
ich with tradition, guided by protocol, commencement at St. John’s College is no casual affair. Commencement planning at both campuses begins soon
after first semester opens, and preparations kick
into high gear about the time seniors begin donning
their gowns and sitting for their orals. Advance planning? The registrar in Annapolis takes measurements for caps and gowns when
freshmen register. Efficiency? In Santa Fe, marshals and the first in
line for master’s and bachelor’s degrees are given detailed instruction on how to march and where to go so that they may lead the others, precluding the need for a formal rehearsal.
The mace and chain of office are polished. A rubber band oneinch in diameter secures each rolled diploma before black and
R
orange ribbons are tied artfully together in the “St. John’s knot.”
Each diploma—signed by the campus president—is slipped into a
compartment of a box made just for this purpose and trucked
across campus for the big moment. There’s a job for everyone:
garment-bag handlers, hooders for the platform, restroom
pointer-outers.
On the morning of the ceremony in Annapolis, the names of each
tutor, graduating senior, and G.I. graduate are written on masking
tape and arranged in the Great Hall, creating the serpentine path
that will allow 200 people to line up in a crowded space and emerge
in the requisite order. On the second floor of Peterson Student Center, bachelor’s and master’s candidates in Santa Fe consult an
alphabetized list of candidates to arrange themselves for a stately
march across the Placita.
At both campuses, much labor goes into peparing a rain venue,
with chairs, microphones, and a large-screen television for remote
viewing prepared well in advance. In Annapolis this year, it looked
as if this fine effort might have to be crammed indoors, but a decision to take a risk turned out to be the right one. Not a drop of rain
fell on the ceremony. In Santa Fe, it was hot (86 degrees in the
shade) and bright, but the strawberries and lemonade looked as
fresh as always on black-and-white tablecloths. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�{Commencement}
19
dave trozzo
dave trozzo
teri thomson randall
teri thomson randall
Commencement is a labor of love for St. John’s (clockwise from left):
Antonio Bacas prepares some 2,500 strawberries for the Santa Fe
reception; in Annapolis, fellow graduates William Young and Elizabeth
Cummings help Jenny Windstrup don her academic regalia; Sid Phipps,
chief of Annapolis Buildings and Grounds, lines up chairs with precision;
and Thomas McBee (SF04) carries the New Mexico flag to the podium.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�20
{Commencement}
COMMENCEMENT 2003
Annapolis:
“The Courage of Thought”
Magazine editor Lewis
Lapham spoke to Annapolis
graduates; below,
renowned translator
Allen Mandlebaum delivered the commencement
address in Santa Fe.
On May 21 in Annapolis, 122 undergraduate
students—the largest graduating class in the
history of the New Program—and 27 graduate students earned degrees.
published 14 books on subjects from Manet
to Auschwitz, and was planning 20 other
projects when he died at age 66 in 1995. He
never became wealthy, but Friedrich pursued his quest for knowledge as far as he
could take it.
“Otto believed that we are all caught up
in the telling of stories (some more complicated and more beautiful than others,
many of them incoherent, a few of them
immortal), and he assumed that no matter
how well or how poorly we manage the
plot, we are all of us engaged in the same
enterprise, all of us seeking evocations or
representations of what we can recognize
as appropriately human,” Lapham said.
Though he has yet to meet “an educated
citizen,” Lapham finds great hope in a
“self-educating citizen,” one who doesn’t
hesitate to proclaim his own ignorance and
voice his questions.
Santa Fe:
“A Perilous Journey”
On May 24 in Santa Fe, 81 undergraduate
and 24 graduate candidates received their
diplomas.
ome of the most memorable
speechmaking in Santa Fe this
year came at dinners: a hilarious tribute to graduating seniors by tutor-turned-soothsayer
Michael Rawn, delivered at the
senior dinner; and a poignant toast to the
Graduate Institute by G.I. Director Frank
Pagano, offered at the G.I. Dinner for graduates and their families.
Rawn’s stated goal was to open graduates’ eyes “to the perilous journey they
must embark upon to reach this realm of
philanthropic bliss, a journey through
S
teri thomson randall
I
“Idealism rescues cynicism, and the continued
comfort of the party of
things-as-they-are depends
on the doubts placed under
their pillows by the party
of things-as-they-mightbecome. The future turns
out to be something that
you make instead of find. It isn’t waiting for
your arrival, either with an arrest warrant
or a band, nor is it any further away than
the next sentence, the next best guess, the
next sketch for the painting of a life portrait that might become a masterpiece. The
future is an empty canvas or a blank sheet
of paper, and if you have the courage of
your own thought and your own observation you can make of it what you will.”
Note: the full text of Lapham’s speech is
available on the St. John’s College Web site:
www.sjca.edu
dave trozzo
n a speech that focused on a
central figure in his life—writer,
editor, and historian Otto
Friedrich—Harper’s Editor Lewis
Lapham presented a passionate
defense of the humanities in his
commencement address, a speech that also
touched on the war in Iraq, on tyranny and
freedom, and fear and ignorance.
The humanities are essential to life, not
luxuries, Lapham said. “I can think of no
other set of studies more relevant to our
present circumstance,” he said. “Our technologists bear comparison to the sorcerer’s
apprentice, producing continuously
improved means toward increasingly illdefined ends. Unless we look to the humanities to clean up the mess, we stand a better-than-even chance of killing ourselves
with our new toys.”
Humanism, he continued “is about the
passion of thought and the will to understand, about Darwin sailing for the Galapagos or Dostoevsky in trouble with the
police, about Condorcet dying in a garret
and hunted by agents of the guillotine,
writing his outline of human progress so
that he might hearten mankind by his
vision of its possible perfections.”
In describing Friedrich, for whom he
worked at the now-defunct Saturday
Evening Post, Lapham drew from T.H.
White’s The Once and Future King to celebrate the unquenchable intellectual he
found in his mentor. Merlin, he explained,
proffered this cure for young Arthur’s
melancholy. “There is only one thing for it
then—to learn. Learn why the world wags
and what wags it. That is the only thing
which the mind can never exhaust, never
alienate, never dream of regretting.”
Lapham described Friedrich, as one who
“joined a scholar’s love of learning with a
journalist’s boundless curiosity.” Friedrich
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�21
dave trozzo
{Commencement}
economic destitution, through socio-pathological alienation, a journey through an
underworld more terrible than the one
encountered by Aeneas and Dante and
Odysseus and Mr. Rogers.”
He took the liberty of predicting the
future for several seniors—futures all heavily
influenced by a St. John’s education: “Mr.
[Michael] Santillanes will have a bleak economic future selling Sigmund Freud action
figures”; “Ms. Alexandra Poole…will develop the next generation of Prozac-based
sedatives, called Ephemera, whose only
deleterious side effect will be strong unsubstantiated feelings of the unity of science
and morality”; “Mr. Austin Hall will return
to the college in 20 years, under the pseudonym Johannes de Silencio, having copyrighted a performance piece called the
Seminar Moment. It will be a CD that one
can play prior to seminar to prepare for
epiphany, not unlike the rainforest CDs
insomniacs play before bedtime.”
Toasting the Graduate Institute, Pagano
spoke of youth and age, old and new.
“Everyone in the college still calls the
undergraduate program the New Program,
and I call the Liberal Arts Program the
New Program. The New Program is now in
its late 60s, and the Graduate Institute in
its late 30s. By the standard of a human
life, the New Program is old, and the Graduate Institute approaching middle age.
And yet when I read Plato in the college he
seems to be young. Who gave Plato back
his youth? A dean in Annapolis, Jacob
Klein. As Plato says of Socrates, the whole
purpose of the New Program is to make the
best thoughts of the past young and beautiful. We attempt to bring them into the
present.
“The students in the Graduate Institute
are older than most of the undergraduates.
And yet they represent the present rather
more than the undergraduates. You have
seen the world and felt it as it is, and it is
already old. To know this is to know what
youth is. Youth in the world is the expectation that the good will prevail. Yet this is
not the most powerful view in the contem-
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
Meredith Barton, flanked by Christopher
Bareford and Amanda Bell, shows her
delight on graduation day in Annapolis.
porary world. The world has the cynicism
of old age that the worst is coming soon. In
this respect the undergraduates are not yet
young. They do not know the world. You
are young. You are because you have
returned to us to find the good. You have
brought to us the expectation of youth.”
During the 2003 Commencement exercises an address to the graduating class was
given by the great translator of classic
works Allen Mandelbaum, W. R. Kenan Jr.
Professor of Humanities at Wake Forest
University, and professor of the History of
Literary Criticism at the University of
Turin. Mandelbaum delivered several readings, along with extensive background
material on each piece.
Preceding closing remarks, sincere
thanks and remembrance was proffered to
four retiring faculty members in Santa Fe:
Glenn Freitas, Robert Richardson, Ralph
Swentzell, and Hans von Briesen. x
�22
{Homecoming}
CL ASS OF ’68
PIONEERS RETURN
by Andra Maguran
assie was on the air, Lyndon Johnson was
president, and 23,000 troops were positioned in Vietnam. The Beatles made their
television appearance on The Ed Sullivan
Show, and the Warren Commission determined that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
It was 1964, and in this transition from Camelot to the turbulent war years, the inaugural freshman class of
St. John’s College in Santa Fe—84 in number—arrived at a
brand new campus carved out of juniper and piñon at the
edge of a quaint and quiet town.
L
In July, members of the class of 1968 reconvened, along with alumni from years latter
and recent, to take part in Homecoming
2003. Ask Vida Kazemi (SF68) to compare
today’s St. John’s with life on the Santa Fe
campus in 1964 and she likens it to answering “questions about another planet, using
the framework of this planet.”
“The experience of being at a college
with no upperclassmates, about 20 or so
faculty and staff, lots of space, in a town
where the options for seeing films were the
college and the Three Cities of Spain coffee
shop on certain weekends, was so different
from anything familiar that I can’t put it in
another context,” she explains.
Kazemi’s parents were in Iran, she was in
boarding school in the U.S., and her college
choice was up to her. She had seen a promotional film in which an eager prospective
named ‘Ernest Groper’ toured the campus,
but nevertheless chose St. John’s, in part
for its location. She originally planned to
transfer to a more established institution
such as Wellesley after her freshman year,
but the Program took hold and she decided
to stay.
There was no gym, few diversions and
terrible food, she acknowledges, but “we
also had opportunities that no other class
has had, and buildings that had never been
Class of 1968 students process to the
dedication of the Santa Fe campus in
October 1964.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
used.” There were very few cars on campus,
Kazemi adds—a stark contrast to today’s
packed parking lots. “Allison Karslake was
one of the few students with a car, which
she generously loaned to everybody and
which was at one point painted decoratively
by other students and called ‘the Angel,’”
says Kazemi.
As the fighting escalated in Vietnam, the
turmoil in the country affected the tiny
campus, Kazemi says, “It was a strange
time to be pondering eternal questions
when the temporal seemed so urgent.”
“When one of ours went to war, we struggled with our respective moral choices. The
influence of those times still informs the
lifestyle and choices of most of us.”
The faculty of the new campus comprised
10 intrepid tutors, seven of whom came
from Annapolis, including Ford K. Brown,
who smoked a pipe in seminars. Antigone
Phalares remembers Brown laying down
protocol right off the bat. “Let’s begin with
the Greek alphabet. It begins alpha [pointing to himself], beta [pointing to the students], here [indicating the classroom],”
Phalares recalls.
�23
teri thomson randall
teri thomson randall
{Homecoming}
The class of 1983 in a playful pose at the Homecoming picnic, and alumni and their
families enjoy the President’s Brunch at Hunt House on Sunday morning.
teri thomson randall
In contrast to today’s coed dorms was
the prohibition against men and women
visiting one another in their single-sex
dorms after curfew. Julie von Erffa (SF68)
is still proud of her class’s success in helping to ease the dormitory visitation
restrictions. “We had a sleep-in and got
the hours extended until midnight. If you
were in a boy’s dorm past midnight you
had to stay over because the guards might
catch you going out.” With her enlightened notions about living arrangements,
von Erffa went in 1967 to live among the
founding members of the famed New Buffalo Commune, near Taos.
But as Cervantes wrote, “time ripens all
things.” Now a doctor of Oriental Medicine, von Erffa says that after spending
eight years as a farmer, in order to become
an acupuncturist she had to get back to
her intellectual roots and re-apply what
she’d learned at St. John’s—to go fearlessly
into unfamiliar territory.
Browsing through college materials
while on campus, Elsa Blum (SF68)
experienced “an intense memory of…
the excitement and gratitude I felt at the
seriousness of the dialogue this college
wanted to have with me. I remember
scribbling late into the night to answer
the questions I felt were so vital to me.”
The class Homecoming seminar, on
Wendell Berry’s short story “Pray Without
Ceasing,” revived the spirit of those longago seminars for Blum. “It was the best
kind of relaxed collective effort, no posturing or heavy-handed stuff that we are subjected to in the ‘real’ world. This experience, along with the pleasure of being
together after so many years, seemed to
cast a benign glow on our class’s time
together this weekend.”
The Santa Fe campus may have been
new, but the Program was almost 30 years
old, and the works they read timeless.
“St. John’s was one of the most important things that happened to
me, both in terms of personal
maturity and spreading intellectual horizons,” says Harold
Morgan (SF68). “The college
has matured into an important
part of Santa Fe and New
Mexico. I’m proud to have a
connection.” x
The pioneers from the class
of 1968 at the President’s
Brunch during Homecoming.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
HOMECOMING
HIGHLIGHTS
• Laboratory Director Hans von
Briesen, who retired this year,
and Kathy Mizrahi, director of
Residential Housing, were selected to become honorary alumni by
the Alumni Association.
• Gloria Page (SF76) delivered a
lecture as part of the Meem
Library’s Speaking Volumes
Lecture Series. Her talk, “Dream
On: Creating an Art Business
That Works,” was based on her
recent book outlining her journey from a home-based creative
endeavor to the Smithsonian
bookshop.
• Alumni Awards of Merit were
presented to Alfred Grant
(SFGI83) and Eric Springsted
(SF73). (More on these awards on
page 47).
• Homecoming prank: The Class of
1993 staged a “redneck-style”
barbeque outside Peterson Student Center, replete with pick-up
truck, pirate flag, straw hats,
Southern rock music, and beverages. They sported white t-shirts
and muscle shirts with the
message “I’m with stupid”
(written in Greek), and an arrow
pointing to each person’s left.
�24
{Outreach}
HOBBES IN PRISON
Mark Lindley (A67) Brings Great Books to Prisoners
by Rosemary Harty
“Attention all visitors: As a part of
the routine search that must be conducted before you are allowed to
enter the institution, you will be
required to open your mouth. Those
who refuse shall be denied entry.”
ules and regulations greet
every visitor to the Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup. Don’t move
through a moving door
until it has stopped moving. No double visits on holiday weekends.
If asked, open your mouth for inspection.
Mark Lindley (A67) pulls out his driver’s
license and a Department of Corrections
volunteer I.D. and tries to usher a group of
volunteers into the regular Wednesday
morning session of Touchstones, an
Annapolis-based project based on reading
and discussing passages from great books.
A few weeks before, Lindley had forgotten
his license and was turned away. Today one
of his visitors isn’t on “the list” from the
principal of the prison school. Speaking
patiently and diplomatically to the guard
behind the glass, he asks that the principal
be called for permission.
“Every couple of weeks, there’s a new
procedure and an old procedure goes by
the wayside,” Lindley comments as his
group waits by a row of lockers. Several
minutes go by as a guard calls the prison
school to check if the unlisted visitor can
enter. Several more minutes go by until the
guard who called decides to tell the guard
behind the glass that the visitor has been
approved.
Lindley shows only gratitude as he waits
for his turn through the metal detector,
then leads his group into the prison yard
and to the building that houses the prison
school. About a dozen chairs have been set
in a circle. Dion, a slim, bespectacled
R
young man in dreadlocks, has placed a
copy of the Touchstones text—a selection of
short readings culled from many of the
books of the St. John’s Program—on each
chair.
The reading is a two-page passage from
Leviathan, rendered into simpler prose
and shorter sentences, but keeping
Hobbes’ major ideas intact. Participants—
initially five inmates and the Touchstones
group—are reminded of the rules for discussion and directed to the reading. Dion
announces the opening question, a rather
broad one: “What is the nature of man?”
Discussions cross lines
of race and class,
education and
experience, freedom
and imprisonment.
In the next 45 minutes, the conversation
will face long silences and diversions. More
questions are generated as inmates wrestle
with the philsopher’s view about law,
order, and chaos: Should we live our lives
in fear? Is it possible for two people to compete for the same thing and not try to
destroy each other?
“The nature of man,” offers one of the
inmates, “is to seek what makes him happy
or content.” In some cases, he says, it’s a
big car, a nice house, a good job.
Adds another inmate, a quiet man: “You
can only find peace when you look at what’s
inside yourself, be true to yourself.”
Sometimes one or two people dominate
the conversation; often the participants
struggle to express a thought. Some conversations have been volatile. But nearly
every time, says Lindley, the discussions
cross lines of race and class, education and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
experience, freedom and imprisonment, to
touch on questions of humanity: Is it possible to obtain peace living in our society
today?
The Touchstones Discussion Project—
created in 1984 by tutors Howard Zeiderman (A67), Geoffrey Comber (HAGI95),
and Nick Maistrellis, based in Annapolis
and independent of the college—has been
in Maryland prisons since 1996. Designed
to help individuals of all backgrounds
develop skills such as problem solving,
questioning, listening, and cooperating,
the project was already in schools, nursing
homes, corporations, and organizations.
The idea to take it to prisons came from a
community college teacher in Santa Fe who
attended a Touchstones workshop. After a
program in the New Mexico State Penitentiary got under way, Zeiderman began
working on bringing it into Maryland’s
prisons. His initial meeting was with nine
men serving life sentences at the Maryland
House of Corrections. “They had three reasons they thought Touchstones would be
helpful for prisoners: It would humanize
the environment; they would take themselves more seriously as individuals; and
they appreciated that ideas like justice,
integrity, and truth would be helpful to
talk about.”
The nonprofit organization had to overcome some bureaucratic roadblocks, but
it’s now in four prisons in the state. More
than 1,000 prisoners have gone through
the program, which over the years has
gained credibility in the Department of
Corrections. The parole board now accepts
Touchstones certificates as part of an
inmate’s record. And Zeiderman hopes one
Mark Lindley finds uncommon wisdom and
insight in the conversations he shares
with prisoners through the Touchstones
Discussion Project. Lindley is one of
dozens of Touchstones volunteers in
Maryland prisons.
�{Outreach}
“Seeing people come to life who have
been completely shut down—
it’s very exciting.”
Mark Lindley (A67)
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
25
�26
day to bring the program to
the prison’s guards.
When he first began leading discussions in prison,
Zeiderman wondered where
conversations with a group
of men serving life sentences
would lead. One week, the
group discussed the Bible
story of the sacrifice of
Isaac. “They’re talking
about God and what God is
like through the sacrifice of
Isaac. It’s really quite
breathtaking because they’re all lifers, convicted of committing the crime of murder.
The discussion had a kind of intensity and
honesty you’re not going to experience
anywhere else,” Zeiderman adds.
Lindley is one of about 80 volunteers
involved in the Touchstones prison project. For the last year, he has invested up
to 20 hours a week in leading groups,
training inmates, and lately, paving the
way for new programs at other correctional
institutions.
Lindley retired from an executive post at
AOL-Time Warner, where he capped a
career that started with teaching, led to
computers, and involved launching several
start-up companies. As his technological
abilities grew, he also learned to thrive on
challenges. Even when he took a job with
General Electric, he found his niche in the
company’s cutting-edge projects. When he
left to go to AOL, “this crackpot startup,”
some of Lindley’s colleagues told him he
was derailing his career.
“It was geek heaven,” Lindley says of his
years with AOL, where he climbed to the
post of senior manager of AOL Technologies. He says skills he learned at St. John’s,
particularly “fearlessness in the face of
total confusion,” helped him succeed in a
fast-paced and rapidly changing environment.
“It [St. John’s] also influenced my
approach to problem solving,” Lindley
says. “I was working with a lot of people
who had been to engineering school, and I
was one of the people who always said,
‘let’s sit down and talk about it.’”
Zeiderman recruited his former classmate when Lindley came back to Annapolis
for his 25th reunion and joined Zeiderman
and his wife, Margaret Winter (A66), for a
luncheon. Lindley decided to retire from
{Outreach}
A group of inmates share their thoughts
in this Touchstones session.
AOL after the Time-Warner merger.
“I could see where things were headed,”
he said, and he and his wife, Nancy (A58),
moved back to Annapolis.
In his corporate life, Lindley enjoyed
seeing talented young men and women
thrive when given new challenges. His
work in the prisons isn’t that different, but
he’s very aware that this group of men
started out with none of the advantages—
stable homes, good educations—that his
young workers had.
“In my career, I gained a lot of personal
satisfaction out of guiding folks into
careers and pointing out directions I
thought they could go in. But in some
sense that was easy, because I was able to
pick and choose the talent I was hiring for
my department. Here [in the prison],
you’re working with people who have been
pretty much disadvantaged, largely before
they were born.”
Touchstones gives prisoners a voice they
didn’t know they had, Lindley says. “There
was a young man who had started in the
More than 1,000
prisoners have
participated in
Touchstones.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
program maybe nine months
or so ago. He was obviously a
very bright kid, but out of
control, kind of a wild man.
He would disrupt the class,
speak out, and talk about
irrelevant things—not really
be active in trying to make
the group work.”
Within a few weeks, the
young man began to participate in a very rational, quiet
way. He talked less and listened more. “Nobody clued
him in, but at some point he had a breakthrough—he’s responsible for himself. He
has a self. He can make a difference in his
own life,” Lindley says.
Lindley believes that he’s gaining something valuable from his time spent with
these imprisoned men.
“One of the lovely things about Touchstones is that you’re always discovering
things about yourself—gifts that you may
have not valued or areas of your personality
that you develop—and you get to do that
working with people. And in an institution
like this, seeing people come to life who
have been completely shut down—it’s very
exciting. It’s very satisfying.”
As of late August, the group had its third
discussion leader in as many months.
There were the usual rumblings that the
program could lose support in the Department of Corrections. Lindley showed up
one morning only to be turned away again;
the inmate who filled out the paperwork
had put the wrong date on the form.
Lindley got back in the car without a
fuss. But the pat-downs, the bureaucracy,
the passage through metal detectors and
sharpshooters all gave him impetus to
speak up recently when prisoners discussed a short passage from the Iliad.
Rendered in simple prose, the passage
described Priam begging Achilles for
Hector’s body.
“The question was, ‘have you ever had to
humble yourself?’ And I think they were
going to skip right over me, but I had a lot
to contribute. You know every time you
come into the prison, that the guard with
the gun has power over you. That gives you
something in common with the inmates.
Love, hate, anger, truth, revenge—we’re all
human, and ultimately we have the same
issues to talk about.” x
�27
{Bibliofile}
land stories, but he plans to pursue more
serious literary ambitions when he retires
in a few years. He also wants to work harder
on the “rich and famous” goal. “Local
crime is fine, and I’ve enjoyed it,” he says,
“but what I need to do is write something
along the lines of Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil.”
Before he does though, he wants to complete a final “legacy to the public”—a
2,000-page index of murders and disasters
in the Cleveland area.
Tales of
Cleveland Woe
THE KILLER IN THE ATTIC
By John Stark Bellamy II
Gray & Co., 2002
By Rosemary Harty
J
ohn Stark Bellamy II (A71) had a
simple goal when he sat down to
write the first of his books on
murder and mayhem in his native
Cleveland. “All I ever wanted to
do was to be rich and famous in
my own hometown,” Bellamy
explains.
After penning four books with titles such
as The Corpse in the Cellar (“includes 104
spine-chilling photographs”) and They
Died Crawling, Bellamy has achieved a
modest fortune and certain notoriety. His
books have sold briskly in the Northeast
Ohio region. Bellamy leads trolley tours
through the city, pointing out sites of horrific crimes and tragic fires, shares his collection of tales on radio and television, and
brings a slide show detailing the stories in
his books to various eager audiences.
Bellamy earns his living as the history
specialist for the Cuyahoga County Public
Library. But his fascination for lurid spectacle and human treachery was nurtured at a
young age. “I grew up in a family of journalists where it was considered perfectly
appropriate to discuss the latest torso
killing around the dinner table,” Bellamy
explains. “It was not uncommon to have
family meals interrupted by the scream of
fire engines. We would just abandon what
we were doing and follow the sirens.”
In his latest book, The Killer in the Attic,
Bellamy confesses to a compulsion to keep
churning out the tales: “…I have discovered that I could not stifle my melodramatic
tale-telling even if I wanted to—and the
frank truth is that I don’t.”
After four books, his favorite story
remains that of Eve Kaber, who arranged
for the murder of her well-to-do husband,
Dan. “Long about 1918, her husband
suddenly became very sick—she was systematically poisoning him by adding arsenic to
his food—but she lost patience after a while
and hired two goons to stab the invalid in
his bed.
“The amazing thing was this woman had
the complicity of both her daughter and
mother,” Bellamy muses. “She was a formidable woman and she almost got away with
CONICS, Book IV
Translated and annotated by Michael Fried
Green Lion Press, 2002
John Stark Bellamy II chronicles crime
and chaos in his native Cleveland.
it. It’s shocking to me that no one has made
an opera out of this story yet.”
As a historian, Bellamy believes his tales
contribute to a better understanding of the
social history of Cleveland. In stories such
as “They Died Crawling,” he describes the
1916 Waterworks Tunnel explosion, in
which 70 men—many immigrant Irish and
German laborers—lost their lives after
being ordered into a gas-filled tunnel. Bellamy writes about the heroes who were
never acknowledged and the series of blunders that cost the men their lives.
Growing up in a newspaper family gave
Bellamy a love for books, and at his mother’s urging he applied to St. John’s. “I was
precocious and maladjusted and looking
around desperately for some kind of niche I
could fit into,” he says. Although he left
after a year, Bellamy says, “there is not one
aspect of my life that hasn’t been changed
by exposure to the program at St. John’s. It
gave me an intolerance for sloppy thinking
and for the second-rate.”
After earning a graduate degree in history and discovering he didn’t want to teach,
Bellamy went on to earn a master’s in
library science. Working in Cleveland
libraries, he began to collect clippings and
photographs of sensational stories and
shaped them into books, writing between
11 p.m. and 3 in the morning. Each book
features the fast-paced, cynical, and melodramatic style of a tabloid newspaper.
“They’re tremendous fun to write,” he
says.
Bellamy is working on a murder tour
guide and a calendar featuring his Cleve{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
Michael N. Fried (A82) has made important
contributions to the study of Apollonius’s
Conics. Together with Sabetai Unguru, he
wrote Apollonius of Perga’s Conica: Text,
Context, Subtext (Brill, 2001). The volume
contains primarily an “historically sensitive
interpretation” of the Conics—seen through
its individual books, and as a whole. Particular attention is placed on the areas of the
Conics hitherto—neglected Books V-VII.
Fried and Unguru hope to offer a “long overdue” alternative to previous scholarship,
which will be of interest not only to historians of mathematics, but also to other historians, philosophers, and linguists, as well as
“open-minded mathematicians.”
More recently, Fried has published a
translation of Book IV of the Conics (Green
Lion Press, 2002). Book IV deals with the
ways in which conic sections can meet in a
plane. It is the last of the Greek books, as
well as the last part of what Apollonius called
a “course on the elements of conics.” (The
remainder of the books after IV survive only
in medieval Latin and Arabic translations.)
In the introduction, Fried himself sums
up what he has done: “In reading and translating book IV, I have tried to give Apollonius a fair chance, to keep modern algebraic
ideas about conics at a distance, and to view
the text with eyes trained only on the mathematical and philosophical concerns of Apollonius’s contemporaries and on the geometrical character of the previous three books of
the Conics.”
“…for one like Apollonius, whose work
with curves is always governed by a fundamentally geometric outlook, the plural-singular nature of the opposite sections makes
them an object of fascination, but it also
duly gives rise to a certain uneasiness with
them….” x
�28
{Alumni Notes}
1940
OSCAR L. LORD writes: “My wife,
Patti, and I attended a ceremony
recently at Peterson Air Force
Base, Colorado Springs, Colo.,
when our son, Gen. Lance W.
Lord, assumed command of the
first Air Force Space Command.
We were pleased to meet the Secretary of the Air Force and his wife
who attended the ceremony and
were pleased to learn of his past
association with St. John’s.”
1941
Last November VERNON PADGETT
was elected to a second term as
director of the Las Virgenes
Municipal Water District, which
provides water and sewer service
to 65,000 homes in several small
cities west of Los Angeles.
1944
GEORGE LEVINE is celebrating his
40th year as director of American
Telephone Consumer Council.
ot a good story
from the early
days/weeks/
months of
freshman year?
Send it to
sus3an.borden@sjca.edu for an
article we’re working on. Santa
Fe stories are currently in short
supply; if you spent your first
year on the Western campus we
especially urge you to take a trip
down memory lane and send us
a travelogue. x
G
1962
RICHARD M. FRANK reports, “I’m
older. Otherwise nothing new—
alas!”
JOHN FRANKLIN MILLER was elected president of the board of the
Library of American Landscape
History, a voluntary position, in
2003.
1953
ROBERT G. HAZO is writing a book
ROD WHETSTONE is contacting
class of ’44 survivors: “Using the
Alumni Register as a base, I would
like each of you to verify that (1)
you are still around and (2) that
your address and phone number
are correct in the Register. A
phone call or post card will allow
me to make my own updated and,
hopefully, accurate register for our
class. I will then send a copy to all
of you and solicit ideas and suggestions for our reunion in the fall of
2004, as well as an indication of
your interest in attending. A letter
will, of course, be welcome.
Though my address and phone
number are correct in the
Register, I will repeat them here:
3103 S. Park Road, Bethel Park,
PA 15102; 412-835-8986. Incidentally, I believe our 55th reunion
was quite successful. We had 15
attending out of 34 I was able to
reach. The original number was
either 90 or 91.”
1945
You Must
Remember
This
1949
“In my ‘old’ age,” LAWRENCE
LEVIN writes, “I’ve become an
active tenor singer in the Oratorio
Society of Queens; we’re doing the
Verdi Requiem in May and I love
it.”
1948
GEORGE TRIMBLE was invited to
give three lectures on the “Evolution of Electronic Computers”
at Princeton University in honor
of John von Neumann’s 100th
birthday.
1963
titled Minority Rule.
CHARLES POWLESKE sends this
update from New York: “In late
2001, I helped form InterPlan
Consulting Inc., which was incorporated a year ago. My associates
are business friends from earlier
years at the Business Council for
International Understanding,
who, like me, are (allegedly)
retired. InterPlan’s chairman formerly headed a Fortune 500 engineering company, responsible for
building and operating power
plants and refineries around the
world. Our current projects
include refineries, both existing
ones in need of expansion and new
ones. We are also working on projects that range from solar energy
(India and Sri Lanka), a proposed
rice plantation in Africa, and an
existing hotel complex in Barbados in need of equity for modernization under a new management.” He notes that he spent
April in his favorite vacation
condo in Puerto Vallarta.
1960
JOHN LANE retired a year ago and
is thoroughly enjoying life.
1961
CYNTHIA BLEDSOE-DALEY recently
celebrated a return to health on
her bicycle, completing a trip of
3,135 miles across the country –
eight states, 62 days (21 across
Texas), Pacific to Atlantic Ocean.
“The trip was immensely satisfying to the eye, as we traveled
through small towns in deserts,
mountains, and beaches, from San
Diego to St. Augustine. A great
way to start off the summer!”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
BEVERLY W. BELL is a teacher and
tutor of children with learning
differences, and her husband,
Dr. D. Bruce Bell, is the army’s
expert on military families and is
currently doing research on desertion and first-tour attrition. Son
David, 29, is an opera singer and
mathematician in New York City
and daughter Toby, 26, is a medical social worker and milliner
in Northern Virginia. All are
thriving.
MARCIA HERMAN-GIDDENS writes,
“I am still happily living in rural
North Carolina, teaching, consulting, and doing research in pediatric issues and child maltreatment. Imagine my delight and
amazement when my daughter
married a St. John’s tutor
(Jonathan Badger, Annapolis)
last year! Life is full of delicious
wonders.”
1964
JAN CALDWELL THORPE has a
psychotherapy practice in San
Francisco and Berkeley, and is at
work on a book about clinical work
with dreams. “My husband is in
law practice in San Francisco, and
my eldest son and daughter-in-law
are both lawyers in my husband’s
practice. My youngest son is in the
Navy, and my grandson is busy
being six!”
1965
JESSICA HOFFMANN DAVIS is the
Patricia Bauman and John
Landrum Bryant Senior Lecturer
on the Arts in Education and the
director of the Arts in Education
program at the Harvard Graduate
�29
{Alumni Profile}
Teaching the EIDOS of Design
by Sus3an Borden, A87
ike many alumni who have
become teachers, Lovejoy
Duryea (A67) uses St. John’sstyle teaching techniques in
her classroom. At first, her
students are uncomfortable
with her approach; they hadn’t signed up for
Socratic questioning or Aristotelian causation. That’s not, after all, what they were
looking for when they applied to study interior design. But Duryea, who is chair of the
interior design department at the School of
Visual Arts in Manhattan, says that St. John’s
is the best training a designer can get.
“St. John’s is about asking questions, not
giving answers. That’s what I’m trying to
do—teach students how to think on their
own, to solve problems, to be critical
thinkers. I ask my classes: ‘What is a chair?
Does it have to have legs? Does it have to
have a back? What is chairness?’ If you’re
going to design something important, you
have to get into the eidos of what that something is.”
When Duryea graduated from St. John’s,
she didn’t know she’d someday put her education to work in the world of construction
drawings, textile science, and sustainable
environments. Instead, she started out in
advertising, writing commercials for products like Ivory soap, Tide, Gleam, Crisco,
and Duncan Hines cake mixes.
“I was the queen of cake mixes,” she
recalls. “They sent me to the test kitchens at
Procter & Gamble and taught me to make
pie crusts, fry chickens, and bake biscuits.
Then they sent me on a radio talk show tour
across the southern U.S. People would call in
and ask me their cooking questions. That
was my first experience after getting out of
St. John’s: I was the baking lady.”
When her tour ended, Duryea returned
to the offices of Compton Advertising
where someone dropped a bottle of the newto-market acetaminophen (brand name:
Nebs) on her desk and told her to write a
commercial for it. At the time, acetaminophen took a back seat to aspirin—its superior qualities were not well known outside of
the world of research scientists.
Duryea picked up the pills and headed for
the library. “I found books on headaches,
learned how the pill worked on the body,
and drew up a list of questions for the scientists in the lab. No copywriter had ever
asked to talk to them before. The average
Award-winning designer Lovejoy
Duryea uses logic in her work.
L
copyrighter is not even going to read the
label. But I wasn’t intimidated by chemical
formulas,” she says.
“I discovered that acetaminophen was
superior to aspirin and buffered aspirin. It
was a great product that was not being well
promoted. Even the name—Nebs? Before we
were through, acetaminophen became the
largest painkiller on the market.”
In 1976, Duryea (née Reeves) married
William Duryea and stayed at home to raise
four children. When her youngest was six,
she returned to work, but this time as an
interior designer. “I hardly missed a beat
going from professional writing to design. I
didn’t even consider it a stretch,” she says.
“Because of St. John’s, I saw the unity and
not the disunity. There’s an underlying logic
in design and also a logic in selling. The
St. John’s method of trying to find the
underlying logic or order of something—
that’s really what design is about.”
Duryea’s residential design business took
off almost immediately. She began with a
project for a neighbor and her reputation
spread quickly as she built up a Park Avenue
practice—glamorous clients with big spaces
and budgets to match.
In 1987 Duryea was asked to teach at the
School of Visual Arts and was offered the
chairmanship of the school’s new interior
design department in 1990. “I had a definite concept of what students should know
when they graduated. I wanted them to
have confidence about problem-solving.”
As in philosophy, Duryea says that there
are no right answers in design. “Some
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
answers are more right than others,
and there are criteria you can bring
to evaluating answers, but it’s not
black and white. There’s a fiery pluralism in design that can be confusing to students. One teacher will say
‘this is a great design,’ another will
say something completely different.
I can’t tell my student what direction
the design world is going, but if I
teach them to be good thinkers,
they’ll have the tools they need to
figure out whatever they’re given to
solve.”
Last March, the Design Committee of the National Arts Club awarded
Duryea a gold medal for her work as a
designer and educator. Although she still
does some work in design, her current focus
is teaching, running the department, serving
as chair of the State Board for Interior
Design, and improving the certification
process for interior designers. “We’re establishing standards for education and for practice, which brings us into more St. John’s
kind of questions: What do interior designers
do? What do they need to know? What kind
of education should they have? Everything
gets back to St. John’s,” Duryea says. “It’s
the perfect background for a designer.” x
EIDOS of Couch
“For we should not be content with
saying that the couch was made of bronze
or wood or whatever it might be, but
should try to describe its design or mode
of composition in preference to the material; or, if we did deal with the material, it
would at any rate be with the concretion
of material and form. For a couch is such
and such a form embodied in this or that
matter, or such and such a matter with
this or that form; so that its shape and
structure must be included in our
description. For the formal nature is of
greater importance than the material
nature.”
—Aristotle, ON THE PARTS OF ANIMALS, Book I
�30
{Alumni Notes}
School of Education. Husband
WILLIAM DAVIS (class of 1964) is a
director at Credit Suisse First
Boston and just stepped down as
chairman of the board of the
Berklee College of Music, which
gave him an honorary doctorate in
music. They send love to all.
1966
IAN HARRIS (A) reports that his
daughter, Jessie WashburneHarris, was married to Michael
Lieberman last October in Paradise Valley, Ariz. McFarland and
Co. published a second edition of
Ian’s book, Peace Education, written with Mary Lee Morrison. He is
a professor of education policy and
community studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
1967
LARRY (A) and HAZEL (A69)
SCHLUETER announce the birth of
a second grandson, born to
CHARLES (A90) and his wife, Kaya,
named Kaden Douglas, on January
18, 2003. Larry has retired from
U.S. Customs where he was an
inspector for over 32 years, and is
helping his grandson have fun.
Hazel has a new CD out, Jam
Session, and is playing with her
band Hazel and the Delta Ramblers at the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival—her 28th year at
the festival.
1968
BRUCE R. BALDWIN (SF) writes
that his daughter, Marisa, graduated from Johns Hopkins in May,
and son, Ian, graduated from West
Point in 1999 and is now a captain
in the army, presently serving in
Afghanistan.
DONALD A. BOOTH (A) sent along
this list: “I’ve recently returned
from a year in Hong Kong, working as an architect on major projects including the CCTV (Chinese
television) competition in Beijing.
In 2001 I completed restoration of
a historical house on Hanover
Street in Annapolis, Md. (I’m a
registered architect in Maryland.)
Tony Miller (A61):
The Big World of
Small Cars
I
“Grandson Lyw Westrick learned
to read last year—another one
boards the bus!” writes SARAH B.
FISHER (A).
CHARLES B. WATSON (A), sends a
suggestion: “Listen to your local
NPR station to hear events of the
day and especially Ivan Watson
reporting from northern Iraq near
Moult, Kerkuk. In fall 2002 and
February, March, and April of
2003, he was favorably impressed
by the citizen soldiers and the
beauty of the Kurdish-held areas
of exile protected for 10 years by
the Northern No-Fly Zone.”
Tony Miller’s design career has run the
gamut from action figures to Hot Wheels.
By Roberta Gable, A78
n 1945, when he was five years old,
Tony Miller’s parents submitted an
application to St. John’s on his
behalf. Advised that their suit was
premature, they bided their time
until he was of the age to make
such applications for himself, and then they
tightened the screws: although he was wild
to study automotive design, they insisted
that he spend at least a year in Annapolis
before they’d endorse any other education.
The would-be car designer accepted his
lot, and came to St. John’s. No doubt to his
parents’ delight, he was sufficiently hooked
by the end of his freshman year to return as
a sophomore. Push came to shove by second semester time, however, and he decided that perhaps it was time to follow his
heart: He returned to his native California
and enrolled at the Art Center (now called
the Art Center College of Design) in
Pasadena, the preeminent institution for
training industrial automotive designers.
He left there after two years, again without
a degree, got married, and went to work as
a draftsman and design engineer for Douglas Aircraft.
I’m currently based in Cambridge,
Mass., working for a landscape
architecture firm.”
Then destiny tapped him on the shoulder. “Aerospace in general is a place for
methodical people who don’t need excitement and stimulation—it’s very slowpaced.” Finding himself to be more of a
fun-lover, he was gladly recruited to be a
project manager for Mattel. There he
worked on a variety of toys, including an
action figure called Big Jim. As a project
manger he was responsible for each item
from the moment it was added to the line:
engineering, design, child testing, cost, the
whole shootin’ match.
After a while on the design side, he
moved into marketing, the antithesis of
engineering. “At St. John’s I gained a tolerance for finding out about stuff I didn’t
think was interesting instead of believing
that I already knew what was interesting.
The discipline of being at St. John’s showed
me that I have more tolerance for checking
out things I don’t know anything about.”
Although his three-year stint in marketing
wasn’t a time of unmitigated pleasure, the
experience gained there informed his long
career with a variety of toy companies:
Zee, Tomy, Aurora, Lakeside Games,
Tona, Galoob, and his own design consultancy, Red Racer Studio. In the end, he
came back to Mattel, and back to his first
love, cars. This year he’ll retire from his
position as the vice president for design for
Hot Wheels.
Hot Wheels. They bill themselves as
“The World’s Coolest Car Company,” and
the claim goes largely undisputed. Since
1968 they’ve made more than three billion
cars—they’re currently selling at a sevencars-per-second clip. You may think of the
product chiefly as little 1:64-scale die-cast
cars, just the right size for a boy to carry in
his pocket, but wait! There’s more. Tracks,
devices to hurl the cars through space,
computer games, skateboard peripherals,
auto show sponsorships: It’s a lifestyle cavalcade of cardom. Miller supervises the
group of 30 designers from whose whimsy
must come the new toy ideas. “It’s sometimes like watching a basket of puppies.”
The Hot Wheels people say that all the
Hot Wheels cars produced in the last 35
years would, if placed end to end, circle the
earth five times. Says Miller: “That’s the
one statistic that I challenged…and I did
re-calculate it myself. I probably have
Euclid to thank.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�31
{Alumni Notes}
From Sweden, RICK WICKS (SF)
sends this update: “After a long
effort to develop the field of social
economics at the university here
(Goteborg U.) I’ve finally met with
some success: the granting of a
licentiate degree (which they
describe as between a master’s and
a doctorate), I continue working
toward the Ph.D. and editing on
the side as usual.”
1969
ELISABETH A. AIELLO (SFGI)
recently participated in the
Tecolote Group, Santa Fe Tutor
Stephen Van Luchene’s colloquium for K-12 teachers in New
Mexico. “Participating…was
revitalizing, inspiring and professionally productive. I revised my
Great Book Class curriculum for
the 2004 session and will redirect
my techniques to include more
small group discussions.”
JOHN D. GOODWIN (SF) recently
became chief executive officer of
Victory Enterprises Inc. of Las
Vegas, N.M., also known as Victory Home Health, Victory Personal
Care, and Victory Royal Express,
specializing in non-emergency
medical transportation. One of
their largest employers is in San
Miguel Country, and they have
offices throughout New Mexico.
BYRON E. WALL (A) has been
appointed associate lecturer in the
Department of Mathematics and
Statistics at York University in
Toronto, as of July 2002. His son,
ALEX, graduated in May from the
Annapolis campus.
1970
RONALD H. FIELDING (A), a
member of the college Board of
Visitors and Governors, sent his
older son off to Hamilton College
this August, noting that “after
doing a mandatory overnight at
SJC, he told my wife he wouldn’t
apply but respected his father
more, knowing he had gone there.
I continue managing the municipal bond fund group for OppenheimerFunds (9 funds, $13 billion
ANA NETHERTON (A72) has found an unusual use
D
for his volume of Liddell & Scott: “I’m using it as I
work my way through a photostatic reprint of an
introductory book on Greek Orthodox church
music (Byzantine Chant), which was published in
1821 by one of the three people who effected a
major revision to the genre’s musical notation (and which was written in Greek, of course). I actually have a practical use for this
study: I am learning to sing this genre of music in my church. I
became a member of the Greek Orthodox Church in March 2002,
when I was chrismated on my hospital bed the night before my successful triple bypass heart surgery (following about a month of angina). Now, I climb on my home treadmill several times a week, both
for all-weather exercise and also for singing practice (while reading
music written in Byzantine-chant characters and listening to (and
singing along with) a Greek-American monk who sings the same
music on a CD. Singing while walking briskly for a couple of miles
works wonders for my breath control during services!
My sophomore music tutor, the late Michael Ossorgin, was
renowned in the world of Orthodox music (though Russian Orthodox of course, not Greek Orthodox). He was also incredibly patient
with my sophomoric impatience in his class. If he is looking in on
me, no doubt he is pleased—and quite probably stunned!” x
in assets, 20 total staff). My wife
and I are working on a design for a
beautiful house in Kiawah Island,
near Charleston, S.C. That will
become our winter home in two to
three years. Finally, but not least,
I’m chairing the next capital campaign for St. John’s. So put some
money aside while you wait for my
call.”
1971
HELEN ANASTAPLO SCHARBACH (A)
and J. SHIPLEY NEWLIN JR. (A67)
were married in a private ceremony on July 25, 2003, in Saint Paul,
Minn.
THOMAS N. DAY (A) writes, “it’s
been an interesting year working
at the INS in the aftermath of 9-11.
I’ve been busy integrating various
databases and developing new
ones. LOIS [ECKLER DAY] (A77) is
looking forward to getting back to
teaching after our youngest is out
of college.”
PAUL EITNER (SF) is happy to
report that his daughter Laura is
taking a big step toward her lifelong goal by being accepted for
entry into Ohio State University’s
veterinary program this fall.
VICKY MANCHESTER (SF) was
married in November of 2002 to
Dr. John Garrison and is now
Vicky Garrison. She continues to
teach English and drama at the
CIVA Charter High School in
Military Springs, Co.
CYNTHIA HANCOFF LEVY’S (A)
latest CD for young children,
Proud of You, won a spring 2003
Parents Choice Award. “You can
listen to one of the songs on my
Web site, www.music-makers.org.
After 16 years of teaching music to
kids and parents, I still love it!”
1973
LAURIE F. CALLAHAN (SF) reports
that ANNALISA EWALD (A) is a
classical guitarist with a studio in
South Norwalk, Conn.
JEAN FITZSIMON and LEE FISCHLER
(SF68) are spending much of this
year in New York City. Jean has a
new job as a corporate compliance
consultant. Compliance involves
teaching companies to be ethical
as well as responsible to an everchanging legal climate. In other
words, she’s a “cop for hire.”
When Lee is not writing marketing material for Jean, he takes
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
the grandkids to anti-war
demonstrations.
BARBARA ROGAN (SF) is pleased to
report that her seventh novel,
Hindsight, was just published by
Simon & Schuster.
1974
RENATE LEWIS (SFGI) looks
forward to moving back to Santa
Fe this summer.
JEFF (A) and Alla Victoroff are
delighted to report the thrilling
birth of Ivan on Dec. 17, 2002.
ROBERTA FAULHABER-RAZAFY (SF)
sends news from Paris: “Just
thought I’d update fellow Johnnies
on the latest development in my
life. My husband, Jean-Pierre, was
recently appointed ambassador of
Madagascar (his native country) to
France, UK, Spain, the Vatican,
Israel, Portugal, and Monaco. I am
currently living in an embassy in
Paris not far from my former
address in the same city, meditating on the authentic Aubusson
tapestries and a strange Venetian
chandelier that looks like miraculous frozen jellyfish as I type this
in the living room. Although I
feel something of an alien as a tall,
blonde, and blue-eyed American
Malagasy ambassadress, the situation’s potential is certainly
intriguing. As life changes go,
the surreal impact of this one will
probably drive my work as a
painter into some new configuration. In my new role, I encourage
you all to visit Madagascar, with
its unique flora and fauna, landscapes, excellent food (still organic!), and last but not least, the
people and a culture based on
nonviolent solutions to life’s problems and, of course, parties for the
dead at the end of the world.
You’ll enjoy it. Need info? Just
email me at faulhabe@noos.fr
and I’ll see what I can do.”
1975
BETSY BLUME (A), former director
of the college’s Alumni Activities
office, has taken a position as
�32
{Alumni Notes}
director of development for the
Association of Science-Technology
Centers, which represents institutions of informal science education worldwide. Among its
member organizations are the
Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Maryland
Science Center, the American
Museum of Natural History in
New York, and the Franklin
Institute in Philadelphia.
ERIC SCIGLIANO (SF) is at work on
a new book, on Michelangelo,
marble, and the Carrara quarries,
that draws inspiration from a
junior preceptorial in Santa Fe.
1976
“My second novel, The Healer’s
Keep, is now published in the
U.S. and U.K. with German and
Finnish editions due out soon. My
third novel, The Oracle’s Light,
will be published in spring 2004,”
writes VICTORIA HANLEY (SF).
“Greeting to my classmates,”
writes NICOLE SCHLESS (SF).
“I’m well, living in a beautiful
spot in Connecticut, but am out to
Santa Fe fairly frequently. I’m
writing, carving, and contemplating the mysteries, making a living
running a company here in Connecticut. I’ve been building a
‘barn’ for almost two years now
and it’s close enough to done for
visitors…well, hardy campers,
anyway!”
PHYLLIS HUFFMAN HERMAN (SFGI)
has a private practice using the
Feldenkrais method of somatic
education, working with movement and awareness.
1977
GENE GLASS (A) and his wife,
Susan, continue to live in Carroll,
Iowa, where Gene has a private
psychology practice. He also
travels to Des Moines and Omaha,
Neb., for his practice and for paid
acting jobs. He’s looking forward
to getting back to Annapolis soon
during a homecoming and to
spend time with good friends from
St. John’s. “Our 20-year was a
blast!”
This is the first year that JIM and
ANDREA HAM (both SF77) are without children at home since 1984.
“Dylan (18 years) is a freshman at
UC-Santa Cruz and Caitlin
(16 years) is a Rotary exchange
student in Belgium for the year,”
reports Andrea. “We are proud of
them and we miss them but are
enjoying the time alone too. We
would love to hear from our
classmates!”
VICKI PHILLIPS (A) received her
Ph.D. in religion from Vanderbilt
University in 1997. She teaches at
West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Her husband, BARRY (A), works as
a finish carpenter in historical
renovations.
1978
RACHEL BARRETT (SF) has a new
Web site, home.earthlink.net/~
rachelbarrett, showing what she
has been doing, art-wise, for the
last several years. Both her daughters graduated this June, Fiona
from University of California
Santa Cruz and Vanessa from
Fashion Institute of Design and
Merchandizing in Los Angeles.
ERIC “TITO” COLEMAN (A) is back
in Virginia after completing a
six-year HIV-AIDS project in the
Dominican Republic. Funded by
USAID, his project was designed
to build local capacity (NGOs and
government agencies) to respond
to prevention and treatment challenges in HIV through communications and policy initiatives:
television, radio and print media
development for public awareness;
training, policy facilitation, and
grants for interventions. “Now I
am doing similar things but in the
environmental field in Latin
America. I’m also a challenged
and proud parent of two bodacious
daughters. I’m happy to hear from
‘past ghosts’ at tcoleman@
aed.org.”
MARTHA MCGINNIS (SF) writes,
“After 19 years in corporate life,
I was thrilled to be ‘outsourced’ in
December. I’m enjoying catching
up with my girls, Amelia (12) and
A
NDREW WHITE (A81) will be in Athens on a
Fulbright grant for the next academic year, completing a dissertation on Byzantine theater and
ritual—the first of its kind in English. He will be
living in the northern suburbs and dividing his
time between the University of Athens Theatre
Department and the American School for Classical Studies, where
he will be an associate student. Andy has been incredibly lucky to
find a brilliant wife, Laura Hjerpe, and now enjoys the company of a
rowdy, sociable 6-year-old, Ian Richard, who is also looking forward
to next year’s Big Fat Greek Adventure! Andy can still be contacted
through e-mail at awhite@wam.umd.edu. x
Molly (9), through soccer, volleyball, chess club, Brownies, and
chairing our charter school
council. Once I catch my breath
I will begin a new career in freelance graphic recording and
facilitation.”
TERRY C. SCHULD (A) has been
married 20 years this fall to Peg,
an animal and wildlife artist. He
works as a Web applications
specialist for ADI, a division of
Honeywell, and lives in the Long
Island Pine Barrons.
“After eight years in the Navy,
I have transferred to the U.S. Public Health Service, working in
vaccines and biologies,” writes
ANN SCHWARTZ (A). “My two sons,
Adam (20), and Caleb (19), are in
college at Dickinson College and
Gettysburg College, respectively.
I am looking forward to a trip to
New Zealand next year.”
RITA BAHUS SATO (A) is currently
director of administrative services
for the Department of Veterinary
Medicine at the University of
Maryland, College Park. She is
married with a lovely 13-year-old
daughter who is into horseback
riding and competing and Ozzy
Osbourne! The family also
includes a crazed Shar-Pei, Cocoa,
and a quarterhorse named Polly.
(Mom rides her, too!)
JAMES WALTON (SF) writes, “We
wrapped up another movie this
month in Albuquerque. This is the
second movie I’ve worked on
(since joining IATSE Local 480),
an Alejandro Iñárritu production
starring Sean Penn. Since the New
Mexico legislature passed bills
offering financial incentives, New
Mexico is once more a very attractive place for movie making.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
1979
The University Press of Florida
recently published a book by
CAROL COLATRELLA (A), Literature
and Moral Reform: Melville and the
Discipline of Readers.
DENNIS SHERMAN (A) has been
living in France for just over 20
years. He works in “gastronomic
tourism” and is a wine broker
based in Burgundy.
1980
LISA LASHLEY (SF) is teaching
math at St. Michael’s High School
in Santa Fe, where her two
children, Alex (11th grade) and
Virginia (8th grade), attend. She is
also involved with Girl Scouts and
Boy Scouts, serving as a Cadette
troop leader and an assistant
scoutmaster. She is also a docent
at local museums and serves on
the board of the Santa Fe Archaeological Society.
SUSAN REED (SFGI) and her firstgrade son, Harry, have traveled to
New Zealand twice, England once,
12 different states, and numerous
cities, but otherwise lead a quiet
life in the country.
DEBRA A. RUTHERFORD (SF) and
her husband, Larry, still work at
Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Their daughter, Michelle, will
enter Los Alamos Middle School
in the fall.
�33
{Alumni Notes}
1981
MONICA CREELMAN (SF) is working
in New York City as a clinical psychologist in a private practice. She
is also teaching graduate students.
She was married three years ago to
Karl O’Donoghue, and they have
no children.
EMI SARA GEIGER (A) has made
some changes. “My husband and
five children and I moved back to
the U.S. one year ago to care for
my aging parents. We miss our
relatives and friends in Israel,
many Johnnies among them, but
we are glad to be with my parents.
The kids, ages 2-10, provide the
joy and the noise, and we clean up
the mess. All in all a perfect
arrangement for two 80-year-olds
in need of a bit of excitement.”
1982
COMFORT DORN (A) writes from
Middletown, Md.: “I am no longer
married to ED GRANDI (A77), but I
continue to live in Middletown and
edit a community newspaper. I was
pleased to see the topic of my senior essay, Montaigne’s ‘On the
Education of Children,’ on the
front cover of The College. As I
continue to educate my own three
children (Rachel, 18; John, 15; and
Claire, 10) I am ever reminded
that ‘only fools are certain.’”
MAREA JENNESS (HIMELGRIN) (SF)
writes, “I am living in Catalina,
Ariz., on two beautiful acres and
teaching high school biology. My
amily and friends
of MARTIN
MILLER (A81),
have set up an
endowment fund
in the memory of
Mr. Miller, who died in January
at the age of 45. The Martin
Conrad Miller Book Fund will
help students who could not
otherwise afford to buy Program books. To contribute to
the fund, contact the college
Advancement office in
Annapolis at 410-626-2507. x
F
husband, Doug, and I recently celebrated our second anniversary
together with our son, Daniel
Minh. We adopted him as a baby in
Vietnam. He recently painted us a
family portrait that shows a glowing energy ball between two long
brush strokes. That just about
sums up the joy and passion of our
intertwined lives. I’m looking forward to visiting Santa Fe now that
I am closer and would welcome
visits from old friends. You can
reach me at marearose@yahoo.
com.”
“I have a new position as a
founding faculty member of the
new (opening September 2003)
Shoshana S. Cardin Jewish
Community High School in Baltimore,” LESLIE SMITH ROSEN (A)
writes. “I’ll be chair of the
Humanities Department (thanks,
SJC!) working on integrating a
multi-disciplinary curriculum.
My family (including children
Marielle, 19, Alyssa, 16, and
Samuel, 12) and I are well. I am
looking forward to an Aspen
Institute conference on Mortimer
Adler at Wye River in June.”
GAIL DONOHUE STOREY (SFGI) and
her husband, Porter, bicycled on
their tandem from Houston to
San Diego, covering 1,700 miles
in five weeks. It was their second
tandem bike trip—the first was
from Houston to Camden, Maine
(2,400 miles in seven weeks).
1983
GINA CASASCO (SF) has a daughter,
Alexandra, who was born on
October 2, 2002. She moved to
Hudson, N.Y., from New York City
in May of 2002. She works as the
financial manager for two commercial real estate LLCs, one in
Maryland and another in Northern
Virginia.
DAVID HALSTED (A), having earned
a Ph.D. in comparative literature, is
working in the computer industry
in Ann Arbor, Mich. His wife,
Keely, is in the department of history and is director of Jewish studies
at Michigan State University. They
share a house outside of town with
two wonderful children and a
recently acquired cat. halstedd@
hotmail.com.
love to hear from old classmates.
trisha@howellcanyonpress.com.
“I am happy and well, living in
Portland, Ore. with my family,”
writes ANNE MCCLARD (SF).
“Zoe is ten and Soren is almost
five. They are both flourishing and
growing in spite of the lack of sun!
Ken Anderson, my husband, and I
continue with our struggle as
anthropologists in the technical
industries, loving and hating it at
the same time. I welcome e-mail
from Johnnie friends and former
classmates. amcclard@
mindspring.com.”
TIFFANY KNIGHT-JAN (SF) writes
that she still loves living in
Madison, that she’s “still doing
the eyeball thing alternately with
the mom thing.”
News from RICHARD MILLER
(A)and BARBARA COOPER (A):
“We’re finishing up a year’s
sabbatical in Paris. Then it’s back
to work at Rutgers, where we both
teach now—Barbara in the history
of Africa, Richard chairing the
English department.”
KAREN ASTRID TOURIAN (A) and
her husband, Rolf, took their
second biking trip in Tuscany this
past fall. She started bike racing
this year, both time trials on the
road and cyclocross (“Midlife crisis?” she asks). She’s worked a
year at Wyeth and loves the work.
touriak@wyeth.com
1985
ELBERT DELANO PORTER (A)
announces the birth of Arno
Xenophon Porter, born
February 17, 2003.
1984
DR. WENDY A BROWN (A),
daughter of DR. MICHAEL BROWN
(class of 1951), was recently
honored with a fellowship in the
International College of Dentists
and the American College of Dentists. These fellowships are conferred by peers for extraordinary
contribution to the profession.
JOHN L. BUSH (SF) received his
license to practice architecture in
Virginia in September 2002. He
and his wife, Elizabeth, celebrated
their 20th wedding anniversary by
traveling to the Pecos Wilderness,
Santa Fe, Taos, and Chaco
Canyon, and had a wonderful
time. He sends a special hello to
Dan, Les, Joel, Brad, and “of
course, ole’ Joe Tetrault.”
After slaving away to write 11
books, TRISHA (FIKE) HOWELL
(SF) is pleased that some are
finally rolling off the presses.
The Princess and the Pekinese
(a children’s picture book with a
surprise twist) and The Pekinese
Who Saved Civilization (a humorous social and political commentary from the viewpoint of a
toothless old dog) are making
their debut through www.howellcanyonpress.com. Trisha would
1986
MELISSA (FISHER) FRIEND (A)
is working and living outside of
Geneva, Switzerland, with husband Michael and their children:
Leo, 2, and Marina, 6. “We originally came to Switzerland from
Washington, D.C., on a two-year
posting for Michael’s job, but
made the change to local hires
about a year ago. So we’re here
now for the foreseeable future.
Life is good, we’re all healthy and
happy.”
ELISABETH M. LONG (A) has been
busy with a dual life: “By day I codirect the Digital Library Development Center at the University of
Chicago Library, and by night I am
pursuing an MFA degree in Book
and Paper Arts. I recently won first
place in the Art of Math and
Science show for two pieces of
artwork. My SJC background is
certainly informing my work.
I’d love to hear from anyone
who’s passing through Chicago.”
LISA N. ROSE (A) is building a
semi-underground living structure
and a strawbale schoolhouse as
part of a spiritual community
project in central New Mexico.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�34
{Alumni Notes}
Inquiries welcome. shafiyah@
mydroplets.com.
MICHAEL RYAN (SF) writes, “I am
a partner in an architecture firm
in downtown Albuquerque, and
am five-ninths of the way through
the Architect’s Record Exam, with
the goal of being a registered
architect by October. I am engaged
for the second (and last) time to a
wonderful woman with two girls
about the same age as my 7-yearold daughter, Chloe.”
TAMMY LACHER SCULLY (SFGI)
reports that she and her husband,
Jack Scully, have started Easterly
Wine LLC, distributors of fine
wine with an emphasis on
offerings from France, Italy,
and Portugal.
1987
WARREN KING BUSS (SF) writes:
“I am currently enrolled at the
Oregon College of Art and Craft,
working toward a BFA in Book
Arts—after so many years of reading books, I am now learning how
to make them. Finally, some relief
from all the computer programming I’ve been doing for too many
years! My wife Laura and son
Matthew are well and thriving.”
He can be reached at wakibu@
aol.com.
JOE T. COXWELL (SFGI) is now
chair of the science department at
Northeast Lauderdale High School
in Meridian, Miss. He recently
received the 2003 Star Teacher
Award from the M.B. Swayze
Educational Foundation and the
Mississippi Economic Council.
He also is a part-time instructor of
physical science and astronomy at
Meridian Community College.
CHARLOTTE L. GLOVER (SF) writes,
“My St. John’s training has really
come in handy while I lead book
discussion groups at the library!
Montana 1948 by Larry Watson has
been the favorite of the group so
far.”
On May 16th my husband,
Michael, and I welcomed
Benjamin William Lewin into the
world, writes SALLIE FINE LEWIN
(A). “We have not yet found
language adequate to describe the
incredible joy we have discovered
through parenthood. Benjamin
and I are spending our summer
days going to Mommy and Baby
yoga classes, taking walks, and
hanging out at the pool before I go
back to teaching at the end of
August.”
In January, PEGGY O’SHEA (A)
returned to St. John’s Santa Fe
to finish her sophomore year,
18 years after leaving St. John’s
Annapolis. She expects to
graduate in 2005.
1988
ELAINE PINKERTON COLEMAN
(SFGI) announces the birth of
future Johnnie Emily Clementine
Pinkerton, born October 3, 2002.
“Grandmotherhood is even more
fun than parenting,” Elaine
reports. Coleman traveled to eight
states promoting From Calcutta
With Love and is now finishing a
novel, Beast of Bengal. The novel
is set in Calcutta during World
War II.
Chicago three years ago. John’s in
practice at Harbor Hospital in
Baltimore and I’m home with Lucy
(4 1/2) and her little sister
Beatrice (8 months). Our e-mail
address is lucykate98@aol.com.”
KIM PAFFENROTH (A) is the editor
of A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions (Westminster:
John Knox Press, 2003), in which
he has gathered 13 Augustine
scholars, each writing an essay on
one of the 13 books of the Confessions, each presenting his or her
case for why that particular book
is the most important of the 13.
Kim lives in Cornwall on Hudson,
N.Y., with his wife, Marlis (A86),
and their children, Charles and
Sophia.
ELIZABETH (A) and ANDREW (A90)
PENDERGRASS are pleased to
announce the birth of their son,
John Alexander, born in January
of this year.
LAURIE COOPER (A) and Dov
Kugelmass gave birth to their son,
Cyrus, in October 2002. Their
daughter Carrie is three.
(SF86) announce the birth of Hayden Martinez Merz in November
2002. Diana is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia
University. Ted is the managing
editor for the Americas of
Bloomberg News.
CLAUDIA (PROBST) STACK (A) and
Joseph Stack welcomed a second
son, Jack Matthew Stack, on
January 29, 2003. They would like
to hear from classmates visiting
the North Carolina area and from
those planning to attend the
15th-year reunion in 2003.
Stackc@uncw.edu
THERESA DONNELLY (SF) writes,
“John (Irwin, SFGI89) and I
moved back to Baltimore from
THERESA SULLIVAN (A) married
Daniel Mooney at St. Joseph’s
Church in Denver, Colorado, on
TED MERZ (A) and DIANA MARTINEZ
Johnnie Plates in Maryland
t. John’s alumni in Maryland can trade in their old
license plates for a new set celebrating their alma mater.
The Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles began issuing the St. John’s license plate this fall. The plates, which
cost $25, feature the seal of the New Program and a fourdigit number with St. John’s College across the bottom.
Sign up soon: We have a long way to go to catch up with all the Navy
plates on Annapolis-area roads.
The project was spearheaded by JOEL ARD (A98), who hopes it will
catch on in other states that offer organizational plates. There’s no
financial benefit to the college, Ard notes, “it’s simply an opportunity
to celebrate the college everywhere you drive.”
The Alumni Office in Annapolis is happy to work with alumni in
other states who want Johnnie plates. Call 410-295-6926. x
S
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
October 25. BURCH HARPER,
KATARINA WONG, BENJAMIN
KRAUSS, SHEILA MONEN VIRGIL,
and JAMES O’GARA were a credit to
St. John’s waltz parties as they
danced all night to the Irish band.
STEVE VIRGIL (A88) and James’
wife, Ellen, stayed home with the
kids and were sorely missed. After
nine years as a communications
consultant at Pricewaterhouse
Coopers and Ameritech in Chicago, Theresa moved to Denver in
2000 to attend cooking school.
She went on to study with chefs in
Provence and the Piedmont region
of Italy, and became certified as a
professional sommelier and chef
of wine arts. The Mooneys live in
Denver, where Dan works for
OppenheimerFunds and Theresa
is a marketing writer and caterer.
The highlight of their Santa Fe
honeymoon was a St. John’s
Community Seminar with Patricia
Greer on Yeats’ “Nineteen
Hundred and Nineteen.” She
always loves to hear from old
friends at tresullivan@aol.com
or 303-639-1354.
1989
PATRICK CRINNION (SF) is finally
looking through a telescope at the
Galilean moons of Jupiter—great
field experience to go with the
readings.
KURT REDFIELD (A) recently com-
pleted his MBA at Columbia
University’s School of Business
and is the chief financial officer of
the French software company
Neartek. Kurt, his wife,
Christine, and 4-year-old son
Wilson live in Cambridge, Mass.
LAEL GOLD (SF) married VANESSA
CAMPBELL (SF) on December 14,
2002. Perhaps a bit more precisely, Alex Brown married Vanessa
Campbell in a ceremony performed by Lael Gold. (She is also
available for bar mitzvahs,
baptisms, boat christenings and
supermarket grand openings.)
The wedding was held near Vanessa and Alex’s organic farm in the
mountains outside Asheville, N.C.
(St. John’s students interested in
farming and prepared to work
hard can contact Vanessa at full-
�35
{Alumni Notes}
sunfarm@earthlink.net concerning summer internship opportunities.) When not officiating at weddings in the North Carolina
mountains, Lael teaches film and
literature classes at U.C. Berkeley
where she is in the Ph.D. homestretch. Vanessa and Lael send
their fond regards to former classmates and long-absent friends.
How IS everyone?
REGINA LANDOR (AGI) served in
the Peace Corps in Macedonia and
Romania, where she met her
future husband, a fellow volunteer.
They now live in Peoria, Ill.
CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN (A) is traveling a lot between San Francisco
and Heidelberg for his writing and
design job for a software company,
becoming nearly fluent in German. He continues to stay busy
doing voice-overs in the Bay Area
for phone systems, radio and TV
ads, video games, and even animation—he performed a couple of
voices for a short animation called
“Metropopular” that showed at
Sundance and toured with Spike
and Mike’s Animation Festival. He
reports, “No spouse, no children,
no house, but—considering how
disturbed and gaisquantialized the
world is—not too terrible a life.”
Former classmates can reach by
e-mail at christophersullivan
@email.com.
GEORGE TURNER (A) writes: “Our
second child, Lily Sarah, was born
April 26, 2003. Everyone is
healthy and happy.” The family
moved to a new house in Costa
Mesa, Calif., about a 15-minute
bike ride from the beach. He also
started his own law firm, Turner
Green Afrasiabi and Arledge LLP,
last year. Their Web site,
www.turnergreen.com, is “either
impressive or funny, depending on
how well you know me.”
NINDA LETAW (A) reports that she
is the proud owner of Charlotte’s
Home Cooking, a personal chef
service in Raleigh, N.C. She would
love to hear from classmates.
1990
1992
DAHRA LATHAM (A) graduated from
MICHAEL BROWN (SF) is living in
San Francisco and would love to
hear from old friends: M1Brown@
aol.com; 415-734-9500.
law school on June 16, 2003.
GREY VALENTI (A) married Chris
D’Amato in June.
DEBRA JO WHITCOMB (A) is working full-time as a hospice nurse,
doing a little massage therapy on
the side and spending the rest of
the time doing Tai Chi. She’s also
a Tai Chi instructor
1991
STEVEN MCNAMARA (A) and
ANGE MLINKO (A) welcomed their
new son, Jacob, into the world on
March 19, 2003.
NATE DOWNEY (SF) finally got the
answer to the question “what is
hapiness?” after the birth of his
son, Liam Nathan Downey, on
January 6th, 2003.
“I never thought I would be able
to teach works studied in the
Eastern Classics program,” writes
RONALIE MOSS (SFGI, EC95).
“But in spite of the Euro-centric
nature of the Advanced Placement
program, I have been able to teach
some Chinese poetry, Noh plays
and the Bhagavad Gita. The program is worthwhile for its own
sake, of course!”
ANDY SCHUCHART (AGI) writes:
Charlotte and I became parents
on August 1 with the birth of
Maximilian Blaise and Veronica
Joyce. We are living in Iowa. I am a
professor of social science and
humanities at our community
college, and Charlotte practices
internal medicine.
LAKE (JAMES) PERRIGUEY (SF) is
working as an attorney in Portland, Ore. He recently authored
three amicus briefs to the Oregon
Supreme Court arguing that the
state constitution protects lap
dances and sexual expression in
live theatrical performances. He’s
been a groupie to the British AMP
Swan Lake, touring the world in
awe of all male corps de ballet.
Lake has never seen “Will and
Grace.”
{ The College
PATRICIA COXWELL (SFGI) is now
teaching elementary and middle
school general music for the West
Lauderdale School District near
Meridian, Miss. She specializes in
traditional folk music and this year
raised over three thousand dollars
to purchase dulcimers for her
classes. She is married to JOE
COXWELL (SFGI87). They have one
daughter, Joanna, age five, who
will begin kindergarten this fall.
ELYETTE (BLOCK) KIRBY (SF) has
been living in England for two
years with husband Jonathan, and
children Benjamin and Bronwyn.
They live an hour away from
London and would enjoy hearing
from Johnnies in the area.
elyette@hotmailcom
SIOFRA (RUCKER) NUGENT (SF)
writes: “We are expecting our
second child this September. I am
teaching second and third grade at
my daughter’s school, Delphi
Academy. Delphi is a network of
seven, soon eight, schools around
the country. We both love it.”
ALBERT REED (SFGI) is currently
the dean of business and technology at Santa Fe Community
College.
1993
J. CLAIRE DARLING (SF) is busy
with environmental actions
regarding safe water and nutrition. She is also completing
training to become a Music
Together teacher. Music Together
is a “fabulous, fun-based program
to informally teach basic music
competence to kids ages 0-5 (and
their fun-loving caretakers).”
JULIA (GRAHAM) MESNIKOFF (SF)
is working as a nurse practicioner
with Boston Healthcare for the
Homeless, “which is challenging
as much because of financial cuts
John’s College • Fall 2003 }
to Medicaid (severely limiting
what we can offer some patients)
as because of the huge learning
curve of diagnosis and treatment.
I like and respect my patients and
find that working with them makes
me incredibly grateful for my own
life and circumstances, warts
and all.”
GABRIEL PIHAS (A) received his
Doctor of Philosophy degree from
the Committee on Social Thought
at the University of Chicago in
June 2003. He accepted a teaching
position at the European College
of Liberal Arts in Berlin for the
fall.
This fall, JONATHAN PEARL (A)
heads to Brno, Czech Republic,
with his wife Cheryl and their son
Rembrandt, age 1. “I have
received a nine-month Fulbright
grant to conduct research on the
composer Leos Janacez and on the
intonation and rhythm of spoken
Czech.” He is a Ph.D. candidate in
musicology.
1994
SCOTT ANDREWS (SFGI) married
Jennifer Matson, a physical therapist, in June. He finished his
seventh year of teaching history at
a nearby preparatory school. They
live in a small, quiet village on the
shores of Cape Cod. “Meaningful
work in a beautiful place with the
one I love beside me – is life good,
or what?”
LEAH MULHOLLAND AUCKENTHALER, (A) is married and has a
baby boy named Nicholas. She is
living in Minneapolis, Minn., and
is a stay-at-home-mom.
News from BILL KOWALKSI (SF):
“My wife, Alexandra Nedergaard,
and I are delighted to announce
the birth of our daughter, Kasia
Alexandra Kowalski, on July 3,
2003, in Bridgewater, Nova
Scotia. Both Mama and baby are
doing well after an arduous labor.
I myself have also given birth: to a
third novel, called The Adventures
of Flash Jackson (HarperCollins,
January 2003). I’m pregnant with
a fourth, which I am hopeful will
be delivered sometime in 2005.
�36
{Alumni Notes}
Earlier literary progeny continue
to do well, including a short film
co-written with Markus
Griesshammer called Coyote
Beach, which won the prize for
Best American Short Film at the
New York/Avignon Film Festival
this past April.”
JEFFREY SPENCER WRIGHT (SFGI)
will be studying at the National
University of Ireland, Galway, this
summer.
1995
DINA DINEVA (A) and MILEN
DYOULGEROV (AGI96) are happy to
announce the birth of their daughter Maia on December 24, 2002.
Dina writes, “Having the baby has
given me a chance to slow down
and reflect—a sort of return to a
Johnnie state of being—for which,
and for the many other gifts of
motherhood, I am very grateful.”
CHRIS DAVIS (SF) and CARMEN
ELIZABETH HERING (SF) were
married May 31.
GEOFF GIFFIN (AGI) is now the
publisher of a brand new Internet
Yellow Pages in Annapolis and the
greater Washington/Baltimore
area. “Check us out as www.
yellowpagecity.com. For the first
time the look and feel of the traditional Yellow Pages is available on
the Internet.”
LAURA GIANNINY JOYNER (A)
reports that Caroline Anne, her
second child, joined the family on
Nov. 1, 2002, and she is “experiencing all the challenges and joys
of raising two children under the
age of 3 in Hawaii.”
BETH SCHAEFER (EC) retired at the
end of 2001 after working for
25 years as an attorney for the
state Department of Health in
New Mexico. “I have been dividing my time since then between
ice skating and Zen practice.
What fun!”
PETER LAMAR (AGI) currently
serves as dean of academies at
Holy Cross Academy in Miami,
Fla. The school has implemented a
great books curriculum based on
the St. John’s model, beginning
with the 2003-2004 school year.
www.holycrossacademy.net
Still living at the top of the world
in Barrow, Alaska, MIKE LAYNE
(SF) and his wife, Rachael,
celebrated their fourth wedding
anniversary in June, and the first
birthday of their daughter, Audrey
Rae, in February. He is working as
a counselor at a local youth
shelter, and may become more
involved with grant writing.
He may make the transition into a
program coordinator position for
their new Tobacco Prevention
Grant program in the near future.
JASON MCCREADY (A) writes: “I
graduated from Georgetown Law
School, realized I hated the large
law firm environment, and moved
back to my hometown in western
Pennsylvania. I am working as a
lawyer in a three-lawyer law firm,
enjoying it immensely. Friends
from St. John’s that I’ve lost
contact with can contact me at
jasonmccready@yahoo.com.”
RONALIE A. MOSS (SFGIEC and
SFGI91) reports that, despite the
Eurocentric nature of the high
school Advanced Placement
program, she’s been able to teach
Chinese poetry, Noh plays, and
the Bhagavad Gita.
TOM (A) and Marion SLAKEY
report the happy news of three
new grandchildren: twins Charlotte and Brendan, to Bill and his
wife, Heather, in Placitas, N.M.,
and Noah Yarrow to Michael and
his wife, Victoria, in Brittany,
France.
APRIL WALTERS (A) graduated
from Towson University with a
master’s in professional writing in
May 2002. She currently works as
the writing studio coordinator at
the Maryland Institute College of
Art, and freelances as a personal
coach for writers. www.writingstudio.com
1996
DOUGLIS BECK (AGI) is enjoying
mostly staying at home with 2year-old Veronica. He is pursuing
{ The College
n update from DONA CUTSOGEORGE (SFGI96):
“After leaving the Graduate Institute in 1996
with M.A. in hand, I was looking for ‘good’ work
and, although some may disagree that this fit the
bill, joined Amazon.com as a German language
customer service rep, first assisting in the establishment of Amazon.de, I later went on to help build their U.S.
program for independent authors, musicians, and filmmakers.
After several years in the dot-com world, I no longer felt as enthusiastic about this career, and the bubble was on the verge of bursting, to boot. I switched gears and am now employed as a writer
with The MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation in Seattle,
Wash. I’m fortunate enough to work with a team of very dedicated
and caring researchers and clinicians devoted to improving U.S.
healthcare for the chronically ill. I’d love to hear from any local
Johnnies or former classmates: donajgrl@yahoo.com” x
A
small projects on his own as
Douglis Beck DesignStudio, and
will be teaching art history and
architecture courses at Webster
University beginning this summer
with a seminar on the Bauhaus.
SCOTT FIELD (SFGI) and his wife,
Jessica Field, had another baby
boy last spring. Henry, 2, is very
happy to have his little brother
Oscar.
JONATHAN ROWAN (SF) is studying
for a Ph.D. in comparative literature at UC Berkeley. His e-mail
address is jonathan_rowan@
hotmail.com.
LUCILLE AND MARTY WALKER (both
AGI) are now the proud parents of
two sons, Reeseman Adams
Walker (born October 5, 2002)
and Ian Archibald Walker (born
December 3, 1999).
HANAN MIKLASZ (AGI) reports that
she and her husband are celebrating the birth of their second son,
Zane, on May 27, 2003.
FRANCESCO GIUSEFFI (SFGI) has
been enjoying teaching, coaching,
and performing the duties of athletic director at Missouri Military
Academy and has even facilitated a
couple of independent study
courses in Western philosophy.
CHERYL HENEVELD (AGI) writes,
“We have begun a community
discussion group and vigilia
against the war. Why can’t we use
words instead of bombs and guns?
We are also teaching a course
(with my husband Ward Henevald)
on Peace and War at Johnson State
College—a required course for this
state college. I can send the
syllabus to others. Ridley’s Origins
of Virtue is a required text.
HEATHER ELLIOTT (SF) and SAUL
LAURELES (SF92) were married in
2001 and bought a house in Houston Heights. They’re both lawyers;
Saul practices with Mayer Brown
Rowe and Maw, and Heather with
Davis, Oretsky and Guilfoyle.
John’s College • Fall 2003 }
1997
ELAINE ATABA (A) is starting a
master’s program in traditional
Oriental medicine in the fall.
After completing the four- to fiveyear program, she will be able to
sit for a national exam to become
an acupuncturist.
BENJAMIN BLOOM (A) says all is
well. “I am starting my second
semester at the University of
Maryland. I hope to begin
teaching an undergraduate
English course next year. Best
wishes to all.”
“Instead of finding a summer
internship with a large corporation, I decided to launch a company of my own,” writes DOMINIC
CRAPUCHETTES (A). “It is very
exciting and scary. I borrowed
$10K and have already raised $15K
from other investors, but I still
need to raise about $25K more
before I can truly begin. At that
point I’ll be able to finance the
first print/run of a new board
game called ‘Cluzzle.’ The game is
�37
{Alumni Profile}
Part Monkey, Part Robot
Animator Geoff Marslett (SF96) bridges
art and technology in his films
by Sus3an Borden, A87
“Monkeys hit Robots with sticks.
Robots shoot Monkeys with lasers.
They both love their mothers. Why
must they hate each other?”
This is the question that Geoffrey Marslett
raises in his two-minute animated film,
“Monkey vs. Robot, ” a project that met
with surprising and satisfying success: The
film was screened at 25 film festivals, purchased by “Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation 2000,” included in
PBS’ “Egg the Arts Show,” and recognized
with awards and prizes at festivals.
Marslett made the film for an animation
class in his second year of film school at the
University of Texas, taking his inspiration
from a song of the same name written by his
friend James Kochalka. The project took just
a week and cost about $20, but Marslett says
that’s only one side of the story. “The flip
side is, I worked on it nonstop. Because I was
a student I had access to computers and time
to devote to it. At the worst point during that
week, I showed up at the computer lab at 9
a.m., worked all day long and all through the
night, then went to T.A. a class from 9 to
noon and went right back to work.”
Animation, it turns out, is part monkey,
part robot. “There’s the low-fi end, writing
the script and creating the art,” explains
Marslett, “then you spend weeks and
months fighting with machines to get it to
come out in a format that can be mailed to
everybody’s house, sent out on the Internet,
or broadcast on television.”
Marslett, who now teaches animation at
the University of Texas, says that his students often come into class thinking that
they will produce a few drawings and the
computer will do the rest. “I always tell them
that animation is not making drawings
move; they’re going to have to draw motion.
They have to look at the world and figure out
how to draw things that create the illusion of
motion. It takes a lot of work just to see the
world around you. For the first assignment, I
usually have them take still photos of
motion, have them break it down frame by
frame.”
Frame by frame in most animated
productions is to the tune of 24
frames per second. But that simple
equation is misleading: a single
frame usually requires several drawings. Marslett explains why, using as
an example a scene where a monkey
swings through the jungle: “You
make several drawings: one that is
the far background, another a couple
of trees closer, another of more of
the trees that you can use to shift
perspective, drawings for the vine
that’s swinging, the body, arms, anything in the foreground. If you have a rhinoceros run by, you need one rhinoceros
body and ten or twelve drawings of legs for
a walk cycle. Any given frame might have
10 or 20 layers to it.”
In addition, the animator must add lipsynching. For each character, animators create a library of lips, consisting of 10 or 15
different shapes. After the script is recorded
and edited, the animator takes the library
and puts the lips in to match up to the
sound. “It can get pretty tedious,” says
Marslett. “If everything is already drawn so
I’m only working with the lips, and the
character’s not turning his head while he
speaks, I can do one minute of monologue
in a day.”
Marslett did all the drawings for “Monkey
vs. Robot.” But for his thesis project, a 24minute film called “Trip to Roswell,” eight
artists worked with him. “Animation is
always labor-intensive,” he says. “Even if
someone is making drawings quickly, at five
or six minutes a drawing, multiply that by
90,000 drawings for a feature film. That’s a
lot of minutes.”
After “Trip to Roswell” won the Best Animation Award at CinemaTexas Short Film
Festival, Marslett was inspired to write a
feature-length screenplay based on the film.
The price tag? Marslett says $500,000 to
$750,000—cheap for an animated feature.
As he investigates sources of funding for
the movie, Marslett is reworking the
Roswell script as a television series. “I get
more interest in it that way,” he says. “People can wrap their minds more quickly
{ The College
John’s College • Fall 2003 }
Geoff Marslett’s film “Monkey vs.
Robot” met with surprising success.
Trip to Roswell
Deep in the Heart of Texas in the year
2020 AD, the suburbs have spread like
weeds across the hill country. Everyone
lives in a suburban rancho-style stucco
house with a red tiled roof. They all park
their Ford Lemmings next to their Toyota
Replica, and absolutely everyone surfs
the Internet incessantly. Frank is your
average kid in this near dark future until
his parents get him the latest in elective
medical implants, the locotron. This
device is supposed to allow him to access
URLs just by thinking about the site—but
Frank is special. He still practices the forgotten art of reading books, and the extra
input transforms his implant into a sort of
time machine that pulls him into whatever he’s reading about. The U.S. Senate
Chambers in 1856, Pangia during the fall
of the dinosaurs, Paris in 1969…eventually stranding a twenty-five-year old “damaged” Frank in Roswell, New Mexico during a 1947 flying saucer crash.
around animation for adults as a TV series
than as a feature film.” x
To wrap your mind around other Marslett
productions, check out his Web site:
www.swervepictures.com
�38
K
{Alumni Notes}
ATHY PLUTH (SF99) finished her master’s in
theology from the Catholic University of America
(CUA) in 2001. “Since then I’ve stayed in Washington, and I’ve been working, first as director of
religious education in a local parish, now as a
research assistant at the Life Cycle Institute at
Catholic University. I’ve been able to do some freelance editing of
philosophy and theology books for the CUA Press as well, and I have
an ongoing part-time job tutoring a seminarian and future Catholic
priest. In my spare time I write hymns. Two were recently published
in a Catholic devotional magazine called Magnificat. I noticed when
I was doing parish work that a lot of devoted Catholics are nonetheless terribly undereducated about their faith, so the hymns are my
attempt to teach a little (I borrowed the idea from St. Ephrem the
Syrian). This is definitely the most fulfilling work I’ve done since
leaving St. John’s. If I had more free time, I would extensively study
the works of Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar, and Hans Urs von
Balthasa—great 20th century theologians.” x
a lot of fun to play! Learn more
about it on our Web site,
www.cluzzle.com. P.S. Business
school is very demanding. I can’t
wait for it to end.”
CHRIS ENGLISH (SFGI) and his
wife, DIANE SHIRES (SFGI98), are
expecting their first child, a boy,
in June. “We’ve begun saving up
for his St. John’s education now–
Alumni ’25?”
From SARAH JANE FRAUENZIMMER
(FREMONT) (A): “After several
great years in the Pacific Northwest, Matt, the dog, and I packed
up and moved a little farther west
to Japan, where Matt is currently
stationed. We are enjoying plenty
of sushi, feeling unusually tall,
and the prospect of cherry blossoms in the spring. I’m teaching a
bit of yoga and English, learning
Japanese and am contemplating
master’s programs. If you find
yourself in the Tokyo area, drop us
a line at sjfaraway@yahoo.com.
JESSICA CAMPBELL MCALLEN (SF)
writes, “I am living and working
on my husband’s family cattle
ranch in south Texas and I would
love to hear from anyone in the
area (jessielee4242@yahoo.com)!
I would also love to hear from JEFF
HUGGINS, BRIAN PARKINSON, and
JACOB CURTIS who were here with
me on spring break 1996.”
LESLIE NORTON (AGI) served in
the Peace Corps in Mongolia from
June 2 through September 2003.
Here’s what NATHAN SCHLEIFER
(SF) has been up to: “J.D. Washington University School of Law,
2001; married to Brenda Nelson,
2002; B.S./M.S. biomedical
engineering (biocomputing focus)
expected 2004/2005. Currently,
I’m general legal counsel for
Automating Peripherals Inc. and
an editor for the Biotechnology
Review.
1998
News from LEA (A) and BRIAN
(SF97) BROCK: “After rectifying
our relationship to Santa Fe by
means of completing the Eastern
Classics program in 2001, we
moved to Anchorage to teach in
the well-known Atheneum School,
which both supplies and utilizes
many Johnnies. We currently tend
an earthship in Taos while riding
horses and playing music. We
audit Sanskrit classes with
MR. PERRY and various EC folks.
Oh, by the way, as you might
guess…we got married! We had a
seminar on C.S. Lewis’s The Four
Loves after the wedding—it was
great!”
{ The College
JACQUELINE CAMM (A) announces
her marriage to Robert Travis
(a 1998 graduate of Columbia
University) on February 8, 2003 in
the Cathedral Church of St. Luke,
Orlando, Fla. The Rt. Rev. John
Howe, Bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese of Central Florida
presided. AMY (NORMAN) MORGAN
(A96) and her husband, Bill,
provided music for the ceremony.
“We have moved to Tennessee
where we purchased our first home
with the help of MILK KLIM (A02) of
Columbia National Mortgage. If
anyone would like to reach us, or is
passing through Tennessee, please
send us an e-mail: jacquelinecamm
@hotmail.com.”
GLENSCOTT THOMAS COPPER (AGI)
has been awarded a Fulbright
Memorial Fund Fellowship to
Japan for next fall. He has finished
construction on his own ceramics
studio and fired his first pots. He
still teaches creative writing,
journalism and theater at Milwaukee High School of the Arts.
SASHA MUDD (A) finished a master’s degree from the University of
Chicago’s Divinity School in June.
She will spend a year at Cambridge
before starting doctoral work at
the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought.
LUIS ALEJANDRO SALAS (A) has just
received a master’s degree in classics from Rutgers University. This
fall, he moves to Texas to complete
a Ph.D. at the joint program in
ancient philosophy at the University of Texas-Austin.
1999
SHELBY BLYTHE (A) relocated to
Philadelphia where he is enrolled
in the Cell and Molecular Biology
Graduate Group at the University
of Pennsylvania. He’s studying the
early embryonic development of
frogs this summer. He’d be glad to
speak with students and alumni
who are considering careers in the
biomedical sciences regarding his
experience so far. sblythe@mail.
med.upenn.edu.
John’s College • Fall 2003 }
RUTH BUSKO (SF) is very excited to
be in her final year of training for a
master’s degree in acupuncture at
the Tai Sophia Institute for the
Healing Arts in Laurel, Maryland.
She spends most of her time treating patients at the faculty-student
clinic at the school and in the
Baltimore City Detention Center
as well as other drug rehabilitation
sites around Baltimore. She can be
reached at rmbusko@hotmail.
com.
GEORGE FINNEY (SF) dropped a
line from Dallas: “I’ve just gotten
engaged to my longtime girlfriend, AMANDA KENNEDY (SF02).
Amanda and I will be married at
Grace and Peace Fellowship in
St. Louis on November 1 of this
year. I have also recently taken a
new job at Southern Methodist
University as a network engineer.
This new position works out great
because I hope to begin my pursuit of a legal education there,
as opposed to the illegal one I had
been pursuing, in the fall of ’04.
If you would like to contact me,
send e-mail to: diggablelinux@
yahoo.com.”
MARK H. JOHNSON (A) is currently
pursuing his Master of Divinity at
Duke University.
PATRICK REED (AGI) moved back
to the Annapolis area and is currently teaching at Severn School.
His wife, Jana, is an ER doctor stationed at Andrews Air Force Base.
2000
KELSEY BENNETT (SF) will begin
courses in the fall toward a master’s degree in English at the
University of Denver. She recently
completed a novel.
TIM CARNEY (A) is currently working in Washington, D.C., as a
reporter for columnist and CNN
commentator Bob Novak, as well
as doing freelance writing. He has
been awarded a Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellowship and
will use it after the 2004 elections
to write a book reporting on big
business and big government.
�39
{Alumni Notes}
In sunny Las Cruces, N.M,
KARINA NÖEL HEAN (A) is working
on a Master of Fine Arts degree
and is a teaching assistant at the
university. In June 2003 she had
an artist residency at Vermont
Studio Centers. She writes: “Allin-all, I’m just loving life, but miss
my friends, though. Hope everyone is well—feel free to drop in.
Peace!” She can be reached at
karinahean@hotmail.com.
BENJAMIN SHOOK (SF) writes,
“I now have a successful business
building furniture and cabinets.
I also now have a great deal less
amour-propre.”
SAM MARKHAM (SF) is studying at
the University of London for a
master’s in the History of the
Book.
experiencing in mainstream academia these past few months
makes me appreciate St. John’s
even more. I welcome contact
from former classmates or from
other Johnnies who might want
information about grad school and
comparative literature at Penn
State.”
CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN (A)
learned to surf, visited England,
and “saw what might have been
Spiderman” while living with
FLETCHER CUNNIFF (A) and other
alums in Baltimore. He traveled to
Chicago to visit STEVE PALOPOLI
(A01), who is now living and working there. He also reports hearing
that ALEX DIEFENBACH (A01) is in
the Army, married, and presently
living in Germany. Christopher
can be reached at cvaughan@
flagier.edu.
SARAH SIEMERING (SF) entered the
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in
Nashville, Tenn. in August. The
Sisters are a teaching order and
teach in schools throughout the
country. Sarah joins at least two
other Johnnies who are already
professed Sisters.
SARAH MARSH (A) writes from
Brooklyn, N.Y., “Hey y’all. Things
are going well with me in the big
city. I’m finishing up my first year
of grad school and can’t believe I
will be a midwife in a little over a
year! I think of so many of you so
often and it always makes me
smile. Get in touch. sarahkmarsh
@hotmail.com.”
N. NICOLE NELSON-JEAN (AGI)
lives in Tokyo and serves as the
Energy Attaché to the U.S. ambassador to Japan and director of the
U.S. Department of Energy Asia
office at the American Embassy.
She recently celebrated her twoyear wedding anniversary to
Patrick.
DEBERNIERE J. TORREY (AGI)
writes: “Following a year of teaching high school history and literature at Abu Dhabi International
School in the UAE (working with
SJC alumna JUDITH HUGHES
[AGI95]), I’m now enrolled in my
first semester of Ph.D. studies in
comparative literature at Penn
State University. What I’ve been
2001
LANCE BRISBOIS (A) lives in
Boston, where he also works as a
secretary to the chancellor of
Boston University; his e-mail
address is brisbois@bu.edu.
From DANIEL BRAITHWAITE (A):
“I’m in Chicago.”
Students interested in Boston
University’s University Professors
Program are welcome to contact
BASIL CLEVELAND (A) at
basilcleveland@hotmail.com or
visit him in Boston.
LANCE KIRMEYER (SF) and
JENNIFER JULIANA CORONA (SF02)
were married on May 25, 2003,
and are living happily in Santa Fe.
Lance provides technical support
and assistance to customers of
Dankoff Solar Products and
Juliana will teach math and New
Mexico history at Alameda Middle
School in the fall.
MATTHEW LIPPART (SF) has
finished his second year of
teaching in Santa Fe and has
returned to St. John’s for the
Eastern Classics.
SUZANNE SIMMONS (SF) writes,
“After having my assignment with
the Peace Corps cancelled three
times, due to a country’s civil
unrest and the imminence of war
with Iraq, I decided not to join. I
did not want to wait another year
for a proper assignment. I hope
that all my former classmates,
tutors, and other friends are doing
well, especially those who have
any friends, family, or are themselves involved with the U.S.
efforts in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am still keeping track of
SF01 addresses, numbers, etc.,
so please e-mail me with any
new information: guneh@
hotmail.com.”
2002
H. CHRISTIAN BLOOD (SF) writes,
“How nice it was to see everyone
who made it to croquet. Precipitation complications aside, what a
fine weekend. This fall I shall
begin doctoral studies at the
department of literature at
University of California Santa
Cruz. I think I’ve found a school
whose location rivals the beauty
and glory of Santa Fe. Anyone who
finds himself in the area, contact
me at hchristianblood@yahoo.
com; looks like I’ll be there for at
least six years.”
AMANDA KENNEDY (SF) writes,
“I’m employed! After attending
the 2002 Summer Institute on
Philanthropy and Voluntary Services, I went to work temporarily
at a nonprofit called Energy Solutions, which provides energy
conservation consultations to
schools, businesses, etc. Then in
January 2003 I started at the
Genesis Women’s Shelter in
Dallas, Texas, as their fund
development writer. We serve
women and their children who are
victims of domestic violence.
Thank you to SJC! I’m liberated!”
JONATHAN COOPER (A) has moved to
St. Louis to spend a year in Americorps. He already misses Boston
very much, but misses his friends
even more. Any interested party or
area alumnus should feel free to
e-mail him at his newly minted
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
account: MisterNojangles
@hotmail.com. He is also very
excited to see his name in the
paper here.
JAMES GILMORE (A) began studies
in philosophy at Johns Hopkins
University.
EMMA WELLS (SF) reports that she
has her first full-time, salaried
position: “Good news! I am so
excited. I am working at the Cato
Institute in downtown Washington, D.C. This is where I interned
this last spring semester. I am
really happy. I work for the development department, which is the
fundraising department of Cato.
I will be here for at least a year, if
not two, before going off to law
school. So make sure and send me
an e-mail and let me know if you’re
in the area or if you can visit!”
2003
REBEKAH NEELY GOTTLOB (A)
married NATE EAGLE (A) on
July 5. 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 January; deadline for the alumni
notes section is October 31.
In Annapolis:
The College Magazine
St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404;
reharty@sjca.edu
In Santa Fe:
The College Magazine
St. John’s College
Public Relations Office
1160 Camino Cruz Blanca
Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599;
alumni@sjcsf.edu
Alumni notes on the Web:
Read Alumni Notes and contact
The College on the web at
www.sjca.edu — click on Alumni.
�40
{Obituaries}
Kathyrn “Kitty” Kinzer,
AGI87
Kitty Kinzer (AGI87) was “part
mother hen, part vigilant fury.”
Former Annapolis librarian Kitty Kinzer
died unexpectedly last spring. Annapolis
Tutor Mera Flaumenhaft delivered this tribute on the occasion of Mrs. Kinzer’s retirement from the college in 1999.
By her own account, Kitty Kinzer knew
from the beginning that it wouldn’t be your
usual assistant librarian’s position. Charlotte Fletcher, who presided over the
library in those days, walked Kitty to the
house of Bob Goldwin, where she was to be
interviewed. The dean was expecting
them; he was lying on the floor. Charlotte,
a Southern lady of refined manners,
promptly suggested that she and Kitty join
him on the floor. There followed a peculiar
conversation about how many of the Program books the would-be librarian had
already read. Aside from that, all Kitty
remembers is thinking wildly (no doubt in
her best Virginia accent) “Wha, oh wha,
are they doing this to me?” Later Charlotte
did mention that Bob Goldwin had back
problems. And Kitty, to her surprise, got
the job. To this day it’s remained a bit offbeat. But, then, so has Kitty.
You see, she was not so conventional an
applicant herself. Kitty grew up in a small
Virginia town in the days before TV and air
conditioning, the kind of place where sultry summers were spent on porches, sipping lemonade, playing board games, and
reading…and reading…and reading. Smart
kids took Latin, and schools that couldn’t
afford new texts continued teaching geometry from the musty old Euclid books the
rest of the world had left behind. Kitty
studied biology in college and started her
career in medical labs. After Valerie and
Adriane were born, she took up graduate
studies in American history and intended
to move on to European history. When her
family decided she needed direction, she
chose a degree in library science and read
books in any field she chose. Once in our
midst, she happily continued her education: in community seminars, in the Graduate Institute, and as an auditor for undergraduate seminars, tutorials, and
preceptorials. Kitty has had as wide an academic experience of this college as any
non-student or non-tutor I know.
An old poster declares, “Have a Question? Ask your Librarian.” How literally
many of us have learned to take that
advice! A botanical passage in Homer? Ask
your librarian. A history of London? Ask
your librarian. A musty old manual? Ask
you librarian. A novel for a vacation?
Advice on gardening? A new doctor in
Annapolis? Ask your librarian!
But this librarian not only answers your
questions. She gets interested in them. She
reads up on them, continues sending you
relevant materials for years to come, and
forever forwards her own queries about the
purchase of related books for her library.
Finally, in the spirit of this college, and
as a true associate of the faculty, this librarian has taught us what questions we should
ask. Most important, she has urged us to
ask: “What is the function of the library in
this unusual community of readers?”
Which secondary materials best help us to
read the books that are the primary teachers in our program? How can the library
supplement that program with books on
subjects that we don’t all read together?
And how can we keep our attention on
books at all, while much of the world is
turning from printed to electronic words?
In short, she has articulated the notion of
the library as a carefully selected “collection” in the service of a carefully thoughtout curriculum. Another “collection” that
we owe to Kitty is the important archive of
photos and documents she has established
about the history of St. John’s College and
its program.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
For several decades, Kitty has
bought our new books and rebound
our own, planted flowers at the
entrance and kept an eye on the
exit, dealt with leaks in the roof and
mushrooms in the basement. She
personally visited Mortimer Adler’s
books in Chicago, and arranged to
move them all to Annapolis. She’s
moved her own books from one side
of campus to the other. She even
managed to make it a lot of fun.
Over the years, Kitty has trained
and kept in touch with dozens of
student aides who consider her a
trusted friend who knows what they
are doing from the inside. She’s
made parties for our students, for
our children, and for us. And she’s
been an important representative of
the college to town borrowers and
other visitors who know us through our
library. Unflappably, she has dealt with
converts, and extroverts, introverts, and,
like all librarians, even a few perverts.
Great readers come in at least two types.
Some withdraw into their books and are
very silent. Others are great talkers. We all
know which type Kitty is. She is articulate
in the old-fashioned way that one finds in
people who love words, words in books,
and words in the talk of friends who love
books. For this urban Northerner, the Virginia accent and exclamations like “my
word” have always had a special delight.
And our Kitty is witty. It was she who
declared, in the early seventies, that she
wasn’t “laid back, but hunched forward,
and proud of it!”
Part mother hen and part vigilant fury,
Kitty Kinzer has shaped and guarded her–
and our–precious “collection” of books for
almost thirty years. Many of us simply cannot imagine the library without her. But we
probably won’t have to. For, from the day
she retires, she’ll probably become one of
the heaviest town borrowers the St. John’s
library has ever had. Of course, she will no
longer be the first person to take home all
the books. And, yes, like the rest of us, she
will have to drag them all in for her infamous call-ins. Nevertheless, from the day
she retires, things will be different around
here. And, my word, dear Kitty, how we
shall miss you. x
�41
{Obituaries}
James A. Matthews
by Thomas May, Tutor
At a dramatic moment in Book IX of the
Iliad, Phoenix, lifelong counselor and
tutor of Achilles, reminds his pupil of the
model by which he has been instructed: “to
be both a speaker of words and a doer of
deeds.” Longtime St. John’s staff member
James Matthews, who died in March, is
fondly remembered as just such a man—one
whose words and actions simply and eloquently expressed noble character and
deep religious faith.
Known to his friends and associates on
the Annapolis campus as “Jim” or
“Jimmy,” he served the college for more
than 37 years before retiring in 2000, after
becoming incapacitated by ALS, also
known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Born in Shadyside, Md., Jim was raised
by his foster parents, Charles and Elizabeth
Tyler, in Annapolis, where he attended
Wiley Bates High School and sang in the
choir of First Baptist Church. He came to
St. John’s in 1963 at the age of 18 and was
assigned to custodial duties in Mellon Hall.
Of his many associates, James “Jake”
Hicks remembers him fondly as a true
friend who acted as an older brother to him
during their 27 years together in Mellon.
He recalls that Jim took him under his wing
when he joined the college staff, greeted
him as a friend and showed him every-
thing, from how to run floor-stripping
machines to how to keep calm under harsh
criticism. Jim was unstinting in his praise
of what was right and well done, and equally direct in his criticism of what he saw to
be wrong or unfair. He was unafraid of
expressing his affection; when the weekend
arrived on Friday afternoon, Jim would
say, “Stay out of trouble, see you Monday;
I love you, man!”
Early on in their time together, Jake
came in one morning to hear Jim’s deep
bass voice emanating from the supply closet beside the FSK lobby, privately reading
his Bible and saying his prayers.
“Did you pray for me?” Jake asked.
“You’re the first one,” was the reply.
His keen sense of when a student, a staff
member, a co-worker, was troubled or discouraged was inerrant, and he would gently offer to listen, frequently taking the person aside into the Conversation Room, his
“office,” for words of support or advice. He
was scrupulous about keeping confidences
and expected others to do the same.
This staunch faith and love of life that
informed Jim’s life at the college sustained
him through his long struggle with ALS.
Throughout this time, and particularly
during these last two years, as his life was
gradually confined to the sickroom of his
home, Jim continued his keen interest in
the life of St. John’s and his friends here.
When colleagues and I went to visit Jim
and his wife, Doris, we would
invariably find him in good spirits.
“I’m still here,” he would say,
greeting us with a smile full of his
joy for life, “and I’m obviously
meant to be; I am so blessed.”
With characteristic generosity,
he and his family requested that
any memorial contributions be
made either to Hospice of the
Chesapeake or to the James
Matthews Scholarship Fund, established at the college when Jim
retired in 1999. x
Vernon Derr, ’48
Vernon Ellsworth Derr, class of 1948 and
member emeritus of the Board of Visitors
and Governors, died of complications of
Parkinson’s disease on July 24, 2003, in
Boulder, Colorado. He was 81.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Derr had
planned on a career in engineering until a
teacher suggested he consider St. John’s.
He enrolled in 1940 but left in 1942 to
serve in the 11th Airborne Signal Company
during World War II. He returned to
St. John’s after the war, living on the back
campus in the veterans’ housing with his
wife, Mary, and graduated in 1948. In 1959
he earned a Ph.D. in physics from Johns
Hopkins University.
Derr was chief scientist at Martin Company from 1959 to 1967. He worked for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1967 to 1994, serving as
director of Environmental Research Laboratories from 1983 to 1988. He taught at
St. John’s, Rollins, and the University of
Colorado.
As a research scientist at the University
of Colorado, Derr studied the effect of climate changes on clouds. He developed a
forecasting method based on artificial
intelligence and data going back 150 years
on winds, cloudiness, and air and sea temperatures off the west coast. His computer
model could predict weather six months in
the future.
In 1988 he received the U.S. Presidential
Distinguished Rank Award and in 1991 the
U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal
Award.
Derr was always interested in St. John’s
and served on the Board of Visitors and
Governors for six years. He credits his education at St. John’s for helping him remain
open to new ideas, adapt to changes in
careers, and respond to the demands of
research.
Survivors include his wife Mary, of Boulder; a son, Michael E. Derr; two daughters,
Louise E. Derr and Carol MacBride; and a
grandson. x
ALSO NOTED:
EDWARD HEISE, class of 1936, July 30, 2003
WILLIAM K. LYNCH, class of 1932, June 3,
2003
WILLIAM D. RENDALL, class of 1942, March
23, 2003
For 36 years, Jimmy Matthews had
a smile for everyone on the
Annapolis campus.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
WILLIAM J. SEELEY JR., class of 1936, March
17, 2003
�42
{Campus Life}
CROQUET 2003
For behold, in the midst of the field there arose a great contest.
And mallet strove with ball, and ball with ball, and many balls did
thread the postern of a wicket, and great was the tumult thereof.
But the people regarded it not, and drank and made merry.
And the Lord saw that it was good.
Well...OK.
Anonymous Alumnus, class of 1978
Les chic-chacs eternelles de ces espheres infinies m'effrayent.
Henri “Blaise” Higuera
Every tradition grows ever more venerable—the more
remote is its origin, the more confused that origin is. The
reverence due to it increases from generation to generation.
The tradition finally becomes holy and inspires awe.
Nietzsche, HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN
nother croquet match, another victory for
St. John’s College. Imperial Wicket Ben Porter
led the old orange-and-black to its 17th win in
the 21-year contest against the Naval Academy
on Sunday, April 27. Originator of the croquet
tradition, Kevin Heyburn (SF86, shown above
with mallet) hit out the first ball.
Unable to come up with a new angle on the same old story (I’ve
been covering the match for nine years), I will step aside to let
more able pens provide the commentary.
A
Grace was in all her steps, heaven in
her eye, In every gesture dignity and love.
--Sus3an Borden (A87)
photos by sara white wilson
Milton, PARADISE LOST
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�43
{Campus Life}
Not at all similar are the race of the immortal gods and the race of men who walk upon the earth.
Homer, ILIAD
Dance and Provençal song and sunburnt mirth!
Oh for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene!
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stainèd mouth.
Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”
For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors,
and laugh at them in our turn?
Among all men on earth bards have a share of honor
and reverence, because the muse has taught them
songs and loves the race of bards.
Austen, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Homer, ODYSSEY
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�44
{tutors}
Grant Franks: Finding His Inner Wizard
on the Road from Santa Fe to Annapolis
n July 15, Santa Fe tutor Grant Franks (A77) rolled into Annapolis on his Trice
XL recumbent tricycle—completing a five-week journey of more than 2,000
miles from the Santa Fe campus. After triumphantly planting the New Mexico
flag in front of McDowell, he set off with family and friends—gathered to witness his arrival—for a crab feast at City Dock.
Franks says the unusual design of his three-wheeled cycle makes for an extremely safe
and comfortable ride; stable and aerodynamic, it’s “the go-cart of your dreams.” He named
it Shadowfax, after Gandalf’s horse of Lord of the Rings fame. “A friend told me that the
secret when going through middle age is to find your inner wizard,” Franks explains. “His
is Yoda, so he said I could have Gandalf.” Franks spoke to his wife regularly by phone, and
Martha Franks (A78) logged his experiences on their Web site under the heading, “From
the Bay to the Fe: Cross Country on Shadowfax.”
Excerpts from Franks’ travel log describe the highlights (and low points) of the trip.
Except for Grant Franks’ initial pre-trip entry, the log was recorded by Martha Franks.
O
–Beth Schulman
June 3: Headed out of town, the headwind
seemed daunting until Grant realized he
had the parking brake on—doesn’t happen
on a regular bike. Then, to make up time,
put on Bach’s Symphony and Cantata
No. 3 which pushed him up from 10.5 mph
to 14.3 mph. Although Grant brought some
selections from the Buddhist monk Thich
Naht Hahn, he’s worried that “mindfulness” is exactly what you don’t want on a
trip like this.
June 6: Grant headed up 54 North on a
shoulderless four-lane highway… Some
people gave him a wide berth; some didn’t,
June 9: First, the stats: 99.38 miles, over
very bumpy proto-Ozarks; 10 hours and
48 minutes between Lamar and Marshfield.
While not the longest, this was certainly
the hardest day so far. There were even
despairing thoughts of flagging a truck
down during the last few hours, but none
came by, and Grant was driven by circumstance into accomplishment.
June 11: The morning began auspiciously,
keeping up a 10 mph average, despite a
phenomenon that Grant named to himself
“missouris.” These are small valleys cut
into the limestone Ozark plateau until it
comes to the edge of the “missouri,”
where it continues in the same compass
heading, but angling downward at an
alarming angle of dip. Without making
actual measurements, Grant estimates the
average angle to be about 88°. Since the
citizens of Missouri—could it really be malice?—have made no use of zigzag “switchback” patterns common in the Appalachians for going up steep grades, the road
simply careens down the side of the valley
where it crosses a one-lane bridge over the
small stream that is responsible for the valley in the first place…Grant can measure
the severity of such “missouris” by the
speed that the Shadowfax attains when it
arrives at the bridge: there are 30 mph misBiking from Santa Fe to Annapolis gave
Grant Franks a physical challenge he was
hungry for. “In my fantasy life, the trip
quickly grew into a personal confrontation between me and the highway system of
the United States,” says tutor Grant
Franks. “In my imagination, I would taunt
the road map: ‘You’re not so big! I can take
you!’ Bizarre? Maybe. But I was looking for
a big challenge, and here it was.”
victoria smith
May 16: With the trip a week and a half
away, I am doing some preparation work
on Shadowfax, fixing the headrest and the
side pannier supports. I am also working
on loading my I-Pod with music and books
for listening during the trip. The longest
work I have is the Bible, unabridged (77
hours from Genesis to Revelation). Also
included are three John Le Carré novels,
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and extended
selections from James Joyce’s Ulysses and
Finnegan’s Wake, plus several dozen hours
of music ranging from Sinead O’Connor
and Joan Baez to Aaron Copeland,
Beethoven, and Bach. Also the Beatles.
and Grant realized he had been spoiled by
the long ride from Las Vegas on an empty
two-lane highway with broad shoulders and
no traffic—hot, straight and boring, but
reasonably safe. The Song of Songs is wonderful—love stronger than death—although
some of the similes are surprising, and
there is not the smallest textual suggestion
to support the church’s long-time claim
that this is a chaste allegory for
divine/ecclesiastical relations.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�{Tutors}
no desire to be like anyone else; second, in
particular, he didn’t want to be like someone who would shout such a question;
third, cars were a blot on the landscape
which made us dependent on foreign oil;
and fourth, maybe if this guy got out of his
car sometimes he would be in better shape.
souris, 35 mph missouris, etc. The most
severe has been a 44 mph missouri; coming
to the “Yield” sign at the bottom of that
missouri, Grant was screaming, “Yield to
me! I can’t stop!” Fortunately, there was
no oncoming traffic...And then the rains
began. At first it seemed merely an obstacle
to be faced with a high heart, and thoughts
of “this is not so bad” kept up the energy.
The yellow rain jacket seemed to work,
although there was no question of keeping
dry, really, since rain on the outside met
sweat from the inside with only the wall of
plastic between them. Sunscreen, it turns
out, causes water to bead up, leaving Grant
feeling that he had been dipped in wax.
June 13: The first leg to Ellington, Mo., was
easy enough, and the eidos of a roadside
diner was found, with aggressively authentic people—Heidegger would be pleased.
Fortified with a Western omelet, hash
browns and toast, Grant made the dicey
decision to brave the predicted thunderstorms and head for the next dot of civilization some 35 miles away . . . Every hill is a
raw, untempered straining straight into the
sky. One was five miles long and found
Grant geared all the way down to first
gear—out of a possible 81—but still hardpressed. The Ten Commandments are a
popular lawn ornament in this place.
June 14: I remarked that he seemed to think
nothing now of 60-mile days which had
been hard at first. He scoffed at the 60-mile
day—a “nothing, a bagatelle, a luxury.” The
first 10 miles whistle by, the second are a
little harder; the third seem like the meat
and potatoes of the day; the fourth are
“droll,” and the fifth are spent thinking
that you are practically there, while the
sixth pass thinking that you are there and
will there be a hotel?
June 15: Coming out of Chester, the Cycling
Association offered two routes. Grant
chose one along the levee, which meant
that he rode on absolute flat through haze
and watched the water and the coal barges
moving along with it. Spectacular. Deer by
the side of the road. The miles slipped by.
The heavy, thick smell of green and humidity brought home that he has reached the
East.
June 16: Coming out of Eddieville, in the
last few miles of the day, he looked straight
ahead through some trees and saw bluegreen hills rolling away into the distance
45
forever—Kentucky, just across the Ohio. He
had about a tenth of a second to admire all
that loveliness before he was taken by a
final, unexpected missouri, and plunged,
shouting, down an asphalt incline. You
don’t pedal at that pace; you mostly fall,
and the winds pulled his helmet back so far
that it was acting like a parachute, so that
the only way to get it back on the top of his
head was to open his jaw widely, in which
case the bugs moved in. Quite a moment.
Through wind-induced tears he made out
that he was going 44.1 mph, peak speed on
the trip so far.
June 21: The two books he had recently
bought, Northrop Frye, some superfluous
shorts, and other small items could be
spared, so Grant packed them up and
mailed them to my mother in Washington,
D.C., lightening his load by, says the post
office, 4.7 lbs (including some Missouri
moisture that had never entirely left the
Northrop Frye book). Feeling immensely
ahead of the game, he rewarded himself by
purchasing Paul Tillich’s The Courage to
Be—narrowly preferred to Nietzsche’s Ecce
Homo and only upon the discovery that
Hegel was not to be had…The madness for
books obscures every prudent thought; I
know this because, with Grant too far away
to exercise oversight, I have been filling up
our bookshelves, too. Between us, we will
read ourselves out of house and home.
June 23: As he was starting up, a black
Camaro roared by, and a pudgy head and
shoulders leaned out from it to shout “Why
don’t you get a car like everybody else?”
Some energizing defiance from that experience, as Grant reflected that, first, he had
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
June 25: There was a curious feeling today
that, under the table, the trip had been
accomplished, even though there is so far
to go...Finally, he began to feel a little
ragged, 73 miles being a pretty long day
over rough country, so he put on the Brandenbergs, which give the feet great tempo.
You can switch to the largo movements
going uphill, and there is nothing to beat
the peppiness that pulls you over those last
few miles. Bach was truly a genius. Grant is
in Damascus, Va., trying to avoid having
portentous thoughts about being blinded
on the road there, since he has been listening to all this Paul.
June 28: There is a large National Park
between Lexington and
Charlottesville…Down so close to the
ground, not only does he get interested and
appreciative toward the flowers, but has
begun to notice the smells. A car going by,
spouting exhaust, is something of a trial in
that regard—he finds himself tempted to
shout “Get a tricycle!” at them . . . Several
times in the course of the last few days people have asked about the New Mexico flag
he flies. Some people’s jaws drop when he
says he has cycled from there, which is
gratifying of course, but he also muses on
the fact that no one recognizes the flag. He
feels like Odysseus with the oar.
June 29: “Never let it be said,” Grant told
me, sternly, “that a guy in a fake wheelchair can’t make it all the way up Blue
Ridge.” The Appalachians are harder,
although in Virginia they have achieved
the switchback …Grant came down
through the town of Afton, clinging by his
fingernails to the side of the mountain,
where the cookie lady lives. This is someone who keeps a perpetual welcome and
refreshment for bicyclers coming up this
steep way, by way of congratulations on the
undertaking. A classy ministry, I
think…Charlottesville was unmistakable,
with the rotunda of the University of Virginia. This is the symbol for Grant of a life
not lived, as he would probably have gone
to UVA if he hadn’t found St. John’s
instead—an imponderable alternative. x
�{Alumni Association News}
From the Alumni
Association
President
Dear Johnnies,
The January Alumni
Association Board
meeting sometimes
leads us into blizzards
and sometimes into
beautiful winter sunsets, but it always puts
us in the middle of
essay writing period
for seniors. They take a few hours out of
their labors to join alumni hosts for Senior
Dinners—conversations between alumni
and soon-to-be alumni about the college,
self, and the world.
April on the Annapolis campus includes
lots of fun things—croquet, budding
flowers, more senior dinners, and soccer
on the green. Passing by Dean Flaumenhaft’s office I was reminded of the completion of the spring essay ritual. Posted there
on his door were the schedules for Senior
Orals. Before I could have a thought, the
feelings rushed back. In an instant I relived
it all: the alternating despair and elation of
essay writing period, the trembling hands
before the opening question, the careful
and considered conversation, the unfettered relief when it was over, and the joyous
celebration. Looking at the list of essay
titles, feeling gave way to thought with a
question: How does your senior essay relate
to the rest of your life?
I know the curiosity that led me to
Galileo for my essay was the same curiosity
that has driven my work as a high school
physics teacher, instructional designer,
entrepreneur, and researcher. Though the
title is long since lost (and thankfully) in
the dusty recesses, I know that the questions that drew me to my topic are the same
questions that inspire and engage me
today. I am sure my essay, as product, was
both arrogant and naïve, but as process it
was a precursor to a chain of investigations
that continue to build my life as a thinking
human being, if not a full-time liberal
artist.
Is the same true of you? How do you see
your current self reflected (or challenged)
in the essay you wrote during the spring of
your senior year? How have the questions
shaped your later inquiries? How did the
writing reflect your literary habits? How
did the public defense of your work build
your strength as a confident conversational
companion? Or do you see the experience
as disconnected from the rest of your life?
I also wondered about the lives that
would unfold for these emerging alumni as
they take their St. John’s experiences out
into the world. What do their essay titles
say about them as productive members of
their various communities? How will they
integrate their Johnnie experiences into
fulfilling lives of love, work, and learning?
What kind of partners and parents will
these people become? How will they practice citizenship in an ever more challenging polity? How will they express themselves through public and private action?
What do these essay titles tell you about
the newly formed alumni who created
them?
A Modest Approach to Science through
Analogy
A Confession of the Confessions
The Art of Beauty: A Discussion of Duality in To the Lighthouse
Wanted: Guilty for All
God’s Thumb: The Political Discourse of
The Federalist
Desire, the One True Teacher: The
Investigation of Love Within Plato’s
Symposium
Moral Teleology and Practical Proofs
Montaigne’s Path to Wisdom; or, How
Not to Miss the Point Entirely
Experiencing Incommensurability
And from Santa Fe...
Science as a Poetic Vision: Finding a
Home for Orphaned Beauty in Goethe’s
Metamorphosis of Plants
The Importance of Being Wagner
You Ain’t the Boss of Me: Freedom and
Social Rebellion in Prometheus Bound
Human Instinct: The Mortar of Our
Universe
Piety and Passivity: Walking the
Line in the Book of Job
Prelude to the Song: Mathematics, Dialectic, and the Good
Mercy, Sin, and the Foundations
of Society in The Scarlet Letter
Life: A Blend of Dichotomies
Theory of the Use of Theory:
The Question of the Practical in
Modern Science
Santa Fe graduates have much to
celebrate.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Whether from Annapolis or Santa Fe, undergraduate or Graduate Institute, Old Program
or New, graduated or not, 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 Alumni Association news
and events of interest.
President – Glenda Eoyang, SF76
Vice President – Jason Walsh, A85
Secretary –Barbara Lauer, SF76
Treasurer – Bill Fant, A79
Getting-the-Word-Out Action Team Chair –
Linda Stabler-Talty (SFGI76)
Web site – www.sjca.edu/aassoc/main.phtml
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.
We welcome all of these authors into the
community of the St. John’s College
Alumni Association along with their peers
who began the journey with them four
years ago and who were following other
paths as spring came to Santa Fe and
Annapolis. It is a privilege and a pleasure
to share experiences and remembered
experiences with you!
For the past, the present, and the future.
Glenda Eoyang SF76
Eoyang@chaos-limited.com
President
St. John’s College Alumni Association
teri thomson randall
46
�47
{Alumni Association News}
Homecoming
Honorees
The Alumni Association celebrated the
accomplishments of two distinguished
St. John’s alumni with Awards of Merit presented at Homecoming in Santa Fe.
A native of New York City, Alfred Grant
(SFGI83) earned a degree from City College
of New York before embarking on a naval
career from January 1943 to November 1945.
He founded his own company in the 1960s
and sold it in 1972. He moved to Santa Fe in
1978 and enrolled in the Graduate Institute.
After earning his St. John’s degree, Grant
earned a second master’s from the University
of Edinburgh.
He is the author of two books: Our American Brethren: A History of Letters in the
British Press During the American Revolution, 1775-1781 (1995) and The American Civil
War and the British Press (2002).
Grant served on the Board of Visitors and
Governors from 1987 to 1990.
Eric Springsted (SF73) went on to study
theology at Princeton Theological Seminary,
where he earned a master’s of divinity and a
Ph.D.
Springsted has served as chaplain and lecturer in philosophy at Princeton Theological
Seminary and Illinois College. As founder
and president of the American Weil Society,
he is recognized as the foremost American
author on Weil, having authored and edited
books including Christus Mediator; Simone
Weil and the Suffering of Love; and Spirit,
Nature and Community.
Springsted’s involvement in the college
has included serving as class of 1973 representative for the Fourth Century fund-raising campaign and as a member of what is
now Philanthropia, the Alumni Association’s development arm. He has also been
an active member of the association. x
Celebrating the
Formation of
Attention
The following is excerpted from remarks from
Eric Springsted, A73, at the Homecoming
banquet in Santa Fe.
Fourteen years ago in April 1989, the American Weil Society held its annual meeting at
St. John’s in Santa Fe. The theme of the meeting that year was “Simone Weil and Educa-
tion.” With the help of [Santa Fe Tutor] Elliot
Skinner, I arranged for a volunteer group of
students to have a seminar on Weil’s essay
“Reflections on The Right Use of School
Studies with a View to the Love of God.”
Fifteen to twenty students read the text and
showed up on a late Friday afternoon to discuss it as Elliot and I led the seminar, and the
Weil experts sat around the outside of the
Senior Common Room and watched.
That the students were willing to do this
was already a testimonial to St. John’s. What
was more important is that the students were
magnificent. The best of them saw the deeper
points of the essay, and even were able to
anticipate Weil’s thought in areas where they
had not read.
But something else struck me about this
seminar, something that very much had to do
with the reading. “Right Use of School Studies” is about attention, a key notion in Weil’s
thinking. She defines attention as “suspending our thought, leaving it detached, empty
and ready to be penetrated by the object.”
The word “detached” is an unfortunate translation for it renders the French disponible,
which does not have the connotation of aloofness that the English “detached” does; it
means something more like “ready to be
used.” What Weil then means by attention is
that it is a way of knowing that does not construct meaning and truth but takes it in as it
is, consents to the reality of the other, and
then adjusts itself to that reality. Attention is a
key notion for her understanding of faith, love
of God and neighbor, philosophy (including
her astounding readings of Plato), Christ, and
her left wing politics.
Now what struck me about this seminar is
that the students weren’t just talking about
attention, they were showing it at an appropriate level just as Weil thought students
should. They were paying close attention to a
not-so-easy text. But they were also paying
attention to each other. Afterwards members
of the society remarked with some amazement at how students in the seminar helped
each other to understand. They also remarked
on the fact that when a junior or senior cited a
thinker such as Kant, he or she immediately
recognized that the freshmen and sophomores hadn’t read Kant, and so worked to put
the point in other terms. At St. John’s discussion has always been fair and requires a common text.
Why is all this so important? In a late fragment Weil defined culture this way: “Culture
is the formation of attention.” Culture, at
least a worthy culture, gives us worthy things
to pay attention to, it gives us knowledge and
wisdom as a goal; it even shapes our bodily
reactions so that we can sit still long enough
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
to pay attention. It gives us what the Germans
call Sitzfleisch.
That “culturing” in the service of attention
above all is what this school is good at, I realized that April afternoon. I don’t know if we
always recognize that. I don’t think we did, or
even could as students when we were so thoroughly situated within the process. But for
those of us here who are no longer students,
we ought to recognize it. We ought to recognize it for a reason that Weil argued that we
need to respect institutions and collectivities,
namely that they are food for the soul. Without them our souls starve. This is something
we need to pay close attention to. In a culture
that deforms attention, where intellectuals
are either busy constructing or deconstructing reality—but never paying attention to it,
where differences between the just and the
unjust are blurred by those leaders who ought
to distinguish them, and where we all are constantly being distracted, this college is a rare
place where a mind when it asks for bread
doesn’t get a stone or a serpent. It truly
deserves our support. x
CHAPTER CONTACTS
Call the alumni listed below for information
about chapter, reading group, or other alumni
activities in each area.
ALBUQUERQUE
Bob & Vicki Morgan
505-275-9012
PHILADELPHIA
Bart Kaplan
215-465-0244
ANNAPOLIS
Beth Martin
410-280-0958
PORTLAND
Dale Mortimer
360-882-9058
AUSTIN
Bev Angel
512-926-7808
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico
619-423-4972
BALTIMORE
David Kidd
410-728-4126
SANTA FE
Richard Cowles
505-986-1814
BOSTON
Ginger Kenney
617-964-4794
SEATTLE
Amina Stickford
206-269-0182
CHICAGO
Lorna Johnson
773-338-8651
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
Elizabeth Eastman
562-426-1934
DALLAS/FORT
WORTH
Suzanne Gill Doremus
817-927-2390
DENVER/BOULDER
Lee Goldstein
720-283-4659
MINNEAPOLIS/
ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman
612-822-3216
NEW YORK
Fielding Dupuy
212-576-7260
NORTHERN CALIF.
Jonathon Hodapp
831-393-9496
TRIANGLE CIRCLE
(NC)
Susan Eversole
919-968-4856
WASHINGTON DC
Jean Dickason
301-699-6207
ISRAEL
Emi Geiger Leslau
15 Aminadav Street
Jerusalem 93549
Israel
9-722-671-7608
boazl@cc.huji.ac.il
�48
{St. John’s Forever}
The birthplace of Charles Carroll, the Barrister, begins its
journey up Main Street to the
Annapolis campus.
Moving Day
hat does it take to
move a 1723 house
through a 1955
town? Five weeks,
$20,000, 43 feet
of clearance, and
some legal acrobatics. On the morning of
October 4, 1955, hundreds of Annapolitans watched as the Carroll Barrister
House, birthplace of Charles Carroll, the
Barrister, an early American patriot, was
moved from the corner of Main and Conduit streets to its current location on the
King George Street side of the Annapolis
W
campus. Workers had spent two weeks
preparing the house: jacking it up, laying
steel beams, and dismantling chimneys.
The power company sent 20 workers to
install temporary high poles to provide
clearance for the house along its journey.
The house was split into two parts: a
125-ton section that reached King George
Street at 6 p.m. and was placed on the
campus the next morning, and a 25-ton
section that was moved three weeks later
in less than three hours.
During the course of the move, the title
changed hands three times to establish
insurance liability: At the beginning of
the day, the house belonged to Joseph G.
Greenfield, who had bought it at auction
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
and wanted to develop the site for commercial purposes. During the trip, it
belonged to Historic Annapolis, which
had raised $20,000 to save the house
from demolition and finance the move.
As soon as it was placed at its new site, it
became the property of St. John’s.
Today the building houses the Admissions and Advancement offices. It is the
first stop on campus for many Johnnies
who visit as prospective students. They
meet with Admissions Director John
Christensen in his office, which was once
the dining room, and often have their
interviews in the reception room, once
the living room. x
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
Alumni Event
Annapolis-area alumni have the opportunity
to take a leap of imagination in considering
mathematics in a seminar on Harvard
mathematician Barry Mazur’s book
Imagining Numbers (Particularly the
Square Root of 15.) Tutors Sam Kutler (A54)
and Eva Brann will co-lead the seminar,
scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, October 12.
Mazur, one of the foremost mathematicians
in the world, served as the chief “referee”
on the panel to check the Andrew Wiles
proof of Fermat’s last theorem. Imagining
Numbers explores how we grasp and
develop ideas both in poetry and in math,
from the Renaissance to the present day,
and provides a step-by-step guide to how we
can begin imagining numbers for ourselves.
To register or for more information, call
the Annapolis Alumni Office: 410-626-2531.
moe hanson
The Painting Project
For three days in August, a small group
from the classes of 1968 and 1969 came to
the Santa Fe campus, sacrificing vacation
time to tape windows and casings, climb
ladders, paint walls, and generally improve
the environs for all. The effort was coordinated by Margaret Gaffney (SF69), who was
joined by Thompson Clay (SF69), Wendy
Watson (SF68), Richard and Shirley Flint
(SF68), and Ray Drolet (SF69). The group
hopes to see the Alumni Painting Project
become an annual event.
Homecoming in Annapolis
Laura Mangum (A04) and Alex Wall (A03)
donned formal clothes and waltzed around
the Great Hall as models for the 2003
Homecoming poster in Annapolis.
Annapolis artist Moe Hanson photographed
the couple, then used the snapshots to paint
her watercolor celebrating one of the
college’s favorite traditions, the waltz.
The painting was used for a Homecoming
brochure and poster—this year’s giveaway
gift to attendees. Didn’t get one at Homecoming September 12-14 in Annapolis?
A limited number are available for sale.
Call the Alumni Office at 410-626-2531.
Tom Clay works on painting a ceiling as
Shirley Flint takes a break.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Fall 2003 }
�P ERIODICALS
P OSTAGE PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , M ARYLAND 21404
dave trozzo
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
�
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The
College
St. John’s College
•
Annapolis
F a l l
•
Santa Fe
Jonathan Swift
T h e A d v e n t u r e s o f T r av e l
2 0 0 4
�On Swift
W
hat does it mean to be human? is one of the questions often
discussed in St. John’s seminars. In a seminar on Gulliver’s
Travels, the question could be expressed in this way: Are
human beings good and rational creatures, or just a step above
wild beasts?
Gulliver’s odyssey begins among the tiny Lilliputians who
fight with their neighbors over whether an egg should be
broken on the small end or the big end. Finding himself a tiny being among giants in Brobdingnag, he suffers the indignity of being carried away by a monkey. Among the ridiculous scholars
of the Academy in Lagado, he learns of a scientist’s eight-year attempt to draw sunlight from
cucumbers. By his final stop in a land where horses are gentle, rational beings, and men are vile,
greedy brutes, he has seen enough to conclude bitterly that man falls far short of the ideal.
Swift was born of English parents in Dublin on November 30, 1667. His father died shortly
before Swift was born, leaving him dependent on the generosity of uncles. (He feared poverty
throughout his life and was quite a penny-pincher.) Swift studied at Kilkenny Grammar School
and at Trinity College in Dublin, and later received an M.A. from Oxford. At the age of 22, he
went to live at Moor Park in Surrey, where he served as a secretary to Sir William Temple. There
he began a very close friendship with Esther Johnson, the daughter of Temple’s housekeeper, that
lasted until her death. (Swift had another long relationship with a woman, Esther Vanhomrigh,
but he never married.)
In 1695, Swift was ordained in the Church of Ireland in Dublin. During the reign of Queen
Anne, Swift was a celebrated figure in the literary and political life of London, becoming editor of
the Tory journal The Examiner in 1710. He harbored great aspirations for a political career, but
when Anne died in 1714, and George I came to power, the Tories lost their influence and Swift
found himself outside the political power structure. He reluctantly returned to Ireland, where he
was dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Though he felt like an exile in Ireland, Swift identified with
the poverty and misery of the Irish people. Few anthologies of satirical literature fail to include
Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” written in 1729, which sets forth a logical argument for ending
Ireland’s poverty by breeding infants for food.
Swift suffered from Ménière’s disease, which left him dizzy—a “giddiness” as he described it—
that he feared was madness. He was declared senile in his last years, and died on October 19, 1745.
In many ways, Gulliver is a model traveler. He endeavors to understand the local customs and
the native language of his captors and companions, and he is patient and diplomatic. In describing
his culture to others, he gains insights into his own. Because he recognizes that Yahoo qualities
persist in supposedly civilized men, Gulliver returns from his last voyage with a profound disgust
for humanity. He can no longer tolerate the sight of his fellow man—even his own wife and
children: “[M]y memory and imagination were perpetually filled with the virtues and ideas of
those exalted Houyhnhnms. And when I began to consider that by copulating with one of the
Yahoo species I had become a parent of more, it struck me with the utmost shame, confusion,
and horror.”
In this issue of The College magazine, intrepid Johnnie travelers share their perceptions
about living in a new and unfamiliar culture. Their observations of interesting sights and
sounds and experiences are made richer by the questions they pursue about themselves in
other cultures.
—RH
The College (usps 018-750)
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.
Annapolis
410-626-2539
reharty@sjca.edu
Rosemary Harty, editor
Sus3an Borden, managing editor
Jennifer Behrens, art director
Advisory Board
John Christensen
Harvey Flaumenhaft
Roberta Gable
Barbara Goyette
Kathryn Heines
Pamela Kraus
Joseph Macfarland
Jo Ann Mattson
Eric Salem
Brother Robert Smith
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
alumni@sjcsf.edu
John Hartnett, Santa Fe editor
Advisory Board
David Levine
Andra Maguran
Margaret Odell
Roxanne Seagraves
Mark St. John
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�Fa l l 2 0 0 4
Vo l u m e 3 0 , I s s u e 3
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
8
Eastern Classics
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
Santa Fe’s once-controversial graduate
program is going strong after a decade.
•
•
•
10
Johnnies Abroad
page
From China to Colombia, wandering
Johnnies relish new experiences amid
different cultures.
•
•
7
page 10
28
18
The Story-tellers
•
page
•
Alumni who work as curators and in
other interpretive roles make history
tangible.
32
from the bell towers
The long-lost California campus.
Annapolis dedicates Gilliam Hall.
Our man in Iraq.
New tutors in Annapolis and Santa Fe.
Summer interns are satisfied customers.
An honorary alumnus makes a generous
gift.
letters
bibliofile
Writer Natalie Goldberg (SFGI74) on
the great books, Zen, and writing.
Annapolis alumnus pens
children’s poetry.
alumni notes
P RO F I L E S
30 Finding a pattern in conjunctions told
22
Commencement
page
Tutor Chester Burke (A74) and University
of Chicago Professor Danielle Allen gave
graduates more questions to ponder.
page 18
Carole Chaski (A77) that police had a
killer on their hands.
36 Sara Roahen (SF94) carves out a niche as
a restaurant critic in the Big Easy.
42
alumni voices
Santa Fe alumni Paul and Laura Cooley
on life without a car.
26
Homecoming in Santa Fe
page
46
48
Parties, picnics, and piñons.
page 26
on the cover
Jonathan Swift
Illustration by David Johnson
alumni association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
The California Property:
A Happy Ending at Last
Standing on a hill high atop
what used to be the Marks
Ranch, it’s hard not to feel a
twinge of regret at what might
have been—a cluster of picturesque dormitories here, an
academic building there, a
playing field bordering the
state park. The view from these
golden hills is of a scenic valley,
and beyond that the city of
Monterey and the Pacific
Ocean. More than 30 years ago,
the Marks family, enamored of
the St. John’s program, donated
this spectacular 850-acre property to the college for possible
development for a California
campus. The ensuing decades
saw extensive studies—topographical, geographical,
seismographical, political—
followed by a decision by the
college that the property was
less than an ideal site for a
campus. Most of the property
was too steep to build on, and
infrastructure would be too
expensive.
A report issued in 1990 by the
Monterey Campus Feasibility
Committee of the Board of
Visitors and Governors, chaired
by Warren Winiarski (class of
1952), concluded that a Califor-
nia campus was not in the picture. That led the college to
investigate selling the property
to a developer—a decision unfortunately timed to a groundswell
of opposition to growth in
Monterey County. For years,
several Annapolis and Santa Fe
presidents and other college
officers, assisted by members of
the board, weighed the need to
make the best business decision
for St. John’s with protecting
the college’s good name in the
face of opposition from wellorganized conservation and
citizens’ groups.
The resolution came last
summer, when St. John’s sold
the property to the Big Sur
Land Trust, a nonprofit
organization that conserves the
lands and waters of California’s
central coast. The agreement
also included California State
University, which claimed a 22
percent interest in the property
through one of the many legal
actions and settlements that
evolved over the years. (CSU
was to get the land if St. John’s
didn’t build a college.) The Big
Sur Land Trust—which is paying
off the $4.5-million purchase
price of the property in install-
ments over the next three
years—will draw from neighboring communities to seek a
vision for the property as well as
the financial means for carrying
the vision out.
Susanna Danner, conservation project manager for the
Big Sur Land Trust, took time
last summer to offer a tour of
“It was an
excellent
resolution.”
Robley Levy, class of 1956
what used to be one of the most
productive chicken ranches in
the county—a family business
led by matriarch Nisene Marks,
whose children deeded the
property to St. John’s. The land
is still leased for cattle grazing,
and a geologist initially hired by
St. John’s, and now employed by
the Trust, runs his business out
of the Marks Hacienda and
helps keep intruders away.
Over the years, the ranch has
attracted illegal campers and
lots of debris: an abandoned
bus, old appliances, barrels of
some unidentified fluid.
Up on higher ground, Danner
points out the boundaries of
Toro County Park and the
hiking trails that extend into
the canyon and the back
country. Dotted with coastal
live oak and chamise chaparral
trees, the area offers a habitat
for wildlife including mountain
lions, bobcats, foxes, and many
different species of birds,
including golden eagles. Part of
the Marks property may be
eventually joined to the park.
“On three-day weekends, the
park routinely turns away visitors, and there’s no money for
new park development in the
The rolling hills of the
Marks Ranch were too steep
for a campus.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
county,” Danner says.
On one border of the property is a visible sign of why the
college faced fierce opposition
to selling the land for development: luxury houses in the Las
Palmas subdivision that are
wedged into the hillside.
St. John’s had a contract with
the subdivision’s developer, the
Fletcher Company, that gave
the company a 20-year option
to develop the property. A
combination of forces emerging
at the same time would have
made development difficult,
says Robley Levy (class of
1956), a former Santa Cruz
County commissioner who
served on the college’s Board of
Visitors and Governors until
recently. But the cut-and-fill
development near the Marks
Ranch was probably the biggest
reason the issue became an
emotional one.
“People were happy with the
first phase of the (Las Palmas)
development,” Levy says. “But
the cut-and-fill development of
phase two, that’s what drove
the neighbors nuts. It’s classical for Southern California,
but for people in this area, it’s
not the accepted way to develop
property.”
A conservation group called
Land Watch made the Marks
Ranch one of its major issues.
The group capitalized on ideals
of the St. John’s Program—
truth, justice, integrity—in its
campaign rhetoric. Levy says
the board anticipated some
resistance, but never such a
vituperative attack. Alumni
were among those who wrote
letters and signed petitions in
opposition to development.
“It might have been possible
before all of the bad news got
out to have a compromise where
a portion of the lower part of
the property could have been
developed—if St. John’s had
been willing to wait,” Levy says.
“But I don’t think the college is
really suited to be a developer.”
Levy was co-chair of the
continued on p. 3
�{From the Bell Towers}
3
Gilliam Hall: A New
Dorm Opens in Annapolis
david trozzo
On November 11, when the college officially dedicates its
newest dormitory, some special guests will join the St. John’s
campus community in celebrating this milestone. Among
them will be the family of James H. Gilliam Jr., for whom the
building is named. Mr. Gilliam was a member of the Board of
Trustees of The Hodson Trust from 2000 until his sudden
death last summer at the age of 58. Generous funding from
the Hodson Trust helped the College build the dormitory,
which houses 48 students. A second group includes the entire
board of The Hodson Trust, particularly its chairman, Finn
Caspersen, who will speak at the dedication.
A third group comes to honor Mr. Gilliam as an AfricanAmerican businessman and civic leader, a man who was
devoted to public service and to improving higher education
A glass-enclosed common room in Gilliam Hall offers splendid views
opportunities for minority students. They are the first seven
African-American graduates of the college: Martin Dyer (class of College Creek.
of 1952), Leo L. Simms (class of 1956), Everett Wilson (class of
An attorney and private investor, Mr. Gilliam served on a num1956), Joan Cole (class of 1957), Carolyn Baker Brown (class of
ber of nationally recognized boards, namely, Household Interna1958), Jerry Hynson (class of 1959), and Charlotte King (class of
tional Inc., T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Howard Hughes Medical
1959). All seven are expected to attend the dedication ceremony.
Institute, and National Geographic Society. A longtime resident of
Mr. Gilliam’s widow, Dr. Linda G. J. Gilliam, and his father,
Delaware, he also served as chairman of the Governor’s Judicial
James H. Gilliam Sr., will be present for the dedication ceremony.
Nominating Commission of the State of Delaware, chair of the
James H. Gilliam Jr. graduated from Morgan State University in
Administrative Enhancement Committee of the Delaware
1967 and earned a law degree in 1970 from Columbia University’s
Supreme Court, and as a member of the executive committee and
School of Law. After
board of the Medical Center of Delaware.
practicing law in New York,
“Jim Gilliam was a particularly good friend to the College, and
he joined a law firm in Wilmwe are pleased that in this way he will become a permanent part of
ington, Del. He joined the
our community,” says Christopher B. Nelson, president. “Having
Beneficial Corporation in 1979
as vice president-legal, rising to the College’s first seven African-American graduates present for
the ceremony honors both Mr. Gilliam’s memory and the College’s
executive vice president and
decision to open its doors to them at a time when segregation was
general counsel. He was
the rule rather than the exception in Maryland. They have
appointed to Beneficial’s Board
remained devoted to the college and its ideals,” he adds.
of Directors in 1984 and to its
The addition of Gilliam Hall allows the college to house 350
executive committee in 1987.
students on campus. In addition, the College reduced the number
of triple dorm rooms from 18 to 13 and created a new common
room with a kitchen in Humphreys. Construction begins this fall
James Gilliam was a
on a second dormitory, which will house 32 students and should be
philanthropist, businessman,
ready for students by December 2005. x
and friend of the college.
(continued)
California property committee
with another former board
member, Stephen Feinberg
(HSF96), and their time and
expertise were instrumental in
getting St. John’s out of the
Fletcher contract and into
negotiations with Big Sur.
Board members Thomas Stern
(SF68) and Robert Bienenfeld
(SF80) were also involved at
one point. “It was an excellent
resolution,” says Levy.
Annapolis President
Christopher Nelson (SF70),
whose many years as a lawyer
were an asset in negotiations,
was relieved to see the college’s
days as a California property
owner coming to a close.
Proceeds from the sale will
go to the Santa Fe Initiative, a
project to address some of the
critical needs—from new
science laboratories to funding
for student internships—of the
college’s Western campus.
Just days before the agreement was announced, Nelson
was still getting e-mails from
Californians urging him to
“Save the Marks Ranch.” He
was clearly pleased to be able to
write back with the news of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Big Sur agreement. “Some 13
years ago, our board determined that the property be put
to its highest and best use.
That’s just exactly what we see
this to be,” Nelson said. x
— Rosemary Harty
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
News and Announcements
New Tutors
CHRISTIAN HOLLAND (A84)
joined the faculty in Annapolis.
After graduating from St. John’s,
Holland went to Rome, where he
earned a degree in theology
from the Pontifical Gregorian
Institute and a degree in biblical
studies from the Pontifical
Biblical Institute. He has taught
at the Monastery of Chevetogne
in Belgium, at the Greek College
in Rome, and at Emory
University, where he earned his
Ph.D. in comparative literature.
In his research and teaching, he
has specialized in biblical and
patristic studies, postwar French
philosophy, and theology.
In Santa Fe, TRAVIS COOK
joined the faculty. He earned
bachelor’s and master’s degrees
in political science from the
University of Maine and Boston
College. He is currently completing a doctorate in political
science at Loyola University in
Chicago. His dissertation is
titled, “Shaftesbury and the
Ancients: the Enduring Concern
for the Noble and the Just.”
Before joining the St. John’s
community, he was the assistant
director of the Social Philosophy
and Policy Center at Bowling
Green State University.
AALE Accreditation
St. John’s College in June joined
a select group of colleges to
receive accreditation by the
American Academy for Liberal
Education, a national organization dedicated to strengthening
and promoting undergraduate
liberal education through
accreditation of liberal arts insti-
In Memorium
The college lost three members of the Annapolis campus
community late in the summer. (The College will publish
complete obituaries in the Winter 2005 issue.)
• On August 17, former assistant dean and tutor emerita
BARBARA LEONARD died. Leonard—an honorary member of the
class of 1955—came to St. John’s in 1951 with the first class of
female students. She had the important role of counseling,
guiding, and supporting students throughout the years. She
retired in 1987 after serving the college for 36 years.
• Tutor emerita BEATE RUHM VON OPPEN (HA01), who was a tutor
at the college from 1960 to 2003, died at her home in Annapolis on August 10. Born in Switzerland, she was raised in Germany and left the country at the age of 16 as the Nazis were rising to power. She earned her degree at the University of
Birmingham and during World War II worked for the British
Foreign Office. She moved to the United States in the late
1950s. Her book Letters to Freya, which captures the story of
Nazi resister Helmuth James von Moltke, won the Scholl Prize,
a prestigious literary award in Germany.
• Former tutor ALFRED MOLLIN died at his home in Philadelphia
on August 22. Mollin taught at St. John’s in the 1970s, but
many more Johnnies know him from the Greek manual he
co-wrote with tutor emeritus ROBERT WILLIAMSON (HA02).
After leaving the college, Mollin earned a law degree from
the University of Maryland School of Law. From 1978 until
his retirement in 2001 he was an appellate lawyer with the
Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in
Washington, D.C. x
tutions and programs.
The AALE joined the Middle
States Association in a review of
the college’s self-study, and the
two accrediting bodies made a
visit to the college together last
fall. At its June meeting, the
academy granted the college in
Annapolis full institutional
accreditation. The AALE’s
standards for accreditation
center on “a program’s demonstrated ability to instill and
develop in its students the characteristics of liberally educated
persons,” characteristics that
include “an ability to reason
clearly and effectively about
important questions and issues,
the acquisition of a rich fund of
meaningful knowledge, and an
inclination for seeking out and
acquiring knowledge and
skills.”
Agresto and Iraq
“We’ve been bombed two
nights in a row, and I expect
more of the same tonight,”
JOHN AGRESTO wrote from Iraq
last November. The former
president of the Santa Fe
campus was just a few months
into his post as senior adviser to
the Iraqi Ministry of Higher
Education, and in the e-mail
to his colleagues back in the
states, he wrote about how
the war affected his daily life.
“To go to the Ministry or to a
university I have to travel in a
secure car with at least one
shooter—usually my driver has a
pistol in his lap. I’m both
preceded and followed by two
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
John Agresto (right) needed
flak jackets and armored body
guards for his work in Iraq.
armored humvees with two
gunners in each and a soldier
with a machine gun on the
roof.”
Once the most modern in the
Middle East, Iraq’s institutions
of higher learning withered
under Saddam Hussein, and
after his regime fell, they were
further weakened by looting
and vandalism. Agresto determined that the universities
needed $1.2 billion to become
viable again, but the reconstruction package approved by
Congress last year allocated
only $8 million for higher
education, which Agresto
directed to the construction of
new science labs. He attempted
to raise the remainder himself
from the international community without success.
Nevertheless, when he left
Iraq in June, Agresto could
report that some goals were
achieved. These included
reopening the universities;
decentralizing the ministry
and empowering the academic
community through an academic bill of rights; removing
admissions restrictions on
female students; reestablishing
Fulbright and other scholarship opportunities; and
establishing three “American
universities” in the Kurdish
region of Iraq. x
— Beth Schulman
�{From the Bell Towers}
Satisfied Customers
ELIHU DIETZ (A06) and
CHELSIA WHEELER (SF03) are
among the true believers in the
value of the Career Services
offices on both campuses.
Dietz spent the summer at a
castle in Italy after spotting an
advertisement for an internship in the Annapolis Career
Services newsletter. Wheeler
gained a lead on a graduate
fellowship program, including
a Capitol Hill internship,
through the Santa Fe office.
Here are their reports:
Reading Retreat
I found “Reading Retreats in
Rural Italy,” a utopia for the
socially awkward and artistically
driven, last March through the
Career Services newsletter
Praxis. The notice was a laconic
plea for anyone interested in
performing remedial tasks for
the upkeep of a 14th-century
castle in exchange for cheap
room and board and good conversation with international
artists, book lovers, and
travelers of all ilk. Believing it
was too good to be true, I was
determined to get in touch with
the owner, Clark Lawrence.
Five days later, I received a
request for my resumé from
Clark; six weeks later, I was on
my way to Italy, to
the Castle of
Galeazza, where I
lived for the next
three months.
There were four
guest rooms and
up to ten guests
staying at the
castle at a time.
The first few days,
my chores of
watering and
weeding the
gardens, making
up the rooms for
the new arrivals,
and feeding the cat
were accompanied
by the echoes of
the two pianists practicing
their program for the upcoming concert on the following
Saturday.
About every two weeks, the
castle hosted a classical music
concert (sometimes followed by
tractor rides through the
woods) and an open gallery
displaying the works of six or
seven painters from Moscow,
Berlin, and Athens.
On my two to three days off a
week, I was just as likely to sit
with a book or talk with guests
as I was to take an overnight
trip to Venice or Ravenna.
While the daytime was usually
spent awing over the Alexandria Quartet or Cide Hamete
Benengeli’s masterpiece,
dinners were always time for all
the guests to come together and
to tell stories or listen to Clark’s
amusing antics.
People listened to each other,
drank with each other, and lived
art (in all kinds of mediums)
with one another. Every guest
who came, like every student
who comes to St. John’s, was a
member of a community by the
simple fact that they came willing to share their own thoughts
and humor. All Johnnies love a
great book but along with that
they value a community of
people willing to learn from
others. It was lovely to experience a place where people took
time out to enjoy life and
simply live.
Early this fall, yet another
Johnnie will be there, Anna
Schall (A07), who will take
my place as an intern for
three months.
—Elihu Dietz
Serving the People
“Well you see,” said the woman
on the other end of the line,
“I am 64 years old, and I don’t
have a lot of money. I fly my
plane down to the Virgin
Islands a few times a year to
stay in my house there. But I
have some business to conduct
with the timeshare company,
and I can’t afford to call them.
Could you please call from your
office and represent me?”
It was a typical day in the
office of the Hon. Donna M.
Christensen, U.S. Virgin
Islands delegate to Congress.
But, as a St. John’s College
graduate, I have excellent skills
in diplomatically avoiding the
direct request. After hearing a
long, unsolicited medical history of my caller, I agreed that
if she sent information to our
office, we would write a letter.
She never sent the information.
Margaret Odell of the Santa
Fe Career Services office
5
pointed me toward this wonderful opportunity last winter.
I was teaching English in Korea
as a break from academia after
graduation. The Charles B.
Rangel International Affairs
Fellowship Program provides
an expenses-paid Summer
Enrichment Program for six
weeks at Howard University,
then an internship for six weeks
on Capitol Hill; then tuition,
room, and board for two years
of graduate study; then a
summer internship at a U.S.
embassy abroad; and finally, a
five-year contract as a Foreign
Service officer in the State
Department. It fit perfectly
my passion for traveling and
learning. I can never thank
Margaret enough for pointing
me in the right direction.
The congresswoman’s office
contained a colorful mix of
people, mostly from the Virgin
Islands. One man argued on the
phone with his girlfriend for
hours on end. Another smoked
out of the window of the federal
building. And another spoke
passionately of his readings of
Kant and his search for the
greater Good. (A Johnnie at
heart.) I was amazed that I
could find such a wonderful mix
of people even in a congressional office, not to mention
the constituents who called and
wrote with strange requests
every day.
Now I am off on
another adventure.
I have just started
graduate studies at
American University
to earn a master’s
degree in International Affairs. The
experience should
prove another interesting new endeavor
for a Johnnie. x
—Chelsia C. Wheeler
At left, Elihu Dietz’s
summer castle.
At right, Chelsia
Wheeler meets
Colin Powell.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�6
{Philanthropia}
A $4 Million Vote
of Confidence
Texas businessman Stephen
Feinberg (HSF96) was spending
a lot of time in Santa Fe and
Albuquerque in 1977, when a
good friend told him about a
small liberal arts college in
Santa Fe that deserved his
attention. Richard Weigle,
president of both campuses at
the time, and vice president
J. Burchenal Ault (HSF83)
were successful in persuading
Feinberg to serve on the
college’s Board of Visitors
and Governors.
Feinberg joined the board at
a time when the young campus
was still experiencing growing
pains. “I was somewhat concerned when I attended my
first board meeting, and the
president said he didn’t know
if the college had enough funds
to make the payroll,” recalls
Feinberg. “I wondered if I’d gotten myself into a situation that I
really didn’t want to be in.”
Feinberg’s concerns about
the campus turned out to be
short-lived, and in July he
expressed his unqualified
confidence in the management
of St. John’s College by
announcing a $4 million gift to
david trozzo
Something to Celebrate
Making the college’s Annual Fund goal is no small feat,
but thanks to more alumni participating, and more
generous gifts from alumni, the college reached its
$2.3 million goal for the 2003-04 fiscal year. This year,
35 percent of the college’s alumni made a gift. Tuition pays
only 70 percent of the cost of a student’s education. Draw
from endowment, federal and state grants, and the Annual
Fund make up the rest. Students in particular have something to celebrate: the largest portions of funds collected
through the Annual Fund go to support instruction and
financial aid.
the endowment. “I
have seen the college
evolve into a very wellmanaged organization,
a strong and stable
organization,” he says.
He hopes that his gift
will spur additional
investments in the
college.
“We, as community
members, have a great
responsibility to this
college,” says Feinberg, who lives part of
the year in Santa Fe
and part in El Paso,
Texas.
He finished his
fourth term on the
board earlier this year.
It took him several
years to get “fully
engaged” on the board,
Stephen Feinberg’s gift to the
says Feinberg. When
college expresses his confidence in
the board began to tap
the Santa Fe campus.
his expertise in real
estate and finance—with
tremendous results—his
interim president in Santa Fe,
involvement grew. In turn, he
said Feinberg’s gift is particubecame more aware of imporlarly welcome during this time
tant issues facing faculty, staff,
of rebuilding in Santa Fe.
and students at St. John’s.
The college is still seeking a
He became more involved in
president to replace John
the intellectual life of the
Balkcom (SFGI00), with the
college as well, attending
goal of bringing a candidate
Executive Seminars, community
before the board at its meeting
seminars in Santa Fe, and rarely
in November. In the meantime,
missing a session of Summer
it’s important that the college
Classics. His admiration for
continue to draw the
the tutors helped inspire his
confidence and support of
gift, which he would like to
its Santa Fe community.
see help support improved
“Steve’s gift shows that the
faculty salaries.
community understands our work
“The college’s mission is
here, and that the 40-year bond
more important than ever,”
between Santa Fe and St. John’s
Feinberg says. “With a global
College will continue long into
economy and all the conflicts
the future,” says Nelson.
and the terrorism, the ability
Mr. Feinberg is the third board
to be open, honest, to question,
member to publicly announce a
to search, and to think about
gift to the college in advance of
important issues—this is
the official start of the next
especially important to
capital campaign, expected to
mankind right now. St. John’s
begin in the fall of 2005.
stands out in the world of
Alumni Ronald Fielding (A70)
academia because this type
and Sharon Bishop (A67), board
of searching is the college’s
chair, have also announced
core mission.”
generous gifts to the college. x
Christopher B. Nelson (SF70),
-Rosemary Harty
president in Annapolis and
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�7
{Letters}
Free Thought and Reason
I was left scratching my head over Steven
Brower’s letter (Spring 2004) in which he
recalls Douglas Allanbrook responding to
the absence of Eastern authors with the
claim, “the only good thing that has come
out of the East was the Sun.” Brower takes
Allenbrook’s statement as evidence that free
thought thrives at St. John’s. In fact, it shows
the opposite. Not only is Allenbrook’s statement laughably false, but it also helps
confirm the worst stereotypes about
St. John’s: namely, that the college is
provincial, self-important, and dismissive
toward ideas that do not fall within a
particular conception of the Western canon.
I tend not to agree with this stereotype
since I also believe that St. John’s teaches the
importance, above all, of giving reasons for
what one believes to be true. Evidence of
free thought requires more than saying
something controversial or unpopular: it
also requires the capacity to give reasons.
Perhaps Allanbrook had reasons for his view.
If so, it is regrettable that he chose to
respond with a fatuous quip. Likewise,
perhaps Brower has reasons for lauding
Allenbrook’s expression of “free thought”
—but he, too, has given no reason to support
his choice of words. Fortunately, Santa Fe
now has a program in Eastern Classics.
I always enjoy reading The College, but I
am not sure what you hoped to accomplish
by printing Brower’s letter.
John Capps (A91)
Mistaken Notions
I am writing to correct some mistaken
notions expressed in the letter from
Erin N.H. Furby (A96), in The College
Winter 2004). She was commenting on an
article, “Admissions and Diversity, East and
West,” published in the previous issue. Her
response suggested that she misunderstands
the “diversity initiative” under way on both
campuses and the importance of diversity for
the life of the college community.
I agree that the word “minority” is
ambiguous, and its meaning often must be
clarified. The “diversity initiative,” which we
refer to as the Opportunity Initiative,addresses different minority groups on the two campuses. In Annapolis, it is directed primarily
toward black students; in Santa Fe, Native
Americans and Hispanics are the primary
focus. Why? As easily might be guessed, it is
because the recruitment problem differs on
the two campuses. That is largely a product of
differences in the demographics of the areas
from which the campuses recruit students.
Hispanics and Native Americans, although
the largest minority groups in the area from
which Santa Fe draws most of its students,
have applied in small numbers. On the East
Coast and in the large urban areas from
which the Annapolis campus draws most of
its students, blacks, although the largest
minority, have applied in even fewer numbers. This does not mean, of course, that both
campuses are not seeking or would not welcome students from other minority groups.
Why should St. John’s make this
determined effort to recruit more minority
students? Because seminars and classes
“In attempting to
diversify the applicant
pool, [admissions
officers] hope to recruit
a student body that
reflects the racial and
ethnic diversity of
this country.”
Martin Dyer, Class of 1952
achieve greater profundity and richness when
students of different races, ethnicities, and
backgrounds bring their life experiences and
individual perspectives into the conversation.
Students benefit. As fellow learners, tutors
benefit. The entire community benefits.
I agree also that skin color means nothing— in itself. Blacks, like whites, are a
rainbow of colors. Variations of hue, however, are not the concern of this initiative.
The cutting edge is racial difference,
however defined, which creates for most
blacks in American society unique life
experiences and social and economic status
quite different from other groups. In some
situations, a different culture has evolved.
Ms. Furby acknowledges that “ religion,
age, home state, and economic background
influence the perspective of students.” Why
is she reluctant to acknowledge that race and
ethnicity are equally important parts of an
individual’s conditioning and development?
Being of one race, however, does not make
blacks a monolithic group. Like whites and
others, they are of different religions, from
varying states, cities, and neighborhoods,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
and of diverse economic backgrounds. These
differences, plus the common conditioning
their race provides, produce the “individual
perspectives that [individual blacks bring] to
the class.”
As appalled as Ms. Furby may be that “the
Annapolis campus was mentioned ... only in
terms of having a small number of black students each year,” that is the unfortunate fact.
Last year, three of the approximately 450
students were black.
Admissions officers are not being “pressured” into seeking “students of one race
over another.” They seek black students,
Native Americans, and Hispanics not as an
alternative but an addition to white students.
In attempting to diversify the applicant pool,
they hope to recruit a student body that
reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of this
country. They do this also because they
believe that it is the “right thing” to do for
parts of our society subjugated for more than
300 years and which, even now, still suffer
from it.
Just as the college is richer for having voluntarily added blacks and women to its student body many years ago, the reading list is
enhanced by the inclusion of black and
female authors. If the college is derided for
this, it is because some erroneously believe
that these authors cannot express ideas that
are “universal and applicable to all thinking
people.” As to “the unwise who looked only
at the race and sex of [these] authors,” I
respectfully defer to the collective wisdom
and integrity of the college deans and faculty
who serve on the Instruction Committee.
Martin A. Dyer, Class of 1952
Editor’s Note: Mr. Dyer was the first
African-American student admitted to
St. John’s.
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, or The College
magazine, Public Relations Office,
St. John’s College, 1160 Camino Cruz
Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599.
Letters can also be sent via e-mail to:
rosemary.harty@sjca.edu.
�8
{Eastern Classics}
Eastern Classics at Ten
Enrollment Grows in Santa Fe Program
by Rosemary Harty
n 1968, Scott Buchanan explained in an interview with
author Harris Wofford why he and Stringfellow Barr
excluded Eastern works when they selected the great
books of the New Program. “I think in ’37 reading
Oriental books when then we had so slender a grasp on
our own tradition would have led to the kind of phoney
stuff that has happened often when Westerners have become
intoxicated with Zen Buddhism or something,” Buchanan said.
However, in a later interview Buchanan added, “We ought to have
gone at the oriental books
simply and hard and we’d
have cracked them.”
“Cracking” the great
texts of the Eastern tradition—simply and hard—is
exactly what students and
tutors do together in the
Eastern Classics program in
Santa Fe. It is an intense,
full-time program leading
to a master of arts degree.
Each student studies Sanskrit or Ancient Chinese to
read original texts in those
languages. Two of the five
preceptorials taken by each
student are mandatory and
involve two weighty books,
books worthy of a lifetime
of study: the Mahabharata
and the Tale of Genji.
When a group of Santa
Fe tutors proposed a program geared to the study of
Eastern works, the idea met with strong disapproval from some in
Annapolis and Santa Fe. Tutor Krishnan Venkatesh, now director
of the Graduate Institute and a long time tutor in the program, was
among those who weren’t sure the college should take on such a
program. “I didn’t know if we would be able to teach it, and teach
it well,” says Venkatesh. “But my fears were allayed rather quickly.
I’ve seen how successful the program is. And I should have had
faith all along that the books can teach us how to read them.”
The texts may be different, Venkatesh says, but students in
Eastern Classics ultimately embrace the same questions as undergraduates do: “What is it possible to know? What is a human
being? What is ultimately real? What is the relation of pleasure to
happiness? What is a good person? What does it mean to be free?”
The Eastern Classics program is more similar to the undergraduate program than the college’s graduate program in liberal arts,
says tutor Frank Pagano, who was GI director in Santa Fe from
john hartnett
I
2001 to June 2004. “Everybody starts at the beginning and everybody ends at the end. It’s a full-time program and it really has the
sense of commitment, the structure, and the continuity of the
undergraduate program.”
After a yearlong pilot program funded by the Bradley Foundation, the Eastern Classics program began formally in the fall of
1994 with an enrollment of 23 full-time students. It struggled to
build enrollment during its first years, but interest continued to
grow over the years. This fall, 33 full-time students, including
15 alumni, enrolled in the
program—enough for two
full seminars.
Students read and discuss
the books of China, India
and Japan—the classics of
Hinduism, Buddhism,
Taoism, Confucianism—in
chronological order. In
choosing books for the program, tutors initially consulted a comprehensive list
assembled by Columbia
University’s, but ultimately,
the same standards for
works selected in the
undergraduate program
guided the list. “You ask
yourself what books work in
seminar, what books are
absolutely necessary even if
they don’t work in seminar,
and which books talk to
each other,” Pagano says.
Tutors like Pagano
Santa Fe GI Director Krishnan
gradually migrated to the
Venkatesh was initially doubtful
program when the time was
that a program in Eastern Classics
right for them, he explains.
could succeed.
He began by leading a
preceptorial on the Grand
Historian, Sima Qian. “That was my entryway to China. I started
doing more Chinese works, then audited the Chinese language
tutorial,” says Pagano, who by now has taught everything but
languages in the program. “Jim Carey, who loves language,
taught Sanskrit. Other people began teaching because they
were interested.”
In marketing the program, the college takes out ads in Yoga
Journal, some of which have featured testimonials from Tias
Little (EC98), one of the country’s leading yoga instructors. “Each
year we have people interested in yoga who want to know more about
the books behind the practice, people interested in Buddhism,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�{Eastern Classics}
9
half of the program’s students were Johnnies; more recently, that’s
and people interested in religion,” Pagano says, adding that most
dropped to about a quarter. “During their undergraduate years,
students simply seek to broaden their knowledge.
many develop a pent-up desire to take on the Eastern Classics
Ronalie Moss (SFGI91, EC95), a recently retired teacher from
program,” he says.
Los Alamos, N.M., was among the students in the pilot program.
Alexis Brown (SF00, EC03) took a year off after graduating
She enrolled right after completing the liberal arts graduate
before she enrolled in the program. It’s intense and difficult, but
program because she was still eager for intellectual challenges.
well worth the hard work, she says. “The whole time I was an
“I fell in love twice at St. John’s—you know how you read
undergraduate, I’d see the reading list for
something and you just discover a mind that
Eastern Classics and knew that I wanted to
you fall in love with? It happened for me in
do it,” she says. “I knew I would gain a
the liberal arts program with Aristotle and
much fuller picture of human thought.
the Nichomachean Ethics. And again in
Some of the best seminars I’ve had at
Eastern Classics with the Analects of
St. John’s were in Eastern Classics.”
Confucius,” she says.
Brown didn’t struggle as much with
Because the program was noncredit when
studying and translating poetry in ancient
she took part in it (those who completed it
Chinese; plunging into the unfamiliar
were awarded certificates), Moss wrote her
imagery and new concepts of Hindu texts,
papers and took an oral examination to
particularly the Upanishads, gave her
complete requirements for the degree. Over
Krishnan Venkatesh
trouble. She saw a few students drop out
the years, she integrated both sides of her
because the St. John’s
graduate program into the
approach of analyzing and
high school Advanced
discussing texts did not fit
Placement and World Claswith their personal beliefs.
sics courses she taught.
“I met a few students who
“Of course we should study
couldn’t understand that
the Eastern classics,” Moss
this was not a spiritual
says, “how could we ignore
endeavor,” she says.
half the world?”
In nurturing the
One of the program’s
program during his years
strengths is that it’s the
as the GI director, Pagano
only program of its kind.
has come to better underNowhere else can a student
stand the college’s mission
interested in the Eastern
as a whole. “I can imagine
texts find a comprehensive,
people arguing that we
discussion-based program,
really don’t do Eastern
Venkatesh says. Many
Classics well—that the
colleges offer programs
program really is a diletwith majors such as Asian
tantish affair. But if this
studies, but these generally
program is dilettantish,
emphasize contemporary
I’d say the [undergraduate]
culture. Other programs
program is. We’re after
focus on traditions and
liberal education at
practices instead of
St. John’s, we’re out to
original texts.
Students in seminars in Eastern
discover things.”
Among the biggest objections to overcome were those voiced
works wrestle the same universal
Annapolis tutor Eva
by tutors who believed the program would weaken the college by
questions that undergraduates
Brann is an admirer of the
overburdening tutors, or disturb the unity of St. John’s by creating
tackle, says Venkatesh.
Eastern Classics program
a “department” within the college. But during the last three
and is satisfied that it has
years, more than half of the members of Santa Fe’s Instruction
added to the mission of the college. “This has done us no end of
Committee have taught in Eastern Classics, Venkatesh points out.
good,” she says. “It adds a new dimension to what we do here.
He argues that the program has less of a “department feel” than
And it shows that our way of doing things is universal.”
sophomore music or senior lab.
However, Harvey Flaumenhaft, dean in Annapolis, told a group
The fear that tutors would be overwhelmed was a reasonable
of the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors reviewing the
one, Venkatesh acknowledges—the Program already requires so
program last summer that he would continue to oppose introducmuch of tutors. “Instead, tutors who have taught in Eastern
ing it in Annapolis. “We already spread ourselves too thin,”
Classics have been invigorated by the experience,” Venkatesh
Flaumenhaft said. “I don’t think that we can do all good things for
says. “It’s given them new ways to enter the conversation,” as
practical reasons. And there are a lot of good things we don’t do in
well as “clearer focus and commitment, and a richer sense of
our undergraduate program. It’s unthinkable, for example, not to
what the questions are.”
Pagano wasn’t surprised that alumni would be among the first
study Maimonides. The danger of taking on more is not that we
to apply for the program. In the first years of the program, up to
don’t go broad enough, but that we don’t go deep enough.” x
john hartnett
“I should have had
faith all along that the
books can teach us
how to read them.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�10
{Johnnies Abroad}
A DV E N T U R E S
A B ROA D
“My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best authors,
ancient and modern, being always provided with a good
number of books; and when I was ashore, in observing the
manners and dispositions of the people, as well as learning
their language, wherein I had a great facility by the strength
of my memory.”
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels.
ohnnies are the kind of travelers who
approach a new culture like an unfamiliar text,
ready to have their prejudices challenged and
their horizons broadened. In these short
essays, alumni who have spent an extended
time in other countries write about the discoveries, disappointments, surprises, and delights
found in the manners and dispositions of different cultures. Several went abroad to teach
English: Mike Crawford in Colombia, Paul
Obrecht in the Czech Republic, and Meredith Smith in
Spain. Ryan Rylee spent a year in China and India during a
break from the college to pursue his interest in the East. John
Hartnett traveled to India and Lauren Sherman to Africa,
both on volunteer medical missions.
Recent dispatches or distant reminiscences, these aren’t
typical travelogues.
J
A Woman Who Danced with Fans
by Ryan Rylee (A04)
Beijing is hidden under a cloud, but it’s not the mystical kind.
The cloud comes partly from the taxis and buses, of which
there are more every year. As more Chinese get rich while
auto import tariffs come down, those taxis are joined by
private cars. One still sees, in outlying Beijing, modified
tractors, smoking and jittering along the road. And it
becomes less and less rare to see a coal-laden cart being
pushed alongside a Mercedes Benz.
The cloud over the city also comes partly from the coalburning stoves some people still use for warmth and cooking, and a little from the industrial plants. A lot of sand blows
in from north of the city, where for hundreds of miles farmers are causing desertification with unsustainable grazing
and farming practices, cultivating every inch of remaining
land around the city. It has gotten so bad that some of them
are now being paid by the state not to work.
The cloud over the city is, more than anything else, the dust
raised by development at what is certainly one of the largest
construction sites in the world. Stand at the window of a Beijing skyscraper and try to make out the number of construction cranes across the city. Nimble giants stand stock straight
in flocks that stretch out much farther than the eye can see,
vanish into the smog, and seem beyond counting.
The city—and a lot of the country—are trying, fast as they
can, to be as modern and Western and capitalist and techno-
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�“The city—and a lot of the country—are trying, fast as they can, to be as
modern and Western and capitalist and technological as possible.”
Ryan Rylee, A04
Modern life is crowding out the traditional in China, with
Starbucks, McDonalds, and other American franchises moving in.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�12
{Johnnies Abroad}
The woman was in labor.“I immediately understood her
pain and terror without comprehending the words.”
Lauren Sherman, A05
logical as possible. There is a Starbucks now inside the Forbidden City. McDonald’s and KFC abound in Beijing, along
with unlicensed imitations of everything American, from
Levi’s to DVDs. And with Hollywood movies come the imitations of them, in appearance and behavior, the cars and
bravado, the high heels and discotheques. Where is the
Chinese soul?
The blue suits and caps of the Cultural Revolution are
still worn by a lot of the 60-and-older people. They amble
slowly about the streets and gawk at the thousands of foreigners who have invaded the capital. A woman told me
about growing up in her family’s Chinese-style, four-sided
garden home: parents, grandparents, and children all eating together in the central courtyard, in the shade of trees
and trellises, grape vines growing overhead. She showed
me, with a mix of words and gestures, how her brother
would reach up, pick the ripening grapes on the sly, and put
them into her mouth. They taught her, in that kind of place
and time, how to dance with a fan held in each hand, and
she still remembers, even performed it for us, rhythmically
folding and unfolding the fans, ephemeral butterflies hiding her face. That house, like so many old ones, has been
demolished, and different generations packed off to apartments high above the city. Some of the old folks speak fondly of the days of yore, the lousy plumbing, leaky roofs, coalburning stoves, and drafty rooms of their charming,
crumbling traditional-style slums. Some of them also, in a
frustrated moment, will speak fondly of the days of Mao,
but no one wants to go back to those days. And anyway, Chinese have become used to making way for progress, used to
sacrifice.
Mao campaigned to destroy anything ancient or traditional. I even heard one Chinese student reference, in a
casual aside, “Mao’s mission to destroy China.” Was the
mission successful? Tai Chi is still practiced in the public
parks. Peking Opera goes on, now performing a mix of
Mao-era and pre-Mao songs. And kung fu soaps, set in the
days of emperors, are the most popular kind of show on television. The magical ancient China we sometimes see in
movies is only available to most Chinese in just the same
kind of medium, usually minus the effort and expense of
making flying through the air and breathing fire look real.
Chinese mystique, as we know it, is something only
perfected in the movie studios and new-age bookstores of
California. Perhaps the real mystery is how “China”—if
such a thing persists—continues to be reflected through the
industrial smoke and mirrored high-rises. As the opening
lines of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching read, “Dao ke dao, fei
chang dao.” The way is a becoming way, not a fixed way.
Death in the Night
by Lauren Sherman (A05)
In the summer of 2003 I went to Africa with Operation
Crossroads Africa, a nonprofit organization that sends
young people to various countries on the continent to work
on different projects. There were six of us, and our assignment was medical-related. I was there for two months in a
rural section of western Kenya.
We lived about a mile and a half from the hospital at the
family compound of our group leader, Josephine, a Kenyan
nurse who has been working in the U.S. for the past couple
of years and wanted to bring a group of young people back
to her home to help in the community. The houses were no
frills, just concrete floors and walls, and the bathroom was
an outhouse about 20 feet from the house. There was no
toilet, just a hole in the floor, and showers were taken with
a bucket of water and a cup.
During one week of our stay we traveled to Mfangano
Island on Lake Victoria to operate a free clinic for the
islanders. This clinic was much needed because the closest
hospital is three hours away by motorboat and very expensive.
On the second day I was to be working in the pharmacy,
but by chance I stumbled into an empty room where a
woman, maybe in her late twenties, was in labor. As she
called out to me in her native language, Luo, I immediately
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�{Johnnies Abroad}
The Czech people are
slowly rebuilding
traditions, such as this
wine festival procession,
lost in the communist era.
helped me far more
than any remedies or
medicines I could have
given to her. She
helped me to realize
the power of the
human heart.
paul obrecht
understood her pain
and terror without
comprehending the
words. I approached to
comfort her, and
placed my hand on her
swollen belly as she
moaned in pain. I
looked into her eyes
and felt utterly helpless. How was I, a 20year-old student of the
“great books,” going
to stop her pain?
For over an hour I stood with her, rubbing her belly in
silence. The doctor reported that her condition was stable
and that she had hours before she would give birth. He then
left to see other patients. After some time, I followed suit
and returned to the pharmacy, but throughout the day I frequented her room. More than once I again demanded the
doctor’s attention, but he always reported the same. Her
pain may have been steady, but was it normal? Without a
better foundation for concern than my feelings, I trusted
the doctor’s judgment and left for the evening. Soon I was
overtaken by hunger and fatigue, and the woman’s suffering was pushed to the background of my thoughts.
The next morning when we arrived at the clinic, the doctor told us that this young woman had experienced complications and was rushed to the mainland during the night.
She and the baby both died.
For a time I allowed the suffering and inequality that I
experienced in Kenya to saturate me with helplessness.
Then finally, a few days before our departure, I realized that
this woman knew that somebody cared about her and wanted to ease her pain, however inexperienced and unable I
may have been. Even though we didn’t know each other’s
name, I felt a searing love for her. I realized that the world
is filled with nameless individuals, and it was my responsibility to show them this love. In a way, this nameless woman
13
Marching to the River
by Paul Obrecht (SF02)
In the middle of March, having been in the Czech Republic
for nine months, I was invited to participate in a traditional springtime procession in a tiny village in southern
Moravia. A straw man was to be carried from the village
square down to the river, set on fire, and then tossed into
the water; newly green branches would be gathered, decorated with ribbons, and returned to the square. All of this
was in the name of dismissing winter and welcoming the
return of spring. When we arrived in the middle of the cold,
gray afternoon, we joined a small group of parents and children and began marching to the river, singing Czech folk
songs all the while. But I was misled about this being a traditional procession: At some point it was admitted that
Czechs haven’t enacted this ceremony for a hundred years
or more. I was part of a re-creation, an attempt to resurrect
an old tradition that had died out generations ago. I discovered later that the people marching down to the river were
Waldorf School moms and dads, and that this was a Waldorf
event. (Waldorf schools were imported from the West in
1995 or so.)
I was tremendously disappointed, but I couldn’t quite say
why. Was it just the tourist in me, disappointed by the lack
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�14
{Johnnies Abroad}
paul obrecht
of quaint costumes? I
recalled a wine festival
I had stumbled upon
the previous autumn
in the village where I
live, when the participants had been dressed
in the traditional Moravian lace-and-embroidery-embellished garb.
They started performing traditional songs
and dances, parading
through the streets of
the village joined by a
small marching band
and a group of men pulling a red wagon that held a big
decanter of burcak, an enticingly sweet midpoint on the
journey from grape juice to wine. They poured glasses for
the folks watching along the sidewalk or from their lacecurtained windows. I noticed that I was the only foreigner
there, in fact, probably the only person not from the village
itself, and this produced a wonderful feeling of satisfaction
at the authenticity of it all.
So why the disappointment at those real Czech folks
marching down to the river, trying to resurrect some bit of
their heritage, even if many could not remember all the
words to the songs? The urge to resurrect old traditions is
here, as everywhere, a reaction to the ever-accelerating
pace of life and the fear that one’s own way of life is being
consumed by the global behemoth of instant glitz, pop culture, and convenience. In a country that just 15 years ago
was dominated by secret police, closed borders, and banana
lines, things are changing quickly and people are in a hurry
to make up for lost time.
My disappointment, it turns out, was at being confronted
with my own naivete. I had moved to the Czech Republic in
hopes that I could learn something from a people who had
had no choice for so long but to define themselves by other
means than what they could afford to buy. Instead I found
Glitz, pop culture,
and convenience
threaten authentic
Czech culture.
many of them eager to
acquire as many as possible of the vices of the
West. The march down
to the river was a
response to that, the
unglamorous act of
real people trying to
do something real for
themselves, trying to
create meaning where
meaning is in danger of slipping away.
On my cynical days, the growing Czech hunger for the
consumer lifestyle suggests to me that human nature longs
for little more than cool stuff to buy; real and meaningful
traditions seem only to survive as long as people are prohibited, whether by circumstance or design, from having
enough shopping opportunities.
On other days, however, I catch glimpses of an entire
nation rallying to redefine itself after centuries of being
ripped apart and re-sewn by the hands of various would-be
empire builders. They are hard at work rebuilding their
social institutions and public infrastructure, trying to
purge the last whiff of totalitarianism from their souls. In
effect, they are redesigning their society from the bottom
up, and a necessary part of that is to resurrect old traditions. How else to remember who they have been? The
enthusiasm and success of their effort suggest far more
convincingly that the fabric of human nature is truly
resilient and durable stuff.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�{Johnnies Abroad}
15
“The guerillas put a price on his head and would
kill him and his family if they could find him.”
Michael Crawford (A87)
The Guerilla’s Warning
by Michael Crawford (A87)
Graduation called, but South America beckoned. In the
spring of 1988, my knowledge of the city of Cartagena consisted of exactly two items: it was 80 degrees year-round
and it was full of cool Spanish colonial-era architectural
remnants. My knowledge of Colombia in general was a bit
more extensive, having followed the New York Times stories of Marxist guerilla fighting or drug-related massacres
that took out three or four dozen people at a time. (In one
story, the blood was literally running out the front door of
the tavern afterwards.) Almost no U.S. citizens wanted to
live there. This fact, plus the thought of the anxiety I
would cause my parents if I went, appealed to me in a way
that such things can only appeal to a 21-year-old. I went.
The first few weeks did nothing to dampen the sense of
the exotic. Yes, those are wild monkeys in the trees alongside the river. Yes, that is the beautiful but deadly blackand-yellow viper (no known antidote for the venom) slithering across the schoolyard while we are trying to play
pick-up basketball. Yes, the discos throb with salsa and
merengue until six in the morning. Yes, she likes you
because she thinks you have American dollars.
The height of this giddy new-ness came during a retreat
the school organized for my 12th-graders. We were at a
ranch in the middle of nowhere. The school’s forwardlooking rector wanted the students to talk about democracy and violence, and I was asked to lead a seminar on the
Bill of Rights. The talk went well—back then it was not ludicrous for other countries to look toward America’s government as a model with real moral authority. My efforts
in rudimentary Spanish were appreciated. But as the sun
went down and the oil lamps were lit, I realized that I had
only been the warm-up band for the evening’s main act:
two hours with a real, live South American ex-guerilla.
As we sat in a circle around the table, he was brought in
flanked by two military guards. He told us to call him
Alberto. The bandana covering his face only added to the
mystique. For 12 years, he had been a foot soldier in the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the
oldest and most hard-line of Colombia’s five armed
Marxist insurgent groups. He joined because he believed
in social justice, but after only one day he realized it would
not be found among his guerilla comrades. Daily life
consisted of endless making and breaking camp, or sitting
through Marxism indoctrination classes in the middle of
the jungle. Stray from the straight and narrow, and they
would shoot you. In 12 years he had walked every sparsely
inhabited inch of Colombia, shaking down farmers for the
“tax” on coca and skimming profits on drugs that got
shipped north to undermine bourgeois society. Fundraising, it seems, is a big part of every job, even if you are a
South American revolutionary.
They made him a bookkeeper, and then wanted to
eliminate him because he knew that the leadership was
partying at Bogota’s best hotels while the rank and file
were swatting mosquitoes in the Amazon. When he got
sick they sent him to a sympathetic doctor in the city, and
there he defected to the Colombian army.
We were mesmerized as we listened. The guerillas put a
price on his head and would kill him and his family if they
could find him. Later I recognized him as the night watchman at our school. As he was picking up his paycheck, our
eyes met, but he was unflustered. He knew his secret would
go no further.
I would see and do many other fascinating things
while in Cartagena, but none left the same impression as
hearing Alberto’s story. Hyped by Clash lyrics, I had come
to South America dreaming glitzy, shallow dreams about
the glamorous revolutionaries. Now I was getting the real
story. “If you want adventure,” he warned the 12thgraders, “sign up for the merchant marine. Do not join the
guerillas.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�16
{Johnnies Abroad}
The Piercing
Festival
Young men pierce their
cheeks and dance for
rupees in Keralla.
by John Hartnett
(SF83)
john hartnett
From the moment
you step out of
the airport you are
confronted by mass
—a writhing, noisy,
stinking mass of
crumbling concrete
pillars and gritty
floors; tangled electrical wires; flailing arms and legs; voices of every conceivable pitch, tone, and key—all asking for something. It is at
that moment that most Americans make up their mind
about India. You either see nothing but the grit, nothing
but the three-year-old living on the highway median begging for change, or you see past it. If you’re lucky, something helps you past your prejudices, some glimpse of the
majesty of India. It might be the beaming smile of a man
threshing rice by hand or a wrinkled old woman in a bright
purple sari stooping to sweep the streets.
By rights, my moment should have come at the clinic. I
spent three weeks working in a clinic in Andra Pradesh next
to all that mass: the hustle of the street vendors, the
cacophony of honking horns, and the belching fumes of the
three-wheeled moto-rickshaws that we called “tripods.”
Working in the city, I was nearly blinded by the poverty and
the grinding crush of everyday life.
Toward the end of my trip, I had a chance to visit a distant
state called Keralla. Almost every Indian I told about my
plan called it “God’s Own Country.” On my first day in Keralla, I hired a driver to take me to Kumarakoum to visit the
canals and waterways where people lived. As we turned a
corner of the highway, I noticed a throng of people gathered
by a side road. I stepped out, camera in hand. A festival was
in full force, with young men and boys dancing to a capti-
vating beat. Older
men waved peacock
feathers and circulated amongst the
crowd, prodding the
onlookers to notice
the young men. It
was then I noticed
the piercings. These
young men had
pierced their cheeks with long skewers. The skewers were
held in place by balls of fruit. As they danced, someone
would approach and slide a rupee onto the skewer. The
more these boys danced, the more hypnotic the effect as
the drums thundered, their skin glistened, and the rupees
collected on their skewer.
For the rest of my time in India, I asked about this festival, but no one had ever heard of it. No Hindu or Buddhist,
Jain or Muslim, Sikh or Christian I encountered had ever
heard of anything like it. It was a completely local custom,
this painful, intense festival. This devotion would not have
found me had I not found it. Someone else might have seen
only the rupees or the old men sidling for donations. But
they would have missed the bright peacock feathers, the
concentrated look on the boys’ faces, the intense focus on
the divine in their bodies.
Everyone is Beautiful in Madrid
Meredith Smith (AGI03)
The streets have been washed in daylight for hours when
the waking sounds of the neighborhood begin to pass over
the balcony and into my room in the heart of the Madrid
shopping district. Below my window, the cherry vendor
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�{Johnnies Abroad}
bellows invitations to sample fruits that are so delicious
she can’t believe it herself. Driving her calls louder are
the building traffic and the accordion player’s rendition
of “Besame Mucho.” Each morning this city melody mingles with the metallic, salty aromas from the seafood
stalls to awaken me to another day in Madrid.
In obedience to the Spanish morning ritual, I mix a
strong espresso off the stove with hot milk and sugar. A
staple of café life and social invitations, the café con leche
has become an indispensable part of my mornings. Without it, I can’t imagine how I would brace myself for a day
composed of exhausting attempts at communication. The
robust, bittersweet brew seems perfectly fitted to the air
of the people who lay their claim to it. If I am to have any
prayer of matching their inexhaustible gift for gab, my
first cup will not be the last.
Properly caffeinated, I can embark upon the day. While
it is easy to get lost in the graceful architecture of curling
garlands and wrought-iron balconies overhead, it must be
cautioned against. The Spanish pedestrian is considerably more focused on a conversation or a shoe in a storefront window than on the other people on the sidewalk.
As a result, a certain nimbleness is required on the part of
those who don’t want to be the victims of collisions and
scowling faces. Perhaps the most abundant and treacherous obstacle is the ceaseless flow of little old ladies
pulling their grocery carts. Prone to sudden stops and
nonlinear trajectories, they served as my first introduction to the importance of staying alert. To tangle with one
of these seemingly harmless teetering forms can mean
bending under the force of one of the sharpest and quickest tongues in the country.
In Spain everyone is beautiful. At the neighborhood
market, undiscriminating greetings from the men behind
the rows of hanging hams and pyramids of vegetables
are bestowed upon their patrons in praise of their beauty.
“Hello, beautiful,” is reciprocated with, “How’s it going,
handsome?” And perhaps this familiarity is part of
the shadowed Spanish tradition. For in the new super-
17
markets, frequented more by the youth than the traditional markets, the reserved dryness typical of modern
business has replaced the intimacy that is prevalent in
neighborhood shops and cafés. But it is this intimacy that
allows one to experience a sense of belonging in a culture
that is built upon secrets and mysteries inaccessible to
foreigners.
Work takes a back seat in this country, where recovery
from and preparations for the next social engagement are
the priorities. Leisure and pleasure are held in the highest regard, and the evidence is apparent each afternoon.
Between two and three o’clock, the shops lower their
metal gates and they will not raise them again until the
late afternoon, giving everyone an opportunity to eat and
nap. I am actually somewhat suspicious if the lunch hour
ever ends, or if it just blends into the evening. For when I
return from teaching a few English classes, it seems as if
nothing has changed. All public spaces remain occupied,
from badly lit fluorescent cafeterias displaying wide
arrays of mayonnaise-drenched salads on stainless-steel
counters, to park benches, and elegant umbrella-topped
tables attended by uniformed waiters.
In the evening, groups of friends that have gathered for
after-work cocktails spill out of the bars, restaurants, and
cafés and occupy the table-lined avenues. As the streets
buzz with chatter and activity, the sunlight that has
blazed throughout the day is replaced by a bluish haze
from the cigarette smoke in the air. And when dinners
come to a close right before the morning hours, and those
who will continue their visits have moved indoors, the
city begins its resistant farewell to the day. Everyone’s
cheeks are kissed, everyone’s backs are patted, and we
return to our homes to gather the energy to make it to
lunch tomorrow. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�18
{Culture and Context}
T H E S T O RY-T E L L E R S
Johnnies in Museums Make History Tangible
by Sus3an Borden (A87)
t the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., a
pair of shoes with sparkling red
sequins and snazzy bows—the “ruby
slippers” worn by Judy Garland in The
Wizard of Oz—draws visitors from all
over the world. Although not “real”
items of history, like Mr. Rogers’ cardigan or Indiana Jones’ hat these artifacts of popular culture mean a great deal to the people who came
to know them through movies and television, says Smithsonian
curator David Allison (A73).
Just a few blocks away, different shoes tell a different story:
a heap of 3,000 shoes—dress shoes, tennis shoes, children’s shoes—
turned gray by time and tragedy. Left behind by Holocaust victims
at a concentration camp in Majdanek, Poland, the shoes are part of
the permanent exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., where Steven Vitto (A85) works as both a researcher
and a public reference
librarian answering
questions for visitors.
What man creates,
museums preserve.
Shoes, documents,
furniture, tools, art,
weapons—all can be
found in museums
around the world.
If these artifacts tell
the stories of our past,
the curators are the
authors of those stories. What artifacts a
curator selects, how he
or she arranges them,
and the context in
which they are presented all combine to make
the experience mean-
A
ingful and evoke a sense of connection to history—even when we
can’t understand it or would prefer to look away. Alumni who work
in museums, historical societies, and other interpretive venues
come to their work with specialized training, but also with a sense
of how to draw disparate things—a Vietnam-era helicopter and a
Civil War chair, for example—together to create a whole.
Allison, a curator at the Smithsonian’s American History
museum since 1986, is at work on a new permanent exhibit for the
Smithsonian titled, “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War,”
scheduled to open in November. There’s more to an exhibition than
just the idea or the narrative, Allison explains. “It’s also about putting people in touch with original objects and helping them see history through these objects. How do you get people to feel that they
are in a different place and at a different time?” he asks. The answer
requires a thoughtful balance of design, content, and artifactual
considerations, he says.
At the Smithsonian, exhibition planning for major exhibits
usually begins three years before the opening with a design charrette, several intense
days where experts in
the three-dimensional
presentation of ideas
meet with the people
who have a story
to tell. During the
charrette, the rough
outline of the exhibit’s content is mapped
to the space allotted.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Amateur genealogists
and professional
historians alike can
find rich resources
about American life
from Lori Williamson
(A94) at the
Minnesota
Historical Society.
�19
{Culture and Context}
dave lachapelle
From the charrette, says Allison,
all else follows.
Although each exhibit is
designed with a logical structure
(large labels, secondary labels,
then object labels), the visitor is
not expected to follow that structure, Allison explains. “Usually
there is a personal connection that
draws you into the particular and
you go to the general from there.
If you see an object that interests
you, that evokes nostalgia, curiosity, anger, love, you go and say
what is that? Why is it here? Then
you read the object label and if you
want to know more you go backwards up the hierarchy. Museum
behavior is much more like being
in a shopping mall than reading a
history book. In a museum it is the
visceral connection with objects
that people come to seek out and
that serves as a guide for how they work their way through
an exhibition.”
In his upcoming exhibit, for instance, the logical structure is
the chronological presentation of 16 major U.S. conflicts. The
largest single object in the floor plan is a Huey Helicopter, an
icon of the Vietnam War. “Helicopters were used in the Korean
War,” notes Allison, “but in Vietnam it was the first time they
were used to provide mobility and remove wounded, as well as
perform other missions. [Vietnam] was the first helicopter war.”
Another significant group of artifacts is the chairs that Robert
E. Lee and U.S. Grant sat on at the surrender at Appomattox and
the table on which Lee signed the surrender document. These
articles of furniture have been in the Smithsonian’s collection
for a long time, and are often exhibited against a painting of the
surender. But for the new exhibit, Allison will place them in a
context of discord rather than harmony.
“This was, in some respects, our country’s most divisive war.
But these two men knew each other, they had fought together in
Mexico. When you show the meeting of the two men sitting in a
room signing the surrender document, you capture their familiarity and the simple nature of the surrender. But you have
not captured the meaning of the war.” To remedy this, Allison
will exhibit the furniture against a collage of battle scenes to give
visitors a greater sense of the cost of war.
living history: Emily Murphy
made an 1840s-style dress to
wear for the Nathaniel
Hawthorne bicentennial
celebration in Salem, Mass.
Allison’s bold departure exemplifies the power of the curator as
storyteller: no illustration, no captioned photograph, no chapter in a
book could convey both the violence of the war and the brother vs.
brother intimacy of its context
with such visceral immediacy.
That powerful connection isn’t
as strong in other media, says
Emily Murphy (A95), a longtime
student of the elegant use of artifacts. Murphy is a Ph.D. candidate
in American studies and a park
ranger at the Salem (Mass.) Maritime National Historic Site, who
recently completed an internship with the Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem. Many people are content with surfing the Web to learn
about history or art, says Murphy—a “terrible loss” in her view.
“Seeing something in real life is a very personal interaction
that I just don’t think you get with an image on a computer
screen,” she says. “Being able to go to the National Gallery and see
the Leonardo da Vinci portrait there, to see the depth of color, the
brushstrokes, and the slight three-dimensionality of the layers of
the oil paint—no matter how well-photographed something is, you
don’t really get that.”
In addition to the level of detail a real-life museum visit grants its
visitors, there is another advantage to beholding the real thing.
“The actual piece creates a connection,” Murphy explains. “All of
us in our own lives have artifacts that we consider valuable. To be
able to say, ‘this was my great-grandmother’s’ is very important to
an individual. Museums are doing that on a larger scale. Instead of
saying ‘this was my great grandmother’s,’ they’re saying ‘this was a
part of history.’”
Original artifacts are most valuable in creating a connection, but
Murphy also works as a living history interpreter, and she is quick
to acknowledge that reproductions also have their place. “Reproductions are valuable because they allow people to handle artifacts.
Clothing is a great example of this. You do not want to wear antique
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�20
{Culture and Context}
textiles, they’re simply too fragile. But when you put on a reproduction dress, it suddenly changes your whole idea of how people
functioned in that period.”
Murphy recently made an 1840s-style dress for the Nathaniel
Hawthorne bicentennial in Salem. “This dress has four layers of
petticoats, it’s got almost 500 feet of clothesline in the petticoats
to give them stiffening. The corset is very long so that you really
cannot bend at the waist, and the shoulders are dropped so you
can’t raise your arms very far.
“When you see the actual 1840s dress you can look and think
it must have taken that woman weeks to sew something like that
by hand. When you put on the reproduction you realize that once
she spent six weeks making the dress, she couldn’t move very
much in it.” The reproduction, it can be said, helps bring the
artifact to life.
For Lori Williamson (A94), acquisitions coordinator at the
Minnesota Historical Society, sometimes “my great-grandmother’s” and “part of history” refer to the very same thing. “They
greatly inform each other,” says Williamson, who works mainly
with books, manuscripts, and photographs in the Society’s
library. “When people begin work on a family genealogy, they
often start out with a list of who bore whom. It sounds kind of
biblical and it’s not helpful to them or to us; they need to add a
narrative and a context.” To help them do so, Williamson directs
David Allison (A73), standing before a shrouded Huey helicopter, recently prepared a Smithsonian exhibit that explores the
meaning of war.
them to the Society’s collections, rich in local and national history, to provide the large-scale backdrop against which the family history was played out. When a researcher is successful in
thoughtfully filling out the family genealogy within this larger
context, the resulting narrative can be added to the Society’s collections, and will be, in turn, used by other history writers to give
detail and texture to their broader focus.
While Williamson helps amateur and professional historians to
integrate the personal and historical, Murphy says that, for many
Americans, a museum’s collections in some way stand in for a
family’s personal history. “Unlike people in other parts of the
world, there are comparatively few of us who can say ‘my family
has lived in this house for 10 generations.’ So we honor generally
the pieces that belonged to our ancestors, real or imagined,” she
says. “My family is Irish and showed up here in the 1860s and 70s,
so I personally have very little connection with the aristocratic
merchants of Salem, but the things they surrounded themselves
with are beautiful and it would be a huge loss if we didn’t have
these pieces to give all of us a physical connection with the past.”
To Vitto, the very design of the Holocaust Museum demands a
reflection on the relationship between artifact and reproduction.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�21
{Culture and Context}
“The Nazis tried to wipe them out. The registry
brings them back.”
Stephen Vitto, A85
developed a reading knowledge of Hebrew, Yiddish, German,
and all Slavic languages. As the librarians learned to find their
way around ghetto lists, transports, and work details, they began
to focus their work on building a survivors’ registry, using as
their foundation a registry started in 1981 as a project of the
American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.
Today, the registry database contains information on approximately 180,000 Holocaust survivors and their family members
worldwide and handles 34,000 requests annually. Vitto’s work
at the museum is what he describes as a perfect mix of researching
documents for the registry and working with survivors and
their families. He talks about the registry’s relationship to one
of the museum’s most poignant exhibits, the Tower of Faces.
This three-story tall exhibition shows 1,500 photographs taken
over a 50-year period in
Ejszyszki, a shtetl in Lithuania. The photographs capture the everyday lives of
Ejszyszki’s 4,000 Jews
before the Holocaust, with
pictures from weddings and
family reunions, school and
the beach, graduations and
bar mitzvahs. On two days in
September 1941, all but 29 of
the 4,000 Ejszyszki Jews
were killed by German death
squads.
For Vitto, the photographs
run seamlessly into his work
with the registry and explain
why he finds his work so
fulfilling. “This is completely
what my work is about,” he
says. “The Nazis tried to wipe
them out. The registry brings
them back.” x
gary pierpoint
“The building itself is an artifact,” he says. “It’s made of the brick
and steel of industrialization, with jagged lines of lights. There’s a
lot of gray and black and an emphasis on poignant photographs.
There are false doors, some parts are dark, some are cramped. Its
layout is meant to be confusing, to give you some sense for the experience of the Holocaust: once the knock on the door came, people
didn’t know what was going to happen to them.”
The Holocaust Museum is an exemplary work of museum craft,
says Murphy. “You hate to say it’s your favorite museum, because of
the subject matter, but in terms of a museum that gets its point
across, the Holocaust Museum is the finest museum that I’ve ever
been to. It tells the story without devolving into mere voyeurism. It
involves you from the minute you walk into the door. The skill of the
people who put that together is unbelievable.”
Vitto considers himself
fortunate to have witnessed
that skill first-hand. He
began working at the Holocaust Museum three years
before there was a Holocaust
Museum, after answering an
ad at George Washington
University (where he was
working on a master’s degree
in history) for entry-level
library work. At the beginning, he did a lot of cataloguing and answered reference
questions. Early on, he says,
the library staff was uncertain of how the collections
would be used: by historians? scholars? for personal
research? As library use
grew, they learned that about
90 percent of visitors were
survivors and their families,
a group that often formed
lines of 20 to 30 people at the
reference desk looking for
personal information.
By the time the library
opened in April 1993, Vitto
and a colleague had developed an expertise in finding
historical information particular to the needs of survivors. Vitto, for instance,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
At the Holocaust Museum,
Steven Vitto has a daily
reminder of the importance
of his work: the faces of
Jews from a shtetl in
Lithuania where all but
29 of the 4,000 Jews were
killed by German death
squads in 1941.
�22
{Commencement}
COMMENCEMENT 2004
nspired teachers always
leave their students with
something intriguing to
dwell on. The two commencement speakers at
St. John’s last spring
shared that quality.
Annapolis tutor Chester
Burke (A74) spoke of the
value of genuine conversation, and
Danielle Allen of the University of
Chicago spoke to Santa Fe graduates of
the lasting gift of wonder that a liberal
education can impart. Both left students with an assignment: Burke asked
students to ponder Pascal, and Allen
asked students to think deeply about a
Greek poem.
teri thomson randall
I
“Men and Women of the World”
Celebrating in Santa Fe.
Annapolis, May 16
As a student, Chester Burke thrived on
conversations in the classroom, the Coffee Shop, and the gym; as a musician
studying in Paris, he found how much he
missed those conversations; and as a
tutor for the past two decades, he has
seen students discover themselves in
those conversations. In life outside the
college, real listening is rare, and “conversations too often consist of isolated
outbursts of speech which rarely meet up
with one another, and even more rarely
build upon one another,” he told the
Class of 2004.
“Such speeches are lonely endeavors
which end when the participants have
run out of words,” Burke said, adding
that what happens at St. John’s is very
different.
“Your words, responding first to ours
and now your own questions, have grown
from tentative but honest beginnings,
nourished by the active listening of your
classmates, into vessels through which
the world may be displayed in its fullness.
During the past few months, I have been
watching not only your faces, but your
entire bodies come alive while you
strained to respond both to texts and to
{ T h e C o l l e g e • John’s College • Fall 2004 }
one another.”
Some of the college’s veteran tutors,
Burke said, including himself, may sometimes expect a conversation to take a certain shape in seminar, but students at
their best will refuse to conform to it.
“Our words rebound from your stubborn
surfaces, and leave no indentations. You
punish us with your silence and your
glazed looks when we deliver beautiful
speeches, continually reminding us that
speech is not a rehearsed performance,
�23
{Commencement}
Real conversation
can be hard to find
outside St. John’s,
tutor Chester
Burke said.
david trozzo
but a way of
responding to a
genuine question.
When you are at
your best of bests,
you slowly build an
account with one
another, which
though it may have
the fragility of a
sandcastle, resonates as an image
of the soul itself—
not some abstract
soul, but your
particular souls.”
This development can be witnessed in class, and
also in senior orals,
said Burke. “All of
us have something
to say and we
become who we are
by attempting to
articulate it,” Burke
said. “It’s overwhelming to be in
the presence of
someone telling this
story, whether it be
Odysseus or a
stranger on a long bus ride. It’s tremendously difficult to say what dwells most
deeply in us, and we are rarely satisfied
by our utterances. Sometimes we are
embarrassed by these moments.
Dostoevski was painfully aware of this.
the world. We must
be in a position to
say, not: this person
is a mathematician,
a preacher, or eloquent, but that he is
a man of the world.
This universal
quality is the only
one that appeals to
me. It’s a bad sign if,
on seeing a man, we
remember his book;
I should prefer not
to be aware of any
quality until we
actually meet it, and
the moment comes
to make use of it
(nothing in excess),
for fear that one
quality might be
preponderant and
give a man a label;
we do not want to
feel that he is a good speaker except when
it is the right moment for good speech;
but let us be sure to recognize it then.”
Burke challenged the graduates to
consider the meaning of honnête homme,
which he translated as “man of the
world.”
“In Pascal’s century, an honnête
homme referred to a cultivated man of
the world, graceful and distinguished by
his comportment, his spirit, and his
knowledge,” he explained. “All of this,
though interesting, is not essential to
my intention, nor is the fact that Pascal
indicates in another Pensée that one
cannot learn to be an honnête homme.
“I want you to supply your own
translation, as I believe that all of you are
men and women of the world, abundantly
endowed with diverse qualities, but
fundamentally human beings, respectful
and in awe of the world, and overflowing
with the desire to engage the world. You
are able to listen, not without judgment,
but with passion and fairness, with an
openness that will encourage others to
seek you out.”
david trozzo
“You are able to listen, not without judgment,
but with passion and fairness, with an openness
that will encourage others to seek you out.”
Tutor Chester Burke, A74
His characters expose themselves in the
most outrageous situations, expressing
themselves in ways which often appear
ridiculous and even monstrous. It’s very
difficult to say the things which need to
be said.”
This fall, tutors will greet a new group
of students, and the voices
of students who have
moved on will be somewhat
lost. Students will also forget many details of their
time at St. John’s, but
Burke is certain, he told
them, that “all of your lives
will be spent remembering
and nourishing the words
that you have spoken with
us and with one another…
As he closed his address,
Burke read a passage from
Pascal’s Pensees: “Man of
Christopher Nelson congratulates Bryson Finklea,
who won a prize in mathematics. President Nelson
presided at ceremonies in
Santa Fe and Annapolis.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�“Use and Wonder”
Santa Fe, May 22
University of Chicago classicist Danielle
Allen told graduates and their families in
Santa Fe that her address would not
touch on the usual commencement topics: a tally of where graduates are headed,
a celebration of future careers, and
laudatory remarks on how well-prepared
graduates are for success. “Such details
are supposed to answer the twin questions: what has college made of this particular group of students; what does the
future hold for these particular young
people?” Allen said.
Instead, Allen offered to share with
graduates a gift “of real value” in the
form of two poems by Simonides of
Ceos (c. 556-468). The first, Allen said,
was a gift with no strings attached,
Simonides 567:
Countless birds, all his
in a way, fly above his head
and from dark water
up fish leap true,
sounding the song.
Allen told graduates she would ask for
something in return for her second gift,
Simonides 521:
don’t try to read his life line,
for swifter than a dragonfly,
pfft
a change.
“You have all studied Greek,
here, so perhaps you recognize
the argument in the poem,”
Allen said. “Simonides repeats
what the Athenian legislator
Solon, one of the Seven Sages of
antiquity, had already said ‘Call
no man happy before his death.’
“Herodotus treated us to that
bit of Solonic wisdom as part
of the story of the travels that
Solon undertook after completing the heroic work of resolving
class struggle in Athens and
establishing institutions that
had in them the seeds of democracy. He left Athens in order
that his personal authority
would not interfere with the
working of the new legal system
and stopped in his voyages in
Lydia (modern-day Turkey)
where he visited the great king
Croesus, a wealthy and powerful
man entirely confident of his life’s success….Croesus put to Solon the question,
‘Who is the happiest man you have ever
seen?’ Solon answered, ‘Tellus the
Athenian.’ Flabbergasted, Croesus asked
who was the second happiest man. He
was expecting to hear his name at least
this time. But Solon said, ‘Cleobis and
Biton.’ Angry, Croesus demanded an
teri thomson randall
Since you are mortal,
don’t prophesy the quality of tomorrow’s dawn,
and when you meet the man of the
year,
{Commencement}
teri thomson randall
24
At its best, liberal education endows a
graduate with the ability to wonder,
Danielle Allen said.
explanation for why he didn’t rate. Solon
answered:
“‘My lord, I know god is envious of
human prosperity and likes to trouble us;
and you question me about the lot of
man. Listen then: as the years lengthen
out, there is much both to see and to
suffer which one would wish otherwise.
Take 70 years as the span of a man’s life:
those 70 years contain 26,250 days [on
the Greek way of counting], and not a
single one of them is like the next in what
it brings. You can see from that, Croesus,
what a chance thing life is. You are very
rich, and you rule a numerous people;
but the question you asked me I will not
answer, until I know that you have died
happily.… Often enough, god gives man
a glimpse of happiness and then utterly
ruins him.’ And indeed, Croesus eventually lost his empire and his children.
He couldn’t in the end be called happy.”
After the ceremony, a family celebrates.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�25
david trozzo
{Commencement}
No college can ensure the future happiness or success of its graduates, but it
can endow them with something of
immeasurable value: the ability to wonder, Allen said. To illustrate her point,
she told about inviting a colleague, a
biologist, to a meeting of a Chicago
parks and recreation advisory board on
which she serves—a group often rent by
contentious arguments. The biologist’s
presentation on birds and other wildlife
in the park gave the group “an opportunity to pursue knowledge for its own
sake,” along with a chance to discuss
something that didn’t require a vote or a
stance.
“The pleasure of knowledge is as real
as the pleasures of the body,” she
explained. “I saw it there in that room,
in a group of argumentative people
joined in a variety of expressions of
pleasure from wonder satisfied. This
pleasure was much easier to identify in
that meeting than in a college classroom,
because of the palpable difference from
what we council members were accustomed to in our exchanges.”
Practical matters such as food, clothing, and shelter can overwhelm us, but
the “cause of wonder” has a restorative
effect that will see us through crises and
lead us to new sources of strength, she
said. “Wonder sets us back on our heels
and helps us turn in a new direction.”
At the conclusion of her address,
Allen returned to Simonides 521 and
read the poem to her audience again.
It is not a poem of despair, she noted.
“In the midst of reflecting on the alarmingly unpredictable nature of change,
the speaker of the poem marvels at the
speed and beauty of dragonflies,” Allen
said. “The poem is itself an example of
what it means to draw on the resources
of wonder to sustain oneself even as one
confronts necessity.” x
Above, Annapolis graduates Jackson
O’Brien, Kelly O’Donnell, John Okrent,
and Erin Page.
At left, Annapolis graduate Sarah
Stickney and her father, Santa Fe tutor
Cary Stickney (A75), celebrate.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�26
{Homecoming}
PL ANTING MEMORIES
Alumni Make Time “For the Trees”
by John Hartnett, SF83
teri thomson randall
M
campus has lost over a thousand
trees to drought and devastation
from the pine bark beetle. In the
immediate campus vicinity, the
college has lost over 150 trees.
Replanting lost trees and
tending to healthy ones is an
urgent project for reasons other
than preserving the beauty of the
campus—the college is keenly
aware of the need to head off
future fire hazards and to work to
prevent soil erosion.
About 15 alumni and five current
students spent a day tending to
healthy trees that had been
reseeded in the spring. Marni
Hamilton (SF05) was one of the
students working outdoors with alumni.
“Interacting with the alumni made me
think about my class and where all of us
are going,” she says. “It made me think
about life after St. John’s.”
teri thomson randall
ost college reunions
are for trading snapshots, bragging about
children’s accomplishments, and
comparing hairlines
and waistlines, but for the nearly 200
Johnnies who came to Santa Fe for
Homecoming July 1-3, this gathering
was for the trees—the fragrant and elegant
piñon trees that help define the Santa
Fe landscape.
The weekend theme was “For the
Trees.” In addition to the usual luncheons, parties, and award ceremonies,
the weekend provided alumni with an
opportunity to cultivate new memories
while re-planting piñon trees. The trees
nearest the classroom buildings were
planted when the campus was built in
1964; however, many of the trees on the
surrounding college land are over 150
years old. Since 2002, the Santa Fe
Roxanne Seagraves (SF83), director of
alumni relations and parent activities,
said that working together helped the
alumni interact in the present as well as
the past. “At a reunion, sitting in seminar
with the same people you sat in
seminar with years ago affirms
the past,” she says. “But this
weekend was also about creating
beauty in the present. When you
replace a 300-year-old tree, you
are replacing a legacy and making a tangible commitment to
the future of the college.”
Besides planting trees and
digging up memories, reunion
classes also enjoyed a full weekend of fun including a Saturday
waltz party, alumni dinner and
fiesta picnic, awards from the
Alumni Association, dance
lessons, a President’s brunch,
and, of course, reunion seminars with retired tutors
William Darkey, Don Cook,
and Robert Sacks. x
More on Homecoming can be
found in the Alumni Association
report, pages 46-47.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�{Homecoming}
Opposite top: Future Johnnies
join in the festivities. Opposite
left: Members of the class of
1984 shares memories at the Fiesta
Picnic Saturday afternoon.
At right, Kevin (SF90) and Khin
Khin Guyot-Brock (SF88) find a
shady spot between activities.
Below, clockwise, members of the
class of 1979 blur the lines of
time and space. Glenda Eoyang
(SF76), Steve Thomas (SF74), and
Joseph Tooley (SF69)enjoy the
picnic. Members of the class of
1969 and 1979 join Alumni
Association board members at
Sunday brunch.
photos by teri thomson randall
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
27
�28
{Bibliofile}
The Writer in Natalie Goldberg
uthor Natalie Goldberg
(SFGI74) found immediate
success with her first book,
Writing Down the Bones,
Freeing the Writer Within
(Shambala, 1986). Now in
its 33rd printing, the book has sold more
than a million copies in 10 languages.
Goldberg’s other books include Wild Mind,
Thunder and Lighting, Long Quiet Highway, Banana Rose, and Living Color. This
fall, she published her newest book,
The Great Failure: A Bartender, a Monk,
and My Unlikely Path to Truth (Harper
San Francisco). A poet, teacher, writer,
and painter, Goldberg has studied Zen
Buddhism for 24 years. She teaches writing
workshops based on the clear-mind,
clear-heart methods presented in Writing
Down the Bones.
Goldberg recently made time to sit down
and discuss her books, her studies at the
Graduate Institute, and the writing life with
The College contributor Andra Maguran.
A
I’m curious about why you chose to
attend St. John’s College.
I had gone to undergraduate school at
George Washington University....I majored
in English lit. And I had had wonderful high
school English teachers, but George Washington was very disappointing.…I had heard
about St. John’s in Annapolis, Maryland, and
it had always intrigued me. I was very interested in philosophy and literature. So when I
heard about the graduate program in Santa
Fe, and that it met in the summer, I decided
to come [right after graduating from GWU].
That’s how hungry I was and how disappointed. And it was very scary for me to come to
Santa Fe—I’d never been farther than Ann
Arbor, Michigan! I had no idea what the
West was like, and I probably would never
have come if I hadn’t gone to St. John’s.
But was it the Program itself, the great
books program?
Yes, it was definitely the great books
Program. I’d heard about it when I was in
Washington. And it’s amazing to me,
I don’t really know where it came from, but
I just took a leap and said that I’m going.
It wasn’t very much like me. But I think
I had heard about it all during my undergraduate years, and it intrigued me, so
when I heard about the graduate
program I was ripe.
It strikes me as interesting that
you, being such a creative
person, would come to a
graduate program that focuses
very heavily on critical or
analytical thinking.
I didn’t know I was a creative person then. I was just like a St. John’s
person in that I was very analytical.
I was actually an atheist, and I was
sort of an intellectual. I loved
books, and I think I didn’t know it,
but I was terribly intrigued by ideas
and thoughts. So it was only after I
graduated from St. John’s that I
took a huge leap into another arena
of my life.
At that time, the college had only been
here for a few years. Did you have a sort of
pioneering sense?
It felt very fresh…I just loved it. It was really
exciting to sit and just talk about a book
directly, without reading any other sources,
to have a conversation. And I loved the teachers; the tutors were wonderful. It was so
intriguing that you could have a Ph.D. in
physics, but you had to teach Greek. You
couldn’t just be frozen any place. It was just a
wonderful concept that you called them
tutors and that the classes were so small. The
tutors were so alive. And during that time,
Rockefeller had given a grant to St. John’s for
high school English teachers from the inner
city. So there were a lot of African-Americans. My class was at least half African-Americans, people who had really lived their lives.
They didn’t just read Socrates and just mouth
it. They kept referring to their own life experience. It was very vital, very exciting.
So you spent time studying Western
philosophy—Western culture—and then
you made this headlong leap into Eastern
leanings?
Yes. I have a new book coming out called The
Great Failure, and I write about St. John’s in
it—the fact that I studied Descartes: “I think
therefore I am.” Later the man who ended
up being my Zen teacher, a Japanese Zen
master…said, “I’ve been reading your
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
dissatisfaction with her undergraduate
degree led Natalie Goldberg to St. John’s.
Descartes, ‘I think therefore I am.’” And I
perked right up. I thought, “He’s reading
Descartes?”
And he said, “Descartes probably remembered, but forgot to mention: ‘I don’t think,
therefore I’m not.’” And in all those hours in
the seminar on Descartes, no one thought of
that angle. So it was sort of like Western civilization dropped off a cliff at that moment.
But what I realized in writing this new book
was that St. John’s prepared me for that.
Because the other friends and students who
practice with [Zen Teacher Katagiri] Roshi
don’t remember that lecture. But for me, it
was totally a lecture, because I’d been studying Descartes at St. John’s so I really paid
attention. So, I went into the Eastern world,
but I think I got my foundation in the Western world that let me lead into the Eastern
world.
Do you think that the Program
influenced your writing life?
Yes, I think it did, because it taught me to
trust my own mind and to believe in what I
think, saw, and felt. You didn’t go to secondary sources, you met something directly and
that’s what writing is. That’s also what Zen
practice is. And now that I’m living right
near the St. John’s campus, it’s really fun for
continued on p. 29
�29
{Bibliofile}
The Man in the MoonFixer’s Mask
by JonArno Lawson (A91)
Toronto: Pedlar Press, 2004.
n part, his diverse
interests explain
JonArno Lawson’s
two most recent
accomplishments
in the publishing
world. Not long after his
chapters on Chechen literature and proverbs appeared
in Chechens: A Handbook,
Lawson’s third volume of
poetry, The Man in the Moon-Fixer’s Mask,
was published by a Canadian press.
The other explanation is a relatively new
audience for his work: his son, Asher, and
daughter, Sophie. “We had our first child,
Sophie, about three years ago and were
reading a lot more children’s poetry,”
explains Lawson (A91), who lives in
Toronto. Asher joined the family in
January 2004.
Lawson and his wife, Amy Freedman,
were reading books such as Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends to their
daughter, and Lawson found the musical
style of children’s poetry infectious.
Writing for children, Lawson adds, is
distinctly different and a little more
difficult than writing poetry for adults.
“In adult poetry now in English, most of
the time you don’t worry about rhyme, and
I
(continued)
me to walk around. The other thing for me
was, when I came here I was blown away by
the architecture of St. John’s. Like, wherever you are you know people take it for
granted, there’s all this glass and light.
We all know about the doors being painted
different colors, but in 1970 that just blew
me away. One wall would be blue and
another pink.
Some people think writing can’t be
taught. How do you feel about that?
A lot of those people who think that
writing can’t be taught are people who
can’t write themselves and have given up.
Writing can be taught, just like anything
else. When Writing Down the Bones came
out, across the culture, people wrote me
letters: Quarry workers in Missouri. Blue-
meter isn’t as important.
When you’re writing for
children, all those things
become very important
again—word play, timing.
I guess it’s the same with
an adult poem in that you
want the images to be
surprising.”
Children are a tough
audience to write for, he
adds. “Children are very
honest when they don’t like
something. We tried out all
the poems on Sophie first—
she was my first editor for
this project.”
Lawson began writing poetry as a teenager, and by the time he got to St. John’s,
he was taking his craft seriously. He published his first book of poems and aphorisms, Love is An Observant Traveller,
tackling themes such as families and
relationships, in 1997. “One of the first
poems I wrote was when I was at St. John’s,”
he says. “It was based on the Odyssey. It
hasn’t made it into a book yet, but it has
promise.”
Since poetry doesn’t pay well, Lawson
also does freelance editing and teaches
poetry workshops in schools as part of
Ontario’s Artists in Education program.
He continues to explore other types of
writing, such as the chapters on Chechen
literature. “It all ties together because it’s
all language, and how people use language
collar workers in Nebraska. Vice-presidents
of insurance agencies in Florida. Everybody has a deep desire to write. And that
doesn’t mean they’re all going to become
Faulkner, but people have a need to
express themselves.
How did you make the transition to
being a full-time writer?
I just made enough money and I could just
make a living as a writer, so I quit doing
other things. Before that I was teaching.
My last full-time job was teaching fifth and
sixth grade, at Rio Grande. Writing Down
the Bones came out. It still sells, and is
taught in colleges and high schools, and so
I was able to just leave. After Writing Down
the Bones, I started a novel, Banana Rose,
and then I wrote Wild Mind. This book,
The Great Failure, is a memoir about my
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Horses in Cities
Good and iniquitous,
they were ubiquitous:
Horses were everywhere
anyone looked.
But with cars, numbers dwindled,
and sightings diminished,
and then one day horses in cities
were finished.
I Spun
I spun
where I was told to spin
and while I spun
grabbed hold of him
who told me
where I had to spin.
I could tell
it startled him.
as a tool to say things in different ways and
as clearly as possible,” he explains,
adding, “I probably am a better writer
than a talker.”
Lawson has two volumes—one of
children’s poems and one for adults—
nearly complete and ready for a publisher.
“Children’s poetry is the most fun of anything I’ve done,” he says. “It’s the most
fun, I guess, because there’s a better
chance people will read it.” x
father, who was a Jewish bartender, and my
Japanese Zen Master Katagiri Roshi, the
two most important men in my life…
looking at the wonderful things about
them, and also their darkness. I think it’s
the best book I’ve ever written. I’m very
excited about it.
Do you still have dark periods where
you hate everything you write or can’t
write? What do you do when that
happens?
Yes. And you just keep your hand moving.
Writing is a practice, and you do it whether
you like to or not, whether you feel good
about it or not. You’re in a good mood, you
go write. You lost all your money, you go
write. You just won the Nobel Prize, you
start a new book the next day. x
�30
{Alumni Profile}
“From Homer to Homicide”
A Love for Language Led Carole Chaski (A77) to Forensic Linguistics
by Rosemary Harty
arole Chaski had worked long
and hard to earn her doctorate in computational linguistics and by 1992, was nicely
settled in an academic career.
She was conducting research
on reading, setting up literacy programs for
factory workers, and teaching at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
One day she took a call from a homicide
detective investigating a suspicious suicide,
and her life took a completely different turn—
for the better. Chaski went on to help solve a
crime in which the prime suspect might have
otherwise gotten off scot-free.
Today she is a leading expert
in forensic linguistics. It
turned out to be a lot more
exciting than teaching the
History of English to glassyeyed engineering majors.
Between her teaching days
and her 15-minutes of fame as
the expert who cracked the
case on a recent episode of
Court TV’s Forensic Files,
there were years of research
and study of the structures of
language, beginning with a
deep fascination with the
puzzles of ancient Greek.
“If I ever wrote the story of
my life, I could call it, ‘From
Homer to Homicide,’”
Chaski quips.
Chaski’s work today
involves analyzing language,
finding patterns in syntax, and
determining when a piece of
writing departs from a pattern. Her ability for this work
stems from the study of languages, especially ancient
Greek, in reading and linguistics. Chaski left St. John’s after
her freshman year to pursue a
bachelor’s degree in Greek
and English at Bryn Mawr
College. After graduating, she
spent a year teaching in an
impoverished school district
on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The dismally high illiteracy
rate there fed an interest in
scott suchman
C
how children learn to read, and Chaski went
on to earn a master’s degree in the psychology of reading at the University of Delaware.
While working on her degree, she assisted
two computational linguists in their
research. That subject took hold of her imagination, and she went on to Brown University
for master’s and doctoral degrees in linguistics, with an emphasis on syntax, computational linguistics, and how languages change
over time. At Brown she returned to ancient
Greek grammar for her dissertation topic
and settled on the historic changes in the
syntax of Greek.
“The verbal infinitive had been very prevalent in classical Greek and started to be less
prevalent in Hellenistic Greek until finally by
early modern or medieval Greek, it was
essentially gone,” she says. “My question
was, what caused Greek to lose the
infinitive?”
Examining long-distance anaphors (a word
or phrase that takes its reference from another word, most often within the same clause)
gave her a lead. “When you look at classical
Greek you see two things: long-distance
anaphors and case mismatches—case agreement mismatches in that you expect the case
to be genitive but it comes out
accusative, you expect dative
and it comes out accusative.
Both of these phenomena
that were attached to the
infinitive were odd because
they went back past the
boundary of a clause for their
antecedents.”
She cites an example of a
long-distance anaphor from
Thucydides: “Oerestes persuaded the Athenians to
restore himself.” Expected
to refers to the Athenians,
himself refers instead to
Oerestes. Chaski went
through hundreds of lines of
Greek works from ancient
times to modern, assigning
the terms “marked” and
“unmarked” to phrases.
Unmarked followed the usual
patterns; marked were in
some way remarkable. Examining those patterns allowed
Chaski to study one narrow
aspect of how a language
changes over time. “When
the condition that allowed
these phrases to go outside
the boundary—that is, the
infinitive—disappeared, these
oddities instantly died out,”
she said.
From criminal cases to civil
lawsuits, Carole Chaski’s
expertise is in demand.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�{Alumni Profile}
This painstaking research was what Chaski
went back to when a homicide detective
named W. Allison Blackman brought her a
computer disk with suicide notes allegedly
written by Michael Hunter, a young man
found dead of a lethal combination of drugs
injected into his arm. Blackman didn’t have
much to go on when he came to Chaski and
asked if she could examine the note and
other writing samples from Hunter to determine if he had really written the suicide note.
“I know how to analyze syntax and I know
how to find patterns,” she told Blackman.
“I’ll try it and we’ll see.”
Chaski looked at writing samples for
Hunter and his two roommates, including a
young medical student named Joseph Mannino, who had easy access to the drugs in
Hunter’s system. Chaski found that patterns
in the suicide note—particularly the use of
conjunctions—were strikingly similar to
those of Mannino, who was involved in a
three-way affair with Hunter and a third
roommate. The suicide notes were marked by
conjunctions between sentences. Samples of
Hunter’s authentic writing included more
conjunctions between non-sentence phrases.
Police eventually arrested Mannino. After
a three-week trial, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to seven
years in prison.
After consulting with the local district
attorney’s office on another case (identifying
the author of an anonymous threatening letter), Chaski knew she had found something
more satisfying and more challenging than
an academic career. “At St. John’s, we talk a
lot about the examined life. I just wasn’t
happy as an academic. It seemed that the primary role of professors was to get away from
the students,” she says.
She secured a fellowship at the National
Institute of Justice (the research arm of the
U.S. Justice Department) and set about finetuning a method to distinguish one author
from another based on syntactic patterns. “I
was the only one doing any research independent of litigation,” Chaski says.
As part of her research, Chaski set about
examining every method already employed
in language identification. She demonstrated that analyzing language based on the
spelling, punctuation, and grammatical
errors was not good enough to determine
individuality in writing. “I’m really against
the prescriptive, stylistics method because
what pops out to people as odd is not a pattern, it’s just what’s popping out,” she
explains. “It’s like Plato’s cave—you can’t
know the light until you know the shadow,
and you have to have them both. In DNA
analysis, if you’re looking for a chromosomal anomaly, you have to have the whole
pattern. That’s where you start in syntactic
analysis. Every document is analyzed for
every syntactic pattern and nothing is left
out. That way you can find out if something
that seems unusual in a piece of writing
really is unusual.”
Similarly, the type of analysis scholars
undertake in trying to determine the authorship of something like a Shakespeare play or
a Biblical text (content analysis, vocabulary
“It’s like Plato’s cave—
you can’t know the light
until you know the
shadow, and you have
to have them both.”
Carole Chaski, A77
richness, the complexity of sentences) is not
suited to forensic linguistics, where documents conveying death threats or ransom
demands are usually short and to the point.
Chaski has spent the last decade or so
refining and applying a scientific method for
syntactic analysis that is rooted in linguistic
theory and validated by statistical testing.
Each analysis begins with taking texts apart
and labeling each word for its part of speech,
then taking phrases within the sentences and
parsing those. “Once the phrases are all
determined, I categorize them into two
types: marked and unmarked. Unmarked are
phases that are so common, they don’t stand
out—‘it’s in the car.’ Marked are those that
are more infrequent or more remarkable—
‘it’s in the car, in the garage, attached to
the house.’’’
Next, Chaski determines the frequency of
marked and unmarked phrases in the writing
samples. Those numbers are fed into computer programs that yield three different
statistical analyses. The first two methods,
discriminate function analysis and logistic
regression, seek a clear division between the
questioned document and the other known
writing samples in her pool. The third test,
hierarchical cluster analysis, seeks similarities by “clustering” similar samples into the
same pool.
“Everybody starts out in a pool of potential authors. If the statistical procedures
show there’s a significant difference, people
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
31
are excluded. If I can’t find any difference
between a suspect’s writing sample and the
evidence document, that’s what my report
will say,” Chaski says, adding, “I never claim
that only one person in the world could have
written something.”
Several years ago, Chaski left Washington
for Georgetown, Del., where she founded the
Institute for Linguistic Evidence, of which
she is executive director. Along with continuing research, lecturing, and writing about
her methods, Chaski has served as a consultant in a number of intriguing cases where her
research influenced the outcomes. In one
Annapolis case, the founder of a firm that
developed environmental technology was
sued by a former employee who wanted a
significant share of the profits reaped from
the company’s product. However, the company’s owner suspected the man had written
damaging letters to potential customers.
“The lawyers for the defendant came to
me and they were already convinced that it
was this engineer. In this case, the pool was
limited to those who worked for the company—only they had the technical knowledge to
write the letters, ” Chaski explains. Her
analysis proved the defendant correct, and
on that basis, the judge overruled the jury
verdict to give the fired engineer the small
sum the jury had agreed upon.
In another recent civil case, Chaski
determined that a woman claiming sexual
harassment in her workplace was the
author of e-mails that indicated the relationship between her and her supervisor
was consensual. Chaski also showed that a
federal employee who was fired for writing
racist e-mails was very probably the author
of those missives. In other cases, Chaski’s
work has taken her into state and federal
courts, where her testimony has passed
successfully through the scrutiny of
evidence hearings.
Chaski believes it’s possible for someone
to succeed in imitating another’s writing to
a degree, but that it’s impossible to suppress one’s own style completely. “Language is meant to be meaning-centered, not
syntax-centered. Syntax is fundamental, it’s
what makes language efficient. But it’s very
abstract, very automated. If we thought
about it, we’d go nuts—‘how many prepositional phrases did I just write?’—and not
actually be able to communicate.”
Given her St. John’s education, it’s not
really odd that Chaski was drawn to forensic
linguistics. “That’s because Johnnies learn to
think about, and talk about, language as language,” says Chaski. x
�32
{Alumni Notes}
1937
HAROLD L. BROOKS just celebrated
his 90th birthday with a big party in
Sebastian, Fla.
1941
HENRY M. ROBERT III, who lives in
Annapolis and has been a regular at
Annapolis campus homecomings, is
co-author of the seventh, eighth, and
ninth edition of his father’s wellknown parliamentary manual, published in 1970, 1981, 1990, and 2000
respectively, all under the title of
Robert’s Rules of Order Newly
Revised. And now in response to widespread demand by those who feel
daunted by that book’s complete treatment of the subject, he and the same
authorship team have now produced a
brief introductory work published last
May entitled, Robert’s Rules of Order
Newly Revised in Brief (Da Capo
Press). “And,oh yes,” Henry writes,
“nowadays you have to make is something called ‘user-friendly.’ We hope
we’ve passed muster on that score.”
1944
ARTHUR HYMAN serves as Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Bernard Revel
Graduate School of Jewish Studies at
Yeshiva University in New York.
1945
LAWRENCE L. LEVIN writes, “Just
had my first grandchild—a boy!”
1950
T YLDEN STREETT is still completing
sculpture commissions and teaching
an advanced figurative class once a
week at the Maryland Institute
College of Art. “I am enjoying one
of many slack periods and am able to
return to work on my presentational
busts of Barr and Buchanan that were
begun in ’02,” he writes. “Barr is
approaching a casting date but
Buchanan is more difficult. I have
received some critical help from
John Van Doren and may have both
cast by year’s end.”
1951
L. DONALD KOONTZ points out that
members of the class of 1951 are
featured on the cover of this year’s
Philanthropia calendar. The students
peering into their microscopes were
members of his freshman lab class,
working diligently in the spring
of 1948.
GEORGE WEND is still active with the
book discussion group of the Alumni
Association’s Baltimore chapter. He
took a trip last summer to Peru to
visit Machu Picchu, the Andes,
and the Amazon; this summer he
embarked on a two-week river cruise
from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
Homeric Geography (1992). The
reader may visit his Web site at
www.homer.com.mx.
1962
JOSEPH J. BRENNIG retired from the
Foreign Service in 1997, but was
called back to serve in Karachi,
Pakistan, in 1998. Currently, he is
working in the Department of State
on the Pakistan Desk.
1964
JUDI WOOD writes: “No new news—
except to say that we are traveling in
May 2004 by car to East Lansing,
Mich., to visit grandchildren while
their dad, our son John, is working on
his master’s degree in business. We
will be in Fort Smith, Ark., and
Nashville, Tenn., on our way.”
1954
To mark the 50th anniversary of his
graduation from St. John’s this year,
RICHARD BURNETT CARTER sent The
College two poems celebrating former
dean Jacob Klein and one of his most
memorable tutors, Simon Kaplan.
Kaplan still influences Carter after
these many decades. He wrote: “That
man’s teachings,/Spoken
quietly as dawn breezes sighing
through pine forests;/They sing in my
heart after 50 years,/Still forbidding
any meanness to enter there.”
Of Klein, he wrote: “That falcon
sought eternity in Nimrod’s dense
thicket,/But once there, he found
poems bleeding on the thorns of
Mind’s mindless veiling./So, he
sheathed his dream-rending talons,/
And nursed those verses back to their
long-hidden splendor.”
1965
A busy summer and second-career
plans for CAROL JEFFERS: “I will be
participating in a build with Habitat
for Humanity in Durban, South
Africa, in July and traveling with
friends to Capetown after that. In
August I return to the U.S. and retire
from my federal job. In September I
enter Lancaster Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master of Divinity
degree. My long-term goal is to be a
community minister in my Unitarian
Universalist faith.”
1966
“After spending 17 years rehabbing a
shell in South Philadelphia, we finally
finished last December, at least
enough to move in,” writes JUDY
(MILLSPAUGH) ANDERSON. “I am
sure we will be upgrading and
improving for the next 10 years. I am
still doing house calls exclusively, in
the greater Philadelphia area. The
practice is thriving. I have two parttime physicians, a full-time nurse
Bluegrass on the Bayou
S
ome retirement careers are more fun than others.
That’s LARRY SCHLUETER (A67) in the back of the boat
in this promo picture for his band, New Orleans-based
Hazel and the Delta Ramblers. Schlueter recently
retired from the U.S. Customs Service after “32-plus”
years and spends much of his time recording and performing in and around The Big Easy. The band’s latest CD, Pickin’
on the Bayou, features 16 cuts of bluegrass tunes and original compositions. That’s Larry’s wife, HAZEL (A69), standing in the front
of the canoe, holding her mandolin. x
1959
ROBERTO SALINAS-PRICE has been
an avid Homeric scholar for the past
30 years. He has published Homer’s
Blind Audience (1984) and Atlas of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�33
{Alumni Notes}
practitioner, an office manager, a
business manager, and two office
workers to share the work (and the
money). None of us will ever get rich
doing this, but it is certainly more fun
than punching a time clock with the
Commonwealth of PA.
“Step-kids are doing fine; all out of
the nest for a while now, and I have a
multitude of grandchildren, ranging
in age from 3 months to 15 years.
My dad passed away last year; I don’t
know if there was a notice in the
Annapolis paper. There was one in
the Baltimore Sun, and a few people
wrote that they had seen it. He went
the way I want to go when my time
comes: peacefully and painlessly in
his sleep, after a pleasant evening
spent reminiscing with family and
friends.
“My sisters are doing well. Both
had surgery last year, one for breast
cancer, the other for a thyroid nodule.
Both recovered and are currently in
good health, as am I. Well, except for
arthritis, but nobody ever died of that.
“My husband Joe is also doing OK.
He closed his business a couple of
years ago and is back among the
salaried masses, and hates it with a
passion. His inner entrepreneur is
itching to be in business for himself
again.”
1967
THE REV. CLARK LOBENSTINE will be
part of the Assembly of Religious and
Spiritual Leaders meeting and then
participating in the much larger Parliament of the World’s Religions in
Barcelona. He will be one of just 350
leaders selected worldwide to be at
the assembly. He was thrilled and
humbled to be one of just 51 people
internationally nominated for the first
Paul Carus Award to be given at the
Parliament. It is the most prestigious
award in inter-religious work. The
nomination was based on his 25 years
as executive director of the InterFaith
Conference of Metropolitan Washington. MARK LINDLEY (A67) is active
with the InterFaith Conference.
Three Boys in College
HEILA BOBBS ARMSTRONG (SF70, SFGI95) writes:
“My son Ian will be a sophomore at the Annapolis
campus this fall. He loves St. John’s, having spent
three years at the University of New Mexico. Eamon,
#2 son, is at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Quinn, #3, is at Idylwild Arts Academy in California.
I am still with Mike and splitting time between Santa Fe and
Perth, and traveling. Love to all.” x
S
1968
A story that ends well from
JONATHAN AURTHUR (A): “I was a
member of a group of 70 bicyclists
(and one skateboarder) who were
arrested at the Democratic National
Convention in August 2000 for
participating in a Critical Mass bike
ride that was part of a week of protests
against globalization and related
matters. (Critical Mass is an informal
international movement that advocates for more bicycles and fewer
cars.) We were held in county jail for
a day and a half, and the female members of our group were illegally stripsearched. A couple of weeks after our
release, all charges against us (most
having to do with ‘reckless driving’)
were dropped. In late 2000 we sued
both the County and City of Los
Angeles for unlawful arrest and stripsearches. Last year we settled the
County case (strip-searches and related matters) for $2.75 million, and this
past March we settled the City suit
(unlawful arrest) for $875,000.”
MARY HOWARD CALLAWAY (A) writes
that her daughter, Hannah Boone,
will be graduating Phi Beta Kappa
from Carleton College and traveling
to France on a Fulbright teaching
award next year. “She was grateful
that when she was growing up,
‘dinner was always a seminar, where I
learned to hold my own in heated
discussions.’ Ah, the St. John’s legacy
runs deep!”
Some recognition for BART LEE (A):
“Not a Nobel Prize, but an academy
award in History of Technology: I
received the Houck Award for Documentation in Radio History from the
Antique Wireless Association largely
for the papers “Radio Spies” 2002;
and “Marconi’s Transatlantic Leap”
(1999). The Antique Wireless Association is an organization of some 4,000
members linked by a common interest
in the history of electrical and electronic communications.
CHARLES B. WATSON (A) is still at
work as an anesthesiologist and parttime physician administrator of a 50+person department that provides care
for more than 18,000 people a year:
“Rising elderly population and
shrinking health care dollars create
problems most alumni have or will
experience, sad to say. Happy to
report Ivan Watson, of NPR, is back
from Iraq and going elsewhere until
August. Masha, my wife of about
30 years, is abroad with a high school
group and recently managed costumes for 125 youngsters at a superb
high school production of Les Miserables. Anya, age 20, is at Connecticut
College (no basketball), pursuing
Marine Science, while Misha, now 26,
builds things on Martha’s Vineyard.
Y’all call or stop by: 203-372-9586;
CBWMDCT@aol.com or
optonline.net.”
1969
DAVID E. RIGGS (A) sent his regrets
about missing Homecoming this year,
but it’s too far to come from Kyoto,
Japan, where he is a research fellow at
the International Research Center for
Japanese Studies. Here’s his news: “I
received my Ph.D. from UCLA in
2002, writing about the reform of
Soto Zen Buddhism in 18th-century
Japan, and after a teaching stint at the
University of Illinois and UC Santa
Barbara, I am now halfway through a
post-doc at this research institute. My
wife, Diane, is doing her dissertation
research on a different aspect of
Japanese Buddhism, and we are
living in a house on the edge of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Kyoto, where I still can indulge my
passion for cycling. My best wishes
to you all.”
“I decided it was time to bring you
folks up to date,” writes RACHEL
HALLFORD TREIMAN (A). “I divorced
in 2001, and after my son entered college, sold the house in New York and
returned to Lewistown, Mont., where
my brother lives, last December. My
new address is 19 W. Brassey Street,
Lewistown, Montana 59457. I am now
coordinator for the Retired and
Senior Volunteer Program covering
Fergus County and Judith Basin
County. Since that is only 30 hours a
week with no benefits, I also work
online 20 hours for benefits. My oldest, Grace, is now 21 and a senior at
the University of Pennsylvania majoring in history. My son Andrew is 19, a
sophomore at the University of North
Dakota majoring in Air Traffic Control and is on an Air Force ROTC
scholarship, planning to go career Air
Force. I love being back in Montana. I
was born in Lewistown (left when I
was six) and therefore, for many of the
older folks I identify myself by my
grandfather, mother, and her siblings.
That slots me in the scheme of things.
I’m fortunate my family was liked
back then—people have long
memories out here!”
1971
What has THOMAS DAY (A) been
reading? “I recently read Churchill’s
The Story of the Malakand Field
Force. Very topical and readable.
I’m currently going through his The
River Won. If the situation in the
Sudan doesn’t stabilize, it may turn
out to be equally topical.”
1972
“We lost our first-born son, Ari Cody
Sherr, June 7, 2003, in a bicyclingracing event to raise money for the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,”
writes LAURIE SUSCO-SHERR (SF).
“He’s now with his dad, Doug Sherr,
who died June 7, at the same age.
Twins: Jesse Doug Sherr graduated
from UNM’s architecture school, and
Dante Gabriel Sherr is to graduate in
�34
{Alumni Notes}
Thirty Years Go Fast
E
LLEN (USNER) LEITNER (SF73) left the college to
study music after being inspired during concerts
of the Moscow Trio, Czech Chamber Orchestra,
and Natalia Gutman at St. John’s: “I studied violin
with Renata Skoberne, then went to Austria,
where I played with several orchestras in Vienna,
The Innsbruck Symphony, and the Graz Philharmonic. After that
I moved back to New Mexico (my native land) with my Austrian
husband, Johann (Hans), and together we raised six children in
Chimayó. All of the children were home-schooled for the greater
part of their education, and two girls are now studying guitar and
voice at North Carolina School of the Arts, our son is studying
architecture at UNM, one daughter has a degree in psychology
and is married, one daughter is married with two children and
one on the way, and the youngest is still at home. Whew! That’s it
in a nutshell! Thirty years go by so fast!
“As a stay-at-home mother I started doing art, and since 1988
my children and I have participated in the annual Spanish Market
on the Santa Fe Plaza with our retablos. I have also been in the
St. John’s College Spanish Market since its inception. I enjoy
donating a piece of my work for the auction, checking out the
book sale, and spending a little time at the college.
“I have always been active performing in northern New Mexico and Colorado in symphony orchestras, chamber groups and as
a soloist. Recently I have been working with classical guitarist
Roberto Capocchi, with whom I have made a CD, Duo
Guadalupe, Music for Violin and Guitar. You can hear samples
from it at www.cdbaby.com/cd/guadalupe.” x
religious sciences and computers
next year. Proud Mom and Dad.
Much love to all my fellow students,
teachers, and compatriots.”
1973
DAVID ALLISON (A) is busy as curator
of a new exhibit on military history
at the National Museum of American
History, which will open on Nov. 11,
2004. His wife, YMELDA MARTINEZALLISON (A74), is teaching art to
children in Alexandria, Va., as well
as serving as teaching director of
community Bible study in Alexandria. They have two children:
Camilla, 22, and Gabriel, 20.
Many people love collecting, but
ROBIN CHALEK TZANNES (A) has
taken it to another level: “I am
delighted to announce the online
appearance of my little Greek
museum— now known as the Kythera
Museum of Natural History. Since
1977, my husband, George, and I
have lived part-time on the beautiful
and remote Greek island of Kythera.
There, with the help of my sons,
JOHN (SF00) and PETER (SF04),
I’ve made an extensive collection of
seashells, rocks, fossils, pressed
flowers, feathers, and skulls. Last
summer, Peter and another
photographer documented my
collection, which can now be viewed
at www.kythera-family.net (scroll
down the left-hand menu and
click Kythera Museum of
Natural History).”
1974
TOM BYRNES (SF) graduated from
the University of Kentucky School of
Library and Information Science
with an MLS on May 8. He is now
library manager of the Lexmark
Information Center, a unit of the
University of Kentucky Libraries.
“Lexmark may be the only
corporation that outsources its
Library/Information Center to a
university,” he writes. “At least we
know of no others. In June, UK
picked me to run it for a while.”
ROBERTA (RAZAFY) FAULHABER
(SF) has been living in Paris, France,
practically since graduation. She is
married to a man from Madagascar
and is the mother of two girls,
one a painter and the other an
ambassadress.
RANDY O. and MARTHA (MACKEY)
PENDLETON (both SF) celebrate
their 30th wedding anniversary this
year, Martha writes: “We have two
children, one of whom (unlike his
parents) graduated from St. John’s
College and is also attending his
class reunion this year. At various
times we’ve written short stories (R),
drawn portraits (M), folk danced,
swing danced, and sung in a choir
(both of us). Randy has mostly been
working in pharmaceutical manufacturing (Syntex, Genetech). I was
lucky enough to have been able to
stay home and raise our two children. Currently we are following
Voltaire and cultivating our garden.”
1975
DENNIS J. JOHNSON (A) writes: “Ann
and I moved back to Newnan, Georgia, two years ago, after a 15-month
stretch of employment in Charlotte,
N.C. I wear a number of different
hats at work here, including those of
training coordinator, ‘machine
vision’ system guru, and product
trouble-shooter. Our grandchildren
are now five in number, ranging from
seven months old to ten and a half.
We had planned to make a trip to
Virginia and Maryland to see them
this spring, but Annie cannot travel
right now due to health problems.
We were hoping to be able to visit
with some of my Johnnie friends in
that area as well, but for now we will
have to make do with e-mail and
phone calls. The online alumni register contains all of my updated info,
so please feel free to use it and contact me here in the Sunny South!”
“I’m half Jack-of-all-Trades and half
Jack-in-the-Box, living in Madison,
N.J., and trying to come out of retirement as an artist’s model or as a psychiatric caseworker,” says SUZY
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
LARRISON (A). “I have the best
resumé for those jobs, but what I
really need is a seminar. The opening
question is G. KAY BISHOP’S (A75)
impression of John Wayne ‘Ta be or
not ta be.’
“I was baptized on January 11, full
immersion, but don’t want to see
sports banned on Sunday, so I have
trouble with my latest church. My
fiancé is a trustee of a Baptist Church
in Washington, D.C. We met in the
park in front of the White House (he
was taking a nap). He stopped at
Freud—but I’m a Jungian. Figuring
things out—didn’t know until recently that logos translates to tao in Chinese. The tao, the truth, and the
light are making ME lightheaded.
“Missing CAROLYN WADE LORING
(A77) and GRETCHEN BERG SAVAGE
(A75) with pains that would frighten
a midwife. Also TEMPLE WRIGHT
(A75), TINA SADDY BELL (A75), and
KAREN BENT SALEM (A76). Trying
to remember my additions to the
Seminar Songbag and the Seminar
Jokebook, as life can be pretty grim,
as in the Brothers G. (Bruno Bettleheim).
“Doing pretty well with my stage
fright—but I still probably would be a
SILENT student. Fondest regards to
all.”
1976
MARIE CLARK AVERY (SF) has been
nominated to the Wall of Tolerance
for her work as a founding member
in the National Campaign for
Tolerance. Marie teaches Special
Education in Espanola and is working on her master’s degree. She also
raises four sons, Justin, David, Josh,
and Tyrel.
VICKY HANLEY (SF) published her
third novel, The Light of the Oracle,
in the U.K. in August; the book will
be published in May 2005 in the U.S.
“You can visit me at www.victoriahanley.com.”
PHYLLIS HUFFMAN HERMAN (SFGI)
writes: “I have been involved in the
study of the work of two great
thinkers: Moshe Feldenkrais and
Virginia Satir. I am a Feldenkrais
practitioner (i.e., I work with people
exploring thinking/sensing/
feeling/moving in order to bring
�35
{Alumni Notes}
more efficiency, congruence, grace,
ease, and satisfaction to their lives). I
am currently training in the Human
Validation Process Model, based on
Virginia Satir’s work, which I find
complementary to the Feldenkrais
method of somatic education. I live
in Arlington, Va., with my husband,
Michael, and our younger daughter,
Amy. Our older two children are in
college. The nest is emptying.”
As a postscript, she offers these
lines from Adrienne Rich: “Anger
and tenderness: my selves./And now
I can believe they breathe in me/
as angels, not polarities./ Anger and
tenderness: the spider’s genius/
to spin and weave in the same
action/from her own body, anywhere—/even from a broken web.”
1977
BILL MALLOY (SF) retired in December 2003 and spends his time writing
and working on photography, in
addition to volunteering four mornings a week holding babies in the
(NICU) at Texas Children’s Hospital.
He plans to get ESL training soon in
order to teach English as a Second
Language. “Other than that, I am
blessed to have both of my parents,
ages 88 and 83, who’ve been married
an amazing 63? years (so far),”
he writes.
JUDY KISTLER-ROBINSON (SF)
recently visited classmate ELIZABETH (COCHRAN) BOWDEN (SF) at
her home in Marblehead, Mass. The
two celebrated their birthdays and
being friends for more than half their
lifetimes at the Kripalu Yoga Center
in the Berkshires. Judy also watched
the cows changing pastures while
visiting LYNNE GATELY (A) in
Randolph Center, Vt., where
Lynne is a librarian. Lynne and her
husband, David, run a dairy farm
and a maple sugar business. Judy
also visited KEITH HARRISON (SF) at
his home in New Hampshire. Keith
teaches law at Franklin Peirce Law
School. Judy has been enduring
Minnesota weather for more than
six years now and is longing for a
temperate climate with mountains.
Anyone with job leads in New
Mexico, please contact Judy!
1979
Poetic entry no. 3 for this issue of
Alumni Notes, from QUINN
CUSHING (SF), an ode from Brooklyn: “Winter’s cold blues chase/
The summer’s heat/through the
city’s sewers./They meet and rise,/
Coiling about my feet—Steam rising
from the street/after the promised
thunderstorms/have passed.”
1980
LISA LASHLEY (SF) writes: “I’m married to Santa Fe attorney Ron Van
Amberg. We have two children,
Alex, who will be attending CU
Boulder in the fall, and Virginia, who
is a sophomore at St. Michael’s High
School. I am teaching algebra at
St. Mike’s where I am head of the
Math Department and advisor to the
National Junior Honors Society. I’m
still involved in Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts and plan to accompany my
son on a two-week back-packing trip
to Philmont this summer!”
BOB NESLUND (SFGI) was named
“Latin Teacher of the Year” by the
Classical Association of Minnesota in
November 2003.
1981
JIM PRESTON (A) and ELLEN MINERVA (A80) “are happily raising their
girls in Silver Spring, Md. Call anytime: 301-585-8554.”
1982
MARIAN BETOR BAUMGARTEN (A)
writes: “My husband, JONATHAN
BAUMGARTEN (also A82), was
ordained a Deacon in the Episcopal
Church in February 2004. Jon continues to work as a systems analyst in
Chicago, and I continue to work in
human resources administration.
Martha will be a sophomore in high
school this fall, and Peter will be
entering 7th grade.”
1983
JOHN HARTNETT (SF) has been
named communications director on
the Santa Fe campus of St. John’s.
ANN WALTON SIEBER (A) is currently
living in her hometown of Houston,
where she’s working as a “bohemian
freelance journalist.” She recently
coordinated all the media for Houston’s Art Car Parade. On a more
serious side, she’s involved in
starting a halfway house for men
released from prison.
1984
PETER GREEN (A) has finally left
Prague and finished a year at
Columbia Business School as a
Knight-Bagehot Fellow. He expected
a return to journalism this summer.
“I’m in New York now and reachable
at petergreen@pobox.com. See you
all at the reunion!” Peter is compiling the virtual yearbook for his class
reunion. Pictures and updates can be
mailed to: sjc84reunion@
hotmail.com or to Peter personally.
TRISHA (FIKE) HOWELL (SF) is
pleased to announce the publication
of her fifth book, The Adventures of
Melon and Turnip, a children’s
picture book. Trisha would love to
hear from former classmates and
can be reached at Trish@HowellCanyonPress.com
NATASHA WALTER-FISK (SF) writes,
“I’m going to the Institute of
Transpersonal Psychology, studying
for a degree in counseling, planning
on being licensed in 2008. Getting
divorced from Peter. Gioia, 8 years
old, is a joy. When a plant moves to a
bigger pot, breaking the roots hurts,
but then it flourishes. Sending kindest regards to all.”
JOHN C. WRIGHT (A) sends an
update on his literary career: “My
fourth novel, Last Guardian of
Everness, came out in August. The
second two volumes of the previous
trilogy—a work of science fiction—
made the N.Y. Times Recommended
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Reading List for 2003. The titles of
that series are: The Golden Age,
Phoenix Exaltant, and The Golden
Transcendence.”
1985
MARY WALLACE (SF) and Eileen
Lynx were married in April in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Their marriage “is recognized by the civilized
nations of the world,” writes Mary.
1986
ELIZABETH BARNET (SF) writes:
“Spring of 2004 finds me 14 years
married to Rufus Blunk, whom I met
working on a building project in
Nicaragua in 1987. We have lived as
land stewards in Marin County on
Tomales Bay with a big garden, wood
sculpture, and sustainable living
projects. I have taught yoga here
for 12 years and home-school my
children: son Jasper, nearly 11, off to
performing arts camp on a piano
scholarship; son Silas, now 8; and
daughter, Savilia, just 5. I am reading
Catherine Clinton’s biography of
Harriet Tubman and collecting
signatures for a petition to make
Marin County GMO-free. Hello there
to old friends. E-mail me at
lizbar@svn.net, or P.O. Box 636,
Inverness, CA 94937.”
STEPHANIE RICO (A) and TODD
PETERSON (A87) welcomed their
second daughter, Sasha Gabriele, to
their family this past November.
“She joins her sister, Tia Linda Rico
Peterson, who is 2 years old and loves
her new baby sister. You can reach us
at srico@mail.sandi.net or
boredout@concentric.net.”
1987
News from BOB HOWELL (AGI) and
his wife, Lynn: Bob is the head of the
English Department at the O’Neal
School, and Lynn is the director of
the Southern Pines Public Library.
Their daughter Emma graduated as
the valedictorian of O’Neal’s class of
�36
{Alumni Profile}
A Taste of New Orleans
Sara Roahen’s Restaurant Reviews Capture all the Flavor of The Big Easy
by Sus3an Borden, a87
W
hen is smoked meat
not just smoked
meat?
When it’s barbecue, the emblem
of Southern food
culture and the subject of a cover story for
the New Orleans Gambit Weekly by SARA
ROAHEN (SF94).
Still, despite barbecue’s stronghold on
Southern appetites, the story was not a natural match for the Gambit. New Orleans,
although rich in food culture, is not much of
a barbecue town. As Roahen points out in
her article, an informal study published in
the spring/summer edition of South at the
Center puts New Orleans dead last among
Southern towns in barbecue-restaurantsper-person. Nevertheless, Roahen managed
to turn this low-priority topic into a vibrant
story, weaving history, statistics, sociology,
oral history, regionalism, race, and politics
into its 4,000 words.
“Writing about food isn’t just about writing about food,” Roahen says. “It’s also tapping into something everybody can relate
to. There’s a lot of room for social commentary. Discussions of race, wage issues, values—those came up a lot while I was
researching the story.”
Roahen’s articles capture all the flavor—
historical and social as well as gustatory—of
New Orleans’ food culture. She has won a
number of awards for her work, most recently first place in the critical review category
for the New Orleans Press Club Awards
2004 and first place in the food writing category for the Association of Alternative
Newsweeklies 2003. In addition to the food
news, restaurant reviews, and feature stories
she writes for the Gambit, she is also a contributor to Wine and Spirits magazine and
Tin House (a literary magazine), and has
been published in Gourmet. Her essays can
be found in 2003 Best Food Writing and an
upcoming anthology, Cornbread Nation II.
Roahen brings a solid background of
restaurant work to her job. As a Johnnie in
Santa Fe, she was a cocktail waitress at La
Posada and worked after graduation at
Cloud Cliff as a waitress and assistant manager. She was a line cook at restaurants in
Wisconsin, San Francisco, and Wyoming. In
1999, she moved to New Orleans where her
then-boyfriend, now husband, MATHIEU DE
SCHUTTER (SF94) began medical school.
Burnt out from cooking, she decided to
resuscitate an old love, writing.
“I knew I wanted to make the move to
writing, but I didn’t know how to do it,” she
says. “I feel like luck was on my side,
because the weekly paper ran an ad for a
restaurant critic, and Mathieu pushed me
to apply.”
The ad asked applicants to submit published clips but Roahen had none. Undeterred, she wrote a restaurant review, a
recipe feature, and an autobiographical
essay and sent them in. Three months later
she was offered her first in a series of assign-
“I can count the number
of truly mind-bending
meals I’ve eaten on
two hands.”
Sara Roahen, SF94
ments that lasted six months before she was
officially offered the position.
“I found out that I got the job in part
because I went to the trouble to make up
clips and in part because the editor of the
paper, Michael Tisserand, went to St. John’s
for one semester and wanted to see what a
Johnnie looks like,” Roahen says. “I certainly never anticipated that St. John’s was
going to help me get a writing job, but it
did.”
Roahen’s work as a food writer gives her
an unusual relationship with food. For her
weekly column she eats at the restaurant
she’s reviewing at least three times.
Research to find new places adds a few more
restaurant meals, and occasionally she eats
out for pleasure.
“I love dining out. Sometimes I get physically tired of it, but there are a lot of great
moments to be had in dining out even if you
do it for a living. I’ve given up looking for
the end-all-be-all meals, those are always
rare. I can count the number of truly mindbending meals I’ve eaten on two hands. But
I‘ve gained an appreciation for certain piv{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
otal moments or dishes or mouthfuls. I can
find something exciting in more than you
would think.”
On her list of mind-bending meals is a
dinner she ate at a cider house in the Spanish town of Astigarraga near San Sebastian.
Cider houses can be found throughout the
Spanish countryside, each serving the same
traditional menu. Meals are eaten standing
up around tables and the food is brought in
courses: first, a tortilla de bacalao (a sort of
omelet made with salt cod); then, bacalao
(salt cod) smothered in roasted peppers;
next, rare ox grilled over an open fire; and
for dessert, Idiazabal (a slightly smoky
sheep’s milk cheese) with quince paste and
walnuts.
“Throughout the meal everyone at your
table walks up to big casks of cider and fills
their glasses with just an inch of cider,
drinking it quickly before it oxidizes.” As
the meal continues, Roahen says, the fun
escalates. “You’re standing up digging into
hunks of meat, getting tipsy, and everyone
around you is doing the same thing. You
start talking to people at other tables. Then,
every 15 minutes or so, the owner walks to a
secret door in the back and unlocks it.
That’s where the really good cider is.
Everyone leaves their table and stands in
line to get a spot of cider. They toast each
other, slam down the cider and go back to
their tables.”
Roahen, who was eating with her husband, his father, and his father’s wife, says
that the meal had all the elements of a great
restaurant experience: great food, great
ambiance, and people you love.
As for great moments and mouthfuls,
Roahen says they often come during meals
in New Orleans’ many neighborhood
restaurants. “In New Orleans, neighborhood restaurants generally serve the same
menu,” she explains. “There’s always going
to be a gumbo, very likely there will be raw
oysters, always red beans, especially on
Mondays. They serve po boys, smothered
pork chops, spaghetti, fried chicken, and
probably a shrimp remoulade. In these
restaurants they’ll do a couple of dishes really well and the rest will be mediocre. You
end up going to these places just for those
couple of things they do well.” x
�37
{Alumni Notes}
2004 and will be attending Rice
University in the fall.
1988
ELAINE PINKERTON COLEMAN
(SFGI) sold her World War II
suspense novel, Beast of Bengal,
to Polocl Press. Publication date is
spring 2005. She completed a
children’s book, A Hat for Emily,
written for her granddaughter
Emily Clementine Pinkerton,
age 20 months. Visit her Web site:
www.booksbyelaine.com
LAURIE COOPER (A) lives in rural
Chaplin, Conn., with her husband,
Dov Kugelmass, and their two
children: Carrie, 4, and Cyrus, 2.
She is a clinical social worker in a
community mental health center.
DIANA SHAW-MCCARTHY (A) has
graduated from the Robert F.
Wagner Graduate School of Public
Service and is working as a data
coordinator for Project Renewal, a
nonprofit organization in New York
City that works with chronically
addicted homeless individuals.
1989
News from JEANNE BLACKMORE
(DUVOISIN) (A): “We welcomed
baby Samantha on September 12,
2003. She was born two years to the
day after her brother Benjamin. Ben
and Sam often get together with
(A89 classmates) GARFIELD
GOODRUM’S daughter Cecily, and
ERIKA GAFFNEY’S daughter Cara.”
EDWARD P. EAGAN (AGI) lives in
Ipswich, Mass., with his wife,
Camilla, and three children: Grace,
8; Eloise, 5; and Charlie, 2. He is a
practicing clinical psychologist in
Newburyport, Mass.
BRAD STUARt (A), SARA LARSON
STUART (A90), and Eleanor welcome
Phoebe Sophia Stuart, born
November 4, 2003, at 1:42 p.m. EST.
“Brown of hair and blue of eye,
Phoebe has a crooked smile and a
ready laugh. What a girl!”
1990
1992
“After spending last year living in
San Francisco attending Circus
School (I fly on the trapeze), I have
found my home in sunny Los Angeles and couldn’t be happier,” writes
DAVID JOHNSON (SF). “No plans for
the big top—just enjoying the ride.”
From CATHERINE BARRIER (A) and
JIM DUGAN (A93): “We’d like to
announce the birth of Lucy Eleanor
Dugan on December 10, 2004, in
Los Angeles. We are, of course,
convinced she is the most beautiful
and smartest baby in the world.
We just hope we can keep up.
If anyone is rash enough to ask for
pictures, they can contact us at
ceb@mnemonides.net!”
“Martin and I are moving to
Phoenix,” writes ELAINE (REISS)
PEREA (SF). “I am finally going to
grad school. I start a Ph.D. program
in evolutionary psychology in
August. I’d love to hear from classmates and other area alum. My
e-mail is meperea@hotmail.com”
ELIZABETH SPAETH STOLTZ (SFGI)
reports that her daughter, MEG
SPAETH (A01), married TIM FREEMAN (A01) on September 20, 2003.
ELYETTE KIRBY-BLOCK (SF) has just
moved near Paris with her husband,
Jonathan, and children: Benjamin,
3, and Elyse, 18 months. “I’m home
with the kids and expecting again in
September,” she writes. “I’ll be visiting family this summer in Minnesota
and Nova Scotia but will be back in
France the rest of the time and, as
always, would welcome visitors!
E-mail elyette@hotmail.com.”
LISA HOLLIS-BROWN and DAVID
BROWN (both SF) have moved to
Colorado Springs. “David is a shiny
new math professor at that other
wacky liberal arts college in the
mountain time zone, Colorado
College. Lisa is finishing off her
dissertation, and making plans for
lots of long weekends in Santa Fe.
Drop us a line at dbrown@coloradocollege.edu.”
PHIL HOPKINS (SFGI) just received
the award for teaching excellence
as a philosophy professor at
Southwestern University. LISA
(KALLMAN) HOPKINS (SF89) begins
graduate studies in library science at
Texas Women’s University this fall.
PRAXADES RIVERA (SFGI) has lived
in Venezuela for the last eight years
and is now embarking on a year sabbatical, using her summer home in
New York as “headquarters.” She
intends to study, read, and travel.
1991
PATRICK CHO (A) writes to
announce the arrival of his son,
Nicholas, on New Year’s Eve, 2002.
Nicholas gets along well with his big
sister, Samantha, he adds.
MAGGIE FARLEy (SF) reports: “I
married a Peruvian mathematician
named Renzo last December and
received a master’s in statistics from
UNM in May. I am currently in the
doctorate program in education
psychology at UNM, where I am
interested in studying ways to teach
abstract reasoning so as to improve
mathematical ability. I have been
teaching undergraduate math at
UNM for the last three years and
before that taught high school math
for two years at Santa Fe High. I
value my time at St. John’s for how it
encouraged me to believe in my own
ability to inquire into the meaning of
things as well as for all the times I
got to dance thoughout the night.”
LAKE (JAMES) PERRIGUEY (SF)
hosted Nancy Buchenauer for an
alumni seminar in Portland, Ore.,
on Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion. Lake is a litigator, civil rights
lawyer, and community-based legal
counselor in Portland.
A Community in Cotati
hat is it like to live in a co-housing
community? “Wonderful,” writes ANNE
LEONARD (A89): “Last November, after
several years of planning and many meetings and work, my family (me, husband
Adam Hill, son Benjamin Leonard-Hill,
2 cats) finally moved into our co-housing community in Cotati
(Calif.). We live in an intentional community, legally a condominium, with shared common space, community meals several
times a week, lots of kid-friendly play areas, private houses that
were designed with ‘green building’ principles, and of course
fabulous, intelligent, interesting people. All our [Homeowner’s
Association] decisions are made on a consensus system, rather
than voting. I can hang out with people and have either a frivolous or an intellectual conversation without going farther than
next door. At its best, it’s like post-seminar hanging out in the
Coffee Shop, with a short trek to your house when you get tired.
“A couple of weeks ago, a dozen of us were hanging out in the
‘gathering node’ by the swale, when the talk turned as it often
does with this group to wordplay, language games, and mnemonics. A new resident, who had only moved in a few weeks before,
said that she still remembered her Greek conjugations and
conjugated “luw.” I joined in, and asked her why we both knew
the same thing. It turns out she was SUSAN WELCH (SF89). We’re
still trying to figure out who we know in common.
“I’d love to hear from any other Johnnies who live in cohousing, or from anyone who’s interested and wants to know
more.” x
W
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�38
{Alumni Notes}
1993
“Yes!” writes JAMES DIPROPERZIO
(A), aka James Propis. “My short
story, ‘After the Fall,’ was published
in a new anthology called Toddler:
Real-Life Stories of Those Fickle,
Irrational, Urgent, Tiny People We
Love, edited by Jennifer Margulis,
Ph.D. The book just won an award
for #1 Best Parenting Book of the
Year from the Independent
Publisher’s Book Association.”
NANCY MARCUS (A) writes, “After
serving as the National Abortion
Federation’s State Public Policy
Director since 2002 (See pages 139143 of Molly Ivin’s Bushwhacked
for some of my recent work), I am
leaving the D.C. activist world to
rejoin the academic world in true
Johnnie style. For the next two years,
I will be in Madison earning my
LL.M. at the University of
Wisconsin’s Law School.”
PENNY SINONE (SFGI) is currently
working on “Leftovers,” part II
of a project called “The Dump
Chronicles,” a collaboration with
Sonoma artist David Povilaites.
“In August 2003, I left Philly and my
work at Project HOME (the best
experience of my life!) to move to
Santa Fe and begin teaching here,”
writes J. WALTER STERLING (A).
“So far, so good.”
“Hi! I am living in Dumfries, Va.,
with my parents. I hope everyone is
good,” writes ERIKA SUSKI (A). She
can be reached at P.O. Box 1133,
Dumfries, VA 22026.
1994
WILLIAM J. KOWALSKI (SF) and
his wife, Alexandra, welcomed a
daughter, Kasia, into the world on
July 3, 2003.
SARAH (LIVERSIDGE) and MIKE
AFFLERBACH (both A) are still enjoying life in New Bern, N.C. Writes
Sarah, “We’ve been doing a lot of
sailboat racing and some cruising to
the Outer Banks. Mike’s radio business is growing, and I should have
my architecture license this year.”
JULIE MEADOWS (A) writes: “I am
finally ABD in the Ethics and Society
program in the Religion Department
at Emory. My dissertation director,
MARK JORDAN (SF73), is also a
Johnnie! I row on weekends on the
Chattahoochee River with the
Atlanta Rowing Club, while my
sweetie Steve, a veterinarianturned-epidemiologist, goes
kayaking. Best wishes!”
1995
GEORGE ERVING (SFGI) is enjoying a
tenure-track position as assistant
professor of Humanities, Honors and
English Lit at the University of Puget
Sound in Tacoma, Wash., where he
has been since the fall of 2003. “It’s
a great fit for me and my courses are
substantially influenced by my time
at St. John’s,” he writes.
ZENA HITZ (A) is finishing her
dissertation on the critique of
democracy in Plato and Aristotle.
This fall she will have a temporary
teaching appointment in the philosophy department at McGill University
in Montreal, and in January, she will
take up a tenure-track position at
Auburn University in Alabama.
“Greetings from the greater Boston
area!” EMILY MURPHY (A) writes.
“Still in grad school—still working
part-time for the National Park
Service and helping with the
200th anniversary of Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s birth here in Salem.”
1996
ELIZABETH BUCHEN (SF96), daughter of JERRY (GERALD) BUCHEN
(SF72), just earned her medical
degree from the University of New
Mexico School of Medicine and
starts her residency in Ob/Gyn
(“another four years!”) also at UNM:
“I live in Albuquerque with my husband, Chris Lopez, and our four dogs
and two cats. Anyone wishing to
contact me can do so by e-mail at
elizsb@unm.edu.”
SONIAH KAMAL (A) will have her
first novel, An Isolated Incident,
published by Penguin in the fall of
2005. “A short synopsis is ‘East is
East meets Osama Bin Laden,’” she
reports. Kamal has had a lot of short
stories published, writes a column
for a periodical in Pakistan, and is
working on a movie script. She lives
in San Francisco.
DANIEL SILVERMINTZ (AGI) has
accepted a position as assistant professor of Humanities at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He can be
reached at silvermintz@cl.uh.edu.
SHANNON STIRMAN (SF) writes:
“KELLY (SF97), Henry (who is now
almost 3), and I have moved to
Menlo Park, Calif., where he’s
working for a software company,
and I’ll be doing an internship in
clinical psychology. I defended my
dissertation in February, so this is
the last step before I finish school.
We’d love to hear from other
Johnnies who are in the area!”
1997
DOMINIC CRAPUCHETTES (A)
recently graduated with an MBA
from the University of Maryland.
Happy news from LORI FREEMAN
(A): “I’m too excited not to write
The College and let everyone know
that I’ve gotten engaged! Wes
Smedley and I will be married in
Philadelphia this October. This is the
funny part—he’s an Episcopal priest,
which is actual proof that God has a
sense of humor. Anyway, we’re being
married at Christ Church in
Philadelphia on Sunday, October 17,
during the regular 11 a.m. church
service. If you’re around, come and
join us! My e-mail address is
lorifreeman25@hotmail.com;
Johnnies and friends are always
welcome at the house I share with
KEVIN GARDNER (also A97), who, in
addition to being my Maid of Honor,
just completed his second year at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
and is working on a huge, beautiful
mural project this summer. I’m still
working for a women’s literacy
program in the Kensington area
of Philadelphia.”
KIRA HEATER (SF) and her husband,
RUSSELL DIBBLE (A92, EC97) are
living in Missoula, Mont. Kira is
finishing a master’s degree in
mathematics, and “Russ is on a
BLM hotshot wildland fire crew
based out of Salt Lake City. If you’re
in Missoula, look us up. Johnnies are
always welcome.”
BRENT HINRICHS (AGI) is now working as the Upper School Head at
Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, Calif.
In addition, he and Evie Schneider
got married last August and purchased their first home in San Jose.
“We would love to hear from GIs
from ’94-’98! Where are you,
BILL BUYSSE (AGI96) and
PATRICK WAGER (AGI96)?”
ANNE KNIGGENDORF (SF) reports:
“TONY LAGOURANIS (also SF97) is
serving in the Army and is currently
stationed in Iraq. I think he will be
there until early 2005. If you would
like to send Tony something, I have
his address and would be glad to
give it to anyone interested. Please
contact me at annekknigs@cs.com.
My family is well—still in Georgia.
Stephen and I have TWO little
boys now!”
INYA LASKOWSKI (SFGI) has
been invited to be art educator in
residence at the Museum of
Contemporary Art at the Luther
Burbank Center in Santa Rosa, Calif.
She has shown her monotypes in
nine exhibitions in the last two years.
Her work can be seen at Hand Artes
Gallery, Truchas, N.M.
KIT LINTON (A) and SONYA SCHIFF
LINTON (A00) are happy to
announce the birth of their
daughter, Viola Mae Linton, on
June 3, 2004. Kit heads up the New
York City office for a small consulting firm, and Sonya just finished her
first year at law school. They would
love to hear from friends at
Kitandsonya@hotmail.com.
�39
{Alumni Notes}
After graduating from Yale Law
School in May, RICHARD
SCHMECHEL (A) plans to move to
Washington, D.C., in the fall. He will
be working at the Public Defender
Service on a two-year project funded
by the Open Society Institute. DNA,
memory reliability, and other forensic issues are the subject of the project. He would love to hear from
Johnnies, “indicted or not,” at
richardschmechel@aya.yale.edu.
1998
An announcement from DAWN
BORCHELT (A): “Wolfgang Guy
Borchelt was born at home Feb. 24,
2004.” He was 6 lbs., 11 oz., and
19 inches long.
JESSICA COVITZ and ALAN
PICHANICK (both A) are excited to
announce the births of their second
and third daughters, Katherine and
Elisheva, this past January. Along
with their 5-year-old daughter,
Sophia, they are living in Philadelphia. They would love to hear from
old friends and can be reached via
e-mail: jcovitz@uchicago.edu or
adpichan@uchicago.edu.
After finishing a master’s degree in
Divinity at the University of Chicago,
ALEXANDRA MUDD (A) moved to
Cambridge to work on a Ph.D. in
History and Philosophy of Science.
“Any A98 Johnnies in England
should look me up!” she writes.
“I am living in that Johnnie haven,
Brooklyn,” writes FELIX S.
LESLIE (A), “practicing law across
the river in Manhattan and
enjoying life. I can be reached
at felixleslie@hotmail.com.”
Santa Fe alumni looking for long-lost
alumnus MICHAEL OLSON (A99)
can find his classnote among entries
for 1999.
TIM POMAROLE (A) has graduated
from Duke University School of Law
and will be working for the Appellate
Division of the Suffolk County DA’s
Office in Boston. Last summer, Tim
worked at the International Criminal
Tribunal in The Hague,
Netherlands.
1999
MICHAEL BAAS (SF) married Megan
Bello on January 2, 2004, in Galisteo, NM.
RUTH BUSKO (SF) graduated from
the Tai Sophia Institute for the
Healing Arts in March 2004 with a
Master of Acupuncture degree.
She is living in Baltimore, Md.,
and practicing acupuncture in
Ellicott City, Md.
GREG KOEHLERT (SFGI) married
Merrie Schlein in August 2003; t
heir first child is due at the end of
November. “Of course, we’re still in
NYC,” Greg writes.
MICHAEL OLSEN (A) checks in after
a long absence: “Almost
immediately upon graduating five
years ago, I lost my way on the path
to law school and never arrived.
Instead, this fall I begin my fourth
year of teaching English and Social
Studies in grades six through eight at
a private middle school in Chicago.
Although this career began
unexpectedly, I’m having a great
time teaching and cannot think of
anything else I’d rather be doing
right now. I will probably continue
with it well into the future, although
it is likely I will leave Chicago again
once I complete the masters degree
I’m starting to work on. Not a day
goes by when I do not miss the
college. I occasionally attend
Chicago-area alumni events but
regret that I have kept in touch with
only a few classmates. I am fortunate
to be doing a fair amount of traveling
and generally living the life of leisure
during my summer vacations.
All are welcome to write, e-mail, or
telephone: 1354 W. Argyle Street,
Chicago, IL 60640;
michaelolsen123@hotmail.com;
773.989.8491. I am interested in
hearing from anyone I knew,
whether in Santa Fe or Annapolis.”
“It’s funny to think that it’s been
eight years since I last saw most of
you, writes BEN THORNBER (A).
“I have just gotten an M. Div. degree
from Earlham School of Religion, a
Quaker seminary located in Richmond, Indiana. I am now looking for
work as a pastoral minister at a
Quaker church, having become a
Quaker two years ago. I’m largely
looking at Quaker churches in the
Midwest but I am also talking to a
Quaker church in Tennessee. I value
the time that I spent at St. John’s and
the friendships I developed there. I
hope to hear from you. My snail-mail
address is: 824 SW A Street, Richmond, IN 47374, and my e-mail
address is thornberbenjamin@
hotmail.com. I hope things go well
with each of you.”
New Ventures for
John Balkcom
ormer Santa Fe President JOHN BALKCOM
(SFGI00) joined the board of directors of IMCO
Recycling, Inc., in December 2003 and became
the chairman of the board in April 2004. He participated in the announcement of a merger with
Commonwealth Industries in mid-June. “Carol
and I are pleased to be back in Evanston and looking forward to
hosting our second reception for prospective students in June,”
he writes. “I’m also excited about co-leading a seminar in Summer Classics with tutor Michael Rawn on Faulkner’s Absalom,
Absalom! We send our gratitude to the Santa Fe class of 2004
for their warm welcome at commencement.” x
F
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
2000
JOHN HUNTER (AGI) and his wife,
Lisa, would like to announce the
birth of a son, James Elias Brinton
(“Jeb”) on Oct. 3, 2003.
ANNE MCSHANE (A) expects to begin
studies at New York University’s
School of Law this fall, and offers to
coach others thinking about a similar path. “I have taught and am
teaching Kaplan’s LSAT course and
am happy to advise on the law school
application process. I can be reached
at annecarolmcshane@yahoo.com.”
NICOLE NELSON-JEAN (AGI) is
enjoying her time in Tokyo. “Last
year I accepted a position as the
director of the Department of
Energy Asia office and also became
the Energy Attache to the U.S.
Ambassador of Japan. I have had a
fabulous time here. The food is
wonderful and the art, historical
sites, and people are even better.”
DEBERNIERE TORREY (AGI) was
awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to
Korea. Torrey is pursuing a Ph.D. in
comparative literature at Penn State
University. A Korean instructor at
Penn State, she’s also active with the
university’s International Languages
and Literature Student Organization, the Conversation Partners
Program, and the Ballroom Dance
club. The fellowship will allow
Torrey to spend a year in Korea
studying 19th-century Korean
literature in preparation for her
thesis proposal and further research.
The topic of her research is the
effect of modern/western thought
imported from China.
2001
LANCE BRISBOIS (A) recently joined
the editorial staff of Hackett
Publishing. He works and lives in
Cambridge, Mass.
PAIGE POSTLEWAIT (A) and
MICHAEL MAGUIRE (A02) were
married in 2001, “and have a
beautiful son, Daschel Auden,”
�40
Paige writes. “Michael is currently
serving our country in the Army, and
we will all be relocating as a family in
the fall to Berlin, Germany. I will
teach English and attend school
while we are there. I have recently
started a Web site for Johnnies from
the Annapolis campus to use. It is
located at www.youthriot.co.uk/sjc,
and includes photo galleries and
message boards. We are also looking
for links to Johnnie homepages. I’d
encourage anyone who wants to get
in touch with me to help with the site
or suggest links! It is a work in
progress but we’re very excited.
Feel free to contact Mike and me at
sizeofthoughts@hotmail.com.”
SUZANNAH SIMMONS (SF) expects to
be in law school this fall.
“Hi, everybody!” writes ERIK
STADNIK (A). “I’m one of the
growing number of Johnnies who
has settled in the DC area for the
time being. I’ve lived in the
Alexandria, Va., area for the past two
years or so, and I just started a new
job at the Library of Congress Law
Library. So, if anyone is in the area
and would like a tour, get in touch!
Sjcaustenite@yahoo.com.
{Alumni Notes}
2002
LUCAS FORD (A) is pining for certain
aspects of the Johnnie life: “I miss
vacations, breaks, and long weekends and all that sweetness.”
SHELLEY ROSE WALKER (SFGI,
EC03) is enjoying life in the East:
“Since graduation, Doug Saxon and
I have been teaching English at a
university in South Korea. We live
about an hour from Seoul, which
allows us a primarily relaxed, quiet
lifestyle within a short jaunt from the
cultural and culinary advantages of
the capital city. We spent two
months last winter traveling in India
and we can’t wait to go back. This
summer our adventures will lead us
through China, into Tibet, and then
boating down the Yangtze River
before we head back to our East
Asian abode come September. Our
tentative plan is to hold down the
fort here for two to four more years.
One of the great perks of our jobs is
the enormous amount of free time
we’re given, during which you can
usually find us gleefully occupied
with reading and continuing our
conversations. We’d love to hear
from you: swalker_@hotmail.com or
dougsaxon@hotmail.com.”
RACHEL AVIVA POLLACK (A) spent
the summer studying at the
American Academy of Rome.
2003
2004
SEAN MADDEN (AGI) will embark on
the Eastern Classics program in
Santa Fe in August. x
What’s Up?
KATHY CHRISTIE and JOHN ANDERS
(both SF) were married in Houston,
Texas, in August 2004.
LAURA DABNEY (SF) writes that
JUSTIN “GUS” HURWITZ (SF) has
made it into the Chicago School of
Law. “Go him!”
Another new law student: SEAN
MCLAIN (A) will be beginning studies at the Columbus School of Law at
The Catholic University of America,
Washington, D.C., this fall.
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 January;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is November 1.
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
Public Relations Office
1160 Camino Cruz Blanca
Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599;
alumni@sjcsf.edu
{Obituaries}
EDWIN LEROY LOTZ, CLASS OF 1931
Edwin Lotz, whose skill as a lacrosse player at St. John’s during the days of intercollegiate athletics won him a place in the
Lacrosse Hall of Fame, died May 25, 2004,
at the age of 93. Born in Ellicott City, Md.,
Lotz earned his degree from St. John’s in
1931. He received the college’s Allgernon
Sidney Sullivan Award for Outstanding
Leadership.
In 1934, Lotz earned a master’s degree
from Johns Hopkins University, where he
conducted research on the effects of electrical shock to the heart. His basic discoveries
later led to the development of the defibrillator. He received his doctorate in electrical
engineering from Hopkins in 1938, and
went on to a career in research. He retired in
1975 as vice president of research and development for the Glass Fabrics Company, a
division of Burlington Industries. He held
numerous patents on the treatment of glass
fabrics. He was a member of the National
Academy of Sciences and a fellow in the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
With his brother Phil, a member of the
class of 1932 who also is in the Hall of Fame,
Lotz was among the most accomplished athletes in the college’s history. He played football, boxed, and played baseball. When the
baseball team was disbanded, Ed Lotz and
his brother picked up lacrosse sticks. Lotz
played on three
national championship lacrosse
teams (1929, 1930,
and 1931) that beat
much bigger
schools, including
Harvard, Yale,
Johns Hopkins, and
Maryland. He was
Edwin Lotz
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
named to the All-American Lacrosse Team
in 1930 and in 1931. In 1966 he was inducted
into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, as “one of
Lacrosse’s all-time great defensemen.” The
December 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated
named Edwin Lotz one of the top 50
greatest sports figures from the state of
Maryland in the 20th century.
In a letter he wrote to The Reporter in
1998, Lotz said that he once believed that
his participation on the St. John’s championship teams and being named to the Hall
of Fame would stand as his life’s greatest
achievements. “However, something happened to me shortly after my 86th birthday
that changed all that,” he wrote. Lotz
described how in the midst of the Great
Depression, unable to find a job, he decided
to attend graduate school at Hopkins:
“During the research work on my thesis…
I discovered the basic principle of electric
countershock as a means to stop the fibrilla-
�41
{Obituaries}
tion of the heart. Using dogs as subjects, I
found that a very small electrical shock of
1 milliampere would cause the heart to go
into fibrillation and a countershock 100
times stronger would stop the fibrillation.
“This basic discovery in 1934 led to the
development of the defibrillator that is now
used worldwide in all hospitals and doctors’
offices to stop fibrillation of the heart,
saving many lives every day. About the size
of a portable typewriter, the defibrillator
sits over in the corner of the room awaiting
its turn to save another life.”
It was his life, Lotz noted, that was saved
by a defibrillator when his heart stopped
during the implantation of a pacemaker.
“This remarkable story illustrates the
importance of basic research, because you
never know where the discovery of new facts
or information will lead.”
Lotz and his wife, Kay, had four
children. After his wife died in 1991, Lotz
lived with his daughter and her family in
Charlottesville, Va., until his death.
CALVIN BAUMGARTNER, CLASS OF 1944
Calvin Baumgartner, a member of the class
of 1944 who survived the sinking of the
Merchant Marine ship on which he served
during World War II, died in May at the
age of 90.
Baumgartner was born in Baltimore
County, Maryland, and received his first
education in a two-room schoolhouse.
During high school at Baltimore’s City
College, he delivered telegrams for Western
Union. He attended St. John’s before the
war interrupted his studies.
After the U.S. entered World War II, he
joined the Merchant Marine Army Transport Service. In April 1945, he was assigned
to the S.S. Black Point, which on May 5,
1945, was off the coast of Rhode Island,
carrying coal to Boston. A lookout at Point
Judith heard an explosion and saw the ship
come to a stop: a German U-Boat torpedoed
the Black Point just eight hours after the
U-Boat command was ordered to stop
attacks on Allied ships.
The torpedo blew off the last 50 feet of
the nearly 400-foot ship. Minutes after the
last survivor was rescued, the Black Point
rolled over. Twelve men lost their lives in
the attack; 34 men were saved. Baumgartner
was the last crew member to be rescued.
A program assembled by his family for a
celebration of his life spoke to Baumgartner’s enduring pride in his military service.
“He felt that World War II was America’s
finest hour and the most outstanding event
of his lifetime. He was so proud of how the
Calvin
Baumgartner
country came
together and the
troops rallied.”
After the war,
Baumgartner
went on to
several different
enterprises:
managing an apartment complex, converting coal furnaces to natural gas, and
operating a grain hauling company on the
Chesapeake Bay. With a partner, he hauled
grain from Norfolk to Baltimore until his
barge, the B.S. Ford, sank in 1960. Baumgartner retired in 1980 from a job as stationary engineer for the Maryland Training
School for Boys. Baumgartner and his first
wife, Dorothea, had four children. After her
death, he married Violetta S. Bateman,
who died in 1996.
His goal, his family said, was to live to
be 90. He celebrated that milestone on
April 22, 2004.
RICHARD “WOODY” WEST, CLASS OF 1961
Richard W. West, a long-time Washington
journalist, died in May at his home in
Hagerstown, Md. He was 70.
A high school football star, West was
recruited to play for the University of
Missouri, said Annapolis attorney Darrell
Henry, also a member of the class of 1961.
West served in the Marines in Thailand and
Japan for three years before enrolling in
St. John’s in 1957. “We used to kiddingly
call him the ‘Old Marine,’” Henry recalls.
“He had both feet firmly on the ground,
he was very bright, an excellent manager.
He was a good athlete, and a very intelligent guy.”
John Pekkanen, class of 1961, shared all
his classes with West for two years. “He
was five years older than me, and he was
very much a big brother to me,” he says.
“He showed me the ropes of life.”
History, especially the great
battles and heroes
of the Civil War,
and literature were
West’s great interest, and he left St.
John’s to complete
Richard West
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
a bachelor’s degree in history at American
University. His first newspaper jobs were in
Nebraska, at the Lincoln Star and the
Omaha World-Herald.
After moving to Washington in the early
1960s, West worked first as a reporter
and later as an editorial writer for the
Washington Star. When the Star folded in
1981, he moved on to the newly founded
Washington Times as an editorial writer
and quickly climbed the ranks, becoming
managing editor in 1983 and later executive
editor, the newspaper’s chief editorial position, from 1985 to 1986. West decided to
step down from that stressful position
because it consumed all of his time. “Now
I’m going to sit on the porch and read, go
out and scare a few geese in the winter,”
he told the Washington Post in 1986.
Since 1986, West worked part time as the
associate editor for the Times. He edited the
weekly Civil War page and served on the
committee overseeing the Sunday book
pages, choosing books for review and
matching them with reviewers. He was also
a frequent reviewer himself for the Times,
Insight, and the Weekly Standard.
“Woody saw life a little off-center, and I
mean that as a compliment,” says Pekkanen, adding that West encouraged and
helped him when he was starting out in
journalism. “He was a skilled and perceptive writer and a great thinker. He was a
newspaper man.”
West is survived by his wife of 43 years,
JoAnn Wochos West, of Hagerstown. x
ALSO NOTED:
GEORGE BONIFANT, class of 1939, died in
March.
CHARLES HYSON, class of 1937, died in
March.
JOHN LOGUE, class of 1950, died in June.
ALEXANDER MORSE, class of 1945 and
SFGI73, died in September 2003.
LESTER H. PALMER, class of 1930, died in
February 2004.
ROBERT SNIBBE, CLASS OF 1937, died in
June 2004.
WILLIAM JOHN RICHARD THOMAS JR., class
of 1935, died in June 2004.
�42
{Croquet}
Cruising to Another Croquet Victory
Santa Fe Seniors Join the Party
by Rosemary Harty
ith The College’s
veteran croquet correspondent Sus3an
Borden (A87) taking on new duties in
the Advancement
office this year, this editor planned to capture the action at the 22nd annual croquet
match against the Naval
Academy, held on the
customary date of the last
Saturday of April. But I was
recruited for champagnepouring duty in the Alumni
tent, where in an attempt
to weed out impostors,
would-be imbibers were
quizzed on senior essay
topics. (“Um, something
about…Homer,” was a
typical response.) The
sound of cheering reached
the alumni tent, but we had
a hard time following the
action, like most of the
estimated 1,200 spectators
who crowded onto the
campus for a great party
on a spectacularly sunny
April day.
Good thing the press was
there. The match brought
out the local papers, the
Associated Press correspondent, and a shamefully
biased correspondent from
The Trident, the Naval
Academy’s newspaper, who
again blamed the loss on
the allegedly rigorous
Naval Academy schedule.
The most interesting
development this year was
the participation of 28
Santa Fe students who
came to Annapolis on their
own dime to see for themselves what croquet fever is
all about. Most caught a
red-eye flight from Santa
Fe after seminar Thursday
W
night, but a couple of determined Johnnies
of the West drove all the way to Annapolis
and back.
“Most of us had never been to Annapolis,
so we wanted to see the campus,” explained
Chris Coucheron-Ammot (SF04), who
organized the outing. Being an honest
fellow, Coucheron-Aamot readily acknowl-
edged that the contingent came first “for a
fabulous party” and second for a show of
solidarity.
“The senior class in Santa Fe really
believed in the ‘one college-two campuses’
ideal of St. John’s,” he said. “We don’t
feel like there’s a big difference between
Johnnies in Santa Fe and Johnnies in
Annapolis.”
The visitors understood
“parts of the game,” and
were particularly taken by
the contrast in traditions
between the rivals, he said.
“We liked the way the Mids
had Plebes in white jackets
carrying around water bottles for them, and Johnnies
had their girlfriends carrying
around bottles of Colt 45.”
Johnnies put their
Western classmates up on
couches and floors in their
apartments around town.
Sarah Stickney (A04) and
John Okrent (A04) organized barbecues to feed them.
The campus community out
West would welcome an
Annapolis contingent out
for one of its best parties,
Oktoberfest.
“We usually bring snow
down from the mountains
because it hasn’t snowed
on the campus yet, and we
have a snowball fight,”
he explained.
Why not include a
croquet match in Oktoberfest festivities? “Have you
seen our soccer field?”
Coucheron-Aamot asked
in reply. x
Imperial Wicket Sam
Spalding lines up a shot.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�43
{Croquet}
Clockwise: Johnnies adopted an Army look to intimidate Navy this year.
A group of Santa Fe Johnnies enjoy the party; Ronald Fielding (A70)
strikes the first ball.
photos by david trozzo
Highlights:
Score: Johnnies 4, Mids 1.
Record: 18-4.
Team: Sam Spalding (A04), imperial
wicket; Nicholas Whittier (A05),
vice wicket; Ian Morochnick (A04);
Kabe Erkenbrack (A04); Justin Berrier
(A04); Aurora Cassells (A04); Jackson
O’Brien (A04); Nick Garklavs (A04);
Riley Ossorgin (A05); John Gerard
(A05); Shunji Matsuzawa (A06); and
Matt Mangold (A06).
Dramatic moment: Dressed in
camouflage outfits, faces smeared with
grease paint, Johnnies emerge from
Woodward Hall to the Top Gun theme.
Ceremonial first ball: Struck by
Ron Fielding (A70), a member of the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors.
Press highlights:
The Capital: “Tim Kile, a St. John’s
junior, wore a straw hat, a sleeveless
orange T-shirt and suspenders and held
an acoustic guitar—the ‘wandering
cowboy minstrel look.’ ‘I don’t know anything about croquet, but my roommate
made ice cream—that’s the best part so
far,’ he said.”
The Baltimore Sun: “Before the 1 p.m.
start of the 22nd Annapolis Cup, Naval
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Academy player Brock Zimmerman got
in some last-minute practice shots. The
first-year mid hoped to make a dent in
St. John’s series advantage of 17 victories
to the academy’s 4. ‘I think we have the
best chance to bring one back to Navy in
a long time,’ he said.”
The Associated Press: “Special attire—
much of it harkening back to the days
when croquet was played on grandma’s
lawn while everyone sipped lemonade
on sultry days—is popular at the annual
croquet game.
“Elizabeth Durham, a St. John’s junior, was a little more inventive, wearing
shimmering gossamer wings and a saarilike cloth draped over her long white
dress. ‘Honestly, I just threw it together
in 10 minutes,’ she said.” x
�44
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
One Less Car on the Block
Santa Fe Graduates Go Car-Free
aul Cooley (SF90, EC98)
and Laura Hunt Cooley
(SF92) were married in
1996 and live in Santa Fe.
Paul is a writer and an athome dad to Sadie, 4, and
Zebediah, 2. Laura is a librarian at the
Meem Library on the Santa Fe campus.
The two have been dedicated bicyclists
for many years, but last spring they reached
a point of no return: On May 5, 2005, they
sold their only car and committed themselves to getting around by bicycle, bus,
and other means. Here’s how they coped
with the first few days of the transition.
P
May 6
Laura: We are now officially car-free! We’d
been thinking about it for a while, but only
got serious whenever the car needed an
expensive repair. Usually this was in the
fall or winter, when it’s harder to get motivated to use the bike and bus to get around.
I’m extremely sensitive to the cold and
have to bundle up in crazy ways to stay
warm in the winter on my bike.
Once we had made the decision to sell
the car we had to figure out an asking price
for it. To us, it was no longer valuable–we
were through with it. In fact, it felt stupid
to sell it because we weren’t stopping it
from contributing to the sick automobile
culture in this country. We ended up
selling it to a girl who didn’t already have
another car, which was a relief.
The kids have started using the driveway
for their chalk art. We all started writing
each other little messages that we could see
john hartnett
Paul: The Saab sold yesterday. We priced it
at $4,200 based on its book value, but
knew a few things were not working well.
The prospective buyer took the car to the
dealer, and the cash value of the repairs
came to over $2,000. We settled on
$3,600, which seemed fair.
Getting rid of the car is not all about the
money, but the money is certainly one of
the things I focus on. Gas is almost $2 a
gallon and seems to be going up. The
repairs and constant maintenance are
irritating. There was a time when I
felt extra responsible, changing the
oil, rebuilding the engine. But now
it doesn’t seem to be that important to me—the cost and the waste
of oil and time are not repaid by
enjoyment of the vehicle. The cost
of insurance every six months
threw our financial balance off
kilter. I cancelled the insurance
this morning. The company is
sending back $140, and we will not
get billed again.
The empty driveway stirs up a
variety of emotions. There is something strange about it, in spite of
the fact we haven’t used the car for
over a month. I feel as if I am waiting for someone to come home.
The fact the driveway was built specifically
for cars, and now there is no car there,
makes it seem like an unneeded
appendage. I plan to go out there later in
the morning and do some chalk drawings
or something. I fantasize about building a
deck out there or putting out some lawn
furniture.
when we swung into the driveway on our
bikes. Today, Paul proudly wrote, “One
Less Car!”
May 7
Paul: Today there is a complicated situation with Sadie’s nursery: everyone is
going over to the big Waldorf school for
their Maypole and carnival. Laura has an
acupuncture appointment in the morning,
and I am supposed to help with a commuting workshop at the Runnels Building at
noon. One of the changes that we have
noticed now that the car is gone is a growing impatience with other people imposing
“running around” on us. It is certainly
possible to make it out to the school, but
we are irritated that we are expected to do
so. There are several possibilities: I can
bike Sadie and Zeb over, and Laura can
come join them after her appointment; we
can keep Sadie out and do something fun
with her; or we can take her car seat over to
the nursery and hope someone will give
Sadie a ride there and back. The first two
options are what we are considering.
With the children doing so well with the
bicycles, I am not as worried about feeling
trapped anymore. I don’t know if there will
come a time when they are too big for the
trailer and will not want to bicycle
as far on the tandems and triples.
We will deal with that when we
come to it. Perhaps we will use the
bus more often. Of course there
are always rentals, and I suspect
that we will rent a car a couple of
times a year. We will probably
need to in order to get to the airport for our trip to the beach, or
maybe we can use the Park and
Ride and spend the night in Albuquerque. I hope we can begin to
use the train more often. The airplane is the only transportation
Not having a car means keeping
the driveway free for playing.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�45
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
method less fuel-efficient than the private
automobile.
I hope that we never have to resort to
buying another car.
May 9
Paul: Yesterday, I ordered the Bike Friday
Family Triple bike. I think it is going to be
a good bike, but it is costing us quite a bit
of money, almost $700 over what we
received for the car. We are getting the
May 18
john hartnett
Laura: At first I felt a bit nervous about
not having a car. I didn’t really have any
good reasons—it was just unsettling. We
had heard, and answered, many of the
arguments against getting rid of the car
altogether. What if there’s a medical
emergency? Call an ambulance. What if
you’re in a hurry? It can’t be helped, even
with a car. What if you want to haul something big and heavy? Get a heavy-duty bike
trailer or rent a car for a day. What if you
want to go on a trip? Rent a car, or take
public transportation, trains, or planes.
I think what was behind most of my
unsettled feelings was the big step we had
just taken outside of mainstream culture.
We’re already a little outside mainstream
culture. We don’t own a television, dishwasher, clothes dryer, or microwave, and
we went to St. John’s College. But something about the car seemed so essential
to the American identity. And we were
abandoning it.
Now we have to think through each trip
to see if it is worth the effort. I like having
to be creative about how we’re going to get
places. I like the freedom of traveling outside the main stream of traffic. I like providing a respectable role model for my kids.
I’ve even stopped impulse-shopping at
thrift stores and yard sales. Now I wait until
there’s something I really need before I go
on a shopping trip.
The other day, Paul expressed exactly
how I felt about the car. He said he changes
his behavior when he catches himself doing
something that makes him feel like an
idiot. Like using the plastic produce bags
at the market, rather than some of the hundreds of bags we have stuffed in a drawer at
home. Once he reaches the idiot point, he
changes his behavior. I realized that the car
enabled me to do idiotic things—things for
which I could not summon any self-respect.
I was adding to pollution, road rage, the
economy of cheap plastic crap, and I was
getting no benefit from it.
The Cooleys found a better use for their
garage.
suitcases and trailer kit, so we will be able
to bike to the train station when we get to
that point in our lives. In the afternoon, we
bicycled out to Eldorado for a baby shower.
I wanted to mention that we sold the car,
but I was somewhat uncomfortable, almost
apologetic about it. Getting rid of the car is
a bold move, but if it works out, it is, in a
way, an indictment of others’ behavior.
And people are apologetic about their own
car use when I talk about getting rid of
ours. I suppose that’s a good thing, but I
wouldn’t want to lose any friends over our
decision.
Laura: Yesterday, Paul ordered us a triple
bike. We already own a tandem bike. Paul
rides on front and Sadie rides on back.
Together they haul Zeb in a bike trailer
that we refer to as “the Chariot.”
We now have nine bikes and one on
order. I have a backup in case mine needs
repair. We own three tandem bikes, two of
which we ride a lot. The first one we
bought has sentimental value (we got it for
each other as an anniversary present). Paul
has three bikes. He’s a collector at heart,
but he tries to ride all three. And we have a
kid trailer and a bike trailer for stuff (not
people).
Everyone seems to think Santa Fe is not
a safe town to bike in, mostly because there
isn’t a good trail system. Personally, I feel
safer on the roads. As long as I follow the
traffic rules and act predictably, I get to
flow easily with the traffic. I think Santa Fe
is a very bikeable town, only seven miles
across, and most rides within city limits
can easily be done in less than an hour.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Paul: It’s been almost two weeks since we
sold the car. I am working on a book on
being car-free, focusing more on the
difficult-to-describe social impacts of the
reliance on automobiles. Ivan Illich’s
Energy and Equity contains many of the
ideas I would like to focus on and which I
am still struggling to understand. He
speaks of the growth of time and space
scarcity as vehicles begin to pass 15 miles
per hour. He also points out that our
freedom to travel is restricted by industry
once we begin to rely on motor vehicles
and transportation engineers for our
means to get from one place to another.
We make a fundamental shift from travelers to consumers of transportation. Has
the ability of our intellect to wander over
vast and shifting fields of imagination
been influenced by the restriction of our
physical wandering to well-laid roads and
clear destinations?
Behrman’s The Man Who Loved Bicycles
captures some of the spirit of what I would
like to say. How can I express the freedom I
feel at not being restricted to driving when
so many people would look at the same
thing as a deprivation? We do have more
friends taking to their bicycles, if only for
short rides.
Laura: We just got back from an overnight
camping trip to Hyde Park. I never thought
I’d spend three hours riding up, hauling
kids and camping gear. It’s amazing to see
how my perspective is changing. It’s very
empowering to know that we can take our
family on a self-supported bike tour–even
one that includes mountains.
Lately, we’ve found ourselves drawn to
bike activist meetings, trying to get more
rights for bicyclists in our city. If we don’t
do it, who will?
Paul’s wondering again what to do with
the driveway. He’s mentioned digging up
the concrete and putting in a garden.
He’s talked about putting in a bike shed
for storage, or a bike rack to encourage
visitors to bike over. But for now, I’m
enjoying the new open space and the
satisfaction of one less car on the block. x
�46
{Alumni Association News}
From the Alumni
Association
President
Dear Alumni,
Exciting things
are happening
with the Alumni
Association and
for alumni
around the
world! Here is a
quick update on
what’s happening
in your Association these days.
It was great to spend time with friends
old and new at Homecoming in Santa Fe
the beginning of July. It is always intriguing to make connections with others who
share the passion for books and talk and to
see where their paths have led them since
they left the college. Consider joining us
next year to enjoy seminar, sun, and
Association
Honors Three at
Homecoming
A New Mexico educator who brought the
Socratic method of teaching to many schools
was honored with an Award of Merit, and a
retired faculty member and staff member in
Santa Fe joined the ranks of Honorary
Alumni during Homecoming 2004.
Michael Strong (SF84) received his merit
award during the Homecoming banquet July
3. Strong is the author of The Habit of
Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic
Practice, the definitive account of how to
implement Paedeia, a teaching approach
emphasizing Socratic questioning, academic
coaching,and interactive learning.
Strong is the former director of Moreno
Valley High School in Angel Fire, N.M.,
a charter school. Over the years, he has
worked as a Paideia/Socratic Seminar
consultant for dozens of schools and organizations. He has worked with the Alaska
sunsets that grace the campus! Though I
wasn’t able to attend the Summer Alumni
Programs this year, I understand that they
were stimulating and satisfying. Art,
music, philosophy, and fun—what more
can one ask?
The annual Alumni Art Fair was a raging
success thanks to Santa Fe staff member
Maggie Magalnick and Liz Jenny (SF80).
The range and quality of the work were
amazing. As a bonus for alumni, the
college hosted a special breakfast for the
artists with a presentation by an art consultant about how to build and maintain
their passion for art as a business.
We are planning again this year to host
a picnic and reception for incoming freshmen in Santa Fe in August. We introduced
this event last year. It welcomes new
students into the SJC community, gives
local alumni an opportunity to meet new
alumni-to-be, and begins the bond-building process that is part of every Johnnie’s
experience.
Another new event was added to the
alumni calendar last year when seniors on
the Santa Fe campus invited alumni to join
them for Fasching Ball. For you Easterners,
this is a celebration that takes place in February. Istvan Fehevary, long-time friend
and director of the Student Activities office
in Santa Fe, brought this tradition to the
college from his native Hungary. The party
gave another opportunity for students and
alumni to get to know each other, practice
their dancing prowess, and raise a glass in
farewell to the long days of February.
Of course the Alumni Association Board
continues to pursue the more serious and
business-like aspects of our work. We’re
updating our operating resolutions to
reflect changes in technology, policy, and
practice. We recognize members of the
community with prizes and awards. We
select members for work on the Board of
Visitors and Governors, and we explore
new and interesting ways to help alumni
stay connected to each other and to the
college.
If you have suggestions, questions, or
requests, please feel free to give me a call
or drop me an email. Until then . . . see you
at seminar!
Paideia Project, and served as the director
for the Center for Socratic Practice at the
Judson Montessori School in San Antonio,
Texas, as the founding headmaster of The
Winston Academy in Fort Lauderdale, and
as the founding director of Middle School
Programs for the Early Learning Institute in
Palo Alto, Calif. He attended Harvard University in addition to St. John’s College and
earned his master’s degree in Social
Thought from the University of Chicago.
Glenn Freitas, who retired in 2003,
touched the lives of many members of the
St. John’s College community in his 34 years
of service to the college.
Freitas attended St. Mary’s College in
California and received his undergraduate
degree in classical languages, a Th.L. in
theology from Laval Universite in Quebec,
and another licentiate in sacred scripture
from The French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem.
Ginger Roherty, who recently retired as
director of the Annual Fund in Santa Fe, was
a devoted member of the St. John’s College
community from 1989-2004, one noted for
her warmth, energy, and skill. She shepherded the Library and Fine Arts Guild into
a healthy membership, with more than
400 participants. She also nurtured the
growth of the Philos Society and its seminar
program, “Inviting Conversations.” x
Merit award recipient Michael Strong
(SF84) has devoted his career to
bringing the Socratic method to
education.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
Glenda Eoyang
�47
{Alumni Association News}
Passion
for Proust
by Kevin R. Johnson (A93)
At a bookstore, I saw a posting for a reading
group. This gave me a romantic idea. If I put
up a posting to read all of Proust’s In Search
of Lost Time, perhaps I could find a mate. I
never carried out this absurd plan, but it
would sometimes haunt me. And so, when
Jason Bielagus (SF98) proposed that our
local alumni should create a group to read
the magnum opus, it seemed fate was knocking at my door. I was more than eager to
answer. Little did I know that one of Proust’s
central objectives was a comprehensive
critique of the romantic imagination.
The pace that Jason set for the readings
was harrowing. He wisely considered the
importance of finishing before we had forgotten the beginning, and relentlessly held us to
our schedule. We had to find time to read
several hundred pages of dense prose every
three weeks. Casualties were heavy for even
the second and third seminars. By the end of
the second volume (of six, in my edition), we
were left with a hardy band whose passion for
Proust alone could have given the stamina to
withstand the pace of our schedule.
None of them were single contemporaries,
and Proust was delivering devastating blows
to my romantic sensibility. My hopes had
been dashed completely. Or had they? On
the train one morning, I looked across to see
an attractive woman who was also reading
Proust. It turned out that she was leading a
discussion of the first volume at the Boston
Athenaeum, a private library of which I am
a member. Unfortunately, none of these
synchronicities could outweigh her sour
personality, which became apparent all too
quickly. Now, even my resurrected hope had
been dashed to the ground.
CHAPTER CONTACTS
Call the alumni listed below for information
about chapter, reading group, or other alumni
activities in each area.
ALBUQUERQUE
Bob & Vicki Morgan
505-275-9012
BALTIMORE
Deborah Cohen
410-472-9158
ANNAPOLIS
Beth Martin Gammon
410-280-0958
BOSTON
Ginger Kenney
617-964-4794
AUSTIN
John Strange
210-392-5506
Bev Angel
512-926-7808
CHICAGO
Amanda Richards
847-705-1143
I attended the Athenaeum discussion, but
it only served to give me greater gratitude
for the company of my fellow alums on my
journey through Proust. These were people
who knew how to talk about books. The fellowship of these companions proved to be
just as enriching as the book itself. Through
our dialogue about Proust, we came to know
each other well, and I think dearly. And, of
course, we came to know Proust very well and
very dearly.
We emerged from the seminars as different
people. We had absorbed to some extent the
world that a great genius had created and
lived. New images and themes had woven
themselves into the tapestry of our inner
lives. My own romantic life would never be as
innocent as before; I would suffer less as a
consequence. The time had been well spent,
but it was lost. Writing this has won back
some of the experience from the shady realm
of oblivion. If I ever read Proust again, these
10 months of my life will be evoked and live
again. Proust’s memories had become mine,
and a time in my life will forever be linked
with In Search of Lost Time. x
The intrepid members of the Proust
Reading Group began their journey on
February 17 2003, and, meeting once or
twice a month, completed their discussions
of the work on December 14, 2003. They
met in January 2004 to view and discuss
Time Regained, a film based on the final
installment of Proust’s masterpiece.
“Johnnies are attracted to Proust not
only because of what he talks about, his
choice of themes and books, but also
because of the way he talks,” says Jason
Bielagus(SF98). “Proust states the Johnnie
appetite for articulating ideas. Proust’s
language is superlatively articulate and
DALLAS/FORT
WORTH
Suzanne Lexy Bartlette
817-721-9112
DENVER/BOULDER
Lee Goldstein
720-746-1496
MINNEAPOLIS/
ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman
612-822-3216
NEW YORK
Daniel Van Doren
914-949-6811
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 Alumni Association news
and events of interest.
President – Glenda Eoyang, SF76
Vice President – Jason Walsh, A85
Secretary –Barbara Lauer, SF76
Treasurer – Bill Fant, A79
Getting-the-Word-Out Action Team Chair –
Linda Stabler-Talty, SFGI76
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.
precise. There is little that is vague and
ambiguous. A common seminar question is
something along the lines of, ‘Could you
clarify that?’ or ‘What do you mean by
that?’ Proust obviates those questions;
he anticipates them and addresses them
without needing to be asked.”
Bielagus had tried to read the work on
his own, but “there was too much to keep
up with. In the group, each person naturally gravitated to one theme, so when we
met, each could share his observations on
the theme he tended to follow. Our discussions were like culling the fruit of several
reads of the text.”
NORTHERN CALIF.
Suzanne Vito
510-527-4309
SANTA FE
Richard Cowles
505-986-1814
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Jean Dickason
301-699-6207
PHILADELPHIA
Bart Kaplan
215-465-0244
SEATTLE
Amina Brandt
206-465-7781
PITTSBURGH
Joanne Murray
724-325-4151
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
Elizabeth Eastman
562-426-1934
WESTERN NEW
ENGLAND
Julia Ward
413-648-0064
PORTLAND
Dale Mortimer
360-882-9058
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico
619-423-4972
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
TRIANGLE CIRCLE
(NC)
Susan Eversole
919-968-4856
ISRAEL
Emi Geiger Leslau
15 Aminadav Street
Jerusalem 93549
Israel
9-722-671-7608
boazl@cc.huji.ac.il
�{St. John’s Forever}
st. john’s college archives/greenfield library
48
An Accidental
Architect
O
ne of the most important
men in the modern history
of St. John’s College was
also one of the preeminent
figure of 20th-century
architecture.
John Gaw Meem was born to missionary
parents in Brazil, earned an engineering
degree at Virginia Military Institute, then
went to New York to work for his uncle’s
construction company. After World War I,
during which he served as an army captain,
Meem choose a career in international
banking. He had just begun a new job when
he developed tuberculosis, and to regain
his health, went to the Sunmount Sanatorium in Santa Fe. His interest in architecture
and the culture of the Southwest was
kindled during the five years he spent at
the sanatorium, and after he recovered,
he took a job with the Denver architecture
firm of Fisher & Fisher. From 1924—when
he designed a home for a fellow patient at
the sanatorium—until his retirement in
1959, Meem was one of the most influential architects of the West. He was credited
with creating the Territorial Revival
style of architecture. In addition to his
professional accomplishments, he was a
civic leader in Santa Fe and a major figure
in the preservation of the city’s historic
architecture.
The idea for an expansion campus of
St. John’s initially came from a citizens’
group in Monterey, Calif., but though the
interest was there, the funding was not.
In 1960, then-president Richard Weigle
was corresponding with California backers
when a group of Santa Fe citizens came
forward to make their bid for the college.
Meem and his wife, Faith, donated
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
John Gaw Meem (left), shown with thenpresident Richard Weigle and shaking
hands with former assistant to the
president William Hooton, was a founding benefactor of the Santa Fe campus.
His gift of 225 acres of land made the
founding of the campus possible.
225 acres northeast of their home for
the college. Meem later assisted with his
successor firm, Holien & Buckley, on
the design of the college.
In Facing Southwest: The Life and
Houses of John Gaw Meem, the architect
is described as someone that any Johnnie
would welcome at the seminar table:
“Meem knew how to ask questions and
then be quiet and listen, how to identify
common interests, and how to allow
imaginations and enthusiasms to mingle.”
In 1990, the college named its newly
completed library in Santa Fe for Faith and
John Gaw Meem. x
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
Clockwise top: PARALLEL UNIVERSE, by Betsy Williams, SF87; REDUCTION, by Donna Loraine
Contractor, SF82; SILVER BARK BROOCH, by Nancy Kahn DeMulder, SF80.
Santa Fe
Alumni Art Show A Success
Whitewater Rafting Trip
June (details on date and location pending)
This year’s Alumni Art Show featured
paintings, drawings, photographs,
sculpture, jewelry, video, textiles, and
glasswork from 22 Santa Fe and Annapolis
alumni. Opening over Homecoming
Weekend July 3, the show was on display in
the college’s Fine Arts Gallery through
August 30. In addition this year, the
Alumni Association Board’s Events Action
Team sponsored a breakfast and meeting
for alumni artists seeking some guidance in
Homecoming 2005
Friday July 1-Sunday July 3, 2005
Join the classes of: 1970, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95,
and 2000, celebrating their reunions, at
Santa Fe this summer.
Summer Alumni Program
July 4-8
A special Eastern Classics Alumni Seminar
week will be offered with two additional
seminars.
turning their art into a business. Geoffrey
Gorman, from Advisory Services for
Artists, offered a presentation on how to
put together a professional portfolio and
how to approach commercial galleries.
Interested in including your work in next
year’s show? Contact Maggie Magalnick in
Santa Fe: Maggie.magalnick@sjcsf.edu
Annapolis
Third Annual Alumni/Student
Networking Reception
Sunday, November 21, 4-7 pm.
Check the Alumni section of the Web site for
updated calendar information.
Back cover: Photo by Peter Howard, 1998
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }
�P ERIODICALS
P OSTAGE PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , M ARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
�
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The
College
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Jane Austen
a n d t h e L i v e s o f Wo m e n
F a l l
2 0 0 6
�On Jane Austen
J
ane Austen’s novels offer a glimpse into a world that seems tremendously
appealing to those of us vexed with modern society. No one seems to have
time to talk today, unless it’s into a cell phone, and that’s only when the iPod
or Blackberry aren’t in use. Long, aimless walks through the countryside and
afternoons spent sitting in a sunny parlor, catching up on the village gossip,
can’t compete with high-definition television and HBO. In Jane Austen’s
world, there was always time for writing letters, playing music, lingering over
a lavish midday meal, and reading (assuming one’s family could afford to
maintain a library).
Of course, there was a serious downside to this gentle lifestyle: young, unmarried
women without fortune or connections could find themselves—as Jane Austen did—
entirely dependent on the generosity of family. Like Marianne and Elinor in Sense and
Sensibility, she knew what it was like to leave a beloved home to make way for a male
relative. She was whisked away to Bath, just as Anne Elliot in Persuasion, and like
Anne, she learned to make the family budget stretch. As the Bennet girls did, she knew
well what it meant to have dim prospects for a good marriage.
But unlike her poorer heroines, Jane Austen had a marketable skill. She began
writing fiction as a teenager and stopped only when her final illness forced her to put
down her pen. A shrewd observer of human nature, she wrote both from a burning
desire to tell stories and from economic necessity. She never made a fortune from the
novels published in her lifetime—Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility together
brought in only £250—but she was pleased and proud to have made her own money.
Most of what we know about Austen comes from her letters, though only 160 survive
from the thousands she wrote. Her sister, Cassandra, censored everything that spoke
to illness, unhappiness, and misfortune. The seventh of eight children, Jane was born
in 1775 to the Rev. George Austen and Cassandra Leigh. George had a modest living
as rector of the church at Steventon, and Jane’s early childhood was happy and
stimulating. With only a few years of formal schooling, she read books in her father’s
library—everything from Samuel Johnson to gothic novels and burlesque plays.
Austen’s life was not without trial: a cousin’s husband went to the guillotine,
a sister-in-law died young, an aunt was tried on shoplifting charges. Her life was also
not without romance and suitors; she greatly enjoyed flirting and dancing at balls.
She was even engaged for one night, but apparently thought better of it in the morning.
She became a doting aunt to her many nieces and nephews, and spent the latter part of
her life living quietly in a cottage at Chawton, the estate of her brother, Edward Austen
Knight. She died in 1817, attended to by her beloved sister, and was buried in
Winchester Cathedral.
Readers respond to Jane Austen because her characters are so richly drawn, her plots
so satisfying, and her language so elegant, witty, and precise. We get a glimpse into a
long-ago society but we know people like Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine de Bourgh;
we can laugh at Austen’s silly and misguided characters because we see our own flaws
reflected in them. In this issue of The College, our contributors consider Austen’s
women, from spinster Anne to orphan Fanny, examining what these enduring
characters say about human nature, society, and the life of women.
—RH
The College (usps 018-750)
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
Emily DeBusk,
assistant editor
Jennifer Behrens, art director
Annapolis
410-626-2539
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
Contributors
Eva Brann (HA57)
Roberta Gable (A78)
Barbara Goyette (A73)
Ruth Johnston (A85)
Tilar Mazzeo (SF93)
Rhonda Ortiz (A05)
Namara Smith (SF07)
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�Fa l l 2 0 0 6
Vo l u m e 3 2 , I s s u e 3
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
8
Philosophy and War
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
from the bell towers
•
Febbies: The End of an Era
Annapolis Cannon Set Straight
A Living Shoreline
The Kindness of a Stranger
Santa Fe’s Extreme Makeover
A Home for the GI in Santa Fe
News, Announcements, Honors
Commencement speakers Judith Seeger
and David Levine (A67) talked of ties that
bind Johnnies.
28
letters
Bibliofile
12
For the Students
37
Sustaining the college’s need-based
financial aid program is a top priority of
the college’s $125 million capital
campaign.
36 Kevin Ross (AGI97) leads
•
Santa Fe Tutor James Carey (class of
1967) shares great books and great ideas
with future Air Force officers.
10
A Celebration of
Community
•
•
•
•
page
•
page 10
From the Bible to baseball: a
compendium of alumni books.
alumni notes
page
P RO F I L E S
32 Marcus Eubanks (A88) thrives in
emergency medicine.
18
The Lives of Women
Lynn University.
39 Richard Field (SFGI98) gets high school
students hooked on classics.
page 12
41 Game show success for
page
Celeste DiNucci (A87)
43
The women of Jane Austen’s world
speak to human qualities we can all
relate to, particularly the need to find
love and happiness.
Remembering Brother Robert Smith
46
48
29
Homecoming
page
Were members of the Santa Fe Class of
1976 the last of the rebels?
Obituaries
page 18
on the cover
Jane Austen
Illustration by David Johnson
alumni association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
A Farewell to Febbies
Special Bonds, Lasting Memories
hardships that Febbies
encounter, particularly in the
abbreviated summer session;
and the camaraderie and
conflicts that develop when a
small group of students spend a
lot of time together, in the same
dormitory, at the same Dining
Hall table, and in the same
classes.
In September, the Febbies
who stayed at St. John’s melted
into the sophomore class,
getting to know more students
and likely seeing less of each
other. But they will be distinguished as Febbies until the
day they receive their diplomas,
and then at Homecoming
gatherings in Annapolis for
years to come.
Elizabeth Burlington, a student
aide in the St. John’s College
communications office, interviewed each member of the Class
of 2009 Febbies, slated to be the
last class enrolled in January on
the Annapolis campus. The
college first began enrolling
freshmen in the middle of the
academic year in the 1960s.
The January Freshman program
will continue in Santa Fe.
Several weeks into their
“Febbie Summer,” the final
17 students to enroll in January
in Annapolis as freshmen were
busy writing freshman essays.
But in the heat of a June afternoon, the entire Febbie class—
the campus virtually their own,
since summer Graduate
Institute students had not yet
arrived—congregated around
one small table on the Quad.
“After seminar I feel good,”
said Michael Cooney, who, at
21, is a bit older than his fellow
Febbies. “I feel like the Yin and
the Yang.” Sitting next to him,
Patrick Jones, who skipped his
last two years of high school and
attended the University of
Maryland for a semester to ease
into college, laughed at his
friend’s remark. “That’s
absolutely right, Mr. Cooney.”
Febbies from years gone by
cherish the closeness that
Febbie summer promotes.
What appears to be a period of
isolation to outsiders translates
into an unusual bonding
experience to those who
participate in it.
Among other things, the
students talked about experiences spent at other colleges;
“I really like great books,
but Columbia University’s
great books program was really
disappointing. All the teachers
were grad students. That wasn’t
my type of environment, so I
just packed it up and came
here.” Wynn Hedlesky
On difficulties of the
Febbie year:
“Finding time to sleep.” Kelvin
Chung
“Having to do 16 weeks’ worth
of work in 10.” Mallory Gill
“Not getting time off to write
our freshman essays.” Timothy
Brisnehan
On seminars:
“After seminar, usually people
are mad or they are very happy.
Usually the ones that are happy
are the ones that everyone else
is mad at.” Sara Luell
“After seminar I feel like we
have exercised our intellects in
the class, and that we are still
feeling the burn.” Patrick Jones
“We are actually more energetic
after seminar, even compared to
the seminars in the first
semester. We seem to be a lot
more interested in the things
we’re reading, and of course,
there’s a lot that we don’t get to
say during seminar that needs
expounding afterward. With the
tutors coming to our Febbie
Snack afterward, there are a lot
of fruitful discussions.”
Kelvin Chung
alex lorman
Annapolis’ Febbies cut loose in
Spector Hall after seminar
last summer. The practice of
enrolling January freshmen
has ended in Annapolis, but
will continue in Santa Fe.
On choosing St. John’s:
“Once I knew what the Program
was all about I didn’t want to go
any where else.” Rian Thune
“I wanted to read every book on
the reading list, and I knew that
they were too difficult to understand on my own. Before this,
I graduated from community
college in Georgia.” Jesse
Shearer
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
“I have difficulty doing my
Greek and sleeping.” Sara Luell
“Socially, I feel like we were
isolated from the other
freshmen.” Jody Whelan
On being a Febbie:
“I feel like being a Febbie has
made me a different student
than I would have been if I
would have come here in the
fall. I feel special.” Sara Luell
“We absolutely do share a bond
with each other, more than the
regular August freshman.”
Kelvin Chung
“I was glad I was a Febbie. I like
the peace and quiet here in the
summer time.” Steffanie
Peterson x
�{From the Bell Towers}
3
victoria smith
Henry Robert, class of 1941,
nodded with satisfaction as two
welders from the McShane Bell
Foundry set to the task of
righting a wrong. For 40-odd
years, the cannon mounted
between Pinkney and
McDowell halls has been a
source of irritation to
Mr. Robert, who spent a
year in the old program before
becoming one of the few
St. John’s students to start
again in the new.
This cannon “of the type
used in the defense of
Baltimore in the War of 1812,”
according to a plaque attached
to the barrel, was presented to
St. John’s College by the local
chapter of the D.A.R. and the
National Star-Spangled Banner
Centennial Commission on
September 14, 1914. The
plaque celebrated the college
as alma mater to Francis Scott
Key and suggested that it may
have been fired in the war
that was the subject of his
celebrated anthem, “The StarSpangled Banner.”
When Mr. Robert was a
student, the cannon sat as it
should: level, pointing straight
ahead to College Avenue.
Over time, St. John’s students
wiggled the cannon in its
mounting, and it eventually
rusted into a position about
45 degrees from horizontal—
historically inaccurate, and, to
Mr. Robert’s eye, ridiculously
impractical. “If a shot were
fired in that direction, it would
fall helplessly before ever
reaching its target,” Mr. Robert
remarked.
Last year, Mr. Robert gave a
donation to the college to
remount the cannon and to
spruce it up. In September, a
much improved, shinier
cannon was returned to the
college by conservators of the
alfred eisenstaedt
The Cannon:
Battle-Ready at Last
Maryland Archaeological
Conservation Laboratory at
Jefferson Patterson Park and
Museum.
The cannon’s original
exterior was lost long ago, to
time and the salt water of
Baltimore Harbor, where it
was submerged for untold years
before a dredging project
uncovered it. The inner surface
is heavily pitted and had rusted
over the years. Conservator
Donna Smith air-abraded the
surface, applied a corrosive
inhibitor, painted it with black
Rustoleum paint, and covered
it with a liberal coat of Bowling
Alley Butcher’s Wax. McShane
workers re-aligned the brackets
and re-tapped the bolt holes in
the journals in order for the
new trunnion collars to fit
securely into the mount, then
they spot-welded it in place.
This should keep future
Johnnies from developing
“the devilish notion” to try to
Henry Robert, class of 1941,
was on hand in September to
see the cannon remounted.
Mr. Robert underwrote the
cost for the restoration and
remounting of the cannon.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
The cannon, as it was in Henry
Robert’s days as a Johnnie.
This famous St. John’s photo,
by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was
taken for LIFE magazine in the
1940s.
wiggle the cannon, says
Mr. Robert.
As for the cannon’s role
in the War of 1812, that’s
doubtful, says Howard
Wellman, lead conservator for
the Maryland Historical Trust.
It’s too small to have been used
on a battleship or in a fort, and
was more likely mounted on a
merchant ship for defense
against pirates. It could even
have been mounted on a
British ship.
Mr. Robert has fond
memories of the cannon, even
though he recalls taking part in
the hazing ritual that employed
the artifact. “Shooting from
the cannon” required “rats”
(freshmen) to run from the
cannon to College Avenue
through a gauntlet of beltwielding upperclassmen who
would try to strike the men as
they ran by. “I ran fast,”
Mr. Robert recalls with a smile.
“It wasn’t so bad.” x
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
alex lorman
This fall, St. John’s students
returned to a dramatically
transformed shoreline along
College Creek, one intended to
nurture a healthier and more
diverse variety of plant and
animal life. Along the shoreline,
which was once a bulkheaded
seawall, there is now a sloping,
ecologically restored wetland
protected from erosion with
bio-logs and native species of
marsh grass. The 885-foot
shoreline restoration,
completed this summer, is one
of the largest projects of its kind
along the Chesapeake Bay. It
also showcases St. John’s role as
environmental citizen,
educator, and partner with
regional environmental
organizations.
A volunteer corps including
students and local residents
(many of them Chesapeake Bay
Foundation members) provided
several work days to help
restore the area to a more
natural state, thanks to support
from several foundations. The
Chesapeake Bay Foundation is
alex lorman
A Living
Shoreline
Last summer, thanks to student and community volunteers, the hardened bulkhead along College
Creek was removed and the shoreline was restored to a natural marsh.
pleased that the college is
“leading by example,” says
Ron Schnabel, one of the CBF
staff members who have
donated time and expertise
to the project.
The College
Creek shoreline
is an ideal site for
ecological
restoration
because of
minimal boat
traffic, currents,
wind, and wave
action, according
to Don Jackson,
St. John’s
director of
operations. The
creek has long
been a resource
for Johnnies in
Tutor Nick
Maistrellis
donned waders
to help plant
natural grasses
along the shoreline.
freshman lab. “We’ve known
since the late 1960s how
valuable the marsh is,” says
Jackson, who worked in environmental conservation before
joining the college. “However,
support and funding for the
project were bolstered by development of new techniques for
successfully restoring them.”
The bulkhead was installed
on College Creek about 50 years
ago to keep harmful sediment
from reaching the Chesapeake
Bay. “Up until the late 1960s,
the ecological value of marshes
and wetlands were not well
understood, and they were often
thought of as insect breeding
grounds,” explains Jackson.
“As a result, bulkheading was
often installed along the shoreline and back-filled with earth
to create more useable land.”
In the past 10 years there
has been an environmental
movement to curb erosion and
look for ways to stabilize the
shoreline without using
bulkhead and rip-rap.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Seven years ago the shoreline
restoration was begun as a pilot
project to restore 125 feet
between the Hodson Boathouse
and King George Street.
The project involved grading
the shoreline to a natural slope
and planting native species,
such as spartina, bayberry, and
bulrush on a prepared planting
terrace constructed on sand and
dirt fill imported to the site.
Planning and design for the
second phase of the project
began two years ago, thanks to a
$200,000 challenge grant from
the Arthur Vining Davis
Foundations. This past spring
the college received the funding
to match it, and in June began
restoring the remaining
760 feet of structural bulkhead.
Contributors and partners
include the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, the Chesapeake
Bay Trust, the Maryland
Department of the Environment, FishAmerica Foundation,
and the Vernal W. and Florence
H. Bates Foundation. x
�{From the Bell Towers}
The
Kindness of
a Stranger
offer. Cooper, after an injuryshortened career in the Army
and a disappointing experience at American University in
Washington, D.C., had found
St. John’s again, many years
after a high school teacher
recommended the college.
She visited the Santa Fe
campus. “After sitting in on a
seminar on Aristotle, I was
sold,” she says.
Cooper arranged a time to
pick up the books; just as
welcome as the gift was the
chance to visit with a Johnnie
and talk about the Program.
“Christine told me junior year
was the hardest, and said to
take advantage to learn things
Lauren Cooper, a freshman
from the Denver area, had
fewer Program books to buy
this year, thanks to Christine
Robinson (A90) of San
Francisco. Robinson is quick
to point out that her act of
generosity was inspired by a
Johnnie who came before her.
In Robinson’s case, the
inspiration was Mike Van
Beuren (A75), a former housemate in Annapolis who gave
all his books to the St. John’s
library when Robinson was
a student.
Since she graduated from
the college, Robinson has
embraced many careers:
tourism, advertising sales, and
working for a labor union trust
fund. She finished her MBA,
immersed herself in the study
of foreign languages, lived in
Paris for a year, and became a
student of the tango.
She was expecting to spend a
few years traveling in South
America, but her mother’s
failing health meant a detour
to Denver to clean out her
mother’s home in preparation
for a move to an assisted living
facility. “I thought I could ship
all these books back to
California and put them in a
storage unit, but that didn’t
really make sense,” she says.
“I wanted to get them back in
circulation.”
Robinson contacted the
college, and Roberta Gable
(A78), associate director of
admissions, alerted Denverarea freshmen to Robinson’s
Lauren Cooper (A10)
chelsea stiegman
Above, Christine Robinson of
San Francisco decided a new
Johnnie should have her
Program books; right,
Annapolis freshman Lauren
Cooper makes room on her
dorm room bookshelf.
“After sitting in
on a seminar on
Aristotle, I was
sold.”
outside the
curriculum.”
Robinson’s fondness
for the Program just
made Cooper more
eager for the start of
the semester.
Her new books—
almost two-thirds of
the Program works—
were in very good
shape. She took away
two Iliads, one in
English and one in
Greek, and some
books that seem brand
new. She enjoys the
notes written in some
of the margins. “Her
giving the books was
representative of a
generation of ideas
and thoughts. I was so pleased
that an alum cared enough to
do this,” Cooper says.
Robinson couldn’t part with
Fear and Trembling, Euclid’s
Elements, or her volumes of
French poetry. But she knows
most of the other books she’d
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
5
like to revisit are online. And
she likes the idea of her books
making another trip to
Annapolis. “They’re going to
be there, in seminar,” she says.
“It gives me a connection to
the college now.” x
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
“I Just Kept Coming Back”
Gratitude Prompts a $5 Million Gift for a Santa Fe GI Center
An alumnus of the Graduate Institute in Santa Fe has made a
$5 million gift to fund construction of a center for the college’s
two graduate programs on the campus. Dr. Norman Levan
(SFGI74) of Bakersfield, Calif., made his gift in gratitude for
the intellectual enrichment he gained through the graduate
program.
“The Graduate Institute changed my life,” Dr. Levan said
when the gift was announced July 28 as part of the opening
celebration for “With a Clear and Single Purpose”: The
Campaign for St. John’s College. “It was an amazing experience
for me, and I’m grateful that this program exists.”
The Norman and Betty Levan Hall will be home to the
college’s two graduate programs: the Master of Arts in Liberal
Arts and the Master of Arts in Eastern Classics. The building will
house classrooms, faculty offices, and common space for graduate students, and will be situated between Weigle Hall and the
Fine Arts Building. The building will also be dedicated to the
memory of Dr. Levan’s late wife, Betty, who enjoyed visiting
Santa Fe each summer while Dr. Levan was a student.
Building a home for the GI, established in 1967 in Santa Fe, is
among the top priorities of the campaign for the college’s
western campus, says Santa Fe President Michael Peters. Design
for the building is underway and the college hopes to break
Extreme Makeover
For several months last summer, members of the Santa Fe campus
community were detouring around work crews and barricades
while the Campus Core Renovation project was under way.
The inconvenience proved well worth it when the project was
completed in mid-September. More than 105,000 bricks were laid
from Peterson Student Center to Santa Fe Hall, replacing the
concrete pavement. The koi pond was given a new waterfall and
additional lighting. New teak benches, tables, and trash cans
have been installed throughout the area, along with an
additional 14 light fixtures and two ramps installed to provide
additional accessibility for the disabled. The improvements
were part of the $2 million Santa Fe Initiative.
Santa Fe President Michael Peters and Dr. Norman Levan
(SFGI74).
ground for the project in the next few months, he says.
“We are exceptionally pleased that an alumnus had such a good
experience in the Graduate Institute that he wants to help the
college build a permanent home for the institute,” he says.
Dr. Levan is professor emeritus and former chief of
dermatology at his alma mater, the University of Southern
California School of Medicine (class of 1939). He has enjoyed a
long and distinguished career in medicine. He established the
Hansen’s Disease Clinic at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical
Center in 1962 at the request of state and federal health officials.
At age 90, he still spends one day a week seeing patients in his
dermatology practice.
He came to the GI in the middle of his thriving medical career
at the suggestion of a colleague who had found the experience
intellectually invigorating. In Santa Fe, Dr. Levan found a
learning community united by a common love of books and
ideas, one that welcomed students of all ages. In those days, he
said, most of the GI students were classroom teachers who were
passionate about improving education. His favorite reading
included Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War and de
Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.
“I thought I would come for just one summer,” he says.
“Then I just kept coming back. It was a turning point in my life:
being able to read the original texts, being part of a community,
experiencing a faculty so different from ours at USC.”
Santa Fe GI Director Krishnan Venkatesh said students,
faculty, and alumni have been touched by Dr. Levan’s gift.
“This is a magnificent expression of generosity,” Mr. Venkatesh
says. “This building will give the Graduate Institute a respected
central place on campus, a permanent home.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�7
{From the Bell Towers}
News and Announcements
Annapolis tutor EVA BRANN has
been selected to receive the
Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal of
the Yale Graduate School
Alumni Association. Miss
Brann was scheduled to be feted
at an October 12 gala dinner
and awards ceremony in New
Haven. The Wilbur Lucius
Cross Medal is an honor
presented each year by the
Graduate School Alumni
Association to a small number
of outstanding alumni.
The medal recognizes distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic
administration, and public
service.
Appointments
JON ENRIQUEZ has been named
Registrar in Annapolis.
Mr. Enriquez holds a Ph.D. in
History and an A.B. in American Studies from Georgetown
University, and an M.A. in
American Civilization from the
University of Pennsylvania.
Most recently, he has served
as Registrar and Associate
Dean of Academic Affairs and
Director of Institutional
Research at Hanover College
in Indiana.
Still Changing Lives
St. John’s College is included as
one of only 40 distinct colleges
in the United States that “excel
at developing potential, values,
initiative and risk-taking in a
wide range of students,”
according to a new edition of a
college guidebook. St. John's
“is a school that inspires self
confidence, that makes its
students believe they can do
anything,” writes author Loren
Pope in a new version of
Colleges That Change Lives:
40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think About
College.
Pope refers to St. John’s as
one of the “four most intellectual (and indispensable)
colleges in the country.”
Scholarship Winner
ERICA NAONE (A05) was one of
only 77 students chosen nationwide to receive a scholarship
from the Jack Kent Cooke
Foundation Graduate Program.
The scholarship supports
students who “have a strong
appreciation for the arts,
financial need, strong academic
skills, leadership, and a desire
to contribute to society.”
Erica Naone (A05), Jack Kent
Cooke scholarship winner
Combining her love for math
and science and her talent for
writing, Naone is currently
enrolled in the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s
graduate program in science
writing. x
{Letters}
Greatness in a Twilight
World
There is a small error of fact in
your obituary for tutor Thomas
McDonald [Winter 2006], the
correcting of which will allow
me to add my own minor tribute
to that great tutor.
The obituary stated that
Mr. McDonald had a sabbatical
year in Germany, 1976-77.
However, that was the first year I
knew him at St. John’s in Santa
Fe. He arrived in the fall of 1976
with his wife and his painful
ailment, medication for which
made it impossible for him to
teach in the mornings.
Our section of junior French
was scheduled to meet twice a
week at 2:30 p.m., with the third
meeting scheduled for
Wednesday at 9 a.m. He told us
at our first class that he couldn’t
meet so early on Wednesday,
and asked if we could find an
alternate time agreeable to
everyone. When this proved
impossible, we got our first
glimpse of his characteristic
humor: “How about 2 a.m.? I’m
not doing anything then!”
It was a romp of a French
class. A wrong answer would be
met by a swift hand reaching
under the table to push a buzzer,
sending an imaginary electrical
current to the erring student.
From time to time he would
rise, slowly, painfully, to put
something on the blackboard.
We wondered if he would make
it. Passing him on the Placita,
we might ask that question
seldom meant seriously: “How
are you?” His answer once was,
“50-50,” as he bent down,
turning his hand from side to
side, “comme ci, comme ça.”
He was smiling. It was in that
French class that we memorized
poems. Two of them, to be
precise. “Mr. Austin,” he began
class one day, “tell us about your
youth.” Ma jeunesse ne fut qu’un
ténébreux orage, I butchered on,
vowels, consonants falling dead
all around me. While he was
serious about the work of
language, he also had a light
hand with the serious things. I
remember the joy of listening to
him read to us Borges’ story
about the Minotaur.
My recollection is that
Mr. McDonald did not participate in academic processions,
on account of—I was told—his
never having completed an
academic degree. I asked him
about that once, and he said
something about obtaining a
degree being an impediment to
his education. Again, a smile.
Some nine members of the
class of 1978 were present at our
tenth reunion. There we were,
at a picnic table, wondering
what it was that we had in
common. The answer came: we
were all in that junior French
tutorial with Mr. McDonald. As
we began sharing his jokes and
mannerisms, we recalled how he
bore his burdens lightly and
showed us the joy of touching
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
greatness even in a twilight
world.
—Victor Austin, SF78
Correction: In the article, “Out
of Africa: Journalist Lydia
Polgreen (A97)” (Spring 2006
issue), Lydia Polgreen’s mother
is incorrectly listed as Pamela.
Rahel Polgreen is Lydia’s
mother; Pamela Polgreen is the
second wife of Lydia’s father,
John Polgreen (SF71).
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 also be sent via
e-mail to: rosemary.harty@
sjca.edu.
�8
{The Tutors}
Philosophy, Justice, and War
Tutor James Carey Among the Cadets
things like that. So even in the core philosophy course there’s
been a lot of liberty.
The other class I taught was a semester-long course on Kant’s
Critique of Pure Reason, a seminar that I co-led with a colleague
in the department. We had
eight cadets and we worked
our way through the book,
reading about 90 to
95 percent of the whole
work. I also taught a class
called Great Philosophers—
we devoted that class to
What authors are you
Xenophon and Plato.
teaching here right now?
We just read some
dialogues, and that went
Well, right now the
quite well. And then finally
semester’s just begun, so
I taught a class on applied
maybe I’ll tell you a little bit
logic. We spent some time
about what I did last
on symbolic logic because
semester. All of us in the
I’m interested in that, but
philosophy department
we also read a Platonic
teach a class called
dialogue, the Euthydemus,
rather slowly, and we read
Philosophy 310. It’s really a
a good chunk of Aristotle’s
philosophical ethics course.
Organon.
It’s a nicely designed course,
This semester I’m
and it meets for 41 sessions
teaching the core course
in 42 days. One of the
again. I’ve also got a
42 days is devoted to a
seminar that I’m again
formal lecture. We are
co-leading. It’s a large one,
required to do four sessions
about 20 students, and it’s
on issues of military
on Nietzsche and Dostoprofessionalism—such things
evsky. We’ll read a work of
as obedience and civilianNietzsche’s, but the better
military relations. And then
Air Force Academy cadets are not that different from Johnnies,
part of our meetings will
six of those 41 meetings are
Santa Fe tutor James Carey (class of 1967) has discovered as a visiting
be on The Brothers
devoted to just-war theory,
professor at the academy.
Karamazov, which is what
the conditions for going to
we’ve just launched
war, what just grounds there
ourselves into.
might be for engaging in
hostilities to begin with, and then how to conduct oneself
What are those classes like? Is there a feeling among the cadets
according to a certain standard of justice once hostilities have
that they need to get something more pragmatic out of each
begun. That’s 10 of the classes. For the remaining classes we
meeting? Is there an application they’re looking for when they
have a number of required meetings on Plato’s Republic, Arisread these authors?
totle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Hobbes’ Leviathan, Kant’s Foundation for the Metaphysics of Morals, and Mill’s Utilitarianism.
What that means—since this is a core class—is that St. John’s is
In the Philosophy 310 class we talk a lot about just war. There is,
not the only college in the country you can’t graduate from
then, at least a component of the class that has an immediate
without having read some of Plato’s Republic. Who would have
bearing on their work as officers. So it does have practical
consequences. What the cadets take from the class varies from
guessed that the Air Force Academy was another one!
For the remaining classes the instructor has a lot of discretion. individual to individual. Some people really love reading and
discussing great books; other people prefer a Powerpoint
We’ve read Thomas Aquinas and Machiavelli in my classes,
Eddie Kovsky (SF03) spent two years as a staff writer for the
base newspaper at the United States Air Force Academy.
The summer he began, Santa Fe tutor James Carey (class of 1967)
joined the faculty as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of
Philosophy. In January
2006, Kovsky met with him
to discuss his experience
teaching at the academy and
the role the classics play in
preparing cadets to become
officers.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�{Tutors}
presentation. I will say that the most conspicuous difference
between the cadets and the St. John’s students is not ability or
even ultimately interest, at least if I think about the ones I’ve
had in the seminars, but it’s reading habits [outside of class] . . .
St. John’s students tend to be people who love books, really love
them, whereas a lot of cadets are not particularly in love with
books. Still, I would say that the cadets that I’ve had in my elective courses have been, in terms of their interests, very similar to
St. John’s students. I’ve had cadets in my core class who would
have done quite well at St. John’s, but I’ve also had cadets in my
core class who would not have been very happy at St. John’s.
Some of them seem disconcerted by questions that can’t be
answered by crunching numbers.
Since you just have them for that short period of time, what
philosophy do you think is important to get across to them?
What, from your background, are you trying to bring to them?
9
the educational process we can’t gauge everything that we do
here by asking, “Does that have an application in a combat
situation?” In a sense it probably does, because human beings
are in combat situations. But if you’re reading a Platonic
dialogue on the nature of knowledge or a Shakespeare comedy,
it’s not immediately clear that that’s going have a concrete
application in Iraq. But it will make you a broader person.
If we’re going to have a military academy then both the
educational and the training sides of the enterprise have to be
distinguished and they both have to be supported. At least some
of education—and this is the classical view of a liberal education—
is for its own sake, but it has consequences too: a broader human
being is a better human being, maybe a better pilot too, but
almost certainly a better human being.
Now, it looks as though a lot of what’s on the horizon for the
military is peace keeping and nation building. That by itself
suggests that the development of breadth of mind in military
officers has to be a prime concern. And that’s something that a
liberal education can help with.
The [USAFA] dean wants the academy to become more
learning focused, and that seems to me a very important step in
the right direction. I think it’s vital that
those of us who teach here think deeply
about what learning is. That will help us
distinguish between training and
education, because a person can be well
trained without really learning anything.
That’s true of a dog too. Learning requires
a kind of initiative and engagement on the
part of the learner that does not lend itself
to metric assessment but is the very
center of the learning experience.
Well, it depends on the class. Regarding Philosophy 310, the
core class, I’d put it like this: I think a lot of discussions of just
war, of just grounds for going to war and just ways of conducting
yourself in war, presuppose a certain clarity
about what justice itself is. But what justice
is is not a clear notion. Reading the
Republic, the Nicomachean Ethics, and
similar classical texts helps provide us with a
foundation, with reflection about what
justice is, before we go into the particular
theme of just war itself. I regard an
encounter with the classics as indispensable
for getting clarity about a number of
concepts that get bandied around rather
loosely today. What do we mean by a moral
You had said that you wanted to try to
law? And what is justice? What do we mean
change the relationship between St. John’s
by fundamental rights and basic human
James Carey (A67)
and the military, because there’s not a
equality? The great philosophers thought
lot of overlap there. Is there anything
seriously about such questions, and reading
that you’re trying to do here that you
their books forces us to think seriously
want to bring back to Santa Fe, or the
about them as well.
Annapolis campus for that matter?
How do you try to remedy that, to teach without compromising
the sense of duty to their long-term mission, which comes first for
I would like to see cadets have an opportunity to participate at
the cadets?
least in the Summer Classics in Santa Fe. I’ve been very
faithfully impressed with the cadets and I really like them.
They’re intelligent, they’re capable of wonder, they can get
In a sense, the interesting question is “Why do we have military
excited over important things. Moreover, the cadets know that
academies?” There are other models. One is officer candidate
they may have to make sacrifices, that they’re in the military.
school, and there are a lot of good officers that come out of OCS
What does it mean for a young person, a high school junior, male
and ROTC too. And then there’s the British model, as I underor female, to decide to go for a career in the military? That’s also
stand it. People get a college degree in whatever they’re doing,
a kind of eccentric decision. I would say that the young people
classics, chemistry, what have you, and then those who want a
who choose to go to St. John’s and the young people who choose
military career go to Sandhurst for an exclusively military
to go to the military academies have this much in common:
graduate education.
they’re not marching to the same drummer most young people
The Air Force Academy, like the Naval Academy and the
march to. x
Military Academy, tries to provide both an undergraduate
education and a military experience. So one might wonder,
“What do you expect to get out of that?” And that’s a very
interesting and complicated question.
I’ll revert to my earlier formulation that education is first of all
about educating human beings. If we’re going to be involved in
“. . .a broader human
being is a
better human
being, maybe a
better pilot too. . .”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�10
{Commencement}
CELEBRATING
COMMUNITY
Commencement 2006
udith Seeger,
completing her term as
assistant dean of the
Annapolis campus, and
outgoing Santa Fe Dean
David Levine (A67),
were chosen by the seniors
on their campuses to deliver the
commencement addresses in
May. Seeger and Levine each
celebrated the St. John’s
College community, both as a
tangible collection of rituals
and rules that allow a group of
individuals to live together and
as an abstract circle of the
authors who help shape the
college’s model of liberal
education.
At the commencement
ceremony in Annapolis on
May 15, 100 Annapolis seniors
and 34 Graduate Institute
students received their degrees.
Seeger opened her speech by
describing her experiences
among indigenous groups in
Brazil. To conduct research for
her doctoral dissertation,
Seeger spent months at a
coastal fishing village recording
ballads and stories passed orally
for generations, experiences
that shaped her ideas about
community: “In the jungle I
learned how to live in peace and
companionship with people
whose way of life was very
different from mine.” In her
speech she shared “the four
cardinal rules by which we
aspire to live together at this
joe picard
J
college: responsibility, civility,
honesty, and citizenship.”
Seeger concluded by
celebrating the graduates’
passage to a new community.
“Soon you will make that
momentous walk across the
platform and with that walk this
community in the form it has
existed for you during the past
few years will disband and you
will pass into another community—that of graduates. . .So we
should celebrate our last
precious moments in this
particular community with a
song.” She sang a traditional
ballad, “The Water is Wide,”
chosen to emphasize how one
can help another overcome
difficulty to reach a goal.
On May 21, 83 undergraduates
and 33 master’s degree candidates received their diplomas in
Santa Fe. Levine considered
the question: Who is the class
of 2006?
“One can’t ever answer that
question fully,” Levine said.
“We might, however, make a
beginning and say something
about who you are, or rather
who you have become over the
past years of growth at the
college under the transformative
magic of the Program. We say
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Above: among the 33 GI graduates in Santa Fe last May were
(l. to r.) Jacquelyn Poplawski,
Samantha Johnson, and Laura
Leigh Birdwell.
Opposite (clockwise, from top
right): David Levine, shown
with wife, Jacqueline, told
graduates their work is far
from over; Santa Fe
President Michael Peters in
the recessional; Annapolis
graduates Cameron Healy (l.)
and Aaron Brager look to the
future; Judith Seeger
serenaded Annapolis
graduates.
�{Commencement}
The commencement speeches are
available on the college’s Web
site, www.stjohnscollege.edu.
joe picard
thought that threatened to
undermine this very potential.
He saw an isolating individualism at work where ‘the bonds
that unite generations are
relaxed or broken, and that put
society at risk of losing its
centering customs . . .’ ”
Graduates leave the college
with two gifts, but their work is
far from over, he concluded:
“You have seen greatness.
You have known community.
However, a gift is only as
beneficial as our capacity to use
it well. Your education is thus
not over. And so, in the spirit of
commencement, that is beginnings, we ask you today to
pledge yourselves anew to the
unfinished work that these
authors so nobly began.” x
joe picard
alex lorman
alex lorman
years of growth, because this
college is a place where one
grows.”
He elegantly traced some of
the ways several authors in the
Program shape students’
experiences at the college.
“Throughout our tradition,
from Plato through Nietzsche,
it was generally recognized that
education—the manner in which
one learns and not just the
content of what one learns—in
shaping your mind, also shapes
your person, your character,
indeed your community.”
Among the authors he cited,
Levine described Alexis de
Tocqueville’s observations on
community and the individual:
“In America he found people
with a wondrous capacity for
community and working
together and yet an intellectual
inheritance of Cartesian egocentricism and abstraction of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
11
�12
{Capital Campaign}
“WITH A CLEAR AND
SINGLE PURPOSE”
The Campaign for
St. John’s College Plans
for Student Needs
by Rosemary Harty
onsider what financial
aid means to students,
their desire for the
Program, and their hopes
to do vital and satisfying
work after earning their
degree. Andrew Hsui (A02), pursuing a
Ph.D. in comparative literature at
Princeton University, says St. John’s
would have been out of his reach without
“a very generous financial aid package.”
Drawn to the college by the books, the
Program, and the community, Hsui was
determined to attend St. John’s, even
though his parents were anxious about
the cost.
C
Now finished with his graduate coursework and ready to
tackle his dissertation (perhaps Dante, perhaps Spencer), Hsui
is more grateful than ever to have attended the college. “At
St. John’s you gain this sort of intellectual courage to tackle
different texts no matter whether it’s Sophocles’ Antigone or
Hegel’s Phenomenology,” he says. “The fundamental questions
we pursue in graduate school are the same problems that occur
in freshman seminar.”
As is the case with more than half of the students who attend
St. John’s, Hsui received a St. John’s grant for each of the four
years he attended. Thanks to a federal work-study award, he
earned money working on campus. He entered graduate school
with manageable debt. “Could I have attended St. John’s
without financial aid? Absolutely not,” Hsui said.
Building the college’s $100 million endowment to meet the
financial aid needs of future Johnnies is one of the top priorities
of “With a Clear and Single Purpose”: The Campaign for
St. John’s College. Of the $125 million campaign goal,
$46.5 million has been earmarked for building the endowment,
with $33 million designated to ensure a robust financial aid
program. In addition, the college seeks to raise $29 million in
Annual Fund contributions through 2012 to help support more
immediate financial aid needs.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�13
{Capital Campaign}
A few central facts help to
frame a discussion on the
college’s approach to financial
aid:
• The college remains
committed to a needbased financial aid policy
that
ensures
that
qualified students can
attend the college regardless of their family’s
economic resources.
• During the 2005-06
academic year, 63 percent
of students on the Santa
Fe campus received aid
directly from the college;
in Annapolis, 53 percent
of students were aid
recipients. College-wide,
St. John’s provided $9.4
million in institutional
aid funded by tuition
revenue, Annual Fund
gifts, grants, and draw
from endowment.
• Meeting the gap between what families can afford and the
cost of tuition will become increasingly more expensive for
the college.
• The college’s endowment is not sufficient to meet the
anticipated need for financial aid in the coming decade.
The college’s capital campaign
seeks to address priorities that
will sustain the Program and
strengthen the college.
Funding these priorities will
require $125 million.
FINANCIAL AID: $33 million for
need-based aid.
FACULTY AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT:
$34 million to increase faculty
salaries to the median of peer
institutions; provide faculty
development opportunities;
develop program-related
student instructional material
The college’s strategic
plan, which shaped the goals
of the campaign, takes into
account that the college will
be spending more to meet
the demand for financial aid
in the next few years. “The
American economy is not
giving back to the poor and
those in middle-income
families, where the need
is growing the fastest,”
says Christopher B. Nelson
(SF70), president of the
Annapolis campus. “So far,
we’ve been able to keep pace
with our institutional aid.
But the situation is not going
to improve.” If the college
enrolled only those students
who could afford to attend,
“we’d be a college of 200
students,” he says.
The first question that
parents,
alumni,
and
supporters of the college
want answered in a serious discussion of financial aid, Nelson
acknowledges, is why the college is getting more expensive. He
points out that the college’s annual tuition increases of about
continued on p. 15
(manuals and workbooks);
and ensure small class sizes and
1:8 tutor-to-student ratio.
STUDENT SERVICES: $3.5 million
to improve services to students,
fund internship opportunities,
and provide grants so that
elementary and secondary
teachers can attend the
Graduate Institute.
ST. JOHN’S IMPROVEMENT FUND:
$5 million for library collections and laboratory equipment; improving Information
Technology infrastructure;
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
staff professional development
and compensation.
BUILDING PROJECTS ON THE
TWO CAMPUSES: $49.5 million for
building projects, including a
Santa Fe dormitory, a Graduate
Institute center in Santa Fe
funded, and the addition to and
renovation of Evans Science
Laboratory. The renovation of
Mellon Hall and the addition
of two new dormitories in
Annapolis are completed
and fully funded.
�14
{Capital Campaign}
GI Educator’s Grant: Bringing the Program to the Classroom
teachers can benefit our polarized nation by teaching kids how to
Annika McKinney is pursuing a Ph.D. in education at the
talk to one another about important issues.”
University of Maryland. Her dissertation research explores how
Also, because they’re devoted to education, GI teachers make
reading original texts and discussing them—similar to the Junior
excellent students. “They know how to take responsibility for a
Great Books program she encountered as a teacher—could be
class as well as their own learning,” Venkatesh says. Many become
applied to arts education.
good recruiters of prospective students.
“I thought I might interview some tutors and research the
However, it was evident early on that the GI was losing teachers
St. John’s approach a bit,” she says. “I wrote away for some
because they often did not have the resources for tuition.
information, and the Graduate Institute sent me a DVD and a
“Teachers are usually the poorest of our students and always need
catalogue. Then I decided that I had to do the program for
financial assistance to be able to do this. For them, doing either of
myself.”
our MA programs is a serious commitment, and this is even more
McKinney persuaded her doctoral advisers at the University of
Maryland to approve independent credit for her work at St. John’s. true of those teachers who have to relocate families and homes to
“I’m loving it,” McKinney says. “I know about Aristotle and Plato, come to distant Santa Fe,” he says.
Classroom teachers aren’t the only educators benefiting from
but I’ve never been able to read these texts, not in this way.”
the grant program: Jennifer Kinkaid, a student in the Santa Fe
In a summer course she presented to graduate students and
Graduate Institute, is a college counselor at Loomis Chaffee
aspiring teachers at the university, McKinney demonstrated a
School in Windsor, Conn., who has been devoting her summers to
St. John’s approach to reading A Raisin in the Sun with secondary
the GI. In addition to the ideas she gains from the books, she has
students. Her professor was so impressed with the quality of the
also honed a valuable skill.
discussion, he asked her to share the lesson plan with a language
“I think listening has been one of the most important skills
arts class in the fall. “I told my advisers that what takes place at
I’ve developed through the GI seminars. Not only are we learning
St. John’s is something all teachers should experience.
to clarify our own ideas, but we learn to listen carefully, ask
The Program can benefit every teacher, no matter what subject
questions, and help others clarify their thoughts,” she says.
he or she teaches,” McKinney says.
Christopher Kaufmann, a public school teacher in Loudon
Teachers like McKinney—innovators in the classroom who have
County, Va., left his full-time position and signed on as a
a strong desire to enrich their own intellectual lives—represent
substitute in order to enroll full-time in the Graduate Institute
the principle behind the National Educator’s Grants, offered by
and complete the program in two years. The
the Graduate Institute in Annapolis and
grant relieved a bit of the economic hardship
Santa Fe. The college offers a grant of oneinvolved in quitting his job.
third tuition to teachers and administrators
“I can see how much this will help in the
interested in pursuing a Master of Arts in
classroom,” he says. “I can better formulate
Liberal Arts. Providing funding for the
good questions for discussion. I can better
educators’ grants by establishing an
encourage students to develop their own
endowment is one of the goals of the campaign.
opinions on something they read and feel
Teachers were among the first students in
comfortable sharing their ideas with others.”
the GI when it was established in Santa Fe in
Vashti Pearson (AGI06) completed two
1967 (Annapolis followed a decade later), and
segments over summer breaks from her job
the college still believes that teachers can
Annika McKinney
in Birmingham, Ala. “I came
benefit greatly from a
to St. John’s frustrated and
program that nurtures
exhausted from the classcritical thinking, careful
room. I hadn’t read a book
reading, and discussion
outside my prep for class the
skills—on top of all the matewhole year. Coming here was
rial covered in the classroom.
like summer camp—I went
“By educating teachers, we
back refreshed and excited,”
are trying to affect national
she says. x
education by supporting the
notion of educating the
whole human being, instead
Annika McKinney (l.), a
of just teaching for tests,”
current GI student also
says Krishnan Venkatesh,
working on a doctorate in
director of the GI in Santa
education, and Vashti
Fe. “Moreover, in learning
Pearson (AGI06), brought
from us how to make real
new ideas and approaches
conversations about big
from their graduate studies
back to the classroom.
questions happen, our
victoria smith
“The Program can
benefit every
teacher, no matter
what subject he or
she teaches.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�{Capital Campaign}
15
For the Students
“With a Clear and Single Purpose”:
The Campaign for St. John's College
seeks to raise $36.5 million for priorities
relating to students and student life on
both campuses:
And without institutional grants, lowincome students could not consider a
5.5 to 6 percent have been in line with those
college such as St. John’s. The federal
• $33 million in endowment and Annual
of other private, independent colleges in
maximum Pell Grant award is $4,050;
Fund for need-based financial aid, to
the U.S.
some students also qualify for a Suppleensure access for all students
If tuition rises at rates higher than
mental Educational Opportunity Grant
admitted to the college.
annual inflation, it is largely because a
(SEOG), but the college matches 25
college such as St. John’s can’t take advan• $3.5 million in endowment and Annual
percent of the SEOG awards. “The buying
tage of the standard business cost-cutting
Fund to improve services to students,
power of a federal grant is much less,”
measures, such as automation. “Education
fund internship opportunities, and
Rodriguez says.
is expensive because it requires the sharing
provide grants for teachers to attend
After 21 years at the college, Rodriguez
of the life of one well-educated human
the Graduate Institute.
is still impressed by the sacrifices made by
being with another, a devotion of time that
parents who want to see their children
cannot be compromised without being
attend St. John’s. “They do what they have
cheapened,” he says.
to because they recognize that this is the school for their child, that
Nelson also emphasizes that no student pays the true cost of a
this is where he or she will flourish,” he says.
St. John’s education. This year, tuition is $34,306; without
Paula Abernethy, financial aid director in Annapolis, has
the college’s subsidy, it would be $44,555. “Alumni who attended
observed that the college’s need-based financial aid is viewed as fair
the college during my era may not view it this way, but the educaand equitable by most families, but the college does
tion at St. John’s College is a veritable bargain,” he says. “It costs
occasionally lose a student to another college because St. John’s
substantially more to educate our students than what we’re
makes awards based strictly on need, not merit. “Sometimes
charging in tuition.”
parents will come in with a package from another college, and say,
And unless they have college-age children, alumni may not be
‘can you match it?’ All we can do is offer the best package, and then
aware of how the changes in federal financial aid programs are
students and their families have to make a decision,” she says.
affecting lower- and middle-income families who want to send a
More than half of St. John’s students receive grant aid, and
son or daughter to St. John’s. Programs such as Pell Grants and
barring a change in financial circumstances, each student can
Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grants, made available to
count on that assistance to remain consistent through their four
the neediest students, would not come close to meeting the cost of
years at St. John’s, Abernethy explains. “We have a strong
tuition at any private liberal arts college. Funding for federal grant
institutional commitment to aid,” she says. “If you look at that ratio
programs has not increased in the past four years, and most student
in other schools, we’re actually quite high. We really do care about
loan programs now have higher interest rates.
the students and we want to give them the best aid package we can.”
At St. John’s, financial aid is guided by policies and principles
The St. John’s grants are paid for by tuition, draw from endowrevisited often by the collegewide Management Committee and
ment, and gifts to the college’s Annual Fund; federal grant aid
administered on an individualized basis on each campus. Policy is
is only a small part of the overall budget. Of the $19.2 million
reviewed annually by financial aid committees composed of the
packaged in undergraduate financial aid awards last year, less than
president, dean, treasurer, assistant dean, financial aid director,
$900,000 in grant aid came from federal programs. In addition,
and admissions director. The committees meet before each fall
the college gets $287,000 in federal aid for work-study, allowing
recruitment season to assess the previous year’s results, anticipate
a limited number of students to earn $2,800 a year from ondifficulties in the upcoming year, and adjust policy in light of the
campus jobs.
budget.
Federally subsidized loans, PLUS loans for parents, and increasThe financial aid directors carry out policy and approach each
ingly, private loans help students meet tuition and expenses, but
prospective application with the goal of putting the best package
interest rates are on the rise for these programs, and small private
together to meet an individual family’s needs. In Santa Fe, about
loans are now turning up in some financial aid packages. “We don’t
65 to 70 percent of students demonstrate some form of need, says
have enough of the favorable loan money to cover our needs so we
Michael Rodriguez, director of financial aid for the campus. “It’s a
have begun to include a private loan in the aid package,” says Aberlarge portion of our population, but the financial aid program
nethy.
provides the opportunity for us to attract and matriculate students
When he first joined the college in 1985, Rodriguez said
from a wide economic spectrum. Without that diversity, we’d be a
student loans usually topped out at $10,000 over four years. The
very different college,” he says.
average debt for the Santa Fe class of 2005 is $21,700—
continued
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�16
{Capital Campaign}
“We really do care about the students and we want to
give them the best aid package we can.”
Paula Abernethy, Annapolis financial aid director
far less than the cost of one year’s tuition, but a burden he’d like
to see fewer students saddled with. “It’s worrisome, particularly
when so many of our students go on to graduate programs,”
he says.
At least once a year, Rodriguez has revisited a financial aid
award to help a struggling student. “When there are extenuating
circumstances, we go back to the financial aid committee to see
what can be done,” he says. “But we’re always up front with the
students that we’re hampered by limited dollars.”
Another concern, along with loan debt, is the knowledge that
some students are working at several jobs to help pay their
expenses. Abernethy knows that a few students are working a
campus job and nights or weekends at retail or restaurant jobs;
some work 20 hours a week. “The Program isn’t meant for that,
and these students are struggling,” she says. “Sometimes they
come in, and we try to help them in some way.”
Thanks to the Caritas Society, a group of Annapolis-area residents who raise money to help students with unexpected
financial needs, Abernethy has a rainy-day fund to offer students
at critical moments: she can give students up to $3,000 a year to
help in emergencies. Each year, several students receive Caritas
book grants of $400; several endowment funds also generate
money to help students purchase books.
At the financial aid conferences she attends, Abernethy hears
the prevailing concern that middle-income families are those
who struggle the most in this new financial aid climate.
This year, she worked extensively with several families to make
sure their dream of sending a child to St. John’s could happen.
“It’s really nice when you go to Convocation, and you see those
kids up on the stage,” she says.
This May, Rodriguez will have the pleasure of seeing one of his
award recipients graduate after an unusually long pursuit of a
bachelor’s degree. Nick Cabbiness, in his 40s and an independent student, never found a program that suited him—until he
heard of St. John’s. “I tried college a few other times, and I would
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�17
{Capital Campaign}
end up triple-majoring, because I always had a desire to know
many different things,” he says.
While he has worked in several campus jobs his first three
years, served as a resident assistant, and contributed what he
could from savings, Cabbiness was most grateful for the grant aid
he received from the college. After graduation, he plans to
pursue a teaching career. From time to time over the years, he’s
struggled greatly with the demands of the Program, but he didn’t
have to worry about paying tuition. “I’m so thankful to the
college in many ways, but I’m most grateful to have the freedom
to pursue work that I want to do, and not just for monetary
reasons,” he says. x
Internships Offer Johnnies Experience and Insight
influenced his approach in the classroom. “Inquiry is important in
every situation,” he says.
When Coker-Dukowitz applied for his internship, he wasn’t
certain that education was the field he wanted to pursue.
His internship solidified his ambition, honed his talents, and
presented him with a specific direction.
Catherine Pisha (A06) had a similar experience during her
internship at the Women’s Rape Crisis Center in Burlington, Vt.,
made possible by a grant from The Hodson Trust Internship
Program. She entered the summer with vague ideas about what
she wanted to do, but not how to do it.
“For a long time I have known that I enjoy work involving
close interpersonal contact and emotional healing through
conversation, but I have not had a clear idea as to how that might
translate into a job,” she wrote in her post-internship report.
By the end of the summer, she says, her career goals were
“strengthened and honed. . .Being an intern at the Womens’ Rape
Crisis Center allowed me to see that there is a wider range of jobs
that might meet these needs and interests of mine than I had
previously thought.”
Not only did her experience at
the WRCC give her confidence
about pursuing this field, it also
prepared her for similar
employment. She now works for
the Winooski Family Center,
a nonprofit which provides
various services to low-income
families. For Pisha, the internship was more than a financial
grant. It provided the clarity she
needed to pursue a meaningful
path after graduation. x
teri nolan
Somewhere in the midst of junior and senior years, students turn
their thoughts to life outside of St. John’s. The transition can be
daunting, especially to those students who don’t have a clear grasp
on a career path. To assist students as they consider various
careers, Annapolis has the Hodson Internship and Santa Fe the
Ariel Internship.
Funded on a temporary basis, the Ariel program awarded its
first internship in 2005. To date $75,600 has been distributed,
including six awards for fine arts internships funded by the
Thaw Charitable Trust. Last year 38 applications were submitted
and 15 stipends (ranging from $1,800 to $3,600) were granted.
This summer the campus expects to fund 18 internships, awarded
competitively to students who present a clear plan for where they
want to work and what they hope to discover through the
experience. A campaign goal is to establish an endowment that
will provide permanent funding for the Ariel Internships.
The Hodson Internship Program was established in 2000,
with a generous endowment from The Hodson Trust. Each year,
the program funds up to 25 internships with stipends of up to
$3600 each.
Zacc Coker-Dukowitz (SF05)
received an Ariel Internship the
summer after his senior year.
His experience at an educational
organization served as a catalyst
for his first professional job, as
assistant director of Breakthrough Santa Fe at Santa Fe
Prep. Coker-Dukowitz’s Ariel
stipend allowed him to work as
an intern at the Breakthrough
Collaborative, based in San
Francisco, and dedicated to
helping underprivileged kids
gain a better chance at higher
education. Coker-Dukowitz
taught English classes to
seventh- and eighth-graders, and
his St. John’s experience
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
An Ariel Internship set Zacc
Coker-Dukowitz (SF05) on the
path to a job with Breakthrough Santa Fe, an educational organization.
�18
{Jane Austen}
JANE’S
HEROINES
Elizabeth’s Comeuppance
ometimes they are hampered
by pride or foolishness. In
other novels, their lack of
social status or fortune
creates the drama. But the
heroines of Jane Austen’s
novels are always memorable: for their
foibles, their dignity, their intelligence,
their quick wit, and their sheer persistence. In these short essays, St. John’s
alumni, students, and tutors celebrate the
women of Jane Austen’s world.
S
By Roberta Gable (A78)
Tiresome Elizabeth Bennet. How nice for her that she gets the
happily-ever-after treatment.
To recap the familiar plot of Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Bennet
(he used to be disgusted, now he’s just amused) and
Mrs. Bennet (more fatuous than which shall not be conceived,
if you’re not counting the Collins branch of the family) have
five daughters: Jane (the saint), Elizabeth (the smarty-pants),
Mary (the book-reading twerp), Lydia (the trollop-in-training)
and Kitty (the trollop-in-training’s trollop-in-waiting). Jane
and Elizabeth, the two eldest, usurped all virtues available to
the five girls, with the exceptions, perhaps, of seriousness
(Mary) and malleability (Kitty). Virtuous or no, they all must
marry, and in fact there are five offers tendered during the
Opposite: Witty Elizabeth Bennett brightens the pages of PRIDE
Knightly in the 2006 film.)
AND PREJUDICE. (Keira
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�20
{Austen}
Love triumphs.
Money soothes all
concern for
the morrow.
course of the action, but again, not doled
out evenly: Lydia gets one, of the shotgun
variety; Jane gets one, from the oh-sodesirable Mr. Bingley; and Elizabeth gets
three, one from her ridiculous cousin
Mr. Collins, and two from the detestable
Mr. Darcy, the second of which she accepts, and we’re made to
feel glad for her, because it turns out that Mr. Darcy is not so
detestable after all.
And most of the time we forget to dislike Elizabeth, too.
She’s witty, she’s a fun read, and her behavior is regulated by
genuine feeling, not conventional manners. Hurrah for our
side, we think—the snooty rich women (Miss Bingley,
Mrs. Hurst, and the tyrannical Lady Catherine de Bourgh) get
what’s coming to them, at least in some small degree, and our
Elizabeth, heroine, not of the working class, but of the genteel
aspirers, is rewarded with the hand of a good-looking rich guy.
(So is Jane, for that matter, but she’s insufficiently dimensional for us really to care about her.) The main obstacles to
the Elizabeth/Darcy match—his horror of marrying beneath
himself, her profound disgust for him—are gradually
surmounted, and happiness abounds. Love triumphs. Money
soothes all concern for the morrow.
She who prides herself, however, on her independent mind,
her ability to discern character, and her subtlety (especially in
comparison with Ma and Pa) must first dine on crow. For the
first 200 pages or so she judges, she gossips, she caricatures,
she deplores, she assumes, she exults in her superiority, and
she trusts Wickham, the one true rascal in the story. Then she
must repent having been an ass. She who always has something to say is made to shut up and listen: two letters, the first
from Darcy, defending himself, and the second from her aunt,
revealing Darcy’s virtually superhuman goodness, effect the
necessary comeuppance.
“Oh! how heartily did she grieve over every ungracious
sensation she had ever encouraged, every saucy speech she
had ever directed towards him.” While her self-flagellation is
only verbal, words are what drive reality in this comedy of
character. Everyone is who people say he is, until they start
saying something different, and then he’s that; what happens
hasn’t much happened until it is discussed. Finally Elizabeth
finds she must re-create not only others but herself in words,
no mean feat for a woman rightly accused of sometimes saying
things precisely because she doesn’t mean them.
Lest we too become twerpy in our book-reading, and
moralize like dear sister Mary, let’s be easy on Miss Elizabeth,
with her lovely feet of clay. She herself gets
over it, and lets the happy ending befall
her.
Roberta Gable is associate director of
Admissions in Annapolis.
Fanny Reconsidered
by Rhonda Ortiz (A05)
To my teenage self on first reading Mansfield Park:
My dear Miss F——,
Thank you for your last. Yes, I do remember receiving the
St. John’s College pamphlet: small, brown, with all those
obscure authors listed ceremoniously on the cover. I’m not
surprised that you noticed Jane Austen’s name. Pride and
Prejudice was the first work of literature that captivated you
both as an amusing story and intellectual food for thought.
This singular delight in Austen was one of the primary reasons
you decided to attend St. John’s College.
But right now you say you’re bewildered by Mansfield Park.
How, you ask, could Austen, who created the brilliant,
charming Elizabeth Bennet, also pen this repressed, uninspiring, prudish Fanny Price, and call her a heroine? Where is
her wit? Why is she so timid, so nervous? Why has Austen left
the brilliant repartee, the intrigue, even all the action, to the
other characters? And what’s all the moral fuss about?
I know that you are bound and determined to like everything Austen has written, and, don’t worry, you will.
Mansfield Park and Fanny Price will surprise you yet. It will
probably take you multiple readings and, perhaps, a large
essay to realize that Fanny Price is more than likable. The
problem now is your disposition.
In life and novels you prefer confident, agreeable,
humorous, open characters. But like many 16-year-olds, you
are willing but unpracticed in slowing down to notice—really
notice—other people. It is easy to appreciate Elizabeth
Bennet’s brilliance, but patience and sympathy are required to
see through Fanny’s awkwardness to her subtle beauty.
At nine, Fanny is sent by her struggling Portsmouth family
to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt. Shy, awkward, overlooked, and homesick, Fanny is miserable at Mansfield Park
until her cousin, Edmund, notices her unhappiness and
befriends her. Edmund discovers Fanny “to be clever, to have
a quick apprehension as well as good sense, and a fondness for
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reading.” He attempts to bring Fanny “forward” but is
thwarted by the behavior of the rest of the family, who, unwittingly or not, in their turn treat her as a sponger, a personal
servant, a child to tease, a dimwit, or simply someone to
ignore. Not the kindest family. Furthermore, Fanny is hopelessly eclipsed by her cousins, quintessential small-town
beauties, and, later in the narrative, by the cosmopolitan
Mary Crawford.
Given her life at Mansfield Park, it is easy to understand
Fanny’s awkwardness. Her sensitive nature feels suffering
acutely, and, habituated to lowliness, she becomes easily
flustered by attention or praise. Edmund, sensitive to Fanny’s
situation, sees past her awkwardness to her good qualities. You
should try to do the same. It will give you a way into her
character.
As to Fanny’s being so morally fussy, well, this is purposeful.
Fanny’s character is meant to push some buttons. The story of
Mansfield Park is driven primarily by the tension caused
between traditional, Christian morality and skeptical,
21
Patience and sympathy reveal the true heroism of MANSFIELD PARK’s
Fanny Price. (Frances O’Connor as Fanny in the 1999 film.)
modern, metropolitan mores. Consequently, the story gives
rise to the same tension already in the soul of most modern
Western readers, including you. Mary Crawford, the story’s
antagonist, stands for the pragmatic and cynical modern
woman who regards society, marriage, tradition, and the
church with an unbelieving eye. Fanny, on the other hand, can
see the moral good at stake in both small events (like the gift of
a necklace) and large ones (like marriage proposals). Mary is
immediately attractive and Fanny is not, yet it is Fanny who
Austen wants us to admire.
Remember that Edmund observes in Fanny an intuitive,
intelligent mind, and a great amount of ‘sense.’ With
Edmund’s encouragement, Fanny grows to be not only sensitive and moral but also poetic and philosophic. “If any one
faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the
continued on p. 23
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Anne’s Second Chance
by Eva Brann (HA57)
Anne Elliot would seem to be the heroine of Persuasion, Jane
Austen’s last complete novel. Persuasion is my favorite of the six—
that is to say in between the others, since whichever I’m actually
reading is my favorite at the time. I love Persuasion best, but I’m not
so sure I love its heroine most. There’s a sure-fire test for such preferences: Imagine by whom you’d like to be asked to tea. That would
be, for me, Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice or Emma Woodhouse of Emma, the former because of the delightfully sparkling
way she crosses wickedness with propriety, the latter, because this
young person, in her delicious self-confidence, gets everything so
cleverly wrong.
Anne of Persuasion, on the other hand, has had her spirits
damped by disappointment and her demeanor shaped by too often
having “scolded back her senses.” She is kind, competent, and
useful—universal usefulness being the spinster’s default position—
and her nature has been more molded by self-control than by selfexpression. I think she could not help depressing even a sympathetic
guest from a later century by her air of grief bravely and silently
borne—at least when we first meet her.
“When we first meet her:” The year is the summer of 1814; just
about the time Jane Austen must have been writing Persuasion.
We are told on the first page that Anne was born on August 9, 1787.
So she is 27 when the story begins, the oldest by at least seven years
of all the heroines and the only one who lives in real time, alongside
Jane Austen.
Moreover she has a past fitted into real history. In the summer of
1806, just 200 years before my writing this little piece, a young naval
officer, Frederick Wentworth, had come into the neighborhood as a
result of his promotion after “the action off San Domingo.” Anne
had been “an extremely pretty girl,” with gentleness, modesty,
taste, and feeling. “She had hardly anybody to love,” for she is
afflicted with a pretty awful father and two very unlovable sisters,
and her mother had died in 1800 (or 1801). So she falls “rapidly and
deeply in love.” No other heroine does that; they take their time, and
it isn’t clear that they “fall in love” at all. I think I can prove, and will
one day, that Elizabeth, who surely loves Darcy, is not at all in love
with him, though he, the proud and inhibited owner of a fine estate,
is the most attractive of that gallery, mostly of young clergymen stiff
with propriety and rectitude while waffling as lovers, with whom
Jane Austen’s girls elect to make their happiness.
“A short period of exquisite happiness follows,” but then Anne
sends him away, persuaded by the opposition of the well-intentioned
but essentially obtuse Lady Russell who had taken a mother’s place
in Anne’s esteem. “Lady Russell had little taste for wit,” while
Captain Wentworth was brilliant, headstrong, and—“had no
fortune.” Lady Russell’s persuasion “was more than gentle Anne
could combat,” for it dwelt on duty.
Now he is back in Somersetshire, rich with prize money and rising
in his profession. We are sure he’ll be an admiral, as two of Jane
Austen’s brothers were to be. This Frederick Wentworth is the only
active fighting man, the only suitor in the six novels, who is both
spirited and reliably a gentleman; usually the brilliant ones, like
Henry Crawford of Mansfield Park, are sadly corruptible. What
makes Anne attractive is partly that she can love and be loved by such
a man.
But there has been a hiatus of eight years, of pique, anger, and
successful action for him, of confused, patient, lonely grief for her.
Her inconsiderate sister repeats to her that Captain Wentworth,
who has himself lost none of his attractiveness, had observed her to
be “so altered he should not have known her again.” So begins her
second ordeal, in which Wentworth is kept from approaching her, at
first by the misconstruals of disappointed pride and eventually by
jealousy, as Anne is courted by the heir to the family estate. So too,
Anne’s shrinking spirit prevents her from bringing about any
mutual clarification until the very end. Of course, were she bolder,
she wouldn’t be Anne Elliot, and Persuasion wouldn’t be a fulllength novel, the slow unraveling of the adversities that have kept
them apart. But finally all the grief is dissolved and perfect felicity
ensues: “It was but a card-party, it was but a mixture of those who
had never met before, and those who met too often.” The two having
that afternoon declared themselves to each other but not yet to the
world, Anne moves through that evening of bliss: “some moments of
communication continually occurring, and always the hope of
more, and always the knowledge of his being there.” It is, as far as my
reading goes, the most perfectly captured moment of the inward
bliss of yet unpublished love in literature.
There is a coda to this tale which throws light on what Jane Austen
meant by it. Her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, reports in
A Memoir of Jane Austen that perhaps because of ill-health (she was
to die on July 18, 1817, exactly a year from the night he tells of) “she
retired to rest in very low spirits.” She thought the chapter of resolution tame and flat. “But such depression was little within her
nature,” and the next day, revived in spirits, she canceled the
offending chapter and wrote two new ones. If you read both the
canceled and the substituted climactic chapters you might at first
find them equally lovable in different ways, but then it dawns on you.
The new chapter recounts a confidential conversation between
Anne and one of Wentworth’s fellow officers which is accidentally
overheard by him, and this conversation reveals the deep theme of
the novel: women’s and men’s constancy in love, differently
constituted, but equally strong in both. For Wentworth, Anne’s
gentle insistence on women’s faithfulness is the signal he needs to
declare himself.
Everyone agrees that Persuasion is somehow deeper and darker
than the earlier five. “Darker” doesn’t seem quite right to me—
“more feeling-fraught” is better. But this feeling isn’t Anne’s or
Frederick’s feeling only; it is—again “somehow”—Jane Austen’s. Not
that Persuasion is autobiographical; there is no evidence at all that
she nourished an undying love for anyone, and gentleness hardly
describes the loving malice of her temper. Nonetheless, she is,
somehow, ever-present in Persuasion, her spirit is more palpable in
this than in any other of the perfect six, and on second thought, it’s
her presence for which I love that book; she’s its heroine.
Eva Brann will begin her 50th year at St. John’s next fall.
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continued from p. 21
With Edmund’s
encouragement,
Fanny grows to be
not only sensitive
and moral
but also poetic and
philosophic.
rest, I do think it is memory,” she
exclaims, inspired during a daily walk.
“There seems something more speakingly
incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in
any of our intelligences. . . .We are to be
sure a miracle every way.” Fanny, among many things, thinks
about thinking. She is attentive to the wonders both in nature
and in herself.
The point is, be sensitive to Fanny. I don’t think Austen
intends for us to immediately like her. If she did she wouldn’t
have penned as delectable an antagonist as Mary Crawford.
Mansfield Park is called her most philosophic novel; perhaps
Austen wants to engage us in a philosophic challenge—to learn
to see Fanny, and then see what Fanny sees. See what happens
if you reconsider Fanny.
I remain yours, etc. etc. R.O.
Rhonda (Franklin) Ortiz wrote her senior essay on Mansfield
Park; she teaches elementary school in Washington, D.C.
Emma, Enlightened
by Namara Smith (SF07)
The real evils indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of
having rather too much her own way and a disposition to think
a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which
threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. —Emma
Emma Woodhouse’s “disposition to think a little too well of
herself” does not manifest itself in the obvious way, through
pride in her beauty. Emma’s delighted initiation of her fickle
“projects,” both her artistic endeavors and her matchmaking,
reveals that her vanity is satisfied by gazing, not at her physical
reflection, but at a world that reflects her wishes. Because her
actions are unchecked by her father and her governess, she has
almost no outside judgment to make her doubt her own perfection; the only criticism she receives is from Mr. Knightley, “one
of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse,
and the only one who ever told her of them.” Mr. Knightley’s
moderate rebukes alone are not enough to make Emma see the
dangers of her position. Emma’s vanity in her mental image of
herself, not her physical image, shows her partially correct self-
23
awareness. Emma is not stubbornly or
perversely defying her reason and experience—she is, in fact, uncommonly clever.
This half-truth, without the balance of
sufficient candor from others is, in part,
why she remains unaware of the danger
she faces.
Perhaps the most disturbing character
to Emma is the new bride of Mr. Elton, a woman who is vain,
meddlesome, socially manipulative and ridiculous. From the
first mention of Augusta Hawkins, some connection between
Emma and the future Mrs. Elton is implied. Mr. Elton proposes
to Emma, is refused, runs off to Bath, and almost immediately
proposes to Miss Hawkins. To Mr. Elton, at least, Emma and
Mrs. Elton both possess the qualities that he seeks in a wife:
money and social class. Mr. Elton’s airy assumption of their
relative equality is Emma’s first worrisome indication that the
world does not necessarily share her own rose-colored vision of
herself. As a result, Emma feels she must, on some level,
criticize his new bride and distinguish herself from her in order
to correct his lack of judgment. As readers, we realize that her
character and dialogue has been deliberately constructed to
echo Emma’s earlier manners. Mrs. Elton’s unblushing
assertion that “blessed with so many resources within
[herself], the world was not necessary. . .” parodies Emma’s
statement: “If I know myself, Harriet, mine is an active, busy
mind with a great many independent resources.” Emma’s reaction to Mrs. Elton is the catalyst that forces Emma from her
passive self-satisfaction into actively defining her position in
the world.
When the new Mrs. Elton makes her first appearance in
Highbury, Emma almost instantly recognizes in Mrs. Elton the
same “evils” that are ascribed to her at the beginning of the
novel: “[a] quarter of an hour quite convinced her that
Mrs. Elton was a vain woman, extremely well satisfied with
herself, and thinking much of her own importance. . .she
meant to shine and be very superior . . .Miss Hawkins, it might
be fairly supposed, from her easy conceit, had been the best of
her own set.” Emma can see the source of Mrs. Elton’s shortcomings although she is blind to the dangers of her own vanity,
and she perceives that Mrs. Elton’s “easy conceit” comes from
her limited experience of the world.
Mrs. Elton uses her social status as the foundation for her
extravagant claims to aesthetic taste. The most noticeable
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Emma is not stubbornly
or perversely defying
her reason and
experience—she is,
in fact, uncommonly
clever.
example of her role as a self-appointed
aesthetic judge is her treatment of Jane
Fairfax. When Mrs. Elton thrusts herself
into the role of Jane Fairfax’s custodian,
she presents herself as the only person
with the sensibility to recognize and cultivate Jane’s talents in the aesthetic wasteland of Highbury.
Speaking to Emma of her resolution to “bring Jane forward,”
Mrs. Elton quotes a poetic couplet: “Full many a flower is born
to blush unseen, and waste its fragrance on the desert air.”
In terms of Jane Fairfax, this attitude is patently false. From
Jane’s first appearance, everyone acknowledges her artistic
accomplishment and skill. Mrs. Elton uses her association with
Jane to enhance her own appearance of aesthetic superiority.
These incidents seem insignificant, but they foreshadow
Mrs. Elton’s most contemptible action towards Jane—her
constant pressure to trap her into the inferior position of a
governess. Mrs. Elton’s actions toward Jane show no real appreciation or respect of her artistic excellence. She uses Jane to
further her own social status, while attempting to limit Jane
from having real social power.
Mrs. Elton’s treatment of Jane Fairfax highlights the
hypocrisy of Emma’s mentoring of Harriet Smith. Emma does
not cultivate Harriet as a social lever, however, but more as a
kind of game or project, an example of Emma’s playful disposition leading her astray. Although Emma’s intentions are
different from Mrs. Elton’s, the effect is the same. They both
harm and improperly influence Harriet and Jane. Emma’s
social neglect of Jane is just as damning as her careless
influence over Harriet. Jane is left with no arena to develop her
talents, no peers, no one to really appreciate her socially. In
part, this neglect leaves her vulnerable to Frank’s illicit offer of
a secret engagement. Mrs. Elton’s actions lead Emma to realize
and regret how she has mistreated Harriet and neglected Jane.
Emma’s first interactions with Mrs. Elton represent an
important turning point in her character. For the first time,
her social position and its related aesthetic values are not
enough to distinguish her from someone she feels is her
inferior. Emma’s new awareness of the deficiency of social
forms is revealed in a disturbing incident right after her first
interview with Mrs. Elton—Emma’s only argument with her
father. Superficially, this disagreement is about whether
Mr. Woodhouse needs to visit Mrs. Elton and pay his respects.
However, Emma’s frustration with her father’s inability to see
beyond Mrs. Elton’s social status as a
bride reveals her new dissatisfaction with
purely social definitions. Correspondingly, she realizes that the near-universal
approval and even praise of her that
contributed to her vanity is not a
complete reflection of her character. She begins to feel the
need to move beyond her home and establish an independent
position in the world.
Mrs. Elton pushes Emma out of passive immersion in her
immediate society by reflecting Emma back to herself in an
unsettling manner. Emma must now choose between ironic
detachment from the world or fully aware, moral participation
in society.
Miss Smith wrote about Emma for her junior essay in Santa Fe.
Sensible Elinor
by Barbara Goyette (A73)
What is so striking about Elinor Dashwood, the heroine of Sense
and Sensibility, is the way she bears heartsickness. She falls in
love with and believes she is loved by an amiable, educated, handsome young man of some prospects, only to discover that he is
engaged to another. Upon the death of her father, she and her
mother and sisters must leave the small estate of Norland, where
they have lived happily for many years. Her beloved sister
Marianne falls for the perfidious but charming Willoughby, who
not only leaves Marianne without a word of explanation but turns
out to have an unsavory past. When Marianne becomes
extremely ill, Elinor must nurse her back to health in mind as well
as body. Not only does Elinor suffer these misfortunes silently,
but she also endures the remonstrances of her mother and sister
when they tell her she appears to be unfeeling about everyday
trials. The depth of her disappointments and struggles is
never revealed.
Elinor shows herself to be strong, emotionally sound, capable
of excellent judgment, and able to appear to recover her spirits
quickly even in the midst of devastating events. She is neither
dashing nor exciting, and is pretty in an unremarkable way,
except to those who see her true character. Extremely sensitive to
the inner lives of those around her, she at times appears to hide
from her own goodness.
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Her infatuation with Edward Ferrars can seem baffling—is she
imagining his charms? Is she expecting less for herself in love
because she thinks this is all she deserves? Her highly developed
sense of irony almost leads her down dangerous paths a number
of times, as she treats her mother, sister, and acquaintances with
less than genuine attention because, we may infer, they lack the
seriousness of her own concerns. She knows she is superior—
morally and in both sense and sensibility—and yet she lives out
her life in the background.
The work of the novel is to fill in the picture of Elinor’s true
character—to herself and to us as readers—her nature as a human
being living with a particular set of people in a particular place,
at a particular time. Although it might seem that who she is and
who she becomes could be the result of the constraints of her
25
The Dashwood sisters are drawn as opposing personalities.
(Emma Thompson as Elinor, Kate Winslet as Marianne in
Ang Lee’s 1995 film.)
situation (which is drawn in great detail), Austen shows us
instead that Elinor determines her own character—outside of,
although influenced by, the situations that we are used to
thinking of as those that make women like Elinor who they are:
birth, rank or status, social connections, education, role in
society, income.
Early in the novel we are presented with a scene that lays out
the various connections between the characters. Mrs. Dashwood,
Elinor, Marianne and their younger sister Margaret are newly
arrived at Barton Cottage, having been displaced from their
home following the unexpected death of Mr. Dashwood. Sir John
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While Elinor is
reserved and sensible,
Marianne believes the
heart must always
show the way.
Middleton, a cousin of Mrs. Dashwood,
has offered them the cottage for a very
reasonable rent. The women are reconciled to their reduced circumstances,
although it is clear that only Elinor
understands the kinds of changes they
will have to make in their way of life. The
charms of the new countryside, as well
as the possibility of new acquaintances,
have made them fairly cheerful. The Dashwoods have been invited
to Barton Park, the home of Sir John and Lady Middleton. Also in
attendance are Mrs. Jennings, mother to Lady Middleton, and
Colonel Brandon, a neighbor and friend of Sir John.
In the scene when all these characters convene for the first time,
Austen shows clearly that character is independent of both nature
and nurture. There is a kind of merry chaos in which each person
contradicts our expectations of what they will be like based on
their situation.
Sir John Middleton, a member of the traditional gentry, should
be stuffy and proud. Instead, he is warm, kindly, generous, and
outgoing. His wife Lady Middleton, through her marriage a social
equal of her husband, is reserved, cold, and possesses a “common
mind.” Her mother, Mrs. Jennings, is decidedly bourgeois,
wealthy enough, effusive, more than slightly vulgar. Where does
Sir John’s generous nature come from, and why is his wife so
affectedly elegant? Neither their situation nor their background
accounts for the differences in their characters. Colonel Brandon,
situated similarly to Sir John, offers a further contrast—he is
moody, intelligent, and concise, more like a member of the clergy
than a military man with property.
Elinor and Marianne are drawn as opposing personalities as
well. While Elinor is reserved and sensible, Marianne believes the
heart must always show the way. Both are in a precarious state
socially and financially and we might think the accepted route to
their happiness and security would lie in good marriages for both.
And yet through Elinor, Austen suggests that character development determines happiness. Elinor forms herself rather than
allowing her circumstances to make her.
Barbara Goyette is vice president of Advancement in Annapolis.
Artless Catherine
by Tilar J. Mazzeo (SF93)
As Jane Austen warns her readers at the
beginning of Northanger Abbey,
Catherine Moreland is an unlikely
heroine, and, when it comes to tributes
to Austen’s women, Catherine can be a
bit of a hard sell. She lacks the wit and charm of Elizabeth Bennet.
She can’t boast the self-possession of Elinor Dashwood. Even the
meddlesome Emma Woodhouse has the advantage of being
genuinely clever. Perhaps most fundamentally, Catherine falls in
love with a man who is primarily attracted to her intellectual
limitations and to her good-natured eagerness to be guided by the
superior knowledge of others without developing any of her own.
Henry Tilney is an enthusiastic lecturer of young women, and
Austen reminds her readers that nothing is more flattering to the
vanity than the wide-eyed wonder of one’s interlocutor, writing
that “Where people wish to attach, they should always be
ignorant.”
Ironically, however, the nature of Catherine’s ignorance is what
makes her such an interesting and ultimately likeable character—
not, I hope, because she flatters my vanity as a reader, but because
it seems to me that the exploration of her ignorance over the
course of the novel is part and parcel of Austen’s larger themes
about artlessness and the art of the novel in Northanger Abbey.
Of course, Northanger Abbey is a novel about the status of the
genre, part satire on the excesses of the gothic variety so popular
in the early 19th century and part defense of the novel as a “work
in which the greatest powers of the human mind are displayed.”
The satire on the gothic is what most readers remember about
Northanger Abbey, and Catherine’s introduction to the genre,
coinciding with her introduction into fashionable society, is a
comic misadventure in which she learns to over-interpret the
incidents of domestic life, imagining melodrama where it does not
exist. In fact, it seems that an education in the aesthetics of the
gothic novel is simultaneously a process of learning to read for
figurative and double meanings. Catherine’s interpretive zeal,
however, ends unhappily when she comes to a mistaken
conclusion. Embarrassed and conscious of her own error, she ends
by rejecting the genre and recognizing the unfortunate “influence
of that sort of reading.”
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If Catherine’s newfound understanding of gothic novels and
the dangers of interpretation were simply part of her education as
an increasingly sophisticated reader, then we might say that she
was a slow study but on her way. Instead, she returns to what
appears to be her natural state of ignorance, a state in which she
demonstrates an inability to recognize irony or to negotiate the
ways in which language creates duplicity. Perhaps the most telling
moment occurs late in the novel, when it is precisely Catherine’s
inability to understand this duplicity that most endears her to
Eleanor and Henry Tilney. Faced with the prospect of his
brother’s marriage to the deceitful Isabella Thorpe, Henry
sarcastically advises Eleanor, “Prepare for. . .such a sister-in-law
as you must delight in!—Open, candid, artless, guileless. . .forming
no pretensions, and knowing no disguise.” Eleanor immediately
grasps the irony, assuring Henry that such a sister-in-law as that
she would welcome—for the characterization describes Catherine
precisely. Only Catherine fails to understand the wit or to
recognize herself as the half-subject of the exchange. Catherine’s
interpretive simplicity and literal-mindedness, if those phrases
work to describe her ignorance and intellectual limitations more
precisely, lend some of the humor to this passage, of course. But
what I find most curious is the description of Catherine, here and
throughout the novel, as artless. From the earliest moments of the
novel, readers are assured of her limited accomplishments: “she
could not write sonnets. . .there seemed no chance of her
Wit and Wisdom from Jane Austen
On Good Company
Anne smiled and said, “My idea of good company, Mr Elliot, is
the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great
deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.”
“You are mistaken,” said he gently, “that is not good company;
that is the best.”—Persuasion
On Candor
Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human
disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little
disguised, or a little mistaken.—Emma
On One’s Self
“We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it,
than any other person can be.”—Fanny Price, Mansfield Park
27
throwing a whole party into raptures by a prelude on the
pianoforte. . . .she had no notion of drawing”. Her interest in
fashion is remarkably lackluster, and her tastes in reading are
limited to the gothic novel, with which she shortly becomes disenchanted. At the same time, she remains singularly innocent of
irony. Catherine is, in other words, artless in at least two
respects—she is both ignorant of aesthetics and inexperienced at
manipulating representation. She is incapable of either engaging
in or understanding duplicity.
Yet, understanding duplicity is essential both to irony and to the
sort of fiction that Northanger Abbey—this novel about novels—
celebrates. Early in Northanger, in fact, “effusions of wit” are
identified as a central to the genre. What we have here is a witless
and artless heroine, and the choice is perhaps one of Austen’s
most striking experiments in and, ultimately, satires on realism.
After all, Catherine is precisely the sort of girl most likely to
appeal to a slightly vain and entirely ordinary country clergyman.
In the context of a romance, she might just pass as a heroine, for,
if she is unlikely, she is not unlikable. But, while not understanding duplicity might be an admirable thing in a 19th-century
heroine, the art of the novel and the art of the reader demand
something more.
Tilar Mazzeo is assistant professor of English at Colby College.
On Men and Books
“Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story.
Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen
has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove any
thing.”—Anne Elliot, Persuasion
On Women and Marriage
Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony,
marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable
provision for well-educated young women of small
fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be
their pleasantest preservative from want.—Pride and Prejudice
On Youth
“. . .there is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young
mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of
more general opinions.”—Colonel Brandon, Sense and Sensibility
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�28
The past few months have brought a wide
variety of alumni books to The College
mailbox, on topics from religion to
baseball.
The Grail Code:
Quest for the Real Presence
by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey
(A87)
Loyola Press
The authors trace
Holy Grail stories
and legends
throughout time
with the aim of
showing how these
accounts have
radically skewed
the Eucharistic
meaning of the
Grail. “Powerful
forces tend to pull
the story of the
Grail toward heresy,” Aquilina and Bailey
write in this study that includes consideration of the King Arthur legends, Marie de
France’s stories of love and magic written
in the Middle Ages, and even Hollywood’s
take on Christian symbolism and the Grail
in films such as Indiana Jones. They
dismiss many Grail stories, particularly
modern ones such as Dan Brown’s Da Vinci
Code, as written by members “of the wacky
fringe.” In the authors’ opinions, the
search for the Grail becomes a quest for
adventure and entertainment in these
stories instead of an experience fueled by
the purpose of changing the seeker’s life in
a deep, spiritual sense.
The Truth is Out There:
Christian Faith and the Classics
of TV Science Fiction
by Thomas Bertonneau and
Kim Paffenroth (A88)
Brazos Press
Star Trek fans out there will enjoy seeing
how some of their favorite episodes of the
1960s science fiction classic relate to Plato,
the Bible, and St. Augustine. Professors
Thomas Bertonneau and Kim Paffenroth
look to science fiction as a lens that shows
how religion and science can be integrated.
They cite Plato’s dialogue Timaeus as
possibly the “first science fiction story”
that discusses the idea that the world was
created by a god who is rational and moral.
{Bibliofile}
The authors then analyze science fiction
television shows such as Star Trek, Dr.
Who, The Prisoner, and The Twilight Zone.
Star Trek, the authors propose, can be
considered a showcase for Christian virtues
such as humility and moderation. The trio
of Kirk, Spock, and the crotchety McCoy
function as a whole being, drawing analogies to Plato’s views of the triumvirate
soul. “Star Trek’s consistent vision seems
to be about morality,” they write. The
authors also show how The Twilight Zone
illustrates the impact of original sin.
The more recent series, The X Files, is
cast in a darker religious light—that of the
apocalypse.
Cooking with the Bible:
Biblical Food, Feasts, and Lore
Anthony F. Chiffolo (AGI94) and Rayner
W. Hesse, Jr.
Greenwood Press
Food, history, and
religion simmer
together in this
cookbook by Chiffolo, an editorial
director and Hesse,
a minister. The
authors spent more
than three years
researching and
testing recipes for
what they describe
as an interfaith
cookbook that is as much a study of
etymology as it is a collection of recipes.
Each recipe is based on a food found in the
Bible, but presented in its modern day
“translation.” For instance, the apple in
the Garden of Eden is probably more like
an apricot since the Middle Eastern
climate wasn’t conducive to growing
apples. Each chapter begins with the menu
for a biblical feast. More intellectual than
the average cookbook, Cooking with the
Bible offers short essays describing the
theological, historical, and cultural
significance of particular feasts. “The King
James Bible says that St. John the Baptist
survived on locusts and honey,” Chiffolo
recently told The Journal News of New
York. “Current scholars say that this is a
mistranslation—‘locust’ really refers to
karib, which grows on trees in the Middle
East. In the Middle East, karib is referred
to as St. John’s Bread.”
Among the meals Johnnies might recog{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
nize from sophomore seminar: The
Wedding Feast at Cana from the Gospel of
John, the meal that Abraham feeds the
three angel visitors in Genesis, and the
meal that Jacob feeds Esau to steal the
birthright.
Management by Baseball:
The Official Rules for Winning
Management in Any Field
Jeff Angus (SF73)
HarperCollins Publishers
What can the
manager of a
struggling business learn from
Yankees manager
Joe Torres? When
does a player in a
slump (an underachieving
employee) need
extra coaching,
and when should
he be sent back to
the minors or cut from the team?
Jeff Angus describes the complexity of
the organization in baseball, using
America’s favorite past-time as an analogy
for managers in other fields. “It’s a pragmatic, how-to book that aims to teach
management practice through examples
from the most open, accountable, and
documented competitive system in the
U.S.: baseball,” says Angus.
“Baseball managers are ideal role
models for mangers in other professions
who are required to handle many different
tasks under high-pressure situations,”
writes Angus. He quotes the famous Ty
Cobb, “A fellow bossing a big league ballclub is busier than a one-armed paperhanger with hives.”
Angus, who is a management consultant
and baseball writer with a passion for the
game, shows how baseball can help
managers “explode out of the batter’s box”
and learn how “the New York Mets
confront the diseconomies of scale.” Angus
pitches advice on how to establish a reputation in the style of Dick Williams (former
manager of the Oakland A’s) and describes
the management style of several other top
managers of the game. x
�{Homecoming}
HOMECOMING
2006
Santa Fe Alumni Remember Nixon, the Draft, and a Growing Campus
I
t was an interesting but unsettled
time in America when members
of the St. John’s College Class of
1976 arrived in Santa Fe. Most
college campuses were still in an
uproar over the Vietnam War.
The draft would be in effect for another
year. The Paris Peace Accords had just
been signed. And in each freshman
mailbox was a letter from President
Richard Nixon, congratulating the
students for matriculating as members of
the Class of 1976, America’s bicentennial
year. “We thought it was kind of sappy,”
recalls Rick Lightburn.
“It was the 1970s, a kind of a turbulent
time, and I think we thought of ourselves
as kind of renegades,” says Chuck
Gunter of the class of 1976. “Watergate
happened, the Vietnam War ended
during our years here, and Nixon
resigned.”
Clouds and the threat of rain in mostly
sunny Santa Fe couldn’t dampen the high
spirits of the 15 members of the class of 1976 who returned to
campus the last weekend of July. About 100 other alumni, many
with children in tow, came back to share memories and news
with classmates. At the Friday night coffee shop party, the D.J.
It was a turbulent time in America when the Class of 1976
first arrived on the Santa Fe campus. The threat of storms
moved the picnic inside, but didn’t dampen spirits at
Homecoming 2006.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
29
�30
played the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar,”
Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” and several
Doors songs as a tribute to the 1970s.
In 1972, Richard Weigle was president;
William Darkey was dean. And tutor Bob
Neidorf allowed his hair to grow longer in a
personal protest against the state of the
country, recalled Gunter.
“Santa Fe was a really different city,”
added Gunter, who lives in Albuquerque
now. “It was much smaller, and it had
become this really interesting hippie arts
community.”
The campus was still new, with buildings
going up around them. There was no
Meem Library, no Student Activities
Center. The main administration building
became Weigle Hall and the tower and bell
were added.
Lightburn recalled that members of his
class were impressed by an attempt the year
before by upperclassmen to bug the faculty
enabling meeting. “We put fake TV
cameras in for our enabling, but the faculty
found them,” he says.
Paula Fulks, Judy Kistler-Robinson, and
Miriam Marcus Smith were trying to drum
up interest in reviving a favorite pastime
during their years at the college: a game of
“Murder,” played on Friday and Saturday
nights in Evans Science Laboratory. “We’d
scatter out through the whole building,”
Fulks recalls. “When you ran across a
‘victim,’ you’d have to figure out who killed
them and get back to the safe room before
the murderer got you. I almost won a
couple of times.”
During the weekend, alumni were part
of a gala opening celebration Friday night
for The Campaign for St. John’s College.
They were pleased to see the developments
on campus, even if it meant skirting
{Homecoming}
barriers and taking detours while a project
to replace the concrete pavement with
bricks was underway. “It’s really nice to
see all the improvements,” Gunter said.
During the All-Alumni Meeting, President Mike Peters gave an update on news at
the college. Alumni stood and clapped to
acknowledge a gift by Dr. Norman Levan
(SFGI74), given for construction of a new
Graduate Institute Center. And Katharine
(Kay) Harper became an honorary member
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Santa Fe associate director of alumni
activities Michael Bales (SF06) gets hints
on chair balancing from Rick Lightburn
(SF76). “It’s really tough on the Coffee
Shop floor,” Lightburn says.
of the Class of 2006, by virtue of her
dedication to the college’s Community
Seminar program. Ms. Harper has spent
more than 25 years attending seminars at
the college (more on page 46). x
�31
{Homecoming}
Clockwise from top left: Alumni visit in the
coffee shop after the Saturday picnic; Rebekka
Shugars (SF) and friends; Bill Malloy (SF77)
admires future Johnnie Clare West, with parents
Alison Bentley West (SF91) and Ben West.
Gina Ironside and Charles Harrison (SF81) catch
up on news; Johnnie kids strike a pose on the Meem
Library Placita: Alice Acciani, Ben Goldstein,
Teodore Davison, John Stukenberg, Caleb
Gartner-Colon, and Nicholas Miller.
photos by teri thomson randall
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�32
{Alumni Profile}
Broad Thinking in the ER
Marcus Eubanks (A88) Solves a Medical Mystery
by Ruth Johnston (A85)
patients with acute mental
n average day for
illness, both children and adults,
Marcus Eubanks
as well as dealing with all levels
(A88), always
of injury and disease. Some
intersects with
patients come in too readily,
unusual days for
while others wait too long.
other people.
“There’s always the guy who
In the emergency department at
waits till the football game is over
Beaver Medical Center, in
before coming in. His heart
Beaver, Penn., Eubanks sees
attack started with the pre-game
everything from mosquito bites
show, but he had to watch the
to acute infections to accident
game.” He sees women in labor,
trauma. But October 28, 2003,
premature babies, and people in
was an unusual day even for this
the last stages of death from
experienced ER doctor.
long-term metastatic cancer.
A man with very severe flu
One thing he loves about
symptoms had elevated liver
emergency medicine is the need
enzymes, and Eubanks realized
to think broadly, to avoid
that he was dealing with the sixth
formulaic thinking. “Medicine in
Hepatitis A victim in one week.
general requires you to integrate
He had treated several in the past
a lot of different things. You need
days, and a colleague had treated
to be okay with people in
another. One Hepatitis A case
general, you need to understand
would not be news, but even two
the hard empirical science of
or three were odd. Six seemed
what’s going on, but you need to
beyond coincidence, and this
Emergency Room physician Marcus Eubanks identified a deadly
be able to think broadly so that
hunch was confirmed when the
hepatitis outbreak in suburban Pittsburgh.
when something out of the
wife of one of the patients, a
ordinary crops up, you can think
nurse, said that they had all eaten
“how does this work?”
together at the same restaurant.
and he has served on several public-health
That’s one similarity he sees between his
Could it be food poisoning? That might
panels to discuss his experience.
field and St. John’s. “By going through the
mean that the source of the poisoning was
Eubanks likes “high-acuity medicine,”
St. John’s Program, you see how several
still out there, or that more patients were
and always knew he wanted to be on the
different fields or disciplines of study can be
unaware of the danger, and thought they just front lines, where fast action mattered. High
brought to bear on a question. But, of
had the flu. Eubanks didn’t want to set off a
acuity medicine means facing “a dynamic
course, a lot of ER medicine is simple,
public panic, but this was too urgent to
condition where aggressive and intensive
empirical stuff. You have a sore throat: how
ignore or allow to idle longer.
intervention on the part of the clinical team
am I going to treat you? What Pascal has to
A quick call to public health officials set in
is called for, and without which the patient
say about it isn’t going to be as important.”
motion a sweeping investigation into what
will continue to deteriorate and probably
Not taking himself too seriously is an
turned out to be one of the largest hepatitis
either die or suffer some kind of catastrophic
important part of Eubanks’ personal
outbreaks in recent times. Federal
insult from which they can’t recover.”
philosophy, as well as medical practice.
anti-terrorism officials had to evaluate the
As a student at St. John’s, he began taking
On a recent day, a woman came in with pain
possibility that it might be bioterrorism,
summer courses to prepare for medical
in her side. She thought she had appenwhile the medical team had to find other
school, first at Johns Hopkins, then at Bryn
dicitis, but it looked like diverticulitis to
possible victims for pre-emptive treatment.
Mawr College. When he first began studies
him. “I thought, ‘okay, let’s see who’s
Three Beaver County patients died, while
at Temple University Medical School, he
right,’ ” he jokes. “Guess what? I was
hundreds were infected and required
thought he might like to go into trauma
wrong.” In acute medicine, that’s always a
treatment. The victims had all eaten at a
surgery. Instead, he chose emergency
possibility to keep in mind.
local Chi-Chi’s, and the search for the exact
medicine because it combined the urgency
As a medical student, Eubanks used
contaminant eventually led investigators to
of trauma surgery with the need to be
creative writing to deal with his adjustment
four Mexican farms to examine their
prepared for a wide variety of problems.
to a world where personal tragedy and an
methods of washing green onions.
In an average week in his emergency
ordinary work day could routinely intersect.
The outbreak put Eubanks in the spotlight,
department, Eubanks evaluates several
A
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�33
{Alumni Notes}
1940
1944
OSCAR LORD’S eldest son,
Gen. Lance Welty Lord, retired
from active duty as commander
of the Air Force Space Command
on March 31, 2006.
Happy news from JOHN DAVIS
HILL: “I have been married to
Dorothy Murdock for 60 years.
Recently Dorothy was recognized at the Annual Meeting of
the Nebraska Congregational
United Church of Christ for
65 years in the ministry. She
received her degree from the
University of Chicago Divinity
School and the Chicago Theological Seminary, where she was
ordained in June 1941.”
1943
MILTON PERLMAN writes,
“I am delighted that Ms. Patricia
Locke is doing a study of Proust
and that Swann’s Way is again
being studied in language
tutorials the senior year.”
1951
College for helping us to
discover, and recognize, the
worth of liberal education.
Although most of us would probably hesitate to call ourselves
liberal artists, my guess is that
most of us attempted to be something like liberal artisans—in our
further education, personal
lives, and professional pursuits,
tacitly taking the measure of
things by standards we learned
from our tutors and one another.
In a culture in which, all too
often, education is conflated
with training, philosophy is
confused with ideology, and
religion is confounded with
idolatry, liberal artisanship is
surely, indeed, sorely, needed.
I am grateful for the libris
libraque.”
1952
WALTER SCHATZBERG has
retired from his position as
Professor of German at Clark
continued on p. 34
Enchanted by China
A. NADOL (class of 1957) writes that he and Polly just
returned from a three-week tour of China and Japan.
“It was great to experience the ancient Great Wall,
Forbidden City, temples, tombs, palaces, and the modern
China with all its free enterprises, business, and
construction boom,” he writes. He was also impressed
that all high school students and above speak English. x
J
ACK
A love letter of sorts from ERNIE
HANKAMER: “To my fellow
classmates: On the eve of the
55th return of our graduation in
1951, I think we are all aware of
being indebted to St. John’s
After the death of a patient in a particularly
gruesome accident, he wrote an e-mail to his
parents that detailed both the event and his
viewpoint as one of the doctors who had to
remain business-like and detached. His
father encouraged him to publish it, so, on a
lark, he submitted it to Jason Snell, editor of
InterText, one of the first professionally
edited online fiction venues. Snell published
Eubanks’ e-mail, now titled “Mr. McKenna
is Dying,” and wanted to see more. InterText
eventually published five short stories,
giving Marcus his fifteen minutes of fame in
cyberspace, as well as motivation to create
his own site for unpublished writing,
www.riotcentral.com.
But continuing to use his sharp, witty
voice to explore the world of medicine might
now clash with his career. As a student, he
didn’t feel he had much at stake, but as a
responsible doctor in a small community,
Eubanks would need to take careful, perhaps
even extravagantly careful, steps to remain
anonymous. “The really tragic, funny
patients aren’t likely to read the stories,” but
he would have to try to protect their privacy,
as well as his.
Although he grew up in the rural outskirts
of Pittsburgh, Eubanks prefers to live in the
city neighborhood of Oakland. He and his
wife, Rochelle, a critical care nurse, bought
a “bombed-out frat house” that required
extensive reconstruction. It’s close to friends
and activities, and it’s not far from Seton Hill
University, where daughter Laurin, 19,
attends. Thierry, a baby girl born in July,
joins Robert, 10, in the family that remains
at home.
Eubanks’ 40-mile commute takes him
right past the well-known teaching hospitals,
but he’s not seriously tempted. Beaver
Medical Center is a typical small-town
hospital, but its emergency department sees
fifty thousands patients a year, and Eubanks
loves the work environment. He sees some
patients frequently enough to get to know
them, and finds he has to use all his people
skills to view them simultaneously as individuals and as medical cases. A patient with a
mysterious problem might need to hear a
doctor admit that in spite of all the tests he
can run, “I just don’t know what’s wrong
with you.” A worried mother who brings a
child with an ordinary cold probably just
needs reassurance. Eubanks gladly tells her
what a great job she’s doing, and to keep up
the good work. He sees a lot of children, like
a little boy who ran into a pole at the playground and came in with a large cut above
his eye.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Emergency room abuses, such as patients
showing up just to get prescription Tylenol
that is covered by insurance, rather than
buying it over the counter, can leave many
doctors with a cynical attitude. “Sure, we get
cynical, even sarcastic at times,” says
Eubanks. “But in the emergency room, each
individual presentation, taken by itself, is
actually very interesting. Take the little kid
with the eyebrow laceration: I was looking at
the exposed bone, nerve, bridging vessels
that I had to preserve. I needed some deep
sutures to take tension off the wound. . . .I
can make it sound very complicated but it’s
actually not. I love what I do. Most of the
time, it’s a lot of fun.”
The new focus on privacy laws hasn’t
changed much in the emergency room, and
Eubanks comments that recent attention to
virulent strains of bacteria isn’t news in his
field, either. But there’s another trend he
likes. “Increasingly, in emergency medicine,
there’s a push toward making people leave
happy.” Eubanks’ cheerful personality validates this approach, though some doctors
worry that it means catering to patients too
much. “Across a large population, leaving
happy means quality of care. It probably
means better medical practices, too.” x
�34
{Alumni Notes}
continued
University (Worcester, Mass.)
after 40 years of service. He
earned his Ph.D. from the Johns
Hopkins University in 1966.
At Clark he chaired the
Department of Foreign
Languages for 10 years and was
director of Clark’s Program in
Luxembourg for 12 years. He is
the author of several books and
articles in the field of German
Studies including the relations
of literature and science in the
German Enlightenment, the
Jewish response to German
culture, and films in the Weimar
Republic.
1953
FRANK ATWELL and TOM
HEINEMAN are regulars at
Miami’s seminars (Kierkegaard
was the latest book; next year,
Einstein), and they invite other
Class of 1953 veterans in South
Florida to join them.
1955
HAROLD BAUER’S Songs of War
and Death for tenor, mezzo, and
orchestra were performed by the
Norfolk University Symphony
Orchestra in March. Harold
directs the opera program at
Norfolk. He conducted a concert
during Northwestern
University’s Harmonic Convergence festival. And he’s painting
like crazy. “Nothing like a calm
retirement,” he writes.
“Our class had its 50th reunion
in September,” writes CAROLYN
BANKS LEEUWENBURGH. “It was
the nicest reunion I’ve been to
in 50 years. Those who lent their
talents were really at their best.
The food and camaraderie were
memorable for the next 50 years.
Thanks!”
1956
GEORGE E. SAUER has been
elected treasurer of the Republican Central Committee of
Montgomery County, Maryland.
1959
JOHN E. MCDEVITT III is a
great-grandfather. “My
grandson’s wife gave birth to
Richard in April. And I continue
to fill in at the junior college;
taught meteorology when the
full-time instructor was ill for six
weeks and then astronomy when
an adjunct quit with no notice.”
MICHAEL K. and BLAKELY L.
MECHAU (class of 1958) are
looking forward to visits from
Pretty Much Retired
I
am pretty much retired and doing some traveling,” writes
JOHN POUNDSTONE, class of 1962. “My oldest daughter is
in Beijing, China, working for the World Health
Organization as an AIDS epidemiologist. We hope to visit
her this fall. My youngest daughter lives in New York City
and is an artist/designer, having graduated from the
Parsons School of Design. I am remodeling the house I grew up
in here in Lexington, Ky., and hope to move in some time this
fall. Meanwhile, we’ve got a trip to Lisbon, Athens, and Santorini
to participate in a paleopathology conference.” x
“
SAM and EMILY KUTLER (class of
1954 and 1955), EVA BRANN
(HA89), MIKE (class of 1961)
and RENE GOLD, HERMINA
LITTLETON, widow of the late
MICHAEL LITTLETON (A95), and
DAN (A93) and LIZ LITTLETON
this summer—“all connected by
strong ties to St. John’s.”
1962
DAVID W. BENFIELD is enjoying
teaching philosophy at Mountain State University in New
Jersey. “To 1962 classmates: I
say the 45th reunion in 2007 is a
big one! Let’s all try to make it!”
1967
LOVEJOY DURYEA was selected
as the honoree for the
International Interior Design
Association National Leadership
Breakfast in New York in April.
In May, she served on a panel
for NIDA, and she led the
New York St. John’s seminar on
Rembrandt’s self-portrait with
KATARINA WONG (A88). She was
also elected as the Gold Medalist
for Design from the National
Arts Club in 2003.
HELEN HOBART has a “new
direction, which amplifies the
essential habit of curiosity and
listening deeply begun at SJC.
I’m now an interfaith/Buddhist
chaplain resident at a large
hospital and acute psychiatric
center in Sacramento—every day
is a blessing.”
1968
TOM KEENS (SF), a professor of
Pediatrics, Physiology, and
Biophysics at the Keck School of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Medicine at the University of
Southern California, has been
elected chair of the Pediatric
Pulmonology Subboard of the
American Board of Pediatrics,
2007-08.
GEORGE W. PARTLOW (A) is
back in Alaska for the summer
after wintering in Yuma, Ariz.
“I took part in a seminar on
Plato’s Apology sponsored by
the new Phoenix alumni chapter
in early April. Enjoyed seeing
MARIAN (CUNNINGHAM) COHEN
(A69) again, and meeting tutor
Louis Kurs’ daughter Jean. Our
oldest daughter Erika, currently
a student at Western Oregon
University, will be moving back
to Alaska with our five grandkids
in August. Daughter Hilary has
just returned after seven months
in South America (including the
obligatory trek to Machu
Picchu). Michael is a senior at
the University of Oregon in
Eugene. I am busy doing Tai
Chi, reading Don Quixote, and
being a householder . . . and glad
to be home with my Steinway
again!”
1969
MARIELLE HAMMETT KRONBERG (A) writes: “Our son
MAX KRONBERG (‘our’ being
mine and Ken’s and Ken being
KENNETH KRONBERG, SF68)
graduated from St. John’s in
Annapolis on May 14, 2006—
loving the college as much as
Ken and I did and do. We had a
wonderful time at Commencement, seeing SAM and EMILY
KUTLER, ELLIOTT ZUCKERMAN
(HA95), and EVA BRANN—whom
Max had the great good fortune
to have as his freshman seminar
leader. Best of all was seeing
Max in cap and gown and
bachelor’s hood!”
�35
{Alumni Notes}
a new job in the same field with
El Paso Corp. He and his family
still live near Houston.
Taking a Break
W
ENDY MCDONALD FLORENCE (SF89) is now
living in Tucson, Ariz., with her husband,
two daughters—Kennedy who is 3 years old
and Addison who is 5 months old—and a
dog, Marley. “I’ve taken a hiatus from my
practice of internal medicine to enjoy the
girls in these early years,” she says. “I will return to medicine
someday but I appreciate each day now for what they bring
through giggles, discovery, and occasional tears. I’d love to hear
from other alumni in the area. x
BETH KUPER (SF) has just
opened an online digital d
ownload music store at:
www.burnlounge.com/
goodmojomusic and invites
Johnnies to take a look for
their favorite tunes.
Hazel & the Delta Ramblers, the
New Orleans band that includes
Larry and HAZEL SCHLUETER
(A) and grandsons Grey and
Kaden performed at the New
Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival. It marked Hazel’s
30th time performing at the
festival, and Grey’s seventh.
Hazel writes: “We stayed in our
home in New Orleans during
Katrina. At the height of the
storm our phone rang
constantly. Among all the offers
of help was a call from St. John’s
College, offering a place to stay.
Thank you. Everyone I tell this
story to is amazed at our college.
Thank you. We are home
repairing, repainting, and
playing bluegrass around our
city and state with Hazel and the
Delta Ramblers.”
eight books since I graduated
from St. John’s, so many, and so
few, years ago. This summer I
had the opportunity to put in
quality research time as a
visiting scholar at the Hagley
Museum in Wilmington, Del.,
deepening a long-term project
on industrial and managerial
development in the first half of
America’s 20th century. Wherever I go, everything I learned at
St. John’s—the environment, the
gifted tutors, and fellow students
I acquired it from—follows me
and nourishes me. Sounds
idealistic, I guess, but it’s meant
as altogether realistic. As Milton
wrote: “But let my due feet never
fail, /To walk the studious
Cloysters pale, /And love the
high embowed Roof, /With
antick Pillars massy proof.”
STEVE HANFT (SF) writes that
his son will be headed to Pomona
College in the fall. “Couldn’t
interest him in St. John’s,” he
writes. “My wife, Ruth, gardens,
arranges flowers, paints,
volunteers for community
service. I’m sitting on the sofa,
reading.”
1970
JOHN DEAN (A) sends news
and poetry: “Life goes well.
Following my years at the
University of Strasbourg,
I’m now at the University of
Versailles—tenured professor in
Cultural History. I’ve written
1973
WILLIAM M. BLOUNT (SF) took
retirement from ExxonMobil
after 21 years of service as a
petroleum geologist and started
Another alum in the Callahan
family: LAURIE FRANKLIN
CALLAHAN (SF) writes that her
daughter, ERIN CALLAHAN
(A06), graduated from St. John’s
in Annapolis in May and began
law school at The George Washington University in the fall. “I
know her Johnnie background
will serve her well!” she writes.
Chicago film critic JAN LISA
HUTTNER (A) recently earned
her second consecutive Silver
Feather Award from the Illinois
Woman’s Press Association, for
writing the most award-winning
articles in IWPA’s annual Mate
E. Palmer Communications
Contest. Seven of Huttner’s nine
awards were for articles dealing
with Jewish themes, and her two
first-prize winners were both
about Israel: “Israeli Films:
Coming Soon to a Theatre Near
You!” analyzed which Israeli
films get picked up by American
distributors; and “ ‘Israel
Rocks!’ Celebrates Diversity”
reviewed a documentary thatwhich explores ethnic and
political conflicts in the context
of Israel’s music scene.
Although the second intifada
crushed the fragile hopes
nourished by Oslo, Israeli
filmmakers were energized,”
says Huttner. “They’ve been
catapulted to a whole new level
of artistic accomplishment.”
1974
MARY GEOGHEGAN JOLLES (SF)
is completing her ninth year as
principal of Colebrook
Elementary School (K-8).
Recently she visited her older
son Phil (29) in Carbondale,
Colo. He and his wife have an
eight-month-old, my grandson
Owen David Wolf Jolles. “Last
fall my husband and I decided to
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
become foster parents to a 15year-old boy, Todd, who was in
desperate need of a home,” she
writes. “Our other two children,
Diana (26) and Karl (24) are
busy—Diana is in a doctoral
program in biology at Ohio State
University, and Karl is a roofer
in southern New Hampshire.”
ERIC (SF) and LISA (GINSBERG)
ROSENBLUM (A80) have professional and family news: In
November 2005 Lisa started a
job as library director for the
City of Hayward, Calif. Eric and
Lisa’s daughter, Anna, will
graduate in June from Harvard
College with a degree in
Classical Archaeology, while son
Sam will enter the University of
California-Santa Barbara as a
freshman in the fall.
PAUL SZABO (A) has been
recognized as one of the top
intellectual property lawyers in
the country in the 2006
Chambers USA Guide, a legal
resource used by general counsel
and other purchasers of legal
services. A partner in the
Cleveland firm of Calfee,
Halter & Griswold, Paul
counsels publicly and privatelyheld clients regarding issues
such as patents and copyrights .
1976
CHRISTIAN BURKS (SF) has been
in Toronto for four-and-a-half
years. His wife, Janet Moody, is
now working at Creative Niche,
recruiting creative/design staff.
One of their daughters starts a
new job teaching sixth graders in
San Diego in August, while the
other starts law school at the
University of Washington in
Seattle.
“After 20 years of teaching
college composition, literature,
and related liberal arts classes, I
continued on p. 37
�36
{Alumni Profile}
Following in Familiar Footsteps
Kevin Ross (AGI97), President of Lynn University
by Patricia Dempsey
K
evin Ross (AGI97),
who grew up on
campus at Lynn
University in Boca
Raton, Fla., thrived
on the lively
conversations of his parents, academic
leaders, and intellectuals, as well as
“more college food than anyone I
know.” On July 1, he became the fifth
president of Lynn University, and at
age 40, one of the youngest college
presidents in the country.
Ross follows the footsteps of his
father Donald Ross, the former
president of Lynn. Over his 35-year
tenure, the elder Ross piloted the
gradual transformation of Lynn
University into a four-year liberal arts
institution with an accredited master’s
and doctoral programs. In 1971 as
president of Wilmington College in
Delaware, the elder Ross visited
Marymount College and convinced
Wilmington trustees to aid the
struggling junior college; this institution evolved into the College of Boca
Raton and finally Lynn University.
Kevin Ross (AGI97) hopes to lead Lynn University
Before taking the helm at Lynn,
to great things.
Ross says he wanted to get his “feet
wet in education without any help
from my family.” After earning his
make-it-happen type of leader,” says Ross.
bachelor’s degree in English at Colgate
“I’m more pragmatic.” Ross uses this
University, Ross embarked on a career in
approach to build on his father’s accomeducation administration. He gained
experience in admissions and development plishments as president. He seeks to foster
the strong sense of community at Lynn, as
at the Hill School in Pottstown, Penn. He
much an asset to the university as its
returned to Lynn in 1999 as dean of Lynn’s
programs in music, aeronautics, and
communications school and later became
international studies. “Lynn has this family
chief operating officer. Along the way, he
enrolled at St. John’s, at the suggestion of a feel, and it is something that was very
Hill School colleague who had attended the purposeful from the outset,” says Ross.
“This is something that my father strongly
GI and knew of Ross’ interest in the liberal
valued, and I do too. We want to be one of
arts. Later, Ross earned a doctoral degree
the most innovative, international, and
in education from Peabody College of
individualized small universities in
Vanderbilt University.
America.”
Though they are both passionate about
Ross is a consensus builder. While
Lynn University, Ross and his father share
developing the university’s strategic plan,
different leadership styles. “He is
he sent a draft and a red pen to staff,
absolutely a visionary, damn-thefaculty, and students, asking for feedback.
torpedoes, kick-the-doors open, let’s
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
“As the president I throw ideas out
there, and we have a conversation.
In fact, the educational approach of
St. John’s has informed much of what I
do. Consensus doesn’t mean that we’re
all going to agree, but I would prefer
to have an argument in the right sense,
to see if an idea will stand the test of
time. It should be able to be beat up a
little bit, and critically picked apart.”
Ross says his studies in the GI
represent “the most profound
educational experience of my life.”
He’s even considering how Lynn
University’s distance learning
programs—seemingly incompatible
with a discussion-based approach—
could benefit from the St. John’s
model. “What led me to my interest in
instructional technology were the
fundamentals that came from
St. John’s—the liberal arts curriculum
and the idea of continuing a conversation. In the past, it always struck me
that you’d walk into a classroom, flick
the lights on, say, ‘Okay, its time to
learn,’ then you’d turn the lights off
and say, ‘Okay, go read on your own
and come back later.’ It made me think
about the conversations we had here
at St. John’s. I didn’t want seminar to
end at 10 p.m. when I was at the
Graduate Institute.”
Ross hopes to reach the goals of his
strategic plan in 10 years, instead of the
planned 15. One of his priorities is to travel
the country to garner support of alumni to
increase the university’s endowment.
“None of our challenges are insurmountable,” he says. “Sometimes a large
endowment can be an excuse for poor
management because you can rest on your
laurels. There is a scrappiness about Lynn
and this real nimbleness, which is one of
our great strengths.”
Amidst all the pressures of his new
position Ross says he hopes to make time
for St. John’s. “If I have a sabbatical the
first thing I’ll do is go to Santa Fe and do
the master’s in Eastern Classics. I’d go in a
heartbeat.” x
�37
{Alumni Notes}
am working as a psychotherapist
in Phoenix,” writes IDELL
KESSELMAN (SFGI)
“Here, I can keep an eye on
my parents—and my 27-year-old
daughter. Active in my
synagogue, I look forward to
nurturing my own continuing
love of giving.”
start-up company making clip
art. So far, the sites include
faithclipart.com, christmastimeclipart.com, babytidings.com,
and weddingclipart.com. She
writes, “In my spare time I’m
singing with the Siskiyou
Singers, a community chorus of
100+ people. Lots of fun!”
1977
1979
EDWARD F. GRANDI (A) is
completing a second year as
executive director of the American Sleep Apnea Association.
He’s active again with the D.C.
Alumni Association chapter
after a long hiatus and “generally loves life!”
MICHAEL LEVINE ST. JAMES (A)
enjoys Santa Fe’s Summer
Classics. “Last summer, I took
the Don Quixote seminar, led by
tutors ERIC SALEM (A77, my
sophomore roommate) and
CAREY STICKNEY (A75, my
Paca-Carroll dorm-mate), and
had a fantastic time,” he says.
“This summer I return for
Aristotle’s Ethics, led by the
same tutors. I can’t recommend
Summer Classics enough!”
“Life in Boise has settled into a
routine,” writes MARLENE F.
STRONG (A). “I just completed
my second year of working at a
nonprofit mental health center,
where I do therapy with children
and adults. I am enjoying four
distinct seasons, and I love my
100-year-old house and big
garden. I do miss the ocean!
Looking forward to seeing
my classmates next year for
our 30th.”
SUSAN HERDER (SF) is living
very happily in San Francisco,
where she has a thriving practice
as a bodyworker. “For fun, I’m
into athletics, swimming in the
bay often with my friends at the
South End Rowing Club,
running, biking, and doing
triathlons. A big event in my life
presently is buying my first
home, and it’s in Santa Fe! I’m
not moving though, will just
spend more time there, and I’m
looking forward to seeing
everyone as our paths cross.”
After several years of consulting
for reproductive rights
organizations, MARJORIE
HUTTER (A) has what she
describes as her “dream job” as
Director of Development for the
Women’s Fund of Western
Massachusetts: “My “nonJohnnie” husband and I have
been together for 20 years and
are enjoying raising our two
daughters—Simone “Mo,”
13 years old, and Gracie, 10 years
old. I send my best wishes to all
of my classmates.”
1980
1982
JOSHUA KATES (A) last fall
published Essential History:
Jacques Derrida and the
Development of Deconstruction.
He has left his position at
Santa Fe, and he and his wife are
currently associate professors of
English at Indiana University
(Bloomington) and have a
six-month-old son, Zeke.
KELLY GENOVA (SF) was married
June 27 to James Rowley. Her
former husband, STEPHEN
LEACH (SF), was expected to
attend with his fiancée, Sally
Buxt. Writes Kelly: “I still
practice law; Stephen is an
associate professor in the
philosophy department at the
University of Texas-Pan
American, where his mother
graduated many years ago.
James is a lawyer as well, in
Albuquerque, concentrating on
personal injury matters and the
representation of workers’
compensation claims. I defend
such claims. It should make for
an interesting marriage.”
GERI GLOVER (SF) has joined
the Education Department at
the College of Santa Fe.
1981
ANNE O’MALLEY CULOTTA (A)
encourages friends and classmates to try their best to make
the 25th reunion of her class.
“I promise you won’t want to
miss the fun and the flashbacks,”
she writes. “Sometimes the
sequel is even better than the
original! Let’s get the party
started.”
THOMAS J. SLAKEY, JR. (SF) is
working as a technical writing
consultant at companies all over
Silicon Valley. He’s married to
the lovely Susan Slakey, and his
two stepsons are turning 18 and
21 this year. He welcomes
contact at tslakey@comcast.net
Puppies and Girls
RYAN (SF86) reports that his family
and business are both growing: “We have
added a boxer puppy to our three girls and
boxer-mix dog. There is plenty of happiness
and chaos to go around. My architecture firm
in Albuquerque has grown to 11 people and we
are taking on some large projects in four states. I look forward
to seeing everyone this summer.” x
M
ICHAEL
1978
RACHEL BARRETT (SF) has
moved to Ashland, Ore., where
she works for an Internet
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
LESLIE SMITH ROSEN (A) writes
that her eldest daughter,
Marielle, is engaged to be
married, with the wedding to
take place in May 2007, after
Marielle completes her master’s
degree at Johns Hopkins.
“My younger daughter is
finishing her first year at the
University of Chicago (SJC
a little too intense) and my
youngest, Sam, is in high
school,” she writes. “Time
flies and tuitions soar. Best
wishes to all, and looking
forward to our 25th!”
1983
“I just launched a series of three
satellites to study the Earth’s
magnetosphere and got a little
closer to the eidos of
engineering,” writes PETER
ROSSONI (SF). “Send me your
news!
Peter.rossoni@gsfc.nasa.gov.
I would love to hear from any
classmates.”
TED ZENZINGER (A) is a
professor of philosophy at Regis
University in Denver, Co. He and
�38
{Alumni Notes}
his wife just celebrated the first
birthday of their second
daughter, Olivia. Ted writes,
“She and her sister, Sophia (2),
keep us busy!”
1984
JOHN (SF) and Elizabeth BUSH’s
oldest son, Salem, who was born
in Santa Fe, graduated from
James Madison University in
Harrisonburg, Va., this past
spring.
FATHER ROBERT NICOLETTI,
M.J., (SF) is a missionary in
Ukraine: “Does anyone want to
help a Ukrainian orphanage?
I’ll send you more info. Many
thanks.”
1985
ANNA LOUISE DAVIS (A) was
sorry to have missed her
20th reunion last fall, but she
looks forward to catching up
with everyone in a few short
years at the 25th. In the
meantime she is headed back to
school for a Master of Public
Health from the Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health.
LIZA HYATT (SF) is “happily
divorced” and a mother to
Maggie, who turned nine in
August. “I am self-employed
doing a variety of things: I am a
mosaic artist and work with
communities (such as local
schools, Indiana University’s
cancer hospital, a women’s
shelter) to create mosaic murals
for their buildings; I am an art
therapist in private practice; I
am a storyteller and perform at
libraries, schools, and festivals;
and I am adjunct faculty for two
graduate programs at St. Mary
of the Woods College. And, after
40 some years of believing I
can’t sing, I joined a choir and
am loving it. I would love to hear
from other Johnnies! E-mail me
at liza@lizahyatt.com.”
Art in Ensenada
LASKOWSKI (SFGI97) is Mexico bound: “My partner,
a painter, and I are invited to Ensenada, Mexico, for a 10day artist residency. The participants will come from
around the globe and will create their art at the site,
which will then be exhibited at the local museum. Also,
Andrei and I had a well-received exhibition at Gallery
Route One, Point Reyes, Calif. Look at our work at www.galleryrouteone.org.” x
I
NYA
JOHN SCHILLO (SF) and his
partner, David Maltin, recently
purchased several apartment
buildings in Albuquerque and a
home in east Sandias, where
they will be relocating toward
the end of this year. John looks
forward to seeing old friends
who still live in New Mexico or
will be visiting there, as well as
making new acquaintances at
alumni events. He can be
reached on his home e-mail:
jwschillo@comcast.net or at his
work e-mail: john.schillo@
ge.com.
1986
SUSAN READ (SFGI) writes that
her son, Harry, will be in fifth
grade this fall. “I am still
teaching high school, still
skiing, still talking.”
context of severe mental illness,
and is based in my first 11 years’
work as an acute care psychiatric
chaplain.”
GEORGE ALBERT ERHARD (SF)
has moved from Northern California to Irving, Texas, where he
is now a Network Fault Management Engineer for AT&T. Also,
George would like to announce
his marriage to Claire Alyce
Johnson, who has shared his life
for the past 10 years.
REGINA LANDOR (A) writes that
she and her husband, Bill Woodward, welcomed their second
son, Gabriel, in December.
Their first son, Ethan, is now 2.
1987
CHARLOTTE GLOVER (SF) joined
with some friends in Ketchikan,
Alaska, to start a chapter of
“First Book,” which helps lowincome children build home
libraries. “The national
organization has been awesome
to work with,” she writes. “See
you next summer in Santa Fe!”
1989
“I am nearing the end of my
Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral
Counseling and Marriage and
Family Therapy at the Louisville
Presbyterian Theological Seminary,” writes DAVID DILLARD
(A). My research has been
focused around finding hope in a
1990
TATIANA N. MASTERS (SF)
finished the second year of her
doctoral program with her usual
aplomb. She is finishing the
page proofs for her first paper in
Psychology of Women
Quarterly. She is still three years
from completing her studies just
like last year. Her partner Jason
Spainhower is proud of her
accomplishments. They live in
Seattle and have listed numbers
and unusual names.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
1991
DIANNE JANETTE COWAN (A)
writes, “2005 was a busy year for
me, with three big events. In
August, I finally left my miserable job for a better one in
educational publishing. In
November, I got elected the
Alumni Association president of
the Boston chapter, and two days
later the Red-Haired Boy of my
dreams asked me to marry him.
Sadly, I won’t be able to make it
to the Class of ’91 reunion, since
it is, inconveniently, the
weekend before my wedding. But
I’m consoled by the fact that all
Johnnie weddings are minireunions. And with any luck, I’ll
be around for the Class of ’92
bash in ’07. Please drop a line to
diannecowan@alumni.stjohnscollege.edu.
BEN FOLEY (SF) is living in
Oakland, Calif., teaching 7thgrade humanities and doing a lot
of hiking in the Sierra.
TEDDI ANN GALLIGAN and
DAVID ALAN DIGGS (both A),
announce with great joy the
birth of their second daughter,
Josephine Lucia Diggs-Galligan
on July 20, 2005, in Washington, D.C. Writes Teddi,
“Big sister Sophia Emmanuelle
is enjoying her new status
immensely.”
continued on p. 40
�39
{Alumni Notes}
Hooked on Classics
Richard Field (SFGI98) Nurtures Book Lovers
by Rosemary Harty
S
tudying in the St. John’s
Graduate Institute “lit a fire in
my mind,” says Richard Field
(SFGI98), a senior humanities
teacher at Albuquerque
Academy, a private college
preparatory school. Now he’s trying to do
the same thing for his students through his
weekend Classics Club, a group he started
to give students another place to discuss
books and ideas.
Field enrolled in the GI in Santa Fe after
completing a doctoral program in history
and philosophy. He had heard of the
undergraduate program, admired it, and
started to read Program books on his own.
Then he heard about the graduate program
in Liberal Arts.
“From my very first class with
Mr. LeCuyer and Ms. Honeywell,
I absolutely loved it,” he says. “St. John’s
opened a new way of thinking for me,
and I can’t go back. I became this insatiable reader of the classics and I haven’t
stopped since.” Even after finishing the
GI program, he went back to campus to
take the History segment.
Field began his teaching career in the
school’s physical education department,
but he soon talked his way into the
humanities program, where he’s been
happy ever since, teaching seminar classes
The Nietzsche Rap
Gonna teach ya Nietzsche
caus’ I can’t reach ya’
man must first go under so he doesn’t
blunderTry to teach you overman
because man is a rope,
a dope, between a man and hopeover an abyss.
Ubermensch, ubermensch
God is dead
Antichrist, Will to Power
have you readZARATHUSTRA...!
based on St. John’s. “I love the material so
much that kids have written to me to tell
me my excitement and enthusiasm spread
to them,” he says. “The people who
inspired me were two Johnnies who were
working here. They were the catalyst.”
Inspired by the movie Dead Poet’s
Society, in which a teacher cultivates a love
for literature in his students, Field decided
to start an extracurricular club for students
who want to read ancient and modern
classics that regular classes would never
have time for. Over the years, the club has
read works including The Sorrows of Young
Werther, The Communist Manifesto,
Beowulf, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man, the Symposium, and Pride and
Prejudice.
The group meets once a month, usually
in a local coffee shop, and recently,
Albuquerque Academy alumni have begun
to attend. “It’s very rewarding,” he says.
“I start with an opening question, though
given the nature and age of the kids, one
question is usually not enough to keep
them going.”
Club members had an assignment over
the summer. Read Democracy in America
and come back ready to discuss it. Meetings are usually an hour, but the group
went almost 90 minutes and decided to
schedule an extra meeting to finish their
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Albuquerque teacher Richard Field
knows how to get the attention of his
high school students.
discussion on the book. “They saw quite a
few parallels with what’s going on today
and what de Tocqueville talked about,”
Field says. “But they think his views about
the ‘middling state of American education’
are no longer true.” Next up: The Picture of
Dorian Gray.
Every year Field works in some Russian
literature. “I read The Brothers Karamazov in a tutorial with Victoria Mora,
and now I’m a Dostoevsky nut,” he
confesses.
He rewards club members every
semester with a party, during which
everyone plays games like Trivial Pursuit’s
Book Lover’s edition. He also brings a
playful attitude to his regular humanities
classes; once a year, when seniors are
scheduled to read Thus Spoke Zarathustra,
Field dresses up “gansta” style (complete
with St. John’s cap pulled low over his face)
to perform his “Nietzsche Rap.” “I originally wrote it in 1996,” he explains. “It’s a
way to relate some of Nietzsche’s ideas to
students in a modern, fun, and hip way.” x
�40
{Alumni Notes}
Officially a Doctor
ELIZABETH FORREST, A00, received the degree
of Doctor of Medicine during graduation ceremonies
at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine on
May 22, 2006. She was also the recipient of two
faculty awards: the Florence L. Marcus, M.D. Prize
in Family Medicine and the F. Lorraine Bruni Prize
in Geriatric Medicine.
On graduating from St. John’s, she received a Howard Hughes
Foundation summer research internship at the University of
Virginia Medical School. Following the internship she attended
James Madison University
in Harrisonburg, Va., for
two semesters of postbaccalaureate studies to satisfy
the science prerequisites for
medical school. While in
Harrisonburg, she was also
an emergency medical technician with the Harrisonburg Volunteer Rescue
Squad.
Paige began a three-year
residency in family medicine on June 23 at the
University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center-St.
Margaret Hospital, in
Pittsburgh. x
P
AIGE
1992
Rebecca Paige Brandreth was
born April 26, 2006, announces
CYNTHIA BRANDRETH (AGI).
J. ELIZABETH (HUEBERT)
SCHOEMAKER (SF) and Jeremy
Schoemaker welcomed their
first daughter, Juliet J.
Schoemaker on June 23, 2006.
Juliet weighed 7 lbs. Her mother
continues to practice anesthesiology in Lincoln, Neb.
1993
“I’ve been going through the
devastating effects of late-stage
Lyme disease since February
2004 and am interested in
getting in touch with people
going through similar
experiences from this underrecognized ailment,” writes
BARBARA ARNOLD (SF). “I’d
appreciate hearing from any
Johnnies out there who have
friends, family, or who are themselves dealing with the illness:
Arnold@ferae.naturae.com.”
SALLIE (SFGI) and GEORGE
BINGHAM (SF66) celebrated
their second wedding anniversary this past July. George has
enjoyed rejoining the college’s
Board of Visitors and Governors.
CHRISTOPHER GRAM (A)
welcomed the birth of his second
daughter, Celeste Penelope
Gram, on March 25, 2006.
VALERIE DUFF-STRAUTMANN
(SF) has poems appearing in
Zoland Poetry (Steerforth
Press), an annual anthology of
contemporary poetry from
around the globe.
THOMAS E. SCHNEIDER (AGI)
has a new book out: Lincoln’s
Defense of Politics: The Public
Man and His Opponents in the
Crisis Over Slavery (University
of Missouri Press, 2006), based
on his dissertation in political
science from Boston College.
CHERYL S. HENEVELD (AGI) is
still taking part in vigils at 5
p.m. every Saturday against the
war in Iraq, as well as writing
and working for the end of wars.
1997
1994
NATHAN HUMPHREY (A) is
curate at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, K St., in Washington,
D.C. “My former junior lab
tutor, ANN MARTIN, is a
parishioner, and my former
Febbie Lab tutor, ROBERT
DRUECKER, lives behind the
church. Several Johnnies and
parents of Johnnies are members
or regular visitors.”
1996
ANGELA BILLICK (SF) was
promoted to vice president and
joined BNP-Paribas, a French
bank. She is based in a New York
office. She’s been accepted to
the Executive MBA program at
NYU’s Stern School of Business
and is “looking forward to
flexing the gray matter once
again!” Drop a line at
angela_billick@hotmail.com
“As of this Easter, I have
celebrated my first year as a
Roman Catholic,” writes ERIN
N. (HEARN) FURBY (A). “I have
enjoyed the supportive and
intellectually vibrant Catholic
community here in Anchorage,
Alaska (many of whom are close
cousins, being St. Thomas
Aquinas College alumni).”
MARYBETH GUERRIERI (A)
graduated in June from the
Barbara Brennan School of
Healing, from which she
received a Professional Skills
diploma in Brennan Healing
Science.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
KATHLEEN EAMON (SF) writes
to report that she has just
accepted a teaching position at
Evergreen State College, where
she was hired in philosophy.
“But, as anyone who knows
the place knows, I’m slated to
teach more broadly than that.
LYNARRA (Featherly, SF94) and
I have spent the last six years
in Nashville, where I am now
winding up work on my dissertation at Vanderbilt University.
Neither of us made it big on the
country scene, but Lynarra has
become a widely-sought (if
reluctant) interior designer,
hounded by friends and real
estate agents alike. She has also
acquired mad-carpenter skills,
after having renovated two
historic homes from top to
bottom.”
DAMON KOVELSKY (A) is back
in Brooklyn, with a new job in
journalism, a wife, and a cat.
“Bloomberg, LLP hired me in
their newsroom, Meg married
me a couple of years ago, and
Max makes three. If there are
any Johnnies within the city
limits, please shout out an
e-mail dkovelsky@yahoo.com.”
JESSICA CAMPBELL MCALLEN
(SF) shares baby news: “Isaac
Orion McAllen was born on
April 11, 2006! Lowry and I are
so excited to have a little boy
around the house. He was
8 pounds, 20 inches. A little
blessing!”
“Currently, I am teaching
English in China with my wife,
Emily Kaplan Murbarger, the
daughter of BART KAPLAN (A65)
and cousin of MEGAN DROLET
(A08),” writes JOSHUA
�41
{Alumni Notes}
“Great Books for $1,000, Alex…”
A Johnnie Wins Big on Jeopardy!
by Rosemary Harty
S
endure great embarrassment on that
ome contestants of Jeopone, since her dissertation research is
ardy! are so nervous on the
on Shakespeare and performance
set of the popular game
theory. “I still get grief from my
show that they freeze up,
colleagues,” she says.
hand clutching the buzzer
Several times in her six appearances,
in a death grip, face set in a
DiNucci didn’t know the Final Jeopardy
grimace of anxiety. Jeopardy! watchers
who tuned in last July and caught
answer and other contestants did. But
Celeste DiNucci (A87) on her five-day
she had built up a big enough lead and
winning streak saw a contestant who
wagered wisely to prevail over her
laughed vigorously and often, joked
competitors—until the last day, when
with Alex Trebeck, and clearly enjoyed
the category was American women
the whole experience, right until the
authors. The answer quoted Henry
James describing the mystery author as
Final Jeopardy question that ended a
“the novelist of children. . . the Thackglorious run.
eray, the Trollope of the nursery and
“I approached the whole thing as,
the schoolroom.” DiNucci came up
‘this is just a game,’ ” says DiNucci, a
Her Jeopardy winnings allowed Celeste DiNucci to
with Beatrix Potter; the answer was
doctoral student at the University of
take a leave of absence to finish her dissertation.
Louisa May Alcott. “I feel like I really
Pennsylvania and a grant writer for a
should have won that one.” Half the
nonprofit organization. “I wasn’t
people gave her the TV treatment, and she
battle, of course, is being quick. “The real
nervous at all.”
was wired for sound.
test is in the buzzer. There were plenty of
DiNucci tried out in June 2005 in
“After the game show scandals, they’re
questions I knew the answer to and I just
Philadelphia, where she lives. She did well
really careful about sequestering contestwasn’t fast enough.”
on the written test, then took part in a mock
ants, so you don’t see Alex much. I had a
DiNucci ultimately left Los Angeles
game that was videotaped. After the months
great time meeting the other contestants.”
exhausted, but with $85,000 in winnings.
went by, she figured her chances at game
She was later to defeat all but one of them.
The money has allowed her to take a leave
show stardom were slim. “Then in April,
At times, DiNucci was surprised by how
from her job to finish her dissertation, and
they called me at work and suggested some
much she knew. Where did she learn, for
she’s planning to splurge on a trip to Italy.
taping days,” she says. Since taping
example, that what is also called heavy water
She has no regrets about her performance—
conflicted with her job at the American
is deuterium? There were also a few uncomexcept maybe one.
Philosophical Association, she asked if she
fortable moments. A $200 question on
“I didn’t get around to talking about St.
could pick other dates. “They said these are
Shakespeare asked for the play in which
John’s” in the meet-the-contestant part of
the last two taping days of the season, and
Mercutio and Balthasar are characters.
the show, she says. But should she be called
you come now or you don’t come at all.”
“I rang in immediately, but then I thought,
back for the Tournament of Champions, she
DiNucci went. After just a few hours of
‘hey, there’s no Balthasar in Romeo and
promises a nod to the college that helped
sleep in her hotel room, she waited, blearyJuliet’ so I said something else. But he has a
contribute to all that valuable knowledge. x
eyed, in the lobby for the Jeopardy! shuttle
little part in the last act.” DiNucci had to
to transport her to the set. The make-up
MURBARGER (A). “We started
in Jinzhou (for six months) in
the northeast of China and will
soon move to Qingdao. We have
a great blog: www.peer-see.com.
Follow our adventures and great
fun.” This news comes to The
College via Bart and Betty
Kaplan.
1998
JULIANA (MARTONFFY)
LAUMAKIS (A) and her husband,
John, are very happy to report
the birth of their daughter,
Amanda Adeo, this past January.
MARJORIE ROUECHE (A) is a
freelance science writer and
editor in Berkeley, Calif. “I am
also doing what I can to help the
next groundswell of feminism. If
anyone is interested in helping,
e-mail me, or visit me at www.
insubordinatewomen.com.”
1999
STEVE and KRISTIN DUMONT
(both SF) are proud to announce
the birth of their daughter,
Quinn Alessandra—born healthy
and screaming February 14,
2006. She has brought wonders
and joy to their lives every day
since.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
ANNAMARIA CARDINALLIPADILLA (SFGI), who completed
her Ph.D. in Theology from the
University of Notre Dame in
2004, was recently named a
laureate for the 2006 Mother
Teresa Awards for her work as
an American classical musician.
For updates on her career
since St. John’s, visit
www.annamaria.ws and
www.elduoduende.com, or
www.sonicbids.com/AnnaMaria2 and www.sonicbids.com/
ElDuoDuende.
�42
{Alumni Notes}
2000
Catch Up With Friends
This fall BUCK COOPER (A)
starts a Ph.D. program in
education at the University of
North Carolina Chapel Hill.
“Can’t seem to shake the allure
of the Tarheel State,” he says.
ALAN (A) and Heidi RUBENSTEIN
celebrated their two-year
wedding anniversary in June
2006 and are very happy in their
“treehouse” in Takoma Park,
outside of D.C. “The same
month, I had my first poetry
reading, which went well, and
began my new job,” writes Alan.
“I am now working for the staff
of the President’s Council on
Bioethics as a researcher and
writer. This is a serious
challenge—one that I am
enjoying very much.”
CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN (A) is
living in Annapolis and working
for Realistic Builders. “Nice to
see the college on a regular
basis,” he writes. “It is really a
beautiful place to watch the
seasons change. Having lived in
four states in the last 10 years,
Annapolis really stands out as
the best walking city. My free
time is spent walking puppies or
riding horses. Hope all my classmates are doing well and find
time to reflect on where their life
is going. Looking forward to
reunion 2010!”
After a year as an account
executive for a Dallas advertising
agency, LARIN MCPEAK (EC) is
now teaching Business English
and American Culture at the ISL
Sprachschule in Koblenz,
Germany. She uses her weekends
and free time traveling
throughout Europe, playing
soccer with a local team, and
reading some of the Eastern
studies books she managed to
haul to Germany. You can
e-mail her at Dangerousfireball@
yahoo.com
It’s not the same as the Coffee Shop, but the online alumni
community may be the next best thing—a place to catch up with
friends, start a conversation, find a new lead on a job, and keep
track of what’s happening on the Santa Fe and Annapolis
campuses. Share your news, share your pictures, sign up for a St.
John’s e-mail address. More than 4,000 alumni have joined to
date. Get back in the conversation!
2001
“Just wanted to announce to all
and sundry that I have taken a
teaching position in Burma
(middle school math) for the
next two years!” writes
MATTHEW LIPPART (SF). “Come
visit! I’ll buy you a beer or five!
My new e-mail is:
mlippart@mail2world.com.
Please e-mail or I’ll be lonely.”
KATHERINE J. PETERS (SF) is
living in Charlottesville, Va.,
working as a criminal defense
attorney for a private law firm.
Her fiancé, Bill Finn, a New York
City native and artist, is
Another Book Lover
MCGINTY JAMES (SF05) and her husband,
Mike, welcomed a small but august presence on
June 2, 2006. August Michael James arrived early
but healthy, weighing 5 lbs and measuring 17 inches.
“He has already fallen in love with his first book,”
his mother says. x
E
2003
employed by SNL Financial.
“We are currently in the throes
of planning our November 4,
2006, wedding.” We love
Charlottesville and would relish
the chance to show visitors
around, so feel free to look us up
if you’re planning a visit,”
Katherine writes.
SUZANNAH SIMMONS (SF) will be
in Washington, D.C., this
summer, living near DuPont
Circle. “If there are any Johnnies
who would like to get together,
please e-mail me (guneh@
hotmail.com). I am greatly
looking forward to the Santa Fe
Class of 2001 five-year reunion
in July.”
In June 2006, JOSH VAN DONGE
(SF) received his Master of
Architecture from the University
of Washington and is currently
living and working in Seattle.
RIN
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
2004
MICHAEL LOOFT (AGI) will be
studying at Harvard Divinity
School this fall to become a
Unitarian minister—“just like
Emerson.”
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 Feburary;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is December 7.
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
�43
{Tribute}
Brother Robert Smith, F.S.C. (HA90), a
much loved and respected member of the
St. John’s College community for nearly
half a century, died September 12, 2006,
in Napa, California, at the age of 92. He
first joined the faculty of St. John’s
College as a visiting tutor in 1966 and
became a permanent member of the
faculty in 1972, seeking and gaining
special permission from his order, the
De La Salle Christian Brothers, to leave
Saint Mary’s College to teach at
St. John’s. Brother Robert bonded in a
special way with the college; he served as
a mentor to tutors and students alike,
and inspired all with his deep faith,
distinguished intellect, generosity,
and friendship.
Robert Smith was born in Roundup,
Mont., and was raised in Oakland, Calif.
He attended a Christian Brothers high
school in Berkeley, where he discovered
his vocation. As a novice, he picked
grapes and helped move the Christian
Brothers Winery to Mont La Salle in 1932.
After earning his bachelor’s degree at
Saint Mary’s College in 1935, Brother
Robert taught at the Christian Brothers’
high school in Sacramento. He earned his
Ph.D. degree from the University of Laval
in Quebec, Canada, and wrote his
dissertation on the liberal arts from the
point of view of St. Thomas Aquinas.
He returned to Saint Mary’s as a professor
in 1941, and, being familiar with the
St. John’s Program, soon instituted a
seminar based on the St. John’s
reading list.
Those efforts blossomed into a project
that is an important part of the California
liberal arts college today. In 1956, Brother
Robert founded Saint Mary’s Integrated
Liberal Arts Program, described as a
“college within a college,” and shaped in
part by the program at St. John’s.
Students in the Saint Mary’s program
explore the great works of the liberal arts
tradition through seminar discussions,
tutorials, and scientific laboratories.
In the course of helping to develop the
program, Brother Robert made several
visits to St. John’s to study the academic
gary pierpoint
Brother Robert Smith, F.S.C.
Tutor
A much loved member of the St. John’s community, Brother Robert Smith will be
remembered for his intellect, generosity, and friendship.
program here. He came to know the
faculty very well, particularly Dean
Jacob Klein, whom he had first met in
the forties.
In 1966-67, he spent a year as a visiting
tutor at St. John’s. He then returned to
Saint Mary’s to continue his work as
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Director of the Integrated Liberal Arts
program. In 1972, he joined the St. John’s
faculty and taught full time from 1972
until his retirement in 1985. At St. John’s,
other faculty members recognized his
skills as a seminar leader. Former Dean
Curtis Wilson described him as
�{Tribute}
44
“enormously generous
and careers of his countless
in his willingness to let
friends among the
students entertain and
alumni.”
examine the widest
When he was made an
variety of points of
honorary member of the
view.” Brother Robert
Class of 1990, the citation
remained an active
noted “his exemplary
member of the
devotion to the liberal arts,
community—teaching,
over a long career as a
lecturing, taking part in
teacher”; “his life of
study groups and faculty
service in faith”; and
Brother Donald Mansir, Chair of the Bishop John S. Cummins Institute
meetings—through the
especially “the friendship
and teacher in the Saint Mary’s Integral Program
end of the past
that he has bestowed upon
academic year. Early
numerous colleagues and
this summer, poor
students.”
concerned to preserve and propagate
health required him to move from his
“Brother Robert was one of the most
Klein’s understanding of a liberal arts
Historic District home in Annapolis to
education, in which the intellect holds the influential of the Brothers in the
the community of retired Christian
central place,” says Michael Dink, dean of curriculum at Saint Mary’s College,”
Brothers at Mont La Salle in Napa, Calisaid Brother Donald Mansir, Chair of the
the Annapolis campus. “Nonetheless
fornia He kept in close touch with scores
(I can hear his protest at this adversative!) Bishop John S. Cummins Institute and
of his former students, who considered
teacher in the Saint Mary’s Integral
Brother Robert was an affectionate and
him a valuable friend as well as a tutor.
Program. “A true son of Saint La Salle,
thoughtful connoisseur of all things
In addition to his intellectual pursuits,
a friend to hundreds of students, and an
human: the earthy humor of Rabelais, the
Brother Robert enjoyed gourmet
inspiration to many of the greatest minds
elegant French of Madame de Sévigné’s
French cooking and wines, music, and
of the last century, Brother Robert will be
gossip, fine wine and gourmet cooking,
conversation with his wide circle of
terribly missed.” x
the meticulously thought through ascetifriends. “A friend of Jacob Klein’s since
cism of the desert fathers, world politics,
the 1940s, Brother Robert was deeply
French and English poetry, and the lives
“A true son of Saint La Salle, a friend to
hundreds of students, and an inspiration to
many of the greatest minds of the last century,
Brother Robert will be terribly missed.”
{Obituaries}
GILBERT CRANDALL
Gilbert Crandall, a member of the class of
1932, died August 24, 2006, in Annapolis
at the age of 91. He was born and reared
just a few blocks from the St. John’s
campus. After graduating from the
college, Mr. Crandall taught English and
history at Glen Burnie High School.
In 1941, he joined the staff of the American Red Cross, and during World War II
served in Puerto Rico, Italy and Norway
while attached to the armed forces. For
his work, he was awarded the Italian Red
Cross Bronze Star for humanitarian
services rendered during wartime.
After the war, he worked for the State
Department as director of the
Paraguayan-American Cultural Center in
Asuncion, and later in public affairs with
the Foreign Service in Bolivia and
Argentina. In 1961, he became the first
tourism director of the State of Maryland,
and later served as head of the public
affairs office at for the state Department
of Agriculture. After retiring in 1977, he
continued writing, publishing articles in
publications including Bon Appetit,
Motor Boating and Reader’s Digest.
The spring 2006 issue of The College
included a charming essay Mr. Crandall
wrote about his experiences at St. John’s
before the New Program.
property he donated to the city of
Annapolis, bears his name.
He was also a shrewd investor in real
estate in Annapolis and developed a shopping center in Parole that he owned until
the time of his death.
CECIL KNIGHTON
Cecil Claggett Knighton, class of 1940, a
successful entrepreneur in Annapolis, died
July 13, 2006. Over the span of his career,
Mr. Knighton owned several successful
businesses and many different commercial
properties in Annapolis.
After leaving St. John’s, Mr. Knighton
borrowed money from an aunt to buy a
small general store in Davidsonville, Md.
He sold the store when joined the Army in
World War II, serving as a paratrooper in
the European theater. He built the Acme
Supermarket at the foot of City Dock in
1951. He also opened an auto supply
company and a movie house. During the
1950s, he was a successful automobile
dealer, known by many as the “car czar.”
A parking garage on West Street, built on
ROBERT HAZO
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
Robert G. Hazo, Class of 1953, died Jan. 6,
2006, in Pittsburg, Penn. A dedicated
alumnus of St. John’s with a great interest
in preserving the college’s Program
and history, he rarely missed a fall
Homecoming, and he was a passionate
recruiter of potential Johnnies.
A brilliant political analyst, Mr. Hazo
founded the University of Pittsburg’s
American Experience program, inspired in
part by his experience studying the liberal
arts at St. John’s. After graduating from
the college, he received a senior fellowship
to Princeton, a Fulbright scholarship for
study at the Sorbonne, and a Rockefeller
fellowship to study at the American
University of Beirut.
�45
{Obituaries}
Robert Hazo, class of 1953, rarely missed
a Homecoming in Annapolis. In 2005, he
brought a prospective student.
was passionately devoted to the task of
bringing down the many barriers to pain
relief faced by millions of other afflicted
Americans. He and his wife founded the
Pain Relief Network in 2003 to challenge
the U.S. government’s legislation on pain
medications.
ALSO NOTED
ERIC GUNNAR BACK (CLASS OF 1964),
DECEMBER 5, 2005
ILEANA BASIL (CLASS OF 1973), AUG. 24, 2006
IRENE DORTCH (CLASS OF 1966), AUG. 12,
2006
WILLIAM HABERLAND (CLASS OF 1933), APRIL
22, 2006
Following graduate studies, Mr. Hazo
was named associate director of the
Institute for Philosophical Research in
San Francisco. He then was appointed
senior editor for political, legal, social
and economic articles at Encyclopedia
Britannica. He joined the University of
Pittsburgh in 1970. As director of the
American Experience Program, he led a
program that offered Pittsburgh’s mid- to
high-level managers insight into political
and economic thought, with the goal of
improving the quality of political
discourse.
In the toast Mr. Hazo gave in honor of his
class at Homecoming 2003, Mr. Hazo
described his enduring love for the
College. “When a group as complex as this
comes together for a purpose, the ideal
that unites them is perforce a simple one.
I know an ideal that is simple and familiar
yet mysterious and profound. It is a
love affair.”
TORIN B. OWENS
Torin Bernard Owens, class of 1985, died
August 11, 2006, of complications related
to pneumonia. Mr. Owens was reared in
Fernandina Beach, Fla., and displayed his
academic gifts at an early age. By age 14 he
was the champion of nine Florida spelling
bees. In high school he was awarded
numerous honors and scholarships,
including the National Achievement
Scholarship, National Merit Commended
Scholar, and Society of Distinguished
American High School Students.
By the time he was 17, Mr. Owens had
two life objectives: to be a Florida state
senator and to graduate from St. John’s
College. On May 28, 1985, he reached the
latter goal, having written his senior essay
on “The Legitimate Powers of Government.” However, a serious car accident in
Annapolis in November 1985 changed
Mr. Owens’ life and plans. He sustained a
traumatic brain injury and spent many
years in rehabilitation. Six years after his
accident, he began speaking again.
A remembrance prepared by his family
emphasized that Mr. Owens’ strong faith
persisted even in the face of such a
devastating blow: “Torin lived in the
complete will of God until his demise.
He leaves to his relatives, friends, and
acquaintances his unbiased love, his
open-mindedness, his perseverance,
his love of music and the spoken word,
his trust and obedience to God, his parents
and authorities, his patience, his
willingness to explore un-chartered
territories. He accepted his lot in life with
unfeigned joy.”
SEAN GREENWOOD
Sean Edward Greenwood (SF86) died on
August 23, 2006, of complications from
untreated pain. He was the loving husband
of Siobhan Reynolds and father of a
14-year-old son, Ronan.
Mr. Greenwood worked as a legal
assistant at law firm. He was a victim of
chronic and debilitating pain, for which he
and his family moved to New York in search
of progressive pain care. Mr. Greenwood
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
EDWARD C. HUDSON (CLASS OF 1937), JULY 1,
2006
EUGENE F. MARTIN (CLASS OF 1951), FEB. 24,
2006
WILLIAM C. OWENS (CLASS OF 1938), JUNE 20,
2006
WILLIAM WARFIELD ROSS (CLASS OF 1947),
JULY 4, 2006
EDWARD SENSENEY (CLASS OF 1952),
SEPTEMBER 9, 2006
�46
46
{ A F u m m i t A s s o c i a t To n e r sw s }
{l ro n
he Bell i ow Ne }
From the Alumni
Association
President
Homecoming is
always a time of
remembering and
reflection for me.
Back on the campus
with friends and
colleagues and in
conversation inside
and outside the
classroom, I pause
and take stock of my Johnnie experience in
the context of my life. I also consider my life
in the context of the college—both her
community and her program of instruction.
This homecoming was particularly moving
for two reasons.
This was our 30th reunion. Many came for
the celebration in Santa Fe, and they
brought news of others. We huddled in small
groups sharing bits of past and hopes for
An Official
Johnnie
by Emily DeBusk (A06)
Sixty years ago, Kay Harper earned her first
degree, in fine arts, from Goucher College
in Baltimore. At that time, Goucher didn’t
offer a degree in physics, her original field of
interest, and the dean talked her out of her
second choice, philosophy. Looking back
today on her educational path, Harper
believes her time spent in unofficial selfeducation—including 25 years of attending
community seminars at St. John’s College in
Santa Fe—has been the most fruitful part of
her life.
This summer, the Alumni Association
recognized Harper’s dedication to St. John’s
by making her an Honorary Alumna,
honoring her as one who possesses all the
qualities of a true Johnnie: insatiable
curiosity, a love for reading and discussion,
and a fierce dedication to lifelong learning.
Though she spent one summer at the
Graduate Institute, Harper’s experience
with St. John’s has been centered on the
college’s noncredit offerings, the weekend
or evening Community Seminars that draw
future. I remembered why some had been
especially dear to me in those long-ago days.
I discovered that others might have been,
too, if circumstances (or I) had been
different. The weekend was planned to give
us plenty of time to chat over food and
drink, dance to the old tunes, listen to
Mariachi, laugh and cry with Singin’ in the
Rain, meet families, and soak up Santa Fe
sunshine. Thanks to all who came back for
the fun!
The other reason why this homecoming
was significant for me is that it was my last
homecoming in Santa Fe as president of the
Alumni Association. In late September, I’ll
celebrate another “last” homecoming when
we meet together in Annapolis, and Jason
Walsh (A97) will be elected to take my place.
These six years have been wonderful. It has
been a pleasure to work with the Alumni
Association Board as we helped “more
alumni connect more often and more
richly” to each other and to the college.
Throughout my tenure, an image has
inspired me. It came from a lecture
delivered by Sally Dunn when she was a
tutor in Santa Fe. Her subject was
friendship, and her source was Aristotle.
She explored the various kinds of friendship
that Aristotle describes in the Ethics. When
she got to the final one—friendship for the
Good—she turned to reflections on the
college and its program of instruction.
Friendship for the Good, you will remember,
is when a friend serves as your mirror. He or
she is similar enough to you that you see
both your strengths and weaknesses
reflected in the other. Each interaction
opens opportunities to learn and to improve
yourself as you are reflected in your friend.
Ms. Dunn further extended the image by
proposing that our relationship to the
program books is also a friendship for the
Good. In their pages we see ourselves
reflected and, consequently, open opportunities for increased growth toward the Good.
As I reflect on my 30th reunion and the
closing days in my role as president of the
Alumni Association, I want to express my
thanks. Thank you for this opportunity to
serve you, our community of alumni, and
the college that continues to bring us
together. Thank you for sharing these
friendships for the Good.
residents to the campus. After graduating
from Goucher, she worked at the Johns
Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public
Health in various positions: librarian,
editor, sometime fetcher of coffee for professors. While there, she attended lectures and
read scientific and medical papers floating
around the department. In one paper, she
read that the last place in the country to get
telephone access was a place called Hidalgo
County, New Mexico. She drove her Studebaker across the country and made New
Mexico her permanent home.
In 1949, she enrolled as an undergraduate
at the University of New Mexico, from which
she graduated in 1951 with a major in
anthropology and minor in geology. After
that, she was able to return to her first love,
physics, when she was hired at the Los
Alamos National Laboratory.
Year after year she returns to the community seminars, “reading everything from the
Greeks to the Russians,” because she
believes that learning is something that will
never be finished. Without hesitation, she
says that her favorite seminar, led by
Barry Goldfarb, was on Plato’s Republic.
She was also deeply impressed by seminars
on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky led by Steve
Van Luchene.
Reflecting on her experience at St. John’s,
Mrs. Harper noticed that, “College-age
students are at the steepest point of their
learning curve. They learn fast and well.”
She encourages current students to be
confident in their education. And although
she laughingly implies that she is beyond the
peak of the learning curve, her record of
unceasing learning testifies to the contrary,
and makes her a confirmed Johnnie, official
or not. x
Glenda Eoyang SF76
Kay Harper has attended Santa Fe
community seminars for 25 years.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�47
{ o u ni e B c
t T w ws s
{ F rA lm m t h A s s o e ilal i o no N ee r } }
Tar Heel
Chapter Thrives
Akira Kurosawa’s epic film Seven Samurai,
Georgioni’s painting The Tempest, and most
recently Emmanuel Levinas’ essay “Is
Ontology Fundamental?” were among the
eclectic works North Carolina chapter
members selected for their seminar
discussions. “With films, we arrange for a
viewing a few days prior to the seminar when
we discuss it; paintings can be viewed
online,” says Susan Friedman Eversole
(SF79), who has been the North Carolina
chapter president for the past 11 years.
“The person who suggests the work asks the
opening question, but we especially welcome
visiting tutors to lead our seminars.” Phil
LeCuyer, a beloved tutor from Santa Fe, led
the group’s June seminar on Levinas’ essay.
Eversole, who has lived in Chapel Hill for
the past 22 years, says that in the early days
she and a few Johnnies met in a local used
bookstore for an informal reading group.
Then in 1990, she helped spearhead the
process to formally charter the chapter. She
helped organize regular monthly seminars
and social gatherings, drawing members
from nearby towns of Durham, Raleigh, and
Greensboro, and as far west as Asheville.
“There are a lot of retirees in this area,”
says Eversole, “as well as young alums who
are starting their careers.” According to
Eversole, the younger alums are especially
interested in the chapter’s social events—such
as a recent dinner at La Residence in Chapel
Hill—to network and develop career contacts.
In addition to attracting retirees, graduate
students and young professionals, the
Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle region is
also a magnet for computer professionals.
Two of Eversole’s colleagues, Lucy Adams
(A78) and G. Kay Bishop (A75) are, like
Eversole, employed on long-term contracts
with the Environmental
Protection Agency, either
as software developers or
working on computer
systems with
environmental data.
“Given all the universities in the area, we also
have several graduate
students, even some in
medical school, who
make time for the
seminars,” she says.
Alan Brinkley, Barb
Smalley, and Rachel
Darrow, Chapter
Networking Chair.
ALBUQUERQUE
Robert Morgan, SF76
505-275-9012
rim2u@comcast.net
BOSTON
Dianne Cowan, A91
617-666-4381
dianecowan@rcn.com
MINN./ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman, AGI94
612-822-3216
Freem013@umn.edu
ANNAPOLIS
Beth Martin Gammon,
A94
410-951-7359
emartin@crs.org
CHICAGO
Rick Lightburn, SF76
847-922-3862
rlightburn@gmail.com
NEW YORK CITY
Daniel Van Doren, A81
914-949-6811
president@
sjcalums.com
AUSTIN
Joe Reynolds, SF69
jpreynolds@
austinrr.com
BALTIMORE
Deborah Cohen, A77
410-472-9158
deborahcohen@
comcast.net
DALLAS/FORT
WORTH
Paula Fulks, SF76
817-654-2986
puffjd@swbell.net
DENVER/BOULDER
Lee Katherine
Goldstein, SGI90
720-746-1496
LGoldstein@
Lindquist.com
NORTHERN CALIF.
Reynaldo Miranda, A99
415-333-4452
reynaldo.miranda@
gmail.com
47
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 – Glenda Eoyang, SF76
Vice President – Jason Walsh, A85
Secretary – Barbara Lauer, SF76
Treasurer – Bill Fant, A79
Getting-the-Word-Out Action Team Chair –
Linda Stabler-Talty, SFGI76
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.
About eight to ten Johnnies attend each
seminar, previously held in an office in the
Research Triangle Park, and lately at Eversole’s home in Chapel Hill. In the future,
the seminars will meet at the University of
North Carolina’s Chapel of the Cross.
Eversole, who is retiring as president,
passes the helm of the North Carolina
chapter to Richard Ross (A82) and Elizabeth
Pyle Ross (A92), but she plans to stay active
in the chapter. “All of us want to be tutors in
our souls, to retire as tutors, to keep our
minds working.” x
PITTSBURGH
Joanne Murray, A70
724-325-4151
Joanne.Murray@
alcoa.com
SANTA FE
Richard Cowles,
SFGI95
505-986-1814
rcowles2@comcast.net
TRIANGLE CIRCLE,
NORTH CAROLINA
Susan Eversole, SF79
919-968-4856
sfevers@yahoo.com
PORTLAND
Jennifer Rychlik, SF93
jlr43@coho.net
SEATTLE
James Doherty, AFGI76
206-542-3441
jdoherty@mrsc.org
WASHINGTON, DC
Deborah Papier, A72
202-387-4520
dpapier@verizon.net
SOUTH FLORIDA
Jon Sackson, A69
305-682-4634
jonathan.sackson@
ubs.com
WESTERN NEW
ENGLAND
Peter Weiss, SF84
413-367-2174
peter_weis@
nmhschool.org
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico, A86
805-684-6793
srico@sandi.net
SALT LAKE CITY
Erin Hanlon, AF03
801-364-1097
SOUTHERN CALIF.
PHILADELPHIA
Helen Zartarian, AGI86 erin_hanlon@juno.com Elizabeth Eastman,
SFGI84
215-482-5697
562-426-1934
helenstevezartarian@
e.eastman@verizon.net
mac.com
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�48
marion warren
{St. John’s Forever}
An Eye for Beauty
F
ormer St. John’s College
president Richard Weigle
was skilled in public
relations, and one of the
smartest things he did for the
college was to hire Annapolis
photographer Marion E. Warren.
Warren took yearbook photos in 1949,
and the following year, began shooting
promotional shots of the campus. Weigle
also arranged for Warren to photograph
the emerging Santa Fe campus.
Born in 1920 in Billings, Mont., Warren
had a lifelong dream of becoming a
photographer. After freelancing and briefly
working for the Associated Press, he was
drafted into the Navy and became a special
photographer to the Secretary of the Navy.
After the war, he moved to Annapolis and
opened a studio. His photos captured city
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
life, watermen on the Chesapeake Bay, and
Maryland’s rural communities. He died
September 8, 2006.
Warren photographed St. John’s people
and events up to 1987 when he retired from
commercial photography. The Greenfield
Library’s photo archive includes more than
400 of Warren’s prints—distinct and
remarkable photographs capturing life at
the college. x
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
The Campaign on the Road
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Alumni, parents, and friends of the college
in the greater Houston area are invited to
join Presidents Christopher Nelson and
Michael Peters at The Coronado Club in
celebration of “With a Clear and Single
Purpose”: The Campaign for St. John’s
College. Wine, beer, and light fare will be
served. The reception will begin at 6 p.m.,
with a program beginning at 7 p.m.
Contact Penelope Bielagus in the college’s
advancement office at 505-984-6113 or
pbielagus@sjcsf.edu.
The college is planning several additional events across the country in the
coming year that are designed to keep
alumni informed about how the college is
planning for its future; to invite dialogue
between the college and its alumni,
parents, and supporters; and to build
momentum for the campaign. Details on
events will be posted on the college
Web site: www.stjohnscollege.edu.
April 21, 2007
Croquet Match with the Naval Academy.
Rain date: April 22
Homecoming scenes from Santa Fe: Above,
visiting in Schep’s Garden; Annapolis
tutor Sam Kutler (class of 1954), Liz
Jenny (SF80) and Lee Goldstein (SFGI90),
at Saturday’s picnic; Allan Hoffman
(class of 1949) and Steve Thomas (SF74).
Photos by teri thomson randall
back cover photo by teri nolan
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2006 }
�P ERIODICALS
P OSTAGE PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
�
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The
College
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Tocqueville
and Modern America
F a l l
2 0 0 7
�On Tocqueville
The College (usps 018-750)
“I confess that in America I saw more than America; I sought there an image of democracy
itself, of its penchants, its character, its prejudices, its passions; I wanted to become
acquainted with it only to know at least what we ought to hope or fear from it.”
A
lexis de Tocqueville’s detailed observations raise such interesting
questions for seminar discussions: Do Americans value equality over
freedom? Are laws unstable unless they are rooted in the customs and
traditions of a society? Is the tyranny of the majority a threat to
democracy? Although Tocqueville began his travels in America 176
years ago, so many of his ideas seem relevant today. They prompt us
to consider what has changed, what remains constant, and how we
think about the American character.
Born into an aristocratic family (his father narrowly escaped execution during the
Terror), Tocqueville was serving as a magistrate in Versailles when he and his good friend,
Gustave de Beaumont, developed the idea to visit America to investigate its penal system.
Not long after he landed on American shores in 1831, Tocqueville knew he had found much
more to write about in the vast, wild, and complex young country he explored. His letters
home were full of his adventures with Beaumont: getting the celebrity treatment in New
York, witnessing Chocktaw Indians being driven off their land in the South, nearly
perishing in a riverboat accident, and visiting Andrew Jackson in the White House.
Tocqueville wrote about prisons when he returned to France, but it was his great work
Democracy in America that endures.
Tocqueville was critical of America in many ways. He perceived that the country had no
great writers, had “good workers and few inventors,” ambitious men but “so few great
ambitions,” and bombastic orators. Critics of modern society might agree the Americans
are too concerned with material worth, as Tocqueville noted with great disdain in the early
19th century: “The inhabitant of the United States attaches himself to the goods of this
world as if he were assured of not dying, and he rushes so precipitately to grasp those that
pass within his reach that one would say he fears at each instant he will cease to live before
he has enjoyed them.”
After publishing Democracy in America, Tocqueville went on to a political career.
He married Mary Mottley, a middle-class Englishwoman. He suffered through long bouts
of illness in his later years and succumbed to tuberculosis on April 16, 1859.
In this issue of The College, Johnnies in many walks of life consider his ideas in light of
their own work. A young foreign service officer on her way to Burma, where recent
demonstrations for freedom were brutally squashed, offers her views. It’s also interesting
to hear from a county councilman who, like the New England township leaders who
Tocqueville observed in action, believes that local government can make a difference in
the everyday lives of its citizens.
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
Gail Griffith,
Jenny Hannifin
Santa Fe editors
Jennifer Behrens, art director
Annapolis
410-626-2539
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
Contributors
Caroline Caldwell (SF08)
Barbara Goyette (A73)
Deborah Spiegelman
Susan Swier (AGI06)
Krishnan Venkatesh
Kea Wilson (A09)
—RH
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�Fa l l 2 0 0 7
Vo l u m e 3 3 , I s s u e 3
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
8
Commencement,
East and West
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
Remembering Jeffrey Bishop
Ariel and Hodson intern adventures
Research at 40,000 feet
Probing the mysteries of space
A groundbreaking ceremony in Santa Fe
Celebrating a year for the record books
News and announcements
7
letters
32
bibliofile
•
•
•
In Santa Fe, celebrating the oral
tradition; in Annapolis, pondering a
brave new world.
•
•
•
10
“With a Clear and
Single Purpose”
from the bell towers
page
page 10
Like Virgil leading Dante, tutors serve
as able guides of the Program. A look at
how the college views the needs of its
faculty.
Travis Price (A71) explores the
“ethnosphere” in The Archaeology of
Tomorrow: Architecture and the
Spirit of Place.
16
Saving New Orleans
page
It will take more than rebuilding homes
to put this damaged city back together,
says writer and death penalty lawyer Billy
Sothern (A98).
36
P RO F I L E S
36 Dr. James Jarvis (A75) is discovering links
page 16
24
Tocqueville Revisited
page
How does Tocqueville’s account of
America hold up in the 21st century?
Johnnies ponder his observations
through the lens of their careers.
34
Homecoming
alumni
between the environment and juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis.
40 Myra Kien (SF88) established a nonprofit
program that gets young women dancing,
talking about their lives, and thinking
about their future.
45 Doctoral student Andy Mead (SF04) took
to the road last summer to bring attention
to juvenile diabetes.
46
49
page
page 24
50
52
They came, they gossiped, they ate crabs,
and they brought the kids.
on the cover
Alexis de Tocqueville
Illustration by David Johnson
alumni voices
return to shanxi
alumni association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
A Man Who Made a Difference
Jeffrey Bishop (1947-2007)
It was an extremely fortunate
occurrence for St. John’s
College—always greatly
admired, always struggling
financially—that Jeffrey Bishop
(HA87) and the college found
each other. As a Philadelphiabased fundraising consultant,
Mr. Bishop came to Annapolis
to analyze the college’s development efforts. Bill Dyal, then
president, was so impressed
that he invited him to come to
Annapolis to carry out the
development plan he proposed.
Mr. Bishop served St. John’s for
two decades, putting the
college on more solid financial
footing than ever before.
Mr. Bishop lost an 11-year
battle with kidney cancer on
Saturday, July 7, 2007. At the
He savored
everything that
life had to offer.
time of his death, he was vice
president for collegewide
advancement, a position he
held for five years. Before that,
he served for 15 years as vice
president for advancement in
Annapolis. In his collegewide
post, he coordinated development for the two campuses and
focused his efforts on the most
ambitious fundraising project
in the college’s history.
Mr. Bishop’s first major
undertaking was “The
Campaign for our Fourth
Century,” at the time, the
college’s most
successful fundraising campaign
ever, raising
$35 million by 1996.
Along with other key
goals, it allowed the
college to create the
Greenfield Library
out of the building
that once housed
Maryland’s Hall of
Records.
He was the architect of the current
$125 million capital
campaign which has
provided funding for
the renovation of
Mellon Hall, the construction
of Gilliam and Spector halls,
and substantial increases in
funding for student financial
aid, faculty development, and
tutor salaries. One of his goals
was to get the college endowment to $100 million. The
endowment reached that mark
in 2006, almost a ten-fold
increase from when he started
at the college in 1987.
Mr. Bishop welcomed challenges—the bigger the better.
In 1993, he convinced friends
and colleagues including
Annapolis President Christopher Nelson (SF70), college
athletic director Leo Pickens
(A78), and former Santa Fe vice
president Jeff Morgan to bike
from Santa Fe to Annapolis. At
the trip’s end, they were given
a hero’s welcome on campus
and crowned with laurel leaves.
In his 20 years with St. John’s,
Jeffrey Bishop never passed up
a challenge, including a
2,000-mile bicycle trek from
the Santa Fe campus to
Annapolis in 1993 with
colleagues including
Annapolis President
Christopher Nelson (left).
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Two years later, Mr. Bishop
completed the grueling ParisBrest-Paris bicycle race.
He savored everything that
life had to offer, especially
spending time with friends.
In 2004 he fulfilled a personal
dream by purchasing a vineyard
in southwestern France.
He traveled to the vineyard
numerous times to help with
the harvest and production of
his wine, Sanglier Volant.
With a charming smile and a
genuine interest in others,
Mr. Bishop rallied people
behind his causes. He loved the
college and its people. His
degree was from the prestigious Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania, but
he was most proud of being an
honorary alumnus of St. John’s.
At Homecoming in September,
the Alumni Association
honored him posthumously
with its Alumni Award of Merit.
Mr. Bishop is survived by his
wife, Susan McDonough
Bishop (AGI99); his daughter
Lauren (A99) and son-in-law
Michael Campuzano; his
daughter March; his sister,
Cindi Macomber; and three
nieces and nephews. x
�{From the Bell Towers}
Beyond the
Program
Last summer,
Remy Maelen
(left) explored
the publishing
world; Jon Kara
Sylvester-Johnson
established a life
review program at
a Virginia hospice.
Through Ariel Internships in
Santa Fe and Hodson Internships in Annapolis, Johnnies
devote a summer to exploring
future careers and broadening
their experiences.
victoria smith
Devoting Attention
to Detail
Each morning last summer,
Remy Maelen (SF09) entered
the sanctuary of Green Lion
Press in Santa Fe and considered how to approach the day:
work on diagrams, set type,
edit, research. Whatever she
decided, she knew the task
ahead would require
painstaking attention to detail.
The press, located in the home
of press co-directors Dana
Densmore and William
Donahue, is especially
conducive to quiet, focused
work.
Green Lion specializes in
publishing classic texts in the
history of science and mathematics. Johnnies are familiar
with their editions of Program
works, Euclid’s Elements and
Aristotle’s Metaphysics among
them. Maelen spent much of
her summer working with
Donahue on a new edition of
his English translation of
Kepler’s Astronomia Nova,
originally published by
Cambridge University Press
in 1992 but now out of print.
“Kepler was very meticulous,” Maelen says. For
example, “when he used italics
he was writing as a mathematician,” she explains, whereas
non-italicized text signals
Kepler the philosopher.
She started delving into data
files from the first edition in
order to convert Cambridge’s
typesetting codes into those
conforming to Green Lion’s
typesetting program. She was
involved in nearly every aspect
of preparing this second
3
edition, from replicating
Kepler’s diagrams using professional computer drawing
programs to suggesting
improvements in the text.
“I didn’t realize what an important job I’d be doing, actually
having an impact on the words
in the book,” she says. “I’ve
come to learn the philosophy of
the press, getting the text
across as it was intended.”
Presentation—the layout of
each page of a book—is essential to communicating words
and ideas, Maelen says. She
predicts that her own creative
writing will benefit from this
understanding. “I’ve learned
so many things about myself
that I wouldn’t have had access
to,” she says.
— Deborah Spiegelman
Listening to
Life Stories
One of the best skills that
St. John’s students develop is
the ability to truly listen to
other points of view. But few
students are given the opportunity to apply that skill in so
meaningful a way as Jon Kara
Sylvester-Johnson (A08), who
spent last summer recording
the stories of terminally ill
patients in the care of Good
Samaritan Hospice in Virginia.
After observing the care her
grandmother received in a
hospice program several years
ago, Sylvester-Johnson was
moved by the alternative model
of treatment offered by palliative medicine and challenged
by the question of how hospice
centers could offer patients
comparable spiritual care.
“I really came to terms with the
idea of not using extreme lifesaving measures and the kind
of sensitivity it takes to be in a
situation where [one has to
make] those kinds of choices,”
she says.
It was that sensitivity to the
spiritual life of hospice patients
that drew Sylvester-Johnson to
the Pastoral Services department at Good Samaritan
Hospice in her hometown of
Roanoke, Va. But it was only by
chance that the hospice had
recently received a donation to
create Memory Catchers, a
“life review” program that
allows patients to reflect on
their lives and record their
stories. With funding from the
Hodson Internship Program,
Sylvester-Johnson was hired to
develop the project.
After researching life review
programs around the country
and reviewing psychological
studies that underlie the practice, Sylvester-Johnson and her
mentor, the hospice’s Spiritual
Director Marvin Barbre, introduced Memory Catchers.
During the next two months,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
she acquired
audio equipment,
wrote the
program’s guidelines, trained
volunteers,
informed nurses
and social
workers, and
began a comprehensive archive
of patient testimonials.
But the most challenging
part of her internship, she says,
was conducting the interviews.
Rather than beginning with a
list of questions, SylvesterJohnson tailored each visit to
the individual’s needs. “Sometimes if a patient has a small
child, you can have a message
recorded for that child for when
they’re older,” she says. “We
had one patient we wanted to
record singing. Some of them
just want to have a conversation with you.”
As she returns to the seminar
table for her senior year,
Sylvester-Johnson is engaging
in different types of conversations. But listening to the final
testimonials of hospice patients
has reminded her that at
St. John’s, “there has to be an
element of self-exploration
about what we do, as opposed
to just what we think. If not,
she adds, “our education is no
more valuable than [that of]
any other liberal arts college in
the country.”
— Kea Wilson (A09)
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
Flying High
Santa Fe Student Conducts Research
in the Stratosphere
On July 27, Michael Curry
(SF09) became the first undergraduate college student to
fly on the National Science
Foundation’s HIAPER Gulfstream-V research aircraft.
HIAPER, which stands for Highperformance Instrumented
Airborne Platform for Environmental Research, is a new
“flying laboratory.”
Curry’s task was to help test a
new laser-based moisture instrument during a nine-hour flight
from Colorado to the central
Gulf of Mexico and back. Scientists sampled conditions ranging
from the marine atmosphere
over the Gulf of Mexico to
stratospheric conditions near
47,000 feet. In contrast, most
commercial aircraft fly around
35,000 feet, on rare occasions
climbing to 40,000 feet. The
purpose of the research is to
develop better moisture
measurements for weather and
climate prediction. Curry was
part of a team of about a dozen
scientists testing new instruments for the aircraft.
The opportunity to join the
expedition came about because
Curry was working as a National
Science Foundation REU
(Research Experience for Undergraduates) intern under the
supervision of Mark Zondlo, a
senior research scientist at
Southwest Sciences, Inc.
Curry was the second Johnnie
to spend a fruitful summer at
Tracking Gamma-Rays
Annapolis Tutor Part of NASA Project
Sometime next spring, when
NASA launches a powerful new
space telescope, Annapolis
tutor Jim Beall can claim a
piece of this effort to illuminate
some of the most persistent
mysteries of the universe. An
astrophysicist, Beall spends
part of his time away from
St. John’s at the E.O. Hulburt
Center for Space Research at
the Naval Research Laboratory
in Washington, D.C., where his
own curiosity about space is
directed toward long-running
research projects.
The Gamma-Ray Large Area
Space Telescope (GLAST) is
quite different from the telescopes at the college observatory. This instrument will
measure gamma-rays, the
highest energy form of electromagnetic radiation, in an effort
to understand more about
pheonomena such as quasars,
pulsars, and black holes. As
part of a team of scientists
working at universities and
research centers all over the
country, Beall has been helping
to develop computers that can
determine the direction of
gamma-rays and convert data
into a map in gamma-ray light.
In the 1990s, Beall worked on
ARGOS, a satellite data collection system with computers that
were the forerunners to those
on GLAST. The challenge of
this project, Beall says, is developing fast computers that can
operate in the radiation of
space. Scientists can then
convert data collected from the
computers into an image of
gamma-rays in the night sky.
Active galaxies and quasars
emit other frequencies as well,
such as radio and optical light.
Southwest Sciences, which is
based in Santa Fe. Last year,
Kate Brubaker (SF07)
conducted similar studies
with Zondlo.x
Michael Curry’s summer
internship included a
research project aboard a
flying laboratory for
atmospheric science.
Scientists can determine the
physical parameters of the
sources by combining radio and
optical light with the detected
gamma-rays in order to “see”
the energy distribution over the
entire electromagnetic spectrum. “The actual sources of
the gamma-rays can change in
brightness,” he says. “This
means that the image changes
as a function of time, so we have
to construct a time history as
well as a complete spectrum
from the data. This is then used
to determine the source parameters, and ultimately to tell
what causes the emission from
black holes and quasars.”
As part of the GLAST
project, Beall has also been
conducting research on jets—
columns of material sent out
from the cores of active galaxies
or quasars, much like a jet of
water from a fire hose. Over the
past 25 years, astrophysicists
have learned that much of the
radiation detected from quasars
comes from bi-directional jets
emitted from black holes. For
much of those 25 years, Beall
has been conducting research
to understand the nature of
these jets and how they affect
the region near the quasars.
“If we understand how these
jets affect the regions near the
cores of quasars, we can
perhaps tell what the jets are
made of,” says Beall. “This can
ultimately allow us to speculate
on how these jets are produced,
a problem (among many others)
that we have not solved to
anyone’s satisfaction.”
At St. John’s, Beall mentors
students interested in
astronomy and astrophysics,
and has helped them to secure
internships and apply to graduate schools. Erin Bonning
(A97), who worked at the Naval
Research Laboratory for two
years before going off to earn a
doctorate in general relativity,
is now an astronomer at the
Observatory of Paris at
Meudon. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
jane phillips
Last July, Dr. Norman Levan
(SFGI74), a physician in Sacramento, Calif., gave the college a
$5 million gift, announced
during the Santa Fe kickoff of
the college’s $125 million
capital campaign. Exactly a year
later, Dr. Levan joined members
of the college community in a
ceremonial groundbreaking for
the center for the Graduate
Institute that will bear
his name. The Norman
and Betty Levan Hall
will house classrooms,
offices and common
rooms for the institute.
Dr. Levan is a
professor emeritus and
former chief of dermatology at the University
of Southern California
School of Medicine,
where he earned his
medical degree. He
took time off to spend a
summer at the institute, just to investigate
the program, and
found it so gratifying
that he kept coming
back.“The Graduate
Institute changed my
life,” he said in
announcing his gift.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on the building
site, located between Weigle
Hall and the Fine Arts Building.
More than a hundred people
attended the ceremony. “We are
honored by Dr. Levan’s
affiliation with us and our
unique brand of education,”
said Michael Peters, president of
the Santa Fe campus.
Campaign Chairman Ron
Fielding (A70) spoke to how
Dr. Levan’s gift will serve the
campus and future generations
jane phillips
Breaking
Ground in
Santa Fe
A Remarkable Year
Perhaps two great myths about
St. John’s College and
fundraising can be put to rest
forever: St. John’s doesn’t like to
ask alumni for money, and
alumni don’t like to be asked for
money. The evidence suggests
otherwise:
• In 2006-07, the college
recorded its most successful
fundraising year ever, raising
$19,404,889 in gifts to the
college’s $125 million capital
campaign by the close of the
fiscal year on June 30, 2007.
5
Fifty-four percent of the gifts
came from alumni.
• As part of the campaign,
alumni gave more to the
Annual Fund than ever
before, exceeding the
$2.89 million goal by
about two percent.
• The total number of alumni
gifts to the college has
climbed significantly over the
past seven years. In the last
fiscal year, alumni made
3,004 gifts to the college,
compared to about 2,000
gifts in the year 2000.
of Graduate Institute students.
“One of the major priorities of
the capital campaign is to fund
building projects, and in that
regard, the new Norman and
Betty Levan Hall is a jewel in the
campaign crown.”
Dr. Levan joined Board of
Visitors and Governors
Chairman Sharon Bishop (Class
of 1965), Annapolis President
Christopher Nelson (SF70),
Santa Fe Dean Victoria Mora,
Mr. Peters, and Mr. Fielding in
the ground-breaking ceremony.
Under tents on Meem Placita,
accompanied by a monsoon
• In the summer of 2008, the
college expects to announce
a successful conclusion to
the capital campaign, with a
total of $119.2 million in gifts
and pledges raised as of
October 1, 2007.
• Not only do the college’s
8,300 alumni believe in
supporting the college
financially, but alumni
themselves are also doing
more to support the
college’s advancement
efforts. Philanthropia, the
alumni development
council, has spearheaded a
number of successful peerto-peer efforts to inform
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Dr. Norman Levan (third from
right and below) helped break
ground for the new Graduate
Institute center in Santa Fe.
rain, speeches and toasts were
offered to Dr. Levan. His own
words were brief, as he
explained that at the Graduate
Institute he found a place to
nurture his desire to be a lifelong learner.
—Jenny Hannifin
alumni about the college’s
financial needs and to boost
support for the Annual
Fund.
With Philanthropia’s help,
the college hopes to reach a new
set of goals for the 2007-08
fiscal year, guaranteeing a
successful end to the campaign.
This year the mark is set at
40 percent giving and at least
3,400 gifts made. For more
information about Philanthropia
and how you can help, visit the
college Web site: www.stjohnscollege.edu.x
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
News & Announcements
Connecting Fine Arts
and Liberal Arts
Jut a few days after commencement in May, Luke Kirkland
(SF07) and Chelsea Batten
(A07) found themselves
transported from the halls
of St. John’s to the studio of
sculptor Greg Wyatt in the
former crypt of St. John the
Divine in New York City. It was
only their first stop on the
National Endowment for the
Arts’ inaugural Visual
Arts/Liberal Arts workshop,
which would take the two graduates from New York to Europe
for a month-long program.
Santa Fe tutor Grant
Franks (A77) and Annapolis
tutor Patricia Locke were
among the scholars and artists
who designed the workshop,
created to deepen the connections between the liberal arts
and the fine arts. The experience centered on in-depth
study of European writers and
artists, with a special focus on
the works of Shakespeare and
Rembrandt. Participants were
flown to Europe to sculpt
alongside the works of Monet
in the gardens of Giverny, study
Rembrandt in Amsterdam, and
discuss King Lear in the
theaters of Stratford-on-Avon.
Six liberal arts students were
selected to participate in the
program, as well as six students
studying visual arts or theatre.
Regardless of their artistic
inclinations, all students were
required to pick up a paintbrush and attempt to replicate
Rembrandt’s colors. Similarly,
the young artists were required
to sit at a seminar table to
discuss Macbeth with liberal
arts students.
For Kirkland, the workshop
was much more than a jaunt to
Europe. “Exposure to and
engagement with the tangible,
with the explicit and physical
reality of Rembrandt’s work
was a great exercise after the
intellectual work of
St. John’s,” he says.
Franks observed that the fine
arts students also benefited by
discussing texts in seminars.
Through modeling “hands-on,
interdisciplinary, discussionbased and self-motivated
learning in the presence of
classics, St. John’s certainly
made its mark,” he said.
Brooklyn College
Honors Eva Brann
At commencement ceremonies
last May, Brooklyn College of
the City University of New York
honored tutor Eva Brann
(HA86) with its Distinguished
Alumna Service Medal.
In accepting her award,
Miss Brann noted a memorable
teacher at Brooklyn College,
Alice Kober, her professor for
Classics 101. The course had a
bad beginning when Miss
Brann flunked her first exam,
on Homer. “It took me down
some and then sat me down to
my assigned reading,” she said.
“And so I discovered Homer
and began to attend to the
unflamboyant fire of her classroom talk. I had no idea that
she was a world-famous pioneer
in the decipherment of the
writing of Homer’s heroes.
But I became a classics major,
eventually an archeologist.”
New Tutors, Annapolis
The Annapolis campus
welcomed two new tutors this
fall: Amanda Printz has a
BA from Guilford College and
a PhD in Philosophy from
the University of Southern
California. She was a teaching
assistant at USC from 20002005. Gregory Recco has a
BA from SUNY at Stony Brook
and a PhD in Philosophy from
Pennsylvania State University.
He was a graduate instructor
at Penn State from 1996-2003
and an assistant professor of
Philosophy at Skidmore
College from 2003-07.
New Staff
Maggie Melson has joined
the Annapolis staff as special
assistant to President
Christopher Nelson (SF70).
She joins the college from
Episcopal High School in
Alexandria, Va., where she was
director of external relations.
Melson will act as a liaison to
staff, faculty, students, and the
wider community.
Luke Kirkland (SF07) presents
his work during an NEAsponsored workshop last
summer.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Faculty News
Tutor emeritus Curtis Wilson
of the Annapolis campus took
part in an August workshop
marking the 300th anniversary
of the work of Leonhard Euler,
the l8th-century, Swiss-born
mathematician. Held at the
Mathematical Research
Institute at Oberwolfach in
Germany’s Black Forest, the
five-day gathering brought
scholars from around the world.
Wilson spoke on Euler’s
influence in the development
of celestial mechanics.
Wilson also contributed to
a collection of essays titled
Leonhard Euler: Life, Work,
and Legacy, written by Euler
scholars from seven countries
and published earlier this year
by the Elsevier Press. Wilson’s
chapter is entitled “Euler and
the Application of Analytical
Mathematics in Astronomy.”
Class Gift Update
The Santa Fe Class of 2004 has
made progress in its ambitious
plan to present the Santa Fe
campus with an operational
replica of 16th-century
astronomer Tycho Brahe’s
armillary sphere. The class
began with $6,000 at the end
of May 2004, and the collegemanaged account now totals
$26,800. The class needs to
raise at least $100,000.
The committee plans to work
with artist David Harber to
design and construct the
1.5-meter equatorial armillary
sphere. As both a scientific
instrument and a sculpture,
the sphere will serve as a
symbol and as a reminder of
the unity of the sciences and
the humanities.
To find out more about the
project, please visit the SF04
Armillary Sphere Project homepage on SJC Alumni website
(http://alumni.stjohnscollege.
edu) or contact the committee
at armillarysphere@alumni.
stjohnscollege.edu. x
�7
{Letters}
Music in the 1940s
This is a slight quibble over your
article “Sing Goddess” on music
and the Program (Spring 2007).
It leaves the impression that
prior to 1949, thanks to their
indifference to music, the
founders of the Program had
created a barren, music-less
wasteland. While it is certainly
true that music did not become
“a formal part” of the Program
in those early years, it was
present in a number of ways.
First, because music is one of
the quadrivium, in several of
the most quixotic of the early
laboratory classes there was a
study of sound, music and their
relationship to astronomy.
Second, tutor Nicholas Nabokov
recruited, conducted, and gave
concerts with a student chorus
throughout the war. He had been
recruited by Buchanan especially
for his musical abilities. Finally,
Buchanan scheduled several
concerts as formal lectures
during the year. As students
during the forties, we were
privileged to hear several topnotch chamber groups. . . .
I don’t want to detract an iota
from the magnificent contributions of Victor Zuckerkandl and
Douglas Allanbrook in making
music an integral part of the
program. It is just that the
forties were not quite a musical
wasteland, and our esteemed
founders did, indeed, have an
appreciation for music.
George M. Van Sant (Class of 1947)
Musical Dimensions
I read with interest The College
articles on the music curriculum
[Spring 2007], mulling over the
tutors’ struggles with that part of
the Program, and reflecting on
my student experience and on my
subsequent work as a scholar
librarian of music.
I have three observations.
One is that many tutors who are
passionate about music are also
inarticulate according the
conventions of Program study
and discussion. The result often
is they make the subject of music
seem mystifying to their
colleagues and students. . . .
Peter Pesic’s contribution,
“A Dialogue Between Ancients
and Moderns,” is beautiful, but I
doubt it is understandable to half
of the college faculty. A second
observation is that there seems to
be an assumption, shared by
many faculty, that one has to sing
or perform music well in order to
discuss music. According to that
logic, one has to draw well in
order to discuss geometry and
its visual figures. To be sure,
good drawing skills and singing
practice may increase a student’s
disposition for learning geometry
and music. But in math tutorial
practice, plane lines are rarely
drawn straight on the chalkboard; nonetheless, the demonstrations are executed well
enough to proceed from one
proof to the next. Everyone
should have the same confidence
for learning in the music tutorial,
even if their performing abilities
are as bad as their drawing skills.
The third is the trepidation that
many of the quoted faculty feel,
using words like “worry,”
“scary,” the need to feel “more
comfortable” . . . leading tutorials on music. All faculty should
feel the same trepidation for
every seminar and tutorial they
supervise, not just for music.
This is the very trepidation
for the immeasurable task of
education that Jacob Klein
expressed before delivering
several of his Friday night
lectures.
In my thoughts, I begin with
music as a perceptible if intangible entity. Then the first question that I ask is, “What are the
dimensions of music?” From my
research, I have to come to think
there are three: melody
(including time, rhythm, and
words [that may be likened in
notation to linear length]);
harmony (that may be likened in
notation to spatial width); and
tone (including timbre and
volume [that may be likened to
depth, which is very difficult to
render in notation]). There may
be another dynamic, perhaps
unnamed dimension of music
suggested by the phenomenon
of harmonic overtones. As an
audio-time art, music is too
imperfect to demonstrate its
properties through demonstrative propositions in the manner
of Euclid. But . . . the
identification of dimensions may
enable some elements, postulates, axioms, and quantitative
measures that could serve
towards a foundation of
reasoned, indeed “musical”
study and discussion, as tools
with which to examine examples
of music of varying kinds and
origins, and as bases of assessment of the various writings of
music theory and performance
practice, including the kind of
dialogue between Grand View
and Practical View that Elliot
Zuckerman well describes in his
article. Perhaps one may use the
conventions acquired in
freshman math of discussing
planes and solids in order to
discuss music according to its
dimensional characteristics
and properties.
I conclude from last issue’s
articles that sober, reasoned
work has yet to be done on the
music tutorial. . . .
Edward Komara (A88)
Remembering Music
Your article “ ‘Sing, Goddess’:
Music and the Program”
suggests further research is
needed in the teaching of music
at St. John’s College before 1949.
Certainly there were experts in
music then. The composer Elliott
Carter was a tutor, 1939-41, and
Nicolas Nabokov 1941-44. Carter,
whom I’ve had the great pleasure
of meeting, told me--or maybe it
was Victor Zuckerkandl—that
music was studied somehow by
looking at scores. Meanwhile, it’s
good to learn that Zuckerkandl’s
writing is now part of the
prescribed canon. Carter’s
exciting and distinguished music
should also be.
Eyvind Ronquist (Class of 1961)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
Preparing Tutors
The Spring 2007 article on the
music program managed to
convey much of its richness and
complexity, as well as the challenge it poses to our commitment
to teach and to learn across the
full range of the liberal arts.
I would like to offer one small
clarification. Since the most
recent revision of the Annapolis
music tutorial by Elizabeth
Blettner, with help from Michael
Littleton, Peter Kalkavage,
Bill Pastille, Tom May and others,
more tutors have taught the tutorial for the first time than during
any previous comparable period.
Nonetheless, many tutors still
find the challenge formidable and
feel the need of assistance and
encouragement to undertake it.
Michael Dink (A75)
Dean, Annapolis
Not the First Lady
I enjoyed your coverage of the
25th St. John’s-Navy croquet
match, but I did want to correct a
couple of details. First of all, I do
not go (nor have I ever gone) by
the title of “First Lady Wicket.”
And while John Ertle was the
Imperial Wicket in the first intercollegiate match, he was not
the first Imperial Wicket for
St. John’s. He inherited the title
from Johnny Schiavo (A81), and
there were others before him.
John prefers the title of Imperial
Wicket Emeritus, bestowed upon
him by the Delegate Council in
1984. Finally, the unidentified
“young boy” in your picture is
our younger son David.
Kathy Oggins Ertle (A84)
Correction: In the article
“Pop Johnnies,” (Spring 2007)
a quote by Ayn Rand on art as
a “selective re-creation of reality
according to an artist’s metaphysical value judgments”
was mistakenly attributed to
Marcel Proust.
Send letters to The College at
reharty.sjca.edu, or mail to
60 College Ave., Annapolis, MD
21401.
�{Commencement}
8
COMMENCEMENT
“When Dogs Could Talk”
photos by teri thomson randall
N. Scott Momaday, author, poet,
playwright, painter, and storyteller, gave the commencement
address in Santa Fe on May 19.
One hundred six undergraduates and 25 Graduate Institute
students received their degrees.
A member of the college’s
Board of Visitors and Governors, Momaday won the Pulitzer
Prize for Fiction in 1969 for his
first novel, House Made of
Dawn. In his 1976 book,
The Way to Rainy Mountain,
Momaday combines stories
of Kiowa Indian myth and
history with his own personal
reminiscences.
Momaday’s address, “When
Dogs Could Talk: Among Words
in a State of Grace,” described
the history and characteristics
of words in the oral tradition.
Drawing his title from an
expression used by Kiowa elders
to refer to an event that
happened long ago, Momaday
explored the mystery inherent
in one of mankind’s oldest art
forms, the oral tradition.
Although modern literature
has come to comfortably inhabit
the world of the written word,
Momaday argued that the oral
tradition has not died,
suggesting instead that “to the
extent that the deepest belief in
the efficacy of language
survives, it survives in the oral
tradition.” In contemporary
Western civilization, however,
it is a dimension of language
that is frequently neglected.
He reminded the audience that
“more than half the population
of the world does without
writing at this moment in time.”
The oral tradition is present
even within written works themselves, or wherever else
language is invoked in all its
power, creativity, and magic,
he said. He cited Hamlet and
the Gettysburg Address as two
significant and timeless written
works whose vitality stems from
their power in speech.
“In Beowulf, or in the Book
of Job, or in the Navajo Prayer
from the Night Chant, the
language of story is the
Above, M. Scott Momaday
speaks to Santa Fe graduates
about the beauty of the oral
tradition. Above right, Santa
Fe President Michael Peters
congratulates Elise
Hanrahan, while at left,
Camilo Alba Navarro and
Renee Albrecht-Mallinger
await their degrees.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
language of poetry, plain,
exalted, and oral,” he said. “It is
the language of surfaces rather
than symbols, faceted like the
bright prisms of the dragon’s
hoard.”
Exploring the language of
surfaces rather than the
language of symbols, Momaday
found an enchanting dimension
of words, which he suggests are
as old as language itself. He feels
that the oral tradition returns
him to a time when language is
just being born, “a time when
dogs could talk,” and he likens
himself to dwelling “among
words in a state of grace.”
—Caroline Caldwell (SF08)
�9
{Commencement}
“How Brave a New
World?”
Above, Joshua Saks and Karen Tobin-Ippolito, newly minted
GI graduates; below left, Leon Kass gave the commencement
speech; below right, Blair Thompson, left, and Chelsea Stiegman
(both A07) await their degrees.
becomes our spur to love and
transcendence.”
In our time, Kass said,
“honest reflection” on the
human experience isn’t enough
to counter the dehumanizing
effects of technology; Johnnies,
however, have a foundation for
reflection. “The great books
education offered by this
College is second to none in
furnishing minds and hearts
with the wherewithal for living
. . . a thoughtful and richly
human life, in defiance of the
temptation to settle
photos by gary pierpoint
In his commencement address
in Annapolis on May 13,
bioethicist, scholar, and former
St. John’s tutor Leon Kass drew
from Aldous Huxley’s Brave
New World to explore how
scientific progress bears upon
the question of what it means
to be human. He suggested to
the 103 undergraduates and
40 Graduate Institute students
that their education prepared
them to think carefully about
what may be sacrificed in the
name of scientific progress.
Kass is now Addie Clark
Harding Professor in the
Committee on Social Thought
at the University of Chicago
and Hertog Fellow in Social
Thought at the American
Enterprise Institute. He was
chairman of the President’s
Council on Bioethics from
2002 to 2005 and still serves
on the council. For more than
30 years, he has been engaged
with ethical and philosophical
issues raised by biomedical
advances, and, more recently,
with broader moral and
cultural issues.
Huxley’s novel remains an
important cautionary tale,
said Kass. The author depicts
a world in which man has
become so dehumanized by
technological achievements
that while seemingly content,
“he does not even realize what
he has lost.”
The similarities “between
Huxley’s fictional world and
ours are increasingly disquieting, especially since our
technologies of bio-psychoengineering are still in their
infancy, yet vividly reveal what
they might look like in their
full maturity,” Kass said.
“Moreover, the cultural
changes technology has already
wrought among us should make
us worry even more than
Huxley would have had us do.”
In Shakespeare’s The
Tempest, Kass pointed out,
Prospero’s magic is no match
for his innocent daughter’s
view of humanity. “Not her
father’s magical control of
nature, but limited
humankind’s reaching for
understanding and association,
precisely in response to our
natural limitations, is—for
Miranda and for us—the truly
wondrous human achievement,” he said. “Recognition
of our finitude becomes the
source of aspiration, and
mindfulness of mortality
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
for the degrading satisfactions
of biotechnological happiness,”
Kass said. “Only at this college
do students and faculty still talk
wholeheartedly and without
embarrassment about the
human soul.”
—Emily DeBusk (A07)
Editor’s note: The complete
commencement addresses are
available on the college Web
site: www.stjohnscollege.edu.
�10
{Capital Campaign}
“WITH A CLEAR AND
SINGLE PURPOSE”
The Tutors and the Program
by Barbara Goyette (A73) and Rosemary Harty
W
ith the vision of
Virgil, the persistence of Socrates,
the rigor of Euclid,
and the insight
of Shakespeare,
St. John’s tutors
bring the program of instruction to life.
Every era at St. John’s since the 1937
inception of the New Program has had its
memorable tutors, whom alumni remember
long after they have graduated. Today,
experienced and new tutors from many fields
of studies lead students through the Program.
It is hard to describe the essence of what a tutor does in the
classroom. Indeed, their “methods” in seminars, laboratories,
and tutorials vary from intense engagement in class discussions to provocative silence on the issues at hand. Tutors
guide, direct, nudge, inspire, and otherwise enable students to
become full participants in the dialogue. Tutor Eva Brann,
after five decades at St. John’s, describes the life of a tutor
as “an alternation of exhilaration and despair, as classes go
well or ill, as we ourselves feel a sense of having gotten something or being confounded. That teacher’s wave train is
amplified by our . . . sense of responsibility without the power
to compel by grades, or by lectures,” she wrote in her essay
“Unique and Universal.”
Preparing for classes each week is only one of a tutor’s tasks.
Tutors participate in constant evaluation of the Program
through weekly archon meetings and the Instruction
Committee; they meet with students for paper conferences,
advising, and guidance about graduate school or other opportunities; they participate in informal study groups, both with
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{Capital Campaign}
their colleagues and with students.
They spend Saturday mornings of
Homecoming leading seminars for
reunion classes and travel to other
cities to lead Executive Seminars
for business leaders seeking to
learn from the great books.
In short, he tutors at St. John’s
College devote themselves to the
Program.
A Spirit of Inquiry
anthony russo
During his tenure as dean in
Annapolis (1986-90), tutor emeritus Thomas Slakey (HA86) read
hundreds of letters from applicants
for the handful of tutor openings
each year at St. John’s. More than
two decades later, he still remembers a letter from a scholar who had
written her dissertation on
Portuguese literature and had been
living among indigenous tribes in
Brazil. “In terms of her background, she really didn’t have any
of the preparation you might expect, but she seemed like an
interesting person,” Slakey recalls. “We appointed her, and
she was an immediate success.”
Hiring Judy Seeger to join the faculty in 1990 is something
Slakey is still proud of years later. Why was she so perfect for
St. John’s? “She has an inquiring mind,” he says.
Slakey joined the college in 1959 and in 1964 went out to
Santa Fe to become one of the founding faculty members
there. He took a few “breaks” from the college over the years,
becoming chief academic officer at St. Mary’s College from
1971-76. He later spent three years in the early 1980s starting a
program modeled on St. John’s at a Kentucky university, then
returned to Annapolis. “I was in and out of the college quite a
bit, and I was always glad to get back,” he says. “The thing that
St. John’s really does, and does well, is help people learn to
read well, to pay attention to what a text says, one book at a
time. That’s the thing that makes teaching there so pleasant,
reading and learning from the students.”
However, colleagues at other institutions and other
academics Slakey met over the years were puzzled by how
tutors at St. John’s teach across the curriculum. “Most
academics think it’s crazy,” he says. “I was involved in a discus-
11
sion with a very great scholar on
Dante, and when he discovered I
was teaching Dante, and I couldn’t
read Italian, he thought I was a
disgrace. Specialists don’t understand someone like me teaching
math and biology when I knew
nothing about it when I came to
St. John’s.”
Supporting tutors as they
branch out beyond their discipline
and keeping tutors’ minds ripe for
inquiry should be important goals
for the college, Slakey says. “For
me, a major difficulty was the
variety of material and the
difficulty of getting as much
mastery as I would have liked. I
know that I worked very hard and I
struggled at times,” he says.
To continue to attract the best
tutors, the college must work
harder to offer competitive
salaries. “We have to keep salaries competitive with similar
institutions,” he says. “No one is going to come to St. John’s to
try to get rich, but particularly when tutors are raising families
in expensive cities, salaries have to be a priority.”
Aiming for the Median
For the sake of the students and the continued integrity of the
Program, St. John’s must be able to recruit and retain excellent tutors. Compensation is a major factor in drawing good
teachers and keeping them at the college. The college has
always lagged behind its peer institutions in the salary it has
been able to pay tutors, primarily because endowment has
been insufficient to meet this need.
At the time Annapolis President Christopher Nelson joined
the college in 1991, St. John’s occupied last place in the
salaries it paid among a group of about 45 national liberal arts
schools including Pomona, Amherst, Colby, Davidson, and
Bucknell. Ten years ago, Santa Fe and Annapolis together
averaged 26 percent below the median level of compensation.
Through gradual and steady increases, by 2007 the college
had reached six percent below the median of 44 peer colleges.
“We never quite reached the median, but we’ve been climbing
up the ranks,” Nelson says. “When and if we hit that target
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�12
{Capital Campaign}
demetrios fotos
will depend on the
growth of the endowment relative to these
other colleges.”
Each one percent
increase in tutor
com-pensation
(including salary and
benefits) costs the
college $130,000 for
the entire teaching
faculty on both
campuses. To close
the six percent gap,
the college would
have to find another
$780,000 each year
or a $15.6 million
increase in endowment, which can be
spent at the rate of
five percent annually
in perpetuity.
The
college’s
service-based salary
system sets a minimum of $52,500 for new tutors. It’s a
concern for Nelson that tutors on both campuses are struggling to meet housing costs and raise families in the expensive
communities of Santa Fe and Annapolis. “We want our tutors
to be able to live decent lives without taking second jobs, to
buy a home in our communities, to be able to afford a
babysitter so they can come to Friday lecture or enjoy a dinner
out occasionally,” he says.
Until he became president of the Annapolis campus, Nelson
says, he hadn’t realized how much the college asks of its tutors.
“As a student, I had no idea how deep, how well read, how
interesting the tutors are at St. John’s,” Nelson said. “I sat in
on Instruction Committee interviews of prospective tutors,
and I came to realize how engaged they are in learning both
within and outside the Program.”
At St. John’s, tutors spend more time in the classroom than
their peers at liberal arts colleges, and although freed from
publishing and research requirements, “they spend a lot of
time outside the classroom working to help the students and
improve the college,” he says.
Annapolis Tutor
Tom May shares his
views on the ODYSSEY
with Nicole Miller
(AGI08)
Since its beginnings, the Program
was structured to
make tutors available to students
as part of a learning
community—much
different from the
relationship between
faculty and students
at most institutions,
he says. “There’s
no substitute for
conversation with
young people who
are eager to learn,
and that’s what
our tutors do so
well,” he says.
“They listen, they question, and they guide.”
Faculty Development
Approaching 2,000-year-old texts afresh each semester is a
challenge tutors meet with enthusiasm and energy. And yet,
for their own development as learners in the Program and as
scholars dedicated to venturing beyond the bounds of a single
department of academic endeavor, they must continually
renew their minds.
One way the college supports this effort is through faculty
development, mainly in the form of study groups for which the
leaders and participants receive compensation or release-time
from a portion of their teaching. By meeting together with
colleagues and working through an unfamiliar text, tutors
expand their ability to address questions and to see connections between various parts of the program.
Study groups can prepare tutors to teach in areas where they
have little or no experience, such as a 2005 summer study
group led by tutor Howard Fisher in Santa Fe. For eight weeks
the tutors worked through most of the experiments conducted
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�13
in the first semester of senior laboratory, a part of the Program that can be
daunting for faculty who lack
scientific backgrounds. “It’s sometimes the case that tutors who feel
confident participating in a study of
the papers read in senior year don’t
feel very comfortable with the practical aspects,” explains Fisher. “The
only way really to participate in the
laboratory activity is practice; it’s the
same for tutors as for students.”
As they conducted experiments
such as the photoelectric effect,
tutors could see the connections their
students would be making in the
classroom as they worked through
modern atomic theories. “From a
theoretical point of view, it’s quite
wonderful that we find ourselves
returning to questions that were
central in the freshman year, the
whole idea of the constitution of the
atom, and what kind of explanation
physical science should strive for.
The very questions we began with,
bill denison
{Capital Campaign}
Gifts to the capital campaign support faculty
development, such as this study group on senior
laboratory in Santa Fe. From left to right are:
tutors Janet Dougherty. Stephen Van Luchene,
Howard Fisher, and Lynda Myers.
we return to in a very different
context. It’s an ongoing demonstration that questioning doesn’t stop,”
says Mr. Fisher.
The college is equally committed to
providing these opportunities for
formal study groups by granting
tutors release time to plan and lead
the groups, or compensating tutors
for the additional time they spend in
formal study during the summer.
Through the capital campaign, the
college hopes to raise $8 million in
endowment and Annual Fund gifts to
support faculty development in the
future. “We don’t appoint tutors
because they have a specialty in a
certain area,” Mr. Fisher notes. “We
appoint tutors because they are interested in the kind of broad study that
our students want. They want to study
things and read books for the sake of
wisdom. They need the opportunity
to become fruitful students and
fruitful leaders of classes.”
Campaign Update
As of September 30, 2007, the Campaign for St. John’s College
has raised $119.2 million in gifts and pledges toward the $125
million goal. The campaign seeks to raise funds for three major
priorities: to support students with need-based financial aid and
improved services; to increase faculty salaries to the median of
peer institutions and provide more faculty development opportunities; and to fund building projects, including renovations
and additions, on the two campuses. Money raised through the
campaign has already made a significant difference to the
college, through growth in the Annual Fund (which provides
operating expenses for instruction and financial aid), growth in
the endowment, and new buildings.
These leadership gifts have contributed to the campaign’s
success:
• Ronald Fielding (A70) made a $10 million gift to fund
scholarships. He has also pledged to give another
$2.5 million to the campaign if St. John’s alumni match
that amount through first-time or increased gifts as well as
pledges to the college.
• Warren Spector (A81) provided funding for a new
dormitory in Annapolis.
• A single anonymous donor contributed $12 million,
earmarked for the college’s annual spending needs and
for endowment.
• The Hodson Trust has given $11 million for the construction of Gilliam Hall and for Mellon Hall renovations,
for student internships, for IT development, and for
teacher fellowships to the Graduate Institute.
• Dr. Norman Levan (SFGI74) made a gift of $5 million for
the construction of a Graduate Institute center in Santa Fe.
• Alumni, friends of the college, and foundations have
pledged $26.5 million to help support faculty salaries and
development, through the Eva Brann Tutorship and
various grants for faculty study groups.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�14
{Tutor Profile}
In the Presence of Great Things
Eric Salem (A77), Annapolis
bill denison
He was much more eager to teach across the curriculum than to
The best thing about being a tutor at St. John’s, says Eric Salem
be “the political theory guy” in a political science department,
(A77), “is that you’re always in the presence of things that are
Salem says. But on the other hand, he gave up the ability to devote
really great.” The worst thing about being a tutor? Exactly the
focused and prolonged attention to a book or idea. “That’s what’s
same thing, he says.
so nice about these summer study groups,” he says. “This is a way
“You’re in the presence of things that are great, but there’s
to do really concentrated work with your colleagues so that you
always a strain,” Salem says, “You never feel as if you can stop
can develop your own understanding of some of the books and
and say, ‘Ah, I’m ready for this class.’ There’s always more to
texts that are central to the program. They really do help your
think about.”
thinking.”
If alumni remember how overwhelmed they sometimes felt
Over the years, Salem has taken part in groups on Chekhov, on
trying to prepare for class, they understand the challenges tutors
face. “You always have to try not just to get hold of what’s going on Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses, on Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, on
Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, and on Leibniz’s mathein the book, but also to be open to what everyone else is saying, to
matical papers. Salem earned a stipend to take part in some of the
respond to the best things in what people are saying—it’s hard
opportunities, but the group with whom he studied Aristotle for
work,” he says.
10 years engaged in their endeavor just for the joy of it.
After graduating from St. John’s, Salem went to the University
Most of Salem’s outside
of Dallas for doctoral studies in
pursuits center on reading.
politics and literature. SpecialHe also plays jazz and classical
izing in political theory was an
guitar, and runs regularly in his
“accident,” Salem says. “What I
Annapolis neighborhood. He
really wanted to do was study a
unwinds by reading novels in
subset of the books I had been
other languages and reads Plato,
reading at St. John’s, slow down
Aristotle, and Heidegger for
and read carefully,” he says. At
enjoyment. “Right now, Peter
the college, he developed a
Kalkavage, Eva Brann, and I are
special interest in ideas raised by
translating (and discussing
books including the Nicoendlessly) Plato’s Statesman, an
machean Ethics (the relationship
activity that combines pure fun
between thinking and acting) and
and seriousness in just the right
War and Peace (families as part
proportions,” he says.
of a political community).
Asked to reflect on a single
“Reading that novel made me
quality that makes a tutor right
think that political questions
for St. John’s, Salem proposes
were something I really needed to
that it’s the “willingness to start
think hard about,” he says.
all over again, again and again.”
Former St. John’s tutor
“I’m eager to do it,” Salem
Thomas Slakey (HA94) recruited
says. “But I rely on the students
Salem to join him at Whitney
to help me remember that I don’t
Young College at Kentucky State
really know much. I prize above
University, where he was leading
all those moments—and they
efforts to create a program
come in almost every class or
similar to the St. John’s program.
study group meeting or conversaSlakey stayed just a few years,
tion—when the bottom falls out of
but Salem spent seven years
my understanding and when my
there before he became too
students and colleagues force me
frustrated by standard university
to look at books and the world as
bureaucracy.
if I were seeing them for the first
“Then I had the opportunity to
time.” x
come to St. John’s,” Salem says.
At St. John’s tutors such as Eric Salem (A77) enjoy learning
“I wanted to come back to this
—rosemary Harty
together with students such as Emmanuel Thomas (A09).
way of teaching and learning.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{Tutor Profile}
15
Exploring the Unknown
Jessica Jerome, Santa Fe
christopher quinn
MacLean Center for Bioethics. Her interest in international
L ast summer, under the auspices of a National Science
health care matched the MacLean Center’s endeavors, and there
Foundation grant, St. John’s tutor Jessica Jerome spent nine
she trained as a medical ethics consultant to hospital staff and
weeks in the poorest neighborhoods of Fortaleza, Brazil,
patients at the University of Chicago.
conducting fieldwork among HIV-positive mothers. The work
“Working at MacLean was different from my previous
was intellectually challenging and physically exhausting, made
training,” she explains. “Most of the other people in the fellowmore so because Jerome was in the second trimester of her own
ship program were medical doctors, and I was thrown into the
first pregnancy.
material with them. I think that prepared me for the experience
The summer of 2007 was the first of two that Jerome will
of St. John’s in terms of working closely with people of very
devote to the Brazil project, exploring the psychological, social,
different backgrounds and disciplines, and working with material
and economic motivations for reproductive and medical decision
that I wasn’t already familiar with.”
making among mothers with HIV. She conducted extensive
St. John’s offered similar challenges for Jerome as a first-year
interviews of women who have borne one or more children after
tutor, when she taught freshman math, freshman seminar, and
learning of a positive HIV diagnosis. By providing qualitative
freshman laboratory. “I just assumed that I wouldn’t be put
data about these women’s motivations to bear children and
directly in the math and science classes,” she said. “When David
receive medical treatment in Fortaleza, the study will contribute
Levine [then the dean] told me that St. John’s threw tutors into
greatly to the growing body of literature on reproductive and
the Program, that they wanted us to be learning with the
medical decision-making in the context of HIV.
students, I didn’t realize how seriously they took that!”
Jerome is excited about the opportunity to connect what she’s
The college takes seriously its
learned from the program at
mission to educate students in all
St. John’s to her research.
fields, including math and
“I believe that we should really
science, for four years, observes
think about our experience and
Jerome. “There’s something
our activity in the world, to be
really generous, and something
reflective about it,” she says.
to be respected, in this belief that
“Lectures are more about
what we teach here is knowledge
transmitting facts, or a kind of
that anyone can learn,” she says.
knowledge that has already been
“Anybody who puts her mind to
produced. The interesting thing
it, and works with herself and
about the pedagogy at St. John’s
others, should be able to get
is that it assumes that the knowlthrough this program. That is
edge is not preexisting, and that
really encouraging.”
you are creating it as you’re
Opportunities to acquire a
talking. When that works, it’s a
broad liberal arts education in
beautiful thing.”
this country are narrowing, says
Jerome plans to involve
Jerome. That’s one of the things
Johnnies in her research. She
that drew her to the college.
hopes to support students who
“St. John’s offers students a
are interested in careers in social
valuable opportunity to take four
science and public health policy
years not just to learn about ideas,
and to widen opportunities for
but also to gain confidence that
summer internships, such as
they can learn, and to prepare
those available under Santa Fe’s
themselves to face the world and
Ariel Program. She currently
move forward, no matter what
serves on the committee that
they do,” she says. x
reviews applications for the
program, which provides
—Jenny Hannifin
stipends for internships.
Between her graduate work
on medical decision making and Santa Fe tutor Jessica Jerome enjoys the opportunity to
tutoring at St. John’s, Jerome
learn along with her students.
did a postdoctoral stint at the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�16
{After the Storm}
AFTER THE STORM
Rebuilding Alone Can’t Fix the City Billy Sothern (A98) Loves
by Rosemary Harty
long with Plantation Tours,
Voodoo Tours and Ghost Tours,
the Katrina bus tour remains a
popular sightseeing option for
visitors to New Orleans these
days. Buses take tourists from
the fine hotels in the French
Quarter and the Garden District
to the sites of one of America’s
most incomprehensible catastrophes, showing the
devastation and the rebuilding underway in the worst-hit
neighborhoods.
But take a tour with Billy Sothern (A98) in his Subaru
station wagon, Zydeco music on the radio, and although
you’ll see many of the same places—the FEMA trailer parks,
the Lower Ninth Ward, the places where the levees failed—
you’ll hear very different views. Commercial tour guides are
unlikely to tell you that people are rebuilding in subdivisions
that never should have been developed in the first place.
They probably won’t suggest that bringing residents home to
devastated suburbs weakens a central city reeling from the
loss of 40 percent of its population and a good chunk of its
tax base.
As much as Sothern loves the city that he and his wife made
their home six years ago, he is sharply critical of the way the
federal, state, and local governments are handling the
recovery. “I think there’s a way we can redevelop the city so
that everyone who wants to can return,” Sothern says.
A
“My argument is that New Orleans should go back to its
historic footprint, where people can live safely without
massive and largely unsuccessful efforts to build bigger
levies. The idea that we can beat back nature is flawed and
hubristic. We’ve had people who tried that for a long time,
and that dynamic always seems to end the same way—as it will
again in New Orleans.”
Since graduating from New York University Law School,
Sothern has worked in New Orleans as a staff attorney at the
Capital Appeals Project, a nonprofit organization that
provides legal services to individuals facing capital punishment. Since Katrina slammed into the city on August 29,
2005, he’s been sharing his views on New Orleans in The
Nation and The New York Times, and on the online journal
Salon.com. This summer, the University of California Press
published his first book, Down in New Orleans: Reflections
From a Drowned City. He begins with an account of his
evacuation from New Orleans with his wife, Nikki Page
(A98), describing how their lives changed after Katrina, and
analyzes long-standing social problems that pose a more
serious threat to the city than any force of nature.
In the book, Sothern celebrates all that he loves about the
city, but he’s cynical about why Louisiana has captured the
nation’s attention. “Part of the interest of the rest of the
country in what happened is that New Orleans is this place
with this interesting culture, music, food, Mardi Gras,” he
says. “But is New Orleans worthy of the country’s attention
because we make good food? We merit the assistance of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{After the Storm}
“The idea that we can beat back nature is flawed and hubristic.”
nikki page
Billy Sothern (A98)
Billy Sothern (A98), in front of a shuttered New Orleans
housing project, says the city can’t recover until poverty and
inequality are remedied.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
17
�18
{After the Storm}
rest of the country not merely by virtue of the fact that
we’re Americans, but merely because we’re interesting?
To me that would seem like a fairly poor reflection on
American culture.”
“Welcome to the Twilight Zone”
nikki page
On a steamy day in early June, with thunderstorms threatening and gray skies adding to the bleakness, Sothern drives
into the Mid-City District, just a few miles from his downtown office. When the levees designed to protect the city
failed, 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded, including this
middle-class neighborhood. Watermarks, once brown from
roiling muddy water, faded now to a sickly yellow, mark the
facades at various levels. “Look how high the water got on
that ranch house,” he says, “right to the top of the window.
It’s almost to the roofline on that white house.”
Many homes here are still boarded up, and “for sale” signs
are plentiful, as are the spray-painted marks left on the
houses by search teams who swept through flooded neighborhoods after the disaster. They marked how many people
were found, dead and alive, and sometimes added other
information—“dog on roof,” for example.
From Mid-City, Sothern drives over ruined roads to Lakeview and the site of the 17th Street Canal, where the first
levee breach took place. Unlike other levees, which were
overtopped, the 17th Street Canal failed at its foundation.
A U.S. Senate committee cited design flaws and a lack of
regular inspections as contributory factors. For the most
part, the neighborhoods
here were underwater,
and residents who tried
to ride out the storm in
their homes had to be
rescued from their
rooftops, Sothern says.
“This was a high-density
suburban community,”
Sothern says. “All these
empty lots are the sites
of cleared homes.”
Most of the street
signs in Lakeview are
gone, though some residents have posted handmade signs for people to
find them. The abandoned homes, bad roads and absent
street signs are remnants of the storm, but even before
Katrina, Sothern says, New Orleans lacked many of the services other well-governed cities take for granted. The schools
were in disrepair, the parks were neglected, and weeds
overran the highway medians—all thanks to “laissez-faire
government,” says Sothern.
“Down here, there’s a different relationship between the
government and the citizenry and a different bent of what
people are entitled to in their daily lives,” he says. “People
get all excited about libertarianism, but is this guy supposed
to come out and fix this road?” he asks, pointing to a man
working on his home. “Are these people supposed to pool
their resources and rebuild the levies themselves? It’s an
absurdity.”
Next, Sothern turns into a more affluent neighborhood
along Lake Ponchartrain, where the hurricane damaged
homes but no flooding occurred because the subdivision was
built on high ground. In this pleasant cul-de-sac, all the front
yards are landscaped and carefully groomed, and cars are in
every driveway. The normalcy is in sharp contrast to neighboring Gentilly, where many homes still sit empty. Flooding
was extensive here, and along with the Ninth Ward, Gentilly
saw the highest number of deaths. A sign on one lawn
proclaims “The Road Home is a Dead End,” reflecting a
common opinion of the federally funded homeowner’s
compensation plan.
“This neighborhood is really struggling,” Sothern
observes. “You may have
one or two families back
on each block. It has to be
scary here at night, scary
to not get government
services, scary to invest so
much of your life and your
future in a place where the
prospects are genuinely
unclear.”
The ruts in the road get
deeper near the London
Avenue Canal, where two
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Hurricane Katrina
destroyed this warehouse
for Mardi Gras floats.
�19
{After the Storm}
“Huge portions of the city are no safer
from catastrophic flooding than they were before.”
Billy Sothern (A98)
nikki page
A survivor attends a ceremony marking the first
anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina, Aug. 29, 2006.
breaches of the levee allowed water from the industrial canal
to flood the neighborhoods here. “Welcome to the Twilight
Zone” is scrawled in spray paint across the front of one
abandoned house. A resident watches warily as Sothern
drives slowly down his street, perhaps tired of curiosityseekers and tourists. It’s natural for Americans to admire the
resiliency of those determined to rebuild, Sothern says. “The
gut reaction any person would have would be to root for these
people and see them return to their homes but those choices
have to be tempered with reason, and I think they haven’t
been,” he says. “People are investing their entire futures and
the safety of their families, and it’s all predicated on very
poor information. Huge
portions of the city are no
safer from catastrophic
flooding than they were
before the storm.”
That
includes
New
Orleans East, a sprawling
development
built
on
cypress wetlands that were
drained by the Army Corps
of Engineers. In the 1970s,
the developer of this area
attracted buyers from deteriorating and dangerous inner
city neighborhoods with the
promise of offering a safe
place to raise families. “This
was supposed to be the
American dream,” Sothern
says. The land was virtually
worthless until the federal
government spent millions
draining the wetlands.
Within a few years, the folly
of building in a swamp was
evident in sinking driveways
and cracked foundations.
Flooding after Katrina was
extensive here, and now more government resources are
reviving an area that in Sothern’s view never should have
been built.
If a struggling city wants to grow stronger, its policies
should bring residents back to the urban core of New
Orleans, to viable neighborhoods built on high ground. Yet
nothing is being done at any level of government to
encourage that, he says. That’s what frustrates him the
most—government and citizens together clinging to a cycle of
disaster. “When these people go back to their homes, they
need water, they need garbage pick-up, they need police out
here, and it’s all going to put a strain on New Orleans,”
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�{After the Storm}
nikki page
20
Sothern says. “Yet there’s nothing vaguely resembling a tax
base that would support this, and it’s hard to imagine that
after two years, any more people are going to come back.”
From Gentilly, Sothern heads outside the city limits to
St. Bernard Parish. With a staggering loss of population
(76 percent, according to census data) and diminished
revenues, the government here is struggling to provide basic
services. “I read that 95 percent of the homes here flooded,”
Sothern says. The government complex has not been rebuilt,
so the parish council meets in a trailer, and each of the
council members lost his or her home.
Sothern crosses the parish line back into the city, into the
famous Lower Ninth Ward. Here, entire blocks are reverting
to nature, with only remnants of driveways, concrete steps,
and the pilings of foundations poking through the weeds.
“No neighborhood bears the scars of Katrina as vividly,” says
Sothern. “The force of the water was pretty strong here,
that’s why there’s nothing. When Nikki and I first came down
A scene typical of the destruction in the Lower Ninth Ward.
“No neighborhood bears the scars of Katrina more vividly,”
Sothern says.
here, houses were on top of cars, cars were on top of houses—
it was outrageous. It looks better now, empty.”
Through the national media, the Lower Ninth became
emblematic of the misery that followed Katrina, but Sothern
believes Americans should focus more on the problems this
neighborhood struggled with before, poverty in particular.
Because this land was prone to flooding, it was one of the few
places where the city’s poorest residents, many of them
elderly, could afford to live. According to 2000 U.S. census
data, half of the neighborhood’s residents lived on incomes
of less than $20,000 a year. After Katrina, residents feared a
land grab in the Ninth Ward. Rumors circulated that
developers would buy up the land for casinos. “That didn’t
happen,” Sothern says. “No one wants this land.”
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�{After the Storm}
Providing Context
21
coming down here I could see I wanted to do death penalty
work,” he explains. “Looking back, it’s something I would
Whether he’s writing about the Ninth Ward for The Nation,
be attracted to fighting against—it’s the most severe, the
or preparing a brief in a death penalty case for the Louisiana
most heinous type of punishment.”
Supreme Court, Sothern seeks to look deeply at issues to try
In Louisiana in 2007, 88 inmates were on Death Row,
to get at the basic truths behind events and opinions.
including Sothern’s client Shon Miller. In March 1999, after
“I view this as the core value of my St. John’s education,” he
shooting his mother-in-law at her home, Miller walked into
says. “The harder you look at things, the more complicated
a church in Gonzales, La., and shot his two-year-old son, his
they become. Everything I write is always about providing
estranged wife, and a church deacon. After he was found
context. It’s a consequence of reading books with other
guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, Miller was
people, for days and weeks and months, where we never
sentenced to death by lethal injection.
arrived at something that was unambiguously true.”
During his apprehension, Miller was shot in the back, and
In the seven years he’s worked with Death Row inmates
his injuries left him a paraplegic. Held in an isolation cell of
and defendants in capital cases, Sothern has come to know
the hospital wing at Angola, he developed osteomyelitis, a
their families and their communities. He has seen how
painful condition attacking his bones. Sothern met Miller
crime, poverty, and substandard schools factor in their
when he was assigned to try to work with the prison to get
stories, and it’s made him reflect on his own path in life.
better health care and living conditions for Miller. “When I
As a teenager, Sothern was caught selling drugs. Instead of
went to meet him, I was outraged by the conditions he was
going to jail, he ended up reading the great books at St.
living in, and that they were only because he was disabled,”
John’s.
he said. “He’s in very bad
After his legal issues were
physical and psychological
resolved, Sothern was living
shape.”
in New York’s Little Italy, a
After Sothern filed suit
high school dropout trying
In August 2005, Mathieu de Schutter (SF94) was a resiunder the American Disabilto educate himself by
dent at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, while his wife,
ities Act, the prison made
reading everything he could
Sara Roahen (SF94), worked as a food and restaurant
some concessions, including
find, books like Augustine’s
writer for the weekly Gambit, an alternative newspaper.
allowing
Miller
some
Confessions. A friend who
They had moved to New Orleans so that he could attend
time outdoors. Now life is
had attended the college
medical school at Tulane. They evacuated during the
“marginally better” for his
steered him to St. John’s,
storm and plans to have Mathieu do his residency in New
client, Sothern says. A year
where Sothern thrived.
Orleans changed when the program there was disconago Sothern filed a brief with
tinued. Now they are living in Philadelphia, where he is in
“Attending St. John’s was
the Louisiana Supreme
his second year of an anesthesia residency at the University
the single best decision I
Court, seeking a new trial
of Pennsylvania. “He has two to three years of training
ever made,” he says. “I went
for Miller. He argued that
left, depending on whether he chooses to do a fellowship,”
from being a street kid to the
Miller was denied a fair
reports Roahen. “We still own our house in New Orleans
person I am today.”
and miss it every day. We hope to live there again, but
trial for two reasons: he
After graduation, Sothern
after what Katrina did to our long-terms plans, we are a
was not permitted to enter
earned his law degree at
little gun shy about making other plans at the moment.”
a plea of not guilty by
NYU, where one summer he
Roahen visits Louisiana often and still writes about
reason of insanity, in spite of
interned with the Capital
food and culture. Currently, she is at work on an oral
a long history of mental
Appeals Project. In 2001, he
history initiative with gumbo and boudain makers there.
illness, and the court refused
joined the project as a staff
Her book, Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New
to allow a nationally known
attorney, a job he loves
Orleans Table, will be published at Mardi Gras time in
criminal defense attorney to
despite the long hours and
February 2008. “You may pre-order it on Amazon
represent Miller.
low pay. “I knew I wanted to
“We Miss It Every Day”
already!” she says. x
do criminal work, and after
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�22
{After the Storm}
nikki page
“It was an objectively
horrifying crime,” Sothern
acknowledges, “but it’s in
situations like this when
the Constitution and rights
afforded to the defendant
become most important
because there’s the greatest
chance of passion and prejudice.”
In working for his clients,
Sothern draws on “the
complexities of their lives”
and the context in which
their acts should be considered. Both of Miller’s
parents were dead by the
time Miller was three. He
was raised by a foster family,
spent time in mental institutions, and never received
good mental health care.
Last May, Sothern argued
his case before the
Louisiana Supreme Court.
“I started the story with
how police found Shon in a
shed, talking and hearing
voices that weren’t there,
because the issues that were
were
important
most
related to his mental illness
on the night of the crime,”
he says. “The state comes
into court and says, ‘This is
a cold-blooded killer, he deserves to die.’ It’s my job to
reframe that issue so that we view this event, this crime, in
context.”
On June 29, the Supreme Court reversed Miller’s conviction, ruling that the trial court judge’s refusal to allow
Miller to plead not guilty by reason of insanity led to a
“constitutionally flawed jury trial.” The state plans to retry
Miller later this year. If the case does get to court, Sothern
hopes his client will escape the death penalty this time, but
Nikki Page and Billy
Sothern, in the lush garden
of their Irish Channel home.
the reality is that Miller is
more likely to die from his
illness in prison.
Sothern often gives
books to his clients—Shakespeare or Thucydides, for
example. Miller isn’t a
reader, but Sothern gave
him a recording of The
Chronicles of Narnia,
believing that its Christian
themes would resonate with
his client. “I love talking
about books with prisoners,
about the Bible, about
anything. Death Row is a
lonely place, and it’s
amazing to see such
remarkable thoughts and
ideas coming from such a
dark place. I find it consistently impressive—not just
about my clients, but about
humanity—how people are
able to transcend their
circumstances.”
Trying to Move On
Like many who love New
Orleans, Billy Sothern and
Nikki Page are staying in
the city, looking ahead, and making plans for the future.
Their house on Carondelet Street, a few blocks from the
Superdome, was damaged by Katrina’s winds, but their
neighborhood stayed dry. They were able to come back to
the city within a few weeks after the storm, though some of
their good friends have left the city for good.
Page spotted their new home in the historic Irish Channel
neighborhood while she was driving through the city,
looking at houses for a friend. The building needed a lot of
work, but she could see the former glory in the 1850s Ital-
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�{After the Storm}
ianate “double-gallery” with
high
ceilings,
elegant
parlors, and a second-story
porch that looks out on a
Hazel (A69) and Larry Schlueter (A67) stayed in their
lively street. The backyard is
Uptown home during Katrina with Hazel’s mother, who
a gardener’s paradise, with
was 91 at the time. Hazel is a musician; Larry is retired
from the U.S. Customs Service, and they lead a bluegrass
banana trees, bearded
band called “Hazel and the Delta Ramblers.” The hurripalms, Japanese magnolia,
cane damaged their roof, windows blew out, and Larry and
swamp lilies, spray roses,
Hazel patched up and mopped up as water poured in.
and bird of paradise plants.
Two days after the storm, with water cut off and power
The barbed wire around the
still out, they left the city. Hazel recalls driving across the
backyard fence, Sothern
Greater New Orleans Bridge, watching people trying to
says, will soon come down.
walk out of the flooded city. “It was heartbreaking,” she
They rent out their other
says. “There were people on crutches. A woman was draghome because the market is
ging her babies across in a cardboard box. It didn’t feel like
too bad to try to sell it right
this was America.”
now.
They settled temporarily in Dallas with their son,
If Sothern coped with his
Charles (A90), and his family. They moved back to the city
anger over the storm and its
almost as soon as they were allowed back in. Their small
aftermath by writing, Page,
insurance settlement wasn’t even enough to pay for the
an artist, tried to make sense
new roof, so Larry has done most of the work himself.
of the disaster through her
“Where we live, the area is in comparatively good shape,
camera lens. When the
but right on my square there are five houses where the
couple drove back to the city
roofs have not been repaired and the houses are just sitting
at nighttime in mid-October,
there, empty,” says Hazel. “There was a fire in our neighshe was shocked by what
borhood and the water pressure was low. There’s hardly
greeted her. “The first thing
anybody employed by the city. Much of the work and
I noticed was the smell, and
progress is by personal citizens spending their own
then the lack of light, the
money.”
trash piles,” she says. “The
Because many families have left the city for good, she has
city was really eerie, preglost all her music students and her income from private
lessons. But Hazel and the Delta Ramblers are still in
nant with that sense of
demand, playing at clubs, festivals, and farmer’s markets
death.”
around town. For a while, a musician’s fund subsidized their
Originally from Maine,
gigs. “I think we’ll stay, but it’s almost like every day there’s
Page attended a state universomething different to consider,” Hazel says, a little wearily.
sity before finding her way to
“You’d think there’d be more progress by now. It just wears
St. John’s, where she spotted
you down.” x
her future husband from
across the room at a party in
Annapolis. She taught in
New York and New Orleans,
but now devotes herself full time to an art career. She takes
classes at the New Orleans Academy of Art and gives private
lessons in the studio she created in their new home. “That
was the first room we finished,” she says.
Hoping for Progress
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
23
When Down in New
Orleans came out, Sothern
gave interviews on NPR and
other radio stations, and
signed his book at local
bookstores. While he spent
the first anniversary of
Katrina
attending
a
commemoration, he spent
the second anniversary
painting his dining room.
“It’s been such an awful
couple of years,” he says,
that he decided to mark the
anniversary “by trying to
move on.”
Things have to change
in New Orleans, and in
spite of it all, Sothern
believes they can. In his
book, he points to the 1911
fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company as an
example of a tragedy that
shook people into action—
though it took 20 years for
the New Deal to seriously
address
poverty
and
improve working conditions
in America.
Sothern hopes it won’t
take that long for New
Orleans. “I continue to have
this hope that the city could
be a focal point, where it
could change our country
for the better,” he says.
“Because if it doesn’t, then
all this suffering will have
been in vain.” x
�24
{Tocqueville}
CONSIDERING
TOCQUEVILLE
by Patricia Dempsey
H
ow many of Alexis de
Tocqueville’s keen observations of America’s spirited, burgeoning democracy hold true today?
These six Johnnies—who work in human
rights law, government, public service,
the ministry, and the military—reflect on
passages from Democracy in America.
The Manner in which American
Democracy Conducts Foreign Affairs
“Foreign policy demands the use of scarcely any of the
qualities and characteristics of a democracy. . . .”
Raised by a Korean mother and an American father (Santa
Fe tutor Michael Bybee), Foreign Service Officer Chelsia
Wheeler (SF03) observed cultural misunderstandings in her
household “on a daily basis,” she says. Today she seeks to
build understanding among different cultures. Before
joining the Foreign Service, Wheeler interned with the
U.S. Embassy in Singapore and taught English in Korea. In
September, Wheeler went on assignment to Burma where
she will travel the country “to engage the locals in conversations about democracy.” (The views expressed in this article
do not reflect the official policy of the U.S. government.)
Tocqueville is talking about the aristocracy when he
describes a continuity of power. The aristocracy has continuity of memory—an institutional memory. You don’t have
a change every four years; you don’t have ever-changing
leadership. In this regard the Foreign Service is like an aristocracy because there is a continuity of institutional
memory; we’re not political appointees, so we provide that
continuity that in Tocqueville’s day the aristocracy would
provide. In the U.S., there is some continuity in government institutions—what Tocqueville describes as aristocratic institutions—I hate to use the word “aristocratic” and
I certainly don’t feel like one, but I do think that in some
sense that’s what our Foreign Service jobs are. We provide
the continuity. When I worked in Singapore, there was an
amazing institutional memory. You don’t always see this in
a country that is not a pure democracy. The institutional
continuity of the government has been good for Singapore.
In our country our government policies swing back and
forth as public perceptions change.
When Tocqueville talks about the need for secrecy and
patience in foreign affairs, I think he is right. It’s hard for
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{Tocqueville}
25
gary pierpoint
Chelsia Wheeler (SF03) will see how
her views on foreign policy play out
in her current assignment, in Burma.
me to accept on some levels, but it is true that if you put
everything out there for people to vote on, including very
sensitive issues of foreign policy, you would not get
anything done. Even policies in Congress go through so
slowly. So foreign policy needs to be streamlined. In the
case of the Iraq War, for instance, there are many non-sexy
topics that do not go through Congress quickly. Iraq waits
around for Congress to vote on the budget to increase our
aid. There are many, many countries who must wait on
budget decisions, and they’re waiting on the U.S. timetable
to find out if they are getting any aid. These countries are
often not in the press.
Tocqueville was very much a
product of his time. Tocqueville is
not always completely accurate,
but what he has gotten right is
very important. It’s interesting
what he takes out of foreign policy.
It was largely true at the time he
was writing that Americans were
isolationists. It was for our own
survival. And I think that it is in
some ways true today. Yes, we do
get involved and we give help and
we have alliances, but we do value
our independence.
It wasn’t until after World War
II, when we were economically
dominant and secure, that our
isolationism changed. Tocqueville
talks about isolation as a way for
the United States not to bend to
other countries. We are still trying
to keep ourselves independent in
many ways. However, [to be
neutral] is not possible for a
country such as the United States because we are politically
and economically important. Other countries look to us for
leadership.
In the early 1800s Americans sent huge numbers of
missionaries abroad, and that’s the first time that we
appeared to be less isolated. Another example, besides the
missionaries, is relief to other countries. In World War I,
the Red Cross went abroad. Private Americans citizens are
always at the forefront of giving aid and relief.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�26
{Tocqueville}
“We still may not be able, even as a majority, to stop certain
things from happening. The majority, for instance, may
want to stop the war in Iraq, but yet they can’t.”
Peter Weiss (Class of 1946)
Tyranny of the Ma jority
“I place the origin of all powers in the will of the majority. .
. .One universal law has been made . . . that is the law of
justice.”
[Tocqueville] says that the
tyranny of the majority is
absolute, and that if it were
checked somehow we could
have a working democracy that
is just. What I find missing in
this discussion is the fact that in
the United States this check is
supposed to come from the
Constitution. The Constitution
enshrines with the force of law a
set of values that were created
during enlightened times in the
history of this country. While
history proceeds in one direction, the norms and values may
christopher huston
Peter Weiss (class of 1946), a retired intellectual property
attorney, now devotes himself to human rights and nuclear
disarmament issues from his New York City home. When
Weiss was 21, tutor James Martin, who had worked with
the Bureau of Economic Warfare during World War II and
later headed the office created to break up the cartels that
financed Hitler, brought Weiss to Berlin to work as a translator. “This brought me face-toface with what had happened in
Nazi Germany,” says Weiss. “I
lost part of my family to the
Holocaust, and of course there
was the later era, the McCarthy
period, here in the United
States, and my reaction to it—all
these shaped my work as a
human rights activist.”
move in another direction; so we still may not be able, even
as a majority, to stop certain things from happening.
The majority, for instance, may want to stop the war in
Iraq, but yet they can’t. And this is because today there is
too much power in the executive office.
Tocqueville was writing about 30 years after Marbury v.
Madison, which establishes that the Constitution overrides the will of the majority and of the executive. There
are not many countries where this is the case and it may
not even be the case in this country at this particular time.
This is the great thing about the American system. Yet the
majority is guided by an aggressive executive. I’m talking
about the state of things in the
United States today. Arthur
Schlesinger called it “the imperial presidency.” The American
Constitution was written with
checks and balances, yet it fails
so often, particularly in the
case of a strong executive.
Tocqueville is correct when
he describes a general,
universal law, the law of justice.
Antigone is an example of this
when she says to Creon that she
does not have to obey his law
because there is a law from the
gods that trumps that. In the
case of human rights, I don’t
care where this more just law
comes from; whether from the
gods, the Constitution, or a
treaty. It needs to be respected.
Since the Nuremberg trials,
there’s been progress, there’s
In retirement, lawyer Peter
Weiss (class of 1946) devotes
even more time to human rights
advocacy.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�27
gary pierpoint
{Tocqueville}
been the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So now
there are certain things that are universally accepted as
human rights violations: for example torture, slavery or
rape, just like piracy 200 years ago. Tocqueville is right in
this regard. There is a universal law of mankind.
The watchwords of tyranny are “by any means necessary.” This implies extreme actions, such as those going
on in Guantanamo Bay. Yet I have not given up hope.
So many attorneys have come forward to help defend these
[detained] individuals, and that is when I can’t help but
be proud of the American system, the American legal
establishment. And I hope that the next 10 years will be a
period of enlightenment.
How Religion in the United States
Makes Full Use of Democratic
Tendencies
“The first object . . . of religions is to provide for each of
these essential questions a tidy solution.”
The Rev. Adrien Dawson (A96), who is rector of St. Mark’s
on the Hill in Pikesville, Md., was surprised at her career
The Rev. Adrien Dawson (A96) encourages theological questioning as a way of deepening one’s relationship with God.
choice. “Being an Episcopal priest is the last thing I would
have expected I’d be. Both of my parents were hippie
refugees from religion, and by the time they got married
they had sworn off church,” she says. At St. John’s,
Dawson was converted by the Old Testament. “The human
condition pieces in the Old Testament are powerful—the
way in which God keeps saying, ‘I’m still with you, I’m not
going to abandon you.’ A central question for me has
always been: Why is it that some people have faith and
some don’t?”
When I read about how the first object of religion is to
furnish a solution, I laughed out loud. I thought, “Wow. If
only.” Tocqueville’s premise is that religion’s job is to have
tidy answers for these existential, philosophical, firstmover kind of questions. Where I differ from Tocqueville
is that I see religion much more as a framework in which
all of your doubts and uncertainties can exist and be chal-
{ T h e C o l l e g e • John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�28
{Tocqueville}
“For Tocqueville religion is the schoolmarm
of people’s passions.”
The Rev. Adrien Dawson (A96)
lenged; it gives you a safe place to wrestle with all of that.
There are religions of practice and religions of answers. I
say, “We don’t have all the answers. Come join us in this
practice.” Tocqueville is looking at all religions as religions that have answers.
The world view that Tocqueville describes is one in
which religious and social/political spheres don’t meet.
The priests stay in their realm and don’t ever venture into
the political; they don’t leave the steps of the church. While
the Koran gets political, the Gospels [do not]. [Yet] so
much of what gets described in the Gospels is Jesus challenging the social and political norms of the day. He’s killed
as a rebel against Rome, not because he has some sort of
faith practice—it’s his political power that gets him
crucified. In restricting the realm of religion, Tocqueville
makes a safe religion that keeps everybody in check. You
don’t get too extreme in your love of worldly possessions
because we have religion here that’s going to reign you in,
teach you about charity. For Tocqueville religion is the
schoolmarm of people’s passions. And then, get out of the
way—because the rest of the political sphere belongs to a
purely secular world.
I don’t agree with Tocqueville’s read on what the Gospel
offers. There are plenty of times when people of faith have
stood up and said, “I can do no other, because my faith, the
Scripture, tells me this is wrong. I have to challenge what’s
going on.” So there are all different ways in which the
Gospel has come out to challenge the authority of the
social/political context. In our own context today of
watching democracy unfold, religion gets bandied about a
lot. Today the politicians choose hot-button issues such as
abortion, gay marriage, the death penalty—and cite religious reasons for their political positions.
What Makes Democratic Armies
Weaker Than Other Armies at the
Outset of a Campaign and more
Dangerous in Prolonged Warfare
“Equality allows all to be ambitious while death makes sure
that there are continuing opportunities to satisfy that
ambition.”
Lieutenant Colonel (Hon.) Frank Giuseffi (SFGI96), keeps
issues of The College on a coffee table in his office at the
Missouri Military Academy, where he is academic
dean. “I want visitors to know how important the
liberal arts are to the intellectual formation of our
students,” he says. Giuseffi, whose father is a
retired Marine, chose a slightly different path—
military education. Along with his duties as dean,
Giuseffi teaches history and uses readings such as
Democracy in America to help the cadets grapple
with fundamental questions. “These cadets are
facing life-and-death issues,” he says. “They sense
that the age of heroism may be waning, yet they
want their service in the military, and their lives, to
have meaning.”
Lt. Col. (Hon.) Frank Giuseffi (SFGI96), left, shares
Tocqueville’s ideas with cadets at the Missouri
Military Academy.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{Tocqueville}
29
“I find this point particularly ironic: Equality can
open the door to greatness. It is this very equality
that fosters some to lead and some to follow. That’s part
of the military culture in a democracy.”
Lt. Col. (Hon.) Frank Giuseffi (SFGI96)
It is true that during war soldiers and officers have an
opportunity to prove their military greatness more. There
are certain accolades that one receives during war
depending on how well one performs. So there may be
some ambition there. I would say Tocqueville in some ways
is correct. But I cannot be inside the mind of a general or a
colonel. I would say it depends a lot on the individual. It
depends a lot on how the public sees this war. In many
ways, soldiers are affected by the level of cynicism towards
a war. Perhaps then ambition becomes more important
than honor. By the same token, there were many who were
known [in Vietnam] to be great military heroes no matter
what the public feeling was about the war.
I have to question if ambition is really what is behind
what motivates someone to serve. I have seen this with
many cadets; I think they want to test themselves. They
want to test their mettle and courage. A student here a
couple years ago was incredibly eager to go to war. He’s
done two tours in Iraq and he’s back and he said he has had
enough. He doesn’t necessarily articulate why that is and
why it was that he went to begin with. But he and many of
his fellow cadets are willing to face the fact that they are
going to be putting their lives on the line. This is not about
ambition and this is not about the debates in the media or
among politicians. It’s about fighting and finding out for
yourself that you are going to be able to do this.
Tocqueville makes a point about the principle of
equality of conditions in a democracy in the military.
What’s interesting is that in an aristocracy, your rank in
the military is based on birth. In a democracy, your career
is built out of a base of equality. You are part of a group that
started on equal footing, [which] opens the door of ambition to all. I find this point particularly ironic: Equality can
open the door to greatness. It is this very equality that
fosters some to lead and some to follow. That’s part of the
military culture in a democracy. You see the extraordinary
leaders come forth. They have to take their orders as a
subordinate, but they become heroes and do extraordinary
things and break out of the ranks, so to speak, in ways they
deem necessary. So the military gives one the opportunity
to become courageous, to be a leader, to be altruistic, to
save lives, to heal the wounded, to help someone out. It
gives one an opportunity to wrestle with the things that
make us all more human.
Public Spirit in the United States
“There is nothing more irksome . . . than the irritable
patriotism Americans have.”
Noah Kroloff (SF95), deputy chief of staff for Governor
Janet Napolitano of Arizona, found his way into public
service through teaching. His first job after St. John’s was
with Teach for America in the South Bronx. “I got eaten
alive by the kids, but it was rewarding,” he says. Kroloff
then worked for the speaker of the New York State
Assembly on public policy issues and campaigns. In 2000
Kroloff, who has a law degree from Arizona State University College of Law, joined Governor Napolitano’s staff.
Tocqueville suggests it is in one’s self-interest to work for
one’s government. I don’t understand what Tocqueville
means in that regard. Is there anything anyone does that is
not in some way in one’s self-interest? Everything comes
through the governor’s office: issues of public education,
natural resources, transportation, health care, economic
development. It helps my family, my children, our community, and the wider community if for instance we work to
create more education. It is in everyone’s self-interest to
contribute to the success of government—this is the backbone of a free society.
Tocqueville has amazing observations on society, but
they are hard to apply at a practical level. The theoretical is
just that. It offers a framework for values, a moral
compass. But it is not a good manual on how to get done
the day-to-day business of the people. In some ways
Tocqueville places the patriotism of citizens in opposition
with those who govern. Yet so often, the alignment
between public zeal and the elected official—such as the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�30
{Tocqueville}
governor of Arizona—must exist
The Use Americans
since that official was elected by
Make of Public
the public. In this case,
Associations in
governing and enforcing laws is
Civil Life
not difficult because of the
“Americans of all ages, condipublic’s zeal and patriotism.
tions, and all dispositions conIf the public is for education,
stantly unite together.”
then is the governor going to
decimate it? A thoughtful public
As a freshman in Santa Fe, Josh
official will have a dialogue.
Cohen (SF94) campaigned for the
I am very patriotic, but patristudent government by going
otism is not one’s duty. It is not
from table to table in the cafeteria
one’s responsibility to be
saying, “I’m running for governinvolved with government.
ment to get government off our
Patriotism takes many forms;
backs.” It worked. Back in
this is the great thing about our
Annapolis, after serving on a
country. One has a right to be or
neighborhood board, Cohen was
not to be involved if one wishes. Noah Kroloff (SF95) puts his patriotism into action in
hooked on grassroots politics.
We should encourage patri- Arizona’s state government.
“It was a revelation,” he says.
otism, but there are different
“I thought, ‘Wow, people actually spend their lives devoted
notions of what patriotism is. Sometimes it means to take
to the issues that affect communities and jobs.’” Cohen,
action. Yet what one thinks is a patriotic act might infringe
who grew up in Annapolis (his father, Joseph, is a tutor),
on the rights of others. Sometimes it means a great or
served two terms on the Annapolis City Council and in
heroic act. But the great thing is the way our laws and judi2006 was elected to the Anne Arundel County Council.
cial systems work to balance actions that may or may not
infringe on the liberties of others.
Unlike our American democracy 200 years ago, other
I have never felt in any way constrained to speak
countries had aristocracies where a small number of very
out on any issue. Social constraints exist but there
influential people were able to issue edicts to direct money
are no legal constraints on voting on every issue, which I
and resources toward causes. But in America, with the
think Tocqueville celebrated. However since Tocqueville’s
absence of this nobility, the only way people could get
day, the boundaries of our post-9/11 world are more
things done in the same way was to form groups. America
defined; now there are instances where free speech in the
needs these associations because we lack the administraUnited States is limited. Yet we still live in a society whose
tive structure that an aristocracy has to get things done.
government allows people to say and speak and think what
This has a lot to do with the big-government, smallthey choose.
government debate that is around today, maybe in a
different form. But it’s the debate of “Should government
be doing this or should we let the private sector handle
this?” This issue that Tocqueville points out is still an
issue today.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{Tocqueville}
31
“Special interests really are just collections of people
advocating for a specific cause or issue; people are
more effective that way. I couldn’t imagine our local
government without associations.”
Josh Cohen (SF94)
As an Anne Arundel County Council member,
Josh Cohen (SF94) seeks to make local government work for its citizens.
interest in civic life because they’re just starting to own
their own homes and they’re just starting to have kids who
go to public schools. Those are the two biggest selfinterest motivators: your child’s education and your home.
So I don’t really see that people are apathetic. There are
always going to be people who say, “Oh, it doesn’t matter,”
but to me that says that by and large our system works
really well. Even though we have problems to address, in
time we come to address them. It’s really at the local level
that people see their actions having the most direct
impact. As Tocqueville says they form a common goal. x
dimitri fotos
In our society, we talk a lot about special interests and
how politics need to be separate from special interests.
But special interests really are just collections of people
advocating for a specific cause or issue; people are more
effective that way. I couldn’t imagine our local government without associations. It’s the whole notion of having
a representative democracy where elected officials are
representatives. But within the constituency that these
elected officials represent, there are all these different
stakeholder groups that sometimes overlap and offer ways
that issues can be debated. People can work to find
common ground.
[Yet] I think sometimes individual acts are necessary,
like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her
seat. You need individual actions sometimes to spur movements, and groups need
leaders who can negotiate and compromise on behalf of the group.
Tocqueville talks mainly about commercial and business enterprises, which
200 years ago were the main reasons why
people got together to advocate. In today’s
culture, people form groups to advocate
for a wide variety of issues. The traditional
definition of civic groups are those like the
Kiwanis and Lions [clubs], these are
benevolent groups, just like the Elks,
where they form for goodwill purposes.
But I think the commercial and industrial
associations have more widespread
appeal. In every homeowners’ meeting
that you attend the subject of property
values is going to come up, so in a lot of
ways it is an economic association.
I think a lot of people my age—I’m 33—
are only just now starting to take an
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�32
{Bibliofile}
The Archaeology of Tomorrow:
Architecture and the
Spirit of Place
kenneth m. wyner
When you step inside architect Travis
Price’s home in Washington, D.C., you
can’t see the tree forts Price built and
played in as a kid growing up in Georgia,
but you can feel their presence. As he puts
it, “the building tells a story.” Walls of
smooth plywood and glass stretch to a leafy
canopy of oak trees along Rock Creek Park.
The dappled light and elegantly simple
amalgam of sustainable materials—there is
no sheetrock or paint—makes one feel
“wrapped in a tree,” Price writes in his
new book, The Archaeology of Tomorrow:
Architecture and the Spirit of Place. His
four-story, copper-clad residence is almost
suspended in the air, tethered by weighted
steel cables to a steep slope. “It is floating
silence,” says Price. “The design means I
can fly, both in the Western sense and in a
more Asian, spiritual sense.”
A pioneering green architect who
designed one of the world’s largest solar
buildings, the office complex for the
Tennessee Valley Authority in Chattanooga, Tenn., Price is also a cultural
steward. He is adjunct professor and
kenneth m. wyner
by Travis Price (SF71)
Earth Aware Editions (2006)
director of the Cultural Studies/Sacred
Spaces program at Catholic University’s
School of Architecture and Planning.
Price treks with his students to sacred sites
around the globe to create designs that
speak to indigenous cultural stories. In The
Archaeology of Tomorrow, Price describes
the delicate balance it takes to create a
space that is environmentally and culturally sustainable, that radiates mystery,
emotion, a spirit of place. “You move
through it like a dance. It triggers all kinds
of perceptions.”
The book features
stunning architectural
photographs interspersed with phrases
that describe each
space’s poetry. There is
of course Price’s residence (“Floating steel
soul”); the light-filled
atrium of the Greenfield
Library on the
Annapolis campus
(“Guardian of the light
of Plato’s cave”);
National Geographic
Explorers Hall in Washington, D.C. (“Earth’s
flagship of stewardAbove, Travis Price’s
Washington, D.C.,
residence. Left, the
Mackenzie House, an
explorer’s retreat on
Vargas Island, British
Columbia.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
ship”); and private residences, including
one with a traditional street-side facade
that opens to a modern glass-walled
addition in the back (“Unseen trees made
visible”). But Price’s book is more than a
coffee-table compendium of poetry,
photography, and design. It is a passionate
argument for a future that includes the
“mythic modern,” a design that interprets
sacred stories and myths in a way that is
meaningful, vibrant, and relevant.
“I have spent the last 30 years on the
ecosphere. The next 30 I want to dedicate
to the ‘ethnosphere,’” he says. By “ethnosphere,” a word coined by Price, Wade
Davis and tutor Eva Brann, he means all
the beliefs, myths, archetypes, and stories
spawned since the dawn of civilization.
“It’s the geography of human imagination,” says Price. “Great architecture
always has stories behind it. Chichen Itza,
Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat—they are all
replete with sacred but still metaphysical
and metaphorical tales. The job of an
architect is to grab the cultural voice of his
time and try to make it architecture,
spatially carve that experience from big,
bold ideas about shapes, right down to
textures and materials. You have to search
every culture, every locale. Even in cities
such as Rome and Washington, you have to
look at the layers and crusts of the stories.
You will find things that describe that
culture if you question enough.”
In a chapter titled “Assault on the Spirit:
Sprawl, Mall and Tall,” Price traces the
development of architecture that is devoid
of story and meaning, characterized by
ubiquitous shopping malls decorated with
faux Greco columns and other remnants of
“old stories” that in Price’s view are
disconnected from our culture’s heart and
soul. “During the Industrial Revolution,
the metaphor was the machine,” he says.
“I’m not criticizing technology; like
nuclear power it was a glorious moment,
but there was a down side: the machine as
metaphor is sterile and empty. There was
no poetry left in architecture.”
Price presents a new vision that honors
an authentic sense of place. “Let’s revisit
the myths, the sacred,” he says. “How do I
get day-to-day architecture to have this
kind of storytelling?” To find the answer,
Price looks at architecture through three
lenses: the Stillness of Metaphor and
Myth (universal truths); the Time-fullness
of Movement (technology); and the
�33
chris ranier
{Bibliofile}
kenneth m. wyner
Timelessness of Nature (the physical
world). “Time-fullness is about pushing
the limits of technology,” he explains.
“In my residence, for example, you’re
hanging on a bare thread of steel. That
alone is dynamic change. The Stillness of
Metaphor and Myth is apparent because
there is a tranquility that overcomes you.
The technology feeds the metaphor but is
not overdone.”
The design of his home embraces the
third lens, Nature, through its use of
sustainable insulating techniques and also
in more subtle, lyrical ways. Windows are
placed so that one can observe the moon in
all its phases. Steel scuppers shaped like
leaves catch rainwater from the roof and
send it tumbling like a waterfall savored
from the warm, dry interior. As Price
describes it, “You are in the waterfall.”
To illustrate architectural design that
uses these three lenses, Price takes the
reader to places that are familiar, even
iconic, such as the Vatican, Frank Lloyd
Wright’s Fallingwater, and the Church of
the Light in Osaka, Japan. Price devotes
much of his book to sacred places that
“permeate mind, heart, and matter.”
Among them are the Naga Shrine in Nepal,
Lake Ealue in British Columbia, and the
mystical “thin places” in Ireland.
The early Celts believed in sacred “thin
places” where past, present, and future are
one. Today on Ireland’s west coast, the
locals still revere the “thin places” and
visitors like Price are compelled to wander
the rain-soaked land near the smashing sea
to find them. In The Archaeology of
Tomorrow, Price describes several
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
On a “Spirit of Place” expedition in
Nepal, Price and his students designed
this meditation platform, cantilevered
over a 100-foot drop. Below left, Price’s
living room features a soaring glass wall.
expeditions he has led to these mystical
sites to look for cultural metaphors in the
landscapes. Price and his students, in
concert with the local owners, design and
build sculptural structures that are in
essence shrines. One, in Doonamoe, is a
stone path that leads above a blowhole in
the ground, where the sea spews forth 110
feet from the coast. Another landscape
sculpture, completed this summer, is
called “Temples of the Tides of Time.”
Like the “thin places” themselves, it
connects one with past, present, and
future time.
“When you actually walk through it you
feel a certain reverence,” says Price. “I
want to spend the rest of my life doing
this—opening the door to the sacred.”
—Patricia Dempsey
�34
{Homecoming}
COMING HOME
Fall Fiesta in Santa Fe, Crab Feast in Annapolis
F
teri thomson randall
amy raab photography
or Lee Perlman
(A73), the logic
is irrefutable:
He has been
attending
Homecoming
every year since 2003. He is
still alive. Therefore, Homecoming keeps him alive.
He’s unwilling to test what
he calls the “Perlman Principle” by staying home one
year, but he’s also had such a
good time that he doesn’t
mind being bound by superstition. Perlman drives down to
Annapolis every year from
Boston, where he teaches
philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, picking up his friend, Peter Squitieri
(A73), in Connecticut along the way.
“It’s a little like Groundhog Day,” Perlman said. “I come back
every year, so every year a few more people know me.”
The college works hard to plan a Homecoming that will appeal to
all alumni as well as those who come back during a reunion year to
see their classmates. This year, the event in Santa Fe sprang forward
into fall, to September 14-16, so that alumni and students could
again share the campus. Not without some controversy, the move
from July didn’t seem to deter attendance: about 150 participants
(alumni and families) came back to enjoy offerings such as the Fiesta
Left, Annapolis alumni
connect at the Saturday crab
feast; below, Kimberly Herb
(SF98) and Bob Nash
(Schroeder, SF97) at the
Fiesta Picnic in Santa Fe.
Picnic on the soccer field, the
All-Alumni Art Show (the
Fibonacci Sequence was the
theme this year), children’s
activities, and a Homecoming
Dinner Dance. On Saturday,
photographer Craig Varjabedian and writer Robin Jones
(SF84) shared photographs of
Southwest landscapes and the
stories behind them. Santa Fe
artist Eli Levin (SFGI91) reminisced in his Speaking Volumes Lecture, titled “A Townie Interacts
with the College on the Hill.”
In Annapolis September 28-30, the college hosted 400 alumni
and guests. Alumni devoured hundreds of Chesapeake Bay crabs
after their morning seminars. Children roamed from face-painting
and games to pony rides and a petting zoo. And in the Great Hall,
tutors, alumni, and current students marked tutor Eva Brann’s
50th year at the college during the presentation of a Festschrift in
her honor. Brann seemed both pleased and abashed by the tribute:
“I have spent fifty/seventy-eighth of my life here, roughly 18,250
days,” she said. “To tell the truth, they seem as one day, the earthly
counterpart of the nunc stans of eternity, the ‘standing now’ of
heaven. People ask me when some event took place. I’ve taken to
saying “about 25 years ago,” figuring that the mean can stand for
any year. But ask me “who” and “where” and usually a bright image
will arise—students, alumni, seminar partners are all in place, my
year with them coalesced in one fixed image.”
Both campuses welcomed returning Graduate Institute alumni
with special celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the
founding of the G.I. in Santa Fe and the 30th anniversary in
Annapolis. On both campuses, former alumni, current students
and faculty toasted the longevity and vitality of the college’s
graduate program.
Patricia Sollars attended both Homecomings and greatly prefers
seeing students and alumni enjoy the weekend together. Alumni
enjoy talking with current students about their tutors, their classes,
and their future careers, she said. “An enormous benefit of
returning to St. John’s is to see that the Program is alive and well,
and still thriving in ever-renewing populations of youthful minds
and spirits,” she said. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�35
{Homecoming}
AT A GLANCE: HOMECOMING 2007
Santa Fe
In-Demand Seminars
Nietzsche’s “On Truth and
Lying in a Non-Moral Sense,”
led by Eva Brann (HA89)
Exodus 24-40 and Euripides’
Bacchae, led by Robert Sacks
(A84)
The Lecture
“Knowledge, Ignorance and
Imitation in Book Ten of
Plato’s Republic,” David
McNeill (A89)
“Jihad: the Muslim Concept
of Holy War,” tutor Ken
Wolfe (SF94)
The Schwag
Snappy orange lunch tote
Snappy orange lunch tote
Honorary Alumni
Robert Hunt and Alton
(“Red”) Waldron, who have
attended the college’s
community seminars for
more than five decades
Tutor emerita Georgia
“Susu” Knight, who devoted
33 years to the college
Substitute for a
Football Game
Alumni vs. students
soccer game
Family nature hike up
Monte Sol
amy raab photography
Annapolis
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
teri thomson randall
amy raab photography
teri thomson randall
amy raab photography
Above, top: tutor emerita Georgia S.
Knight became an honorary alumna.
Bottom, Susan Bishop (AGI99)
received the Award of Merit on
behalf of her late husband, Jeffrey
Bishop, who died in July; Award of
Merit winner Lovejoy Duryea (A67)
also received an Award of Merit.
Left: a storyteller delights
children in Annapolis; Bottom,
left to right, Lee Munson (SF97)
greets a friend in Santa Fe;
Annapolis crabs; Peggy Jones
(SFGI94) and Consuelo Sañudo
(SFGI00) toast the Graduate
Institute.
�36
{Alumni Profile}
Questioning Established Beliefs
Jim Jarvis (A75) Researches Juvenile Diseases
by Patricia Dempsey
mong Dr. Jim Jarvis’ prized
possessions is a postcard
from Paris sent to him by a
former patient. “The first
time I met her she was 16,
sitting on a hospital bed
crying; she had systemic lupus and was
worried she would not be able to go on a
class trip to France the following year.
We made a partnership and set a goal—
her trip,” says Jarvis.
As a consulting pediatric rheumatologist
at the W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital in
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and the Children’s
Hospital of Oklahoma, Jarvis builds close
relationships with children who have
chronic diseases and has insight into the
challenges they face and treatments they
need. As a professor of pediatrics at the
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences
Center, Jarvis mentors medical students and
conducts groundbreaking research to
advance the understanding of juvenile
chronic diseases.
Jarvis, who became a
pediatric rheumatologist
in the early 1980s when
there were fewer than a
dozen such practitioners
in the country, is proud of
the fact that he’s seen as
an iconoclast, especially
for his work with juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis.
“This is a good place to
be in science, questioning
established beliefs,” says
Jarvis. “My career has
come full circle. I began
at St. John’s with bigpicture questions like,
‘What is the meaning of
health?’ Then as a
medical student I asked,
‘What is the meaning of
wellness?’ ”
Today, Jarvis has
zeroed in on an urgent
A
question: Why is the rate of juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis higher in certain
American Indian tribes? His interest stems
in part from his own heritage, as his greatgreat-grandmother, a Mohawk Indian, was
born on the Akwesasne Reservation in
upstate New York. To discover the answers,
Jarvis has introduced a systemic, generational perspective to the treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis through research
that uses systems biology. “I observe how
things are connected. Aristotle suggests in
Book I, Chapter 1 of the Parts of Animals
that biology is connectedness, a study of
form and function,” he says. Jarvis believes
that one of the reasons Native American
populations have such a high rate of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis has to do with
generational trauma.
“Rheumatoid arthritis runs in families
and groups, but it is not genetic, and not
contagious,” he explains. “Data has
emerged that shows that when a people has
been marginalized, abused, and humiliated
as some Native American populations have,
this may set up a reaction in utero. The
infant in utero responds to the stress, which
jazzes up the fetal immune system and hits
triggers that can increase the risk for
rheumatoid arthritis.”
While Jarvis’ generational approach is
significant to the prevention of rheumatoid
arthritis, he is also working to help children
already afflicted with the disease by
targeting individual treatments. This
research is funded in part by a grant from
the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement
of Science and Technology. By using
systems biology tools—computer models
show every gene that a cell is expressing—
Jarvis hopes to predict which drugs will be
most effective on certain patients.
“Right now it is a trial-and-error process.
It’s expensive, and several months go by
before it becomes clear whether a drug is
working. I would like to develop an assay to
optimize therapy and
treatment from the
moment of diagnosis,”
says Jarvis. With juvenile
patients, the need to
conserve time is crucial.
“Several months, even
several weeks have a
much larger impact on an
adolescent’s life than on
an adult’s. This is time
from school and important developmental milestones are missed, even
special class trips.” x
James Jarvis (A75),
second from right,
shown here in his lab
with students and
research colleagues,
explores links between
the environment and
juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�37
{Alumni Notes}
1935
RICHARD S. WOODMAN enjoys
keeping in touch with the college,
particularly with the St.
John’s/Naval Academy croquet
rivalry. “I’m still active practicing
law in this small, beautiful village
[Waterville, N.Y.] and traveling to
foreign countries with one or
more of my two children,” he
writes. “They’re both Middlebury
College graduates, and one has
two grandchildren, which makes
me a great-grandfather.”
1942
“My classmates will not believe
first place—at the age of 86,”
ERNEST J. HEINMULLER writes of
his first-place showing in the
adult category of a poetry-writing
contest last spring. “See what
St. John’s does for you!” The
contest was sponsored by the
Friends of the St. Michael’s
Library in partnership with the
county historical society.
new college task force that is to
collaborate with the University of
Denver’s Institute for the
Advancement of the American
Legal System on a program to
recommend changes in the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
to reduce the burdens and
expense of pretrial discovery.”
1946
JAMES W. SHARP writes:
“During almost five decades of
employment in the human
resources departments of three
businesses, 53 years of marriage,
and helping to raise two daughters and four grandchildren, I was
a ‘prodigal’ Johnnie. Eight years
ago I again became interested in
theology and philosophy. Since
December 2005 I have been
working my way through
Bertrand Russell’s A History of
Philosophy. For those who have
lost touch with their St. John’s
College heritage, it provides a
delightful ‘Remembrance of
Things Past.’”
1945
1947
Writes EDWARD W. MULLINIX:
“Although I retired as an active
partner in Schnader Harrison
Segal & Lewis LLP of Philadelphia on January 1, 1993, I
continue being active professionally as senior counsel to the firm,
doing some things for the firm,
participating in case-management programs in the Court of
Common Pleas of Philadelphia
County and the federal district
court for Eastern Pennsylvania
(where I serve as a member of its
Civil Justice Advisory Group),
and taking an occasional engagement to mediate complex
commercial disputes.
Most recently, the president of
the American College of Trial
Lawyers has appointed me to a
“My wife, Elizabeth, and I took a
two-week trip to France in April
and drove through Burgundy and
Normandy,” writes H. GERALD
HOXBY. “We visited our son Bair
and his wife, Caroline, in Vezelay
where they had rented a house for
a year while on sabbatical from
Harvard. They are each writing a
book while there. We all had a lot
of fun and had some great meals
besides seeing more than enough
chateaus and churches.”
1948
PETER J. DAVIES and his wife,
Phyllis, took a trip in May to
Mozambique via Lisbon to attend
the high school graduation of
The Art of Saying No
C
lass of 1955 alumnus HAROLD BAUER’s “next life”
as a painter has landed him as president of the
Board of Trustees at the prestigious Evanston Art
Center. “St. John’s did not sufficiently instruct in
the art of saying no,” he writes. This fall, he will
conduct Princess Ida by Gilbert and Sullivan for the
Evanston Savoyaires and will stage Amahl and the Night Visitors for
Chicago’s Ars Viva. x
their second-eldest grandson and
to celebrate Peter’s 80th birthday
with his son, daughter-in-law, and
five grandchildren. Also in May,
he attended the funeral of PETER
WEISS’ mother, Paula, who died
at age 104.
1954
DAVID KAPLAN is still in business
management investments.
1955
1950
JOHN R. GARLAND borrowed
some lines from G.K. Chesterton
for his note to the College: “. . .
for there’s good news yet to be
heard and fine things to be seen,/
Before we go to Paradise by way of
Kensal Green.”
1953
Two years ago, CHARLES
POWLESKE officially “retired”
from the Business Council for
International Understanding,
where he has worked since 1960.
“A few years passed, mostly in
Mexico, before I found myself
once again active in those
familiar offices as ‘senior advisory
and past president.’
I then teamed up with a longtime business friend, who also
continues to be very involved in
BCIU, and we incorporated InterPlan Consulting, Inc. At any
given time, we find ourselves
working on various interesting
projects including a major solar
energy enterprise that is about to
contract for its first commercial
installation.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
CAROLYN E. BANKS-LEEUWENBURGH writes: “Over these many
years, I’ve known many St. Johnnies, from my class, from the
tours we take together, from
many summers in Santa Fe and
social events. I often think of
those people with good feelings.
I want to say hello to all and wish
them all the best of everything.”
1956
Last year, GEORGE SAUER was
elected to his sixth term on the
Republican Central Committee of
Montgomery County, Maryland.
1957
It was a busy May and June for
CORNELIA HOFFMAN REESE:
One grandchild graduated from
college, one is entering her senior
year at Miami, one grandson
graduated from high school and
has been accepted at college, one
granddaughter is entering her
sophomore year of college, and
another granddaughter is serving
in the Peace Corps in Senegal.
“Since I’m from a large family,
�38
{Alumni Notes}
we also had graduations of nieces
and nephews—busy, busy time,
but very rewarding and a delight
to see education carried on,” she
writes. “Looking forward to the
50th reunion at St. John’s and
seeing Mary Sullivan Blomberg
and her husband, Peter, again.”
1960
“I recently completed the fouryear basic program at the
University of Chicago,” says
PETER RUEL. “Discussing the
great books brings back fond
memories of nearly 50 years ago.
The St. John’s imprint never
leaves us. This year we are
completing all of Plato’s
dialogues with our instructor
emeritus, George Anastaplo, who
is known by some of the St. John’s
tutors. Our 50th reunion will be
in 2010. See you all then.”
1961
CYNTHIA BLEDSOE DALEY has
retired to a small working horse
farm in Greer, S.C., where she
races Arabian horses. “I happily
invite any Johnnies in the area to
visit,” she writes.
1962
MICHAEL ELIAS writes, “My play
The Catskill Sonata—about a
Catskill hotel during the blacklisting period in the 1950s—had a
successful run in L.A. It was
directed by Paul Mazursky and
will open in New York next
spring. “
JOHN POUNDSTONE is back from
a trip: “We have just returned
from a visit to China to visit our
daughter, who works in Beijing
for the World Health Organization as an AIDs epidemiologist.
It was an amazing visit.” He
wonders if China is “ready for the
Great Books.”
alumni. Why does it not? Is it
ashamed of the tutors’ credentials?”
1964
1966
CHRISTINE KUBACKI GRIECO is
deputy director at Philadelphia’s
history museum, the Atwater
Kent Museum, following a long
career in educational advocacy.
She was happily remarried six
years ago.
IAN HARRIS has retired from
being a professor of Educational
Policy and Community Studies at
the University of WisconsinMilwaukee after 32 years. In
January he taught a class in Peace
Education at the University of
Jaume Primero in Castelló de la
Plana, Spain. He plans to remain
in Milwaukee with his wife, Sara,
in spite of having grandchildren
on both coasts. He will continue
to be president of the International Peace Research Association Foundation. His latest publication is Global Directory of
Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Programs (with Amy
Shuster), San Francisco: Peace
and Justice Studies Association,
2006.
JUDITH WOOD writes: “I’m still
working for Tulane County
Library in the San Joaquin Valley
of California. I am a reference
librarian. I am just putting the
finishing touches on a three-year
project, getting over 100 oral
histories about life in this county
from 1941 to 1946. This will
probably be the highlight of my
entire career, first as an
accountant, then as a librarian!”
DAVID RANDOLPH JORDAN
writes: “A few years ago, I was the
guest organizer of a conference
held at the Norwegian Institute at
Athens, its works published in
The World of Ancient Magic
(Borger 1999). From March
through August of 2006, I was a
fellow of the Institute for
Advanced Studies at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem as part of
a group thinking about “Occult
Power in Near Eastern Culture.”
I am a little disappointed that
St. John’s no longer sends the
annual college catalogue to
1968
MARILYNNE (MAURIE WILLS
SCHELL) SCOTT (SF) writes that
her younger daughter, Emily
Scott, graduated from Yale
Divinity School in May 2006 with
a Master of Divinity degree. “She
now works as a liturgical coordinator for Yale Divinity School and
Yale University, planning worship
services. For the past two
summers she has worked on the
“New Music Project” under the
direction of the REV. DONALD
Breathing Deeply
hanges for ANNETTE TULLIER STAUBS (A75): “After
seven years of managing my husband’s solo family
practice office, I am leaving the stress of the medical
business to breathe deeply and have fun. Charles has
joined Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, where he will
continue to practice family medicine and teach. I will
be free to pursue my avocations among the rolling hills and dairy
farms of central Wisconsin. I also plan to do volunteer work.” x
C
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
SCHELL (SF68), rector of
St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal
Church in San Francisco. My
husband, David, and I are planning a trip to Alaska this summer
where (if all goes well), we’ll meet
RICK WICKS (SF68) and his
family in Anchorage—a prereunion reunion.”
CHARLES B. WATSON (A) writes:
“#1 son, Ivan, continues to report
on world affairs for NPR from
Istanbul and places like Bulgaria,
Northern Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,
etc. #2 son, Misha, recently
rebuilt a house and re-roofed,
floored, shingled, windowed,
etc., our second home on
Martha’s Vineyard. Our daughter,
Anya, starts graduate work in
marine biology at Avery Point on
Long Island Sound, with the
University of Connecticut.
She has spent a year in Boston,
as MIT junior faculty, diving
instructor, etc. Now living in
Mystic, medical practice,
teaching hospital, affairs are
almost all-absorbing. We long for
a sabbatical. Look us up and
propose one?”
1969
JOSEPH P. BARATTA (A) gave an
address, “World Government or
Global Governance? The United
Nations Project in Historical
Perspective,” at a conference on
U.N. reform in June in Turin,
Italy. In 2006, he spent the
month of July in Siena studying
Italian: “Estata un ezperienze
molto utilo,” he writes.
MEREDITH (ARTIS) ANTHONY
(A) has published a thriller,
Ladykiller (Oceanview
Publishing, 2007), co-authored
with her husband, Lawrence
Light. “It is a dark tale of a serial
killer investigation set in New
York City in 1991,” she writes.
For more information, you can
visit her Web site at www.meredithanthony.com.
�39
{Alumni Notes}
1970
1973
SHEILA BOBBS ARMSTRONG
(SF, EC95) is now on the college’s
Board of Visitors and Governors.
“My oldest son, Ian, just graduated from the Santa Fe campus,”
she writes, and the two were
headed on a trip to Bhutan and
West Bengal late last spring.
“Still living in Bobbsville with my
Aussie husband, Mike, still traveling, still forgetting what I just
read. Younger two sons doing
fine—all’s well,” she writes.
MARY L. BATTEEN (A) has been
professor and chair of the
Oceanography Department at the
Naval Postgraduate School since
2001. She joined the department
in 1984 and has enjoyed advising
many Naval Academy graduates.
She publishes papers on ocean
currents off west coasts including
North America, South America,
Australia, and Europe.
This year, Alfred Knopf published
NORA GALLAGHER’s (SF) first
novel, Changing Light, which is
set in Santa Fe and Los Alamos
during the making of the bomb.
SUSHEILA HORWITZ (SF) is still a
member of the Madonna House, a
Catholic lay apostolate. “I was
seven years in the far east of
Russia in a small city created to
serve the needs of the Gulag.
The people there were wonderful.
I’m moving now to our house in
Edmonton, Alberta.”
1971
GEORGE ELIAS (A) reports on the
family: “My 26-year-old daughter
is working as an apprentice
farmer in Northern California.
My 15-year-old daughter attends a
Jesuit high school in San Francisco, where her 12-year-old sister
hopes to join her next year.”
1972
“Hope to make it to Homecoming this year. Number
35—wow!” writes CLAUDE
MARTIN (A).
1974
ROGER BURK (A) is a visiting
professor this year at the Center
for Innovation in Engineering
Education at Princeton University, where he is developing a
course on space flight for nonengineering students. ROBIN
KOWALCHUK BURK (A72) has
started work on her dissertation
on robotic information
processing at SUNY-Albany.
JEFF VICTOROFF (A) writes with
news of children. “Maia is just
finishing kindergarten and very
excited about pony camp. Ivan
tore a memorable swath through
preschool and is very excited
about Hot Wheels demolition.”
1977
LAURIE ALEXANDER (A) earned
her PhD in entomology from the
University of Maryland, College
Park.
LORIN CUOCO (SFGI) produced
her first audiobook, The Tunnel,
as read by the author, William
Gass: “Dalkey Archive Press
brought it out in 2006. Forty-five
hours long, on three MP3 CDs.
Historical, man,” she writes.
“My work with the American
Sleep Apnea Association is going
well,” writes EDWARD GRANDI
(A). “More active with the D.C.
alumni seminar—great books,
great people, good times.”
JIMMIE COLSON JACKSON (SFGI)
was inducted into the District of
Columbia Teachers Hall of Fame
in May 2007.
1978
“I completed my first triathlon,
the Lake Placid Ironman, in July
2006, and my second, the
Arizona Ironman, in April 2007,”
writes ROBERT PERRY (A).
1982
1975
CYNTHIA SWISS (A) is making a
career change: “After 30 years of
teaching music, I decided it was
time for a change. I am taking
courses to become a dietician.
I have always loved cooking and I
want to help people make healthy
food choices. On June 16 I will
start my new job at Northwest
Hospital in Reisterstown, Md.
I will continue my freelance work
as a violinist and give private
lessons at home.”
PETER B. GRIGGS (A) has
published his first novel, No Pink
Concept, available at xlibris.com.
“James Rowley and I married on
June 27, 2006,” writes KELLY
GENOVA (SF). “We are very
happy. STEPHEN LOACH (SF) and
his fiancée, Sally Blixt, joined us
to celebrate. I still practice law in
Albuquerque, as does James.
Stephen teaches at UT-Pan Am.”
1984
FATHER ROBERT NICOLETTI (SF)
writes, “Many thanks for your
correspondence. Alumni have
been very generous with my
mission in Ukraine and I would
like to thank them. If anyone can
still help these orphanages,
please consider it.”
DAVID WALWORTH (A) writes
that he and his wife, Michelle, are
still living in St. Croix, U.S.
Virgin Islands. She recently
received “tenure-in-waiting” as
there are not any tenure slots
open at the university. “My naval
architecture business is going
well. The most recent project will
be launched in July this year in
Bristol, R.I. It is a two-foot ownerdesigned yawl. The owner
designed the lines and look of the
boat; I did the structural engineering. We are in the early
stages of designing a house to
build farther up the hill from
where we currently live. It will be
totally off the grid. The land faces
dead into the trade winds for wind
power and at 17 degrees 44 min
N, there is plenty of sun for solar
panels. Basically a West Indies
Danish cottage is the design
inspiration.”
1985
ANNA L. DAVIS (A) writes:
“2007 was a great year! My son,
Aaron Gordon, celebrated his Bar
Mitzvah in May, and I graduated
from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health with a
Master of Public Health.”
MAGGIE KINSER (A), writing as
Maggie Kinser Hohle
(www.maggietext.com), moved to
California in July. Her husband,
Brad, took a position in digital
cinema at the headquarters of
Dolby Laboratories in San
continued on p. 41
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�40
{Alumni Profile}
A Metaphor for Life
Myra Krien (SF88) Helps Young Women Gain Confidence
by Deborah Spiegelman
T
o be in the presence of Myra
Krien (SF88) is to step into a
warm, confident embrace, a
rare gift in this frantic world.
It is a gift that she shares with
every person who steps
through the doors of Pomegranate Studios
in Santa Fe, founded by Krien in 1996. Here,
women of all ages learn the art of belly
dancing.
“Dance is a metaphor for living life,” says
Krien, who began belly dancing at the age of
three. In the style of dance she teaches, the
emphasis is not on one’s physical form, but
rather on the creation of line and beauty
achieved by focusing and disciplining the
body.
Krien is an acclaimed international
performer, a sought-after dance instructor
and choreographer, and founder of four
dance companies. However, she is most
proud of the nonprofit youth development
organization that she established in 2001.
SEEDS (Self-esteem, Empowerment and
Education through Dance) demonstrates
the power of dance to bring about positive
change. Each academic year, up to 25 young
women between the ages of 15 and 18 participate in Krien’s three-times-a-week afterschool program. Teaching these women
American Tribal Style dance, which
embraces the musical, cultural, and artistic
influences of India, the Middle East, North
Africa, and Spain, is simply Krien’s starting
point.
In designing her program, Krien shaped
it to the needs of the teenage girls who gravitated to her studio, many of whom couldn’t
afford classes. Recognizing a need beyond
dance instruction, Krien launched the
program to help young women develop selfconfidence, be ready to manage their
personal finances, and work toward their
goals. Students credit Krien’s program with
changing their lives. “The studio is their
sanctuary,” she says.
Similarly, Krien’s four years at St. John’s
were “totally life changing.” Born in San
Francisco into a bohemian family (her
maternal grandfather was the philosopher
and writer Alan Watts), Krien saw her life
change after her parents divorced. To help
her family, she worked a variety of jobs,
including pecan picking and performing.
She graduated early from high school and
found herself out on her own at the age of
15, supporting herself by acting and singing.
She grew curious about the college that
many of her high school friends were
attending. “I didn’t realize a school like St.
John’s existed,” she says. With the college’s
emphasis on education through dialogue,
“this was my family all over.”
On the day she received her acceptance
letter, she also received an offer to pursue a
singing career in California. Two doors
opened to her, and she chose the one
leading to St. John’s. Krien sold her exquisite belly-dancing costumes to help finance
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Dance is a gateway to self-exploration for
the young women who participate in Myra
Krien’s SEEDS program.
her freshman year; scholarships and several
part-time jobs saw her through the college.
Upon graduation, she rededicated herself to
her professional goals with an “absolute
focus and discipline” that she attributes to
her college experience.
St. John’s helped her discover she could
tackle difficult things, such as running a
business. She also found that the college
teaches tolerance and helps each student
discover his or her “authentic voice.” Krien
continued on p. 41
�41
{Alumni Notes}
continued from p. 39
Francisco, after 16 years in film
sound in the company’s New York
office, so the whole family (six in
all) is moving to Petaluma, in
Sonoma County. Maggie is happy
to finally be leaving the winters of
the Northeast behind, and to be
moving closer to most of her
extended family, originally
Californians, though she’ll miss
“the city” (NYC), an environment she really loves. Maggie will
continue to write nonfiction
pieces for magazines on design
and architecture, as well as
books, and may well finally be
able to put into words her 15-year
adventure in Japan, too. Any
Johnnies in the Bay Area would
be thanked immensely for
contacting Maggie with any
pointers on living and writing
there. Keep in touch with her:
973-668-9446; or
maggietext@comcast.net.
1986
KRISTEN CAVEN (SF) is “still
passionately in love with books,”
though she is now writing more
than reading. “I expect two books
and a musical to reach the world
in 2008,” she writes. “I even
lectured this year on antique
cookbooks! Johnnies are
welcome to visit my Web site at
www.kristencaven.com.”
GWENDOLYN J. CHEATHAM
(SFGI) has written a book titled
Give Your Teacher This Note:
Parents Say the Funniest Things,
which can be found on
Amazon.com. She recently
completed a seminar on
Greek and Latin lyric at
Harvard University.
BARBARA ROBERTS (SFGI)
writes: “In the summers of 2005
and 2006, I completed pilgrimages to the tomb-shrine, pilgrim
center and disciples of Avatar
Meher Baba, located in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra State, India.
I continue to live in Denver,
Colo., where I work as an elementary special education teacher.”
1988
THOMAS JEFFERSON BARLOW
(SF) is living in downtown
Detroit, working as creative
director for Ford. This summer,
William Heinemann is
publishing Sharp Teeth, Barlow’s
epic poem about lycanthropes
living in Los Angeles (it will be
released in the U.S. by HarperCollins in early 2008). “But the
most exciting news,” he writes,
“is that Nora Barlow is enrolling
at the Annapolis campus
this fall.”
“Montana is beautiful! Hope to
complete dissertation this year.
Looking at use of ‘Math
Dialogues’ with high school
students,” writes SUSANN
BRADFORD (SF).
ELAINE PINKERTON COLEMAN
(SFGI) has been writing and
speaking. Along with other local
women writers, Elaine was part of
a reading titled “Dear Diary”
in September at the Santa Fe
Film Center. She later gave a
Missing Classmates
presentation of “A Journey on the
Royal Road into Mexico” at the
Travel Bug in Santa Fe.
“My wife, Klara, and I celebrated
the birth of our son, Dimitry, on
April 29, 2007,” says SPYROS
RITSINIAS (A).
1990
VIRGINIA BEHRENDS (AGI) d
id some traveling to take in
two grandsons’ high school
graduations last spring, one in
Seoul, South Korea, and another
in San Diego, Calif. “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.”
KEN TURNBULL (A) is living in
Washington, D.C., and now has a
second daughter, Zoe Turnbull,
born on March 29, 2007, in
addition to older sister Fiona.
“My wife, Leslie, and I are doing
well,” he writes.
ABINE (SCHWEIDT) CRANMER (SF80) sends an update:
S
“I am still living in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia with
my husband, Charlie, and now 11-year-old daughter,
Lucy. Lucy will begin middle school at a nearby Quaker
school in the fall. We’ve been working on landscaping
projects, restoring a meadow and trying to grow vegetables. I work with a community-based open-space organization and
tutor an Adult Basic Education student in reading, which I find very
interesting. I finally gave in to my daughter’s pleas for a dog, and we
are now raising a puppy for the Seeing Eye. In June we are hosting a
picnic seminar for the Philadelphia Chapter of the Alumni Association. I wonder if I’ll see many people from other periods of my
connection to SJC? I miss my former classmates and wish you all
well, wherever you are.” x
continued from p. 40
adopted these benefits of the Program as
key elements of SEEDS. “I want these
girls to learn to take care of themselves,
to esteem themselves, to make good
decisions,” Krien says.
Krien sees young girls dealing with
exploding emotional energy as well as
personal crises. Not only does dance help
channel this energy, but it also helps one
learn to respond thoughtfully, rather than
simply react to the apparent lack of control
in one’s life, she believes. Based on group
effort, American Tribal Style dance is noncompetitive. Girls alternately lead a particular series of movements, thereby creating a
dance based on their contributions meshing
together. “Everyone shines,” Krien says,
and in this way, the dancers solidify their
sense of self and community.
This sense of community is reinforced
through the supporting elements of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
1991
DEIRDRE ROUTT (A) represented
the Omaha Public Library on the
Precision Book Cart Drill Team
in the Cinco de Mayo Parade on
May 5, 2007, in Omaha, Neb.
ANNE SCHUCHMAN (A) and
JAMES BERRETTINI (AGI93) are
delighted to announce the birth
SEEDS program. After dance instruction
the girls take part in talking circles, very
much like the seminars at St. John’s, Krien
says. Issues—whether personal or practical—
are brought up in this setting as well as in
one-on-one discussions with Krien. Over
time, the girls become comfortable
revealing their hopes and fears. “We talk
about what dignity means, what integrity
means, what community means,”
Krien says. x
�42
{Alumni Notes}
their literature classes. I find that
my education at St. John’s was a
valuable experience for the work I
now do at the academy. My e-mail
is fgiu@mma.mexico.mo.us.”
of Veronica Mary on February 21,
2007. She joins Sam (8), Stella (4)
and Gus (2).
1992
CHERYL HENEVELD (AGI)
welcomes visitors to Vermont.
“We have tons of books,” she
writes. “Would love to have a
great books discussion group
nearby.”
“I have recently moved from the
Paris area to Bucharest, Romania,
where my husband has taken a job
in his brother’s business,” writes
ELYETTE (BLOCK) KIRBY (SF).
“My children are now ages six,
four, and two, and for once they
have cousins in the same city. We
love living here and traveling in
the local area. If any Johnnies live
nearby, we’d love to meet you.”
TAEKO ONISHI (SF) is setting up
shop in New York: “I’m working
with a team of educators and
opening a new school in
September. Lyons Community
School will be a 6-12 school in
East Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
Check out our Web site at
www.brooklynhistory.org/
education/lyonscs. Come visit!”
1993
KWAKU ACHEAMPONG (A) spent
three weeks back home in Ghana
last June. “I am very astonished
by my observations,” he writes.
“While many things and ways
remain the same, some developments have been haphazard.
Private housing and commercial
structures are being erected
anyhow and anywhere. Land can
be found without proper planning. Affordability has allowed
the operation of substantially
more motor vehicles on the
existing, inadequate number of
roads. Unemployment and
housing shortages destroy
people’s dreams of the increasing
accessibility to modern technology and lifestyles. Peace and
stability, though, is assured.”
KATIE (THORN) HIGSON (A) and
Ted Higson welcomed a baby
daughter, Ruby Thorn Higson,
last year: “At 1, Ruby loves
reading and talking. Eating dirt
also ranks. To get in touch, e-mail
Khigson@highland-hcg.com.”
Santa Fe classmates trekked to Ugdanda to join friends and
family for the wedding of Marie Craig (SF05, shown enjoying a
traditional dance) and Christian Acemeh (SF05) this past July.
J. CLAIRE DARLING (SF) writes,
“Life is good. No big news. I love
being self-employed as a massage
therapist. Preparing to take
4th kyu test at my Aikido Dojo.
Finally learning to play guitar.”
KEVIN JOHNSON (A) reports from
Massachusetts: “After a long
search, I’ve finally found a career
direction that is both personally
meaningful and practically
sustainable. I begin a certificate
of advanced graduate study in
organizational development this
fall. The past year has been very
good to me, bringing a better job
and a new girlfriend. We’ll be
shacking up shortly; who knows,
maybe eventually she’ll make an
honest man out of me.”
1994
JEFFREY LANE EDWARDS (AGI),
now working in international
relations, married Jennifer
Dudley Keech on June 10, 2007,
in Norfolk, Neb. They live in
Annapolis.
COLIN RAY (A) and Emiko Ray
write from Tokyo: “Our son,
Thomas Michael Ray, was born
on January 8, 2007. Our
daughter, Marina (24 months
old), loves taking care of him. She
is mastering her English and
Japanese language skills.”
1996
“I am in my second year as the
Director of Studies at the
Missouri Military Academy,”
writes FRANCESCO GIUSEFFI
(SFGI). “I recently earned a
master’s in education and
continue to find enjoyment in
teaching an honors American
history class. I keep the speeches
of Lincoln and Alexis de
Tocqueville on the minds of my
students. Our cadets now study
the Latin language and can expect
a heavy dose of Shakespeare in
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
MARTY AND LUCILLE WALKER
(AGI) are living in Upper Marlboro, Md., with their sons Ian and
Reese, ages 7 and 4. Marty is
teaching at the Summit School in
Edgewater, Md., and Lucille is an
independent consultant currently
assisting local farmers.
1997
KATE (GLASSMAN) BENNETT (A)
lives in Las Vegas, where she is a
freelance writer, specializing in
popular culture, fashion, entertainment, and celebrity for a
number of magazines. She is also
editor-in-chief of the new City
Center Magazine, a luxury magazine devoted to MGM Mirages’
massive $7 billion urban resort
complex, currently the largest
privately funded construction
project in the world. She’s still not
sure how she feels about actually
living in Las Vegas, but after eight
years, it’s now become home. She
and her husband, Cub, have a
very inquisitive 2-year-old
daughter, Tess. Visitors welcome!
Kate8vegas@aol.com.
STEPHEN CONN (SF) is happy to
announce that his Sgt.Pepper/
Great Books Authors shirt, as
�43
{Alumni Notes}
A New Direction
BARKER (A98) writes, “A few months ago I was
relaxing at my father’s farm and realized I wanted my
life to go in a new direction. So from New York—where
I’ve been working in theatre for the past three years—
I’m moving to Washington, D.C., where I hope to use
my strengths and abilities to promote a more peaceful
world. Just recently, I accepted a position as the Communications
& Development Coordinator at the Women’s Foreign Policy
Group in Washington. WFPG (www.wfpg.org) is an independent,
nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational membership organization
that promotes global engagement and the leadership, visibility
and participation of women in international affairs. I’d love to
hear from other Johnnies working in or interested in foreign
policy: mail@sarabarker.com.” x
S
ARA
well as Rolling Stones’ Great
Books shirt “Some Books,”
are now both available for sale
online, on his Web site
www.radioactiverabbi.com.
“My wife, Evie, and I had our
second child, a girl, born on April
22, named Caroline Elizabeth,”
writes BRENTON HINRICHS
(AGI). “We reside in San Jose,
Calif., where I am head of an
independent school in Los Gatos,
called Hillbrook School. My wife
is a second-grade teacher at
Hillbrook. I would love to hear
from other AGIs from ’97. Patrick
Wager? Pat Knight? Bill Buysse?”
1998
GLENNSCOTT COOPER (AGI)
retired from teaching with
Milwaukee Public Schools in
June. He is working full time
writing a novel and finished a
short screenplay for Avant
Guardian films.
TIM WINSLOW (A) and Celia
Messing married in Washington,
D.C., on Oct. 6, 2007. Celia is
a graduate of The Catholic
University of America and the
cousin of BEATRICE ROBBINS
(A98). Tim is a millionaire and
owns 15 helicopters but still
welcomes your wedding gifts. You
may congratulate him via
tim@winslowdc.info.
1999
LORI KURTYKA (AGI) and her
husband, Mauricio Rojas,
welcomed their baby boy, Matteo
Nicholas, into the world on
February 20.
PATRICK REED (AGI) and his
family are living in Germany
where his wife is stationed with
the Air Force. They are expecting
a second daughter this summer
and welcome visitors.
2000
ANDRÉ RODRIGUEZ (SFGI) is
currently the staff attorney at
YMCA International Services and
teaches Introduction to Mexican
American Studies at the University of Houston’s main campus.
2001
PHILIP BOLDUC (SF) is serving
his second tour of duty in Iraq in
the U.S. Army. He is stationed in
Baghdad.
“After briefly working for Fannie
Mae in Washington, D.C., after
graduation, I moved to my hometown of Chicago,” writes DANIEL
BRAITHWAITE (A). “I’ve had a
flexible part-time job with a
dot-com for several years which
has allowed me to travel and try
out different things, including
keeping up with aikido, farming,
tutoring kids, and managing a
small commercial kitchen. I’d be
glad to know who’s near me in the
Chicago area. I also visit
Annapolis regularly.”
JESSICA K. REITZ (A) is
delighted to announce her
marriage to Christopher R.
Wallace on July 21, 2007. Jessica
and Chris live in Centreville, Va.,
with their son, William, now
walking everywhere, and their
two dogs, Bruce and Molly.
Jessica was named Teacher of the
Year for 2006-7 at James Madison
High School in Vienna, Va., and
this fall, she will continue
teaching mathematics and
coaching crew for her third
consecutive year.
2002
CHELSIA WHEELER (SF) joined
the United States Foreign Service
and spent the summer in training
for her first post, in Rangoon,
Burma. She was studying
Burmese and planned a departure in late August or early
September.
2004
TATIANA HARRISON (A) was
published in Newsweek’s “My
Turn” online column in January.
“I’m happily legally disabled
because it gives me all the time to
write. I’m getting hand surgery
done over the summer, which
hopefully will result in less pain
and increased function. I’m also
proud to be a member of Third
Haven Monthly Meeting, a
Quaker Meetinghouse in Easton,
Md. My grandfather, Dr. David
Yesair, passed away on April 20.
He’s a great loss for my family, as
he was a great man.”
A short note from CHRIS
HENDERSON (A) and GENEVA
HINKLE (A06), from Saratoga
Springs: “We’re poor, but
happy.”
CHRISTIAN BLOOD (SF) is
writing his dissertation: “Oh!
The secondary sources! Woe!”
LORI LYNN RUBELING (AGI) was
just promoted to full professor of
Art at Villa Julie College in
Stevenson, Md.
2003
ALAIN ANTOINE (SFGI) is
enrolled in the Eastern Classics
program in Santa Fe.
SCOTT MCCARLEY (AGI) is
teaching science, math, and
Greek at a private school.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
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 February;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is December 20.
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
�44
{Alumni Notes}
Justice and the Human
Comedy
ASON BIELAGUS (SF98) recently graduated from law school,
J
was admitted to the New Mexico Bar, and began working as
an assistant district attorney in First Judicial District in
New Mexico. “In some ways it is a return to freshman year
and Plato,” Jason writes. “The Supreme Court has said a
prosecutor’s job is not necessarily to win cases, but to see
that justice is done. I spend a lot of time trying to figure
out what justice is and how it applies to a given situation. It’s an
opportunity to try to apply practically a lot of what we talked about
in freshman year. There’s a lot of Mills in it, too, in that the purpose
of the system is to keep people from harming other people. It’s good
trial experience, and prosecuting cases in Santa Fe and Española
has given me some insights into the human experience, the human
comedy. A lot of the Española cases are funny and sad at the
same time.” x
PAUL MCLAIN (SFGI) was
awarded the Master of Divinity
degree by Yale University on May
28, 2007. He was named one of
the four student marshals who led
the procession of Divinity School
graduates during the commencement exercises. Paul is now a
Postulant for Holy Orders in the
Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. As
part of his preparation and
journey toward possible ordination as a priest, he is working as a
hospital chaplain resident for one
year at Wesley Medical Center in
Wichita. Ruthie McLain, Paul’s
wife, is coordinator of volunteers
at Faith Home Health and
Hospice in Wichita.
the Helicon/You should read
Anacreon/Ovid’s
Metamorphoses,/Likewise
Aristophanes/And the works of
Juvenal./These are worth attention, all;/But, if you will be
advised,/You will get them Bowdlerized!”
2005
CHRISTOPHER BENSON (AGI) is
joining the inaugural team of a
new Christian preparatory
academy in Santa Barbara, Calif.,
called Providence Hall. “I will
help in the design of an interdisciplinary curriculum based on
the great books and teach both
literature and philosophy,” he
writes. x
CYNTHIA TOBIAS (AGI) played
Lady Psyche, Professor of
Humanities, in Gilbert and
Sullivan’s Princess Ida. She
donned her G.I. cap and hood for
the part. “I also designed the
set,” she writes. “Psyche’s
opening lines are: ‘If you’d climb
2006
{Obituaries}
WILLIAM C. OWENS, M.D.
DOROTHY ROUDEBUSH
Class of 1938
Former Member, BVG
William C. Owens, an ophthalmologist whose work helped
prevent blindness in infants,
died on June 20, 2006, in
San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. Owens graduated from
St. John’s in 1938. He earned
his medical degree from Johns
Hopkins Medical School in
1942, where he served on the
medical faculty until 1953.
While at Hopkins, he and his
wife, Ella, also an ophthalmologist, made an important
discovery about retinal blindness in premature infants that
led to methods of prevention.
Dr. Owens spent two years in
the army as assistant chief of
ophthalmology at Walter Reed.
In 1955 he opened a private
practice in Easton, Penn.,
retiring to San Antonio in 1971.
He is survived by his son,
William C. Owens, Jr.
Dorothy Roudebush, a women’s
rights activist and journalist,
died on July 4, 2007, in
Chesterfield, Mo., at the age of
95. Mrs. Roudebush served St.
John’s College as a member of
the Board of Visitors and
Governors from 1969-1982.
A native of St. Louis, Mrs.
Roudebush earned a bachelor’s
degree in English and theater
from Vassar College in 1932.
She earned a journalism degree
from the University of Missouri
and joined the St. Louis Post
Dispatch as a feature writer.
After her marriage to George S.
Roudebush in 1936, she became
an educator. She taught English
and directed publicity for the
John Burroughs School. Later,
she earned a master’s degree in
counseling and became a
student counselor at Lindenwood College. Her many
accomplishments included
working to repeal Missouri’s
law that prohibited married
women from teaching in public
schools.
An ardent champion of equal
rights for women, Mrs. Roudebush worked to improve
women’s access to family planning services and served on the
board of directors for Planned
Parenthood of the St. Louis
region. Planned Parenthood
honored her by naming its
headquarters in Maplewood,
Missouri, the Dorothy Roudebush Education Center and
Administration Office.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
ALSO NOTED
GARNETT CLARK (Class of 1936),
June 20, 2007
JEREMY DAWE (SF01), January 15,
2007
AARON FOGARTY (SF94), May 20,
2007
OSCAR LORD (Class of 1940),
July 17, 2007
EDWARD LEGUM (Class of 1938),
August 17, 2007
ELIZABETH JEAN MEISS (SF75),
June 13, 2007
WILLIAM OGDEN (Class of 1946),
July, 26, 2006
CHERYL RAMSEY (A68), January
2007
GUSTAVE RATHE (SF81), May, 23,
2007
PAUL SCHEMEL (Class of 1944),
May 2007
H.A. STAFFORD (Class of 1957),
December 28, 2003
DONALD TAUBE (Class of 1965),
July 9, 2007
RICHARD YOUNG (Class of 1949),
March 21, 2007
�45
{Alumni Profile}
A Race Across America
Andy Mead (SF04) Rides for a Cause
by Rosemary Harty
T
here were more
than a few
moments last
summer when
Andy Mead
(SF04) wondered
whether entering the Race
Across America was such a
good idea. Mead had joined
with the seven other riders of
“Team Type I” to compete in
one of the toughest bicycle
endurance competitions in the
world. The team set out not
only to win the relay race from
Oceanside, Calif., to Atlantic
City, N.J., but also to draw
attention to Type I diabetes, a
disease Mead was diagnosed
with at age 16.
Taking his three-hour stints
on the bike, Mead endured the
desert heat of Southern California and the thin air and cold
temperatures at 10,000 feet in
the Colorado mountains.
Mead sprinted ferociously on
very little sleep—perhaps
getting 15 hours in five days.
“I didn’t see how we could
keep going,” he says. When
the team crossed the finish line in first
place for their division, Mead was too
exhausted to enjoy the celebration.
“I went right from the finishing line to the
hotel and slept for eight hours straight,”
he said. All told, Mead put in about
500 miles on his bike.
Mead is now in his third year of a
doctoral program in physiology/molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout the winter, he rose at
5 each morning to get in at least four
hours of training before his classes or
work in the laboratory. His commitment
to the race was a strong one, inspired by
his own experience with the disease.
“When I was 16, I got very sick, and
they couldn’t figure out what was going
on,” says Mead. “Fortunately, I lived in a
town with a very good hospital. Since
then, I’ve had to keep a good eye on what
The Race Across America was
grueling, but the opportunity
to give back to those who
helped him cope with Type I
diabetes made the sacrifice
worthwhile for Andy Mead
(SF04).
“We’ve learned that
people with Type 1 can
basically do anything.”
Andy Mead (SF04)
I eat and how I treat my body, but it’s not
that hard to live with.”
Treatment with insulin meant immediate improvement, but Mead had been a
hockey player and very active as a youth,
and he was initially concerned he’d have
to scale back. “We’ve learned that people
with Type 1 can basically do anything,”
Mead says. “There are people who are
afraid of taking risks with their bodies,
afraid of participating in sports and exercising because of the fear of having low
blood sugar. It’s a real balancing act
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
between food and insulin and
but it’s manageable.”
Mead’s 13-year-old brother,
Charlie, also has the disease,
and Mead raced in part to
inspire his brother to feel that
he can take on any challenges
in his life. “A feeling of being
handicapped and a fear of low
blood sugar can keep kids with
the condition from participating in activities and developing habits that would actually help them live healthier
lives,” Mead says. “Providing a
positive example is the team’s
most important purpose.”
Halfway through his
doctoral program, Mead is
considering a career in
research or teaching. At Penn,
he has been impressed with
“all the brilliant minds” of the
university, but he’s glad he attended
St. John’s instead of a traditional biology
or pre-med program. “The interesting
thing to me is there aren’t that many
conversations going on in the biomedical
research world about the kinds of questions we ask about science and what kind
of thinking we’re doing,” he says.
Mead hoped to raise $4,000 for the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
with his own 100-mile ride in September.
Being part of Team Type 1 and raising
money on his own—even when it comes
with sore muscles and sleep-deprivation—
is immensely satisfying, Mead says: “It’s
really the first time I’ve given back for all
the excellent care I’ve had, all the lessons
I’ve learned dealing with my own situation as an athlete and student. I’m really
grateful.” x
�46
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
Letters from China
A Graduate’s Adventures Teaching in the East
by Susan Swier (AGI06)
October 19, 2006
susan swier
Beijing is fascinating. Parts of
the city are modern and Westernized, and parts of it look
like something from a century
ago. It is amazing how many
bicycles there are in the city.
I considered getting one, but
the drivers here are crazy. I saw
an entire family of four riding
on one little motor scooter!
The first few weeks, I went to
all the tourist places: the
Forbidden City, Beihai Park,
the Summer Palace,
Tiananmen Square.
On one really interesting
street, vendors sell bizarre
snacks on sticks. I ate three
scorpions and a centipede; the
scorpions weren’t bad, but the
centipede was disgusting.
The private primary school
where I was supposed to teach
first and third-graders was
terrible. They have a set curriculum,
which I thought would be good since I
don’t have experience. I could tell from
the training that it was going to be bad,
and when I started teaching it was even
worse. It’s rote memorization, and the
kids don’t learn anything except pronunciation. They push the students to get
through so many pages of reading and
don’t care if the kids really comprehend
what they’re reading. My third-grade class
read five sentences about a snail. When I
asked if they knew what a snail was, one
girl pointed to a nail in the blackboard.
The first-graders were smart, could speak
English on their own, and were able to
think for themselves. The third-graders
couldn’t say anything except what they
were told to repeat.
When I told the school I was quitting,
they threatened to fine me and keep me
from working anywhere else in China.
Even after they found a replacement, they
wanted me to pay the fine, but I was on my
way to another job, at a university in
Harbin. The Foreign Affairs officer met
me at the train station and said they would
talk about a contract the next day.
However, he sent his assistant to tell me
that they didn’t want me after all—I was
too young.
Then I met a high school recruiter from
Sui Fen He, on the Russian border. She
said I could take the overnight train with
her assistant, look at the school and then
come back the next night and think about
it. I figured I had nothing to lose, and it
would be a chance to see another city.
But they had no intention of letting me
go back and think things over! They left
me at an apartment that had no kitchen,
no real shower, and running water less
than half of the time. I decided to find my
own way out and took a train out the next
day without telling anyone.
Fortunately the agency that found me
that job sent me an e-mail telling me that
they had jobs in Beijing. I had three interviews and three offers, and decided to take
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Susan Swier (AGI06) used her breaks from
teaching to sightsee. She photographed
this temple in Quanzhou.
a job teaching writing and oral English at
China Youth University for Political
Sciences, the university of the Communist
party. It doesn’t seem very “communist,”
except that “youth leaders” from various
countries come here all the time. I teach
three days a week, just 10 classes, with
two groups of freshmen for the oral
English class and two groups of sophomores for writing. I really don’t know
what I am doing yet.
October 28, 2006
Last weekend, I went hiking with two
students in Xiang Shan, the Fragrant
Hills. The view was amazing. There were
people all over the place and vendors
selling laminated red leaves, even at the
top of the mountain.
�47
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
Since I teach just three mornings a
week, I began tutoring: a group of four
businessmen and a seven-year-old boy—
quite an experience since neither the boy
nor his mother speaks English at all.
They come to my apartment and the boy
runs wild most of the time, though his
mother seems happy enough. Every other
weekend, I read stories to children at
the Bookworm, an English bookstore
and café.
Books are amazingly cheap here, at
least those printed in China, and most are
classics. The library on campus has a fair
selection of English books, but until
yesterday I hadn’t been in because of the
guard at the door. (There are guards
everywhere here, even at McDonald’s.)
One week, important party officials
came to inspect the school and the whole
campus was worried. Students weren’t
allowed to leave and there was a meeting
for all the teachers that sounded quite
serious. We foreign teachers had to go,
and the dean later summed up the
meeting in just five minutes. Supposedly
the inspection went well.
December 24, 2006
It doesn’t feel much like Christmas here,
though some stores put up tinsel and
decorations. My freshmen threw a party
that was fun, but a bit strange. We ate
sunflower seeds, peanuts, and oranges,
and played games: guess-the-Chinese pop
song, musical chairs, and the three-legged
race. There was a gift exchange at the end.
The freshmen are a lot of fun, and I’ll miss
them.
I tried to make Christmas cookies
yesterday only to find that the oven in my
apartment doesn’t work. On Christmas
day, another English teacher and I are
going to watch It’s a Wonderful Life on
DVD. And we bought real wine, which we
haven’t had in months. (Chinese wine
tastes like Kool-Aid.)
China is strange but fascinating, an
incongruous mix of ancient and modern
things so close together. The people are
fascinating too, though many are hard to
trust. I’m reading Alice in Wonderland
right now, and there are definite parallels
December 10, 2006
The university just informed me that I
don’t have an agreement with them to
teach until July, but only until the end of
the term. The dean said the writing
students had complained about my
class. (No writing teacher has lasted
more than a term here.)
My oral English class was fine; the
students were participating and seemed
to like me. Unfortunately the writing
class went downhill. Though they have
improved quite a bit since the beginning
of the semester, they want to write
perfectly. Since they don’t, they blame
me. They’re under a lot of pressure
because they have to memorize an
entire dictionary to prepare for an exam
next semester. The Chinese education
system is so focused on memorization.
For writing, I think they would like to
have a list of rules to memorize and set
phrases to use that would somehow
make them write perfectly. Would I have
done better if I could have been more
authoritative?
I lined up another job at a public
primary school in Quanzhou, Fujian
Province. The English program is run by
Australians, seems to be well run, and I
gain a chance to see southern China.
to China: The cards painting the roses red
so the queen won’t notice and chop off
their heads is like the way people hide
things and help each other get away with
things. The Cheshire Cat says to Alice,
“we’re all mad here. They’re mad, I’m
mad, you’re mad. . .if you weren’t mad,
you wouldn’t have come.”
December 31, 2006
My freshmen had a going-away party for
me in my apartment and gave me an
umbrella because it rains so much in
Fujian. The train trip to Xiamen
(Quanzhou is so small that it has no train
station) took 36 hours because the train
had to go through so many mountains.
As we traveled further south, the winter
countryside gave way to spring. In the
north, the cows have thick coats, but in
the south, they have sagging necks and
hairless gray skin. I took a bus from
Xiamen to Quanzhou, and arrived in the
evening of my second day of traveling.
Quanzhou is a quaint city. Marco Polo
visited the city, and it used to be a
major international trading port until
the emperor forbid foreign visitors in
about the late 14th century. There is a
wide variety in the architecture, and
temples for nearly every religion, even
one of the last surviving Manichean
temples.
It is possible to walk anywhere
within an hour and a half, and there
are cheap motorcycle taxis everywhere. They keep an extra helmet on
their handlebars, and you flag them
down, haggle over the price, and jump
on the back.
I’m teaching in a private afterschool program run by an Australian at
a public school. Each class has 30-35
students, and I am teaching kids from
first through sixth grades. Many of the
students board at the school even if
their parents live nearby because the
parents work so much. Here the kids
have no shower, just sinks with cold
water. Perhaps because the kids don’t
get enough attention, they are
extremely rowdy in class.
March 5, 2007
Happy Chinese New Year! During our
three-week spring break I traveled all
Swier enjoys a night out in Beijing.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�48
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
Her freshman English students made
Swier feel at home with a Christmas party
in December 2006.
April 27, 2007
over China. I started in Guilin, Guangxi,
where I visited Seven Stars Cave Park,
which has an amazing cavern and wild
monkeys running everywhere. Though a
sign said “these lovely monkeys are very
bad tempered and sometimes attack
tourists,” I saw a small child feeding a
monkey a banana right out of his hand.
The next day I took a train to Nanning,
near Vietnam, and another to Kunming,
the “City of Eternal Spring,” in Yunnan
Province, a city famous for its flowers and
fruit. I bought a half-pineapple on a stick
for just 50 cents.
That evening, I left on a bus for Lijiang,
which has a beautiful Old Town that dates
back to the Song Dynasty, almost 800
years ago. Most of the inhabitants are
from the Naxi minority group, and many
wear traditional costumes. Every few
hours they performed traditional dances
in the square near my inn, and musical
groups performed in the evenings.
Next I took a bus to the famous ShangriLa, which didn’t look exciting after all.
Instead I tagged along with a Korean
family and went to Meili Snow Mountain
near Dequin, on the border of Yunnan and
Tibet. That was the most exciting bus ride
I ever had—six hours, up and around the
mountains on narrow, unpaved roads,
most of which had no guard rails. The
Koreans, two Chinese girls, and I decided
to go together to the mountain. We met a
Tibetan taxi driver who said she would
drive us there and back the next day, and
offered lodging in her family’s farmhouse.
Nearly a dozen half-drunk neighbors were
gathered in the house’s main hall to greet
us. The girl’s father offered us some of
their local alcohol in a brass kettle, we
drank several toasts, and they put white
shawls on us to show we were honored
guests. After dinner, we danced to traditional music.
It was raining the next day as we went
up the mountain on horseback, so we
rented raincoats and pants for the excursion. As we climbed higher, the rain
changed to snow. We went as far as the
horses could go and continued further up
on foot before turning back. At the farmhouse, they had just killed a pig that day,
so the meat was quite fresh.
A trip to China wouldn’t be complete
without seeing pandas, so I went to
Chengdu, to the panda research and
breeding center there. In a setting close to
their natural habitat, there were red
pandas, which look almost like foxes, and
giant pandas.
I took the train home to Quanzhou the
next morning: a 44-hour trip, and though
I missed the New Year’s festivities, I could
see fireworks from the window.
With just a few months left here in
China, I need to decide what to do next. I
just finished applying to a literature PhD
program at the University of St. Andrews
in Scotland.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Well, I got fired. I can’t control 35 kids at
once; the little ones run wild, and the
older ones are bored and talk amongst
themselves. Since the classes are so large,
and I have more than 200 students, it’s
hard to remember the children as individuals. Even first-graders spend the whole
class talking amongst themselves, and I
can’t shout over them. I made one kid
stand in the back and he started doing
cartwheels back there.
Almost every month, I’ve had to give
tests, and I can see the students are doing
worse than when I started. I know now
that I do not want to teach such large
classes of small kids ever again! I have a
month’s notice, but after that, I don’t
know what to do. I don’t think it’s a good
idea to get another English teaching job,
but at least the whole thing has been an
adventure.
June 27, 2007
It didn’t really hit me that I was leaving
China until I was at the airport. After
stops in Bangkok and Seoul, I flew to Las
Vegas, where my aunt lives. It was strange
to hear people speaking English again and
to see so many Caucasians. I haven’t
received scholarship funding to St.
Andrews, so I’m not sure I can make it
this fall. I miss China, and I would
consider going back again.
I certainly don’t want to be fired again,
though. x
Postscript: Susan Swier was accepted to
the doctoral program at St. Andrews, but
without scholarship funding, couldn’t
attend. She flew to Scotland to try to work
something out, but when she had visa
trouble, she headed back to China. “I’ve
accepted a job at a private school teaching
small classes of adults,” she wrote in
September.
She hasn’t given up on studying at
St. Andrews, where she hopes to
concentrate on Thomas Hardy.
�49
{The Tutors}
Return to Shanxi
by Krishnan Venkatesh
Graduate Institute Director, Santa Fe
I
100 undergraduates stayed late to hear
me explain Shakespeare’s meter. The
American teachers who pass through
Chinese universities apparently do only
language instruction and are usually not
interested in books. Consequently, these
students are hungry to learn how to think
about big things, to examine their own
ideals, and to discover new worlds
through reading. Their intense curiosity
about life outside China was very moving.
In visiting Taiyuan, Beijing, and some
“smaller” cities, even on this short trip I
could see the bustle and energy of a huge
krishnan venk atesh
n March 2007, I returned to
northern China after an absence
of 18 years. From 1986-89, I had
taught English literature and
Western philosophy at Shanxi
University, Taiyuan City, and
forged strong, intimate bonds with about
100 inquisitive and idealistic young
people. It turned out that none of those
bonds had weakened through time and
distance. All these people remain my
close friends, and we picked up exactly
where we left off, with discussions of life
and books, and always over great food
and drink. Now of course my former
students are all in their 40s, with kids in
high school or college, and they include
university professors, teachers,
managers, entrepreneurs, and translators. One of the wonderful things about
China is the inviolable strength of the
student-teacher relationship; I know that
when I am 80 and my former students are
73, our bond will be unchanged and even
deeper.
On this trip I had been invited to give a
series of lectures on liberal education and
great books, to upper-class undergraduates, graduates, and university instructors. They were eager to hear about Plato,
Aristotle, and Thucydides, and more than
country engaged in seizing the economic
leadership of the world: hard-working
people everywhere, roads bursting with
aggressive cars and trucks (no longer the
peaceful tides of bicycles), deals made on
cell-phones as people walked the streets,
buildings going up everywhere, many
crowded restaurants. Service workers in
restaurants, hotels, banks and airports
were uniformly well-trained, efficient and
friendly; you could see in their eyes that
they knew they were going somewhere.
China is no longer a sleeping giant;
indeed, the sheer life-force of this toiling,
wide-awake giant is all too evident and
somewhat overwhelming. By the time I
returned to the United States, it was
America that seemed sleepily complacent
and in decline.
Spend some time in China, and you
will wake up. And to all of you recent
St. John’s graduates who already long for
the college and miss the conversations
you are used to: The world out there is
an interesting and exciting place; go be
part of it! x
Above, The garden pavilion of a private
mansion in Shanxi. Left, Krishnan
Venkatesh’s former students from
Shanxi University reunite with their
teacher 18 years later.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
�{Alumni Association News}
CHAPTER CONTACTS
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
Paul Martin, SF80
paul@martincapital.
com
DENVER/BOULDER
Tom Byrnes, SF74
720-344-6947
tbyr@pair.com
BOSTON
Dianne Cowan, A91
617-666-4381
diannecowan@rcn.com
HOUSTON
Norman Ewart A85
713-303-3025
norman.ewart@rosetta
resources.com
MINN./ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman, AGI94
612-822-3216
Freem013@umn.edu
PORTLAND
Jennifer Rychlik, SF93
503-547-0241
jlr43@coho.net
NEW YORK CITY
Daniel Van Doren, A81
914-949-6811
dvandoren@
optonline.net
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico, A86
619-429-1565
srico@sandi.net
SOUTHERN CALIF.
Jan Conlin, SF85
310-490-2749
conlinjan1@yahoo.com
TRIANGLE CIRCLE,
NORTH CAROLINA
Elizabeth, A92 &
Rick Ross, A82
919-319-1881
Elizabeth@
activated.com
SALT LAKE CITY
Erin Hanlon, SF03
WASHINGTON, DC
916-967-2194
erin_hanlon@juno.com Deborah Papier, A72
202-387-4520
deborah.papier@
SANTA FE
verizon.net
Richard Cowles,
SFGI95
PHILADELPHIA
WESTERN NEW
Helen Zartarian, AGI86 505-986-1814
ENGLAND
rcowles2@comcast.net
215-482-5697
Peter Weis, SF84
helenstevezartarian@
413-367-2174
SEATTLE
mac.com
James Doherty, SFGI76 peter_weis@
nmhschool.org
206-542-3441
PHOENIX
jdoherty@mrsc.org
Donna Kurgan, AGI96
623-444-6642
dakurgie@yahoo.com
NORTHERN CALIF.
Reynaldo Miranda, A99
415-333-4452
reynaldo.miranda@
gmail.com
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
’s C
ohn olle
.J
mn
u
CHICAGO
Rick Lightburn, SF76
847-922-3862
rlightburn@gmail.com
SOUTH FLORIDA
Peter Lamar, AGI95
305-666-9277
cplamar@yahoo.com
Al
ALBUQUERQUE
Robert Morgan, SF76
505-275-9012
rim2u@comcast.net
PITTSBURGH
Joanne Murray, A70
724-325-4151
Joanne.Murray@
basicisp.net
Jason Walsh (A85)
Alumni Association President
ge
Call the alumni listed below for information
about chapter, reading group, or other alumni
activities in each area.
MADISON, WI
Consuelo Sañudo,
SGI00
608-251-6565
sanudoc@tds.net
Annapolis also had a very fine Homecoming, with more than 400 attendees, and
a full range of events.
On both campuses, the programming for
children done by select students under the
direction of the alumni office, including
games, babysitting, and “Future Johnnie
Seminars,” encouraged more alumni to
bring their families. We’ve heard from many
parents who love this relatively new addition
to the homecomings.
One of the key lessons from this year’s
schedule was that many alumni felt early
September was too soon in the beginning of
academic years. Next year, Annapolis Homecoming will take place September 26-28 and
Santa Fe is scheduled for mid-October.
As the college did this year, it will take
advantage of the more attractive pricing
of Santa Fe hotels in the fall to negotiate
block rates.
There have been many other great alumni
programs this year, both around the country
at our chapters and on campus through the
Piraeus program. As the representative
organization for alumni, we are driven by
our mission to provide opportunities for
more alumni to connect more often and
more richly. We will continue to strive to
make engagement with the college and our
community a vital part of the lives of our
alumni.
n
T
he homecomings this year
have just concluded, and the
energy at both was revitalizing. I attended Santa Fe’s,
where there was a wide array
of activities for returning
alums. You could start the weekend with an
art studio and winery tour, attend the
lecture Friday night, choose from a range of
seminars Saturday morning, toast your
classmates and the college at the banquet,
and dance the night away in the Great Hall.
This year’s Santa Fe Homecoming
benefited from the active presence of our
community of learning—current students
and faculty, joined by returning alumni—
sharing the energeia of the Santa Fe
campus, made possible by shifting the event
from summer to a time when the campus is
in full session. The college staff, consulting
with the Alumni Association, considered
this change at great length over several
years and announced this change in 2006.
Like most changes, there were serious pros
and cons to consider both as to changing the
schedule and as to keeping things the same;
unfortunately there was no single option
that was ideal. In the end, after carefully
weighing those pros and cons, we thought
the benefits of having the full community
present was of great importance to the
essential nature of a homecoming for the
St. John’s community. To paraphrase Dean
Mora’s welcome to us: for the first time we
were coming home to the Santa Fe campus
when the college was fully there, rather than
finding a key under the mat.
More than 150 people signed up for
Homecoming, one of the highest attendance rates in years. On Friday night,
alumni were able to attend (or to skip)
Friday night lecture and the time-honored
Question Period. On Saturday night, more
than 100 alumni and guests enjoyed a fine
dinner on the Meem Placita. When we
moved indoors to the Great Hall for the
dance, the enthusiasm of the many students
attending enlivened the event for all. Tutors
also were present throughout the weekend,
at cocktail parties, the picnic, and brunch.
Students were excited to see alumni who
were not tutors: such strange beasts had
been rumored before but never observed in
the wild.
io
From the Alumni
Association
President
St
50
i A s s o cia
t
Providing
opportunities
for more alumni
to connect
more often and
more richly
�{Alumni Association News}
Down to Piraeus—in Annapolis
Last January, the Alumni Association joined
with the college in offering a new continuing education program, Piraeus. In June,
the association’s secretary, Joanne Murray
(A70), spent a long weekend revisiting the
Odyssey with 17 other alumni in seminars
led by Annapolis tutor Eva Brann (HA90)
and Santa Fe tutor David Carl.
Here’s her commentary on Piraeus.
The ODYSSEY
I was being pretty diligent in getting the
reading done, but I was still finishing the
last book right up to the last seminar. I still
have the Fitzgerald translation that was very
popular when I was a student. This was the
first time re-reading it since freshman year
with Elliott Zuckerman. (It really is awful to
have to see the underlining and comments
one made as a freshman, isn’t it?)
Best Metaphor in the ODYSSEY
The night before Odysseus is going to take
out the suitors, he could not sleep. He
rocked, “rolling from side to side, as a cook
turns a sausage, big with blood and fat, at a
scorching blaze, without a pause, to broil it
quick: So he rolled left and right, casting
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.
Life in the Dorms
Jo Ann (Mattson A87, alumni director) is the
best hostess ever. In our dorm rooms she left
flowerpots filled with wine, cheese, chocolate, grapes, treats. Settling into a dorm
room is like having a clean slate for the
weekend, a real break from daily responsibilities. Part of the fun of the whole weekend
was living in the dorm and being around
people that you’re going to run into when
you’re brushing your teeth in the morning.
51
about to see how he, alone, against the false
outrageous crowd of suitors could press the
fight.”
The Seminars
We met in the Barr-Buchanan Center—the
library when I was a student—in the beautiful
reading room. Of course, I knew Eva from
way back, but David Carl was a new acquaintance who turned out to be an excellent
tutor. He and Eva played back and forth
across the table with evident pleasure.
It wasn’t the same kind of discussion we
had as freshmen. The conversations about
Penelope were memorable: What were the
difficulties of her position? Why did she have
to outdo Odysseus himself in ruses? Even
after he and Telemachus had killed the
suitors, she had to test him one more time
about moving the bed that he had built for
their marriage. Only when he reacts to her
saying that the bed had been moved (“what
do mean you moved the bed?”) can she
resume the marriage. How do you resume a
marriage after so many years of separation?
That’s something 18-year-olds don’t really
know much about, but at our age, now, we
think we know at least a few things about
marriage.
The Feasting
We had the campus to ourselves, and the
chef made it a show-off occasion for the
kitchen. He took out the crystal and the
linens, and there were flowers on the table.
How was the food? It was not just better
than regular dining hall food, it was really,
really good food. It was food worth photographing.
Saturday evening we made a pause in the
seminar routine to feast on crabs down in
Left, treats in the dorm. Top, elbow deep
in crabs. Right, Miss Brann and the
author.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
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.
the boathouse. A few people said they’d had
better crabs, but they said it elbow-deep in
crab shells. They kept piling them up on
their plates. Jo Ann and her husband Walter
(A87), Chris Nelson, and the tutors joined
us for the party.
We sat up talking in the common room,
over a supply of wine and cheese that was
magically replenished every evening. We
talked about: what we’d been up to for the
last 30 years, jobs, life, politics, the
economy, the country, intellectual passions,
and favorite amusements. For me it was a
particular pleasure to see so many people
from my class, and from classes a few years
before and after us—people I really got to
know for the first time.
The seminar is central for many of us, but
that feeling of welcome—that’s what the
college does so well. And that’s what made
the weekend so memorable. x
�{St. John’s Forever}
marion warren
52
Seventy Years of Genuine Conversation
I
n 1957, a would-be archaeologist
from Stanford University joined
the faculty of St. John’s College.
Though she loved Greek archaeology and had been a member of
the American Agora expedition in
Athens, the young scholar decided she
would rather spend her life “learning
about the nature of things, instead of
describing objects.”
This year, when she sat down with her
seminar partner to lead another group of
freshmen through the Iliad, tutor Eva
Brann marked her 50th year of teaching at
St. John’s. Miss Brann studied history at
Brooklyn College, going on to earn a
master’s in classics and a doctorate in
archaeology from Yale University.
When she came to St. John’s for her
first visit, Miss Brann recalls, “It was
love at first sight.”
Over the years she has served as the
college’s first female dean, has written
several books and articles, and has been
honored many times over. When she
received the National Humanities Medal in
2005, presented by President George Bush
in a White House ceremony, she characteristically turned attention away from herself
and to St. John’s. “I think the college had
more do with this than me,” she said at
the time.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
At Homecoming this fall in Annapolis,
Miss Brann was presented with a
Festschrift, edited by tutors Peter
Kalkavage and Eric Salem (A77). The Envisioned Life: Essays in Honor of Eva Brann
comprises 23 essays from faculty from both
campuses, friends, alumni, and Annapolis
President Christopher Nelson (SF70).
The books is available from Paul Dry Books
in Philadelphia: www.pauldrybooks.com
The college has changed, and grown,
and modernized somewhat since this photo
was taken in the Coffee Shop in the late
1950s, but St. John’s still concerns itself
with the nature of things. x
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
Alumni Calendar
Piraeus
St. John’s College, in cooperation with
the Alumni Association, is pleased to
offer Piraeus, a continuing education
program that alternates between the
two campuses and combines seminars
with social activities.
As the first modern novel, Don Quixote had
a great influence over later authors, from
Dostoevsky to Mann to Nabokov. The
program includes five seminars over three
days. Seminars will meet in the morning
and afternoon on both Friday and Saturday,
concluding with a final seminar and brunch
Sunday morning.
teri thomson randall
January 18-20, 2008
Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote*
January 18-20, 2008
Santa Fe
Led by Henry Higuera and
Cary Stickney (A75)
* The seminar led by Victoria Mora and
Peter Pesic has been filled.
teri thomson randall
Cost: $250 per person, includes all
seminars, receptions, and brunch
Saturday night dinner compliments of the
Alumni Association.
Registration and payment deadline:
December 21, 2007
Homecoming, Annapolis
September 26-28, 2008
Homecoming, Santa Fe
October 10-12, 2008
amy raab photography
Croquet
St. John’s vs. The Naval Academy,
Annapolis
April 19, 2008
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Fall 2007 }
Clockwise: children in Santa Fe join in the
Homecoming games; alumni in Santa Fe
relive the glory days through old yearbooks and photographs; Joel Ard (A95)
and son David enjoy a beautiful Saturday
afternoon in Annapolis.
�P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
NON -P ROFIT ORG .
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
A NNAPOLIS , MD
P ERMIT NO . 120
�
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Text
The
College
St. John’s College
•
Annapolis
s p r i n g
•
2 0 0 3
Santa Fe
Montaigne
On the Education
of Children
�On Montaigne
“Good God, how I would hate to be thought a pretty
fellow with my pen, but an ass at everything else!”
M
ichel de Montaigne’s essays provide rich insight into
16th century life in Europe. His reports on the civil wars
of France, the terror of the plague, and the wonder of new
discoveries are engaging firsthand accounts of life in the
Renaissance. His keen observations of daily life—education, child-rearing, marriage, and money management—
still ring with good sense. There is also the sheer delight of listening to someone who loves to talk and has interesting things to say. “If you like my essays,”
Montaigne told Henri III, “you must like me, for my book and I are one.”
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was born in 1533, the eldest son and heir of
Pierre Eyquem. The family money had been made generations before in the
trade of herring. A fourth-generation gentleman, Montaigne dropped his original
surname and assumed the more elegant name of the family estate. His father,
who guided Michel’s education so conscientiously by dictating only Latin be
spoken to him in childhood, purchased a magistrate’s seat for his son to assume
at the age of 21. With his charm and his connections, Montaigne could have
pursued a political career had he more ambition and energy. Instead, when his
father’s death left him wealthy enough to leave business and politics behind,
Montaigne sold his magistrate’s post, retired to the third-story tower of his
country estate, and took up his pen.
He was very frank in his assessment of himself and his vices. He was bald
and short. He had a “quick and firm” walk, a “loud and strong voice,” and was
“slow and late at everything.” He claimed no great talent for anything but the
ability to write about what he observed: “I look upon myself as ordinary in
every respect, except in the fact that I look upon myself as ordinary.”
Montaigne’s retreat was not absolute. He served two terms as the mayor
of Bordeaux, traveled extensively, and played a role in negotiations between
Henri III and Henri Navarre. He suffered greatly from kidney stones and died
of the ailments that plagued his later years on September 15, 1592.
Montaigne’s essay on education is a favorite of St. John’s in part because his
words resonate with the philosophy of the Program. He defined education as a
self-guided process that didn’t involve memorizing facts or repeating the opinions of others. He believed true education allowed a man to choose for himself
what is right. The ultimate goal of education, he wrote, was to prepare a man
to do some good as a citizen of the world: “This vast world—which some men
now think is but one among many of its kind—is the mirror in which we must
look in order to know ourselves in our true scale. And this world, in short, is
the book my young scholar must study.”
—RH
The College (usps 018-750)
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.
Annapolis
410-626-2539
reharty@sjca.edu
Rosemary Harty, editor
Sus3an Borden, managing editor
Phoebe Gilbert, art director
Advisory Board
John Christensen
Harvey Flaumenhaft
Roberta Gable
Barbara Goyette
Kathryn Heines
Pamela Kraus
Joseph Macfarland
Jo Ann Mattson
Eric Salem
Brother Robert Smith
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
tshalizi@mail.sjcsf.edu
Laura J. Mulry, Santa Fe editor
Advisory Board
David Levine
Ginger Roherty
Tahmina Shalizi
Mark St. John
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�The
spring 2003
volume 29, issue 2
College
•
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
12
Brave New World
page
d e p a r t m e n t s
2
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
18
Montaigne and
Education
page
Accreditation in Annapolis
Santa Fe Copes with Drought
Marshall Scholar Heads to Oxford
Summer Classics
Art Deco in Denmark
Philanthropia Meets Aristotle
Announcements
Letters
28
Medical advances raise intriguing ethical
issues for four doctors in very different
roles.
from the bell towers
bibliofile
page 12
Annapolis GI Director Bill Pastille
discusses intellectual freedom and
St. John’s College.
• Eva Brann on Homeric delights
• Charlotte Fletcher’s life of an early
founder of St. John’s College
• Alumni Books
20
A Formula for Success
page
31
alumni voices
St. John’s remembers Douglas Allanbrook.
A glimpse into the classrooms of two
Johnnie teachers—one in Annapolis and
one in Santa Fe.
44
Reading the Signs
32
alumni notes
A LU M N I
page
page 20
Photographer Sara White Wilson (A03)
finds Hegel and graffiti have something
in common.
P RO F I L E S
32 Jacob Keller (SF98) authors a paper for
Structure on his way to medical school.
35 An ACLU fellowship puts Juan Villaseñor
(A97) on the case for free speech.
40 Logophile Hallie Leighton (SF92) writes
a book about unusual words.
43
obituaries
Martin Miller, A81
alumni association news
48 st. john’s forever
46
page 44
on the cover
Michel de Montaigne
Illustration by David Johnson
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
Annapolis Self-Study: A Probing Look in the Mirror
quality general education
programs in the liberal
arts that meet its stringent
educational, administrative, and financial criteria.
The AALE is the only
accrediting agency that
focuses exclusively on
the quality of undergraduate liberal arts and general education curricula.
“We trust AALE to have
good judgment about
liberal arts colleges in
general and St. John’s in
particular,” says Kalkavage. “They have known
Tutor Peter Kalkavage chaired the
Self-Study Committee.
about us for many years
and understand our goals
and habits.”
Bud Billups, and President
Membership is small:
Christopher Nelson. Dozens of
so far only Baylor University,
subcommittees met to analyze
the James Madison College of
and discuss the major areas of
Michigan State, the University
the self-study. “Accreditation
of Dallas, Thomas Aquinas
and self-study are labor-intenCollege, and Thomas More
sive and time-consuming,” says
College of Liberal Arts have
Kalkavage. “We have gone into
met the standards.
it in the spirit of hoping to
Middle States accreditation
learn from the experience and
renders the college eligible
by telling the truth about ourfor state and federal grants,
selves, come up with a report
provides a measure of proof
that will be useful both for the
that the college meets stanpurposes of formal review and
dards of quality education, and
for the education of our college
gives St. John’s the opportunity
community.”
to see how outsiders view the
Middle States is the regional
college. But at the same time,
accrediting body for the
submitting the college to
Annapolis campus. Santa Fe is
outside review is fraught with
accredited by the North Central difficulties: the college’s
Association Commission on
unique approach to educaAccreditation and School
tion—no grades, no formal
Improvement.
tests beyond the freshman
Middle States reviews the
music quiz and algebra
college every 10 years. After
exam, no electives, no
the self-study is complete, the
endowed chairs, no
report is sent to the accreditaacademic hierarchy—can
tion team, which will spend
be difficult to explain.“It
three days on campus this
is very important for the
November visiting classes and
college to guard its radical
interviewing faculty, students,
educational mission, its
and college officers.
devotion to genuine learnThe inclusion of AALE in
ing,” explains Kalkavage.
accreditation is new this year.
“We urge our students to be
Based in Washington, AALE
responsible for their opinions by
is a national association that
giving reasons for them and
accredits institutions offering
being open to critical examina{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
tion. The whole—at times,
tedious—process of accreditation is an opportunity for the
college as a whole to do something similar: to give itself a
keen, critical looking over; to
take pains in presenting its selfreview in a formal way; and to
submit ourselves to the scrutiny
of outside reviewers, who, we
hope, are able to understand
who we are and why we are not
like other schools.”
In no way does the self-study
reflect a perfect institution, he
says.“What we aspire to as a
community of learning is both
stunning and formidable, and
the extent to which we succeed
in being a community of
learners is truly remarkable,”
Kalkavage says.
Ultimately, accreditation
leads to a stronger institution,
says Dean Flaumenhaft. The
process of self-study “forces us
to articulate what it means to be
a community of learning: what
it requires, the ways in which
we need to improve ourselves
to live up to our aspirations. We
can’t just mutter a few slogans.
We have to try to say exactly
what we mean.” x
jo ann mattson
The self-study that preceded
the Annapolis 2003 accreditation review by the Middle States
Commission on Higher Education and the American Academy
for Liberal Education (AALE)
was an exhaustive 18-month
process that yielded a report
entitled Liberal Education in a
Community of Learning. The
document embraces questions,
observations, and recommendations on everything from
Hegel’s place in the senior
seminar to how to discourage
students from smoking.
Completed early in the spring,
the report touched on almost
every aspect of college life and
involved all faculty, many staff
members, and nearly every campus office. Students, associates,
staff, and board members also
were involved.
While the joint visit from
Middle States and the AALE
isn’t scheduled until November,
the process that precedes it is
perhaps the most valuable—and
in some ways painful—aspect
of accreditation. It requires
the college community to take
a probing look in the mirror
and acknowledge flaws as well
as assets.
Middle States defines
accreditation as “a means of
self-regulation and peer review
adopted by the educational
community…intended to
strengthen and sustain the
quality and integrity of higher
education, making it worthy
of public confidence.”
In Annapolis, the responsibilities of accreditation were
taken very seriously, says tutor
Peter Kalkavage, who has devoted hundreds of hours to accreditation over the past year.
Kalkavage chaired the steering
committee, whose members are
tutors Marilyn Higuera and Joe
Macfarland, Assistant Dean
Judy Seeger, Graduate Institute
Director Bill Pastille, Dean
Harvey Flaumenhaft, Treasurer
�3
{From the Bell Towers}
Community
Building in
Santa Fe
by Michael DiMezza (SF98, EC99)
The recently completed greenhouse in Santa Fe is a forceful
argument against contemporary building construction.
Typically, a few people with
powerful tools and foreign
materials construct new
buildings, an aggressive
approach that produces
quick results. But consider
just one piece of pressure-treated
lumber. Not only are carcinogenic agents applied to it to
[The
greenhouse]
radiate[s]
like a
well-arranged
fire that draws
deeply, burns
brilliantly,
and calls
people to it.
ensure its longevity, but it also
represents a significant expense
of petroleum in the course of
its harvest, transport, milling,
delivery, and installation. These
steps accelerate production at
the cost of future health and
energy problems. There is an
alternative: community building.
The new greenhouse
represents three years of cooperation between visionary
students, the Buildings and
Grounds office, and college
The Santa Fe greenhouse team: Josh Paverud (SFGI03), Pat McCue (SFGI82, EC97),
Zephyr Renner (SF03)(kneeling), Zusha Elinson (SF03)(standing), Matt Aronoff (SF03)(kneeling),
Michael DiMezza (SF98, EC99)(kneeling)
administration. Its construction
was not a matter of plans or
materials, but of people willing
to heft 30-pound bricks or
tolerate frigid Saturday and
Sunday mornings. Community
labor and a mere $4,000 produced this thermally intelligent,
non-toxic and flat-out beautiful
building. Our earthen walls,
locally harvested timber, and
recycled plate glass and lumber
radiate like a well-arranged fire
that draws deeply, burns brilliantly, and calls people to it.
Without all the Buildings
and Grounds work-study
students and volunteers who
gave their time and effort, this
project would have remained a
concept. Matt Aronoff, Zephyr
Renner, Zusha Elinson, and
Josh Paverud, all of this year’s
graduating class, deserve
special recognition. We laid the
foundation with some of these
students when they were freshmen; it’s fitting that we have
completed it together in their
final year. Also, St. John’s has
been fortunate to have the
talent of Pat McCue, the
college’s head gardener, and
David Perrigo, our architect
and friend. Their architecture
and landscaping visions of a
living campus are directly
responsible for its present
beauty. The class of 2000,
Student Polity, and the Graduate
Student Council generously
provided funding for raw
materials.
The greenhouse went up
behind the Fine Arts Building,
a perfect site for a building
designed to work with the sun’s
radiant cycles. Its footprint is
a familiar rectangle roughly
14' x 23'. The pitched roof has
three large skylights. Seven
floor-to-ceiling windows span
19 feet of its façade and allow
direct winter sunlight to warm
the growing area. The three
other sides are adobe brick with
doors on the east and west
and a window on the north.
At spring equinox the sun tracks
a higher course in the sky and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
the eaves partially shade its
rays. By summer, only indirect
light will enter, leaving the
adobe’s thermal mass to keep
the building cool. Passive solar
structures such as this harvest
the sun’s mild, direct radiation
for cool-season heat and use
thermal inertia for warmseason cooling.
We hope this project can
offer a fundamental lesson:
All ecosystems, especially this
desert ecosystem, though rich,
are fragile. When our designs
function in concert with these
ecosystems, buildings like this
greenhouse can provide food,
shelter, beauty, and community,
effortlessly, for years to come. x
Michael DiMezza was project
manager on the St. John’s
College greenhouse construction.
He works as a gardener and
ecological designer for the college.
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
High and Dry in Santa Fe
by Pat McCue (SFGI83)
The drought in and around
Santa Fe has been severe for
the last few years. Although at
various times the surrounding
forest has been extremely dry
and dangerously vulnerable to
wildfires, we have not seen the
massive die-off of trees that is
plaguing the lowlands. Because
we’re closer to the mountains,
we’re a little wetter.
It has occurred to me that
the concept of drought is anthropomorphic. Apparently,
dry periods are typical of this
region and the last 30 years
have been comparatively wet.
I have asked some of the
residents if they remember
the drought of the 1950s. I was
told that although it was very
dry, there was still plenty of
water because there were fewer
people in need of it. Also,
their need was so much less
in comparison with today’s
requirements. As for the dying
trees, a local permaculturist
told me that the forest is being
stressed because the many new
wells that have been drilled
have lowered the water table.
So “the drought” would seem
to be largely a function of
population growth, and therefore we can look forward to a
permanent scarcity of water
even if the annual rainfall
returns to its previous level.
I came to St. John’s after
having worked for many years
for Plants of the Southwest, an
organization that specializes
in native landscapes and
holds a strong sense of mission
regarding the fragility of our
environment and the importance of conserving water. It
was evident that the growing
water shortage was inevitable,
so from the outset I initiated
gardening practices aimed at
lessening our dependence on
irrigation. The key is encouraging the formation of a deep
layer of topsoil that will act
like a sponge in holding whatever water does fall. Without
this measure, the degraded
landscapes of the West simply
shed the majority of rainfall
from their bare crusts. We
have used three main strategies
to do this:
First, we cover bare ground
with organic matter. By composting kitchen garbage,
manure, and garden waste,
all of which are in large supply,
each year we produce an
impressive amount of rich
organic matter to spread on
the grounds. We also mulch
whatever branches we come
across and this material is also
spread. In conjunction with
this practice, we have been
continuously planting native
trees and shrubs that are able
to survive more readily in this
environment, among them,
piñon and ponderosa pine,
black locust, Russian olive
trees, and Rocky Mountain
junipers. These plants’ roots
play a critical, subsurface role
in the development of healthy
soil. Finally, we harvest water
by putting basins around the
trees and bushes and by building
berms where water is running.
Obstructing the water gives it
time to sink into the ground
and nurture the life in the soil.
Snow Bound in Annapolis
In Annapolis, the
Presidents Day
storm canceled
classes for two
days. Buildings
and Grounds staff
worked long hours
to clear two feet of
snow from parking
lots, walkways, and
rooftops. The storm
also wreaked havoc
with the Senior Oral
schedule and ripped
new gutters off
Iglehart Hall.
The good news:
water restrictions
have been lifted
in the state, and
the drought
declared over.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
These simple
procedures
have
changed the
environment of
the campus.
Pat McCue
While we may have little
influence over how much
rain falls, these simple procedures—the very same processes
at work in our forests—have
significantly changed the
environment of the campus.
The diversity of plant and
animal life has greatly increased.
Much of what we have planted
provides food for the birds
(robins, house finches, common bush tits, and scrubjays)
and the insects, which attract
larger animals such as rabbits
and squirrels. Rachel Balkcom
(SFGI00) donated several birdhouses built by the students in
her class at Santa Fe Prep.
Since coming here, I have instituted a policy of not mowing
many of the areas that were
previously cut whenever they
became shaggy. This has allowed wildflowers and grasses to
mature and spread their seeds
throughout the campus, providing for periodic displays of
seasonal wildflowers. The result is a landscape that may not
please those accustomed
to the more traditional landscapes. But the Santa Fe campus
is beautiful in the way that untrammeled nature is beautiful
and is preeminently sensible
where water is so precious. x
Pat McCue is head gardener on
the Santa Fe Campus.
�5
{From the Bell Towers}
Oxford
Bound
The night before his November
interview for the Marshall
Scholarship, Annapolis
senior Aaron MacLean (A03)
was calm, mentally ready, and
carefully prepped by tutors
who conducted several
practice interviews with him.
At 4 a.m., his tranquility
vanished. MacLean woke up
terrified. He managed to
drive himself through a pouring
rain to his interview at the
British Embassy in Washington,
arrived an hour early, and
waited in the car until his interview time. But when he
couldn’t find the front door of
the embassy, the panic rose
again—and he was getting wet.
After that, it was easy.
MacLean enjoyed the interview
and the committee seemed
impressed by him. One question
MacLean tackled with zeal
touched on Theodore Kaczynski,
the Unibomber, and his studies
at Harvard. The moral principle
Kaczynski had come across
more than any other was to
pursue freedom at all costs,
the interviewer explained,
adding that some suggested
Harvard could be sued for
contributing to the
Unibomber’s acts.
“Do you think Harvard
should be brought before the
courts for this?” MacLean
was asked.
In typical Johnnie fashion,
MacLean responded that first
one would have to define freedom and discussed how hard
it is to understand what being
d av i d t ro z z o
Annapolis
Graduate Plans
International
Career
Aaron MacLean heads to Oxford this fall to prepare for a career in international relations.
free means. He brought
up Plato’s Republic in his
thoughtful answer, which
ultimately let Harvard off
the hook.
Along with rich perspective
gleaned from reading great
books and keen observation
of the modern world, MacLean
remembered his mock interviewers’ instructions to sit up
straight, not talk so fast, and
curb his “ums.”
Within a few days, he
received the phone call he
hoped for: He was selected as
one of 40 Marshall Scholars,
talented young Americans
viewed as potential “leaders,
opinion-formers and decisionmakers” in the U.S. The
scholarship program was
established to foster “an understanding and appreciation
of British values and the
British way of life” and to
strengthen ties between the
people of both nations. In
the fall, MacLean begins studies
for a master’s in Medieval
Arabic Thought at Oxford
University.
MacLean was interested
in the Arab world, foreign
affairs, and dialogue between
cultures before the terrorist
attacks of September 11. He
had studied Arabic in Egypt
one summer and at Middlebury College the next. The
attacks, coming right after
his summer in Cairo, strengthened his resolve to pursue a
career in international relations. The knowledge he will
pursue in his graduate studies
is more urgently needed in the
world, he says.
“It is my belief that the
danger the West now faces
from Islamic terrorism is
made vastly greater by a deep
and abiding ignorance on its
part about the civilization of
the Middle East,” he wrote in
his application. “Further-
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
more, it is clear that these
foundations cannot merely be
divined by perusal of the newspapers. Studies of the contemporary situation must be supported by thorough knowledge
of the thousand-plus years of
history that led up to it,
knowledge that can only be
attained with study of the
languages involved, and of the
founding texts written in those
languages.”
MacLean, of Burke, Va.,
says his parents’ work influenced his choice of public
service. His father, Angus,
who died in 2001, followed an
Army career with many years
as chief of the Washington,
D.C. Metro Transit Police.
His mother, Sally, who worked
in civil service in Vietnam and
later for the FBI, is an assistant
principal in an elementary
school in Northern Virginia.x
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
Great Books Getaway:
Summer Classics 2003
Combine a high desert setting,
a city rich in cultural offerings
including one of the country’s
finest operas, and the chance
to study great works by
Plato, Tolstoy, and Flannery
O’Connor (among others), and
you get a vacation opportunity
unlike any other. Each year,
Summer Classics draws several
hundred people who prefer to
use their leisure time expanding
the mind and edifying the soul,
engaging in thoughtful
conversations of great books,
and enjoying Santa Fe.
Participants choose one
seminar per morning or afternoon each week for one to
three weeks. Seminars of up
to 17 are led by two members
of the St. John’s College faculty,
guests from other institutions,
and alumni. Call 505-984-6104
or e-mail classics@sjcsf.edu. x
Tutor Michael Bybee (right) leads a seminar.
This year’s line-up of seminars and tutors:
Week 1, July 13-18
Afternoon Session:
Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil, Victoria Mora and
Kent Taylor
Morning Session:
Hanna Arendt: The Human Condition, Michael Golluber
and Jay Smith
Charles Saunders Pierce: Various works, Michael Bybee
and David Carl
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays, John Cornell and
Richard McCombs
Shakespeare’s sonnets, William Alba and Krishnan
Venkatesh
Physics Before the Footlights—Five Plays, Robert
Richardson and Gino Thomas
All-participant seminar:
Isak Dinesen: “Sorrow-Acre”
Afternoon Session:
Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World
Systems, Mark Rollins and Caleb Thompson
Flannery O’Connor: short stories, Jan Arsenaul and
Elizabeth Engel
Tolstoy: short stories, James Carey and David Starr
All-participant seminar:
Francis Bacon: “Of Truth,” “Of Friendship,” and
“Of Studies”
Week 2, July 20-25
Week 3, July 27-August 1
Morning Session:
Mozart and Offenbach: Opera, William Fulton and
Robert Glick
Plato: Five short dialogues, James Carey and
Frank Pagano
Shakespeare: Henry V, Judith Adam and Warren
Winiarski (A52)
Afternoon Session:
Archimedes, James Forkin and Brendon Lasell
Morning Session:
The Upanishads, Patricia Greer and Claudia Honeywell
Strauss: Opera, William Fulton and Timothy Miller
George Eliot: Middlemarch, Eva Brann and Janet
Dougherty
Henry James: The Ambassadors, Victoria Mora and
Peter Pesic
Selected works of classic French drama, Michael Bybee
and David Carr
All-participant seminar:
Joseph Conrad: The Secret Sharer
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
7
Art Deco in
Denmark
by Beth Schulman
All the members
of the court of
Denmark wore
shades of red,
evoking blood
and passion.
Musical and Dramatic Academy
in Manhattan. His roommate,
Tom Jacobs, composed a score
for piano, which he played
backstage during performances.
“Tobin and I agreed that
American nightlife following
the Volstead Act was the embodiment of a glossy exterior
covering a rotten interior that
Hamlet viewed with such
disdain in the Danish court,”
says Jacobs, also a sophomore.
“Also,” he said, “the women
looked great then.”
Costume designer Megan
Graff (A02), last year’s theater
archon, was responsible for
outfitting the cast of 19, many
of whom had multiple roles.
She dressed the audience for
the play-within-a-play in
evening clothes,
creating some herself
and borrowing several
from the Signature
Theatre in Arlington, Va.
(where she is currently
an intern), and some
from the Annapolis
Opera. Day clothes were
principally composed of
1920s-style suits and
trench coats for the men
and sleek dresses for the
women. All the members
of the court of Denmark
wore shades of red (the
color of the Danish
flag), evoking blood
and passion.
Jacobs incorporated
music into the play in
several ways. He composed a musical theme
for each important
character, which played
during scene changes
and functioned as a
subtle soundtrack for
the performance.
“Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern had a
A prince with an attitude problem: Joseph Hyde, A03, played a
bright ragtime melody,
Jazz-age Hamlet in The King William Players spring production.
while Ophelia’s was
classical and beautiful,”
says Graff. While not a
musical, the play had
part about it, thinking it
breakthrough where suddenly
other heightened musical
he was the creepiest and funni- through.”
elements as well. The playIncorporating music into
est Polonius I’d ever seen, and
within-a-play was set as an
the tale was an additional
our ghost has this voice that
opera, and Ophelia’s songs were
challenge, says Jacobs. “Aristotle
just took us over.”
more songlike than usual.
said, ‘melody is the greatest
The hardest thing about the
Herringshaw and Jacobs
of the pleasurable accessories
play was “thinking through
cast the spring production last
of tragedy.’ We put him to
fall and spent extra time working Hamlet and respecting the
the test.” x
on the music and meeting with script and the audience by
not giving a simple and uncast members to discuss their
thoughtful performance,” says
roles. “We had an amazing
Herringshaw, who wrote his
cast,” says Herringshaw. “I’m
sophomore essay on “Reversal
really pleased with the freshand Recognition in Hamlet.”
men, they showed such strong
“But that was also the best
leadership. Polonius had a
sara white wilson
This spring, The King William
Players in Annapolis gave a
fresh spin to Shakespeare’s
Hamlet by setting it during
Prohibition, adding a jazzy
musical score, crafting an
Art Deco set, and outfitting
Ophelia and the court to look
like characters from the cast
of Chicago.
The production was directed
by sophomore Tobin Herringshaw, a graduate of the American
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
8
Phonathon
volunteer Kathleen
Campbell Kelley
(A03) is all smiles.
Philanthropia
Meets
Aristotle
Here are two facts on the
minds of Philanthropia
volunteers:
G Over the past five years,
40 percent of alumni made
a gift to the Annual Fund.
G The participation rate
for any one year is less
than 30 percent.
The question then becomes:
How can all 40 percent of
alumni who already support
the college be encouraged to
make a gift every year? In any
one year, St. John’s alumni
support the college at a lower
rate than alumni of other
colleges. The goal for this year
is 32 percent—which would put
St. John’s in the same range as
its peers.
“ Moral virtue
comes about as
a result of
habit.”
Aristotle
“The participation number
is not important because we
want to compete with Haverford or Colorado College,”
says Jeff Bishop, vice president
for college-wide advancement.
“It’s important because it
leverages gifts from foundations and other large donors,
for whom alumni support is
an indicator.” And the percentage of alumni who make
gifts is a good sign of the
college’s future financial
health—it’s much more likely
that someone will give a second,
third, or fourth gift once
they’ve made the commitment
to support St. John’s.
So how can Philanthropia
volunteers encourage all 40
percent of Johnnies to give to
the Annual Fund every year?
One strategy is to begin by encouraging people to remember
their college connection during their reunion years. “Five
years, ten years, twenty-five
years... these markers serve as
reminders about the place of
the college in our growth,”
says Barbara Goyette (A73),
vice president for advancement
who will celebrate her
30-year reunion. “We’re
hoping for an extra fund-raising
effort during the reunion years
that will bring the participation rate up for those classes.
”
Reunion Class Leaders,
volunteers from each class,
work with college staff on
special letters, web pages,
fundraising challenges, and
other ways to boost giving
during reunion years. The idea
seems to be working. Among
Santa Fe alumni, the number
of donors has increased by ten
percent over last year, about
the same as Annapolis.
What’s the key to this success?
Ginger Roherty, director of
annual giving in Santa Fe
attributes it to “devoted,
dedicated alumni working in
concert with reunion class
leaders, as well as special
events, improved communi-
cations, and the
efforts of young
alumni and the
senior classes.”
A further step
has its inspiration
in Aristotle’s Ethics:
“Moral virtue comes
about as a result of
habit.” With that in
mind, the Philanthropia volunteers
are working to instill
the habit of giving
in alumni. Gary Edwards (SF79)
is working on a Philanthropia
program to continue the
momentum developed by
class leaders in reunion years.
“There are many ways we can
do this,” he says. “We can
send postcards, write letters
soliciting alumni notes from
our classmates, and continue
to build class web pages.”
Philanthropia volunteers
are banking on Aristotle’s
understanding of habit—and
their sense of responsibility
to the college—to boost the allimportant participation level
permanently.x
Alumni Help
with State
Funding
Effort
St. John’s has a long history of
funding support from the state
of Maryland, dating back to
1784, when the college was
chartered. Although there
have been some periods when
the college has gone without
money from the state, for the
most part the relationship
has been positive. Since the
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
mid-1970s, Maryland has been
allocating a small percentage
of the state’s higher education
budget to independent
colleges—including St. John’s—
under the argument that the
colleges contribute to the
state’s economic and cultural
well-being and are worth the
investment. In 2002, for example, the college’s portion
came to about $750,000, or
3 percent of the Annapolis
campus annual operating budget.
This year Maryland, like
many other states, is going
through a budget crisis. In
an effort to find the money to
balance the state budget, the
funding for Maryland’s independent colleges came under
scrutiny. Several proposals
were floated: tie the funding
to the number of in-state
students (this would have
meant an 85 percent cut for
St. John’s); cut the funding by
20 percent; cut the funding
by 51 percent. Alumni, faculty,
and trustees from schools in
Maryland (St. John’s, Loyola,
Johns Hopkins, Maryland
Institute College of Art,
Goucher, and others) wrote
letters, e-mails, and faxes to
their state representatives
stressing the importance of
the schools to the state and
laying out the consequences
of the proposed cuts. St. John’s
President Christopher Nelson
spoke with legislators daily.
The effort, coordinated by
the Maryland Independent
College and University Association (MICUA), was successful
in reaching legislators and
educating them about the
importance of the funding.
However, the final outcome of
the lobbying efforts is still in
doubt at press time. It is likely
that the independent colleges
will still take a significant hit
in the Maryland budget. x
�{From the Bell Towers}
Announcements
New Endowments
Two new endowments have
been established at the college.
The Nancy Gannon Gearing
Student Endowment will support
students at the Annapolis
campus through loans, prizes,
or scholarships. The Victor
and Mimi Zuckerkandl Faculty
Endowment will benefit faculty
at the Annapolis campus with
loans, salary, or employment
benefits. The college’s endowment funds can honor or memorialize alumni, faculty, and
friends of the college and match
a donor’s wishes with needs at
Career Services
the college. For a complete list
of all such funds for both campuses, request the Presidents’
Report, 1999-2001 from the
Advancement Office, SJC,
Box 2800, Annapolis,
MD 21404.
New Faces
In Santa Fe: Susan Patten,
director of the National Friends
program, based in Santa Fe;
Jennifer Sprague, director of
the Meem Library; Susan
Kaplan, director of Corporate
and Foundation Relations. In
Annapolis: Andrea Lamb, director of the Greenfield Library.
Name change: At St. John’s
College, the Placement Office
is no more. The Board of Visitors
and Governors approved an
amendment to the Polity that
changes the name of the office
to Career Services. Dropping
“placement” from the title is
intended to better reflect the
mission of the office.
“We were often confused
with the admissions office, or
expected to somehow place
students in classes,” says
Roberta Gable (A78), director
in Annapolis. Instead the office
helps students prepare applications for graduate school,
scholarships, and fellowships;
arranges internships and
9
part-time jobs; and provides
counseling for students
attempting to match their
talents and interests with a
paying job. In general, Gable
says, she’s called upon to “help
students achieve escape velocity.”
Gable mulled over several
potential names: “Exit Strategy
office,” “The Ministry of
Potentiality,” and “Department
of Free Will” were among her
favorites. Whatever the name,
Gable—who has managed the
bookstore, served as athletic
director, and headed the alumni
office—loves her new job.
“I have the best job,” she
says. “I get to talk with students
and listen to them talk about
their dreams and their hopes.”
{Letters}
Perspective on Ptolemy
It has been a long while since
I read the “Statistics vs. Ptolemy”
article (Summer 2002), but
I do want to add to Jessica
Gambill’s letter as to whether
anything is “lacking” in the
mathematics curriculum at
St. John’s.
A handful of specific observations may be helpful. First of
all, those college students who
are best at mathematics often
do not have a complete background in the pragmatics of
the language. My first exposure to many tools used in high
school and college algebra
came when I was a teaching
assistant. Some of those tools
turned out to be very useful in
my own graduate course in
complex analysis. At the same
time, I was quickly able to
identify the usefulness of the
tool within the context of the
work I was doing. In the same
way, working as a TA for everything from remedial mathe-
matics courses to tutoring students in differential equations
basically filled a lot of gaps.
Like Esther in The Bell Jar
discovering that her honors
course “failed” to give her the
prerequisites needed to major
in English at a community
college, graduate and the most
talented undergraduate
students are always discovering
that freshman college algebra
students have mastered something they themselves had
never heard of. This seems in
no way to prevent access to the
core. There are, for instance,
dozens of tricks used for matrix
operations linear algebra. Most
of them I have never learned
(but marvel when
I watch an undergraduate
engineering student whip
through them) and most of the
rest I don’t bother to remember.
This is really not a problem.
In the same way, teaching
undergraduates to solve
definite integration problems
shores up the same skills when
the TA is also taking graduate
probability theory (as long as
you remember that in the undergraduate calculus course,
the result of integrating over
the entire domain does not
have to be 1, as would be expected in the probability
course). Sometimes you have
to remember which classroom
you happen to be in.
Before attending St. John’s,
I spent a year at a liberal arts
college where I took calculus
with no “precalculus” preparation. Our calculus course
was unlike the “fat” curriculum
typically assigned to college
students. Those curricula
tend to be loaded with specific
applications that are later forgotten. “Exercises” are not
only repetitive, but they also
seem to reflect a compulsion
to demonstrate every possible
situation to which a theorem
might apply. Meaning easily
gets lost in calisthenics. The
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
course I had taken was, well,
sparse–and got to the point. It
was far more useful, ultimately,
than those fat calculus courses.
The curious thing is that
what is taught as “advanced”
coursework to college students
is often the easiest work to do.
“Abstract algebra” is the
college student’s first real introduction to mathematics as
conceptual language (college
algebra courses do some stuff
“translating” equations into
English, but that is not the
same thing). Pragmatically,
abstract algebra is easier than
the logic puzzle books in drugstore magazine aisles. Yet
modern algebra coursework is
typically left until senior year
for many college mathematics
majors. (The effort to introduce a structural, conceptual
approach to early math education in the 1960s—what was
called “new math”—is ridiculed
to this day, but many real live
continued on p. 10
�10
mathematicians remember
it fondly.)
My years at St. John’s
prepared me far more than the
typical college undergraduate
mathematics program to participate in graduate mathematics
studies (yes, I did have to take
undergraduate coursework
away from St. John’s. So do
St. John’s graduates who become doctors). In my first year
of graduate school, I immediately appreciated the links between probability and algebraic
theory—and, later, quickly what
is called measure theory. In fact,
I felt that graduate mathematics
was more “just like St. John’s”
than any other environment in
the “real world”—sometimes
more “just like St. John’s” than
was the college itself.
If the Program were infinitely
expandable (or maybe as a
preceptorial suggestion) I
would suggest some algebraic
theory. Johnnies would like to
know the story of Galois. The
Axiom of Choice—which becomes practically sacred
ground in the graduate mathematics environment—is also
prime Johnnie territory: it is
terribly important to mathematics over the past century or
two, it has a terrific name, and
it casts an interesting conceptual
light on probability (which has
way more eidos than most
people realize).
Sheri (Anderson) McMahon (SF78)
A Flawed Justice System
I have just read, with fascination, “Crime and Punishment”
(Summer 2002). In light of the
article’s undoubtedly factual
statement that “Johnnies in
justice veer to the idealistic,”
I find it surprising that the
article also reports, evidently
with confident approval, that:
“However common...scenes
of injustice are in fiction and
drama, front-line professionals
say they are rare in real life.
From arrest through sentencing,
those involved in the U.S.
{Letters}
criminal justice system say that,
despite its flaws, it’s a system
that works.”
My practice is mainly in civil
law. My own experiences with
the criminal justice system,
however, and those of lawyers
with much more experience
whose integrity and judgment
I trust, persuade me that this
optimistic assessment greatly
minimizes the extent to which
our criminal justice system
operates without regard for
justice....It is a common
“Justice in the
abstract is the
refuge of
hypocrites and
scoundrels.”
William Blake
experience of criminal defense
lawyers to see policemen lie
in court to help prosecutors
obtain convictions when they
“know” the defendant is guilty,
believing that the law affords
criminal defendants too much
protection; that prosecutorial
caseloads are so heavy that
prosecutors often have little
time or incentive to focus on
the justice of the particular
case; that bureaucratic D.A.s
are often more interested in
winning impressive conviction
statistics than assuring that
justice is done in their cases;
and that the “policies” of some
D.A.s often preclude a concern
for justice....Moreover, it is
common knowledge that,
throughout the United States,
racial and other discriminatory
biases are often present at every
stage of the criminal process
from identification of suspects
to sentencing—including
administration of the death
penalty.
All things considered, I
share the view that our criminal
justice system is among the best
in the world. But we blind ourselves to reality if we do not acknowledge that its “flaws” are
sufficiently great to warrant
deep concern among those of
us who still cherish the ideal of
law as an instrument of justice.
“For real justice to be done,”
wrote William Blake, “it must
be done in minute particulars.
Justice in the abstract is the
refuge of hypocrites and
scoundrels.” This truth remains,
sadly, too commonly ignored by
the administrators of our criminal justice system—both
prosecution and defense.
Harrison Sheppard (A61)
In Search of Phil Gold
I am interested in the whereabouts of Phil Gold (A51). He,
like me, came over to Israel as a
volunteer to the Israel Army in
our War of Independence. He
visited me in the South Negev
where we fought the Egyptians
and said he was in the unit in
the North facing the Iraqis and
Syrian Armies. That was the
last I saw of him.
Raphael ben-Yosef (A48)
aravati@netvision.net.il
Fax: 972-3-5325581
Phone: 972-3-532554
Calendar Mysteries
Revealed
Each year, alumni help us
identify the faces and circumstances of archival photographs
we publish in the Philanthropia
calendar. This year was no
different.
I just received a copy of the SJC
2003 calendar. I really like it—
the pictures take me back. The
February 2003 photo was taken
in 1973 or 1974. The girl on the
right wearing knee socks is
Judy Paine, of the class of 1976.
I am not sure about the others
in the photo. The September
2003 photo shows students in
the class of 1976 also, from left
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
to right they are: Janet Adams,
unknown, Brad Wronski (with
elbows on the table), Nancy
Garrow, Bridget Houston,
David Friedman (with head
down), and tutor Sam Brown.
This photo was probably taken
in 1973. The people I have
identified were all classmates of
mine in the January freshman
class. We were the first January
Freshman class in Santa Fe, I
think. They were great people.
Thanks for the wonderful
calendar.
Gregg McReynolds (SF76)
I can tell you the story of the
[Philanthropia] calendar cover.
The woman on the left in the
August photo is Ms. Monique
Wentzel (SF02). The picture
was taken in the spring of 2001,
not 2002, as noted in the credits,
on the Santa Fe campus. In the
foreground the students, left to
right: Adrian Bowles (SF02),
me (SF02), and Brett Esaki
(SF02). Over my shoulder, left
to right, are Peter Boyce (SF01),
Ms. Ashley Scott (SF01), Ms.
Laura Vitale (SF01) and Mr.
Christopher Howe (SF01).
[Photographer Howard]
Korn asked to take a picture
of Mr. Bowles, Mr. Esaki, and
me while we were engaged in a
discussion about the Maxwell.
In our Junior Lab tutorial with
Mr. Cohn, we had some major
problems with the conversion
from electromagnetic units
(EMU) to electrostatic units
(ESU). The equation given us
by Mr. Cohn was a bit much for
my brain to handle, but with
Mr. Esaki’s ample quantitative
skills and Mr. Bowles’ tendency
for mathematical exhibitionism
at hand, we headed outside to
give it a try on the concrete.
Mr. Korn approached some
five or ten minutes later when,
exhausted, we had decided to
give up. But still, we knew we
looked pretty cool out there,
so Brett said we should give it
another shot for the photogra-
�11
{Letters}
pher. In any case, Mr. Cohn’s
lab class was the best thing I
ever did at St. John’s. Thanks
for publishing the picture.
Joey Chernila (SF02)
I received the new calendar
and was delighted to see two of
my classmates pictured for the
month of October. The woman
is Erin Murphy (SF73) from
Malibu, Calif. We were friends
and have stayed in touch all
these years. She still lives in
Malibu and has raised seven
children. One of her daughters
attends the University of San
Francisco with my younger
daughter. (Interesting
coincidence.)
Four members of our family
have graduated from St.
John’s. My father, John L.
Williams, graduated in 1950
from Annapolis. I believe it was
the first graduating class for
Dr. [Richard] Weigle. Dr. Weigle
was still president when I graduated from Santa Fe in 1973. My
sister, Andrea, graduated in 1977,
and my oldest daughter, India
Clarke, in 2001.
The tutor in the September
picture is dear, dear Sam Brown.
How I loved that man. We used
to play four-hand piano pieces
together for fun. What a stitch
that was! He liked to egg
students on, and it looks like
he was succeeding with the
young man in the picture.
Thanks for a great calendar.
Be Hussander (SF79)
Thanks for the calendar—
I’m quite sure that the female
student in the October 2003
photo is Erin Murphy. She was
a classmate of mine, which puts
the date at either 1969 or 1970—
possibly ’71. Can’t remember
the guy’s name. I love this
historical detection—but
that’s probably because I’m
an historian!
Margaret Creighton (SF73)
Department of History
Bates College
“On the back cover of the calendar, the students pictured are, left to right: Amanda Mayer
(me, now Amanda Mayer Stinchecum), Steve Bernstein, Judy Jones, and Lon Gore. We belonged to
the class of ’61, so the photo was certainly taken before then. From the appearance of the seminar
room, and the fact that I am sure Lon Gore and I were in the same freshman seminar, I would
venture that the photo was taken during the academic year 1957-58.”
Amanda Mayer Stinchecum (A61)
Given the fact that the February
2003 photo was taken by Marion
Warren, who also took the
picture of Connie Weigle in the
sophomore language tutorial
(November), I would date
February’s photo as being
taken at the same time and
probably the same morning.
The woman with the long,
dark hair, checkered blouse
and boots or knee socks is
Carol Ryder (SF68). The
man she is talking to, with the
socks-in-sandals, is David Moss
(SF68). The hand-in-pocket
stance was also characteristically his. The man to the left
with the sharp looking chin—
actually a goatee—is Robin who
was from Chattanooga, Tenn.
I forget his surname, as I also
forget the name of the woman
with the two bob-tails. My suspicion is that the head between
David and Carol belongs to
Vida Kazemi (SF68).
I just received the calendar and
need to correct the attribution
of a photo which appeared on
the inside back cover. The fine
young fellow in the photo is
Bob Vincent, my classmate
and freshman core group
colleague. He looks so young
and has so much hair this photo
had to have been snapped
during our first year at SJC.
Thomas G. Smith (A84)
Mr. July is Joel Greenberg, class
of 1962. Wonderful photographs,
as always. Thanks to those who
assemble this calendar.
Linda McConnell (A61)
Correction
Anna Canning (SF02) was
misidentified in the summer
2002 issue of The College.
Kieran D.C. Manjarrez (SF68)
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
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 or
The College Magazine,
Public Relations Office,
St. John’s College, 1160
Camino Cruz Blanca,
Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599.
Letters can also be sent via
e-mail to: reharty@sjca.edu,
or via the form for letters on
the web site at www.sjca.edu.
Click on “Alumni,” then on
“Contact The College
Magazine.”
�{Bioethics}
12
BIOETHICS
I N A B R AV E N E W W O R L D
What’s right and wrong in life and death?
by Sus3an Borden (A87)
Shaping Public Policy
A
philosopher and a physician, former St. John’s
tutor Leon Kass is in a
position to shape government policy on critical
and controversial issues
such as human cloning and stem cell
research. In the desire to treat diseases
and ease suffering, Kass asks, can we lose
sight of the intrinsic value of human life?
Leon Kass (tutor, 1972-1976) discovered the hard way just
how controversial a seminar can be. As chairman of the
President’s Council on Bioethics, he opened the group’s
first meeting with a discussion of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
“The Birthmark,” the story of a scientist who, in an attempt to remove his near-perfect wife’s sole blemish, ends
up killing her.
The media criticized Kass for his choice of reading. At
best, it was called a clumsy approach; at worst, an attack on
science. A column in the online magazine Slate saw the
story as predictive of Kass’ tenure on the council: “Given
the flatness of Hawthorne’s moral universe in ‘The Birthmark’ and his other mad scientist stories, it’s hard not to
conclude that Kass will similarly work hard to reduce
complex issues to their starkest antinomies.”
To the contrary, says Kass. “My real goal is what we in the
office call ‘toward a richer bioethics.’ We try to put contemporary discussions and controversies into a larger
philosophical, social, and political context. The discussion
of ‘The Birthmark’ was widely misunderstood as antiscience and a cautionary tale, but it’s a profound story. The
press failed to appreciate that the birthmark, being a mark
of birth, is not merely some superficial blemish but stands
altogether for what it means to be a perishable being,
marked imperfect in terms of being mortal.”
The imperfections of mortality—and science’s quest to
remedy them—define the council’s purview. Working
papers the council has produced include “ ‘Better’
Memories? The Promise and Perils of Pharmacological
Interventions”; “Age Retardation: Scientific Possibilities
and Moral Challenges”; and “Patenting Human Organisms.”
“These are extremely complicated matters,” Kass says of
the council’s work. “There are questions of the sufficiency
and desirability of the ends we pursue and questions about
the appropriateness of the means. There are questions of
the proper balance between modesty and humility on one
hand and, on the other hand, a vigorous attempt to repair
the defects of the world and of our own nature.”
When confronting such matters, Kass advises that we
think first about human life and then consider the new
technologies. Placing an emphasis on technologies distorts
the picture. Take, for example, the possibility of paying
potential organ donors.
“We could treat this as a technological problem to be
solved, and work on determining the best incentives and
finding ways to avoid placing undue coercion and pressures
upon the poor,” Kass explains. “But what we first should
do is step back and start with questions about the meaning
of embodiment, what it means to shuttle body parts from
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{Bioethics}
13
“There are questions of the proper balance between modesty
and humility on one hand and, on the other hand, a vigorous attempt
to repair the defects of the world and of our own nature.”
Leon Kass
one person to another, what it means to put the body into
commerce. We must make sure that in the desire to
improve health by increasing the supply of lifesaving
organs, we don’t forget about the dignity of human life.”
While the progressive nature of technology means that
we tend to look at issues case by case, Kass says that we only
begin to see their full ethical dimensions when we look in
the aggregate at the various powers now gathering for
intervention into the human body and mind. “These can be
used not just in ways that heal the sick and succor the
suffering, but could in principle make major changes in
what up until now was considered the natural way of being
human. Part of the difficulty when you ask questions case
by case, technique by technique, is that it’s always in
isolation and always justified by the last innovation.
“Sometimes the slippery slope is the right metaphor for
this approach, but sometimes one just jumps off a cliff,”
Kass says. “To begin to treat nascent human life as a
resource to be mined for the sake of benefits for the living—
that’s not a slippery slope, that’s a major leap. This year it
will be stem cells from five-day-old blastocycsts and ten
years from now it’s going to be organs from two-month-old
fetuses. We are agreeing right now that, precisely because
human development is a continuum, we are now saying yes
to a kind of exploitive human attitude for the sake of the
living. It will be hard to stop when more benefits are
available because we have already said yes to the claims of
the living. Treatments for people with diabetes and
Parkinson’s will far outweigh any kind of reverence for
nascent human life.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�14
{Bioethics}
Right now, Congress is saying no to the first steps down this
path. In February, the House of Representatives voted to ban
all human cloning, both for reproductive and research
purposes. The vote followed the majority recommendation of
the council’s 2002 report, “Human Cloning and Human
Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry.” Kass was among the majority.
“On some matters I have very definite opinions and will
argue for them. I’m opposed to human cloning and I don’t
think we should be killing patients in acts of euthanasia or
assisted suicide. Still, as chairman of the council, I’ve had to
set some of my own views aside and preside over the kind of
conversation that will ensure that the best arguments on
multiple sides are developed. So many ethical issues are not
simply choices between good and evil but choices in which the
evil is deeply entangled with the good.
“If one is offering counsel to the president, what one owes
is a full account of what’s at stake and what’s to be said for
doing A rather than B or B rather than A. The report on
cloning we wrote was close to 300 pages, but the recommendation on the vote was only two sentences. The report says
that, wherever we come out in our thinking, people on the
other side have something vital to defend, not for themselves,
but for all of us. No one can be cavalier about the need to treat
human suffering, no one can be casual about nascent human
life, and no one can afford to be indifferent.”
Facing Matters of Life and Death
I
s it ethical to conceive a child to
save the life of another, even if that
child will be loved and welcomed?
In 1991, Dr. Stephen Forman (A70)
was at the center of a controversy
raised by that question. But as a
physician treating cancer patients, he
faces difficult ethical questions every day.
More than 4,000 people made it to the April 11 reunion in
Duarte, Calif. Amid balloons and picnic lunches they laughed
with old friends, exchanged tales of triumph, and hugged the
people who saved their lives.
The reunion, at the City of Hope National Medical Center,
was for bone marrow transplant recipients and donors, and
their families, doctors, and nurses. Among the guests was
Stephen Forman, director of City of Hope’s Hematology and
Bone Marrow Transplantation Program.
City of Hope is a leader in the fight against cancer, diabetes,
HIV/AIDS, and other devastating diseases. At least $2 million
is invested in research each week at the center. Approximately
30 to 40 percent of eligible patients participate in clinical
trials and studies, compared to the national average of 3 to 4
percent. Hand-in-hand with the center’s cutting-edge science
is its commitment to compassionate care. “There is no profit
in curing the body, if in the process, we destroy the soul,”
wrote a former executive director of the center. City of Hope
has adopted these words as its philosophy.
In 1988 the Ayala family came to City of Hope in need of this
very combination of compassion and science. Their 16-yearold daughter, Anissa, had leukemia, and bone marrow transplantation was her only chance for survival. Unable to find a
match after testing family members, searching the National
Marrow Donor Program registry, and staging several marrow
drives, Anissa’s parents approached Forman and his team
about trying to have a baby who might be a match for Anissa.
“We sat down and talked with the family quite a bit. We wanted
to understand better what they were thinking so we could think
about it ourselves,” Forman recalls. The father had had a
vasectomy, which would have to be reversed. The mother was
in her 40s, an age when conception is difficult. And the baby
would have only a one-in-four chance of being a match. “It was
pretty clear to us in talking with the family that if the potential
baby was not a match they would want the new child anyway. In
that context we felt we could help them with the medical,
emotional, psychological, and ethical rationale for all of this.”
Despite the odds against it, the father’s vasectomy was
reversed, a baby was conceived, and when Marissa-Eve Ayala
was born, she turned out to be a perfect match for her older
sister. Anissa underwent a successful transplantation when
Marissa-Eve was 14 months old.
While Forman was delighted by the outcome of the case, he
wasn’t exactly crazy about the media frenzy that surrounded
it. “I had to respond to the media and deal with the selfappointed ethicists who became a cottage industry around
that time. I had the best discussions with science writers and
the worst with—you know, that big conservative guy on the
radio,” he says, unable to recall the name of Rush Limbaugh.
Forman received hate mail, death threats, and even a threat to
kidnap the Ayala baby. “Newspapers raised questions about
breeding children for their parts; one accused us of being a
Jewish hospital experimenting on Christian babies.”
Time magazine’s June 17, 1991 cover featured the Ayala
sisters. The accompanying article presented a balanced
discussion of the case, exploring its medical, social, psychological, and ethical dimensions. It included a provocative
question from Rudolf Brutoco, the donor’s pediatrician:
“Does it make sense,” Brutoco asked, “to conceive a child so
that little Johnny can have a sister, while it is not acceptable to
conceive the same child so that Johnny can live?” The article
concluded that the “family’s act of lifesaving conception was
on the side of the angels.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{Bioethics}
15
“The ethical issues I face every day have to
do with the end of life...”
Stephen Forman
Although the Ayala case brought him national attention,
Forman says that the real ethical dilemmas in his work don’t
grab headlines. “The ethical issues I face every day have to do
with the end of life, the means of preserving dignity at a time
when people find themselves in an undignified setting,” he
says. “People seek help with their thoughts and feelings about
what they want done or not done as the end may be coming.
They need to decide how to manage pain. They need to make
decisions about heroic measures to be taken or not, as well as
assisted suicide.”
In the course of helping his patients, Forman guides them
through the most complex issues that human beings must
address. “I’ve always felt that oncology is the most philosophical of the specialties,” he says. “It’s concerned with
how one lives one’s life, with confronting its meaning and its
temporality.”
While Forman helps his patients wrestle with the mechanics
and meaning of death, he is also at work discovering new ways
to prolong and improve their lives. He is the principal investi-
gator for a $15.3 million, five-year National Cancer Institute
bone marrow transplantation program project grant and
co-principal investigator for a Strategic Program for Innovative
Research on AIDS Treatment grant to study gene therapy for
the treatment of AIDS patients. He is also co-editor of
Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, a definitive textbook for
scientists and health-care professionals.
Being at the forefront of medical research means that
Forman is often in the public eye—a situation, he explains,
that can have its benefits for the advancement of medicine and
the health of many patients. One significant byproduct of the
Ayala publicity was a growing understanding of the need for
bone marrow donors. Today, Anissa is a healthy 30-year-old
who is the assistant director for the Red Cross Bone Marrow
Donor Program in Southern California. On the 10-year
anniversary of her transplant, City of Hope rechecked the
bone marrow donor registry that had yielded no match for her.
After a decade of debate and its attendant public awareness,
21 matches were found.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�16
{Bioethics}
Looking Behind the Shadows
M
ichael Victoroff (A71)
has seen medicine from
three perspectives: as a
physician in private
practice, as a medical
director of an HMO,
and as a university researcher providing
toxicology evidence for environmental
lawsuits. Each new vista has raised
troubling questions about patient care,
efficacy, and economics.
“Illusion, Plato’s cave, has been the theme, the continuous
thread throughout my whole career,” says Michael Victoroff,
doctor and medical ethicist. “In almost every subject that’s
been fascinating to me, there has been some aspect where the
general public does not see what’s really behind the shadows.”
The biggest shadow on the cave wall is the lack of science and
common sense in health care, says Victoroff. “Today more
than ever, with herbal medicine on the Internet and hundreds
of fringe healing professions, a lot of people are rightfully
nervous about medical practice. They see the critical combination of financial motivation and junk science.”
Even practitioners of orthodox medicine are suspect, he
adds. “They’re no different, just more subtle. People accept
the good will and good intentions of doctors as evidence of
good skill.”
Victoroff took a yearlong fellowship in bioethics following
medical school, and throughout his career he has spent at least
a quarter of his time consulting, teaching, writing, and lecturing
in bioethics, from prenatal care through geriatrics.
In 1997, after 19 years in medical practice, he became a medical director for Aetna. He says that he once thought HMOs
could save the medical profession. “The managed care movement was, to those of us who were believers, kind of like the
peace movement. Managed care was going to make medicine a
scientific and reason-driven social phenomenon rather than
simply a cottage industry of independent practitioners improvising treatments from which they derived a living.
“I saw that I could not improve health care in America as one
private practice doctor in Colorado, but I thought, ‘give me a
few million people and maybe from there my lever will be long
enough to affect something.’”
As medical director of a health plan, Victoroff had the
opportunity to look at tens of thousands of medical records. But
he wasn’t impressed with what he saw. For one thing, too few
doctors keep electronic records of patient care at a time when
the computer is a basic and critical tool in an efficient practice.
“When you see four specialists and they run a bunch of tests
and write several prescriptions, that’s a job for a computer.
That’s when you need the integrated health care delivery
system that America, and the doctors of America, have
vigorously rejected.”
Victoroff continues the cave metaphor in a discussion of
assisted suicide, which he says is a social, not medical, issue.
He’s sympathetic to the most compelling reasons for assisted
suicide. “Let’s say we have a person in such pain from cancer
that his life is total misery. He’s lying in bed yelling, he’s got no
quality of life and is expected to die within a matter of weeks.
He’s already getting lethal doses of morphine and he says, ‘this
is unbearable, can’t you just give me some cyanide?’ ”
Society may decide an individual can make the choice to die,
but Victoroff asks why a physician must assist in the act of
killing him: “It is a terribly bad idea for physicians to be killing
people, even as a gesture of kindness. I think that it
permanently contaminates the role of physician. Separating
the role of healer and killer is a very smart social practice.”
Victoroff has his own candidate for the assistant: judges.
“We have a group among us that already puts people to death,
has the liberty to do it, has immunity from liability, and the
power to order up a dose of hemlock. We can have what
amounts to a probate process: a court process as diligent as you
like and physicians can testify along with everyone else. If you
truly wish to die and we’re satisfied that you’re competent,
then we’ll kill you. We don’t need any doctors, just a judge and
dispensing pharmacist.”
Victoroff left Aetna in 2002 and has been working at the
toxicology department of the University of Colorado, where he
provides support research for toxic environmental torts, evaluating issues surrounding environmental safety. Because of the
sheer number of threats to human health posed by toxicity
issues in the air, groundwater and even medical treatment,
Victoroff isn’t hopeful he can make an impact on health care in
this area.
“It’s like the Dark Ages, surrounded by mythology and
religious beliefs; there’s almost a complete lack of attention
to science. A lot of people are making a lot of money on
Bioethics Reading List
Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Linda T. Kohn, Janet Corrigan, Molla S. Donaldson, and William C.
Richardson, eds., To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System
C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man; That Hideous Strength
Gilbert Meilaender, Body, Soul, and Bioethics
Ed Pellegrino, Beneficence in Trust
Suggested by Michael Victoroff, Leon Kass, and Nick Capozzoli
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�17
{Bioethics}
something that is based on folklore.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some
dangerous chemicals out there, but
here’s the pattern I see: You have a team
of lawyers that goes down to a little town
that has a smokestack. They go to the
people who have illnesses who live
around the smokestack and offer them
money to participate in a lawsuit, then
they offer to settle with the smokestack’s owners. That’s a particularly
malignant pattern.”
Although cynical about the tort field,
Victoroff concedes half-jokingly that it
may contribute to quality control.
“Doctors make huge numbers of
errors and this has been almost the only
social mechanism we’ve used to
improve quality in medicine,” he says.
Victoroff tells of teaching a course that
brought senior law students and senior
med students together to discuss
bioethics. “I learned that by the time
these kids had spent a couple years in
their professional schools they had
already become accustomed to a mode
of argument and proof that was unique
“I saw that
I could not improve
health care in America
as one private practice
doctor in Colorado.”
Michael Victoroff
to their professions. When they were
confronted with an alternate mode of
asking and answering questions, they
almost couldn’t follow it.
“It’s hard to get people to solve problems constructively without first asking
them to step outside of the habits of
their own profession. In essence, that’s
what Plato was telling us to do when he
said you ought to get outside the cave
once in a while. What my career has
been, in one respect, is me shouting
from outside the door of the cave at all
the people in there staring at the wall,
and I don’t even know that I’m outside
the cave. I’m probably in another cave.
“I love illusions, but I see that they’re
illusions. I don’t know what’s behind
them, but I can tell when I don’t see the
whole picture. Over a career of fooling
with these things, I have found something every day to make me roll my eyes
and shake my head. That’s been the
main medical risk of my career—from
shaking my head in wonder.” x
Acting in a Patient’s Best Interest
F
orget cloning babies. Forget
assisted suicide. Neurologist
and tutor Nick Capozzoli
(AGI81) says that an ethical
drama can unfold in his
office any time he writes a prescription.
“I sometimes have to balance what
the patient should know about the medication against what I want the patient
to do with the medication,” explains
Capozzoli. “There are some patients
who say the same thing no matter what I
tell them: ‘Whatever you think is best.’
Others live in a world of great anxiety. If
they hear about a single side effect,
they’re probably not going to take the
medicine.”
“What, then, is the best approach?”
Capozzoli asks. “Do you lay out all the
facts the same way for every patient? Do
you say different things based on what
you know about each patient?” He compares his quandary to that of a legislator:
“When a vote comes up, do you take a
referendum or vote based on your
informed knowledge?”
Capozzoli has managed to find a path
that draws these alternatives closer together: “I believe there’s something
about the nature of what a physician is
that says you ought to have an opinion
about the right thing to do, and you
should say to the patient, ‘this is what
you ought to do.’ You should be clear
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
about your own opinion but also be
good about understanding the patient’s
concerns: Are they due to a different
world view or to their being fraught
with anxiety?”
His approach sounds moderate,
reasoned, sensitive—ethical. But
Capozzoli (a tutor for 20 years, a doctor
for nearly 35) is so finely attuned to the
intricacies of ethics that he questions
the validity of his questions: “Who is
the best custodian of the patient’s best
interest?” he asks. “Do I even understand fully what it means to act in a
patient’s best interest?” x
�18
{Essays}
MONTAIGNE
A N D T H E E D U C AT I O N O F C H I L D R E N
by William Pastille
S
ince the inception of the New Program, and no
doubt before as well, St. John’s College has
been devoted to the education of children. The
Preamble to the Polity of the college states that
the purpose of the institution is to “make
adults out of children.” The college’s motto—
composed, as Stringfellow Barr tells us, by an
admiring professor at Harvard, but instantly adopted by the
founders of the New Program because of its aptness—declares
that St. John’s “makes free persons out of children.” Both
formulations imply that the college’s role is to transform
dependent beings into free, independent beings.
The kind of freedom that the college wishes for its students
is intellectual freedom: the ability to fashion one’s own judgments without the hindrance of unexamined assumptions,
inherited prejudices, and cherished pronouncements of
alleged authorities. One of the finest descriptions of intellectual freedom is found in Montaigne’s essay “On the Education
of Children” where the author discusses the temper that a
teacher should try to produce in a student with regard to the
influence of authority:
Let the principles of Aristotle not be principles of him any more
than those of the Stoics or Epicureans. Let this diversity of
opinions be set before him; if he can, he will make a choice: if he
cannot then he will remain in doubt.
Only fools have made up their minds and are certain: Che
non men che saper dubbiar m’aggrada. [For doubting pleases
me no less than knowing. (Dante, Inferno, XI, 93.)] For if it is
by his own reasoning that he adopts the opinions of Xenophon
and Plato, they are no longer theirs: they are his. To follow another is to follow nothing: Non sumus sub rege; sibi quisque se
vindicet. [We are not under a king; let each preserve himself.
(Seneca, Epistulae Morales, XXXIII, 4.)] Let him at least know
what he does not know. He should not be learning their
precepts but drinking in their humours. If he wants to, let him
not be afraid to remember where he got them from, but let him
be sure that he knows how to appropriate them. Truth and
reason are common to all: they no more belong to the man who
first put them into words than to him who last did so. It is no
more secundum Platonem than secundum me: Plato and I see
and understand it in the same way. Bees ransack flowers here
and flowers there: but then they make their own honey, which
is entirely theirs and no longer thyme or marjoram. Similarly,
[he] will transform his borrowings; he will confound their
forms so that the end-product is entirely his: namely, his judgement, the forming of which is the only aim of his toil, his study,
and his education.
But the college does not want to cultivate intellectual freedom in its students while at the same time weighing down their
souls with the burden of hubris. Montaigne’s sage counsel concerning self-reliance in one’s thinking might be a recipe for the
most appalling intellectual arrogance if it were not coupled
with another bit of advice later in the essay: “Above all let him
be taught to throw down his arms and surrender to truth as
soon as he perceives it, whether that truth is born at his rival’s
doing or within himself from some change in his ideas.”
This guidance provides the humility that is necessary to
counterbalance the egocentrism of a mind that is always
striving to live by its own lights. Subservience to the truth
wherever and whenever it appears—even if it contradicts longstanding personal beliefs and preferences—is the earmark of a
truly independent intellect that is encumbered neither by external influences nor by inner defects like excessive pride,
sentimental attachment, or intellectual possessiveness.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{Essays}
19
“Truth and reason are common to all.”
h owa r d ko r n
Michel de Montaigne
One might wonder whether the intellectual freedom of
forming one’s own judgments really is the only aim of education, as Montaigne seems to say in the first quotation above.
It may be that education can cultivate other sorts of freedom
that might be in some sense superior to intellectual freedom. For instance: What if the Self, in which Montaigne
encourages us to trust, is inherently unreliable, or illusory,
or merely an artifact of a deeper source of being—a source
that might be hidden from the Self by the Self, as a person
looking at himself in a mirror blocks his own sight of a light
source behind him? If this were the case, wouldn’t it mean
that we ought to become free from the Self instead of relying
upon it as the true guarantor of our freedom? Wouldn’t it
mean that we should regard the intellectual autonomy
recommended by Montaigne as an obstacle, not an aid, to
freedom? Perhaps St. John’s, in so far as it aims to make its
students intellectually independent and self-reliant, is
actually harming them.
But even if the Self is ultimately unreliable and true freedom is not to be found within its ambit, it hardly seems likely
that the step of coming to rely upon the Self can be skipped in
the progress toward freedom. Since self-reliance helps us to
break free of external influences, it clearly removes at least
some of the chains that bind us. The resulting intellectual
autonomy is at any rate less constrained than the prior state,
even if it is not the highest possible freedom. Intellectual
freedom may not be the Good, but it is certainly a good worth
possessing. x
Tutor William Pastille is director of the Graduate Institute
in Annapolis.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{Johnnies in the Classroom}
20
SEEKING A FORMUL A FOR
SUCCESS
by Sus3an Borden (A87) and Rosemary Harty
T
wo math teachers, two cities, two nontraditional paths to the classroom.
Steve Travis, a 2002 Annapolis graduate,
tutored students at a middle school in
Annapolis for three years beginning in his
sophomore year. After graduation, he
sought provisional certification and a classroom of his
own. In Santa Fe, Carisa Armendariz Petrie (SF99)
entered a certification program right after graduating in
1999 and now heads the math department at a large high
school. With one in five alumni in the teaching profession,
The College takes a look at what continues to draw young
alumni to teaching.
It’s 7:10 on a January morning when math
teacher Steve Travis walks through the
front door of Bates Middle School. He
spends the next hour photocopying sample equations, writing homework and outcome charts on his classroom blackboards,
patrolling sixth-graders gathering at the
front of the school, welcoming students
inside the building, and serving hall duty.
The door to his class has a sign above it:
“Enter with Pride.” About a dozen students pass beneath it before the bell rings.
At 8:11 a voice comes over the public address system, leads the homerooms in the
Pledge of Allegiance, announces birthdays, recognizes visitors, and congratulates the school’s current crop of “Shining
Stars.” The Stars are asked to drop by
the guidance office to pick up certificates
of merit. The announcements end with
an exhortation to “have a focused and
respectful day.”
Travis entered the teaching profession
in the fall of 2002 with a provisional
teaching certificate and what he now sees
as a touch of hubris. He had tutored part
time during his sophomore, junior, and
senior years at St. John’s and, seeing how
much progress he had made in fairly
short sessions, he was looking forward to
the impact he could have in a classroom
of his own.
He set his sights on the Maryland
Functional Math Test, which each student
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
is required to pass before entering ninth
grade. The test covers basic arithmetic,
problem-solving, fractions, decimals, and
using formulas. At Bates, the pass rate is
low. The test seemed a worthy goal, something to work toward that would give him
clear feedback. His insider’s view of the
school led him to believe that improving
results would be simple.
“There were three teachers who held
my job last year. That’s a lot of failure for
one position. I thought I could come in
and really do things right and make an
effective change. There was a lot of room
for improvement and I thought I could
build on that,” he says. “I am, slowly,
but not like I wanted.”
***
At 8:17 the bell for first period rings and
Travis raises the projection screen that
hangs in front of his blackboard to reveal
the day’s warm-up equations—four problems involving the multiplication and
division of simple integers, both positive
and negative. While others set to work,
a girl in the third row carefully applies
gloss to her lips.
At 8:20 Travis closes the door to his
classroom and asks the students to be
quiet while they work. Three minutes
later he welcomes them back from their
weekend break.
“I’m getting a dog,” a student blurts out.
“Sean, don’t you already have a dog?”
another responds.
Several shout back in unison: “The dog
died.”
Travis announces that in the previous
week’s quiz there were no As and only
�{Johnnies in the Classroom}
d av i d t ro z z o
21
Steve Travis at Bates Middle School
three Bs. A girl who will do no work
during the entire period claims a failing
grade and sets to guessing who got the Bs.
Travis turns out the lights and uses a
transparency and overhead projector to
review the day’s work. When the room
darkens, the noise level immediately
diminishes. Travis will review the same
18 equations 5 times this day, to 5 groups
of students of varying interests and abilities.
“I’ve learned that having a template
like this helps them pay attention. It keeps
them quiet and involved,” Travis says,
somewhat apologetic about this simple
approach to teaching. He points to a timeline of world mathematics he’d posted on
the back wall of his classroom in August.
“I thought I’d be so creative, but you have
to manage the class before you can be
“It takes real
imagination, real
perseverance, and
hard work to reach
an entire classroom.”
Steve Travis
creative and some of the kids really can’t
handle creativity,” he says. “Some of the
most successful teachers in this school
stand at the front of the class and speak
in a calm monotone for the entire period.”
Above the classroom clock a handlettered sign reads: “Time is passing. Are
you?” Travis isn’t sure. His success with
the Maryland Functional Math Test was
well below his expectations. Only 40 of
his 100 seventh-graders passed.
***
Travis has posted a sign to remind
students of the order of operations for
equation-solving (parenthesis, exponents,
multiplication, division, addition,
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�22
{Johnnies in the Classroom}
d av i d t ro z z o
subtraction). But the order of operations is not so clear when teaching
students with a wide range of skills.
If you don’t have multiplication
mastered, does it make sense to
move on to fractions? If your grasp
of decimals is still fuzzy, is it possible
to learn percentages? Travis’
experience tells him that moving
ahead only leaves more kids behind. But his obligation to the
county’s curriculum requires
him to stay on schedule.
“At the beginning I thought
it would be easier to get these
students on track and target areas
where they needed help, but I
found out that when you’re dealing
with so many kids at once you have
to teach the curriculum. As the
lone teacher in the classroom,
it’s hard to address the particular
needs of every student. I’m almost
Annapolis graduate Steve Travis tutors a student.
forced to use generic lesson plans,
which might be good but don’t
always work for every student.”
Fortunately, Travis is not
completely alone in the classroom. Three
St. John’s students—Bryson Finklea,
Elizabeth Laughlin, and Joseph Method—
tutor in his class.
“Sometimes what a kid needs will be
cleared up in 10 or 20 minutes,” he says.
“I can see in the class that they’re lost but
I don’t have the time to work with them.
When they come back after a tutoring
session, the difference is obvious. They’re
enthusiastic, they pay attention, they raise
their hands.”
***
Fifth period starts at 11:30 a.m. and
from the beginning things are not looking
good. The students pass around a moreor-less contraband magazine and when
Travis reaches for it, a keep-away
game begins.
Travis is in a precarious position.
He can’t stop his quest for the magazine
because he’s already committed to seizing
it. Yet he can’t jump in and whole-heartedly
try to grab it because a failure will make
him look foolish—not a good thing for a
first-year teacher.
In the end, Travis is successful. He
quietly walks toward the moving target
“I’m always trying
new strategies, new
techniques to make it
work. Sometimes it
feels like I’m rethinking
my approach every
single day.”
Steve Travis
and only reaches for it when it is clearly
within his grasp. He puts it into a file
cabinet and tries to turn the students’
attention to mathematics.
The equation of the moment:
3 1/3 x = 4 1/6.
A girl solves the problem and then
explains how: after converting the
numbers to improper fractions, she
flipped the fraction on the left and then
multiplied. Travis informs the class that
her method is called the multiplicative
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
inverse and then demonstrates an
alternative method that he learned
when he was in school.
“What year was that?” a student
asks.
“1945,” he answers.
“No, you’d be like, 63,” she says.
“No I wouldn’t. You added
wrong,” teases the 23-year-old
Travis. And now the class is awake,
shouting out how old they think
he’d be if he were born in 1945.
Later, Travis says he regrets his
tendency to joke around: “They
tell you not to even smile until after
Christmas. The students don’t need
you as a friend and they don’t want
you as a friend. They need to respect you, they need to know
your boundaries. Some of these kids
have no boundaries. They live in a
world that can be very insecure.
Some don’t even have food in the
morning—that’s insecurity.
“If I could start the year all over
again,
I would never let anyone speak without
raising a hand. At St. John’s, of course,
you want discourse, but with a class of
30 you need order.”
As the class makes its way through the
equations, a student amuses himself by
singing the Chia Pet jingle: “ch-ch-chchia.” Travis pretends he doesn’t hear.
A sign beneath the classroom clock
reads: “It’s time to do our best.” But
teaching is complicated and it’s not
always clear what’s best. “I’m always
trying new strategies, new techniques to
make it work. Sometimes it feels like I’m
rethinking my approach every single day,”
Travis says.
It’s 2 p.m. and the anticipation of the
final bell is raising the class’ chaos level.
The ongoing chatter of two girls grows
too loud. Travis asks one of them to move
to the front of the class.
“I’ll be lonely,” she whines.
“I don’t care if you’re lonely,” he
answers.
“I do,” she says as she picks up her
books and heads for her new seat.
The class is getting out of hand and
Travis makes a final push to assert his
authority. “When the bell rings, do not
get up. I will dismiss you,” he announces.
�23
{Johnnies in the Classroom}
A girl in the back pouts. “The bell
dismisses me,” she says. But in the end, she
waits for Travis to tell her it’s time to go.
***
Travis’ daily planning calendar is opened
to a quote from B.F. Skinner: “Education
is what survives when what has been
learned has been forgotten.”
What will survive from Travis’ first year
as a teacher?
“I now know how difficult it is to reach
certain students,” he says. “Coming in, I
thought, ‘I know each kid is different and
it might take a couple of strategies, but
I’ll find a way to reach each one.’ I’ve
come to realize that it’s not easy to get
through to everyone. It’s like getting an
orchestra to play—an orchestra that doesn’t
want to play and doesn’t know their instruments very well. It takes real imagination, real perseverance, and hard work to
reach an entire classroom.”
What will survive for his students?
Travis hopes they’ll retain the importance
of effort and perseverance. “I’ve always
stressed to them that more important
than the things I teach is the effort they
give. In an introductory letter I sent at the
beginning of the year, I wrote that I didn’t
care how much they knew, but how much
they were willing to learn. I told them I
was looking for students who are willing
to learn something that’s difficult,
students who will do their best.”
Travis says that this emphasis comes
from his own experience as a student at
St. John’s. “I remember how difficult that
first year was. I kept telling myself just to
try and do my best. When I read the
books, I remembered that the ideas in the
books were difficult even for the people
who wrote them. If it wasn’t difficult, it
probably wasn’t worth thinking about.”
Now in his first year of teaching, Travis
finds himself being offered very similar
advice. “When I get frustrated, I talk to
a friend of mine, Walter Mattson (A87),
who’s also a teacher. He says, ‘Sure it’s
difficult. But if it weren’t difficult, it
probably wouldn’t be worth doing.’ ”
A
t 12:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, Carisa
Armendariz Petrie emerges from the
sanctuary of the math department
office into a sea of raging hormones, teenage angst and overall indifference to the
uplifting benefits of algebra. She comes
bearing the quadratic formula like a rare gift to recipients
who will—one day—become convinced of its value.
With a student body approaching 2,000,
Santa Fe High School seems more like a
small community college than a secondary
school. Its 100-acre campus comprises
some buildings halfway through renovation,
older structures slated for demolition, and
new buildings going up. When the bell
sounds, students drift toward the gleaming
new Academic Center where Petrie teaches
and fill the hallways and staircases. Her
third-floor classroom is decorated with
posters of Albert Einstein, for Petrie,
“the patron saint of mathematics.”
This is the second of Petrie’s three 90minute classes, and the after-lunch crowd
can be tough. But Petrie takes control of
Algebra III with a warm-up problem that
quashes non-math chatter among the 28
students. She turns her attention to the
stack of math papers before her. There
were, she reports, careless mistakes.
Some folks need to read the directions.
And if you need help, she urges, sign
up for tutoring.
“You can gain back 20 of your points
if you correct your mistakes on this test,”
she says. “But I need you to write a
sentence explaining how you made your
mistake. And not just, ‘I messed up.’ I
need you to know where you went wrong.”
She hands out the tests, then moves on
briskly to tackle each of the objectives in
her carefully planned lesson. Her classroom is orderly, her explanations simple,
and her confidence in the students
evident.
Frustration among the students
emerges only once, when a tall girl sitting
in the back tries to evade the question
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
Petrie has asked. Pressed again, the
student becomes angry.
“I told you I don’t know,” she says again.
***
As she explains later, Petrie believes her
high expectations for her students factor
in their success, whether or not students
hold such expectations for themselves.
Their socioeconomic level, their race,
their parents’ education—all are reasons
educational experts say that some of her
students may be “at risk.” Petrie knows
that all students haven’t been prepared
equally—there’s a big disparity between her
economically disadvantaged and better-off
students—but she sees potential in all of
them regardless.
“My students do what they’re expected
to do,” she says. “These students are as
bright and competent and hardworking as
anyone, anywhere. And if you teach them
to be good students, they will be.”
She remembers a conversation she had
with a parent who was upset about a low
grade her daughter earned in Algebra II.
“She was afraid her daughter’s confidence would be blown,” Petrie explains.
“But if this student doesn’t experience
that now, when she goes to college it’s
going to be really hard for her.”
Petrie remembers what it’s like to struggle. She arrived at St. John’s at age 17, an
early high school graduate, and felt overwhelmed almost immediately. She wasn’t
used to such rigorous demands, and the intensity of seminar took some getting used to.
Supportive tutors and a network of friends—
along with lots of encouragement from
�24
{Johnnies in the Classroom}
home—helped her adjust to the Program
and overcome her initial feeling of being
out of place. “I remember really struggling
that first year,” she says.
But among the most valuable aspects of
her St. John’s education, she says, is that
she was required to take on difficult material in mathematics and physics that she
might never have encountered were they
not required by the Program. When she
sees her freshmen in Algebra 1A frustrated
and seemingly overwhelmed by the new
material they’re being asked to master, she
just gives them more—more practice, more
encouragement, more personal and smallgroup tutoring.
“At St. John’s, you’re not taking classes
just because they’re easy and interesting,”
Petrie believes her
high expectations for
her students factor in
their success, whether
or not students hold
such expectations
for themselves.
teri thomson randall
she says. “They’re hard. But you getthrough them and then you know you
really accomplished something.”
In her mathematics classroom, Petrie
can’t use the Socratic method. But she has
taken the simple step of asking students to
carefully read the chapter and think about
it before she begins demonstrating problems. She frequently asks students to write
and talk about mathematical concepts.
Seated on her stool next to the overhead
projector, she prepares one example after
another of problems demonstrating the
day’s objectives. She stops frequently to
make sure everybody’s still with her.
***
Carisa Armendariz Petrie outside Santa Fe High
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
“I’m not a performing teacher, I’m not a
dancing-around kind of teacher,” she says.
“I like to get stuff done.”
�{Johnnies in the Classroom}
25
“Being a first-year
teacher, you have to
learn everything from
the ground up.”
Algebra is in good hands with Carisa
Armendariz Petrie. But teaching wasn’t
her first career choice. She initially considered publishing or journalism, in part because she had seen how hard her mother
had to work as a third-grade teacher in
one of El Paso’s poorest communities.
“She really is a terrific teacher who
makes a difference in the lives of her
students,” Petrie says. “But I could also
see how much it took out of her, how tired
she would be at the end of the day. I couldn’t
imagine a more stressful job.”
Nevertheless, three weeks after graduating
from St. John’s, Petrie found herself in an
intensive teacher certification program
offered through the University of New
Mexico/Santa Fe Public Schools Intern
Program. The program included two
summers of coursework and a year of
practice teaching. Petrie had won her
place in a competitive selection process
that included interviews with 14 people.
She knew right away that she wanted to
be a math teacher, even though she hadn’t
been enthusiastic about math when she
first arrived at St. John’s.
“I’m not a math genius, but I really like
it and I really like the logic—it’s meaningful
to me,” she says.
She became licensed after a year of
teaching math at Capshaw Middle School
and passing a comprehensive state exam.
“Being a first-year teacher, you have to
learn everything from the ground up. And
it’s very hard to be a new teacher. I’d get to
work at 7 in the morning, leave the school
at 6, eat dinner, and fall asleep. I’ve never
been so tired.”
After completing the UNM program,
teri thomson randall
Carisa Armendariz Petrie
Petrie found her Santa Fe High position
at a job fair. Her math and science background at St. John’s—as well as her success
in a rigorous undergraduate program—
was attractive to recruiters. Measured by
indicators such as student achievement,
dropout rate, and community involvement,
Santa Fe is a good high school—the state
Department of Education recently gave it
an “exemplary” rating—and Petrie is happy
to be there. Petrie has done so well at the
high school that she was chosen to be math
department chairperson this year. She’s
also serving on a state committee developing standards for statewide testing in
mathematics. Although she’s not a great
fan of standardized testing, “if that’s what
we have to do, we’ll do it.”
Petrie’s mother is still her role model.
The children in her mother’s class have to
pass a standardized test to move on;
Petrie’s mother teaches school on Saturday
mornings to help them prepare.
“She wants her kids to be successful,”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
Carisa Armendariz Petrie sets high
expectations for her students.
Petrie says of her mother. “And because
of her, they are.”
If teaching isn’t lucrative or prestigious,
its rewards transcend those of other
careers. Petrie’s husband, Geoffrey Petrie
(SF00), is an environmentalist who works
for a nonprofit group called Nuclear
Watch, an organization that keeps tabs on
Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories.
“We both feel the same way. If you
don’t have a job that’s important, that’s
meaningful, then why do it? Sometimes
I find myself saying, ‘I’m so lucky I don’t
have to work.’ But of course, I work very
hard. What I mean is that I get to work at
a job I actually care about.” x
�26
{Outreach}
TECOLOTE
GREAT BOOKS FOR
GREAT T E AC H E R S
Stephen Van Luchene Believes in Inspiring Teachers
by Rosemary Harty
A
fter a week of preparing lesson plans,
teaching, grading papers, and dealing
with classroom discipline problems, how
many teachers would volunteer to spend
four Saturdays in a room with other teachers,
discussing the Declaration of Independence
and other seminal works of America’s political foundation?
In New Mexico, at least 66 of them. Give
Stephen Van Luchene, Santa Fe tutor, the
credit for knowing that teachers—no matter
how overworked or undervalued—are
hungry for genuine conversation and an
opportunity to recharge their intellectual
fire at the seminar table. Beginning last
fall, teachers in Van Luchene’s Tecolote
Group have been reading works related to
the theme “Reflections on Democracy in
America” and discussing them with their
peers. Some of them travel from far corners of the state to attend, and the group
comprises teachers of all disciplines and
grade levels, public school and private
school teachers, and administrators
including the superintendent of
Santa Fe public schools.
Van Luchene envisioned Tecolote as
a way to bring to teachers the St. John’s
approach of inquiry and dialogue centered
on an important text. The name was
chosen to reflect the program’s classical
roots and also for symbolic effect. Tecolote
means owl in colloquial Spanish, and the
owl is an emblem of Athena. The “group”
in the name suggests that this effort can
contribute to a collective force, one united
by ideas and imagination, which Van Luchene
believes must be tapped to improve
K-12 education.
A major inspiration for Tecolote was
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, an
educational reform initiative that requires
states to establish educational standards
and mandates testing to make sure
schools meet these standards. “A lot of
attention goes into determining which
schools get rewarded and which schools
get punished based on standardized test
scores,” he says. “But nobody was looking
to the teachers as people we could trust
and ask to really help to improve our
schools.”
Van Luchene, whose wife is a former
high school teacher, has a history of asking
how public education can be improved
and looking for ways to help. In 1982, he
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
helped launch a new teacher cooperative
and teacher certification project through
the University of New Mexico, the New
Mexico State Department of Education,
and Santa Fe public schools. Many
St. John’s students have been among
those who take this accelerated path to
state certification.
Van Luchene later worked with several
National Endowment for the Humanities
projects at St. John’s, including the NEH
Classics Project, created to bring teachers
to attend the Graduate Institute in Santa Fe
or Annapolis, and Summer Seminar that
gave teachers the opportunity to study
Plato’s Republic or Euclid’s
Elements.
After developing his plan for Tecolote,
Van Luchene went looking for funding
(although supported in several ways by
St. John’s in Santa Fe, Tecolote operates
independently). He wrote grant proposals
and approached foundations, eventually
securing support from the McCune
Foundation, the Bay Foundation, the
LANL Foundation, and Blaugrund
Foundation. Individuals including Tom
Krause and Ray Cave, members of the
St. John’s Board of Visitors and Governors,
and another donor who wishes to remain
anonymous also provided funding. Several
Santa Fe tutors and GI alumni participate
as discussion leaders, and Carol Balkcom,
wife of Santa Fe President John Balkcom,
signed on as a volunteer project manager.
Tecolote brings teachers to campus four
times a year for colloquia. The programs
start at 8 a.m. with coffee and donuts;
tutorials of about eight teachers follow
�{Outreach}
27
s c o t t c a r away
Christopher
Garwood, an
elementary school
teacher from
Albuquerque,
makes a point in a
Tecolote seminar.
Below, Stephen
Van Luchene,
tutor, Santa Fe
from 8:45 to 10:30, then groups of 16
meet for seminars with two discussion
leaders. Luncheons include guest speakers who address issues of liberal education
in New Mexico. In addition to the U.S.
Constitution, readings include
Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,
The Federalist, and the speeches and
papers of Lincoln and Madison. Planning
for next year’s theme is under way.
In keeping with the St. John’s philosophy,
“We aren’t telling teachers what we
think they should know,” Van Luchene
explains. “We’re giving them an approach.” And teachers—many used
to one-way communication in the classroom—thrive on the give and take of
dialogue and the thoughtful responses
their colleagues offer. They return to
their schools with new ideas on how to
deliver their curriculum.
“It’s also a great opportunity for good
teachers to meet other good teachers,”
he adds.
The programs and books are free, and
Tecolote participants are paid an honorarium
of $150 for each session. While the
amount isn’t luxurious, it does recognize
that their time is valuable and helps defray
travel or lodging costs. Van Luchene also
made sure the luncheons were a cut above
ordinary lunchroom fare—complete with
tablecloths and service—as a small but
important way to let teachers know
they’re appreciated, he says.
Charles Olivea, a 35-year veteran of the
classroom, says teachers need programs
like Tecolote to fill “a major gap” in their
education—that is, a program geared to
nurturing intellectual curiosity instead
of delivering pedagogy.
Olivea has taught in public and private
schools in New York and Connecticut, as
well as in New York prisons. He now
teaches history at Santa Fe’s Academy for
Technology and the Classics, a charter
school serving grades 7 to 12.
“From my experience, the majority
of public school teachers limit, and are
expected to limit, their intellectual horizon
to so many conventional and mandatory
graduate school courses,” he says.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
“The notion of participating in an
intelligent discussion grounded on a
common set of texts is virtually alien
within our public school culture.”
In addition to seeing teachers thrive,
Van Luchene believes that St. John’s
College should share its intellectual
resources for the greater good. He hopes
to double the number of participants in
the program in a year or two and also
expects Tecolote to spawn new opportunities, such as a recent seminar for Santa Fe
high school students on Plato’s Republic,
organized with their philosophy teacher,
a participant in Tecolote, and led by
St. John’s students.
“Tecolote is just the right thing for us
to do,” he says. “It’s complementary to
the central work of St. John’s.” By returning
to their schools with the renewed insight
that teachers are lifelong learners, “these
teachers will go back and make a real
difference in the lives of their schools.” x
�28
{Bibliofile}
Rediscovering Homer
Homeric Moments: Clues to
Delight in Reading the Odyssey
and the Iliad, by Eva Brann.
Paul Dry Books, Philadelphia
by Barbara Goyette (A73)
A
fter the six seminars on
Homer my freshman year,
I was sad because I
thought we were finished
with the Iliad and the
Odyssey. I had read the
books, listened intently in the seminars,
talked a little, learned a few things. But
the kind of understanding I had hoped for
from the St. John’s experience was far, far
from realized. What I didn’t know then,
but soon learned, is that we all have a lifetime with the Iliad and the Odyssey. In
the program they serve as reference
points—the beginning of the great themes
of war, peace, misery, elation, self-awareness, fate, compassion, studied for four
years. And beyond St. John’s, for Johnnies
and I bet for many others, every war is the
Iliad, every difficult journey the Odyssey,
every soul-in-progress an Odysseus, every
larger-than-life, full-of-feeling person an
Achilles. Within the past year I read both
books again, for the third time (maybe the
fourth for the Odyssey), because I wanted
to check out the newish translations by
Robert Fagles (very direct and unadorned,
not forced into unnatural rhymes or
rhythms). Now comes this eminently
readable book, Homeric Moments, from
tutor Eva Brann.
I can’t do an honest review of this book.
First of all, I know the author and admire
her intellect and imagination; second, I
work for the college—so whatever I say is
an inside job, lacking in the objectivity
necessary for an honest appraisal. But let
me just make a few points about the book,
from the point of view of someone who’s
spent time with Homer and incorporated
his poems into consciousness but is
certainly no expert.
Structure
Brann shows a happy disregard for the
conventions of literary criticism. She
“Every war is
the Iliad, every
difficult journey
the Odyssey, every
soul-in-progress an
Odysseus...”
doesn’t offer a cohesive point of view for
examining the epics; she doesn’t hog-tie
the poems with the lasso of a single
interpretation. Instead, she writes about
“moments.” Her moments are akin to
epiphanies—a clarity that shines from
the text. The analogy Brann draws is to
the images on a Greek vase. She cites
an amphora image of Ajax preparing his
spear by making it fast in a mound of
earth just before impaling himself upon
it, distraught that he was not awarded the
wondrous shield of Achilles after the great
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
warrior’s death. “For just as the flowing
Homeric narrative can produce in the
attentive reader as a cumulative result a
detailed mental image, so, reciprocally,
a painted picture can be developed into a
tableau vivant, a living image containing
the gist of the whole story, a still, fraught,
vibrating stasis,” she explains. The ancient potter’s vision of Ajax caught in the
intensity of a moment exemplifies what
can be found in Homer as well.
This book makes us better readers of
Homer. The series of moments described—
like the images on the amphora—become
moments for us, created by Homer.
Brann’s interpretations are not barricades
between the books and us but rather
access points. This is not to say that she
does not address the great questions:
What are we to make of the gods and their
interference in human affairs? Why does
the Iliad end with the funeral of Hector
(and not, for instance, the fall of Troy)?
What is the source of Achilles’ wrath and
how is it related to his knowledge of his
impending death? What’s the deal with
Odysseus and the ten-year return? How
much fantasy should we recognize in
Odysseus’ tale? There are more, and
she takes them all on.
The most endearing characteristic of
Homeric Moments, to me, is how alive
the poems are to Miss Brann. Achilles
and Odysseus are somehow known to her—
through an imagination that must be
cinematic in its clarity. She knows the
color of Odysseus’ eyes (brown) and sees
into the psychology of Achilles’ wrath
(“he expends himself youthfully, lives,
even withdrawn from action, the intense,
concentrated, single-minded, abbreviated
life of the death-bound”).
She also offers wonderful pictures
of other Homeric characters. There’s
Hephaestus, the only god who makes
things. His house is “star-decked, bronzebuilt.” And Hector, breaker of horses, is
“an altogether solid though very human
being. He refuses to drink on duty, stays to
save his men, is kind to Helen—and wisely
keeps his distance; he is solicitous even of
his morally slight brother’s feelings…[H]e
has in him a strain of gentle civility.”
�{Bibliofile}
Brannian Insight
Those who like to highlight sections
that provide particular insight in books
they are reading may find their entire
copy of Homeric Moments awash in
yellow. Here are two examples of
Brannian observations:
1. What about the gods and the way
they intervene in human lives for
Homer? “…the pretence of an aiding
god seems to impinge on the purity of
people’s responsibility; every human
accomplishment or failure has a divine
signature on it. But the converse is
also true: Every divine intervention
duplicates a human intention and its
execution…Such reciprocity…makes
the origin of every human deed
questionable, and Homer’s moral frame
as ambivalent as any modern sensibility
could recognize.” Later, commenting
on how Athena transforms Odysseus
at crucial times, she says the gods “
enhance the scenery of human action by
making the looks of people and places
adequate to their inner nature…”
2. A long and fruitful discussion of
Homeric similes helps illuminate the
power of the epics’ poetry. Especially
in the gruesome Iliad, the images in
the similes are beautiful, creating a
double vision. “Similes, it is said,
‘defamiliarize’ the placidly normal
world by reflecting it in estranging
likenesses. Homeric similes, however,
often do the reverse: They project the
excruciating enormities of battle onto
an integral world of peaceful and homely
work as well as onto beautiful and boisterous nature, and so they transfigure
the incessant abnormality
of man-made war. In a flash they show
the isolated siege world of Troy as not
so hopelessly disconnected from the
sound natural world of work and weather,
but bonded to it by sudden visions
of similarity.”
Although it seems to me that any
time is a good time to read Homer, and
to take up Homeric Moments, now—
when war is as real to us as “real-time”
TV coverage and the Internet can make
it—is an especially good time. Miss
Brann’s insights on this ancient conflict
and its aftermath help mitigate the bare
impenetrability of the question: why
does humankind make war? x
29
Cato’s Mirania: A Life of
Provost Smith, by Charlotte
Goldsborough Fletcher
University of Pennsylvania), and ousted
Smith, a founder and provost for 15 years.
So long as they behaved themselves, Miss
Fletcher writes, Loyalists were safe in
Maryland: “The Provost was not a Loyalist,
but the perception that he was lingered.”
To avoid surveillance, Smith moved to
Chestertown, which had been considering
establishing a college for some time.
Smith was the man to do that. He first
opened a school for his two sons, which
subsequently was absorbed into the Kent
County Free School. Its board elected him
chairman. Under his leadership, the
trustees petitioned the Maryland Assembly
to charter the Kent County Free School as a
college. Already with years of fund raising
behind him in Pennsylvania, Smith collected
pledges worth 5,000 pounds. After the
Revolution’s most famous leader’s permission was gained to name the college for
him, Washington College was chartered in
1782 with Smith as its principal and chairman of the board of trustees.
Not content to stop there, Smith was
determined to charter a college on the
Western Shore, which together with
Washington College would form the first
University of Maryland. He believed deeply
in the proposals on education he had written
for a college for his mythical province
of Mirania in America, a plan originally
formulated when New York was considering
such an institution and a plan that so
charmed Franklin he chose Smith as the
first provost of the College of Philadelphia.
“Liberty will not deign to swell but where
her fair companion Knowledge flourishes
by her side,” Smith wrote under the pseudonym of Cato.
He joined with two other clergymen
representing the three most prominent
denominations in Maryland in preparing
a charter for the future St. John’s. The
so-called University Law was drafted by
Smith, the Rev. Patrick Alison, representing
the Presbyterians or Dissenters, and the
Rev. John Carroll, the Roman Catholics.
It was adopted in December 29, 1784, two
days after the festival day of St. John the
Evangelist, patron saint of the Free Masons,
of which Smith, like Washington and
Franklin, was a member.
“The University Law, however, would not
go into effect until a board of trustees was
elected from the group of subscribers who
together had pledged 1,000 pounds,”
Miss Fletcher writes.
University Press of America, Inc.
Charlotte Fletcher served as the librarian
of the Annapolis campus for 35 years,
presiding over a lively, learned center of
civility until her retirement in 1980. However, her lasting contribution to St. John’s
College may be in the work she continued
after leaving the college. In a series of
scholarly articles, only one of which was
written before her retirement, Fletcher
made a tremendous contribution to the
history of the college. Working with a
zeal for getting it right, she was the first
to authenticate the steps that led to King
William’s School becoming St. John’s, a
story which heretofore had the ring of
legend. She wrote a convincing account of
how the college may have been named; an
article on the college’s first president, John
McDowell, and a piece on King William
School and the College of William and
Mary, both founded the same year.
All were published by the Maryland
Historical Magazine and wrapped up in
one 1991 issue of The St. John’s Review
(regrettably out of print). Now comes a
book about the foremost figure in St. John’s
founding, William Smith, a remarkable
Scotsman from Aberdeen and president
pro tem of the college—for one day.
A friend of Benjamin Franklin, with
whom he had an ever-changing relationship, disagreeing as they did over Pennsylvania’s proprietary form of government,
Smith was chosen by the American Philosophical Society to deliver the eulogy at
the society’s memorial service for Franklin.
Among other accomplishments, this
Anglican clergyman wrote the charter
for that distinguished society.
Although turned down as the first
bishop-elect of Maryland (rejected because
he had been seen to stumble on a New York
street, presumably from strong drink),
Smith preached at the consecration of the
first Maryland bishop and remained devoted
to the church. He wrote the preface of the
1789 Book of Common Prayer, unchanged
since then.
Without William Smith, St. John’s
College would never have been established.
Smith arrived in Maryland after the Pennsylvania legislature dissolved the board of
the College of Philadelphia (later the
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
continued on p. 30
�30
Rebecca Wilson served for many years as
the college’s director of public relations in
Annapolis.
Calculus: The Elements
by Michael Comenetz
World Scientific Publishing Inc., 2003
This book by Annapolis tutor Michael
Comenetz provides a full and clear
account of the essentials of calculus,
presented in an engaging style that is
both readable and mathematically
precise. Concepts and central ideas are
emphasized throughout. Physical examples
and interpretations play a leading role, and
Charles Jones (A79)
For Smith, there was much to do.
“Smith traveled on horseback over 300
miles in the winter of 1785-86 to convene
and supervise elections in the Western
Shore counties to validate the St. John’s
charter.”
One can imagine what hardships
were posed by wintry rides on Maryland’s
primitive roads. His service was essential.
Without his commitment, St. John’s
would not have been able to begin classes
five years after the University Law was
adopted.
After Smith returned to Philadelphia,
Maryland withdrew its support for the
first university, and St. John’s and
Washington became, as they are today,
independent colleges.
“The Provost returned to Maryland in
November 1789 to preside as the president
pro tem at the opening of St. John’s
College in Annapolis,” Miss Fletcher
writes. “On that day Smith was president
of three colleges: St. John’s College and
Washington College in Maryland, and
the College of Philadelphia.
Miss Fletcher has written a valuable
book about a figure of enormous energy,
ambition, drive and intelligence. Outspoken,
Smith was not a sentimentalist. He landed
in jail as the result of his German translation of an article protesting the failure
of Pennsylvania Assembly members to
support a militia to protect the ScotsIrish from slaughter by Indians on the
state’s western frontier. A businessman,
he also acquired 70,000 acres of land,
something of which St. Paul would have
disapproved, a major factor in his not
becoming bishop. Part of it became the
site for the town of Huntingdon, Pa.,
which he also founded.
Incidentally of interest is that Miss
Fletcher is a descendant of Smith through
his daughter, Willamina Smith, who
married Charles Goldsborough. Her book
about her distinguished ancestor has been
extensively researched, documented by
numerous notes, and tightly written. It
beautifully rounds out her earlier impressive accounts of the history of St. John’s.
–Rebbeca Wilson (HA83)
{Bibliofile}
is led to a consideration of the Lysis and
Phaedrus.
In the prologue to his work, Geier
describes a moment of inspiration from
the latter work: “One evening, late, after
a class on Plato’s Phaedrus, I was sitting
at one end of a living room. At the other
end, a good distance away, was a fireplace. There was no fire in it at this time.
As I gazed there, into that dark fireplace
(were there ashes there? I don’t remember. There may have been. There probably were), I kept asking myself: just what
is the ‘object’ of Eros. What is it? What
can it be? After a while, as I kept gazing
there, not a short while but not a very
long one, I saw, with great excitement
and delight, the ‘object’ of Eros. It was
the very thing I was looking at and asking
‘what’ about. The very thing I was looking
at and not seeing was the very thing I was
looking for. Had the fireplace not been
dark I would not have seen this. Then I
realized that that ‘object’ was not not
known, but that it was known as unknown; and therefore that it was not just
something unknown, but that it was the
Unknown. I saw in that fire-less fireplace
the very thing that was not there. And
precisely this was (and is) the ‘object’
of Eros.”
Bookbinder’s Finishing Tools
Makers 1780-1965
By Tom Conroy (SF77)
Oak Knoll Press
alternative approaches to fundamental
ways of thinking help the student develop
the intuitive understanding so important
in science and engineering. Many questions and problems, with detailed solutions, encourage active reading and
independent thought.
Plato’s Erotic Thought:
The Tree of the Unknown
by Alfred Geier (A54)
University of Rochester Press
Alfred Geier’s book is presented as an
attempt to understand the nature of the
object of Eros in Plato’s writings. He
considers first the Symposium, where he
is led to a deeper understanding of the
“nature of Love (Eros).” But then the
problem manifests itself as related primarily
to the “way in which Love arises,” and he
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
For anyone interested in the history
of books, here’s a valuable resource
compiled by Tom Conroy. Conroy, an
independent book conservator, fine
binder, toolmaker, and binding teacher
in Berkeley, Calif., has published a
directory listing hundreds of tool-cutters
from 1780-1965 and their firms. The
book includes brief biographies of each
craftsman or firm, original trade marks,
and advertisements.
�{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
31
Remembering Douglas Allanbrook
forward, can distinguish the two. In
“Truth-Telling and The Iliad,” Douglas
remarks out of the blue that if Homer
ever tried to solve any Problems Zeus
would strike him dead with a thunderbolt. Two years later he noted that
some in preceptorial had concluded
that Thucydides was a wise and
perfect cynic.
Douglas thought that wrong. “If no
solution in human affairs is possible,”
he wrote, “it is because nothing of
heartfelt concern is a problem that can
be solved. If no solution is possible,
human excellence calls for courage and
shrewdness to walk hand in hand with
decency and compassion.” He then
concluded with a snapshot of Prime
Minister Indira Ghandi and saintly
[In 1981] Douglas gave a lecture
Mother Teresa, smiling at each other
entitled “Truth-Telling and the
in deadly fashion on TV, each needing
Iliad,” which began: “The terrible
something at that moment from the
word truth implies a parity between
other, struggling to defend something
what we see and what we say.” He
good against the grind. This, it seems,
then suggested that the Iliad and The
is as good as it gets. The good soldier
Peloponnesian War are the only two
Douglas Allanbrook is remembered as a teacher
puts down his head and keeps walking.
books that “consistently exhibit” this
and friend.
My first visit to the house on
quality, that “reflect in their words
Revell Street was to talk about my
and accounts, speeches and stories,
for reflecting, and for setting things
precept paper (which erred on the
the real that is in front of our eyes and
straight. In both of them one feels the
side not of cynicism but naiveté). Douglas
that is so difficult to own up to, or
ache for, and the absence of, an efficacious
happily showed me his piano, recently
to talk about.”
good, and while Socrates may speak of
installed in the renovated attic. The sight
The following year Douglas offered a
himself as the only true citizen of Athens,
of his little workspace, filled with big
preceptorial on Thucydides. Douglas
Thucydides the Athenian has put into the
sheets of music, prompted me to report
persistently pointed to the way Pericles
mouths of his Athenians words that fix
that his recent recording of a Bach prelude
encouraged Athenians to fight not for
forever in our memory the inexorable
and fugue (on the record with McDowell
what might be gained by an enemy’s defeat,
grind of power, time, and moral decline.”
on the cover) had a meditative quality to
but out of love for the beauties of Athens,
In preceptorial we puzzled. Was Pericles
my ears entirely new—something that
which (as Pericles described at some length)
naive to think love of law and similar beauopened not only Bach but the whole of
had to do with law and habits of civilized
ties might prevail? We also read speeches
what we call baroque music to my soul.
behavior. This appeal—to fall in love with
of Lincoln, where again, law, government
Douglas smiled in a now familiar, put-on
Athens for the best of reasons—appealed to
of the people, by the people, for the
way—like a cartoonish wolf in a fedora—and
Douglas’s own sense of patriotism. And that
people, and now Equality, are held up as
said, “Oh yes, Mr. Ney, nobody plays Bach
the love proved inconstant, that the beauties
high values, to be loved at highest cost. A
the way I do!” It seems truer words were
of Athens were neglected and so failed,
sign of progress? Or is that naive? Douglas
never spoken. On my shelf at home is a
Douglas kept in our minds as we worked
provoked us with the suggestion that the
costly collection of CDs rarely touched,
through the book, reading one case history
preservation of the American union had
representing a failed attempt over two
of disaster after another. And a year later,
not been worth its cost in blood—a provoca- decades to find someone who plays Bach
in his lecture, “The Inefficacy of the Good,”
tion rooted, it seems, in his experience as
on the piano with anything like Douglas’
he finished his discussion of Pericles’ first
a soldier, and his tendency to think that the humanism and perfection...
speech by looking forward a few decades to
foundations of political life are troubled
How far from accidental that a brilliant
the demise of democratic Athens:
with termites.
young composer who had been given the
“It would be a shameless naiveté to
A simple distinction pops up throughout
secret of Logos for Fingers would give a
conceive of any of Plato’s political works as
his writing—between Problems, which can
arising from any ground other than one of
good part of his life to teaching in the
be Solved, and Troubles, which cannot and
the blackest pessimism regarding human
Program. What a blessing to have known
so must be endured, or perhaps slipped
affairs….The war was an occasion, first for
him, teacher and friend.x
around. Happy the man who, looking
Thucydides and then for Plato, for observing,
Members of the St. John’s community
came together with family and longtime friends of Annapolis Tutor
Douglas Allanbrook for a memorial
service March 29 in the Great Hall.
Mr. Allanbrook, who had spent half
a century at St. John’s, died in
January of a heart attack at the age
of 81. He had continued to perform
at the college and to lead language
tutorials after his retirement from fulltime teaching.
This remembrance by William Ney,
Class of 1982, was among the many
offered during the memorial service,
which also featured Mr. Allanbrook’s
music.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�32
{Alumni Profile}
Questioning the Blueprint of Human Life
by Jason Bielagus (SF98)
hat is the nature of
life? Can we distill
it into principles?
How are humans
different from all
other forms of life?
How do we know we know something?”
Five years after leaving St. John’s, says
Jacob Keller (SF98), questions like these
continue to intrigue him. He carried his
habit of questioning into the Ph.D./M.D.
program he’s currently enrolled in at
Northwestern University. And he found
it particularly helpful as a researcher in
Columbia University’s Department of
Biological Sciences, where he worked in
a laboratory under Dr. John Hunt.
Keller went to Columbia to gain the
prerequisites needed for medical school;
he went to Hunt to gain research experience. Along the way he landed a credit as
lead author of a paper published in the
scientific journal Structure, saw his
computer-generated model of a protein
featured on the journal’s cover, and gained
another notice of his work in the journal
Science—notable accomplishments for any
established researcher, highly unusual for a
liberal arts graduate in a pre-med program.
The research Keller conducted at the
Hunt lab developed from a larger project
involving dozens of labs working to
complete the Human Genome Project.
Although the human genome has been
sequenced, scientists have yet to discover
the exact function of every gene. By looking
at the structures of proteins our genes
make, researchers hope to discover what
those proteins and the genes that make
them do.
Keller’s research centered on
MT0146/CbiT, a protein required to
synthesize vitamin B12. Previously, it was
thought that MT0146/CbiT was a decarboxylase. Keller proved that it was, in fact,
a methyltransferase.
Nearly every biological function, both
in sickness and in health, happens through
proteins. Knowing how these proteins
work will allow doctors to combat disease
with great specificity. “The current
method is much more trial-and-error, and
therefore requires far more time and
W
money,” says Keller. “This inflates the
cost of drugs and sometimes even prevents
them from being developed.”
Structural biology has led to new treatments for multiple sclerosis, for example.
The disease strikes when a patient’s
immune systems mistake the cells
sheathing the nerves for foreign cells.
The immune system then attacks and
kills those cells, wreacking havoc on the
patient’s nervous system. Recently,
Dr. Jack Strominger of the Harvard Medical
School found that a single protein on the
membrane of the nerve-sheath cells was
triggering the attack by the immune
system. He then found a molecule that
would bind to that problematic membrane
protein, thereby covering it and blocking
it from detection by the immune system.
After taking this new drug, MS patients
no longer have symptoms of the disease.
The technique that Keller and others
use to determine the structure of proteins
is X-ray crystallography. The technique
requires taking the DNA sequence that
codes for the protein of interest and putting it into bacteria cells. Once inside the
bacteria cells, the DNA produces a large
quantity of the protein. After being isolated
and purified, the protein is treated with a
variety of chemicals and conditions to
make the protein crystallize.
“A good crystal is 1/10 — 1/5 of a
millimeter and has about 1015 (a million
billion) molecules in it,” Keller said.
“Once the protein is crystallized, it is
exposed to X-rays. By interpreting the
diffraction patterns of the X-rays, the
structure of the crystal can be determined.
Based on the diffraction patterns, a
researcher can create a computer model
of the protein.”
Examining the structure of the molecule
then allows its function to be determined,
adds Keller. “Wayne Hendrickson, a
crystallographer and colleague at
Columbia, described X-ray crystallography
as a microscope that uses X-rays for light
and a computer for a lens. In St. John’s
terms, I would say that it’s like looking at
the shadows on the wall of the cave to try
to find out what the real forms are.”
The technique owes a lot to Young and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
his light-slit experiment. “That paper’s
framework has great explaining power,
even in terms of modern macromolecular
crystallography. Young’s paper, actually,
has given me a sort of reference point, or
way of thinking, that shapes my understanding to this day.”
Keller isn’t sure he’d be in science if he
hadn’t chosen to come to St. John’s. He’s
certain that he’ll be a better scientist because of the college. “I feel that I have not
had the questioning principle squelched
out of me by question-phobic
lectures. Many people in science are not
even all that excited by their research.
Those who are often make the best scientists.”
His path to medicine stems from a
desire to help people, though he hasn’t
settled on a specialty. As a scientist, he
gains the opportunity to continue to ask
questions and search for the answers. His
Ph.D. research may focus on the structure
of proteins.
“My real dream would be to figure out
how some system works from the atomic
to the macroscopic scale. Like figuring
out how the shape of some protein affects
behavior or the macroscopic realm in
some way. It has been done before, for
example with muscles. They understand
muscle contraction from atoms on up.
“There are ways to use structural information to cure disease, but the big goal of
structural biologists, and this is somehow
more compelling to me, is the study of
these fantastic forms, trying to understand how they work, and discovering
what overall principles guide their behavior.
These structures are really incredible,
because they are right on the verge of
coming to life, yet are made out of simple
atoms. Their component atoms are more
or less understandable as simple elements,
yet the complexity of the relationships
between these components is great. The
single, isolated protein is only the beginning of the real complexity of life.” x
�jim zir
Jacob Keller at Northwestern University
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{Alumni Notes}
34
REMEMBRANCE OF FRESHMAN
YEARS PAST
Have a favorite story from your
first day, week, or month of
Freshman year? Please e-mail it to
Sus3an Borden at s-borden@sjca.edu
for a nostalgia story we’re working on.
1942
J. HEINMULLER sent this note:
“Homecoming was A-1. So glad
I made it. Thanks.”
1951
GEORGE WEND recently traveled to
Thailand and is “deep into digital
photography.”
1955
CAROLYN BANKS AND HELGE
LEEUWENBURGH: “We are still in the
‘Travel for Groups’ business and are
still creative. If anyone is interested,
get in touch. Our last St. John’s tour
was in 1985 to Greece. That’s a long
time ago, but the fun is still longremembered.”
1960
HILDRETH SMITH BECKER writes
from Arizona: “Currently I volunteer at a Swedenborg Church’s
library-bookstore. Busy also with my
granddaughter, Adela, age 7, whose
mother CHRISTINA PAIGE, graduated
from St. John’s (Annapolis) in 1988.
I continue with studies in philosophy and religion.”
1961
DAVE ROSENFIELD writes: “My truly
aimless life continues in reasonably
good health; for this I am thankful,
although, as an atheist, I do not
know to whom or what I am
directing this thanks.
After being unsuccessful at enabling, I moved on to the University of Pennsylvania and earned a
degree (B.S. in economics, major
in finance) from the Wharton
School in 1965—to whatever end
I cannot imagine as I have never
worked in the business world. In
1970, I consolidated several
questionable enterprises into
the WD&R Carpentry Co. (Who,
Didditt & Rahn), which became
immensely successful in highpriced architectural restoration
(not repair) and light commercial
construction. Whatever made me
imagine I was an academic?
My days are just filled! Since
retiring from business in 1986, I
never get a day off. I have a small
business, Sanborn Shooters
(www.sanbornshooters.com) that I
operate from home. It is a federally
licensed machine gun company
with a gun range here on the ranch.
Other interests include my vintage British Motorcycles, pyrotechnics, (my wife, Mary Ann [Sanborn]
& I are both licensed professional
display pyrotechnic operators) and
reading junky detective novels.
Mary Ann intends to sell her businesses soon. After that I will sell
the machine gun business and we
will devote more time to travel
and our pyro work. I still have not
decided what I want to do when I
About that English Weather
EONARD KAHN (SFGI96) spends about half of his
time in the UK as a doctoral student in philosophy at
the University of Oxford and the other “in Southern
California trying to recover from the collective onslaught of English weather and English food
(so-called). My wife has decided to forgo the British
experience and (quite wisely) only deigns to leave the West Coast
of the U.S. for our brief forays to Europe proper. After bumming
around Italy in the summer of ’02, we decided that if St. John’s
establishes a third campus in Siena we would strongly consider
making a repeat performance as senior residents! I would love
to hear from old friends as well as from any Johnnies wandering
through the city of dreaming spires (or considering study here).
Drop me a line at leonard.kahn@magdalen.oxford.ac.uk.” x
L
grow up—but there is plenty of time
for that sort of thing. Mercifully, I
have never been jailed, produced
issue, or voted Democrat. We
welcome visitors on our ranch near
Austin, Texas: Davinryder@hotmail.com”
1962
NEIL CHARLES POTASH spent an
October day with classmate JOHN
FRANKLIN MILLER at the Edsel &
Eleanor Ford House. The tour was
interesting to Potash, a retired historian, especially since it was conducted by the museum’s curator
and president, Miller. After a delicious lunch—including much Johnnie reminiscence, Neil returned to
Bowie, Md., where he continues to
work on his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland.
JOHN FRANKLIN MILLER, president
of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House,
has been appointed president of
the Library of American Landscape
History (LALH). Based in Amherst,
Mass., LALH was founded on the
belief that clear, informative books
and exhibitions about North American landscape design would broaden support for enlightened landscape preservation. In recent years,
LALH has produced a number of
publications, such as Pioneers of
American Landscape Design, The
Spirit of the Garden, Landscape
Gardening, and Landscape Architecture in the Midwest. According
to Miller, the importance of landscape preservation is illustrated in
many of the Ford family sites.
“Landscape and landscape-garden
preservation have come of age in
the late 20th century, following
upon earlier successes in architectural preservation,” said Miller.
“The Ford family has had an important role in this, since their environmental stewardship began when
Henry Ford commissioned the
visionary designer Jen Jensen to
create the landscapes for ‘Fair
Lane,’ Greenfield Village, and the
Henry Ford Hospital; and Edsel
Ford commissioned Jensen to create
landscapes for the Ford House in
Grosse Pointe, ‘Skylands,’ in Maine
and ‘Haven Hill’ near Clarkston.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
1970
LES MARGULIS (A) sends news from
Australia: “I have had an eclectic
career. My first job out of school
(B.A. in philosophy) was working at
a porno movie house. Didn’t make
my Jewish mother happy. Went back
to school and got a master’s in advertising (had an appropriate background given that ad execs are
sometimes called ‘whores’). Eventually, wound up at BBDO where I
stayed for 25 years and ran one of
their international divisions. Lived
abroad for a while and traveled extensively, but was not getting rich.
Left BBDO in 1999 to seek my fame
and fortune during the Internet
go-go years. Nine months and $100
million dollars of investors’ money
later, the company went bust. I migrated back to advertising and
worked as VP for a Hispanic agency.
And now I am on my way to
Australia to be president of the
largest multicultural agency there.
I am looking forward to kicking back
and putting another shrimp on the
barbie. If any Johnnies pass through
Sydney, my e-mail is
lesmargulis@hotmail.com.”
1973
MARY TARAIL (SF) is still working
full time as a psychiatrist as part of
Mount Sinai Hospital in New York
City. Her grandchild, Isabella, is 3
years old. She reports that she is
finding time to read again and has
been in touch with LIZZIE GOLDWIN,
who is well.
MOZELL LANG (MORRIS) (SFGI)
retired from the Michigan Department of Education as a science
consultant in October 2002. She
now works as a science consultant
for the Pontiac Schools.
1974
JON HUNNER (SF) continues to direct the Public History program at
New Mexico State University, where
he received tenure last year. His
book, Inventing Los Alamos, will be
published in 2003 by the University
of Oklahoma Press.
CRUGER JOHNSON PHILLIPS (A) is
executive director of a small nonprofit called Hopeworks, which
�35
{Alumni Profile}
christopher huston
Working to Safeguard Fundamental Rights
Juan Villaseñor, at ACLU’s headquarters in New York
by Rosemary Harty
uan Villaseñor (A97) was alarmed
by what followed in the wake of the
September 11 attacks: expanded
domestic spying programs, secret
military tribunals, and similar
government efforts to gather
information and evidence on
foreigners and citizens alike. From where
he stood, fundamental American rights
were under attack.
“I saw what the government was doing to
our civil liberties and rights in the name of
national security, and it really kind of scared
me,” he says.
His first response was to join the American
Civil Liberties Union. Then, while clerking
for a federal judge in his first year out of
Vanderbilt University’s law school, he
applied for and won the ACLU’s prestigious
J
William J. Brennan First Amendment
Fellowship. He began the yearlong fellowship in the organization’s national offices
in New York last September and has gained
experience working on several high-profile
ACLU cases. Many involve free speech and
the Internet. Villaseñor has also worked on
cases that are part of the organization’s
attempts to block antiterrorism measures
it believes infringe on basic constitutional
rights.
In addition to a chance to work for something he believes in, the fellowship has
provided an opportunity to work on a broad
variety of important cases with skilled and
dedicated lawyers.
Among his first cases was Melvin v Doe,
the first case of its kind to reach a state
supreme court, and one expected to shape
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
laws governing free speech on the Internet.
In joining the case, the ACLU seeks to protect anonymous speakers in cyberspace who
face legal intimidation from public officials
whom they criticize. The case involves a
Pennsylvania Superior Court judge seeking
to unmask the identity of an anonymous
web master who criticized her for lobbying
the governor to fill a judicial vacancy. The
ACLU, in defending the web master, seeks
to defend the basic American right to
criticize public officials.
Although the Internet has changed the
delivery of the message, the basic rights are
the same as those established in a landmark
1960 case, Talley v California, in which a
man was fined for distributing anonymous
handbills in violation of a Los Angeles
continued on p. 36
�36
{Alumni Profile}
municipal code that required such literature
include a name and address. The Supreme
Court found the code unconstitutional. In
a later case, Reno v ACLU, the Supreme
Court declared the Internet as a new and
powerful democratic forum in which anyone
“can become a town crier with a voice that
resonates farther than it could from any
soapbox.”
“If the Pennsylvania Supreme Court finds
against our client, then his identity will have
to be revealed,” Villaseñor explains. “He
will unnecessarily suffer embarrassment,
and all because he engaged in political
speech—the expression that lies at the very
core of the First Amendment.
“More broadly, however, other anonymous speakers will experience a chilling
effect because they will be unwilling to
engage in criticism of political or other
public figures for fear that they be sued
for defamation”
So far on the Melvin case, the ACLU has
lost in the lower courts;
Villaseñor has been involved in several motions to quash subpoenas filed on behalf of
the plaintiff and co-drafted the appeals to
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The case
should be heard by the state high court this
spring.
Another First Amendment case Villaseñor
is working on involves the American Library
Association, a case up for review in the U.S.
Supreme Court. A three-judge court in
Philadelphia ruled that libraries could not
be required to install Internet filters as a
condition of federal funding. The ACLU is
co-counsel in that case.
“Basically at issue is whether Congress
could pass the Children Internet Protection
Act (CIPA),” Villaseñor explains. “These
filters underblock, they don’t catch the
sites that they’re supposed to catch, and a
lot of sites that have scientific information
seeks community solutions for problems families face raising teens.
DAVID MACLAINE (SF) had a successful reading at the Lupin
Naturist Club of excerpts from his
collection of poetic parody/transformation “The Naked Bard” in
the summer of 2002.
PAUL SZABO (A) recently joined
Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP in
Cleveland, as a senior attorney
specializing in intellectual property
law. He counsels publicly- and
privately-held clients regarding
may be blocked from view simply because
of anatomical terms you might find within the site.”
The ACLU is representing a public
library in the case; Villaseñor is involved
in researching and preparing briefs.
A fascinating case Villaseñor has worked
on centers on the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) and involves a
number of historic firsts. Enacted in 1978,
“Given our
constitutional values,
we simply are not a
society that wants to
block speech.”
Juan Villaseñor
FISA established a special court, composed
of seven federal district court judges, to
review the attorney general’s applications
for authorization of electronic surveillance
aimed at obtaining foreign intelligence
information. Last May, this court took the
unprecedented step of making public its
unanimous decision rejecting the
government’s bid to expand spying powers
directed at American citizens. The attorney
general then appealed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, a
body convened for the first time and comprising three Court of Appeals judges
selected by Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
“The ACLU asked the court for permission to file an amicus brief on behalf of
patent, copyright and trademark
matters. A registered patent attorney, Szabo renders opinions as to
patentability, right to use, patent
infringement, and patent validity
issues.
1976
BETSY DAVENPORT (SF) lives with her
family in Portland, Ore. She has a
private practice doing psychotherapy
and parenting consultation, and is
developing a specialty in adult
ADHD and the challenges it presents to families. Her daughter is 10,
what we represent. The court allowed us
to file a brief, but ultimately rejected our
arguments,” says Villaseñor. “The court of
review reversed the trial courts and basically has foreclosed—at least on its face— any
way that anyone can appeal the decision.”
The Supreme Court recently refused an
appeal of the decision.
These developments are very disturbing to
Villaseñor, especially since he believes most
Americans aren’t aware of what’s at risk.
“Any average, law-abiding citizen must
be concerned about the FISA court powers.
It circumvents the Fourth Amendment,
allowing searches on less than the constitutionally required probable cause, and the
target of the search would likely never
know that he or she is a target at all. Any
‘evidence’ gathered against him or her may
never be used against the person.”
Working for the ACLU—which faces
occasional attacks from mainstream America
as well as conservative critics for some of
its battles—is “definitely a conversation
piece.” But misconceptions often cloud the
ACLU’s image and purpose, Villaseñor
believes.
“If people think that we (ACLU staff) are
for child porn or we are in favor of children
viewing material that is harmful, that is
completely and patently false. What we are
in favor of is that the government cannot
tell you what material you should be looking
at. You as a parent can install a filter in
your own private computer, but that doesn’t
mean the government should require
it in public libraries.
“Given our constitutional values, we
simply are not a society that wants to block
speech. The answer for free speech is more
speech, not less. That includes hateful,
racist, and other kinds of controversial
speech.” x
the “big” kids are 34 and 36, and her
grandsons are 2 and 6. Her husband
will retire from university teaching
in January 2003.
After almost 20 years as a trial
attorney in both public and private
practice, WILLIAM W. NOOTER (A) is
now a magistrate judge on the D.C.
Superior Court, having been
appointed in October 2000. Bill
currently presides over cases in
Family Court. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Elissa Free,
and daughter, Amanda, age 11.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
ANNE NICOLE SCHLESS (SF) writes
“I am living on a piece of ‘paradise
found’—writing, carving, singing
and building a workshop. I run a
small company for a living and am
really enjoying the people and the
challenge—basically loving life,
including the ups and downs.
Greetings to all!”
1977
WILLIAM MALLOY (SF) writes:
“My techno-addresses have
changed. On the one hand,
the new home phone number is
�37
{Alumni Notes}
713-283-9444, and on the other
hand, the new email address is
ogopogo@sbcglobal.net On the
other other hand, the mailing
address remains P.O. Box 570822
in Houston, Texas 77257-0822.
Let me hear from you, even if we’ve
never met, particularly if you don’t
recognize the palindrome ‘ogopogo.’
“Open question to anyone: In what
ways does the Ethernet resemble
phlogiston? In what ways does it not?”
1978
THOMAS WOOD (SF) has taken a new
position as coordinator of the core
curriculum at St. Mary’s College of
Ave Maria University in Orchard
Lake, Mich.
1979
JEFF MCELROY (SF) writes, “I have
recently left my 14-year career in
nonprofit fund-raising and reactivated
my law license. I have opened a law
office in my Hollywood guest house
so that I can better parent my 7-yearold son. My practice is focused on
tax-exempt organizations and adoption for lesbian and gay parents.”
1980
GERI GLOVER (SF) closed her
private practice in Santa Fe in May
2002. She now splits her time between Santa Fe on the weekends and
the Alamo Navajo Reservation near
Magdalena, N.M., during the workweek. She is the Child and
Adolescent Behavioral Health
Services coordinator for Alamo.
TOM G. PALMER (A) writes: “I
greatly regret having missed the
20th reunion, but I had agreed long
ago to participate in the international meeting of the Mont Pelerin
Society in London, which took place
over the same week. I was nominated
for membership and the nomination
was accepted. (The society was
founded in 1947 in Mont Pelerin,
Switzerland, at an international
meeting of liberal scholars called
together by Friedrich A. Hayek to
undertake the rehabilitation of
classical liberal thought.) I’ve recently taken over editorship of the
Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. As
a senior fellow of the Cato Institute,
I’ve also published a number of
essays on the economics of property,
constitutional government after
9-11, globalization, and other topics.
I’ve been on the road a lot, giving
lectures at universities, speaking at
conferences of newspaper editors,
and speaking before business
groups. My position at Cato keeps
me busy—it’s pretty much my dream
job. I may have the record for SJC
alums in long-distance relationships, as it’s now been over seven
years that my partner and I have
lived in different countries. He’s
British, we met at Oxford, and he
lives in London. We do manage to
see each other four or five times a
year, in America or in Europe (we
managed to spend nearly two weeks
together in France this summer
when I was lecturing at the University
of Aix-en-Provence). Someday we’re
hoping to be able to live together
in some country, at least for
some time.”
1981
SARA MARCY (SF) writes: “I am
very sorry to inform the college
community of the death, last April,
of LANCE FORSYTHE (SF). After a
short illness he passed away and
was brought to the mountains in
Montana, where, as those who
knew him can attest, he will rest
happily.”
1982
PETER FISK (SF) has a busy chiropractic office and teaches network
spinal analysis. NATASHA (WALTER)
FISK (SF84) is doing aura balancing
from a perspective of drawing out
some wisdom from energy blocks.
Their daughter, Gioia, is 6 and is in
the first grade at the San Francisco
Waldorf School.
REBECCA (COURSEY) KING (SF)
writes: “During the last five years
I have undergone a significant personal transformation, resulting in
a divorce from my husband of 16
years and moving from Montana to
Santa Cruz, Calif. I am completing
my fourth and final year at the
Barbara Brennan School of Healing,
where my senior project is on erotic
transfer in the healer-client relationship. I work as a spiritual energy
healer as well as a counselor/sex
educator specializing in the fascinating field of relationships, intimacy, and sexuality. I’ve begun
writing articles based on my field,
and have found myself deeply involved with Tantric Buddhism as a
base for my spiritual practice and
reconnection with the feminine. I
have also deeply explored Shadow
Work, Jungian Dream Analysis,
Depth Psychology, Tantra, a lot of
workshops on sexuality, and a lot of
truly unique relationship experiences. My daughter, Galen, is 8 1/2
and lives primarily with Dave in
Montana. She spends about one
week out of every five with me and
loves the ocean and the redwoods.
So after years of living a very sociably acceptable and financially secure life, with a friend and loving
companion, I am finally returning
to something which has been calling me, the soul’s longing to live
something yet unexplored inside of
me, for which I was still hungering
when I left St. John’s. I continue to
ponder existential questions of
reality and devote a great percentage
of my time to spiritual practices
and meditation and inquiry and energy-healing work. I still love to
dance and have trained in various
movement therapies. This summer
I reread Antigone and Oedipus Rex
to regain insight into the underlying
mythic level of sexual dysfunction.
I read Jungian books for fun and
scintillating intellectual intrigue,
and wonder just what I will study
next. Blessings and radiance to all
my fellow Johnnies.”
1983
ARTHUR EDISON (SF) is an associate
professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of
Florida. He studies neurochemicals
and spends most of his time at work
thinking about worms (nematodes)
and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance). He is happily married to his
wife, Katherine (20+ years), and has
two great kids, Emily, 17, and
Maddy, 15.
SUZAN M. PORTER (SF) will be
teaching sixth-grade science and
seventh-grade pre-algebra at the
NOVA School in Olympia, Wash.
“NOVA is a middle school which
serves academically talented youngsters, and I’m very much looking
forward to the challenges.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
1987
LARRY DAVIS (SFGI) graduated with
an M.A. from Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary in Austin,
Texas, in 2002, and was the first
person to walk across the stage and
get a diploma in the seminary’s
centennial year.
JOEY COXWELL (SFGI) and his
wife, PATTI (SFGI92), have been
on the move again! They are now
in Meridian, Miss. Joey teaches
AP chemistry and physics and
sometimes astronomy, and Patti
teaches elementary music to 1,050
students in grades K-6. Their
daughter, Joanna, will be attending school with mom in the fall.
She is the only student in her
preschool class who knows all the
planets, in order! Patty writes:
“We are not accomplishing ‘great’
things compared to most of what
I read in the alumni section, but
we sure are enjoying being fouryear-olds again! We’ve lost touch
with most everyone due to moves.
Our e-mail address is
Falala1701@aol.com.
Just put your name in the subject
line so I won’t dismiss it as spam.”
1988
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN (SFGI) writes,
“After this update I will hold off for
a decade or so! February and the
first week of March the goal is to add
350-400 miles—somewhere around
there—on to 900 miles previously
skied in Scandanavia. Health and
weather allowing, that will make for
a continuous line from Oslo to
Knivskjellodden. Living in Telluride, Colo., it will take a few days
to get comfortable with the low
elevation. Otherwise I am definitely
ready to go.”
SUKUMAR PERIWAL (A) writes from
Canada: “Greetings to friends from
St. John’s. Not having been in touch
since graduation in 1988, it’s intimidating to catch up. While doing a
D.Phil. at Oxford I lived in Prague
for a few years doing research on
nationalism and teaching at a new
international university there, then
traveled around, writing columns
and a serialized novel for an Italian
newspaper. Now I live in Victoria,
British Columbia, where I work for
�38
{Alumni Notes}
the government of British Columbia
in international relations. I got
married last summer to Eleonora
Babejova, ending the longest longdistance relationship in history.
I’ve stopped smoking and completely
changed personality type but would
still love to hear from long-lost
friends at:Periwal@gems5.gov.bc.ca.
”
ELLEN SCHWINDT (A) writes: “After
spending 13 years in Baltimore,
mostly in education of one sort or
another, I’ve recently moved to
South Conway, N.H., and I married
a Civil War historian named
William Marvel. I’m running a tiny
community music school, teaching
violin, piano, and music theory,
visiting a weekly peace vigil, and
supplementing my own two
children’s educations with snow
experiments, more music, and
general dragooning.”
1989
BEVERLY ANGEL (SFGI) graduated
from the University of Texas Law
School in May 2002 and joined a
very small firm in a small town near
Austin. “It’s a steep learning curve
but I’m enjoying it immensely.”
From JENNIE PACKARD (SF): “I’m
delighted to report my engagement to Robert McGee. A former
Army officer, Robert is now a
computer systems engineer here
in Santa Fe. We feel very blessed
to have found one another, and
I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
1990
KELLY KOEPKE (SF) writes: “My
freelance writing business is going
well, our fixer-up house is eating all
our money, but we love it!”
JIM KOLSKY (SF) reports that he and
his wife have returned to California
after a 10-year absence: “I am now
directing the Information Intelligence Department at E&J Gallo
Winery in Modesto. Lots of great
perks for wine connoisseurs, of
which I am not one…yet!”
After leaving St. John’s, WILLIAM A.
SCOTT (AGI) earned a law degree at
the University of Maryland. He was
recently appointed assistant commissioner of the Maryland Department of Public Safety, Division of
Correction. He serves on the board
of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony.
1991
LAKE (JAMES) PERRIGUEY (SF) is
a lawyer representing people and
small business in state and federal
court. His clients include pornographers and churches, war protesters,
mothers, fathers, and entrepreneurs.
HEATHER NOONE (SF) and her
husband, CHRIS LA BONTE (SF92),
write that they are enjoying their
time in Carbondale, Colo., where
they moved after Chris finished
school in Austin. Heather is in a
master’s of counseling program at
Pacifica, Calif., and they are thinking
of moving to Southern California.
1992
JOHANN AND ANGELA KLAASSEN
(SF), became the proud parents
of twin boys, Abram George and
Benjamin Thomas, on May 23, 2002.
MICHAEL BROWN (SF) is living
and working in San Francisco and
would be delighted to hear from
old friends. He can be reached at
M100brown@yahoo.com or
415-734-9500.
1993
TOM LISCO (SFGI) was privileged
to attend the 2001 Sino-American
Educational Forum (co-sponsored
by People to People Ambassadors
and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) in
Beijing, China.
JENNA PALMER (SF) and JAMES
MICHEL (SF92) are happy to
announce the birth of their first
child, Luise Ruth Michel, born
May 17, 2002. For pictures, visit
http://photos.yahoo.com/luluruth. Jenna has been teaching
English in colleges around the Bay
Area, but will be taking time off to
help Jim run his law office, which is
in its sixth year in San Francisco.
They can be reached at
jenna_palmer@hotmail.com or
jamichel@sbcglobal.net.
1994
THE REV. NATHAN J.A. HUMPHREY
(A) has been busy uniting couples
in wedlock, and some of them are
Johnnies. “In October, I officiated
at two Johnnie-related weddings:
On the 5th for Jordan Asher Finch’s
sister, Allison. Jordan was best man
and his fiancée, QUINBY OWEN
(A01), was a bridesmaid. On the
19th, I married fellow classmate
YVONNE BELANGER (A94) to Jeff
Pomerantz, friends of WILL
GLUSMAN (A92) and AMY (HOFFMAN)
GLUSMAN (A93), who were in
attendance.”
In February IVY TURKINTON (A)
was named director of strategic
planning, information technology,
and government relations for
United Way Services of Cleveland.
Previously, she was director of organization development for the
Tri-Counties Regional Center in
Santa Barbara, Calif.
1995
LYNARRA FEATHERLY (SF) writes:
“KATHLEEN EAMON (SF97) and I will
celebrate our 10-year anniversary
next year. How does she do it?
MEGHAN JUDAY (SF) and Eric
Savage are expecting their first
baby in April 2003.
SHARON A. MORRIS (A) now goes by
her middle name, Alexa. She is the
executive director of the MPLS
Forum, an international industry
organization driving worldwide
deployment of multi-protocol label
switching networks, applications,
and services. Formed in 2000, the
forum serves as a meeting ground
for service providers, equipment
manufacturers, component vendors,
and testing companies to address
the needs of the industry.
“Hello class of ’95 and those who,
like me, never made it to fruition,”
writes ANDREW HECK (A). I look
back to my short stay at St John’s
with humor and awe, and wondered what has happened to those
who made my stay so very bizarre
and exciting. I’ve been spending
my time in the service of fermentation (baking bread) and playing
music (nothing like Iron Bladder.)
Should anyone from second floor
Randall, hippies on parade, those
who sledded with the beer fairy,
drank with me at the Immaculate
Conception and Running of the
Snake wish to reach me, my
address is 1252 Highland Ave.,
Chattanooga TN 37405,
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
e-mail born2drinkus@
yahoo.com, phone: 423-266-1879.”
1996
SAM DILLEHAY (SF) and Katie
Bradford, both living in Brooklyn,
plan to be married in the middle
of next year. Send your congratulations to sdillehay@yahoo.com.
JOHN WHITFIELD POTTER (AGI)
reports: “I’m in my senior year of
the Master of Divinity program at
Princeton Theological Seminary.
I plan to be ordained as a minister
in the Presbyterian Church (USA)
sometime next year. I’d love to get
back in touch with old friends. My
address is SBN 314, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ
08543 and my e-mail address is
john.potter@ptsem.edu”
FRANCK ROARK (A96) and his
business partner, Colin Brotherton, have formed a limited liability
corporation in New York. Writes
Frank: “One part of the company
is a retail store in Potsdam, N.Y.,
called Woodland Gardens. The
store (the name of which was inspired by Wordsworth) specializes
in three areas of design retail: first,
providing fine home accessories
that are uncommon to the region
and searching out extraordinary
pieces that are unique to the
region. Next, creation of custom´
designed interiors. Third (and most
definitely not last), delivering its
highly acclaimed “garden-style”
floral designs of superlative quality
and style. All Johnnies who happen
to find themselves in-or-around
the Clarkson University area are
welcome to stop in and contemplate beauty.”
1997
MARCELLE HOMER (SF) is doing
graduate work in rhetoric and
teaching at Idaho State University.
DEBORAH T YRRELL (SF) and JEFF
HUGGINS (SF) were married on
October 13, 2001, and are living
in Albuquerque.
PIA THADHANI (A): “I suppose an
update is long overdue. After graduating from law school last year, I
started work at a law firm in New
York and I find it is a surprisingly
pleasant work environment! If
�39
{Alumni Notes}
Quiet Neighbors
and a Baby Boy
(SF86) writes: “My husband, Graham
Garner, and I were overjoyed to bring a baby boy,
Simon, into the world on March 27, 2002. He is
amazingly cheerful and social, and we’re having a
wonderful time playing with him in the lovely Quaker
burial ground (just outside Philadelphia) where we
live and serve as caretakers. Our neighbors are very quiet and
seem fairly friendly. Graham and I share a job as managers of
QuakerBooks of Friends General Conference, which is ideal for
getting plenty of time with Simon. Recently DEBBIE HUMPHRIES
(SF86), who started out in our class, stayed here while she and
her husband were in Philly at an AFSC board meeting. She and I
keep finding Johnnies that
also happen to be Friends
(Quakers), which is remarkable since there are so few
of both in the world, though
they do seem to promote
compatible ways of
approaching life. AMY BIANCO
(SF86) has also been to visit
with her sharp sweetie, John
Whysner, whom she married
in September. I’d love to hear
from anyone who remembers
me and we love to have folks
visit. You can contact me at
ledgleg@earthlink.net.” x
L
UCY DUNCAN
anyone would like to discuss law
school, law firms in New York, or
catch up, I can be reached at pia.
thadhani@cliffordchance.com”
tion. For many years it has been
my dream to come back and make
a difference here on the beautiful
slopes of the Alleghenies. Here I
am; now the difference remains
to be seen.”
CELINE BIANCA BOCCHI (SF)
writes, “Hi everyone! Life is
beautiful, isn’t it? I am living in
Rio de Janeiro, close to the beach,
with my cat, Pixel, and my fiance,
Roberto. We have a nice little
guest room, so feel free, if you just
happen to be in the neighborhood,
to give me a call (021-2429-5503).
Abracos da cicade maravilhosa!”
INA WUNDRAM (SFGI) is now
retired from Emory University and
is a professor emerita. She is also
a first-time grandmother of a baby
girl, Savannah.
JUDITH TOLIVER NEELY (A) has
taken on the job of revitalizing
her native city, Aliquippa, Pa.:
“This is an old industrial city
on the Ohio River just 22 miles
northwest of Pittsburgh, often
called the cradle of the labor
union movement. It has been
plagued with growing rates of
decay, crime, poverty, drug abuse,
and a steadily decreasing popula-
LORNA JOHNSON (ANDERSON) (SF)
has moved with her new husband to
a beautiful neighborhood in Chicago and is now working from home as
an executive recruiter for her parents’ company. She is also working
as an assistant stage manager for a
fantastic play at a theater in
Evanston, Ill. The play is titled Mad
Forest,by Caryl Churchill, and she
has been invited to assistant direct
several upcoming shows.
1998
HEATHER MACLEAN (SF98) will
be moving to Austin, Texas, this
winter. While in Austin she plans
to pursue a graduate degree in
American Studies at the University
of Texas at Austin. One of her longrange plans is to work in an art
library, and earning a second graduate degree will help with this goal,
as most art librarianship positions
require a master’s in an art-related
subject. For the last three-and-ahalf years she has been working
as the associate librarian for
Cataloging and Computer Services
at the Santa Fe campus library.
During this time, she also received
her master’s in library science
from Emporia State University in
Kansas in August 2001 by completing their distance education program. muddyhands2@yahoo.com.
MICHAEL O’BRIEN (SFGI) writes:
“After bouncing back and forth
between Alaska, New Mexico, and
Vermont for the past few years, I
have settled in Fairbanks. I’m still
exploring wilderness and running
marathons, but I also recently
became a lawyer. Go figure. Anyone
wanting to get in touch can reach
me at: meoem2002@hotmail.com.
1999
Changes for BETHANY MATSUSHITA
(SF), formerly Bethany Ann
Creswell: “I am one of the many
who went on to another place,
eventually. However, after two years
at St. John’s, I felt that I had found a
niche of a sort and now, I suppose,
I am trying to get back in contact
with old friends and fond memories
of yore. As of last March I graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts in art at
Eastern Oregon University in
La Grande, Oregon, and—not long
afterwards—married a man Japanese in origin and 15 years my senior
(a sociology major of the same
university). Now we are both in
Portland, Oregon, slaving away
and paying off student loans, and I
would love to hear from any of you.
You can reach me at bcreswell@
excite.com.”
HONOR MOODY (SF) is currently cataloguing audiovisual Judaica at the
Harvard College Library. She
is also working towards her master’s
in library and information sciences at
Simons in Boston, MA. You can reach
her at moody@fas.harvard.edu.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
MICHAEL HOKENSON (SF) is pursuing an MBA and MS at the University of Michigan. He plans to pursue
entrepreneurial work in Asia upon
graduation.
2000
PAIGE ELIZABETH FORREST (A)
is now a medical student at the
University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine. Following graduation
from St. John’s, she completed a
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
summer research internship at the
University of Virginia School of
Medicine, then attended James
Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., for a year of self-designed post-baccalaureate studies
to complete the science prerequisites for entrance into medical
school. In her spare time at James
Madison, she became a certified
emergency medical technician
with the Harrisonburg Volunteer
Rescue Squad.
JIM HALL (SF) is in his second year
of law school at Seattle University
School of Law. He’s doing well and
loving the law!
CHRIS JONES (SF) writes, “I am
now in my last year at Yale Divinity
School, and I’m in the process of
applying for pastoral counseling
programs. I hope one of them
takes me back that way–back to
those beautiful sunsets!”
ANDREA QUINTERO (SF) and SAM
MARKHAM (SF) are living together
in London and doing post-graduate
work. Andrea studies art history at
the Courtauld Institute, and Sam
studies book history at the School
for Advanced Studies, University of
London.
BRITTA RILEY (SF00) spent some
time in Florida, but is now back on
the ranch in Brenham, Texas, where
she is a construction foreman and
carpentry apprentice for a residential remodeling contractor. Britta
has founded an organization called
the Texas Adult Recreation Initiative that “undermines the immediate association of exercise with
lonesome drudgery. We work with
advertising firms and public park
departments around the state to
create existence systems and advertising campaigns for open, noncompetitive, commitment-free,
coed, pick-up games in soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball. We
�40
{Alumni Profile}
An Anlage for Logophilia
A Lover of Language Publishes a Book on Rare Words
BY SUS3AN BORDEN, A87
H
allie Leighton (SF92)
collects words. From
the Latinate allicient
(attracting) to the Arabic
zarf (a cup-shaped device
for holding hot coffee
cups), she is drawn to unusual words and
devoted to learning their backgrounds
and meanings. Her new book, Rare Words
and Ways to Master their Meanings,
includes choice specimens from her
word collection.
Rare Words, published this year by
Levenger Press, was the brainchild of
Leighton’s father, Jan, her co-author on
the project and a great influence in her
passion for hunting fresh and interesting
words. “From the time he was a kid, his
hobby has been collecting and memorizing
words,” Leighton says. “When he was in
the army he carried a Webster’s in his
barracks bag all through Europe.”
Leighton picked up the hobby in high
school, fixing on “hussar” and “bivouac”
in Tolstoy’s War and Peace at age 13.
Every time she ran across an unfamiliar
word, she looked it up and noted its definition in her journal. “I was trying to
keep up with my dad,” she says. “We
played a game where he would have me
point to any word in Webster’s Unabridged
Dictionary. Ninety percent of the time,
he knew what the word was.”
Despite their shared interest, when her
father asked her to help write the book,
Leighton hesitated, fearing that such a
book could inspire people to use words
to distance themselves from others rather
than communicate. In her introduction to
the book, she writes that she was haunted
by this passage from George Orwell’s
essay on “Politics and the English
Language”:
“Bad writers, and especially scientific,
political, and sociological writers, are
nearly always haunted by the notion that
Latin or Greek words are grander than
Saxon ones, and unnecessary words like
expedite, ameliorate, predict, extraneous,
deracinated, clandestine, subaqueous,
and hundreds of others constantly gain
ground from their Anglo-Saxon numbers.”
In the end, Leighton says, she realized
that Orwell was not exactly right:
“Athough many words have synonyms…
no word possesses an exact clone. A synonym is just that: a word with similar—not
identical—meaning. There is always a tiny
shade of difference in meaning that makes
one word the most appropriate in a
specific context.”
Freed from the judgment of Orwell,
Leighton committed to the project. She
and her father reviewed her father’s word
collection and argued over which 500
words would go into the book. Leighton
then looked up each word in 15 different
dictionaries to extrapolate her own
definitions. While her father insisted
that each entry be pithy, Leighton wanted
to pack the book with as much interesting
information as possible. In the end, her
father’s attention span proved an efficient
arbiter: “Dad has attention deficit even
worse than I have and if the definition
wasn’t very brief he would fall asleep,”
Leighton says.
Among the charms of Rare Words are
the mnemonics that accompany many
entries. For the word fistulous (tubular
and hollow) the book notes: “A fist is
fistulous; it creates a hollow.” For
invidious (provoking envy or ill will),
we remember this: “Did his invidious
preference for Sally invoke envy in Dee?
Yes!” For chiasmus (a rhetorical inversion
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
Hallie Leighton shares a love of
words–and co-author status–with
her father, Jan.
of the second of two parallel structures):
“ ‘I had the Chianti, then the Chianti had
me’ is a chiasmus.” And anlage (an inherited disposition to certain traits or a particular character development) is remembered as “the luggage of inherited traits.”
Leighton considers her passion for
words an anlage from her father, and says
that this anlage is not limited to logophilia.
Her father is a professional actor specializing in impersonations. He holds the
Guinness Book of World Records title for
portraying the most historical roles. Following in his footsteps, Leighton majored
in drama at the High School of Performing
Arts in Manhattan. As a Johnnie, she
performed at Santa Fe coffee houses,
channeling bygone rock stars such as
Cyndi Lauper, Edie Brickell, and Sinead
O’Connor. After college, she wrote and
costarred in “Divas Deconstructed,”
impersonating over a dozen divas from
�41
{Alumni Profile}
also work with sponsoring businesses to cover the costs of field lighting
and maintenance in cities where
funding is limited. We are always
looking for contributions of any
variety—funding, contacts, and
ideas.” If you want to harass her
for not staying in touch, try her at
brittariley@hotmail.com.
WANDA R. ROBINS (AGI): “I have
moved to Austin, Texas, and would
love to hear from any St. John’s
alumni. And for those GIs at
St. Stephen’s School—come join
the Austin alumni chapter!”
ADELAIDE (Ada) JUNEBUG
ROUECHE-BEARD was born May 31,
2002, to MARJORIE ROUECHE (A)
and James Beard. Marjorie reports:
“I am working as a science editor for
a textbook company, a company that
LOVES Johnnies (for those of you
who may find yourselves in Austin
looking for a job).” James and Marjorie married in March, “which is
proof positive that we can find nonJohnnies who can stand us too.”
JASON (AGI) and SUSAN SALINAS
(AGI99) moved to Coronado, Calif.
Jason flies helicopters for the Navy
and Susie works at the Hotel del
Coronado.
CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN (A) had
the opportunity to see DERRICK
CUNNIFF FLETCHER (A00) when
both were volunteer counselors at
Boggy Creek Camp in Eustis, Fla.,
for a week last summer. Christopher
is still pursuing a teaching degree
in deaf education at Flagler College
in St. Augustine. “My years at
St. John’s have served me well,” he
writes. “Taking Western Civilization last semester helped put a lot
of my studies at St. John’s in
chronological order.”
2001
From the Windy City, JENNIFER
HARRIS (A) reports back: “I cannot
believe that it has been over a yearand-a-half since I graduated from
St. John’s. In that time I have been
quite busy. I spent part of the summer after graduation in Florence,
Italy, studying art history and painting conservation. I made the move
to Illinois and I received my M.A. in
the humanities (why limit myself)
from the University of Chicago,
focusing on art history and aesthetics. I am now working as the coordinator of Rights and Reproductions
at the Museum of Contemporary
Art in Chicago.”
DAN O’KEEFE teaches at the St.
Thomas Choir School in New York
City, a boarding school for the boys
choir of Saint Thomas Episcopal
Church.
Rare Words Meets
Great Books: The Quiz
Which Program authors do you associate with
these words from Leighton’s book? (answers below)
1. Antinomy
2. Delphic
3. Empyrean
4. Entropy
5. Heuristic
6. Incommensurable
7. Maenad
8. Manichean
9. Ontological
10. Peripatetic
11. Sennet
12. Theodicy
Answer Key
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
Euripides
Aristotle
Sophocles
Plato
Leibniz
Kant
Anselm
Maxwell
Dante
Euclid
Augustine
Shakespeare
1-F; 2-C; 3-I; 4-H; 5-D; 6-J; 7-A; 8-K; 9-G; 10-B; 11-L; 12-E
Barbra Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, and Maria von Trapp to
Oprah Winfrey, Tonya Harding, and Xena, Warrior Princess.
“Obviously, my doing a lot of impressions, the channeling, is
definitely an anlage. I can’t escape from that,” says Leighton,
who adds that her grandfather was a bandleader and her
mother is a writer for As The World Turns.
Leighton herself worked for two years as a writer’s assistant for
the soap opera. She’s now a freelance writer whose clients have
included Cotton Inc.; Verizon, and a chain of health food stores.
Alumni networking functions in New York have been the
source of some of her best jobs. But alumni activities aren’t
all business for Leighton. She’s been a faithful participant
in alumni seminars, served as treasurer for the New York
chapter, was a reunion class leader in 2002, and with Bill
Fant, set up the JohnnyXpress, a bulletin board for alumni
on Yahoo.
Right now, she’s planning another project with her father,
this one about George Washington, one of his favorite characters
from his acting career. Leighton won’t give away the content
of the project, but says she’s interested in exploring what her
father’s dug up as an amateur historian. “This is a playful side
of George Washington, a fun side, a passionate side,” she
says. “This is not your father’s George Washington.”
Rare Words is available only through the Levenger Press
catalog or web site: www.levenger.com. x
TALLEY H. SCROGGS (A) lived in
France to learn classical cuisine and
then joined LOU KOVACS (A02) to
backpack together through Romania. They both moved to Portland,
Ore., last summer. Talley has two or
three chef jobs, and Lou has been
working in a vineyard. Talley thinks
she’ll head back to graduate school
in the fall.
SUZANNAH SIMMONS (SF) has been
living in Charleston, S.C., since
February 2002. She will be joining
the Peace Corps in Thailand beginning June 9, 2003. She sends her
best wishes to everyone and can be
reached at guneh@hotmail.com.
TIMOTHY SPARKMAN (SF) and
MARIA (MIA) MCDANIEL (SF00)
were married in Santa Fe, N.M.,
on June 23, 2002. 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
September; deadline for the
alumni notes section is July 15.
If you do not want classnotes
included on The College web
site, e-mail Victoria Smith:
v-smith@sjca.edu.
LAUREN SWEENEY (SF) moved back
to her hometown of San Diego,
Calif., and is happily employed at
La Jolla Playhouse. She writes that
she misses St. John’s and Santa Fe
every day!
In Annapolis:
The College Magazine
St. John’s College, Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404;
reharty@sjca.edu
DAMON CARROLL (SF) was selected
to attend the United States Army
Officer Candidate School and began
his active duty service as an army
soldier in January 2003.
In Santa Fe:
The College Magazine
St. John’s College
Public Relations Office
1160 Camino Cruz Blanca
Santa Fe, NM 87501-4599;
tshalizi@mail.sjcsf.edu
2002
JOEY CHERNILA (SF) and ALANA
HOLLINGSWORTH (SF) were married.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
Alumni notes on the Web:
Read Alumni Notes and contact
The College on the web at
www.sjca.edu—click on Alumni.
�42
{Obituaries}
Martin Miller, A81
Annapolis Graduate Inspired Many
Martin Miller and
his son, Benjamin, at
Annapolis Homecoming
in 2001
ost of what Martin C.
Miller—a Massachusetts
engineer, husband, and
father—accomplished in
life may seem ordinary
in the big picture of life;
but to those who knew him—especially his
friends and classmates in the Annapolis
class of 1981—everything he did was extraordinary, and the way he lived his life
was exemplary. Born with a congenital
heart defect, Miller wasn’t expected to
survive beyond infancy. Medical advances
in cardiology, combined with his own
resiliency, helped him defy the odds for
much longer. He died January 11, 2003,
at the age of 45.
Determined to be treated like a normal
child, Martin Miller insisted on a place on
the Little League team, found mistakes in
his school textbooks, and graduated first
in his high school class.
Miller left Brown University for St. John’s
after a year because he sought a more
challenging education with greater
M
opportunities for independent thinking.
After graduation, he earned a master’s
degree in electrical engineering from
California Institute of Technology. A
resident of Framingham, Mass., he worked
at Draper Laboratories in Cambridge,
Avid Technology Inc., and most recently
“To Martin,
a problem was a
problem to be solved.”
Daniel Van Doren
Crescent Networks. His wife, Linda,
describes him as a man devoted to his
family, who greatly enjoyed his four-yearold son, Benjamin, and excelled in his
profession.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
Daniel Van Doren (A81), a former
roommate and longtime friend of Miller’s,
was among the Johnnies who shared
remembrances at Miller’s memorial service.
He remembered that Miller couldn’t walk
the few short blocks into town without
stopping frequently to rest, and that being
out in the cold was particularly taxing to
him. But mostly he remembered Miller’s
determination to achieve his goals.
“In our senior year, Martin was near
the top of the class and had set his sights
on a degree in electrical engineering. He
applied to the top five graduate programs
in the country. When two of them rejected
his application, he was flabbergasted. You
or I would have been disappointed by the
rejections and would have accepted them
as fate pre-ordained,” Van Doren said at
the service.
“To Martin, a problem was a problem
to be solved. He composed letters to both
schools informing them that they were
wrong to reject him because they had not
fully appreciated the importance of our
�43
{Obituaries}
St. John’s education. And wouldn’t you
know it? They both agreed. MIT sheepishly
admitted that it had already accepted its
full class but offered to place Martin at
the top of the waiting list in case an opening occurred. Cal Tech, I think it was, the
best school in the country at the time,
reversed its decision and admitted him
into their program, and it was to Cal Tech
that he went the following year.”
Linda Miller sent along a text of a
speech her husband gave at a conference
several years ago. He spoke about the
physical and psychological effects of
congenital heart disease, but focused
his remarks on living with hope: “I don’t
think of my body as being ME. It is more
“Do not
live life piling
up regrets...”
Martin Miller
the biological vessel that contains me.
In this way, my body does not define me.
If it fails, as it occasionally does, at least
I don’t fail.”
Recounting his choice to start a family
with Linda, in spite of his fears of leaving
a child without a father, Miller offered
advice to others who struggled to overcome heart conditions—good advice for
anyone to embrace.
“Do not live life piling up regrets....
When I die, I would rather regret that I
did not finish everything that I set out to
do than regret that I never even tried to
do something I wanted to do…” x
in mechanical engineering from the
University of Virginia. During World War
II, he drove ambulances in Africa and Italy
for the American Field Service. After the
war, he earned a master’s degree in engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University in Blacksburg.
He taught at the Naval Academy from
1958 until his retirement in 1988, and was
also a member of the Johns Hopkins
University engineering faculty. An expert
on auto safety issues, he held six patents
on car emergency warning systems and
was a consultant for Ford Motor Co.
on automobile negligence cases.
William Chester Buchanan
William Chester Buchanan, class of 1947,
and a teacher, translator, and writer, died
Jan. 27 in India. Buchanan was born in
East Lansing, Mich., in 1923. He received
a bachelor’s degree in music from Michigan
State University in 1944 and attended
St. John’s from 1944 to 1947. In his sophomore year at the college, he won the prize
for the best annual essay, and the following
year, a prize for the best original sonnet.
He spent three years teaching and
studying in France, and earned a master’s
degree from the Sorbonne. Later, he earned
a master’s in theology and literature from
the University of Chicago Divinity School.
He taught English in France, taught
at the Walt Whitman School, at Lenox
Academy, and for 17 years taught English,
French, and a great books sequence at
Olivet College, where he was adviser to
the Garfield Review, a literary magazine.
His last teaching post was at Olney Friends
School, in Barnsville, Ohio.
He published numerous book reviews,
translations from French, a volume of poetry,
and a book of essays and reminiscences.
Buchanan spent 17 years living at a
monastery and retreat center in Michigan,
and traveled extensively in Southeast Asia.
B. Meredith Burke
William Barr
William Barr, a graduate of the class of 1942
and a former Naval Academy engineering
professor, died December 15, 2002, in
Charlottesville, Va. He was the nephew
of Stringfellow Barr, who with Scott
Buchanan, founded the New Program
at St. John’s.
After graduating from the college,
Mr. Barr earned an undergraduate degree
B. Meredith Burke, class of 1967, a
political activist devoted to populationrelated issues such as immigration and
birth control, died Dec. 11, 2002. A native
of Los Angeles, Burke went on to earn a
master’s degree in economics from the
University of Southern California, and
master’s and doctoral degrees in demographics from the University of Southern
California. She worked to defend her controversial stance that the U.S. reconsider
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
immigration policies she believed threatened the environment.
She served as chair of the Maternal and
Child Health Advisory Board of San Mateo
County, California; was a visiting scholar
at the Hoover Institution at Stanford
University and fellow of Negative Population
Growth. She was also interested in women’s
rights and public health issues. She coauthored a book on prenatal testing and
founded Lariam Action USA, an information service for users of the anti-malaria
drug mefloquine.
Jerome Goodman
Jerome Goodman of Brookline, Mass.,
class of 1934, died in January at his home.
He was 89 and had continued to work in
the private firm he shared with his daughter,
Carol, until a few months before his death.
An Annapolis native, Goodman earned a
degree from Harvard Law School in 1937.
During World War II, Goodman left his
law career to serve in the office of the
judge advocate. After the war, he returned
to Boston to practice law. In 1977, he and
his daughter formed the law office
Goodman & Goodman.
Active in Brookline politics, he had
served as a town meeting member for many
years and had been a member of the town
advisory committee and the Republican
Town Committee.
James Alexander Matthews
James Alexander Matthews (HA99) died
on March 9 as a result of a long battle
with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He worked at
St. John’s for over 37 years and was an
important presence in the lives of students,
staff, and faculty. A remembrance of
Mr. Matthews will appear in the next
issue of The College.
ALSO NOTED ARE:
DAVID ABBEY HOOKER, class of 1948,
January 2, 2002
NOEL MERIAM, class of 1962,
August 12, 2002
CHARLES O. “BUCKY” WINGATE II, class of 1935,
June 11, 2002
�44
{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s }
reading the
signs
by Sara White Wilson (A03)
F
or four years I have been reading books as the
St. John’s curriculum requires—frequently
and with analytic attention. I’ve come to read
public signs and graffiti in the same way. Not
only can I never look at a road or a store sign
without reading it completely, even if I pass it
every day and already know what it says, but I also can’t
resist analyzing the subtleties of meaning in the words.
Traveling on a small island in the West
Indies I saw a road sign in plain lettering,
“DEPRESSION.” Naturally, the sign indicated a decline in the road, but imagine
such a sign appearing in our psychologically
self-conscious America. We might wonder:
Where is the rest of the pharmaceutical
drug advertisement?
Before I came to photograph official
public signage, I photographed public
words in the form of graffiti. Graffiti can
be rendered quite artfully—despite that, or
perhaps because, it is indecipherable. My
impulse to read and make sense of everything is cleverly tricked. I think I can decipher the shape of a letter or a word but the
play of colors and graphic shape will not let
me make sense of it. I find it best to focus
less on the letters and more on the colors
and shape of the graffiti in order to discern
a readable word or phrase.
A theme has developed in my photography
that encourages a similar sort of reconciliation between word, meaning, and composition. I like to photograph signs—legal or
illegal—in their environment and capture
how the environment enhances the sense
of the words in the sign. Sometimes there
is not reconciliation of sign and environment but rather a contrast between them.
The photograph of artificial graffiti spray
paint on an earthy and cracked adobe wall
expresses for me the incongruity of seeing
loud and commanding graffiti off a dirt
road in barren Abique, New Mexico. My
impulse to read everything seems to be
similarly matched by a basic need to write,
no matter what the forum.
This photographic project—to frame
words and their environment—also informs
some of the thinking behind my senior
essay. I tried to understand what some
translators call “picture-thinking” in
Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. How
can thinking, which seems to be intimately
connected with words in speech, writing,
and internal dialogue, be connected with
pictures in one working of the mind,
according to Hegel? How was he suggesting
images were co-concurrent to thought?
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
Signs gain their meaning relative to
their surroundings. Reading the texts in
the St. John’s program is unlike reading
signs because the books convey a meaning
that is not relative; we value them precisely
because we can read them out of context
and still learn their universal significance.
Reading the texts at St. John’s is like reading
signs, however, in that both signs and books
are, at their most basic level, written in
order to be understood. Furthermore,
like a road sign or a political message in
graffiti, the books at St. John’s intend to
persuade and direct. I hope that my
photography frames the relative nature of
signs but with an eye that is well-trained by
the readings of the past four years—an eye
that works to discern the universal through
the relative. x
Sara White Wilson plans to keep taking
pictures and never stop reading.
�{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s }
Left, “Graffiti on
Cracked Wall; ”
Above, “Exodus;”
Right, “Philadelphia”
“Reading the texts
at St. John’s is like
reading signs…in that
both signs
and books are,
at their most basic level,
written in order to be
understood.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
45
�46
{Alumni Association News}
From the Alumni
Association
President
Dear Johnnies,
As you might imagine, communication is the
major challenge for the Association. Alumni
live in many interesting places, move often,
and have a habit of not reading every bit of
mail they receive. I know I fall into this category—so many envelopes and so little time!
Your Association Board is experimenting
with new and more efficient ways to communicate with you. Let us know how they work.
The annual dues mailer was sent out in
February (and will be mailed again in June
for those of you who prefer to pay dues in
the summer). We are thinking about ways
to make this invitation more appealing and
more clearly distinguished from mailings
from the college and from Philanthropia.
Your Association dues are not donations
to the Annual Fund; they go to support
Association activities such as Homecoming,
reunions, the alumni directory, senior
dinners, and activities for chapters. Your
dues payment makes you a “member in
good standing” of the Alumni Association,
so you can vote and run for a seat on the
Association Board. Of course, we encourage
you to donate to the Annual Fund to support
the college, in addition to paying your dues
to the Association.
The postal service also delivers messages
about chapter activities. Postcards are mailed
out from each of the campuses to their
respective chapters. If you are among the
“geographically privileged” who live where
chapter meetings are held, you should receive
mailings. If you don’t get mailings let one of
the Alumni offices know, and you’ll be put on
the list. Some chapters also have web sites to
support communications among alumni.
In the past, we used The College magazine
for our announcements about elections and
changes in the Association by-laws. Recent
changes in the publication schedule of
The College make this approach impractical
in future. So, we plan to make full use of our
web site to distribute information about
elections and other items of official business.
Lest we leave out those among us who do not
have ready access to the Internet, your dues
mailer will include information about how
to obtain copies of the information by mail.
In the future, we will plan to use the web
more extensively. Surveys of alumni indicate
that the vast majority of us are online and
prefer to receive information via e-mail or
over a web site. During the last year, Association Board members and Action Teams have
used e-mail to stay in touch and complete
tasks between our face-to-face meetings.
The trend will surely continue as our work
expands and our time together becomes
more precious.
We are also supporting college staff as they
improve their communications regarding
alumni activities. You should have received
your “stick-em-up” announcements about
Homecoming in Santa Fe and Annapolis and
reunions during 2003, thanks to alumni
directors Tahmina Shalizi and Jo Ann Mattson.
Finally, the college has a new web site in
the works. Expected sometime late this summer or early fall, the web site will offer many
features and functions to help us all stay in
touch with each other. Most of all, we’re
excited about the online, unified, user-maintainable alumni directory. Not only will it let
you find friends whom you’ve lost, but it will
also let you change your own data so that
others don’t lose you. In conjunction with
the web site, we are considering making a
lifetime e-mail address available to alumni.
Details will be worked out over the next few
months, but the purpose is clear. The Alumni Association wants to connect more often
and more meaningfully with more alumni.
This goal shapes all our decisions about
communications, events, and services we
provide to you, our members.
Please be in touch. Let us know what
communications messages and methods
work best for you.
For the past, the present, and the future,
Glenda H. Eoyang (SF76)
President
St. John’s College Alumni Association
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Whether from Annapolis or Santa Fe, undergraduate or Graduate Institute, old program or
new, graduated or not, 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 Alumni
Association news and events of interest.
President–Glenda Eoyang, SF76
Vice President–Jason Walsh, A85
Secretary–Barbara Lauer, SF76
Treasurer–Bill Fant, A79
Getting-the-Word-Out Action Team Chair–
Linda Stabler-Talty (SFGI76)
Web site–www.sjca.edu/aassoc/main.phtml
Mailing address–Alumni Association,
St. John’s College, Box 2800, Annapolis, MD
21404 or 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe,
NM 87505-4599
CHAPTER CONTACTS
Call the alumni listed below for information
about chapter, reading group, or other alumni
activities in each area.
ALBUQUERQUE
Bob & Vicki Morgan
505-275-9012
PHILADELPHIA
Bart Kaplan
215-465-0244
ANNAPOLIS
Beth Martin
410-280-0958
PITTSBURGH
Robert Hazo
412-648-2653
AUSTIN
Bev Angel
512-926-7808
PORTLAND
Dale Mortimer
360-882-9058
BALTIMORE
Deborah Cohen
410-472-9158
SACRAMENTO
Helen Hobart
916-452-1082
BOSTON
Ginger Kenney
617-964-4794
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico
619-423-4972
CHICAGO
Lorna Johnson
773-338-8651
SAN FRANCISCO,
NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA
Jon Hodapp
831-393-9496
DENVER
Lee Goldstein
720-283-4659
LOS ANGELES
Elizabeth Eastman
562-426-1934
MINNEAPOLIS/
ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman
612-822-3216
NEW YORK
Joe Boucher
718-222-1957
NORTH CAROLINA
Susan Eversole
919-968-4856
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
SANTA FE
John Pollak
505-983-2144
SEATTLE
Amina Stickford
206-269-0182
WASHINGTON DC
Jean Dickason
301-699-6207
ISRAEL
Emi Geiger Leslau
15 Aminadav Street
Jerusalem 93549
Israel
972-2-6717608
boazl@cc.huji.ac.il
�{Alumni Association News}
Variety Reels in
Denver-Boulder
Alumni
Undaunted, Jenny set to planning chapter
events.
“I sometimes resorted to scanning the invitations from other chapers to get ideas for
programming,” she recalls. “I even went to
the Internet to look up reading selections
from the syllabi of philosophy professors
from such places as Columbia in order to
get ideas for our seminars.”
Quickly realizing the “lone wolf”
approach wouldn’t work, Jenny called for
a planning session. She was gratified to see
15 people turn up with ideas and enthusiasm
for the chapter.
When Lee Goldstein (SFGI90) traded Miami
for the Rocky Mountains a few years ago, she
promptly went looking for an Alumni Association chapter.
“I really love interacting with people who
have gone to St. John’s,” Goldstein says.
“With other Johnnies, I always have things
to talk about, and I’m always interested in
the conversation.”
Goldstein, a Denver attorney, has
been a member of the vibrant DenverBoulder chapter for three years; in
January she assumed the presidency
from Elizabeth Pollard Jenny (SF80)
of Boulder, who founded the chapter.
At an Alumni Association meeting
in Santa Fe this January, the chapter
won praise for offering some of the
most creative and varied chapter
events in the country. Consider this
year’s slate, planned back in October:
A February seminar on Stephen J.
Gould’s The Panda’s Thumb. Joseph
From left to right: Brian Van Way (SFGI96),
Campbell’s The Hero of a Thousand
Virginia McConnell (AGI84), Nathan Pollack
Faces. Physics with Stephen J. Hawk(A65), Ed Whitney (SF71), John Agresto (AGI89),
ing or magic realism with Jorge Luis
Beatrice Butler (SF81), Lee Goldstein (SGI90),
Borges. Group outings to the Colorado
Elizabeth Pollard Jenny (SGI90)
Shakespeare Festival and other area
theaters, a field trip this summer to the
Denver Art Museum, and the popular
“And so our general inclination towards
holiday potluck, this year, with readings
diversity was born,” Jenny says.
in Pirandello. Who could resist?
Last June, Santa Fe President John Balkcom
Good programming pays off in attenvisited Denver for an event co-hosted with
dance. About 15 regulars turn up at every
Philanthropia at the historic Brown Palace
event, and every event draws a new face or
two. Alternating meeting sites between Boulder Hotel; more than 50 alumni turned out for
the meeting to offer ideas on how the college
and Denver makes meetings more accessible
can serve alumni, find out what’s happening
for Colorado Johnnies, Goldstein notes.
with current students, and express a sense of
The quest to offer regular and interesting
gratitude for their St. John’s education.
chapter events has required a broad base of
Looking ahead, Goldstein sees no shortage
input, and alumni have risen to the chalof good ideas for the chapter. “There’s a lot
lenge since the chapter was formed in 1998,
says Elizabeth Jenny. As a newcomer to Boulder of energy in the chapter and we keep building on that,” she says. x
and hungry for intellectual offerings, Jenny
pushed for the formation of a chapter.
“Imagine that you could revitalize an
intellectual life in the midst of midlife job
worries, suburbia, diapers, career-obsessed
friends, and ailing parents by starting up a
vigorous chapter,” Jenny recalls.
But soon after gaining its charter from
the Alumni Association, the chapter saw attendance drop off. Former mainstays of the
reading group decided they needed a hiatus.
Around
the Chapters
Alumni are active in 18 chartered Alumni
Association chapters from New York City to
San Diego, from Texas to Chicago and from
the Puget Sound area to Israel. More than
100 St. John’s alumni meet every month to
discuss books, poetry, art, or music. Chapters
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
47
organize picnics, potlucks, art gallery visits
and swing parties—but showing their true
allegiance—still favor the seminar more
than any other activity.
Every year, from 650 to 800 different
alumni attend at least one event sponsored
by St. John’s alumni chapters. Here’s a status
report from around the country:
The Washington, D.C., chapter meets
biweekly, except during the summer,
when members tackle a long book to
discuss together in the fall. The chapter
organized a National Gallery visit and
seminar, potlucks, and parties.
Scoffing at superstition, the Austin,
Texas, chapter meets on the 13th of
most months. They gathered for 11
seminars last year.
The San Diego chapter joined forces
with the Del Mar Great Books group
in their area in order to have a larger
discussion group.
The Twin Cities chapter has been
organizing its meetings around
themes or authors. Most recently,
the chapter has taken on a series of
Goethe readings and invited Julie
Reahard, a Santa Fe tutor specializing
in Goethe, to discuss “Elective Affinities.”
Albuquerque chapter president Bob
Morgan got on the phone two years ago
to round up alumni for a more active
chapter that draws alumni to seminars
and potlucks held six times a year.
Annapolis and Boston report newly
revived chapters and interesting ideas
for events.
Additionally, two reading groups in
Pittsburgh and Western New England held
events to measure alumni interest in forming a chapter in their areas. Alumni in
those areas contacted the alumni office
close to them and received assistance in
getting started.
Many chapters were visited during 2002
by Santa Fe President John Balkcom or
Annapolis President Chris Nelson or other
college staff, who usually lead a seminar or
participate in a reception. Several chapters
assisted Philanthropia in planning fundraising events.
In 2002, 14 of the 18 chapters had a president or other representative attend at least
one of the four annual Alumni Association
meetings, giving chapters a significant voice
within the association. x
�48
{St. John’s Forever}
alfr ed eisenstaedt, life magazine
Tutor James S. Martin
delivers a lecture in
1940. This picture from
the archives of Greenfield Library was
originally published
in Life Magazine as
part of a major feature
on the college. Martin,
who joined the college
from the University
of Chicago, went on
to hold a number of
positions with the
college.
I
n the 1937 supplement to the Bulletin
of St. John’s College, Scott Buchanan
set the criteria for formal lectures:
“The liberal arts operate in the light
of principles which constitute the
liberal sciences. These sciences will be
progressively expounded in formal lectures
by various members of the staff as the course
proceeds. They will be expository and critical
also of themes that arise in the reading of the
books.” Initially, lectures were held twice
weekly. J.Winfree Smith wrote in A Search
for the Liberal College that a few years after
the New Program was adopted, the Friday
night lecture and discussion period following
it became tradition. Of its place in the Program
today, Santa Fe Dean David Levine says:
“Lectures are an opportunity for us to discover
questions we didn’t have before, to develop
new interest in texts that are both new and
familiar to us, and to see how others think
deeply about other important matters.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
Datebook
Summer in Santa Fe
June 29—July 4, 2003
Summer Alumni Program
Week 1
Homecoming Events
Reunion classes: 68, 73, 78, 83, 88, 93,
and 98
Friday, July 4
Registration and hospitality—4 to 6 p.m.
Grecian Picnic—5:30 p.m.
Katy Moffatt (SF73) concert—7:30 p.m.
Rock ’n’ Roll Party—9 p.m.
Saturday, July 5
Registration—9 to 10 a.m.
Alumni seminars, children’s activities
—10 a.m.
Fiesta Picnic—Noon
All-alumni welcome-back gathering
—1:30 p.m.
Lecture—5 p.m.
All-Alumni Art Show opening—6 p.m.
Cocktail reception—6 p.m.
Homecoming happenings in Santa Fe,
July 2002
Alex Gammon (A94),
Katherine Nehring
(A03), and Bryce
Heavner (A93) enjoy
sushi and small talk
in Annapolis.
Sunday, July 6
President’s Brunch—11 a.m.
July 4—28, 2003
Alumni Art Show
July 6—11, 2003
Summer Alumni Program,
Week 2
Fall in Annapolis
Homecoming Events
Reunion classes: 33, 38, 43, 48, 53, 58, 63,
68, 73, 78, 83, 88, 93, 98
Friday, September 12
Registration and lecture, wine and
cheese with seniors
Saturday, September 13
Seminars, picnic, Alumni Association
Annual Meeting, and Homecoming
Banquet
Reception for the Class of 2003
More than 100 graduating
seniors and alumni came
together March 23 for a
reception geared to connecting graduating seniors with
Annapolis- area alumni. Alumni
said they enjoyed meeting
graduating seniors and talking
about their varied career
paths. For their part, the
students gained perspective
on the job market, law school,
and other post-graduation
plans. The event was sponsored by the Annapolis
Alumni and Placement offices.
Sunday, September 14
President’s Brunch
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2003 }
�P ERIODICALS
P OSTAGE PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , M ARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
�
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The College, Spring 2003
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2003
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Text
The
College
S p r i n g
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Newton
And Motion
2 0 0 6
�On Newton
arlier this spring, the BBC launched an international poll to find the
world’s favorite quotation. Lao Tzu’s “A journey of a thousand
miles . . .” came in first, but a contender was this famous line by
Sir Isaac Newton: “If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the
shoulders of Giants.” The quote can be found in a 1675 letter by
Newton to Robert Hooke, a talented physicist and one of the original
fellows in the Royal Society. Interpreted by many as a modest
acknowledgment of the contributions of others (Kepler and Galileo among them),
Newton’s comment might also have been a sarcastic barb aimed at Hooke—a short
man—who took issue with many of Newton’s findings. Several biographers suggest
Hooke and Newton peppered their correspondence with subtle insults.
Hooke would later accuse Newton of plagiarizing his ideas when the latter published
the first volume of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1686. Newton was
so incensed by Hooke’s charges that he threatened to withhold publication of the two
remaining books. The astronomer Edmund Halley, a man of great means, eventually
funded the printing and distribution of the Principia. The Royal Society claimed to be
low on funds, though some say Hooke had something to do with that.
The father of modern science was the son of an illiterate farmer who died three
months before Isaac was born in Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire in 1643 (on Christmas
Day according to the Julian calendar). Born premature and not expected to live, Isaac
suffered a difficult childhood. He was taken from school and set to farming and, being
unable to put his books away to watch the sheep, he failed miserably. He was released
from farming to attend Cambridge, where he helped pay his way by cleaning the rooms
of professors and fellow students. His brilliance noted, Newton later won a fellowship
that provided financial support. But when the plague struck the city in 1665, the
university was closed. Newton went back to the farm, where he immersed himself in
mathematics and contemplation. Not long after his return to the university, he was
named Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a professorship currently held by
Stephen Hawking.
Newton was said to get so caught up in his work that he would neglect practical
matters such as grooming and eating. He never married and had few friends.
His personal behavior was so odd that in recent years two British researchers proposed
that Newton (along with Einstein) may have had Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism
characterized by obsessive dedication to a particular task.
Newton left Cambridge in 1696 to take up a position, first as Warden and later as
Master, of the Royal Mint. Although these duties interfered with his scientific research,
they made him a wealthy man. In 1704, Newton published the Opticks. He was knighted
in 1705 by Queen Anne, becoming the first scientist so honored. He died in March 1727
in London.
Johnnies interested in revisiting Newton and his great discoveries in mathematics,
optics, and motion in the solar system might enjoy Let Newton Be! A New Perspective
on His Life and Works, published in 1988 by Oxford University Press.
E
—RH
The College (usps 018-750)
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
John Hartnett (SF83),
Santa Fe editor
Jennifer Behrens, art director
Annapolis
410-626-2539
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
Contributors
Jason Bielagus (SF98)
Barbara Goyette (A73)
Caroline Knapp (SF99)
Andrea Lamb
Andra Maguran
Jo Ann Mattson (A87)
Erica Naone (A05)
Chris Utter (A06)
Robin Weiss (SFGI86)
Kelly Wilson (SF09)
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�Spring 2006
Vo l u m e 3 2 , I s s u e 2
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
10
“With a Clear and
Single Purpose”
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
•
•
A $125 million capital campaign seeks
to address the most important priorities
of St. John’s College by building the
endowment and strengthening the
Program for many years to come.
14
Newton and Aristotle
page
•
•
•
•
•
•
page 14
Victoria Mora is Santa Fe’s new dean
Annapolis dedicates Spector Hall
Mike Peters among the sophomores
A spring break to remember
Tutors study Proust, Upanishads
Retirements and appointments
The $10,000 short story
Experimenting in Santa Fe
Senior gifts: a lasting legacy
letters
20 history
9
A conversation on the Principia and the
Physics, between two tutors of starkly
different backgrounds, provides a rich
vein of inquiry.
An 1811 alumnus was at the center of
some of the most important issues in
19th-century American political life.
30
16
“Ever the Teacher”
page
Tutor William Darkey (class of 1942)
recounts memories of more than six
decades at St. John’s College, from being
a student in Annapolis to serving as dean
of a fledgling campus in Santa Fe.
from the bell towers
Bibliofile
Randolph Runyon (A71) decodes
Montesquieu’s Persian Letters.
Santa Fe tutor Jorge Aigla publishes
a new volume of poetry.
page 16
30
alumni notes
P RO F I L E S
28 Journalist Lydia Polgreen (A97) tells the
world about Africa’s suffering and hope.
40
Croquet:
32 Aman Cholas (SF98) saves Western forests.
36 Fiddler crabs fascinate Denise Pope (SF89).
page
37
It was the Cold War all over again.
46
tributes
alumni voices
Aboard the Makulu, Todd Wilson (AGI00)
connected inner-city students with
the wider world.
page 40
42
48
on the cover
Isaac Newton
Illustration by David Johnson
alumni association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
A Love of the Program
Victoria Mora is Santa Fe’s Next Dean
Tutor Victoria Mora has been
selected by her fellow tutors to
serve as the next dean of the
Santa Fe campus, effective
July 1, succeeding David Levine
(A67) in the post. The first
woman and the first native
New Mexican to become dean in
Santa Fe, Ms. Mora joined the
St. John’s College faculty in
1992. Her appointment as dean
became official with approval
by the Board of Visitors and
Governors on April 24, 2006.
For any tutor, the decision to
leave the classroom for five years
is a difficult one to make. “I love
teaching, and not teaching is
going to be a huge sacrifice,”
she says. To keep in contact with
students, books, and ideas,
Ms. Mora is planning a Dean’s
Seminar Series to be offered
periodically, and will set aside
time each day for a Dean’s walk
to maintain daily contact with
students.
Balancing the responsibilities
of the dean’s office with her
priorities at home may also be a
difficult adjustment. But Mora
takes on the job with a great
deal of support from her
husband, Tomas Fernández, a
retired educator. They have two
young children, Marisol
Fernández y Mora, 10, and
Alejandro Fernández y Mora, 6.
The family also includes Tomas’
sons, Antonio, Miguel, and Luis
Fernández, all “twenty-somethings finished with college and
on to wonderful families and
careers,” Ms. Mora says.
“I know I will have to figure
out how to balance the enormous demands of the college
with what I take to be extremely
important—family. If not for my
husband, who will be holding
down the fort at home, it would
have been nearly impossible for
me to consider” accepting the
appointment, she says. “Administering our rich academic
program will be challenging
enough, and we are facing
tremendous opportunities with
our new president, Michael
Peters, in place.”
President Peters says
Ms. Mora brings, “great
energy, intelligence, and charm
to the position,” he says. “I
enthusiastically look forward to
completed her dissertation,
“Gender, Expression, and
Analogy: A Reapproach to the
Problem of the Other.”
“It had its roots in phenomenology, with the primary focus
on an original phenomenological analysis of gender as a
feature of the expressive body,”
Ms. Mora says. “It was in
response to an argument made
by Ortega y Gasset against
Husserl’s claim that we know
the Other through our
experience of the Other’s body
A number of firsts mark Victoria Mora’s appointment as dean of
the Santa Fe campus: she’s the first woman, first mother, and
first native New Mexican to hold the post on that campus.
working with her to pursue the
aims of the Santa Fe campus
and the college.”
Ms. Mora grew up just 70
miles from Santa Fe and was the
first member of her family to
attend college. She visited
St. John’s during her sophomore
year at the University of New
Mexico and was fascinated by
the Program, but felt obligated
to remain at the less expensive
state college.
After completing her
bachelor’s degree in English
and philosophy at UNM, she
went to Yale University, where
she earned her master’s and
doctoral degrees in philosophy.
She taught for a year at a
community college in
Albuquerque while she
as analogous to our own—
a semaphore signaling
consciousness. I end up siding
with Husserl.”
When she was ready to look
for an academic home, Ms. Mora
recalled the small liberal arts
college in Santa Fe that had
captured her heart. “I remembered what a great experience I
had visiting as an undergraduate
and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be
a wonderful place to be able to
continue my education and have
a job?’ ”
After more than a decade on
the job, Ms. Mora is still shaping
her education at the college,
not to mention shaping the
community around her. She has
served on the faculty of the
undergraduate program as well
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
as in the Graduate Institute.
She has devoted a great deal of
time to the college’s outreach
programs: leading the faculty
component of the Opportunity
Initiative, contributing to the
Tecolote colloquia which
provide continuing education
to New Mexico teachers, and
leading Summer Classics
seminars. She has served on
the Instruction Committee and
on the presidential search
committee that selected
Mr. Peters.
“Victoria brings a solid
background in the Program,
experience working with
administration, and an ability
to work well with a wide range
of people,” says tutor Linda
Weiner, who served on the
dean’s search committee.
“Her thoughtfulness and
energy will be an asset to our
community, and we truly
appreciate her willingness to
serve the college as our dean
for the next five years.”
With such wide-ranging
interests and qualifications,
Ms. Mora’s appointment
promises a tenure that extends
far beyond the bounds of
Weigle Hall. But like her
predecessor, Dean Levine,
Ms. Mora’s goals are firmly in
the St. John’s Program.
“If you think about all of the
constituencies at the college,
what is it that holds all of those
people together?” Ms. Mora
asks. “It’s a love of the
St. John’s Program, and the
dean is charged with both
supervising the program of
instruction and seeing to the
well-being of the students so
that they can pursue it in the
best and deepest way possible.
Given that the dean is right
there working with the heart of
the Program, it seems to me
that it’s a role through which
these various constituencies can
come together. I’m honored to
assume this role.” x
—Kelly Wilson (SF09)
�{From the Bell Towers}
Spector Hall Dedicated in Annapolis
alain jonamillo
On January 28, students, faculty
and members of the college’s
Board of Visitors and Governors
gathered for the dedication of
Spector Hall, the newest dormitory on the Annapolis campus.
The ceremony held special
meaning for Warren Spector
(A81), whose gift to the college
made the dorm’s construction
possible, and his family. They
had come to St. John’s to
dedicate the new building in
the memory of a husband and
father, Philip Spector.
A successful contractor who
had built many residential,
commercial, and industrial
buildings in the Washington,
D.C., metropolitan area, Philip
Spector died in 1990. The new
dormitory is a fitting tribute to a
man who was “a builder in trade
and a builder in spirit,” said
Mr. Spector.
“I know that he would have
tremendous pride seeing this
hall erected in his memory,”
Mr. Spector said.
The President and Co-chief
Operating Officer of the Wall
Street firm Bear, Stearns & Co.,
and a member of the college’s
board, Mr. Spector has made
several generous gifts to the
college over the years in
appreciation for the education
he received at St. John’s. Along
with Gilliam Hall, which opened
in fall 2005, Spector Hall
extends community life to the
lower campus. Opened at the
start of the spring semester, the
new dorm houses 40 students
and features spacious common
areas, suite-style rooms, and a
faculty apartment.
Mr. Spector had attended
Princeton, but the Ivy League
college wasn’t right for him, he
said. After a brother suggested
St. John’s, Mr. Spector read the
catalog and knew this was the
college for him. “I had been at
one of the richest campuses in
the entire country, a [university]
with tremendous resources,” he
said. “I have nothing negative to
say about Princeton, but I found
that those were not the things
that mattered to me as a student.
It was something special that
was here in the community—
the Program, the people, the
dedication, everything about it was
what attracted me
to St. John’s, and I
was quite right in
my judgment that
this was the place
to be.”
After joining the
St. John’s board,
Mr. Spector saw
that while the
college didn’t
require
“superficial”
resources, the
need for more
campus housing was evident.
“When I lived off campus you
could walk to historic Annapolis
and live in a reasonable
apartment, but it has become
impossible to do that. I’m really
happy that we have 80 percent
of the students living on campus
now, because it keeps people
close, and I think that’s vitally
important.”
Mr. Spector’s mother,
Barbara, and other family
members and friends came to
campus for the ceremony, a
tour of the dormitory, and a
reception. “This means a lot to
me and a lot to my family,”
Mr. Spector said. “It is the first
thing we have dedicated in
memory of my
father.”
Representing
the student body,
Mary Davenport
(A06) spoke about
how Spector Hall
helped her make
another home at
the college. She
thanked the
Spector family for
their gift. “This
college—the things
we learn, the
alex lorman
A Fitting Tribute
3
people we meet, and the experiences we share—this has become
a place that I am comfortable
calling my home,” she said.
President Christopher Nelson
(SF70) also expressed his
thanks. “We are grateful to you,
Warren, for choosing St. John’s
College as the home for your
memorial dedication and the
object of your philanthropy and
extraordinary generosity,” he
said. Rather than just providing
dorm space, Mr. Spector’s gift
helps foster a close-knit
community of learners.
“We know that Warren’s
participation in community life
on campus was a transformative
experience for him, as he has
given us the means to erect this
building with the conviction
that a St. John’s education is
most completely achieved by
having students fully engaged in
the community of learning,
where the classroom experience
spills out into the quad
throughout all the activities of
student life and into the
common spaces and quiet hours
of the night in the college’s
dormitories,” Mr. Nelson said. x
—Rosemary Harty
Top: In January, Spector Hall was dedicated to the
memory of Philip Spector, husband to Barbara and
father to Warren Spector (A81), whose gift made
construction of the dormitory possible.
Left: Spector Hall common rooms are spacious and
inviting.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
The Quiet Man
When you walk into a St. John’s
seminar, it’s rare to find
anything unexpected: several
different translations of a
Platonic dialogue, a group of
students in varying degrees of
sleep deprivation, and of
course, the omnipresent
St. John’s chair. But for
students on the Santa Fe
campus, there has been an
exciting addition to the
seminar: a college president.
For Michael Peters, who
became president in Santa Fe
in 2005, learning about the
Program firsthand was a top
priority, so he joined the
January freshman class as a
seminar auditor. By the time
Mr. Peters was officially
installed as president during
his inauguration ceremony last
October, many Johnnies were
already accustomed to seeing
him in the classroom, bent over
a copy of the Iliad.
Mr. Peters believes that
learning alongside students is
an integral part of achieving
the priorities that he outlined
at his inauguration: support for
learning, connection with the
community, and heightened
visibility. It soon became clear
to Mr. Peters that he needed to
be a part of the academic
program. “Because I didn’t
graduate from St. John’s, I
knew that I really needed to try
to find a way to get familiar
with the college through its
crux, the Program. I felt I
needed to gain the experiences
that the students have of how
the classroom works,” he says.
Balancing the hectic
schedule of the president’s
office with 200 pages of weekly
reading isn’t easy; nevertheless, as his January freshman
classmates began to tackle
the concepts of Aristotle,
Mr. Peters made time for the
readings. After his long days in
Weigle Hall, he stayed late to
listen to the conversation and
the ideas spilling forth. The
St. John’s seminar was a
different environment for the
West Point graduate, former
Army colonel, and long-time
foreign policy specialist.
“Sitting in on the first seminars
reinforced what I’d seen during
the interview process and is
very much the reason that I
thought St. John’s College was
the right place for me,” he
explains. “The level of engagement and the commitment of
everyone in the classroom, the
interaction between the
students and the material, the
students with one another, the
students and the tutors, it’s all
something that’s completely
unique to St. John’s.”
By the end of their second
semester, the JFs were used to
the tall, quiet man sitting in the
side chair. When they returned
for their sophomore year, many
were surprised and impressed
to see him back in seminar. As
he began visiting each of the
seven sophomore seminars,
students became curious and
asked if he could join the
conversation. “On several
occasions students said to me,
‘Gee, we wish you’d speak up
and offer your views on this,’”
“I had read
Machiavelli’s
The Prince
many times, but
this time I think
I saw it in a much
different light.”
Mike Peters,
St. John’s President, Santa Fe
christopher huston
Mike Peters Enjoys Seminars
To better understand Johnnies and the Program, Santa Fe
President Mike Peters began sitting in on January Freshman
seminars soon after taking office in January 2005.
he says. “But I feel that I’m
really there just as a way to see
the students, to get a sense of
what’s going on, to be able to
observe the approaches of the
different tutors.”
Mr. Peters is enjoying the
fresh perspectives the great
books provide. Even though he
has read many of the books on
the Program, the seminar still
offers new insights into texts,
some of which he thought he
knew very well. “I had read
Machiavelli’s The Prince many
times, but this time I think I
saw it in a much different
light,” he says. “Not the
stereotypical Machiavelli, the
ultimate politician who’s always
trying to figure out ways to
maneuver, but the kind of
moral underpinnings of the text
which I hadn’t really thought
about or appreciated before.”
The seminars have afforded
him “an understanding of the
language of St. John’s, which
revolves so much around the
books.” It’s an insight that will
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
surely prove essential as he
takes on a position that is vital
to communicating the unique
nature of St. John’s to the
greater world.
Mr. Peters said he’s looking
forward to continuing into
junior year. Sometime in the
future, he may consider
enrolling in the Graduate
Institute. “If I do the graduate
program, I would probably do
the Eastern Classics program,”
he says. “That would be a new
area for me and something I
would find fascinating.”
In the meantime, his efforts
have not gone unnoticed by
Brandon Winston (SF08), who
last year was a JF. “You know
how Machiavelli says that the
prince sometimes needs to
come down from the mountain
and get a different perspective
of who he is from below, from
the perspective of the citizens?
That’s what Mr. Peters was like,
and that’s the quality of the
true prince.” x
—Kelly Wilson (Sf09)
�5
{From the Bell Towers}
A Community of Hope
Santa Fe Students Join Katrina
Relief Efforts
Before she boarded a van to
New Orleans with 14 other
St. John’s students, Ilana
Kirschbaum (SF07) visited
Web sites that showed the
widespread devastation caused
by Hurricane Katrina. “I sort
of assumed that they were only
showing the extreme cases,”
she says. “But as we first drove
into the parish, there were
piles and piles of debris
everywhere, abandoned cars,
trees in the middle of the road,
everything was totally
destroyed and completely
abandoned. I wanted to cry.”
On March 11, the Santa Fe
students piled into two vans
(provided by a local dealership)
and set out to Louisiana’s
St. Bernard Parish, hit hard by
the storm. They set up camp in
a volunteer tent city run by the
Emergency Communities
organization and went right to
work. Half of the students
stayed at the campsite, where
they served free meals at the
organization’s Made with Love
Café and provided local
residents with needs ranging
from toiletries to child care.
The others, joining up with the
nonprofit Common Ground
Collective, took sledgehammers
and buckets into devastated
homes and businesses to strip
away damaged sheetrock and
insulation, haul away debris
and ruined belongings, and
clear homes of toxic mud.
“Sure, we were providing food
to people, but it was more about
the community we helped to create,
where people could just come
in and talk.”
Ilana Kirschbaum (SF07)
The volunteers also spent
time with the homeowners they
were helping. Jeff Stott (SF06)
listened as one woman relived
her ordeal with him. “She
experienced absolutely
traumatic things,” he says.
“During the storm, she was
trapped on her roof and
watched dead bodies floating
past her house. Some of her
neighbors were killed.”
While a tragedy of such
magnitude can “make you feel
pretty helpless,” Kirschbaum
says, the experience went
beyond providing food and
manual labor for two short
weeks. “Sure, we were
providing food to people, but it
was more about the community
we helped to create, where
people could just come in and
talk,” she explains. “There was
never really a distance between
people. There was music, there
was dancing. It was a glimpse of
what is possible.”
On April 26, the students
gave a multimedia presentation
of their trip for the college
community. Members of the
Santa Fe community were also
invited as a thank-you for donations they made to support the
effort. The presentation
featured photographs of the
devastation, video, and audio
interviews. More encouraging
images were of the community
Kirschbaum described among
volunteers in the tent city.
“This was something that
just happened spontaneously,”
says Rachel Davison (SF08),
the trip leader. Friendships
developed quickly out of an
atmosphere of goodwill.
“We here at St. John’s have
our own sense of community
that is built naturally out of the
Program. This was different.
We bonded with each other,
but we also bonded with so
many others.”
—Kelly Wilson (SF09)
photos by chris quinn
Top: Ben Gaddes (SF08)
prepares to feed Katrina
volunteers.
Left: Ezra Johnson (SF09,
far right) and Nicola Podboy
(SF06) at the tent city that
housed volunteers in
St. Bernard Parish.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
News and Announcements
Tutor News
photos by alex lorman
In Annapolis two tutors are
beginning study projects on
interesting non-Program works
and will later lead faculty
groups on their topics.
PATRICIA LOCKE will hold
the Adolph W. Schmidt tutorship, gaining partial release
time from classes to pursue her
project. The tutorship was
established in 1985 through a
fund endowed by Mr. Schmidt,
a former St. John’s board
member and ambassador, and it
alternates between the
Annapolis and Santa Fe
campuses. Ms. Locke will study
Marcel Proust’s novel In Search
of Lost Time. “Issues of
memory, both voluntary and
involuntary, are most obvious,
but Proust deals thematically
with bodily processes such as
perception, speech, and sleep
as well. Proust considers stages
of mental and moral development before ‘teenage’ began
to separate childhood from
adult life. He also is concerned
with intersubjectivity, sexuality, and the boundaries of
language. My own questions
are primarily: what makes a
coherent self? How does one’s
perception of one’s body, on
the one hand, and language
that takes others into account,
on the other, shape a self?”
Ms. Locke is also interested
in how living in a city affects
one’s perception of self and
world. “The familiar urban
setting, the unpredictable joy
in truly recognizing others
through the masks age wears,
the desire and futility in trying
to stop time—Proust sees it all,
and he gives the reader access
to possible meanings of the
most delicate events.”
As holder of the National
Endowment for the Humanities
chair, ROBERT DRUECKER will
be studying the Upanishads, a
project he became interested in
after Annapolis faculty
discussed a report on the Santa
Fe Eastern Classics program.
He thought it would benefit
both campuses to become more
acquainted with what has
become a significant part of the
intellectual life on the Western
campus, he says.
The Upanishads “considered
by many to be the supreme
work of Indian wisdom,”
seemed the best starting point,
Mr. Druecker says. “They are
at once records of spiritual
experience, formulations of
intellectual insight, and expressions of poetic imagination.
They aim to bring about both
an illumination of the mind
and a transformation of the
reader’s experience so that it
manifests the inner realization
that the divine source of all is
one with the self within each
person,” he says
As the holder of the chair,
supported by endowment
funds, a tutor gains two-thirds
released time to study a topic
for a year. In the second year,
he or she leads a faculty study
group in the fall and gives a
lecture. Annapolis tutor
GEORGE RUSSELL is in his
second year of a study project
on the speeches of Abraham
Lincoln.
Retirements
A tutor since 1967, GISELA
BERNS (HA00) has retired from
the Annapolis faculty. Mrs.
Berns grew up in the Black
Forest of Germany and studied
at Heidelberg University, where
she earned a doctorate in classics and philosophy, and where
she also met her husband,
LAURENCE BERNS (HA00, tutor
emeritus in Annapolis), in a
class on Plato’s Phaedo.
During a reception in the
Great Hall near the end of the
spring semester, tutor David
Stephenson talked about
Mrs. Bern’s many fine
qualities, including her
passion for music. “Gisela has
sustained a violin section of
the orchestra all by herself on
more than one occasion,” said
Mr. Stephenson. “Without her
enthusiasm and hard work I
doubt we could ever have
attempted such ambitious
orchestral works. Bach,
Beethoven, Mozart are meat
and drink to her. In her music
tutorial she has discovered
innumerable newness in the
verbal and musical interplay of
the operas and passions we
study.”
During the same Annapolis
gathering, members of the
community turned out to
thank long-time Annapolis
Registrar REENIE CRAVEN for
her hard work and dedication
to the community. Mrs. Craven
worked for nearly 17 years for
St. John’s, and has been
Mr. Druecker delves into the
Upanishads; Ms. Locke takes on
Proust. Both benefit from
endowments set aside for
faculty study, and both will
lead study groups and give
lectures on their topics.
{ The College
St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�7
{From the Bell Towers}
The documentary captures
baseball as a national obsession
in Japan; it follows two high
school teams and their coaches
as they try to win the national
championship. “It’s really
unlike anything in the United
States, and the way Japanese
kids approach this rite is also
quite a contrast to youth
culture—especially sports
culture—in America,” he says.
For details, visit the production
company’s Web site:
www.projectilearts.org/
kokoyakyu.
registrar since September
2000. In retirement, she
plans to make time for
“grandmothering, reading,
gardening, walking, and
volunteering.” She’ll stay
involved with St. John’s
through the Caritas Society,
a volunteer group that
supports the college.
Appointments
CATHY SMITH is the new
director of Information Technology Services, based in Santa
Fe, but serving both campuses
and overseeing improvements
to IT infrastructure. Ms. Smith
earned bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in history from the
University of California-Irvine,
and has spent her IT career in
higher education with institutions including UC, Stanford
University, Indiana University,
and the University of Kansas.
At Carleton College, Ms. Smith
partnered with faculty to
develop a model of faculty
technology support widely
adopted in higher education;
she has also partnered with
administration at several
institutions to implement
innovative approaches to
automating business processes.
BRONTÉ JONES has been
appointed treasurer for the
Annapolis campus. Ms. Jones
earned her doctorate in higher
education from the University
of Texas after obtaining a
bachelor’s degree and an
M.B.A. in finance from
American University. In addition, she is a graduate of
the Harvard Institute for
Higher Education. Ms. Jones
joins St. John’s from HustonTillotson University in Austin,
Texas, where she has been vice
president for administration
and finance since 2004.
Previously she held the posts
of assistant dean of financial
services, dean of enrollment
management, and adjunct
instructor in finance at the
university. She has worked for
Bronté Jones: New treasurer
in Annapolis
the Texas State Auditor’s
Office, auditing statewide
financial aid programs at institutions of higher education.
Santa Fe Student Wins
Fiction Award
KELLY MARIE WILSON (SF09)
won a $10,000 Gold Award for
fiction writing from The
National Foundation for
Advancement in the Arts, a
Miami-based non-profit group
founded in 1981 that fosters
artistic talents of high school
seniors. Miss Wilson titled her
winning story “Driving in a
Hail Storm on the First Night
She’s Been Alone in Eleven
Years, Wendy Recalls her Four
Great Loves.” Besides the
$10,000 prize, Miss Wilson
received a free trip to take part
in the NFAA awards ceremony
in the Baryshnikov Arts Center
in New York City.
Jackhammer Time
Visitors to the Western campus
this summer will see more than
a few barriers and quite a few
construction crews, as
improvements in Santa Fe
continue. More than $1.3
million in renovation projects
are under way. Workers have
already completed a project in
the Weigle Hall lobby that
renders the entrance friendlier
to prospective students. A new
gazebo and walkway are in
place near “France,” the
parking lot on lower campus.
This summer, crews are
breaking up concrete sidewalks
throughout the central area of
the campus. Students will
return in the fall to brick pathways, teak tables, additional
lighting, increased accessibility
for people with disabilities, and
a much-improved koi pond. x
A Farewell to Febbies
Johnnie Documentary
to air on PBS
A Johnnie’s documentary on
high school baseball in Japan
will debut at the Brooklyn
International Film Festival,
June 2-11. Kokoyakyu also airs
July 4, 2006, on public broadcasting’s P.O.V., says ALEX
SHEAR (SF00), senior
producer. (Check local listings.)
Sara McClayton (A09) signs the college register during January
2006 convocation in Annapolis. Eighteen students matriculated
in January; they are expected to be the last of the Febbies, as the
Annapolis campus has ended the practice of enrolling freshmen
in January. The Santa Fe campus will continue to offer a January
Freshman class.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�8
{From the Bell Towers}
Leaving a Legacy
Nothing Says “Thank You”
Like the Senior Gift
For more than a decade,
graduating seniors have
honored the college with a gift
that class members select
together and fund with their
personal donations to
St. John’s. It’s a tradition that
started with the class of 1992,
when a large percentage of the
students in that class turned
over their “caution fees”
(dormitory security deposits)
to the college to endow a
Class of 1992 scholarship.
Caution fees seed many of the
gifts today, but seniors often
make additional gifts and
continue to contribute money
to some funds long after
they’ve graduated.
This year’s gifts, from
seniors in Santa Fe and
Annapolis, are eminently
practical and stem from needs
students perceived during their
years at St. John’s. Santa Fe
students chose to purchase
DVDs and CDs of their choice
for the Meem Library.
Members of the Annapolis
class of 2006 may also be
remembered with gratitude for
many years in the future for
their gift: a spiral binding
machine for the campus print
shop, intended to save future
seniors from late-night lines at
Kinkos when essays are due and
also to upgrade Program materials from comb-bindings to
spiral bindings. The machine is
already in place in Chris
Colby’s print shop—a much
more convenient place for
harried students to queue up to
copy and bind their essays.
“More than 71 percent of the
senior classes on each campus
participated in raising funds for
their respective gifts, with
excellent leadership from the
senior class gift committees,”
says Annual Fund director
Stefanie Takacs (A89). “We
expect the DVDs to be in place
for fall 2006 in Santa Fe, and
the first use for the new spiral
binder will be to make address
books for the recent Annapolis
graduates, so they can stay in
touch with each other after
graduation.”
Seniors in the class of 2005
in Santa Fe donated $4,300
toward restoration of the
fishpond, a project due to begin
this coming summer. In
Annapolis, the class of 2005
created an endowment to buy
Lobachevski’s Theory of
Parallels as a gift to each
incoming senior.
The Santa Fe Class of 2004
has in mind a most ambitious
project, and they’re seeking
long-term involvement in the
project from members of their
class and any other alumni who
are taken with the idea. Graduates chose to commission a
stainless steel operational
replica of 16th-century
astronomer Tycho Brahe’s
armillary sphere. The class has
already raised $6,000 toward
the $100,000 cost.
Class leaders have selected
an artist and hope to install the
sphere on campus in the next
decade or so, Brenna McMahon
(SF04) said. The sculpture
relates directly to the Program
because the sphere can be used
to replicate the data that
Kepler used and that Newton
then relied upon, McMahon
says. “It’s also our hope to
install a beautiful sculpture
that will reflect the unity of the
arts and sciences in the
Program. To the best of our
knowledge, there are only two
armillary spheres in the world
(including one at the
Smithsonian), and this would
be the only operational sphere
in the world. We hope that it
will show the St. John’s
community how invested our
class is in the college,”
says McMahon. x
David Harber’s sketch of the
armillary sphere that
Santa Fe’s Class of 2004 hopes
to one day install on campus.
Senior Class Gifts Over the Years
1905: The bell in the McDowell Hall tower was a gift from
this class.
Annapolis Class of 1997: Funded a portrait of Eva Brann by
noted artist Cedric Egeli. The painting graces Room 12 of
McDowell.
Santa Fe Classes of 1998, 99: Contributed gifts to the
endowment in support of faculty salaries.
Annapolis Class of 1999: Made a gift to the Music Library
Fund and acquisition of an apple seed from the tree that
inspired Sir Isaac Newton. The apple yielded two seedlings,
but sadly the trees did not survive.
Santa Fe Class of 2001: Raised money for an observatory in
honor of then-laboratory director Hans Von Briesen
(HSF03).
Annapolis Class of 2003: Funded digital re-mastering and
transcription of lectures that existed only on tape.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�9
{Letters}
Remembering Ralph
Swentzell
I wept hard when I learned of
Ralph Swentzell’s death. He was
one of my seminar tutors during
my sophomore year over 20
years ago. What I appreciated
most about him was his gentle,
steady, and unpretentious spirit.
He was the only tutor
courageous and caring enough
to reach out to comfort and
support me when I was disenabled at the devastating end of
my St. John’s career. This, to
me, was the true actualization of
any lofty philosophies examined
or perpetuated by this school: to
bring it home, where it really
does count. Having found such a
Great Soul, if only briefly, I
cannot begin to imagine the loss
that his friends and loved ones
must be enduring. I can only
hope that they know that he will
be truly treasured in our finest of
memories. I now wish for them
the comfort and support that he
so genuinely extended to me.
I strive to be as present for my
students as he was for us. Be
free, Sir Ralph, and many
thanks.
Bea Butler (SF80)
World Federalism
I read with great interest your
article about Joseph Baratta’s
scholarship on world federalism,
and was especially pleased to see
mention of Clarence Streit’s
work Union Now, which was so
influential in its day but is now
sometimes overlooked.
Actually, the organization
which he founded (Federal
Union) lives on. For a while it
was called the Association to
Unite the Democracies (AUD),
and it has now morphed into the
Streit Council for a Union of
Democracies (www.streitcouncil.org).
I worked for AUD in
Washington in 1986-87 before
starting World Democracy
News, a newsletter spanning the
international federalist movement (we lasted only through six
editions over three years before
ceasing for lack of funding). I
then served briefly as president
of the Coalition for Democratic
World Government. And I’ve
been on the Board of AUD and
now the Streit Council since
about 1990. Our focus is on
creating a nucleus for world
government from the existing
established democracies—for
example, creating real common
decision-making structures for
NATO and/or the OECD—to
which other democracies could
Books are the Teachers
Your article “Small Waves in a
Tranquil Sea: Melville, Literature, and the St. John’s Reading
List” (Winter 2006) was a very
enjoyable read on all accounts.
I was interested to receive some
insight into the workings of the
Instruction Committee.
However, I was disconcerted by
your use of the verb “to teach”
when writing about tutors and
books. For instance: “Dugan
sees no more compelling reason
“I do not recall what many of my tutors
thought that the books were really
about, precisely because the tutors
themselves didn’t teach me anything
about the books. The books did.”
Christian Blood (SF02)
be invited to join. Just as the EU
exerts a strong democratizing
pull on surrounding countries in
Europe (and even North Africa),
we would expect to have a
similar but more global effect
(maybe even restraining the U.S.
in the process). The EU hasn’t
yet been able to make the break
to real constitutional government, otherwise it would be a
model of what we want.
For a long time, the main split
in the international federalist
movement was between those
(including the world federalists)
who wanted immediate world
government including all
nations, and those who insisted
on democracy. But the American world federalists have
essentially become UN-reform
advocates, and I noticed recently
that some of those who want
more direct movement toward a
federal solution are starting a
new “World Democracy Movement-USA.” So Streit’s ideas,
as well as Barr’s and
Buchanan’s, are still in play.
Rick Wicks (SF68)
Melville’s tale must be on the
reading list. And yet, he allows,
‘life would be more full’ if he
could teach Moby-Dick and
Joyce’s Ulysses.” And from the
subsequent paragraph: “Having
taught two preceptorials on the
book, Annapolis tutor David
Townsend acknowledges the
impracticality of Moby-Dick as a
seminar reading.”
A St. John’s tutor teaching a
preceptorial? A St. John’s tutor
teaching a book? At St. John’s,
books are the only teachers.
I bristle because I have come
to believe, in my time since
leaving St. John’s, that we
observe at St. John’s a very
important distinction. I do not
recall what many of my tutors
thought that the books were
really about, precisely because
the tutors themselves didn’t
teach me anything about the
books. The books did.
I am currently a graduate
student and a teaching assistant
in literature at a major research
university where the professors
teach all kinds of things all the
time: books, courses, eras,
specialties. What the professors
teach is generally in line with
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
their most recent publications
and to me seems to be more like
indoctrination rather than
teaching. But none of the
students seem to learn much
about what they read.
Instead, they learn what the
professor taught them. They are
indoctrinated. Sometimes this
is fine, but often I cringe and a
bit of me dies as I think of how
their education compares to the
one I was lucky to receive from
St. John’s. I hesitate to liken the
activities of a St. John’s tutor to
the sorts of things that happen
at educational institutions
elsewhere.
Christian Blood (SF02)
Not Brothers
By now you have probably heard
from others that Charles and
Ray Eames were not brothers,
but husband and wife.
According to eamesoffice.com
they were married in 1941.
Nevertheless, I am delighted to
learn that a Johnnie was instrumental in producing Powers of
Ten. When my son was a child,
we often visited the Air and
Space Museum and enjoyed that
short movie many times.
Thanks as always for an
interesting issue of The College.
Christina Lauth Connell
(Class of 1967)
Editor’s note: Ms. Connell was
one of many Johnnies who
graciously alerted The College
to this error in the Winter 2006
issue.
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 also be sent via
e-mail to: rosemary.harty@
sjca.edu.
�10
{Capital Campaign}
“WITH A CLEAR AND
SINGLE PURPOSE”
St. John’s Seeks to
Preserve the Program
with an Ambitious
Capital Campaign
by Rosemary Harty
S
t. John’s College has
launched a $125 million
capital campaign to build
endowment for the future
and address immediate priorities. “With a Clear and
Single Purpose”: The Campaign for
St. John’s College will seek to add
significantly to the resources of the
college. “Our objective is to have all
aspects of the college reflect the excellence of our Program,” says Annapolis
President Christopher Nelson. “For many
years, the college has made many
sacrifices for the sake of the Program.
We must seize the opportunity now to
strengthen the college for the future.”
The last time the college launched a campaign, the goal was
$30 million; $36 million was raised by the time the campaign
ended in 1996. This much larger goal is within reach, Mr. Nelson
says, in part because $71 million has already been pledged or
received from individual donors and foundations. “Before we
publicly announced the campaign we had already received gifts
double the total raised in our previous campaign. Now, we need to
take our case for support to all of the college’s alumni, friends,
and parents, with the strong belief that we have their support for
this important undertaking,” he says. An opening celebration for
the campaign was held in Annapolis in April, and another special
celebration will be held in Santa Fe July 28.
The campaign’s theme was intended to underscore the vision
that led Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan to begin the New
Program at St. John’s in 1937. The phrase “With a Clear and
Single Purpose” can be found in Barr’s 1939 president’s report to
the board. Even as the college struggled financially in the early
years of the Program, Barr stated that the college must always
hold firm to the ideals of liberal education.
In its infancy, the Program was viewed by outside observers as a
radical experiment. Today the academic program is seen as a
standard for liberal education. “Although the notion of a liberal
arts education is often challenged today by those who see higher
education as a type of job training program, St. John’s remains
committed to its ideals,” says Santa Fe President Michael Peters.
“An education should be about the search for truth and learning
for life.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�11
{Capital Campaign}
The quiet phase of the
campaign, begun in
2002, was well under way
when Mr. Peters accepted
the presidency in Santa
Fe. He was eager to take
part in an endeavor that
will benefit the Santa Fe
campus and strengthen
St. John’s collegewide.
“I believe that this
campaign is important
for St. John’s College,
and I believe that it can be
successful. When I joined
the college in January
2005, I could see how far
St. John’s has come in
recent years, how much
the college has improved
while never losing sight
of its mission.
“Part of my own vision
for St. John’s is that the
college gains the recognition it deserves as a
leader in American higher education,” Mr. Peter adds. “Indeed,
education at all levels should take a close look at what we do. But
to remain true to our mission and to serve as an example to others,
we need the support of every alumnus, parent, and friend. I hope
that all who know the college will find a way to contribute to
this effort.”
The college’s capital campaign
seeks to address priorities that
will sustain the Program and
strengthen the college.
Funding these priorities will
require $125 million.
FINANCIAL AID: $33 million for
need-based aid.
FACULTY AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT:
$34 million to increase faculty
salaries to the median of peer
institutions; provide faculty
development opportunities;
develop program-related
student instructional material
Goals
of
Campaign
the
“Like a Euclid proposition,
this is a campaign characterized
by
clarity
and
simplicity,” says Sharon
Bishop (Class of 1965), chair
of the college’s Board of
Visitors and Governors.
“Everything that we are
seeking to do is in direct
support of the Program.”
Funds raised through the
campaign will be directed to
priorities in three areas:
• Students: Among the top
priorities of the college is the
need to sustain the needbased financial aid program
that ensures that students
accepted to the college can
attend regardless of their
financial circumstances.
• Faculty: St. John’s is
committed to bringing tutor salaries to the median of those at
comparable liberal arts colleges, while providing more opportunities for more tutors to engage in faculty study.
• Facilities: In order to house more students on campus, the
college seeks to build new dormitories and renovate existing
dorms. Academic buildings, especially laboratory classrooms
(manuals and workbooks);
and ensure small class sizes and
1:8 tutor-to-student ratio.
STUDENT SERVICES: $3.5 million
to improve services to students,
fund internship opportunities,
and provide grants so that
elementary and secondary
teachers can attend the
Graduate Institute.
ST. JOHN’S IMPROVEMENT FUND:
$5 million for library collections and laboratory equipment; improving Information
Technology infrastructure;
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
staff professional development
and compensation.
BUILDING PROJECTS ON THE TWO
CAMPUSES: $49.5 million for
building projects, including a
Santa Fe dormitory, a Graduate
Institute center in Santa Fe,
and the addition to and
renovation of Evans Science
Laboratory. The renovation of
Mellon Hall and the addition of
two new dormitories in
Annapolis are completed and
fully funded.
�12
{Capital Campaign}
Endowment per student
in Santa Fe, require renovation and
upgrading. And the college seeks to build a
new Graduate Institute center in Santa Fe
that would provide the campus
with a much-needed auditorium for
lectures, concerts, and other programs.
Grinnell
Pomona
Swarthmore
Bowdoin
Claremont McKenna
Haverford
Carleton
Reed
Colorado
Oberlin
St. John’s
“The board, the Alumni Association, and the
college’s administration are all in agreement
about what needs to be done,” says Ronald A.
Fielding (A70), a board member and chairman of the Capital
Campaign. “We must remain accessible to all qualified students.
We need to continue to attract talented and dedicated faculty
members and give them opportunities that will help them
continue to serve as model learners for our students. We also need
a physical environment in which a community of learners can
flourish.”
The college hasn’t waited in addressing the most urgent needs
of the strategic plan, says Ms. Bishop. Early fruits of the campaign
have been directed to the projects that most directly affect student
life and learning. Two new dormitories, paid for by gifts to the
campaign, have opened in the last two years in Annapolis,
enabling the college to house 80 percent of its students on
campus. The college committed $4.5 million to the Santa Fe
Initiative, and as a result, students benefit from renovated laboratories in the Evans Science Laboratory, paid summer internships,
and overall improvements to the buildings and grounds on the
Santa Fe campus.
Building Endowment
The St. John’s endowment, a carefully managed investment fund,
is larger than it has ever been, at just over $100 million. The
endowment’s primary purpose is to grow and to provide an
ever-increasing source of revenue for the college. Compared to
other small liberal arts colleges, St. John’s remains seriously
under-endowed, a situation that keeps the college too dependent
on tuition revenue for its yearly operations. With the current endowment, the college has $5,000 per student to spend annually, while
Grinnell College, with about 1,500 students, has $43,000 per
student to spend annually because of a substantially larger endowment.
“This is a time of opp-ortunity for St. John’s,” says Mr. Fielding,
senior vice president and portfolio manager of OppenheimerFunds’ municipal bond division. “By growing the endowment, we
can support the Program for many years to come.”
Mr. Fielding’s $10 million gift to the endowment, given in 2003
to support financial aid, was also intended to underscore his
support for the campaign and encourage others to join the effort.
“Everything else about St. John’s is strong. The college is in
$862,337
$750,470
$724,850
$313,181
$303,626
$300,709
$265,283
$258,294
$217,326
$208,039
$101,590
capable hands, with a solid administration
and a dedicated faculty. We have attracted
excellent students, and our applicant pool is
better than it has ever been. But the largest
missing link in terms of the quality of St.
John’s is—and always has been—related to
money,” he says.
Since its early days, when the Revolutionary War founders of St. John’s had to
send out bailiffs to collect pledges from
financial supporters of the new college, raising funds and keeping
the college financially healthy has not come easily. Mr. Fielding
points out that Barr and Buchanan were able to bring the New
Program to St. John’s in the 1930s in part because the college was
facing bankruptcy, and the board was willing to take a chance to
keep the college open.
“We’ve never had a John Harvard, a Johns Hopkins—a single
benefactor whose gift established the institution on strong
footing,” he says. “Even in the 1940s and ’50s, when philanthropist Paul Mellon was making very generous gifts to the college,
those gifts helped the college survive during some very lean years,
but they didn’t build the endowment.”
Mr. Fielding chose to direct his gift to financial aid in part because
a comprehensive aid package allowed him to attend St. John’s. The
need-based financial aid program at St. John’s is one of the few in the
country that devotes every dollar to students who would not otherwise be able to attend the college. About 70 percent of students
receive some form of financial aid, and the average St. John’s
grant is $15,000. Today, the amount the college needs to spend on
financial aid is growing faster than the rate of tuition increase,
with more than $11 million annually devoted to financial aid.
The Johnnie Giving Culture
During the campaign, alumni, parents, and friends will be
asked to make five-year pledges to the effort. Those capable of
large gifts may choose to support an endowment or building
project. Most supporters, however, will make their contribution
to the campaign through their gift to the Annual Fund. The goal
for the campaign is $29 million in Annual Fund gifts and
pledges by 2008. In order for the campaign to be successful, the
Annual Fund will need to grow in both the amount of individual
gifts and in the number of alumni who give (now at about
36 percent). Alumni can also join the ranks of volunteers
helping with the campaign.
Ray Cave (class of 1948) agreed to co-chair the current
campaign with Fielding, contributing the expertise gleaned from
chairing the Campaign for Our Fourth Century (which
ended in 1996). “The $125 million is going to be a stretch to
reach,” he acknowledges. “But thanks to the hard work of a lot of
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�{Capital Campaign}
13
Campaign Progress
The college has already raised $71 million in gifts
and pledges toward the campaign. Those gifts
include: $10 million, Ronald A. Fielding (A70),
for financial aid; $12 million, anonymous alumnus,
for support of the endowment; $10 million from
The Hodson Trust for the renovation of Mellon
Hall and the construction of Gilliam Hall; a gift
(amount undisclosed) Warren Spector (A81),
toward construction of Spector Hall; $4 million
from board member Stephen L. Feinberg (HSF96);
and $1 million from BVG Chair Sharon Bishop
(Class of 1965). The college has obtained 100
percent participation in the campaign by the Board
of Visitors of Governors and the Alumni Association board.
A group of alumni and supporters of the college
have pledged $2 million gift to the campaign in
honor of Eva Brann. The college will create in
Miss Brann’s name a tutorship endowment fund.
people, the alumni have really been
brought back to the community, and
they’re responsive to the needs of the
college. They want to be involved, and
when we ask them, I think they’ll be
ready to give. They will look upon themselves as supporters of an institution
that they admire and that remains on
their mind.”
Mr. Cave never thought of himself as
a fund-raiser; he started out as a newspaper reporter in Baltimore and worked
his way up to become editor of Time
magazine. “When I was asked to be
chairman of the previous capital
campaign, I said, ‘I’m a journalist. I’ve
never asked anyone for a nickel, and I
don’t know how to do that.’ ”
But Mr. Cave knew how to tell a story, and the college’s story in
the mid-1990s was one of unmet needs that could not be ignored
without peril to the Program. For example, tutors at St. John’s
were at the very bottom of the salary scale for faculty members at
comparable institutions. “I think it’s important to understand
that in historical terms, this college basically lived from hand to
mouth. You can’t run a successful college or a business that way,
but that’s what St. John’s had been doing. It’s as if we were embarrassed to ask for money. But of course alumni should support
their alma mater—if you don’t want to give, it says you don’t feel
you got anything beneficial when you attended.”
When the Campaign for Our Fourth Century was launched,
“everyone agreed that we had to give tutors a pay raise, but the
endowment couldn’t support it,” Mr. Cave recalls. “Enough
money was raised in the campaign to give tutors a pay raise, and
now we’ve got them pretty darn near the middle.”
In the past 15 years, the college has cultivated a strong donor
base and has established good relationships with foundations and
trusts. “Today, St. John’s is well managed in all respects. The
college is going out now to raise $125 million to do two things:
support the institution as it exists and strengthen the financial
base so that St. John’s can keep pace with what students expect
and what parents expect, while remaining true to its mission.”
As he did in the last campaign, Mr. Cave will meet with donors
to ask for a gift to the campaign. He knows he’ll hear a lot of good
things about the college. “St. John’s is the kind of institution
that does create passion in those who support it,” he says. “There
are many alumni who support the college because it did
consequential things for them, whether they graduated or not.
And there are many people who support the college because they
know St. John’s matters for America.”
Steve Thomas (SF74) chairs the
Alumni Committee of the campaign.
“I loved every one of the four years I
spent at the college,” he says. “And I
believe most alumni feel that way.”
Only many years after graduation
did Mr. Thomas gain an appreciation
for how the college works. He became
involved in the Alumni Association
Board and is now a member of the
Board of Visitors and Governors.
He sees some challenges in the job
for which he has volunteered.
“Alumni love the college, and they’re
proud of being Johnnies,” says
Mr. Thomas, a New York lawyer. “But
for a long time, we were trained not to
like the administration—there was this
suspicion of that side of the college. We need to convince alumni
that the money they give is going to go directly to supporting
students and the institution.”
As a member of the BVG’s Visiting Committee, Mr. Thomas has
the opportunity to sit in on classes and meet students on both
campuses. “I’m pleased that the college is providing substantively the same education as when I was a student,” he says.
“I don’t think I realized until recently how much work goes into
preserving the most important aspects of St. John’s.”
Along with alumni, parents will be asked to make a gift to the
campaign. Linda Schaefer, a BVG member and former Santa Fe
Parent Association member, has volunteered to serve as one of
the chairs of the Parent Committee of the campaign. Her son
Eric graduated from St. John’s in Santa Fe in 2004, and during
his student years she volunteered to assist the college with the
Annual Fund.
Mrs. Schaefer believes parents will respond to the needs of the
capital campaign. “When you look back at your own sons and
daughters, you can see the incredible changes that take place
between freshman and senior years, and you know the difference
the college had made in their lives,” she says. “They leave the
college with a lifelong love of learning and the ability to think
for themselves.”
Mrs. Schaefer and her husband, Mark, are also supporting the
capital campaign with a gift because they admire what St. John’s
represents. “We believe that St. John’s is the kind of institution
that really needs to be here. Just look at those students who have
been to traditional liberal arts colleges and found it didn’t work
for them. We really need to support and preserve the Program
because so many people have benefited from it.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�14
{The Program}
POETRY in MOTION
Mr. Sinnett and Mr. Braithwaite, Newton and Aristotle
by Rosemary Harty
nnapolis students and tutors gathering
for a Friday night lecture in January
found an unusual setup on the stage of
Key Auditorium. A pair of tutors sat
facing each other at a coffee shop table,
with books and papers spread out before
them, and a blackboard positioned
nearby. Instead of introducing the
lecturer, Dean Michael Dink (A75) stood
briefly to quiet the audience. The tutors, Mark Sinnett and William
Braithwaite, began talking to each other about the nature of motion
in the works of Newton and Aristotle. They were continuing a
conversation—now for the benefit of an audience—that had been
taking place nearly every week for almost three years.
The role of a St. John’s tutor is often described as that of a model
learner engaging with students on the lifelong journey of seeking
knowledge. During the academic year and summer breaks, tutors
work in formal study groups to pursue topics of interest together. In
Annapolis this summer, tutors will study Kepler, for example. In
Santa Fe, the summer topics include Mann’s Dr. Faustus. But the
alex lorman
A
endeavor pursued by Mr. Braithwaite and Mr. Sinnett demonstrates
another interesting aspect of life at St. John’s: many more tutors
take part in informal groups that arise from a particular interest or
a question. Their engagement in such pursuits lasts as long as they
still have something they want to talk about.
The Braithwaite-Sinnett collaboration on Aristotle’s Physics and
Newton’s Principia also demonstrates how tutors with different
experiences and abilities offer each other a deeper understanding of
a work—the same thing that happens with students in an allrequired curriculum.
Of the many things unique to St. John’s, the requirement that
tutors teach across the curriculum may seem most puzzling to
outsiders. At most colleges and universities, an English department
decides it needs an expert in rhetoric; a history department seeks a
Civil War expert. At St. John’s, the dean and instruction committee
interviewing prospective tutors looks not for a particular expertise,
but an agile, imaginative mind.
As the two men described their collaboration a few weeks after
their lecture (presented as a public conversation), they also
captured what makes conversation at St. John’s such a fruitful
and satisfying activity. Mr. Braithwaite came to
St. John’s in 1995 from a law school faculty;
Mr. Sinnett came from the pulpit of a Presbyterian
church.
“We were both teaching junior mathematics and
were in the same archon group,” explained
Mr. Sinnett. “I have a master’s degree in mathematics and I had been pursuing doctoral studies in
mathematics when I shifted to theology. But being at
St. John’s has brought mathematics back to life for
me. Mathematics is done here for all the right
reasons, because of the way, as Ptolemy says, it
orders the soul; it’s a way of ordering the mind.”
“I’m a former corporate trial lawyer whose mathematics experience before St. John’s was limited to
Instead of delivering a lecture, tutors Mark
Sinnett (l.) and William Braithwaite continued
their conversation on Newton and Aristotle,
this time for the benefit of an audience.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�{The Program}
reading balance sheets,” Mr. Braithwaite said. “I had been out of
college and done no other math but basic arithmetic for 40 years. If
you look at our backgrounds, it wouldn’t appear that we’d have a
great deal to say to one another. And that’s still something of a
delightful mystery for me. We never planned to talk for 30 months.
We were just going to study junior math together.”
“We found that we were coming at the text in different ways, and
it was fruitful,” added Mr. Sinnett. “We had a common interest, and
we pursued it. That’s what happens at this college.”
Junior mathematics at St. John’s centers on Newton and calculus.
Students begin by reading Zeno, Aristotle, and Galileo. They
consider Zeno’s famous paradox: how is continuous motion
possible if, at each instant, the moving object fills the space it occupies, equal to its own size? The arrow is not moving there, Zeno
posited, it’s at rest there, and it can’t be moving anywhere else,
therefore motion is illusory. Continuing on to Newton’s Principia,
and armed with a calculus manual, juniors explore the mechanical
motions of the universe.
The tutors’ joint inquiry started with Newton’s calculus, but kept
returning to questions raised in the Physics. Eventually, the two
settled on pursuing one central question: How does the mathematical account of motions of bodies in Newton differ from Aristotle’s
nonmathematical account of nature and change in general?
“Aristotle has a very limited view of what mathematics can do in
relation to nature,” explained Mr. Braithwaite. “In the Physics he
devotes a chapter to talking about how the mathematician’s study of
nature differs from that of the physicist, what he would regard as the
nonmathematical student of nature. He says that although the
mathematician abstracts from nature, he doesn’t falsify the things
that he studies. It looks as if Aristotle was making room for a
mathematical inquiry into nature.”
In their public conversation, the tutors started with Zeno’s
paradoxes, which are carried through the Physics. “Something that
intrigued us early on is: how did Newton think about Zeno’s
paradoxes? Had he thought about them at all?” Mr. Braithwaite
said. “Was Zeno a problem for Newton, or had he worked out a way
of dealing with the problems the paradoxes raise that was different
from Aristotle’s, or in some sense the same? We talked a lot about
that over a long period of time, then we discovered that it looked to
us as if Newton had found a way around the paradoxes.”
According to Newton’s understanding, one divides up space and
the corresponding times in the same way, resulting in a finite sum of
time corresponding to the given finite expanse of space, explained
Mr. Sinnett. Thus, an unbounded time is no longer necessary in
order to traverse a bounded space. Similarly, he adds, Aristotle
divides both space and time in a consistent manner. Both become
countably infinite collections in exact correspondence of each
other, with the result, as with Newton, that the paradox disappears.
“Aristotle’s whole inquiry into motion, of course, is much
broader. He’s concerned with change, which includes the plant over
there growing, your writing on that piece of paper, the table
decomposing. Newton’s got a very small portion of this: the motion
of ballistic objects,” Mr. Sinnett said.
15
“I think it’s right that nothing in Newton’s calculus tells you
about growing plants or the motions of animals,” agreed Mr. Braithwaite. “It’s about moving bodies from place A to place B, so it has a
narrow but extremely powerful focus because of his development of
the calculus. Newton is asking a different set of questions, but in the
background was always this concession by Aristotle that the mathematical account isn’t false—in other words, it could tell you real, true
things—it’s just not the whole horizon that Aristotle set for himself.”
Newton’s ultimate ratio is not going to be visible to anyone who
doesn’t proceed to it in a regular way, said Mr. Sinnett: “He’s just as
dependent upon his reader’s personal insight—seeing into what is
not visible to the eye—as Aristotle is, and Aristotle’s language is just
perfect for describing what the student of his book has to let happen
in his mind to grasp what is important. It’s startling to me to have
been teaching calculus on and off for 25 years to find some of the
best language for describing what I was doing in Aristotle’s
Physics.”
“Together we came to see that the Physics was extraordinarily
helpful in understanding Newton,” Mr. Braithwaite said. “Our
effort, when our imagination is not working properly, is to nail
something down and hold it still so we can walk all around it and
think that’s going to get us to an understanding of it. And the
problem is you can’t do that with motion. Zeno’s paradoxes all
appeal in some way to this natural reaction of trying to stop something in order to understand it. If you stop motion in order to
understand it you’re not going to understand it as motion, you’re
going to understand it as rest. That’s the difficulty.”
Mr. Braithwaite had first heard of St. John’s in 1956, when he saw
a movie about the college. He applied and was accepted, but for
financial reasons, chose Virginia Military Institute. The college
came back into his life in the early ’90s, when his two oldest sons
Matthew (A96), and David (A97); matriculated here, and when
Christopher Nelson (SF70), then fairly new as Annapolis president,
asked him to join a President’s Advisory Council. (A third son,
Daniel (01) followed, and a fourth, Jonathan, will matriculate with
the class of 2010.) In 1993, at age 56, Mr. Braithwaite applied to join
the faculty and was astounded to receive an offer.
Similarly, Mr. Sinnett’s path to St. John’s stemmed from his
wide-ranging intellectual interests. After earning his Ph.D. in
systematic theology at Cambridge University, he was ordained a
minister in the Presbyterian Church. He served a congregation in
Texas for five years, but he wasn’t a good fit for the second
congregation that called him. “One day I preached a sermon in
which part of the message—from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians—
was that we shouldn’t turn ourselves down. The world tries hard
enough to do that. I was talking with my wife about what to do next
and said what I’d really like to do is teach at St. John’s. She said,
‘Well, don’t turn yourself down.’ So I wrote a letter to St. John’s.”
The two are not planning another joint endeavor for some time.
But given a moment to think about it, Mr. Braithwaite suggested to
Mr. Sinnett, “Maybe we should take a look at the Metaphysics? You
have a background in theology, after all, and I don’t, so we’d ask
different questions—it could be interesting.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�16
{The Tutors}
“EVER THE
TEAC HER”
Santa Fe Tutor William Darkey
by Robin Weiss, SFGI86
s William A. Darkey prepared
to become one of the first graduates of the New Program in
1942, he received a startling
offer from Scott Buchanan and
Stringfellow Barr, founders of
the Program.
Mr. Darkey recounts the
story—and his own bewilderment—with a grin, recalling the details 63 years later.
“Buchanan called me in and he said, ‘You know, Winkie
[Barr] and I have been talking . . . we ought to have a
student or two on the faculty because none of us have actually been through the curriculum.’ I said, ‘You must be
kidding!’ But after the initial shock wore off, I asked,
‘Gosh, you really think I could do that?’ ”
“If I didn’t think you could, I wouldn’t have asked you,”
Buchanan replied.
Barr and Buchanan are often described as visionaries,
but it’s hard to imagine that they could have foreseen how
much Mr. Darkey, now tutor emeritus, would contribute to
the life of St. John’s College: as a long-serving and
dedicated tutor, willing to take on various duties including
admissions director and librarian in Annapolis; as one of
the first faculty members and a dean of the Santa Fe
campus; and as a mentor and friend to colleagues and
students for more than six decades.
Mr. Darkey’s teaching contract, dated May 29, 1942,
honored him with a $500 salary and free board at the
college. But his appointment came at a tenuous time for a
A
struggling college. After the attack on Pearl Harbor,
students and faculty began leaving St. John’s for military
service. In his book A Search for the Liberal College,
J. Winfree Smith describes a student body torn between
“good thinking about war and peace” and the actual
demands of war. Between 1942-43, enrollment plummeted
from 178 to 100.
Mr. Darkey himself tried several times to enlist, but poor
eyesight stood in his way. “I went through the peculiar initiation of going to Baltimore every six months and
going through the routine—and guess what? They discovered
I was nearsighted,” he recalls, chuckling. “And then they’d
say, ‘No, you won’t do at all.’ This happened quite regularly.”
In November 1943, Mr. Darkey was one of five tutors who
served on the committee drafting the first Polity, which
(according to Smith) became official by Barr’s fiat in 1945,
over the faculty’s objections.
Peter Hamill, class of 1949, met Mr. Darkey in January
1946 when Mr. Darkey was serving as a “third leader” in his
seminar, comprising veterans from the war. Hamill
attended the college for a year before being recalled by the
Navy, and he remembers Mr. Darkey as a quiet presence in
the classroom.
“Mr. Darkey seldom spoke up. He mostly sat back and
observed. Ford K. Brown [as senior leader] was handling
things.” Dr. Hamill remembers how the two men “made it
easy to drop any military swagger and become a human
being in the group.”
At the end of that year, Mr. Darkey finally succeeded in
enlisting in the Army. Asked about his background, he told
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�{The Tutors}
17
Tutor Emeritus William Darkey
at Santa Fe commencement, 2003.
his commanding officer he was a teacher. “Ah, a school
marm!” the officer replied. “We can use you.”
Mr. Darkey was assigned to training methods. “This was
teaching people useful things like how to throw a hand
grenade.” Mr. Darkey worked for a colonel who thought
him “a very good training methods man,” and asked if he
intended to make a career out of the military. No,
Mr. Darkey said, he had marriage and graduate school in
mind. Although he was up for a transfer to Japan, he was
allowed to stay stateside to await his honorable discharge.
With his wife, Connie, he went to New York to embark on
a graduate degree in English literature at Columbia
University. One of his teachers was noted poet and
professor Mark Van Doren, an
early supporter of the
Program. “The very first
lecture I went to at St. John’s
was by Mark. I remember
thinking: My God, this is an
honest-to-God poet.” At
Columbia the two men
became good friends, and
Mr. Van Doren counseled him
through difficulties such as
writer’s block.
After earning his degree in
1949, Mr. Darkey returned to
teach at St. John’s. Barr and
Buchanan had moved on, and
“the center of it all was
[Jacob] Klein . . . a great
reader of books” and in a
sense “the soul of the
college.” “He knew about
good and evil, Greek mathematics, Hebrew, French,
English. Europe gave us a
great gift in all of these
people,” Mr. Darkey says of
Mr. Klein, Simon Kaplan, Eva
Brann, and other intellectuals who were refugees from
Europe and helped build the college’s reputation.
Also at the college were gifted musicians and composers
who inspired students with their love for music: Nicholas
Nabokov, Elliot Carter, and Victor Zuckerkandl. “Music
was very much alive,” recalls Mr. Darkey. “Scott Buchanan
had the notion, deep inside him, that music was a liberal art
and that it ought to be cultivated as such.”
Mr. Darkey was Miss Brann’s seminar co-leader in her first
year at the college, 1957-58. “He took me into the community and showed me the ins and outs,” she says. As a
“member of the old guard,” he was the model of a good
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�18
{The Tutors}
“He had the ability to make the material his own, then
lend it to you; he could get inside the material and take
you by the hand. He did it with great gentility.”
Bob Warren (SFGI93)
Alfred Eisenstaedt/L IFE Magazine
seminar leader. “He’s a gentle man and
a gentleman both,” Miss Brann says.
Mr. Darkey’s devotion to teaching
extended beyond St. John’s. He was one
of several tutors to found The Key
School in 1958, and when the independent school based on the St. John’s
model outgrew a rented facility in
Annapolis, Mr. Darkey was appointed
acting headmaster. He took a year’s
leave from St. John’s to help relocate
Key to a permanent home.
Max Ochs (AGI91) grew up in
Annapolis and has known Mr. Darkey
for more than four decades. His best
friend was Peter Nabokov, Connie’s son
from her first marriage to Nicholas
Nabokov. One day near Christmas in
1959, when Ochs was elementary-school
age, he visited the Darkey home to
discover Mr. Darkey cutting out pieces of colored construction paper. “He was trying to teach me and Peter how to
make tree ornaments—tetrahedrons and dodecahedrons . . .
Just learning the word was wonderful,” says Ochs. “He was
ever the teacher. And he did it in a very non-threatening
way, always.”
Another memory, from Ochs’ teenage years, is of the time
Mr. Darkey decided to offer seminars to neighborhood kids.
The first assignment was Don Quixote. “When he asked how
many people actually read the book, fewer than half of us
raised our hands . . . I’ve hardly ever seen his face get dark
and cloudy like that,” Ochs says. If disappointed, Mr. Darkey
persevered with his seminars. “He has this great, intense
love of the truth.”
In the early 1960s, former president Richard Weigle
(HA49) spearheaded the move to open a Western campus of
St. John’s. When Santa Fe was chosen, Mr. Darkey was
selected to be one of the founding faculty members at the
new campus. Mr. Darkey describes “the proselytizing
aspect” of the endeavor. “Dick Weigle . . . wanted to bring
the liberal arts to the West. We had very gifted people
working on it.”
William Darkey grew up in western
Maryland, earned a scholarship to
St. John’s, and before graduating in 1942
was offered a faculty position by thendean Scott Buchanan.
His wife, Connie, he adds, “thought
that the notion of founding a new
campus in the West was a great idea.
She was full of enthusiasm” for the
adventure.
A member of Santa Fe’s first class,
Marilynne Scott (Maurie Wills Schell,
SF68), remembers Mr. Darkey well.
He led her tutorial and co-led seminar
in her freshman year, and he “listened
to us with such intensity,” she recalls.
“Out of our ramblings he zeroed [in]
on the germ of the idea we were trying
to put forth. His eyes looked at the
speaker as he asked us to explain, elaborate, give examples. He helped us formulate thoughts we
hardly knew we had.”
He also gave Ms. Scott rides to and from church. “Here
was a person who dissected the Bible, Augustine, Aquinas
and Calvin, yet had a deep and public faith. In the freshman
don rag, Mr. Darkey asked me what wisdom was. I can now
say a wise person is one who sees with his heart and acts on
his convictions. Such a man is Bill Darkey.”
From 1968-72, Mr. Darkey served as the second dean of the
Santa Fe campus, bringing to the post “imagination,
diligence, and perceptiveness,” Weigle later wrote in one of
his memoirs.
Mr. Darkey was a tutor to David Levine (A67) in
Annapolis, and when Mr. Levine returned as a faculty
member in Santa Fe, he was pleased to have Mr. Darkey as a
colleague. “His sense of the mission of the college is wellcentered,” says Mr. Levine, now outgoing dean in Santa Fe.
“He’s a partisan of a smaller college, someone who has
expressed, many times, his concern that the college will
become too large to be a community of learners . . . People
have looked up to him as a way of keeping our balance.”
In 1998, Mr. Levine suggested renovating the former
bookstore in Peterson Hall into a much-needed common
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�19
marion warren
{The Tutors}
room. Bob Warren (SFGI93), a strong supporter of the
college, agreed to underwrite the project if the room was
named in honor of Mr. Darkey.
Not surprisingly, the humble Mr. Darkey was reluctant to
see a room named for him, notes Mr. Warren. He and his
wife, Carol, have taken several community seminars with
Mr. Darkey and have always been impressed by his gentle
manner and his intellect. “He never raised his voice, or an
eyebrow. He had the ability to make the material his own,
then lend it to you; he could get inside the material and take
you by the hand. He did it with great gentility.”
Mr. Darkey was on the Instruction Committee that hired
Santa Fe tutor Jorge Aigla in 1985. In terms of the Program,
Mr. Darkey is “never complacent, but always reexamining
what we do and why,” says Mr. Aigla. And as his friend for the
past 21 years, Mr. Darkey has taught him what friendship
may mean: “he’s committed, kind, amiable . . . [and] has a
fantastic ability to listen.”
“He’s the best of a St. John’s tutor; he allows differing
points of view while inspiring the conversation to continue,”
says Laura Mulry (SFGI02), who developed a friendship with
Mr. Darkey in her years in the GI and on the college staff.
“He’s broadened my intellect and opened my spirit by always
asking: ‘What’s the discovery for you? What’s the pleasure
and joy you obtain?’ ”
Former President John Balkcom (SFGI00) has also
enjoyed many long talks with Mr. Darkey, about the
His students have always found tutor Bill Darkey (shown here
in a 1961 math tutorial) to be a gentle, but vital, presence in
the classroom.
Program, students, and faculty. He was always eager for the
visits, held every six weeks. “I would basically sit and listen
to him just as long as he wanted to talk,” says Mr. Balkcom.
“He’s the soul of the college in my book.”
Mr. Balkcom remembers a lecture Mr. Darkey gave in
2002. The Great Hall was packed, people spilled into the
Senior Common Room, and Mr. Darkey gave a wonderful
lecture on the poems of Mark Van Doren. The next day,
Mr. Balkcom learned that Mr. Darkey had left the text
at home. “He did it extemporaneously. You would not
have known.”
Last summer, with his dog Beau close at hand, Mr. Darkey
reflected on what the college has meant to him. In a little
more than an hour, sitting outside the Peterson Student
Center, he had tried to summarize a journey that began in
Annapolis and brought him to this beautiful campus built at
the foot of the mountains. “It’s the life, in all these things we
do,” he said. “It’s a rare thing to understand—you have to
live it.” x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�20
{History}
THE
Re m a rk a b l e
R E V E R DY J O H N S O N
An American Statesman
by Andrea Lamb
everdy Johnson, Esq., class of 1811,
was bold and concise in his defense of
Mary E. Surratt, one of the accused coconspirators in the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. Johnson’s fame
rested on his reputation as a constitutional lawyer and senator. He based his
defense of Surratt on the argument
that the military commission created
after the assasination of Lincoln was unconstitutional.
“If a military commission, created by the mere authority of the
President, can deprive a citizen of the benefit of the guaranties
secured by the 5th amendment, it can deprive him of those
secured by the 6th. It may deny him the right to a speedy and
public trial, information ‘of the nature and cause of the accusation,’ of the right ‘to be confronted with the witnesses against
him,’ of ‘compulsory process for his witnesses,’ and of ‘the assistance of counsel for his defense’ . . . If then, it was true that the
creation of a military commission like the present is incidental to
the war power, it must be authorized by the department to which
that power belongs, and not by the Executive, to whom no portion
of it belongs.”
Unfortunately for Surratt, Johnson’s defense was unsuccessful,
and on July 7, 1865, she was hanged—the first woman to be
executed by the federal government.
According to the 19th-century newspaper, The North American
Review, intrigue may have interfered with justice even with so
R
eminent a counsel as Reverdy Johnson. On the third day of the
session, a member of the military commission, General T.M.
Harris, questioned the integrity of Johnson as counsel on the
grounds that he had earlier refused to recognize the moral
obligation of an oath required of voters in the state of Maryland.
Johnson’s reason was based on his belief that the state Convention
had exceeded its authority in attempting to exact an oath as a
condition for citizens to exercise the vote. In a strange turn of
events, Johnson was forced to defend himself.
General Harris’ attempt to have Johnson dismissed on grounds
of integrity failed, due to Johnson’s eloquence and comportment
in the court room. Unfortunately, such an affront to his character
was intolerable, and the dignified Johnson declined to appear in
person again, submitting written arguments to the court instead.
Although it failed in Surratt’s case, Johnson’s legal argument was
later proven sound. In 1866, one year after Surratt’s execution,
the landmark Supreme Court decision Ex Parte Milligan was
issued. It stated that while civilians may be imprisoned by the
military during times of war, it was unconstitutional to
subject civilians to military courts as long as the civilian courts
were operating.
His defense of the doomed Surratt was only one of Johnson’s
many controversial undertakings. He was co-counsel for the slave
owner in the 1857 Dred Scott case. Chief Justice Roger Taney,
earlier of the Baltimore Bar and a close friend of Johnson’s,
rendered the opinion that slaves were not citizens of the United
States, and could not sue in federal courts. The decision also
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�library of congress
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�22
{History}
declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional,
and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in
the territories. Later, during the Lincoln-Douglas presidential
campaign, Johnson spoke at Faneuil Hall in Boston. According to
his biographer Steiner, he delivered an eloquent and moving
address expressing his view that slavery was a local institution,
with which Congress should not interfere. Although he personally
opposed slavery, Johnson’s respect for the Constitution prevailed
over all.
It is not at all unusual to think of many successful St. John’s
alumni much in the same vein as Johnson—brilliant, extraordi-
nary, but perhaps an irregular fit in a regular world. Some of the
intense controversy he attracted can be explained in part by the
historical setting of his life. He served in the Senate during a
turbulent time: slavery, the Civil War, Lincoln’s assassination,
war reparations, the Mexican War, and the first impeachment of
an American president, in 1868, were issues for men like Johnson
and benchmarks in American history. In all of his legal and
political pursuits, Johnson met the challenges while maintaining
his personal integrity.
In addition to his St. John’s education, Johnson had many
resources, including influential family connections. His father
From One Johnnie’s Library to Another
Some coincidences are almost too remarkable to believe.
Take, for example, how a volume of The Report of the Exploring
Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, by Brevet
Captain J. C. Fremont, came to be included in the rare books
collection of the Greenfield Library.
Stewart H. Greenfield (Class of 1953), a member of the
college’s Board of Visitors and Governors, has always
enjoyed visiting used bookstores and adding to his
personal library. (About a decade
ago, he demonstrated his love for
books by providing the gift that
allowed the college to renovate the
former Maryland State Archives
building for a new library—named,
accordingly, for Mr. Greenfield.)
Many years ago Mr. Greenfield
came across a copy of Fremont’s
journals. In 1841 Congress
commissioned a survey of the Oregon
Trail and named Lt. John C. Fremont
to head the expedition. Upon his
return, Fremont prepared the official
report to Congress. It was so wellreceived that an extra 1,000 copies
were printed.
“I have a couple of books about
exploration and expeditions, and I
saw the Fremont volume and leafed
through it,” Mr. Greenfield recalls.
Mr. Greenfield read the book, put
it back on a shelf, and forgot about
it—until he picked up the New York
Times Book Review one day and
saw an advertisement from a rare
book dealer.
“It was from Bauman’s Rare
Books. Bauman’s had a copy of
Fremont’s journals, and the ad mentioned that it was a senatorial copy, one of the first editions prepared for the report to the
Congress. The copy they were selling had a rare map in the
pocket of the back cover, and as I recall, the price tag on theirs
was $6,000.
“This gave me incentive to go and see if my copy included the
map and was a senatorial edition.”
Not only did it have a map, not only was it a senatorial
edition, but it was the copy
presented to Reverdy Johnson,
St. John’s Class of 1811. “This was
the first time I’d looked closely at
the inscription. It was signed by
Reverdy Johnson, whose name I
knew well from my days as a student
at St. John’s. I looked up his history,
and indeed on the day he signed the
volume, he was a member of the
Congress.”
Indeed, a remarkable coincidence.
Since then, Bauman’s has continued
to seek buyers for other Fremont
volumes; the last one had an asking
price of $7,800. But Mr. Greenfield’s
volume became a gift to the
St. John’s library, where, he says,
it belongs. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
In November 2005, Stewart
Greenfield donated his copy of
FREMONT’S REPORT to the Greenfield
Library, where it is on display in the
Nutt Room. The inscription inside
reads “From Reverdy Johnson to his
friend Wm Price Dec. 30, 1845.”
�{History}
had been a lawyer and appeals court judge in Maryland. After
graduating from St. John’s at age 15, Reverdy Johnson read law
with his father, joined the Baltimore Bar and practiced law in
Maryland. After having served as a state senator, he was elected in
1845 to the U.S. Senate as a Whig. In 1849, he was appointed by
Zachary Taylor to be attorney general of the United States. He
later served as a representative in the Maryland Assembly, and
returned to the U.S. Senate, this time as a democrat. During the
Civil War, he was a strenuous supporter of keeping Maryland in
the Union.
At age 50, Johnson accepted the appointment of minister to
Britain’s Court of St. James’s, launching his international career.
Lord Clarendon, at the time of Johnson’s appointment, wrote to a
friend in America that “Mr. Johnson was the only diplomatic
representative that had ever brought out the true friendly feeling
of the British people for those in the
United States.” Some Americans
thought him too friendly to England.
Johnson faced the emerging controversies of his day with expansive
intellect and largeness of spirit.
However, some observers, noting the
pattern of shifting alliances and political
positions, did not hesitate to charge him
with being a “trimmer,” one who
changes his political opinions to suit
popular views. Other accounts cast him
in more favorable light. The Hon. J.
Upshur Dennis, in writing his recollections, stated that Johnson was “cursed
with neither nerves nor liver, but was
the robust embodiment of mens sana in
corpore sano,” a healthy mind in a
healthy body. (2).
Even Johnson’s physical attributes attracted attention. Dennis
recalls in his account that Johnson was of “medium height, round
bodied, solidly almost sturdily built, just such a physical mould as
indicated perfect health, capacity for work, and endurance,
without risk of breakdown, of all the oils and strains of the most
active life at the trial table . . . his features were strong; his forehead of great height, fullness and breadth; while the back of his
head was shaped like a barrel, and seemed to bulge out all around,
as if holding capacity. But the dome of his head was its most
striking feature—so lofty, so symmetrically rounded, that it
seemed to tower above all others, as the dome of St. Peter’s
minimizes all other designs (2-3).”
Apparently, possessing a measured temperament did not keep
Johnson out of a gentlemen’s duel, which ended with grave
physical consequences before it could even take place. According
23
to Dennis, the duel resulted from an altercation at a horse race
attended by congressmen. The owners of the two horses
competing, Rep. Henry Wise of Virginia and Rep. Edward Stanley
of North Carolina, were also the marshals. The men got into a
fight, and the challenge to a duel was issued. As Wise’s second,
Johnson went out to practice his shooting. He took aim at a small
hickory tree and fired. But the ball failed to penetrate the tree,
boomeranged, and struck Johnson in one eye. From that moment
on, he needed assistance in crossing streets and rooms, and relied
on voices to identify people. He died in 1876 in Annapolis.
Johnson was a persuasive speaker with his own style. He
apparently made few references to literary or other authorities,
in contrast to other learned men of his day, but rather built
his arguments on principles and logic. He attracted many controversies in his life, most often triggered by shifting his political
alliances and revising his opinions.
And yet, one may view those shifts
as characteristic of open-mindedness
manifested in an educated man.
His character traits demonstrated,
according to John Grene Proud, class of
1834, “the liberality of his mind and his
habit of bringing every subject to the
test of calm reasoning and cool judgment . . .” which prevented Johnson
from becoming “a bigoted partisan.”
Such was the legacy of a St. John’s
education then, and now. x
It is not at all unusual to
think of many successful
St. John’s alumni much in
the same vein as Johnson—
brilliant, extraordinary,
but perhaps an irregular fit
in a regular world.
Andrea Lamb is librarian in Annapolis.
Sources: Personal Recollections of a
Quartet of the Baltimore Bar (1905), by
J. Upshur Dennis, in the Reverdy Johnson Special Collection,
Maryland State Archives; Argument on the Jurisdiction of the
Military Commission, by Reverdy Johnson, found in Surratt
House Museum Archives at www.surratt.org/documents/
Bplact14.pdf.; The North American Review, 131 and 147 (1888)
(http:memory.loc.gov.ammem.ammemhome.html);
Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Maryland,
Baltimore (1879); Ex parte Milligan, 71 US2 (1866).
(www.abanet.org/publiced/criticism.html); Life of Reverdy
Johnson, by Bernard Steiner (1941); Memoirs of Deceased
Alumni of St. John’s College, Annapolis, by John G. Proud,
Baltimore (1879); Tercentenary History of Maryland, by
Matthew P. Andrews, Chicago, Clarke (1925).
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�24
{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s }
T W E N T Y- S I X DA Y S
A Senior Essay Diary
Tuesday, January 10
Beard growing and essay
writing progressed slowly
and with varied success
for seniors (l. to r.)
Benjamin Cromartie,
Christopher Utter,
Geremy Coy, and
Andrew MacKinlay.
beard” is a tradition for
the brave few who attempt
it each year. I’m curious to
see how much of a beard I
can actually grow.
alex lorman
Christopher Utter, a former
editor of the Gadfly and a
prolific contributor to
college publications, took
breaks from essay writing
to keep a journal on the
process. He overcame a
slow start, Seinfeld
episodes on DVD, and
much angst to complete a
fine essay on Plato’s
Republic. He defended it in
April—the morning after
Prank.
Tuesday, January 17
It was good to be at home
over break, but toward the end I began to feel the weight of my
essay pressing on my conscience. My plane landed at BWI last
night at about 8 p.m. My girlfriend, Shoshana Goldstein, and my
friend Alex Claxton met me at the baggage claim, and we drove to
campus without saying much. We are pretending not to be
concerned about our essays, although I’m sure most seniors are
slightly panicked. We have four weeks (26 days), which sounds like
a long time. I had wanted to re-read the Republic and write at least
an outline for my essay, but neither of these things happened.
Writing, but mostly in the
form of notes, and not very cohesive notes at that. I met with
Mr. Kalkavage yesterday, and as a result I have narrowed my focus
to imitation in Book X.
It’s very strange being here without having to go to class. It’s
not that I don’t feel like I am a part of the school, it’s more that I
don’t feel like I’m going to school at all. It’s always the weekend,
or it’s never the weekend, depending on how you look at it. The
only difference between one day and the next is that each day I am
closer to the deadline.
Beard progress: still stubble, but at least it’s evenly distributed.
Friday, January 13
I hope Friday the thirteenth is lucky for me. Yesterday, I met with
my adviser, Mr. Kalkavage, and told him I wanted to change my
topic. I was originally going to write on freedom in the Republic,
but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I had no
idea how I would write such an essay. So after discussing the
matter for a while with Mr. Kalkavage, I remembered how
interested and perplexed I was at Socrates’ discussion of images
and imagery. I finally settled on an examination of Socrates’ two
treatments of poetry, in Books II-III and X, as the focus of my
essay. As I said, I will need a bit of luck to come up with an
interesting way to approach this topic so late in the game.
Earlier this evening I went for pizza with Shoshana and Andrew
(MacKinlay), Geremy (Coy), and Ben (Cromartie). They (except
Shoshana) have decided not to shave until they turn in their essays
February 4, and so I decided to join them. I’m told the “essay
{ The College
Saturday, January 22
Go to the library and work there until it closes? Or just stay here at
my desk in Gilliam Hall? I have about 20 pages of notes. One
major development is that I came up with an outline yesterday
covering everything I think I need to talk about, though I have
still not written much. Everyone seems to have dozens of pages
already! I have to write something substantial to give to
Mr. Kalkavage before our meeting Tuesday.
Last night I saw Match Point with Shoshana and the other usual
people. The only thing about it that was typical of Woody Allen’s
style was the plot’s nihilistic tinge. Because of this it ended up
reminding me of my essay and the danger poetry of all kinds can
pose to an audience’s thought.
Geremy, perhaps influenced by the movie, is making a film of
the writing process. To illustrate what we do with our free time he
John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s }
25
Tutors Patricia Locke and William
Braithwaite walk out with Mr. Utter
after the examination.
filmed Alex and Ben bouncing a tennis
ball across the floor to each other in
silence for about a minute and a half.
Writing. After my last entry I went to
the library and wrote until closing,
then I went back to my room and wrote
for several hours more. I went through
about a third of Book X and wrote
15 pages. Mr. Kalkavage thinks they’re
well written and need almost no
revision, so I’m relieved. Now I just
have to write the rest of the essay.
My beard is coming along, although
I’m not sure how well I like it. It’s
strange being able to feel the wind
through it when I’m standing outside.
Also, it itches.
alex lorman
Tuesday, January 25
Friday, March 31
Friday, January 27
The more time I spend on the essay the more time I need to spend
doing something else. I’ve been watching Seinfeld episodes on
DVD. It’s actually very interesting how much Seinfeld bears on the
subject of my essay. Then again everything bears on the subject of
everyone’s essay. I have discussed this phenomenon many times
with my friends; whenever we read a book or watch a movie or
television program, we have to be careful not to say, “You know,
this reminds me of something I just said in my essay.” I suppose it
means our minds are invested in the work.
Tuesday, January 31
Finished a draft of the central part of the essay and sent it to
Mr. Kalkavage, but I still have to write a conclusion. A problem:
this central section is 50 pages long. I’ll see what Mr. Kalkavage
thinks tomorrow. Surprisingly, I’m not sick of the Republic—just
the opposite.
Sunday, February 5
It’s done. I spent the remainder of last week cutting my essay and
managed to get it down to 37 pages. Mr. Kalkavage thinks it’s very
good, and so does Shoshana. I am not sure that I can tell whether it
is good anymore; I’ve spent too much time with it. Andrew,
Geremy, and I went to Kinko’s to get our essays bound on Saturday
evening, and managed to get there just before everyone else—in
and out in 20 minutes, not the two-hour wait we feared. At about
10 p.m., a group of us piled into the Polity van and headed to the
president’s house to turn in our essays. Then we drove back to
campus to ring the bell, a tradition we are graciously allowed to
continue despite the fact that it violates the city noise ordinance.
I guess 100 people ringing the bell at 1 a.m. must be annoying.
Oh, and I shaved this morning.
{ The College
I just went to the Registrar’s office to pick up my commencement
invitations. They come with a little slip of paper marked “etiquette
instructions” detailing how the invitations should be assembled:
“The invitation and calling card go into the small, un-gummed
envelope with a tissue placed over the face of the invitation and the
card inserted inside the invitation . . . ” etc. For some perverse
reason I enjoy little exercises like this.
Wednesday, April 5
I found out two weeks ago that my oral would fall the day after
Senior Prank. I was disappointed at first, of course, because this
meant that I couldn’t participate in the parties. But it worked out
for the best because it gave me more time to prepare yesterday
morning.
I was nervous beforehand, but once I sat down at 11:45 a.m.
and started reading my précis, I was fine. In the robing room
Mr. Umphrey, Ms. Locke, and Mr. Braithwaite explained the
procedures—entering and leaving the room, how I should wear my
mortar board, etc. My friends sat in the chairs around the table,
but I hardly noticed them. I was so entrenched in the conversation
that it didn’t matter what was going on outside of it. This is true of
conversations in general at St. John’s; they’re deathly boring if you
are merely watching them and are not invested in them, but when
you are a part of the conversation it so envelops you that you
barely notice other things.
The oral was over much more quickly than I thought it would
be, and before I knew it I was shaking people’s hands and being
congratulated from all sides. Shoshana and I had lunch to
celebrate. Then there’s a seminar reading waiting. x
John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�26
{Bibliofile}
The Art of the PERSIAN LETTERS:
Unlocking Montesquieu’s
Secret Chain
by Randolph Paul Runyon (A71)
University of Delaware Press (2005)
Randolph Runyon, a professor of French
literature at Miami University in Ohio,
loves a good puzzle. He’s also good at
finding hidden connections and uncovering secrets—one reason Montesquieu’s
Persian Letters held such interest for him.
Best known for The Spirit of the Laws,
written in 1738, Montesquieu first
achieved literary success with the Persian
Letters, which tells the story of Usbek and
Rica and their journey from Persia into
the Western World. The two travelers
correspond with the seraglio back home
and receive letters of news from Usbek’s
harem. What develops is an enjoyable and
interesting exposition of the differences
between East and West.
Thirty years after Montesquieu
published his epistolary novel, he hinted
that the seemingly disconnected letters
held a “secret, and somehow unnoticed,
chain” that tied the letters together. No
scholars have been quite successful in
finding that chain, Runyon posits,
because they concentrated instead on
finding a unifying theme. While he
greatly admires the research of scholar
Pauline Kra, Runyon ultimately
concluded that her work concentrated
on identifying a theme rather than
uncovering a structural link.
Instead, Runyon proposes that a chain
of linguistic echoes, situational parallels,
and reversals carry the reader from each
letter to the next. He had already invested
months in his labor—a careful textual
analysis of the 161 letters—before he was
sure his approach would actually work.
“I became familiar with the Persian
Letters because I teach French literature,
and it’s often anthologized, at least in
fragments,” he says. “My first response to
the work was that it’s a whole world on its
own. But once you enter it on its own
terms, you start to see how it’s put
together.”
For example, Runyon finds a connection in linguistic echoes between Letters
24-25 and 26. The first two letters capture
Rica’s reports of “Louis XIV searching in
vain for hidden Jansenists . . . ” Runyon
writes. Rica uses the words “a cherchés”
and “le chagrin” in reference to the
king’s fruitless searches. In Letter 26,
when writing to his elusive love Roxanne,
Rica refers to his own “chagrin” when his
searches (“recherches”) for his love are
unsuccessful.
Runyon also enjoyed Montesquieu’s
political satire: “So here we have Louis
XIV beating the bushes for Jansenists and
Usbek doing the same for the object of his
desire,” writes Runyon. “It’s a hidden
parallel, but it’s a pretty funny one. The
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
absolutist Sun King in his persecuting
mania is likened, in the hidden chain, to
a husband who can’t even make love to
the wife over whom he supposedly has
absolute power (19).”
After leaving St. John’s at the
completion of his sophomore year,
Runyon earned a doctorate in French
from Johns Hopkins University. He
joined the Miami University faculty in
1977. Runyon’s research covers a wide
range of English and French literature
(The Art of the Persian Letters is one of
eight books he has published), but lately
he’s been fascinated by uncovering links
within an individual work. He may take
on Montaigne next to show how the first
essay relates to the last essay in each of
his three books. He’s found the writer
“intentionally self-contradictory” in
many of his essays. “At one point he says
we have too many commentators on
poetry and not enough poets, but at
another he says we have too many poets,”
says Runyon. “He says civil war is terrible
at one point; in another, he says such
wars serve a purpose.”
His studies of the poetry of Fontaine
and Baudelaire have also uncovered
hidden chains. La Fontaine, for example,
seems to employ a rhyme scheme that
many readers believe “disintegrates into
chaos.” Instead, what Runyon has found
is that different syllable counts in
individual poems often correspond with
sudden shifts in action or mood. “And
each fable is connected to its neighbors by
the same kind of linguistic and situational
parallels found in the Persian Letters.”
While he appreciates the enduring
ideas behind great books, Runyon is more
fascinated by the manipulation of
language, more interested in how the
parts form an esthetic whole. His love of
language was nurtured at St. John’s,
where he enjoyed studying Greek and
working through Euclid’s propositions.
He credits the college with helping him
develop his ability to find disparities, and
therefore, identify similarities. In
studying the Persian Letters, he could see
when one letter contradicted the one
preceding or following it because he
could also pick out the underlying
sameness. “I had Ford K. Brown as my
tutor for Greek, and he used to say, ‘The
closest you can be to being right is to be
exactly wrong.’ I was greatly influenced
by this, and it influenced my approach to
all these writers.”
�27
{Bibliofile}
His love of French was also discovered
at St. John’s, not in the classroom, but in
the library in Woodward Hall. “I worked
there in the evenings, and they had these
lovely 19th-century editions of Racine
and Diderot. I had never liked reading
literature in English, but I fell in love
with French literature. It’s now extended
to English.”
Runyon has always found the Persian
Letters to be amusing and interesting, and
he recommends the book as good reading
for Johnnies. Although today
Montesquieu’s approach to Arabic culture
seems somewhat misinformed and
patronizing, “at least he was writing
about another culture in a serious way,
long before anyone else,” he notes. x
—Rosemary Harty
The Cycle of Learning/
El ciclo de aprendizaje
by Jorge Aigla
Bilingual Press (2005)
It is understandable for a poet to write
about his own friends and family, but
perhaps only a poet who is also a St.
John’s College tutor could so deftly speak
to such a broad range of topics as family,
martial arts, and classical works,
extending from the streets of Mexico City
to the three sons of Socrates, “or the
waif/ adopted by an aging Epictetus.”
Santa Fe tutor, poet, and head karatedo instructor Jorge Aigla has released a
third volume of poetry entitled The Cycle
of Learning, his first book that includes
Spanish and English versions of each
poem. Haunting and evocative, the poems
explore the mysterious ways in which we
apprehend the world, and the dichotomy
between internalizing our awareness and
using language to express ideas and forms
that come to us independent of language.
On the book’s left-hand pages, poems are
printed in the language—Spanish or
English—in which they were first
composed; the right-hand page offers the
translation.
“Poetry comes to our imagination and
its linguistic representation differently,”
writes Aigla in the book’s preface.
“Perhaps this work could serve as an
invitation to a case study on the
psycholinguistics of bilingualism.”
Influences of the Program abound in
The Cycle of Learning. In “Ruminations
of a Monk,” Aigla writes: “Why do we not
realize/ that we do not learn,/ that we
must always/ start again in love from the
beginning/ as Kierkegaard suggested.”
There is a poem called “Miguel de
Cervantes” and another called “Don
Quixote’s Mill.” Socrates, Goethe,
Baudelaire, Plato, Confucius, Augustine,
Mencius (Meng Tzu), Milton, and
Shakespeare also gain mention.
Each poem opens onto wider worlds of
imagination, family, discovery, and the
passage of time. Drawing inspiration from
his family members, his martial arts
practice, and his boyhood in Mexico, the
poems sketch moving images of his loved
ones in such gentle ways as to honor their
place on the mantel of his life. Aigla
creates imagery as vivid and colorful as
portraiture, as moving as breath, as in
“One Morning”:
That cement wasteland
on an early Mexico City morning,
as I waited for the bus
to take me to the high school gym,
revealed to me a man:
the same thin and dirty and dark
manual laborer carrying a hemp sack,
his face a bible of sorrows,
condemned to ride for perhaps two hours
to the factory whose stoves
and chimneys devour men.
Learning, the poetic counterpart to
William Carlos Williams’s collection of
prose essays The Embodiment of
Knowledge.”
One of the most sensory-rich poems is
entitled “A Flower for My Mother.”
Crossing borders and decades, Aigla
reflects on his mother while sitting in a
garden spot on Canyon Road in Santa Fe.
He writes, “The garden is full this year/
after so much rain, of all/ the colors you
enjoyed, and especially the deep
magenta/ of that low and shy flower/ you
once so tenderly straightened/ as we
walked carefully on the path/ between the
two large horse chestnut trees/ trees like
the ones you used to help me/ climb as a
boy in Cuernavaca.”
Aigla was born in Mexico City. He
earned a degree in medicine from the
University of California, San Francisco,
in 1979. Prior to coming to St. John’s, he
was a medical examiner in San Francisco
and taught at both the City College of
San Francisco and at St. Mary’s College.
His first volume of poetry, Sublunary
(Pennywhistle Press), was published in
1989. His previous book of poetry, Aztec
Shell (Bilingual Press, 1995), in which
some poems are in Spanish, is set in both
Mexico and the United States.x
—Andra Maguran
Charles Bell, Santa Fe tutor emeritus,
wrote in his forward to the volume: “Let
me promise the reader this mature and
powerful experience of this Cycle of
The Cycle of Learning
El ciclo de aprendizaje
I closed the senses
and allowed the dark to envelop me,
I dreamt. A wind visited me:
People had loved me;
I had been sick
for a long time,
almost unconscious,
and had been taken care of,
fed, and watched.
I had not realized
what this implied;
I stared at the enormity
of some of my actions
and of my secret inertias.
Awaking, alone,
I opened once more
the cycle of learning.
Cerré los sentidos
y permití que la oscuridad me envolviese.
Sõné. Visitóme un viento:
Gente me había amado;
Había estado enfermo
por largo tiempo,
casi inconsciente,
y me habían cuidado,
alimentado y vigilado.
No me había dado cuenta
de lo que esto significaba;
Miré la enormidad
de algunos de mis actos
y de mis inercias secretas.
Despertando solo,
abrí de nuevo
el cilco de aprendizaje
—Jorge Aigla
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�28
{Alumni Profile}
Out of Africa
Journalist Lydia Polgreen (A97)
by Patricia Dempsey
s the New York Times
foreign correspondent for
West Africa, Lydia
Polgreen (A97) is
accustomed to danger.
Last winter, she boarded a
flight to Nigeria to meet with militants in
the oil-producing delta region who were
holding nine foreigners as hostages. The
Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta invited journalists to interview
them, as Polgreen wrote later, “to show
their strength and outline their demands.”
But before the meeting could take place,
Polgreen found herself sitting in a small
boat, her hands in the air, looking at the
barrel of an AK-47 assault rifle.
“We were navigating the creeks and
rivers of the Niger Delta, and the Nigerian
military were looking for the hostages the
militants were holding, so there was a
strong possibility that we could get caught
in the crossfire,” she recalls. “A boat with a
group of men wearing hoods over their
faces, aiming AK-47s and a grenade
launcher, came speeding up to us. There
had been a misunderstanding with our
guide. We talked to them, convinced them
that we meant no harm. Finally they gave
us permission to proceed to meet with
the militants.”
Polgreen covers two dozen countries,
including the war-ravaged areas of eastern
Chad and western Sudan, politically
volatile Liberia, and regions such as the
Niger Delta. She travels for two to three
weeks at a time, returning to the Times’
West African bureau, her home in the
suburbs of Dakar, Senegal, that she shares
with her partner, Candice Feit (A96), a
freelance photographer. Any down time is
used preparing for the next assignment:
haggling with embassy employees to get
visas and permits, or arranging for
translators and drivers. Reporting on the
oil pipeline in Chad, for instance, required
two weeks of planning complex logistics
and six days driving around the dusty
A
desert. “The biggest part of this job—being
a foreign correspondent—is showing up,”
she says. “How can you know for sure you
will be safe? You cannot. So you gauge
the risks.”
Polgreen’s willingness to take these
risks is rooted in a childhood spent in
Africa. She grew up in Kenya and Ghana.
Her mother, Pamela, is from Ethiopia, and
her father, John (SF71), once worked as an
agricultural engineer involved in
sustainable development. “For me,
covering the war or events in Iraq is not
compelling, but covering Africa is,” she
explains. “Africa has always been a part
of my life. I love Africa. I want to
communicate about it to the rest of the
world. The situation in Africa is not
hopeless. Even if it is not going to be easily
remedied, my job is to tell the world about
it with style, intelligence, and humanity.”
To this end, Polgreen brings an insider’s
sensibility to African culture, a gift for
crafting succinct, vivid prose, and an
outsider’s perspective on what is
newsworthy. Polgreen moved from Ghana
to the United States when she attended
“This is true
everywhere you go
in Africa: despite the
poverty and misery,
the human spirit is
powerful.”
Lydia Polgreen (A97)
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
St. John’s. (Her brother, David, is also a
1997 graduate of St. John’s.) After an
internship in Washington, D.C., she went
to Columbia University to earn a master’s
in journalism—a natural career choice for
her and for many Johnnies. “It’s the
critical thinking skills, being able to
question, to think independently,” she
says. “You are coming to things with
an open mind. In journalism, you go
to the primary source so you can get
information—a Johnnie would be drawn
to that.”
The headlines of Polgreen’s Times
stories convey the breadth of her coverage:
“Why So Starry Eyed? Misery Loves
Optimism in Africa”; “Chad’s Oil Riches,
Meant for Poor, Are Diverted”; and “Why
Hope in Africa is Not a Paradox.” Africa’s
startling contrasts fascinate Polgreen.
“Particularly in Africa, one of the world’s
poorest continents, there is a paradox that
I love. There is great suffering, abject
misery, yet there is dignity, joy, and an
optimism in life that sustains people. I find
this compelling. We as Westerners, we
arrive and we say, ‘Oh the horror, the
horror.’ Yet in fact these people have an
incredible spirit full of hope.”
Polgreen describes encounters with
seemingly poor people who are rich in
kindness and generosity. “When I was in
Chad reporting a story on the civil war,
one of the town officials let me camp in his
compound. Here I was sleeping under the
stars, eating mush and stew from a
communal bowl. Yet it was all done with
the most gracious, kind hospitality. He
said, ‘I wish you had been here when my
children were here.’ He sent them to
another town for safekeeping. This is a
village that is under constant attack from
Arab militia from the Sudan. You see how
terribly they suffer. Yet here is this man, so
gracious, his capacity for joy, spirituality,
and survival is so great. This is true everywhere you go in Africa: despite the poverty
and misery, the human spirit is powerful.”
�29
george esiri
{Alumni Profile}
Given the misery she encounters, it’s no
surprise that Polgreen sometimes
questions the impartiality journalism
demands. “You try not to get personally
involved, but it is difficult. For example,
when I was reporting in Haiti during the
2004 rebellion and working with a
photographer, a young man had been shot.
He was going from one public hospital to
the next. I don’t know how many were
injured in the protests we were covering,
but he was turned away. He had a bullet in
his gut and private hospitals were not
going to treat him without money. You as a
human being, you make a choice.”
Polgreen and her colleague decided that
since they were not going to report on the
young man, it was not a breach of
professional ethics to give him $100-$200
to save his life. “But usually you can’t
intervene. You see so much on a daily
basis—sick babies, hungry families. There
is always some form of human misery. I
don’t believe the pie-in-the-sky nonsense
that just because journalism is a public
service—it gets information out there—it
will change these things. Yet it is important
that the world knows. I am not foolhardy,
but still I write hoping to have an impact.”
To have an impact Polgreen needs to
interview a wide range of individuals, many
of whom do not see the importance of
sharing their stories with a New York
Times reporter. “You want, as a journalist,
to believe in truth, in openness. So you
make arguments as to why it is in
someone’s best interest to let you interview
them. I say, ‘You should talk to me. We do
not want to support your cause, but we
want to tell the world about it.’ ” Polgreen
says the difficulty in getting someone to
talk “increases exponentially” with their
level of sophistication—unless they have
something to gain from it.
The media-savvy militants holding nine
foreign oil workers hostage in Nigeria
sought out news coverage. “They wanted
to talk, to show the world that they were a
serious military force, a powerful force that
operates brazenly on the major waterways,” Polgreen says. “They understood
‘the media increases our power.’ ”
Polgreen may never know the impact of
the stories she files with the Times, many
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
Lydia Polgreen, interviewing members of
a militant group in the Niger Delta last
winter, encounters danger, disease,
tragedy, and hope in Africa.
of them from dangerous places where, “my
phone is on the fritz and satellites are
down.” She can’t be sure if her February 25
story, “Armed Group Shuts Down Part of
Nigeria’s Oil Output,” contributed to the
militants’ freeing six of the nine hostages.
But within days of visiting the Niger Delta
Polgreen hopped back on a plane—this time
to cover the violence in Darfur pushing
across the border into Chad.
Her work is never finished, she says,
because there is always more to discover,
one more question to ask. “You learn so
much with every story,” she says. “I’m
always wishing and wanting one more day
for more reporting.” x
�30
{Alumni Notes}
1935
RICHARD WOODMAN is still
practicing law in a small town in
central New York and enjoying
long trips abroad with his
daughters and their husbands.
“I’m just back from a trip around
South America, and it was pretty
interesting,” he writes.
1943
MARTIN ANDREWS has begun his
10th year as commander of the
Nassau-Suffolk L.I. Chapter of
the American Ex-Prisoners of
War and has passed his 6,000th
hour of volunteer service at the
Northport V.A. Medical Center.
1944
A note from PETER C. WOLFF:
“I suffer from an irreversible
condition: getting older.”
lively group of residents,
numerous activities, current
affairs discussions—even a
five-session course on Greek
mythology! Our apartment
overlooks the Hudson with
spectacular views, sunsets, and
barges going up and down the
river. Yes, we are politically
engaged, and I am vice-chair of
our resident council. And, we are
in good health.”
1956
“Phyllis and I have moved to
Kendal-on-Hudson, a
Quaker-sponsored community
in Washington Irving country,
Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.,” writes
PETER J. DAVIES. “Enjoying the
1974
1959
A note from sunny Florida, from
GAY HALL: “My husband,
Mortimer, died June 30, 2005.
I am retired and will continue to
live in the Keys. It’s warm here!”
“My son, Will, graduates with a
B.S. in Business from the
University of Southern California
in May,” writes GEORGE ANTHONY
(A). “My daughter, Beth,
graduates with a B.S. in Human
Physiology from the University
of Oregon in June.”
Honored for Service
AIELLO (SFGI69) has been honored by
AARP New Mexico for her ability to enhance the lives
of others, improve the community around them, and
inspire others to volunteer. Among other volunteer
efforts, Aiello served as secretary of the Los Alamos
AARP Chapter, where she helped to build membership,
ran a group for retired local teachers, served the Los Alamos Retired
Senior Organization, worked on the senior center’s advisory council,
and ran a great books discussion group for more than 15 years.
In recognition of her accomplishments, AARP nominated her for a
2005 Andrus Award. x
E
“After having my own optical
shop in Georgetown for the last
17 years and receiving the highest
rating in the Washington
Consumer Checkbook, I have cut
back to being open only four days
a week,” reports VIRGINIA HINDS
BURTON (A). “My customers have
been wonderfully supportive and
business has even improved. I’ll
never retire. This job is way too
much fun. But a three-day
weekend every week feels so
civilized!”
“I wonder—what would
Tocqueville make of us now?”
writes DORIK MECHAU.
1969
1948
1970
“After 19 years at Dartmouth in
Hanover, N.H., I am pleased to
return to Santa Fe and am
looking forward to being closer to
St. John’s College again,” writes
RENATE LEWIS (SFGI).
STEPHEN A. SLUSHER (SF) moved
to the East Coast.
1975
“I’m finally having surgery on the
knee I injured in 1972 while
borrowing stage lights from
the Naval Academy for SJC’s
production of The Taming of the
Shrew,” says CHRIS HOVING (A).
“I tried to turn on the ladder
while holding the big lights and
my knee popped—and after a few
steps, collapsed.”
LIZABETH
1976
BETSY DAVENPORT (SF) has been
living in Portland since 1978.
She has married and has had one
child. She also has three stepchildren and three grandchildren. She has been running a
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
private psychotherapy practice.
Lately she has been evaluating
and treating adults with AD/HD.
The first of several writing
projects on the subjects is ready
to publish.
1983
JOYCE HOWELL (AGI) recently
began an SAT tutoring business,
Haddontutors@aol.com. “There
seems to be a great demand!”
she writes.
1985
“I’m teaching a spring 2006
semester course at Anne Arundel
Community College on
‘Emergence of Ancient Israel,’ ”
writes PAUL SCHATZBERG (AGI).
“This course presents the latest
scholarly knowledge on how and
why desert-roaming pastoral
nomads settled in the Canaan
highlands beginning in 1300
B.C.E. and later identified
themselves as a distinct ethnic
group called Israelites. Sources
of information are the Hebrew
Bible, hi-tech archeology,
Egyptian records, philology,
epigraphy, Mesopotamian
sources and others.”
1986
JAY POWERS (SF) is in Chicago:
“In January, I joined McDougal
Littell as a senior editor. First
project: an economics textbook
(gasp!) for high school seniors.
I moved to McDougal from The
World Book Encyclopedia, where
I had been in charge of the
articles on Europe and Russia
since 1999.When the weather
turns warm here in Chicago, I
still like to bike and skateboard.
Haven’t played table tennis in a
while, though. I started with the
�31
{Alumni Notes}
SF class of 1986, and I am curious
to learn what happened to everybody. I would welcome an update
from the reunion this summer.”
ROBERT F. RICHARDS (A) is a
professor of engineering at
Washington State University.
“I live in Pullman with my wife
(also a professor here) and two
children, Dimitry (10) and
Alexander (7). Although I left
St. John’s after two years to finish
up at the University of Chicago, I
have fond memories of my times
there. I recently bought a
St. John’s sweatshirt and I wear
it around town here, but sadly I
have yet to run into anyone who
is familiar with the Program.
Are there any other Johnnies in
the inland Northwest?”
1987
CHRISTOPHER BAILEY (A) recently
published The Grail Code:
Revelation of an Ancient Mystery,
published by Loyola Press,
according to one of his fans.
“Christopher Bailey has worked
as a writer, editor, translator, and
researcher for more than 15 years.
His articles have appeared in
Touchstone, Columbia, New
Covenant, the New Catholic
Encyclopedia (second edition),
and elsewhere. Schooled in the
great-books tradition, he has
spent many years in close study
and translation of the Arthurian
Texts. I know this because I am
his proud wife, TERESA
FULLINWIDER BAILEY (A).”
SCOTT CUTHBERT (SF) was made
chairman of the Research Board
for the International College of
Applied Kinesiology, 2005-06,
and his research literature can be
seen online by going to www.sotousa.com, where his CV and online
research papers can also be
found. “Living with diabetes
since the age of 4 and going to the
john without a blood-testing
instrument to control my diabetes
has made my calling as a
functional medical physician a
perfect fit,” he writes. “Such a
study as I am upon may continue
for a lifetime and keeps me
learning and learning. It is a
wonderful thing to discover a
professional activity, a calling,
that has no horizon or limits on
it, one that can continually
romance, glorify, and excite your
daily work. I am also going to
India in March 2006!”
A Big Surprise
OHN C. WRIGHT (A84) received a Nebula nomination for
his book, Orphans of Chaos. Along with the Hugo, the
Nebula is one of the most prestigious awards in science
fiction publishing. “This was a big surprise to us because
he was not on the preliminary ballot, but apparently the
judges have the discretion to add a book of their choice to
each category,” wrote John’s wife, L. Jagi Lamplighter
Wright. Though the book was a dark horse, she says, “it is still
very exciting to be nominated and this will get his name out in
front of new readers.” x
J
1988
ELAINE PINKERTON COLEMAN
(SFGI) has completed the screenplay for the film adaptation of her
WWII suspense novel, Beast of
Bengal. The Gage Group Inc.
has selected Elaine’s book for
development as a feature movie.
THEODORE (TED) MERZ (A) and
DIANA MARTINEZ (SF86) recently
celebrated the third birthday of
their son, Hayden.
KIM PAFFENROTH (A) is the
co-author, with Tom Bertonneau,
of a new book, The Truth Is Out
There: Christian Faith and the
Classics of TV Science Fiction
(Brazos Press, 2006). The book
looks at the religious relevance of
Dr. Who, Star Trek, The Prisoner,
The Twilight Zone, The X Files,
and Babylon 5. Kim is associate
professor and chairman of the
Department Religious Studies at
Iona College, New Rochelle, NY.
1990
MARK KREIDER (A) and SARAH
WETHERSON (A89) announce the
birth of their child, Isaac Levi
Bechtel, on Thursday, February
23. Isaac weighed in at 9 lb., 8
oz., and is “chubby- cheeked and
beautiful.” His parents love to
hear from other Johnnies: e-mail
them at wimmin@teleport.com.
1991
ANNE MARLOW-GETER and KEN
GETER (both SF91) completed
their first half-marathon in
September 2006. 2006 also
brought Anne a promotion to
planning supervisor at the
Colorado Department of
STD/HIV Public Health and
Environment and the completion
of a fellowship with the Regional
Institute of Health and
Environmental Leadership. Ken
continues the work to save us
from mad cows and bird flu at the
USDA.
1992
ELYETTE BLOCK KIRBY (SF) lives in
the Paris area (near Versailles)
with her husband, Jonathan, and
three children, Benjy (5 years),
Bronwyn Elyse (3 years) ,and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
Luca (1 year): “We plan to be here
at least one more year, and I’d
love to hear from other Johnnies
in the area, to know if there is an
alumni group meeting already.
My e-mail remains:
elyette@hotmail.com.
1993
A DWI program manager for the
local government division of the
Department of Finance and
Administration for New Mexico,
MICHAEL A. BALDWIN (SF)
encourages everyone not to drink
and drive.
MARIA PUMILIA (SF) and Brian
Bolding are the proud parents of
Annika Marie Bolding, born
March 9, at 7:25 a.m., weight
7 lbs., 4 oz. Annika was born in
her room at home, right smack
into the waiting hands of her dad.
continued on page 33
�32
{Alumni Profile}
Where There’s Smoke
Aman Cholas (SF98) Finds Purpose in the West’s Endangered Forests
by Jason Bielagus (SF98)
I
t’s still dark when the
siren sounds at the
Redmond Air Center.
The ready room at the
jump base becomes a whirl
of activity. A lightning
storm moved across Northeastern
Oregon earlier in the night, and
multiple ‘smokes’ have been
sighted by lookouts in the
Wallawa-Whitman National
Forest, about 200 miles away.
Spirits are high as Aman
Cholas and his fellow smokejumpers don their gear-padded
Kevlar jumpsuit, harness and
parachute, reserve chute,
personal gear bag, and a helmet
with a steel mesh face guard.
In a minute they have added
60 pounds to their body weight.
They waddle out to the tarmac,
where they load the twin-prop
Sherpa. As the plane makes its
way to the runway, carrying ten
smokejumpers, two spotters, the
pilot and co-pilot, a veteran
jumper shouts above the engines’
drone, “Another early commute
to the office!” In the cabin, smiles
flash in the early dawn light.
Once they’ve reached their
destination, the crew members spot smoke
rising from a steep, heavily wooded ridgeline. It appears to be a relatively small fire,
maybe an acre in size, enough work for four
smokejumpers. The spotter confers with the
pilot on the best jump spot, a small opening
in the trees a few hundred yards further down
the ridge. It’s a narrow target and missing it
would mean drifting down off the ridge into
a thick mat of 150-foot ponderosa pine and
Douglas fir. After a few wide passes to drop
wind-indicating streamers, the spotter
signals for the first set of two jumpers to
come to the rear of the plane and clip in their
parachute rip cords.
Cholas will be first. After confirming that
Cholas has seen the jump site and the
streamers, the spotter calls out, “Turning
final, 1500 feet, get in the door!” Cholas
positions his body with his hands on the
frame of the doorway opening to the vast
It was dangerous, exhausting,
and dirty—but being a smokejumper was also exhilarating,
says Aman Cholas.
forest below, the slipstream of air just
brushing his face. With the spotter’s shout—
“Get ready!”—Cholas rears back like a
spring, the sudden slap on the back of his
calf initiating the lunge that propels him into
the void. Without hesitation the second
jumper follows.
In a few seconds, the parachute canopy
fills with air. Cholas checks his position in
relation to the jump spot as well as to his
jump partner, then feels a moment of peace.
The noise of the plane and the burden of his
gear are replaced by a quiet weightlessness, a
beautiful suspension over green wilderness.
“It’s the last couple hundred feet that are
scary,” Cholas explains. “The ground
suddenly begins to show its true roughness, a
broken snag here, a boulder there, and it’s all
rushing towards you.”
In this case, the opening in the trees is a
dense patch of oak brush, a soft enough
landing area, but it takes some effort to get
untangled and out of the jump
gear. Cholas’ jump partner
doesn’t quite make the spot and
is left dangling 40 feet in the air
from his parachute, caught in a
tree. However, within minutes,
he rappels to safety. A big
danger, Cholas explains, is not
properly “bagging” a tree. If
only the edge of the parachute
catches a limb, it could collapse
the canopy. If the limb breaks or
the parachute comes loose,
there is little to break the fall the
rest of the way down.
Once the jumpers are safely
on the ground, the Sherpa
makes another pass for the
paracargo drop—boxes of tools,
food, water and other gear for
fighting the fire. Cholas makes
one last call on his handheld
radio to the plane, confirming
that the crew has everything it
needs, and the Sherpa heads for
the next fire.
The smokejumpers make their way to the
fire, determine its behavior, identify hazards,
and make a plan of attack. The fire is fought
by creating a “fire line,” a break in the fuel
around the fire’s edges. This particular fire is
not moving very fast yet. One of the jumpers
uses a chainsaw to cut trees and heavier logs
on the ground. The others use hand tools,
shovels and Pulaskis (tools with an ax on one
end, a hoe on the other), to dig and scrape a
line down to mineral soil. By late afternoon,
the fire is “contained,” and the jumpers
gather for a break. Everyone pitches in to
make camp comfortable and prepare a meal.
They eat, joke, and enjoy the rest before it is
time for “mop-up,” moving through the
“black” to extinguish anything still burning
by digging and mixing it in with the soil. A
small fire could take a day or two; a larger
one could take weeks.
Their work completed, the smokejumpers
load everything into enormous backpacks
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�33
{Alumni Notes}
that often weigh over 100 pounds and hike to
the nearest trailhead to be picked up. Only
occasionally are they lucky enough to get a
mule train to come for the gear or get a
helicopter pick-up.
“Often the pack-out can be the most
grueling challenge of a fire,” says Cholas,
remembering the exhaustion—and
excitement—of eight years spent fighting
fires. It was a career born from a love of the
mountains, discovered in Santa Fe. And it’s
led him to another side of preserving forests,
by preventing fires.
Cholas grew up in Vieques, Puerto Rico,
and Corozal, Belize, with his parents, four
sisters, and a brother. After graduating from
high school, he spent several years working
and traveling in Europe and Israel. He was
working as a gardener at the Bahaí World
Center in Haifa, Israel, when he visited a
friend who owned the Britannica Great
Books of the Western World series. He
remembers thinking, “I wish that I could
just sit here and read all these books.” That
set him on the path to St. John’s.
In Santa Fe, Cholas discovered his
enchantment with mountains and forests
when his freshman lab class made an outing
to the Sangre de Cristos to examine
coniferous trees. He often took long walks
on Monte Sol to do his seminar readings and
spent many weekends hiking around the
Santa Fe National Forest.
His firefighting career began with a
summer job with a ground crew in Isleta,
N.M., where his mother’s family lives. Every
“Never thought I was the home
birth type, but the right midwife
and doula can make a world of
difference,” writes Maria. Maria
ditched software development for
real-estate last year—get in touch
with her if you’re in the market.
1994
SARAH and MICHAEL AFFLERBACH
(both A) have been having a great
year watching twins Max and Evie
grow into little people. “They are
so fun to have around and each
day brings something new to
enjoy,” writes Sarah. “I received
my architectural license last year
and work for a wonderful firm
summer, he continued firefighting, moving
to a Forest Service helicopter rappel crew,
Sandia Helitack, based in Tijeras, N.M.
“Fire fighting complemented St. John’s
well,” Cholas says. “By the end of spring
semester, all I wanted to do was be out in the
woods. And by the end of a fire season, all I
wanted to do was hang out in the library and
read. So it was a good balance.”
After graduating from St. John’s, he went
to work for the Forest Service full time,
becoming the crew leader for Sandia
Helitack. Later he spent his summers in
Redmond, Ore., working as a smokejumper.
After nine seasons of fighting fires, Cholas
became disillusioned with the Forest
Service’s fire suppression policy. In keeping
with its original mandate “to furnish a
continuous supply of timber” (Organic Act
of 1897, 16 U.S.C. § 475), the Forest Service
maintains a policy of stopping all forest fires.
Many of the fires he helped put out needed to
burn, Cholas realized.
“After almost a century of stopping fires
so aggressively, we have hindered the natural
process that fires perform in the forest
ecosystem,” he explains. “As a result, most
of our forests in the Western United States
are unhealthy and overgrown, clogged with
dead and fallen timber, and are prone to
disease and catastrophic wildfires.”
Low-intensity fires in a healthy forest can rid
the forest of dead and sickly trees, while
leaving stronger trees to thrive, as well as
reintroducing nutrients to the soil, he adds.
On the other hand, though fire is part of a
here in New Bern, N.C. Mike’s
radio business continues to grow
and they are building a new
station which will be on the air in
February. We had a great time
traveling to Columbia, South
America, to witness JON
ARCHER’S (A94) wedding to his
lovely wife, Monica.”
“I finally finished my philosophy
doctorate in December of 2005,
specializing in 18th- and 19thcentury German philosophy,
history of modern philosophy,
and logic,” writes PETER
BEZANSON (A). “The title of my
dissertation is ‘Idealism: A Brief
History, Taxonomy, and
Nietzschean Evaluation.’
I continue to teach calculus
forest’s natural cycle, fires of recent years
have grown so intense that they “kill everything in their path” and “leave moonscapes
of sterilized soil and cause unnatural erosion
and other problems,” he says.
Two years ago, Cholas and fellow
firefighter Jeremy Hanlon left the Forest
Service to start their own company, Forest
Fitness, based in Tijeras. They work
primarily to protect properties from fire
danger by thinning forested areas of overgrowth and dead material. Forest Fitness has
been very successful at promoting thinning
as a way to prevent the danger of fires around
homes and properties. “Like a fire, we
remove the unhealthiest trees and leave a
mosaic of the strongest healthiest trees with
room to grow,” Cholas says. “We also try to
achieve a mix of tree types and age classes
that is indicative of the natural vegetation.
Even people who are against the cutting of
trees are often very happy with the results of
our work. The beauty and balance that is
achieved, as well as the reduced fire danger,
is very appealing to people.”
As satisfying as he finds his current work,
Cholas looks back fondly on his smokejumping days. “It was the most incredible job
I have ever had.” x
Author’s note: For more about smokejumping, see Norman Maclean’s Young Men
and Fire (an account of the Mann Gulch fire);
the Forest Service documentary The Greatest
Good, or the NOVA documentary Fire Wars.
classes and a philosophy seminar
at a great books liberal arts
school in Tempe, Ariz.,
(Tempe Preparatory Academy). In
addition, I serve as the mathematics curriculum consultant to
Great Hearts Academies
(www.greatheartsaz.org) helping
them realize their mission to
create a network of academically
rigorous, liberal arts middle and
high schools in the Phoenix
metropolitan area. My wife,
Alison, and I have one son,
Noah, who was born nearly
two years ago.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
1995
JOEL ARD (A) and HANNAH
(STIRES) ARD (A92) welcomed
Ruth Anne Ard into the world on
April 4, 2005. Ruth joins big
brother David (2 years old).
TED NAFF (A92) is Ruth’s
godfather. The Ards sadly left
their Annapolis abode and moved
closer to D.C. in June. They are
now in University Park, Md.
Hannah is working part time for a
law firm in D.C. and Joel is
working at the Department of
Justice. They would love to hear
from old friends and can be
reached at joelandhannahard@
hotmail.com.
�34
{Alumni Notes}
Prefers Sleeping
B
ETH MARTIN and ALEX GAMMON (both A94) are
pleased to announce the arrival of their son,
Theodore Jasper Gammon. Theodore made his
appearance on January 29, 2006, at 8:27 a.m.,
weighing in at 8 lbs 9.4 oz. All are doing well, and
Theodore prefers to spend his time eating, sleeping,
and making his parents smile. x
fellow Annapolis alums RICH
(A96) and KARA (A99) LUNA.
Hannah’s law practice focuses on
estate planning and adoptions.
She’d love to hear from anyone in
the area—her e-mail is hannah@
dcadoptionlaw.com.
1997
MICHAEL CHIANTELLA (SF) has
been practicing law for three
years. “Started my own firm in
2004 in the lovely seaside town of
Venice, Florida. In October of
2005, my wife and I attended the
wedding of TAFFETA ELLIOTT
(SF97) in New York City.
ZENA HITZ (A) has accepted a
job teaching philosophy at the
University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, starting
this fall.
MIKE LAYNE (A) writes: “My
family moved from Barrow to
Anchorage last summer. We live
next door to DANNY MYERS (SF93).
I am happy to report he still has
long hair and has stopped
wearing high-heels to Halloween
parties. THEA AGNEW (SF95) is
also living in Anchorage and
expecting her first baby in
February or March. Audrey Rae
will turn 4 in February, and
Jackson will celebrate his first
birthday in March. And I still
have a full head of hair –thank
goodness. My work e-mail has
changed to: MikeL@
EAtribes.net—I’d love to hear
from SJC alumni. I am a grant
administrator and grant writer for
a non-profit tribal organization.
This spring I am running for one
of the seats on the Anchorage
School Board. Feel free to visit
the campaign Web site at:
www.MikeLayne.info.”
1996
ANNE and MARK CORMIER (both
SFGI) write: “We’ve recently
moved to a new house to accommodate our newest addition,
Sarah Clare, who was born
September 29, 2005. Her older
sisters Anna (5) and Eliza (3)
continue to astonish us with their
limitless energy and fresh
perspective on our (their?) world.
Mark is still teaching English
literature at Longmeadow High
School, and Anne is home
attempting to impart something
that might lead to virtue to the
three girls.”
ALLISON and JOHN EDDYBLOUIN
(SF) are enjoying life in mid-coast
Maine: wooden boat building,
home schooling, etc . . .
HANNAH GOLDSTEIN (NÉE
GILLELAN, A) joyfully announces
both her November 2005
marriage to Stephen Goldstein
and the opening of her own law
practice. Hannah and Stephen
live on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., just blocks from
DOMINIC CRAPUCHETTES (A)
is enjoying the life of an
entrepreneur: “North Star Games
is now putting on corporate
team-building events and
monthly trivia nights at several
local bars. These events are a
blast! Come join us. You can
learn about them at www.NorthStarGames.com.” Sales of “Wits
and Wagers,” he notes, have
picked up dramatically since the
game was featured in Time,
Games Magazine, Knucklebones,
and other media.
ARAND PIERCE (SF98) graduated
from the University of New
Mexico Medical School May 12.
He also was presented with an
award for academic, research and
service excellence May 11 at a
public ceremony at the UNM
Health Sciences Center.
1998
RICK FIELD (SF) recently
published a children’s book,
Momma, Momma Brown Toes.
The book is a collection of poems
and pictures inspired by his
eight-year-old daughter, Amanda.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
1999
GREG KOEHLERT (SFGI) wants all
his old friends to know that he
and Merrie have bought an
apartment in Park Slope in
Brooklyn. Also, Greg and
Merrie’s daughter is turning one
around Thanksgiving.
PATRICK BARRINGTON REED (AGI)
writes: “Our first baby, Lucille
Lahja Reed, was born June 17,
2005. Now, we move in April to
Bitburg, Germany—thanks to the
Air Force. We expect to be on
hand at the World Cup this
summer and at the Tour de
France in July. May God bless St.
John’s College!”
“It’s been 10 years since I last saw
most of you, and I hope life is
treating you well,” writes
BENJAMIN THORNBER (A).
“After leaving St. John’s in ’96, I
transferred to Guilford College, a
Quaker school in North Carolina.
While there, I met my fiancée,
Eva, whom I’m marrying this
July. I graduated from seminary
in 2004 and I’m now the pastor of
a Quaker church. While my time
at St. John’s was quite brief, I
really value the friendships that
I made there. Let’s get back
in touch!”
2000
ZACHARY WARZEL and ERIKA
CARLSON (both SF) were married
in August 2005 in Colorado, their
new home after a move from New
York City in May 2005. Erika
received a master’s degree in
historic preservation from
Columbia University in May 2005
and is working as a preservation
specialist at Humphries Poli
Architects in Denver. Zach
received a law degree from
Brooklyn Law School in May
2005 and is currently working as
a litigation associate at Roberts
�35
{Alumni Notes}
No Mail?
2001
DANIEL FRAM (SF) reports that he
is “living cheap in Boston;
playing the now smoke-free
Irish pubs and sneaking into
classes on ethics.”
JESSICA K. REITZ (A) and
Christopher Wallace proudly
announce the birth of their first
son, William Alexander Wallace,
born March 21, 2006.
2002
Have your fellow Johnnies lost
track of you? Reconnect with
your classmates by joining the
online alumni community at
www.stjohnscollege.edu; click
on For Alumni and follow the
links from there. More than
3,000 alumni have registered
for the community. Johnnies
can also sign up to receive a
free St. John’s e-mail address
for life, post resumes or job
openings through the Career
Services section, find out
what’s happening in their
local chapters, and register
for events online.
Levin & Patterson in Denver, a
plaintiffs’ litigation firm.
CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN (A)
continues to work with his older
brother, renovating old houses.
He is engaged to ASHLEY BROOK
T YLER (A07) and is taking classes
at a local college to prepare for
grad school.
“I have been accepted into the
University of Tennessee’s College
of Veterinary Medicine and will
be starting that program in the
fall,” writes BEN YOUNG (A).
“My wife and our dogs still
have not tired of my stories
from St. John’s.”
ALANA and JOEY CHERNILLA (both
SF) had their second little girl,
Rose Isabella, in February. Sadie
Pearl recently turned two.
“Besides enjoying our intense
domesticity, Joey runs a daycare,
and I work in publishing and
tutor home-schoolers in Euclid,”
Alana writes.
MEGAN GRAFF (A) writes: “After a
few years spent working in what is
laughably known as ‘the real
world,’ I will begin attending the
North Carolina School of the Arts
this fall as an MFA candidate in
Performing Arts Management.”
ERIN KRASNIEWICZ (A) is living in
Philadelphia with RANDY PENNELL
(also A02) and working as a
library research assistant for
the Pew Charitable Trusts.
“This is really the time to be in
Philadelphia, which is undergoing a renaissance of sorts,”
she writes. “Drop us a line if
you’d like to see the sights, we
love to show off our city.”
GEORGE NELSON and MONICA
ANATALIO (both A) are getting
married this August in downtown
Washington, D.C., and will be
honeymooning in Rome and
Athens. George is in his first year
at American University’s Washington College of Law and will be
pursuing the litigation track.
Monica is graduating from
Catholic University’s Columbus
School of Law and will be an
attorney for the U.S. Government
Accountability Office, the investigatory arm of Congress.
Coldwell Banker in Annapolis,
and Douglas works as a court
reporter for a firm in
Washington, D.C. x
2005
2003
CORINNE HUTCHINSON (SF) and
PAUL OBRECHT (SF02) are
getting married in Santa Fe this
coming spring.
KATE REDDING (A) is enrolled at
the University of Western
Ontario in Canada, where she is
studying for a certification in
piano technology.
CYNTHIA BARRY (AGI) has recently
completed text-editing the
National Geographic Collegiate
Atlas of the World, to be
published in fall 2006. She and
ANDREW ROMITI (A06) are
currently conducting
Touchstones discussions with
middle-schoolers at St. Martin’sin-the-Field Day School in
Severna Park, Md., where
Ms. Barry is the librarian. x
ISAAC SMITH (A) is going to the
University of Maryland this fall to
begin studies toward a master’s
degree in public policy. He
writes, “Johnnies in the D.C. area
interested in politics, policy, the
old days, or anything else should
drop me a line at
ikesmith@gmail.com.”
2004
After her retirement from St.
John’s a few years ago, GINGER
ROHERTY (HSF) is now director of
development for the Santa Fe
Children’s Museum.
DOUGLAS C. TURNER (A, aka Rex
Nerdorum, Archon of Melee)
married DARLENE B. ROGERS
(A05) on September 3, 2005, in
Alford, Mass., Rev. David Rogers,
father of the bride, presiding.
Several Johnnies were in
attendance, women in various
green costumes and men in
tuxedos, armed with broadswords
for the ceremonial arch. The
honeymoon in London included
Phantom of the Opera and two
plays at the Globe, Pericles and
The Tempest. The newlyweds live
in Annapolis. Darlene works for
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
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 October;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is August 1.
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
�36
{Alumni Profile}
The Secret Lives of Crabs
Biologist Denise Pope (SF89) Finds the Charisma in Animals
by Erica Naone (A05)
Studying individual fiddler crabs is
interesting to biologist Denise
Pope (SF89). But what she really
likes to do is get them in a group,
stand back, and see what develops.
In her research on fiddler crabs,
Pope focuses less on the brain and
body of a single crab and more on
how many crabs interact and
communicate. For her, the
arthropod’s life is as much about
its environment and society as it is
about its breath, blood, and neural
signals. “I enjoy being able to
make inferences by watching
whole organisms and what they do
and how they interact,” she explains.
“I want to manipulate them just enough to
ask questions.”
An assistant professor in the biology
department at Trinity University in San
Antonio, Texas, Pope spends the academic
year communicating her enthusiasm for the
life of animals to students. Her summers are
spent going to where the crabs are—Panama
and Portugal—for example. Days in the field
are spent observing animals and recording
her observations in the summer sun; during
the evenings she enjoys local cuisine and
good conversation.
In her classes, Pope teaches students
to ask scientific questions and discover
answers in the lab. Her research into
animal behavior gives her students plenty
of opportunity to see science as an
undiscovered country. When Pope began
studying fiddler crabs, enough was known
about the animals to give her a basis for her
research, but enough was unknown that
Pope had to learn for herself the advantages
and disadvantages of studying crabs
in captivity.
Pope knew she wanted to study animal
behavior since high school. “I was a shy
kid,” she says, “and gravitated toward
animals. Lots of people would say, ‘Oh, you
must want to be a vet.’ ”
Through a high-school assignment,
Pope found that a person with an interest
in animals did not have to become a
veterinarian. She discovered the work of
When she’s not doing field
work, Denise Pope shares the
St. John’s method of inquiry
with her students at Trinity
University: ask questions and
talk it through.
Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz, two
key researchers of animal behavior.
“My reasons for studying animal behavior
come from a fascination, appreciation, and
love for the natural world for its own sake,
not for what it teaches me about myself or
my species,” Pope says. Though she
recognizes commonalities between humans
and animals, Pope also notes, “Our culture,
society, and our obsessive and intense
internal life that enables us to analyze and
question our own actions set us apart in
some ways from other animals.” Because of
this, she is careful about comparing human
behavior to that of animals.
The breadth of Pope’s interests brought
her to St. John’s for her undergraduate
degree. Her teaching philosophy is heavily
influenced by her experience at the college,
and by seeing the process of discovery
rather than only the discovery itself. She
wrote her essay on Kant and quantum
theory.
“I couldn’t get over how much everything
is overturned,” Pope says, “seeing what a
huge shift there was. Quantum mechanics
blew me away, but it wasn’t just that. I read
Joyce for preceptorial, and then we read
Nietzsche and Freud. It was the accumulation of it all. There was the building up of
this realization that the physical world isn’t
at all what I thought it was. It epitomizes the
sense of science as natural philosophy.”
Soon after graduation, Pope worked for
the GenBank Project in Los Alamos
National Laboratory, which paid for biology
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
classes that allowed her to prepare
for the Graduate Record Exam.
She enrolled in Duke University,
where she earned her Ph.D. in
zoology in 1998.
At Duke, Pope discovered her
love of fiddler crabs. Having
begun with the study of birdsong,
the typical focus of scientists with her type
of interest, she found herself feeling
discouraged.
“It seemed as if everyone else had perfect
pitch and an excellent sense of acoustics,”
Pope says. “. . . I decided I was more visual
and wanted to look at visual signaling.”
A friend pointed her toward fiddler crabs
because the males have an enlarged claw
that they wave in a visual display, “which is
presumed to attract females for mating.”
“They’re surprisingly entertaining and
charismatic animals,” she says.
This experience of science as hands-on, a
work-in-progress, full of unknowns and the
need for ingenuity, is an experience she
tries to re-create in her classes. She gives
her students a great deal of autonomy in the
lab, autonomy she knows can be daunting
before becoming liberating. She is also
helping to redesign introductory biology
courses at Trinity, reshaping them to
emphasize the questioning and searching of
real science.
With such an intense and busy working
life, Pope pursues a more relaxing schedule
outside academe. She read Gregory
Maguire’s Wicked during breaks from a
symposium she recently attended in Japan.
She has three cats at home and loves to
cook. Though she learned to cook red and
green chili and posole after the time she
spent in Santa Fe, Pope has given up
cooking New Mexican dishes for friends,
offering Tex-Mex instead. “They can’t take
the heat,” she says. x
�37
{Tributes}
Remembering Tom McDonald
Thomas McDonald, who was a tutor
for 33 years in Annapolis and Santa
Fe, died in December 2005. His
former student and good friend John
White (class of 1964) prepared this
remembrance of Mr. McDonald for a
memorial service that was held in
Baltimore earlier this year:
Tom was the best teacher I had.
He was the most intelligent man I’ve
ever known, and he was the best
educated. His memory was extraordinary, but it never seemed to be just
a scholar’s memory. It was part of
his living and thinking, a “human”
memory; he was never showy or
pedantic. His personality was
compelling. His classes were
intense, but relieved by bursts of
laughter. Whatever you studied with
him was worth your best effort, but
being serious is not the same as
being grim. His classes were long
and often exhausting because of the
nervous stimulation of concentration. I felt I was asked to give all I
could and felt “used up” and elated.
I learned more, and more quickly,
than from any other academic
experience. Tom somehow elicited his fierce
attention and urgency without using
anything that might lead to argument rather
than thought. My contact with him as a
teacher had a beginning and end. Although I
never stopped learning from him (and [his
wife] Julia), he became a friend as well.
In the fall of 1964, Tom’s second year at
St. John’s, Ed Weinberger (class of 1965), a
classmate, gathered a group of students to
read a Kant essay with Tom. I didn’t know
Tom at the time . . . We met in Tom’s
apartment at 214 Prince George Street.
The day was cold and the room was very hot.
Tom’s voice was soft and monotonous. The
building was old and the windows had the old
glass, the glass of uneven thickness and
bubbles. I stared outside, slowly moving my
head back and forth, watching the trees the
cars ripple and wobble. Then a word or an
intonation caught my attention. By chance I
actually heard two or three sentences. At first
they were strange sounding, difficult, then
Johnnies admired Tom
McDonald (class of 1948, shown
here with his dog Belle) for his
brilliance, his sense of humor,
and his humility.
“He helped you to
see things clearly from
all sides, to keep the
difficulties in mind
while not being overpowered by them.”
John White
they became clear, then they became
thrilling. I had a moment where I lost my
orientation, even got a little dizzy: This
man was saying wonderful things in an
unemphatic way. Why wasn’t he shouting
and gesturing? Strange man.
In the next years he gave many of these
extra classes on diverse subjects such as
poetry, mathematics, Latin, and German.
All faculty members were generous with
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
their time, but no faculty member
had done so much teaching “just
because people wanted to learn.”
He did all of this and advised
6-10 senior essays each year, until
his health gave out.
After that first Kant class, a
group of us asked Tom to give a
preceptorial on Hegel. Hegel was
a daring choice (in a teeny-tiny
way): for some reason, without
exception, the faculty was against
German philosophy and Hegel.
They made fun of Hegel. Not only
was there no serious effort to
understand Hegel, there was pride
in claiming not to understand
him. The Philosophy of History
was read in senior seminar at that
time. The book encouraged
students to produce grandiose
historical statements, the kind of
statements that their freshman
seminar leaders had convinced them not
to make.
The preceptorial meetings always ran
longer than the scheduled time—partly
because at the beginning of class Tom always
came 10-15 minutes late, partly because at
the end of class Tom took 5-10 minutes to
decide on the next reading, but mostly
because we never looked at the clock.
We never stopped in the middle of a
conversation. After the preceptorial was
over, we gathered around Tom to ask more
questions. Tom loved to think; he couldn’t
stop. He had patience and concentration
beyond anything I’d ever experienced. Once
when I was on my way to a one o’clock class,
I saw him and a student standing on the
corner of College Avenue and Prince George
Street, deep in conversation despite the
falling snow. And when I left two hours later,
they were still there, still talking, brushing
snow off their sleeves.
�38
In class Tom spoke more directly than my
other teachers. But he was not gathering
disciples, even though he was much
admired. He always made one feel that the
material was important and subtle, and it
needed and deserved serious effort. Usually
his students did not know what Tom’s
opinion was. He helped you to see things
clearly from all sides, to keep the difficulties
in mind while not being overpowered
by them.
After the Hegel preceptorial, I asked Tom
to advise my senior essay. We talked at
length and he came up with a suggestion that
allowed me to pursue several of the things I
was interested in. We had to consider
passages from four or five Platonic dialogues
and some Hegel. The plan was exciting.
Up until that time at St. John’s I had had only
three or four paper conferences. But now I
met with Tom two or three times a week, and
the meetings lasted two to four hours. Sometimes I went there in the afternoon, worked
on revisions, was invited to dinner, then
started to work again. (Julia also helped me.)
{Tributes}
I had never worked so long or so hard on one
thing; new standards and habits began to
take hold. We worked on my essay beyond
the deadline—one week, then two weeks, all
the time the dean giving me looks. But I
couldn’t actually get the essay from Tom,
who saw new paths, better ways of interpreting and explaining. I sort of tricked him
to get the paper back and hand it in. (I think
he was not a fan of finishing things.)
Between the end of essay writing and the
end of the year, I saw another side of Tom.
One Friday afternoon, I was in lab, in the
midst of a long discussion. Ed Weinberger
opened the door and interrupted the class.
“Excuse me, is John White in this class?”
I raised my hand. Ed said, “You have an
important call at the switchboard. Could you
come with me?” As we walked down the hall,
Ed told me not to worry; “McDonald and I
wanted to play Monopoly and we need you.”
We played a lot of Monopoly at that time
(driving Julia crazy). I learned from Tom that
the best properties on the board were
Tennessee, New York, and St. James. I also
learned that Tom had a dark side. He said
that during a game his motives were greed
and spite, no more, no less: he bought every
property he landed on—even pathetic
Waterworks—because 1) he wanted it for
himself and 2) he didn’t want anyone else to
get it. At graduation several of his students
got together and gave Tom a present to
thank him for a wonderful year:
an 8" x 11" card for Boardwalk . . . .
I think of Tom as liberal, generous in his
actions and judgments. He was free with his
time and his mind to those who sought him
out. He didn’t care for foolish, shallow
people. He liked people who worked
intensely and liked to laugh. To be serious is
not to be grim. He was side-splittingly funny
at times. He was intelligent, well-educated,
serious, witty, good company—also unusual,
different, and even eccentric. But whenever
you talked to him, after five minutes, you
felt, “This is what sanity is, this is the way a
human mind was meant to work.” x
{Obituaries}
CHARLOTTE FLETCHER, HA69
Charlotte Goldsborough Fletcher (HA69),
former librarian of St. John’s College in
Annapolis, died of pneumonia March 29,
2006, at the age of 90. After her retirement in
1981, she pursued a scholarly interest in the
early history of the college and published
several works, including St. John’s Forever:
Five Essays on the History of St. John’s
College and Cato’s Mirania: A Life of
Provost Smith.
In one of her essays, Miss
Fletcher made the most solid case
yet for explaining how St. John’s
got its name. Many hours spent
poring through the Maryland and
St. John’s archives led her to
conclude that St. John’s was likely
named by Masons involved in the
founding of the college for
St. John the Evangelist—perhaps
to honor George Washington.
“It is hard to understand why a
cloud of mystery has ever since
enveloped the circumstances of
the naming,” Miss Fletcher
wrote. “But if Masons were
responsible, one could expect
secrecy about their role. Discretion . . . is the
first of the Masonic virtues.”
Miss Fletcher was born in Cambridge, Md.,
in 1915. She earned her bachelor’s degree
from Hollins College and a bachelor’s in
library science from Columbia University,
both in 1939. Miss Fletcher was conferred
with a Master of Arts, honoris causa, from
St. John’s when Woodward Hall was rededicated on October 18, 1969.
After several years at the Enoch Pratt Free
Library in Baltimore, she became librarian of
the Talbot County Free Library. In July 1944
she began 37 years of service to St. John’s
College. She retired in 1981, but as she lived
close to the college, was a frequent visitor
to campus.
Miss Fletcher was a favorite of students and
faculty. During the years before the Naval
Academy-St. John’s croquet matches, Miss
Fletcher kept her own croquet set at the
library and was always willing
to lend it to students—often
with the stipulation that she be
invited to join them. Although
normally a gentle, soft-spoken
person, on the croquet court
she took no prisoners. In
addition to croquet, she
Longtime St. John’s
librarian Charlotte
Fletcher displays a book
from the St. John’s “cage” in
the Maryland State Archives
building, later to become
the Greenfield Library, in
1974. Miss Fletcher pursued
a special interest in the
college’s history.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�39
{Obituaries}
instructed generations of students in the
esoteric art of bookbinding.
Miss Fletcher traveled widely with her
sister, Mary Henry Fletcher, who died earlier
this year. At the time of her death she was
planning another trip to Europe and in the
midst of writing a second book, a collection
of short stories.
The college plans a memorial service for
Miss Fletcher in the fall.
—Rose Wynn
ARCHER JONES, CLASS OF 1947
Archer Jones, Class of 1947, died in
Richmond, Va., on January 23, 2006.
Mr. Jones enrolled in St. John’s in July of
1943. After three years at the college he was
drafted into the Army in 1946. After his
discharge in 1947, Mr. Jones, apprehensive
about taking the enabling examinations after
such a long break, transferred to HampdenSydney College, graduating in 1949.
He then enrolled in the University of
Virginia’s law school, but later decided to
pursue his deep attachment to history. He
received a doctorate in history from UVA in
1958 and launched a career as a teacher,
academic administrator, and author. He
taught at the University of Virginia,
Hampden-Sydney, Randolph-Macon
Women’s College, and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The
capstone of his teaching career was his
service as Morrison Professor of History at
the U.S. Army’s Command and Staff College
at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Mr. Jones held a number of key academic
posts: dean of Clinch Valley College of the
University of Virginia; founder of the
Department of History and Political Science
at Virginia Tech; associate dean of the
University of South Carolina; and for many
years, dean of the College of Humanities,
Social Sciences, Business Administration,
and Education at North Dakota
State University.
He was a prolific and prize-winning writer
in the field of military history. He was the
co-author of: Politics of Command; How the
North Won; and Why the South Lost. His
magnum opus was The Art of War in the
Western World.
Mr. Jones is survived by his wife, Joanne
Leach Jones, a son, and two grandchildren.
Ever a loyal St. John’s alumnus, Mr. Jones
felt that whatever success and recognition he
may have achieved were the direct result of
his undergraduate studies in the New
Program. He always expressed great affection
for the college and his fellow Johnnies, and
was a frequent attendee of homecomings and
a generous contributor to various St. John’s
fundraising efforts.
—George M. Van Sant, Class of 1947
EDWARD LATHROP, CLASS OF 1938
Edward Flint “Ned” Lathrop died April 8,
2006, in Annapolis. He was a decorated
Naval officer and a St. John’s tutor who also
taught mathematics. As director of athletics,
he organized the intramural program at
St. John’s.
Capt. Lathrop spent two years at the Coast
Guard Academy before transferring to
St. John’s. He joined the St. John’s faculty
and taught until 1941 before enlisting in the
Navy. During World War II he served aboard
submarines in the Pacific and was awarded
the Bronze Star and Silver Star medals.
After the war he rejoined the St. John’s
faculty in 1945, where he remained until 1950
before returning to active duty in the Navy.
At the time of his retirement in 1965, he was
commanding officer of the Naval Reserve
Training Center in Baltimore.
In 1965 Capt. Lathrop began teaching
mathematics at the Landon School in
Bethesda, Md. He created Landon’s first
varsity lacrosse team and served as head
coach until 1974, when he returned to
Annapolis.
MERLE SHORE, CLASS OF 1954
A gathering in honor of Merle Shore, a
member of the class of 1954 who became a
noted artist and art director, will be held at
the home of tutor Sam Kutler and his wife,
Emily (classes of 1954 and ’55), during
Homecoming Weekend 2006 in Annapolis.
Mr. Shore died January 28, 2006, in Santa
Barbara, Calif., at the age of 86.
After serving in the Navy for five years
during World War II, Mr. Shore started his
own graphic and commercial art studio in
Hollywood, Calif. In 1950, at age 31, he
fulfilled a lifelong ambition to attend
St. John’s and put his art career on hold while
he immersed himself in the Program.
After graduating from St. John’s, Mr. Shore
resumed his professional art career in Santa
Barbara. Mr. Shore served as art director for
Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label, as well as art
director for Verve and Warner Brothers,
where he also illustrated album covers. He
illustrated for magazines including Esquire,
Playboy, Saturday Evening Post, and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
Atlantic Monthly. He did book illustrations
and commercial advertising. His artistic
talents extended to the cinema as well; he
designed graphics for the films Manchurian
Candidate and Spartacus. He was also a
serious painter.
Mr. Shore is survived by his wife, Priscilla
Bender-Shore (class of 1955), whom he
married in 1951 and who attended St. John’s
with him, a daughter, son, son-in-law, three
grandchildren and two brothers.
For details on the luncheon gathering,
contact Mr. Kutler at: 410-263-2261, or by
e-mail at: reltuk@comcast.nrt.
ALEX MAGOSCI , SF89
Alex Magosci, SF89, died Friday, March 24,
2006, in Santa Fe. Born in New York and
raised in Dallas, Mr. Magosci was an
accomplished writer and musician who made
many friends, especially in the music scene in
Santa Fe. After graduating from St. John’s in
1989, he became music editor for The Dallas
Observer. He moved back to Santa Fe in 1990
and later became an editor and columnist for
the Santa Fe New Mexican. He was a
drummer for a number of rock groups both in
Dallas and Santa Fe.
ALSO NOTED:
JOHN BRUNN (class of 1947), Jan. 17, 2006
D. MASON CHEEZUM (class of 1933), Feb. 2,
2006
BRUCE COLLIER (class of 1965), March 26, 2006
THE REV. FREDERICK P. DAVIS (class of 1949),
Jan. 7, 2006
THOMAS G. FROMME (class of 1950), March 31,
2006
MICHAEL F. GRAY (SGI84), Jan. 29, 2005
MARK HABREL (SF75), March 10, 2006
THOMAS JUSKEVICH (A03), March 15, 2006
LAWRENCE KANTOR (class of 1935), Feb. 20,
2006
HAROLD MILSTEAD (class of 1937), March 23,
2006
RALPH RACE (class of 1930), died February 20,
2006
STEWART A. WASHBURN (class of 1951), Feb. 17,
2006
INA WUNDRAM (SFGI97), Jan. 18, 2006
�40
{Croquet}
S WEET VICTORY
alex lorman
G
other stake. That happened; Navy
staked me out. So, on my first
turn after sitting out, I took a
shot to go to the other end of the
court, and that turned out nicely.
Navy set themselves right in front
of the wickets that they needed to
go through next, and they were
halfway back to the finishing
stake.They could have won.
“The closest ball to me was
blue. But it was probably about
20- to 30-feet away—the Hail
Mary shot of croquet. On my
turn—what actually turned out to
be the actual last turn—I took
probably an eight-foot shot to hit
the stake. Because I hit the
stake, I got an extra shot. The
first plan that presented itself
was to rocket my ball to the other
end of the court so I could be
close to that stake. But Navy
was guarding that stake, so there
was a chance of being staked
Above: Mac Ward and Geremy Coy (both A06) ponder
out again.
their strategy; at left: Coy celebrates victory.
Opposite page, clockwise: the Dobbyn family, decked
“As I was setting myself up to
out in seersucker suits: Jack (A02), Joe (A05),
take that shot, suddenly Plan B
Mike (A06), and Dick (A06), with future Johnnie
arose, and I saw blue, lodged in
Alex Dobbyn; Tutor Cordell Yee and his daughter,
his wicket. That was the long
before the skies cleared; a natty group of Johnnies
shot. I struck the ball—it was a
enjoy a beautiful afternoon; Navy’s minions await
leap of faith shot. I worried I
their duties; Peter Kalkavage leads the freshman
hadn’t put enough on it, but it
chorus.
took the perfect little curve and
hit blue—the crowd erupted, this
was huge!
hit the ball. But my ball ended much farther
“So, I had a second shot on them, and
now I had to get to black, all the way over on from the stake. All I had to do was hit the
stake and win the game. I bent down on one
the other side of the court. I reared back,
knee. I could hear people on the sidelines.
put as much as I could into it, somehow it
I reared back, hit the ball, hit the stake, Mac
bounced off a nearby wicket, and struck
rushed at me, people were swarming, and
black! Now I had two more shots, and this
my glasses were lost.”
serene calm. Since Navy had been sticklers
Final score: St. John’s 5, Navy 0. x
about the quiver rule [when two balls are in
contact, the striking player must make the
opponent’s ball quiver], I was careful when I
dimitri fotos
eremy Coy (A06) never
dreamed he’d get to be “the
man.” He had never been
hoisted atop the shoulders
of a little league team after
hitting the winning homerun, never doused with Gatorade after
scoring the winning touchdown.
But thanks to croquet, Coy got to be a
sports hero. Three-and-a-half hours into the
annual contest with Navy, the Johnnies had
won two matches, and a tense match was
unfolding between Coy and Mac Ward (A06)
and their Navy opponents. The Mids were
determined to try to take the Annapolis Cup
for the second straight year. Coy was in
position to make the winning shot. With
Zen-like concentration, he took the mallet
into his hands . . . and had ESPN been
there, this is what he would have told
the interviewer:
“I had gone through all my wickets, so all
I had to do was finish. There’s a rule that if
the other team knocks your ball into the
stake, then you lose two turns, and you have
to go to the other end of the court, hit that
stake and then go back down and hit the
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�41
dimitri fotos
dimitri fotos
alex lorman
{Croquet}
As part of the croquet tradition, the
Imperial Wicket went to the Naval
Academy the Friday before the match to
speak to the Corps of Midshipman at
lunch in the mess hall following their
noontime formation. In keeping with the
Soviet theme the Johnnies adopted, Matt
Mangold read two pages of excerpts from
the Communist Manifesto. But not a
word could be heard above the din of the
Middies, hooting, hollering, and
banging their silverware against their
plates and on the tables. (It is another
good-natured part of the tradition for the
Corps to shout down the Johnnie.) “It
was hard to pass up the chance—so rich
with irony—to read Karl Marx to this
room of some 4,000 screaming
midshipmen,” said Mangold. x
The Team
Imperial Wicket Matt Mangold (A06);
Rob Hurst (A07); Tommy Dyer (A06);
Micah Beck (A09); Ian Hanover (A08);
Charlie Fleming (A08); Mac Ward
(A06); Geremy Coy (A06); Paul Patrone
(A06); Andrew MacKinlay (A06); Will
Kelly (A07); and Dan Houck (A06).
gary pierpoint
The Touch of Irony
Soviet Domination. The team uniforms
this year were red t-shirts with the
hammer and sickle (croquet mallets
taking the place of the hammer).
The team emerged from the BarrBuchanan Center to the Beatles’
“Back in the USSR.”
gary pierpoint
The Theme
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�42
{ A l u m n i tA ses o c il lt i oo w N r s }s }
{From
h
Be a T n e ew
From the Alumni
Association
President
I recently made my
pledge to the
college’s Capital
Campaign, and I am
hoping you will, too!
As my non-Johnnie
husband and I talked
about our gift, I had a
chance to articulate
for him the several
reasons that I wanted to give the largest gift
we could afford.
First, I hope that generations of eager
readers and talkers can immerse themselves
in the St. John’s Program long into the
future. I want to help ensure that others have
the same opportunity I had when I went to
college to engage with the books and fellow
students as we learned about ourselves, each
other, and the most profound questions. I feel
honor-bound to help others share this experience.
Second, I see my gift as an acknowledgement of the people at the college who taught
me so much. Tutors, administrators, and
fellow students all shared their questions and
emerging answers with me. I want to say
“thank you” to one particular tutor who read
my Kant essay, gave me a copy of Strunk and
White’s The Elements of Style, and sent me
home to rewrite and rethink it. I can name
the people who influenced me, just as I’m
CHAPTER CONTACTS
ALBUQUERQUE
Robert Morgan, SF76
505-275-9012
rim2u@comcast.net
ANNAPOLIS
Beth Martin Gammon,
A94
410-951-7359
emartin@crs.org
AUSTIN
Charles Claunch,
SFGI05
512-446-0222
cclaunch.sjcalum@
earthlink.net
BALTIMORE
Deborah Cohen, A77
410-472-9158
deborahcohen@
comcast.net
BOSTON
Dianne Cowan, A91
617-666-4381
dianecowan@rcn.com
CHICAGO
Rick Lightburn, SF76
847-922-3862
rlightburn@gmail.com
DALLAS/FORT
WORTH
Paula Fulks, SF76
817-654-2986
puffjd@swbell.net
sure you can name those who were important
in your time at St. John’s. Conversations with
these people were most intense while I was
on campus, but they have continued through
the years and (I expect) will carry on through
my lifetime.
Third, I wish to help make an investment
in the physical and fiscal infrastructure that
supports the college. As a student I had little
appreciation for the practical side of the
college community. I didn’t know (or care)
what it cost to house and feed us, to maintain
a committed faculty, and to take care of the
myriad challenges of daily life. Today I appreciate the institutional needs and monetary
necessities of sustaining a community like St.
John’s, and I want to do what I can so those
on the campuses can focus on the work that
really matters—reading and talking about the
books.
Finally, my gift is, in part, a thank-you to
those alumni and friends of St. John’s who
have made leadership gifts to the campaign.
We have received some remarkable gifts from
individuals with much greater giving capacity
than mine. My gift is one way I can thank
them for their commitment to the college’s
community, institution, and Program. They
have invested in our college because they
believe in our principles and want to help
perpetuate this special way of learning and
teaching. With my gift, I want to thank
everyone who invests in St. John’s.
There are many other reasons for me and
probably for you, too:
• Foundations are impressed and give more
when a high percentage of alumni participate in giving to the college.
• Government support for private colleges is
dwindling or being redirected.
• Many students who want and would benefit
from a St. John’s education struggle to
make ends meet.
• Giving to the college keeps me connected
with a community of people I admire and
enjoy.
• I see a new level of strength and stability in
college staff and leadership.
• I am concerned about the state of the
public discourse across the country, and I
think the college offers a good alternative
to dogma and demagoguery.
• I want to be sure that when I come back for
my 40th, 50th, and 60th reunions the
college is there to greet me—stronger than
ever.
The Alumni Association is independent of
the college, and as an organization we focus
on serving the constituency of the alumni (as
opposed to being organizationally focused on
fundraising). We provide opportunities for
alumni to engage in many ways that do not
involve financial support. On the other hand,
the Alumni Association board recognizes the
significance of this campaign and is
committed to supporting the “clear and
single purpose.” The board has approved a
campaign gift of $75,000 to support the
college’s new online alumni community
(click on “For Alumni” on the college’s Web
site) and endowment for scholarships. We
also expect that every one of the 47 members
of the Alumni Association board will make a
personal pledge to support the campaign.
Please join us. Whatever your reasons, I’m
sure they are compelling. Thank you for all
the ways you support the college!
PHILADELPHIA
Helen Zartarian, AGI86
215-482-5697
helenstevezartarian@
mac.com
SOUTHERN CALIF.
SALT LAKE CITY
Elizabeth Eastman,
Erin Hanlon, AF03
SFGI84
801-364-1097
erin_hanlon@juno.com 562-426-1934
e.eastman@verizon.net
SANTA FE
TRIANGLE CIRCLE,
Richard Cowles,
NORTH CAROLINA
SFGI95
Susan Eversole, SF79
505-986-1814
rcowles2@comcast.net 919-968-4856
sfevers@yahoo.com
SEATTLE
James Doherty, AFGI76 WASHINGTON, DC
Deborah Papier, A72
206-542-3441
202-387-4520
jdoherty@mrsc.org
dpapier@verizon.net
SOUTH FLORIDA
WESTERN NEW
Jon Sackson, A69
ENGLAND
305-682-4634
Peter Weiss, SF84
jonathan.sackson@
413-367-2174
ubs.com
peter_weis@
nmhschool.org
DENVER/BOULDER
Lee Katherine
Goldstein, SGI90
720-746-1496
LGoldstein@
Lindquist.com
MINN./ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman, AGI94
612-822-3216
Freem013@umn.edu
NEW YORK CITY
Daniel Van Doren, A81
914-949-6811
president@
sjcalums.com
PITTSBURGH
Joanne Murray, A70
724-325-4151
Joanne.Murray@
alcoa.com
PORTLAND
Lake Perriguey, SF91
503-803-5184
lake@law-works.com
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico, A86
NORTHERN CALIF.
Reynaldo Miranda, A99 805-684-6793
srico@sandi.net
415-333-4452
reynaldo.miranda@
gmail.com
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
Glenda Eoyang (SF76)
�43
{ o u ni e B c
t T w ws s
{ F rA lm m t h A s s o e ilal i o no N ee r } }
Eva in Israel
Annapolis tutor Eva Brann was asked to
lecture at the Israel Academy of Sciences
and Humanities in January. She spoke on
Plato’s Republic and the next day took part
in a seminar with members of the Philosophy Department of the Hebrew University.
“It began wonderfully when a professor
said, ‘I will tell you the difference between a
Socratic conversation and a Talmudic
discussion. In the first, Socrates and his
partners all come knowing nothing and
they leaving knowing nothing, friends as
before. In the second, the rabbis come each
with his opinion and they leave each with
that opinion, friends as before.’ ”
The college knows of 23 alumni living in
Israel. Miss Brann had an opportunity to
meet about half of them at a lively dinner
in Jerusalem. “One, Jed Arkin (A85), made
himself my special host, and we did something marvelous,” Miss Brann says. “We—
he and his lovable two sons and his army
pal and I—went to the Negev, the beautiful
desert in southern Israel. We went in two
jeeps, intercom, mini-Uzi, water and all,
but the land was empty and grand.” x
West Coast
Johnnies
Dedicated volunteers have always been the
hallmark of strong alumni chapters, and
Elizabeth Eastman (SFGI84), president of
the Southern California Chapter for the
past six years, is no exception. “I’ve
always been looking for ways to extend
the mission of St. John’s outside the
boundaries of the Annapolis and Santa Fe
campuses,” says Eastman, “Alumni
chapters can play a critical role in
extending the college’s reach.”
Six years ago, Eastman, with the help of
Susan Allen (SGI89), a member of the
college’s Board of Visitors and Governors,
reinvigorated the Southern California
chapter, drawing members from a wide
geographic area that was once served by
three chapters. “There is an enormous
challenge here because of the distances
people have to travel and the traffic.
To make this viable we had to select a
central location, the Westwood area of
Los Angeles, and the time we picked,
Sunday afternoon, is also dictated by the
43
but prior to Hitler’s rise
to power,” says Eastman.
The person who
chooses the reading
typically leads the
seminar, says Eastman.
About half of the
readings are from the
St. John’s curriculum,
including the Eastern
Classics program.
“We talk about life
experiences,” says
Eastman. “It is not
uncommon to have
someone from every
decade, back to the
1940s. This makes for a
fabulous discussion with
different perspectives
from different generaA desert wanderer: Tutor Eva Brann with Tal and Matin
tions, and yet age is
Arkin, sons of Jed Arkin (A85), in the Negev last winter.
transcended.”
Benjamin Friedman,
traffic,” says Eastman. Members, who
who grew up in Santa Fe, where his
include Benjamin Friedman (SF95),
mother worked at the college and both his
Dierdre Lenihan (A67), and Amy Cooper
parents attended the Graduate Institute,
(SF75), come from Los Angeles as well as
agrees, “It’s very interesting having
areas such as Claremont, 40 miles east,
seminars with a more diverse group than I
Santa Barbara, 90 miles north, and
had as an undergrad; the maturity of the
Orange, about 32 miles southeast.
participants make for some fascinating
The geographic spread of the chapter’s
and surprising discussions. I run into
area also dictates the kinds of events the
people at the seminars who babysat me
chapter can hold. “We don’t have signature
when they were students, or were the
events like wine tastings and cultural
parents of children I played with during
activities. We are solely a reading group,”
the summer GI sessions oh so many years
says Eastman. “It can take some members
ago. I always wonder who I’ll encounter
longer to travel here than they’re here for
from my past when I walk into a seminar.”
the seminar, so we have a potluck following
Over the years the chapter members
it to make it worthwhile. It is a contrast to
have invited tutors to lead their discusNew York chapter, for instance, where they
sions, among them Eva Brann, Frank
have ease of access to the downtown area.”
Pagano, John Balkcom (SFGI00), and
Eastman mails postcard reminders one
Sam Kutler (class of 1954). “We also had
month prior to each gathering, inviting
Danielle Allen, (Susan Allen’s daughter
alumni, friends of the college, and also
and a professor of classics at the University
participants in the Summer Classics
of Chicago) lead a seminar on her book
program offered at Santa Fe. Alumni—
Talking to Strangers. I actually went to the
about half are from Annapolis and half
St. John’s summer day camp in Santa Fe
from Santa Fe—bring along significant
with Danielle when we were both kids and
others, spouses, and friends for the
her mom was in the GI,” says Freidman.
monthly two-hour seminar which focuses
Eastman, a busy mother of two who has
on a reading chosen the month before.
a master’s degree in political science, will
This spring, the Southern California
step down this spring as president of the
chapter discussed Shakespeare’s Troilus
Southern California chapter. But she’ll
and Cressida in March, and in April
always make time for seminars with other
they will discuss “The Concept of the
Johnnies. “The opportunity to have a
Political.” “It’s a short political tract that
conversation is so welcome, it brings
Carl Schmitt wrote during the Weimar
balance to my life,” she says. x
period in Germany after World War I,
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�44
44
{ F { Ao mm n ihA s sB c il t i o n oN e e r}s }
r lu t e o e al T w ws
Summer in Santa Fe: Great Books, Great Friends
discussion, the practicum brings participants to paint outside at some of the most
compelling sites in Santa Fe. Guided
gallery tours will provide an opportunity
to revel in contemporary and classic
Western art. No painting experience
is required.
This year’s other offerings are:
Descartes’ Discourse on Method, led by
tutor Sam Kutler (class of 1954) and the
Book of Job and Karl Jung’s “Answer to
Job,” led by tutors Keri Ames and
Jessica Jerome.
Through the Summer Alumni Program in
Santa Fe, alumni from both campuses can
spend a week revisiting a favorite Program
work, discussing something they’ve never
read before with other Johnnies, painting,
listening to opera, and enjoying the
company of others who love books and
ideas. The program this year starts
Sunday, July 23, and runs through Friday,
July 29, when Homecoming begins. To
find out more about the program, visit the
college Web site: www.stjohnscollege.edu;
click on “Alumni” and follow the link to
the “Summer Alumni Program.” More
information is available by calling the
Santa Fe Alumni office at 505-984-6103.
Two avid participants of the Summer
Alumni Program shared their thoughts on
what makes the week worthwhile.
“Revelling in Art”
Elizabeth Pollard Jenny (SF80), an artist
who lives in Boulder, Co., brings art to
participants in the Summer Alumni
Program.
In 1995, I noticed that St. John’s was
offering alumni the chance to return to
Santa Fe for a week with fellow alumni
from all different years and from both
campuses to study together. This seemed
to me like a way to really keep the conversation going. St. John’s alumni leave the
college with the message that we are the
enduring community of the college. I have
always construed being a Johnnie to mean
being a life-long learner who keeps the
conversation going, in our world and in
our college community.
I responded to the mailer because, along
with giving me an opportunity to check in
with my fellow alumni, it offered me the
chance to study art in one of the art
capitals of the United States.That summer,
I was fortunate to take the seminar,
practicum, and lecture with tutors Charles
Bell and Steve Houser, and with Steve’s
wife, Michelle Bender. Steve and Michelle
designed the art tutorial in Santa Fe.
In addition, John Agresto, then president
of the Santa Fe campus, took Alumni
Program and Summer Classics participants on a tour of Hispanic religious folk
art in Chimayo, Taos, and Truchas.
“There’s a Special Conversation”
Mary Fisher (AGI92) of Ontario, N.Y.,
will attend the Summer Alumni Program
for her fifth straight year.
Catch up with friends this July in
Santa Fe. Register by June 30 for the
Summer Alumni Program.
In addition to sharing his knowledge about
the artwork, John showed us a great
restaurant along the Rio Grande, where we
stopped and had fresh trout for lunch.
During another summer, I took the
course offerings that focused on issues
relating to consciousness, artificial intelligence, and optics, with one of my former
tutors, Phil Chandler (A68), and his son.
The Alumni Program has been a wonderful
way to revisit familiar friends and places,
but it has also been a way to meet new
people and explore new paths in this
Johnnie enterprise of learning together.
That brings me to my role as offering an
art practicum to alumni through the
Summer Alumni Program. To me, painting
in and around Santa Fe with fellow alumni
is like a dream come true. Add to this that
you are in Santa Fe, you can see contemporary art shown in local galleries, and you
can meet artistic alumni during the AllAlumni Art Show.
With tutor Phil LeCuyer, this year I will
be leading the practicum side of “Plein-Air
Painting as Practice and Reflection.” The
program includes seminar discussions of
the nature of perception and the role of
visual art in the formation of our language
of perception. Complementing seminar
After I graduated from the Graduate
Institute in 1992, I received information
about the Summer Alumni Program.
I thought it would be a dream come true to
reconnect with the college and have
enriching conversations with Johnnies.
There’s a special kind of conversation that
we develop among ourselves, and it’s a
wonderful way to encounter other
human beings.
In 2002, I thought, “If I don’t start
doing it, when will I do it?” It’s not easy to
make these treks, but since my oldest son
and his family live in Colorado, I can get to
Santa Fe on my trips to visit them. As I
considered signing up for the first year, the
thing that really clinched it for me was that
Eva Brann and David Carl were leading a
discussion on the Republic and I had the
never had the opportunity take a seminar
with Miss Brann.
And there was Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte,
with Peter Pesic. I’m a musician, so that
was a joy. One of the wonderful things
about the Summer Alumni Program is that
we have access to Santa Fe Opera tickets
at a reduced rate.
One summer, as part of the seminar that
included plein-air painting with Liz Jenny,
we made trips to artists’ studios. We were
also reading Heidegger and listening to
Don Giovanni. I really have a special
appreciation for the seminars on the arts.
In painting and in sculpture—in all the
arts—we find different aspects of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�45
{ o u ni e B c
t T w ws s
{ F rA lm m t h A s s o e ilal i o no N ee r } }
human community. Last year, I had
another seminar with Miss Brann and
Mr. Carl, this time on Milton.
What I find really remarkable is that we
alumni can encounter each other in
conversation about so many different
aspects of what life is about, not just in the
philosophy and the sciences, but also in
the various arts—which in my world is a
huge part of what I consider the riches of
being on this earth. In a seminar, we don’t
just look at the structure of the music, we
also talk about human themes. That brings
me to one of the real riches I find in this
kind of alumni encounter. We’ve gone out
into the world, done a multitude of things,
and lived all kinds of different lives. That
enriches our conversation, but it also gives
us an added opportunity to reflect on what
our ongoing lives are about.
When we revisit a book such as The
Republic, we have a wonderful opportunity
Are you Reading?
From Portland, Oregon to Putney,
Vermont alumni chapters and groups all
over the country continue to “read the
books.” Eighteen chapters and three
reading groups held events during 2005.
In the last four years, several new groups
worked with the alumni offices to organize
seminars and other events. As one alumna
wrote, “Anyone wish to start a reading
group? I’m starving for some intellectual
discourse.”
Here’s a look at some newer locations
creating SJC alumni groups:
• The Pittsburgh group became a
chapter in 2003 after more than a
year of regular activities as a reading
group. Though there are fewer than
70 St. John’s alumni in their area,
they have 6 to 10 people at their
monthly events.
• The Western New England reading
group has been holding seminars
since 2002. In 2005, they had a
regular bi-monthly schedule of events
for their nearly 130 alumni.
• The Miami/South Florida reading
group, drawing from over 200 alumni
in their area, has held regular
seminars during both 2004 and
2005 and will be petitioning to
become a chapter this coming year.
• The Salt Lake City reading group has
held seminars since November 2004.
to look at larger issues and gain more
insight into the work. These books don’t
stand alone; it’s the tutors and the other
participants who help lead us to a greater
understanding of these ideas.
St. John’s is not just a four-year experience. It’s the kind of ground on which we
build our lives. There’s always more to be
learned, and there’s always something
interesting to talk about. We are works in
progress. Any of us can become a little
harassed by things so that we get hog-tied,
like Gulliver being tied down by the
Lilliputians. Every summer, we have the
opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with
all the college can offer us. The college
arranges this special time just for us
alumni.
45
It’s something much richer, and
sustaining and balancing, and it stays with
us when we leave. It is nutrition for our
mind’s eye. We really are privileged to
have this opportunity. x
Alumni from both campuses choose a
thinking vacation with the Summer
Alumni Program.
There are only 45 alumni in the area,
but they have had 6 to 14 people
attending each event.
• In Atlanta, alumni stay connected
with informal groups and at gatherings sponsored by the Alumni office.
• A meeting is planned in Phoenix to
organize area alumni this spring.
• Interest is brewing to start a local
chapter in the Indianapolis area.
Though the number of alumni in the
area is small, the desire to read and
talk to other Johnnies remains strong.
Though not every attempt to start a
reading group has been successful, there
does not seem to be a minimal number of
alumni needed to have sufficient interest
Christopher Nelson (SF70), president of
the Annapolis campus, and President
Michael Peters, president in Santa Fe,
regularly visit chapters and reading
groups. Tutors from Annapolis and Santa
Fe are interested and available to travel to
chapters and groups throughout the
country. The Alumni Office funds their
trips and provides an average of two tutor
visits per year to chapters.
Alumni interested in assessing interest
in holding seminars and other activities in
a new area should contact Jo Ann Mattson,
Alumni Director, at JoAnn.Mattson@
sjca.edu or 410-626-2531. The alumni
office staff provides support in setting up
an initial event, answering questions,
giving advice on how to get started, and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
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 – Glenda Eoyang, SF76
Vice President – Jason Walsh, A85
Secretary – Barbara Lauer, SF76
Treasurer – Bill Fant, A79
Getting-the-Word-Out Action Team Chair –
Linda Stabler-Talty, SFGI76
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.
mailing notices to all alumni within the
geographic area identified.
The new Online Community is also an
excellent way to keep in touch with alumni
in your area and to stay involved. You can
find a listing of your chapter or group’s
events at www.stjohnscollege.edu. Click
on “alumni” and then “chapters.” x
�46
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
T WO MONTHS
BEFORE THE MAST
by Todd Wilson (AGI00)
Todd Wilson combines yoga
with duties at the helm.
Wilson never quite got his sea
legs during his Reach the
World voyage.
Todd Wilson spent two months
aboard the Makulu a 43-foot
sailboat, documenting his experiences for Reach the World, an
educational organization that
seeks to give inner-city students
in grades three through six a
wider view of their world.
B
ased in New York
City, Reach the
World is a
nonprofit organization founded by
Heather Halstead.
Sailor-educators circumnavigate the world and document
their journey using digital
cameras, laptops, and the
Reach the World Web site.
They post answers to eight
essential questions for each
geographic region on the site,
which teachers use as part of
their curriculum. Before the
voyage, we met the students
and toured their schools in the
Bronx, Queens, and Harlem,
talking to them about the
itinerary. The goal is to open
their minds to the idea that
they belong to a global
community.
Since graduating from the
GI, I have sought eclectic positions in
education, such as teaching English on the
Texas/Mexico border with Teach for
America and managing an environmental
education campus in Yosemite National
Park. When RTW offered me a job, I
thought: How can I pass on this
opportunity? I have always been interested
in documentary films, photography, and
journalism. The great books, being the
ancient documents of societies and human
thought, seemed the perfect foundation.
Thus, I went to learn about modern
human life from observing how people live
and the environment living around them,
documenting it all for students.
As part of a five-person crew, I sailed
from Cairns, Australia, to Bali, Indonesia.
Jim, the captain, and Hannah, the first
mate, taught the fundamentals of sailing to
Amie, Tonia and me: steering a course,
reading charts, and navigating open waters
in daylight and darkness. Each day at sea
was spent rotating through a watch and
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
cooking schedule, meeting
about the program, writing, and
for me, finding time to practice
yoga on the aft deck—usually in
three- to six-foot waves. We all
worked to keep a tidy, safe ship.
And the weather was consistently helpful with more wind
and sunshine than galls and
high seas.
As the days turned like pages
from a great, blue mind, I found
the open ocean to be a true
wilderness. From my first
glimpse of the Great Barrier
Reef to dolphins racing to and
fro off the bow, sparkling with
phosphorescence in midnight
waters, I realized that the ocean
is untamed and amazing. We
bring a floating shell of
humanity, yet our coming is one
precarious rise and fall upon
the waves after another. I
embraced the austere vastness
of being at sea with respect and
humility.
Three days out of Australia in
the Timor Sea, we stopped
Makulu for an afternoon swim. After 20
minutes, Hannah called us aboard quietly.
Once atop, she pointed to the five tiger
sharks that joined us from the depths.
“Just visiting,” I whispered.
Komodo Island was truly enigmatic, a
land rare and sculpted by time into timelessness. The land befits the dragon that
exists only there, the largest lizard in the
world. When I first saw two dragons below
the kitchen, they were flattened out like
�{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
47
todd wilson
Left: A hut on Komodo Island frames the
MAKULU.
Below: Schoolchildren on Balo-Baloang
stop to pose for Wilson.
attaining balance than enjoying the
ocean’s grandeur. It was not seasickness
(though I did lose my crackers coming into
Bali after 10 hours enduring 10-foot seas);
I can only describe it using the Ayurvedic
term ahamkara, which translates as the
todd wilson
dogs: content and lacking ferocity. Two
hours later we tracked a female with a
radio collar to her nest. Again, the sight of
her brought a fearless awe. She, like all
things rare, lived through the myths and
labels in the simplicity of being.
Two weeks later, we visited a school on
Balo-Baloang Atoll. The tiny island (twohour circumambulation) is the home of
shipbuilders. These men have honed their
craft for a thousand years, and like the
dragons, only these Indonesian seas are
home to their designs. In their presence,
Makulu looked extravagant and awkward
in her modernity. We felt the slowness of
time here when we signed the school’s
register, the sixth visitors in five years!
In a classroom without electricity, we
interviewed the students about their
unique and simple lives, their teacher
translating our words. Afterwards, we
enjoyed lunch at the teacher’s stilt house:
sweets, tea, black-sugar coffee, rice, and
vegetable broth eaten on the floor of the
kitchen, with our fingers, the women and
children waiting for the guests to eat first.
I had signed on for a two-year journey.
But my new environment rattled my
equilibrium, and days were more about
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
integral feeling of self despite the
commingling of the numerous physical
elements of which we are composed.
My ahamkara was tilted, and this feeling
combined with the understanding that my
overall health was the foundation of any
position. Even though I loved the work on
land, the days at sea took my legs from me.
After an amazing two months before the
mast, I chose to leave and offer the rare
opportunity to someone who is an
educator and a sailor. I am sure there are a
few Johnnies who fit this description. x
Wilson’s articles on Australia and Bali can
be found at www.reachtheworld.com
�48
{St. John’s Forever}
Books, Balance and a Bell Tower
A
crane sets in place the iron
finial in the bell tower of
Weigle Hall in Santa Fe,
circa 1972. The finial was
designed by John Gaw
Meem, the noted architect
who also donated the land for St. John’s
Western campus. Meem’s finial was meant
to represent a “stand-up” version of the
college seal, according to an article in the
Santa Fe New Mexican. First called the
Tower Building and later renamed for
former St. John’s President Richard Weigle
(HA49), the campus’ main academic
building was dedicated in 1971, while work
on the finial was still under way.
Design of the finial was one of the few
commissions that Meem took after he
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
retired in 1960, according to John Gaw
Meem: Southwestern Architect, by
Bainbridge Bunting: “. . . Meem accepted
only a few commissions from close friends
or produced occasional designs for a public
cause or for historical preservation. Among
these . . . the delightful bell tower on the
administration building of St. John’s
College . . .” x
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
Alumni Calendar
Come home to Santa Fe this summer!
This year’s festivities including a special
Opening Celebration for “With a Clear
and Single Purpose”: The Campaign for St.
John’s College, along with the traditional
Homecoming Banquet, art show, and
varied parties. Catch up with your old
friends, make new ones, and learn about
the college’s plans for the future.
Friday, July 28
2 - 5 p.m. Registration
5:30 p.m. “With a Clear and Single
Purpose,” Opening Celebration for the
Capital Campaign
9 p.m. Rock Party in the Coffee Shop
Saturday, July 29
10 a.m. Seminars
Noon – 2 p.m. Picnic
2 – 3 p.m. All-Alumni gathering
4 p.m. Alumni and tutor book signing
5 – 6 p.m. “Speaking Volumes” lecture:
Louise Heydt (EC97), author of Divine
Rainbow: Nature as Spiritual Teacher
5:30 – 7 p.m. All-Alumni art show
5: 30 p.m. Combined art show and
“Speaking Volumes” reception
7 – 9 p.m. Homecoming banquet
9 p.m. Cantina San Juan: margaritas and
mariachi at the Homecoming ball
9: 30 p.m. Movie: Singing in the Rain
Annapolis
Mark your calendars for Annapolis
Homecoming, Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2006.
The theme: Oktoberfest. Look for a
brochure to be mailed this summer,
or watch the St. John’s Web site,
www.stjohnscollege.edu, for more details.
Sunday, July 30
8 – 11 a.m. Early Riser – light breakfast fare
in the Fireside Lounge
11 a.m. Brunch, hosted by Mike and
Eleanor Peters
Mountain in Santa Fe
by Virginia Strong Newlin, SFGI74
One August night three of us tried to scale
a small peak above the college.
We took the rock face, sneakers slipping,
gripping whatever felt firm to grasping
hands.
hauling ourselves to the top, we sat upon
stones
spoke softly, looking over St. John’s
in silver sleep amongst its great books.
bill denison
In the sky great constellations spread
near enough to finger in the midnight air.
I thought of being East again, the session
over,
minus this evening’s mountain walk
and the highs of a seminar’s lively talk
on Aristotle and Aquinas, Aeschylus and
Socrates,
handholds for people scaling peaks.
{ T h e C o l l e g e St. John’s College • Spring 2006 }
�P ERIODICALS
P OSTAGE PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , M ARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
�
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Santa Fe, NM
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The College, Spring 2006
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The
College
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
J.S. Bach
Music and Culture
S p r i n g
2 0 0 7
�On Bach
The College (usps 018-750)
tudying Bach’s St. Matthew Passion is one of the great moments in four
years of St. John’s. Indeed, if the college ever required a theme song, the
Passion would do quite well. What makes it a great work worthy of the
Program? To Eric Stoltzfus, music librarian in Annapolis,“it’s the
combination of a very powerful story, and a sense that there’s a brilliant
mind interpreting that story and adding things to it.” Peter Kalkavage,
who led the Annapolis Community Chorus in its performance of the
opening and closing choruses of the work, says the Passion is an immensely satisfying
culmination of two years of the study of music, a work that holds special meaning for many
alumni years after they leave the college.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685, a year that saw the birth of two other great
musicians: Georg Friedrich Handel and Domenic Scarlatti. By the time he was 10, both of
Bach’s parents were dead, and Bach came under the wing of his eldest brother, Johann
Christoph, who helped guide his musical education. Bach sang in a boys’ choir, and later
turned to the organ, pursuing his musical education independently. At age 18, he was
appointed organist of the New Church in Arnstadt, where he kept getting into trouble.
(In 1705, he brawled with a student and called him a “nanny-goat bassoonist”; the
following year was reprimanded for staying away too long from his post after he traveled to
another city to hear a great organist.)
In 1707, Bach became organist in Mühlhausen, where he married his cousin, Maria
Barbara Bach, with whom he had seven children. Other posts followed: court organist and
chamber musician, later concert master at Weimar; musical director at Köthen for Prince
Leopold of Anhalt; music director and cantor of the church of St. Thomas, Leipzig. He was
the third choice for the post at St. Thomas, which he took up in 1723, and he so disliked
one of his duties—teaching Latin to the schoolboys—that he paid someone else to do it.
In a span of about five years in Leipzig, Bach gave the first performance of the
St. John Passion and produced the Magnificat and the St. Matthew Passion. After Maria
Barbara’s death, Bach married Anna MagdalenaWülken, a gifted musician, who bore him
13 children.
Bach died in 1750, but four of his sons continued his legacy: Carl Philipp Emanuel,
Johann Christian, Wilhelm Friedemann, and Johann Christoph Friedrich. C.P.E. Bach
co-wrote his father’s obituary, which praised his moral character, piety, and devotion to his
art: “If ever a composer showed polyphony in its greatest strength, it was certainly our late
lamented Bach. If ever a musician employed the most hidden secrets of harmony with the
most skilled artistry, it was certainly our Bach.”
This issue of the magazine considers music’s place in the Program. Not only is it
important in the classroom, but music in all its forms also enlivens the communities on
both campuses, with groups such as Primum Mobile singing sacred music in the Pendulum
Pit in Annapolis, and tutors such as Cary Stickney in Santa Fe sharing their talents and
love for music with all of us.
S
—RH
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
Gail Griffith,
Santa Fe editor
Emily DeBusk,
assistant editor
Jennifer Behrens, art director
Annapolis
410-626-2539
Santa Fe
505-984-6104
Contributors
Elizabeth Burlington (A08)
Caroline Caldwell (SF08)
Nelson Hernandez (A99)
Andrea Lamb
Oliver Lemke (SF08)
Peter Pesic
Jennifer Sprague
Jennifer Wright (A08)
Elliott Zuckerman (HA95)
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�Spring 2007
Vo l u m e 3 3 , I s s u e 2
The
College
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
10
“With a Clear and
Single Purpose”
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
•
•
•
What the $125 million campaign for
St. John’s College means to the
Santa Fe campus.
•
•
16
“Sing, Goddess”
•
page
•
page 10
As part of the quadrivium, music belongs
in the Program, but where and how?
34
Annapolis treasurer Bronté Jones
A year in Iraq
Green energy for Annapolis
Annapolis student establishes leadership
retreat
Johnnies from foreign lands
Restoring Key’s will
An Annapolis-born novelist had ties
to St. John’s
bibliofile
“How-to” books for people who think
they know how to read.
22
Pop Johnnies
page
39
Can YouTube and American Idol coexist
with the form of the good?
26
Visual Thinkers
from the bell towers
alumni
P RO F I L E S
38 Christian Acemah (SF05) travels,
page
page 16
Three artists working in different media
share their distinctive works and
philosophies.
36
Happy Birthday,
Croquet
page
researches, and writes for African
development.
41 Coming of age in tumultuous times,
the class of 1966 has a distinct character.
42 Manhattan dealmaker Munir Hussein (A90)
discovers cultural understanding in
Maine.
48
50
52
Over 25 years, the St. John’s croquet
tradition has evolved into a
mini-Homecoming.
page 26
on the cover
Johann Sebastian Bach
Illustration by David Johnson
obituaries
alumni association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
Beyond the Bottom Line
Annapolis Treasurer Bronté Jones
the man in the photo–her
grandfather, Asbury Jones.
“Last fall I drove over to my
grandparents’ home on the
Eastern Shore for my grandfather’s 85th birthday. My
grandfather is my absolute
favorite person in the whole
world. He’s a blue-collar
worker and when he retired,
he made $16,000 dollars, but
he put seven of his kids
through college,” says Jones.
gary pierpoint
A brass-framed photo on
Bronté Jones’ desk tells the
story of how she has become,
at 37, one of the youngest
college treasurers in the
country, and one of the few
African-American women
in this male-dominated
profession. Jones, who joined
St. John’s last summer as
treasurer, says she credits
her parents for what she has
accomplished, but especially
“He walked to work until he
was 45 to save money. He had a
plan–it was about fiscal
management and about the
differences that could make.
I went to college and majored
in finance simply because I
understood the difference that
having strong financial
acumen could make in one’s
life.” Growing up on the
Eastern Shore in a tight-knit
family filled with educators
(her mother is a retired
teacher and three of her
mother’s siblings are also
educators), Jones saw her
grandfather daily and later
took his inspiration, along
with his photo, on her
academic and professional
journey.
As treasurer of the
Annapolis campus, Jones’
position includes fiscal
responsibility for the college’s
operations and she is a
member of the management
committee that oversees
all aspects of the college’s
administration and strategic
planning. Jones brings more to
her new position at St. John’s
than her solid credentials,
which include a summer at
the Harvard Institute for
Educational Leadership,
and a master’s in business
administration from American
University, in addition to her
doctorate from the University
of Texas at Austin. She brings
a passionate sense of purpose
and the exuberance and desire
to help people that mark a
leader.
Besides her grandfather, her
role models for leadership are
trailblazers such as Thurgood
Marshall, Nelson Mandela,
and the Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr. “I’m drawn to the
people who feel like their lives
are a mission and there is
something they’re supposed to
accomplish with it.” Jones
cites Johnetta Cole, president
of Bennett College, as the kind
of female leader she admires.
“Her book Conversations:
Straight Talk with America’s
Sister President inspired me—
she’s a role model for me.
I like people who made a
difference and understood
their lives’ work to be about
enhancing the lives of others,”
says Jones, who aspires to be a
college president one day.
Jones discovered her
passion for higher education
10 years ago while she was
Bronté Jones discovered her
calling in higher education.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
working at the state auditor’s
office in Austin, Texas.
“Originally I thought I’d be a
financial planner, then I
wanted to be a finance
professor and teach, but when
I found myself auditing federal
financial aid programs on
college campuses I discovered
the world of higher education
administration. When I went
onto college campuses I came
alive; I loved getting to know
the students. It was and still is
about more than making sure
the institution’s bills are paid
and books are balanced, it’s
about relationships and being
a bridge for students who
need advice.” Jones changed
her doctoral focus from
finance to higher education
administration and was
accepted at the University of
Texas, Austin. “After
completing my doctoral
studies in Austin in 2005,
it was my dream to return
to Maryland. This dream
has been fulfilled by having
the opportunity to serve as
“The true sign of
intelligence, per
my grandfather,
is that you can
explain anything
to anybody.”
Bronté Jones, Annapolis treasurer
an officer for a premier
institution such as St. John’s,”
says Jones.
Jones brings her sense of
purpose to everything from
troubleshooting with custodial
staff about new equipment,
to offering astute advice on
financial strategy at investment meetings with other
officers of the college. Yet,
dedicated to a leadership
style that centers on sharing
Rankings Revolt
Christopher Nelson (SF70) and Santa Fe President Michael
Peters are among 12 college presidents leading a revolt
against U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings
system. Along with their colleagues, they signed a letter sent
to college presidents throughout the nation, asking them to
refuse to fill out the magazine’s reputational survey and to
refuse to use the rankings in any promotional efforts. The
letter asks colleges to give the magazine data collected
according to shared professional standards.
For almost a decade, St. John’s has declined to take part in
the U.S. News and World Report survey, maintaining that
rankings don’t help students choose a college that is right
for them. Both presidents have been quoted in the national
press on the college’s opposition to rankings of any kind.
Throughout the spring, college presidents continued to
sign on to the effort, coordinated through the Education
Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that seeks to decommercialize the college selection process. However,
U.S. News Editor Brian Kelly dismissed the presidents
leading the effort as a small group of “the usual suspects.”
“These are the folks making these complaints for years,”
he told the Washington Post. x
knowledge, she remains
accessible, even humble.
“The true sign of intelligence,
per my grandfather, is that you
can explain anything to
anybody. Finance isn’t rocket
science. I want to explain
terms like amortize, life
annuity, and alternate investment, and what’s in our
endowment. I want everyone
to really understand the goals
of the institution, how we
operate and know that the
college and its business office
isn’t a mysterious place.”
Like many of Jones’
colleagues, President Christopher Nelson is eager to learn
from the college’s new treasurer. “We seek Bronté’s advice
on everything from policy
initiatives to administrative
matters. Bronté brings a
certain sophistication to the
business operations and
financial controls that is new
to the college,” says Nelson.
“The role of a treasurer in a
small college is not just a
financial manager. Bronté has
a higher education background so she can serve us
across the whole institution—
admissions, financial aid,
enrollment management,
business, operations, financial
management. She brings a
level of managerial skill to
help all of us to do our work
better.”
Given the $125 million
capital campaign, Jones’
expertise is needed now more
than ever. Not only does she
help the college manage the
funds that are raised through
the campaign, she also works
with staff to develop a
strategic plan that secures
the college’s future. Jones
says the challenges she faces
at St. John’s are unique as
compared, for instance, to
Huston-Tillotson University in
Austin, Texas, where she was
vice president for administration and finance from 2004 to
2006. “The interesting thing
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
3
about St. John’s, unlike
anywhere else in America, is
that we’re actually having
discussions about reducing the
size of the student enrollment
to preserve the rich educational experience of the
seminars; this runs contrary to
most institutions,” she says.
One of Jones’ challenges, she
says, is to figure out “how to
thrive with 450 instead of 500
students and still provide the
small classroom experience
that we do.” For Jones this
translates into questions such
as: Where and how does the
college streamline? To what
degree does the endowment
need to grow in order to
sustain the college at 450
students? “There are several
questions that we will need to
answer. It’s not going to be a
tomorrow fix; it’s going to be a
multi-year plan.”
As Jones moves forward in
her new position as treasurer
there is one other person
besides her grandfather to
whom she is especially
grateful: her predecessor,
Bud Billups (HA03), who was
treasurer at the college for
more than a decade. “I have
such respect and admiration
for Bud,” she says. “This is the
most ideal situation. It is like
running a race and somebody
passes you the baton and they
want you to run as quickly as
you can because you’re all in
the race together. That’s how I
feel with Bud–he passed me
the baton and he wants me to
finish the race well.” Jones
says her extended family has
grown since she met Billups
and his wife Bea, an Episcopal
minister. “I’ve adopted them
as family.” x
—Patricia Dempsey
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
ties and meet students, give
lectures, and offer various
social events at universities.”
Unfortunately, classwork has
been severely limited at most of
the country’s universities, and
the state department deems
most universities unsafe to
travel to, though Bayer says the
situation in the north is better.
He plans to travel to universities in Erbil and Fulyamaniyah
later this year.
The war has disrupted everything in the country, so
managing the program presents daily challenges. Bayer
sent out e-mails to about 70
trailer, his office, and the
“DFACS” where he gets his
meals. Little else besides work
occupies his time except for
reading (Thomas Pynchon’s
newest novel, Against the Day;
Santa Fe tutor Greg Bayer
the third-largest in the world in
Nietzsche’s Zarathustra), and
arrived in Baghdad last
terms of the number of
writing (a book project on ArisChristmas to take up a yearmasters’ programs,” Bayer
totle). Traveling to and from
long assignment as director of
says. “It’s not a true exchange
the city—as he did earlier this
the Fulbright program in Iraq.
program: obviously, there
spring to make a trip to D.C.—
After a grueling flight he
aren’t too many students from
is a tense ordeal that starts with
checked out his new home: a
other countries wanting to
donning a helmet and a heavy
small metal trailer with one bed study in Iraq right now. We will
Kevlar vest. “You go out under
and some lockers. Jet-lagged,
probably have 35 to 40 students
the cover of night in a Rhino, a
he sat outside by a pool
going over to American univerhuge vehicle that’s something
formerly owned by Saddam
sities this summer and fall. All
like a super-armored
Hussein, listening to the thud
fields are represented: public
Winnebago, and travel in a
of explosions and watching a
health, public affairs, English,
convoy,” he explains.
thick plume of black
Bayer tries not to
smoke rise from
dwell on the risk
outside the walls
involved in his job.
surrounding the
“There are rockets
Green Zone. “There’s
that come in and
a surreal quality of
mortars every once in
life here in Baghdad,”
a while, and someBayer says.
times you have to
Former Santa Fe
duck into these little
President John
pillboxes,” he says.
Agresto, who for nine
“You’re on your way
months served as the
to work in a suit and
senior adviser to the
tie, you’re thinking
Iraqi Higher Educaabout a visa interview
tion Ministry, alerted
or an ad you have to
Bayer to the Fulbright
get in the newspaper,
opportunity. Bayer
and you hear the
applied for the posithuds of car bombs
tion and for a year’s
going off not too far
leave from the
away.”
college. “John talked
The Fulbright
a few times at the
program, he says,
college about his
provides an oasis of
work in Iraq, and he
normalcy among the
got me interested in
Santa Fe tutor Greg Bayer was fitted for his Kevlar vest and helmet—requisite
chaos; in desperate
the whole situation,”
equipment in Baghdad—on his first day in the Green Zone last December.
times, it offers hope
says Bayer. “I had
for a bright future for
served on our
some talented young
Fulbright committee
Iraqis. “So much is made, and
university contacts and
various forms of linguistics,
in Santa Fe, and I thought I
rightfully so, of all the terrible
received just a handful of
journalism.”
might be able to do some good
things that are happening in
replies. After they’re awarded
This spring, Bayer has been
during my sabbatical.”
Baghdad,” he says. “It’s dirty,
the Fulbright, Iraqi students
working to promote the
Bayer has an office in the
it’s rundown, it’s falling apart,
must then get the “right” Iraqi
program and solicit applicants
Chancery. He works six to
but it is still a pretty lively city.
passport, go through the visa
for fall 2008. He’s organized
seven days a week and puts in
People are going about their
process, and undergo a backnews conferences, given radio
10-hour days, processing applidaily lives, despite everything.
ground check by Homeland
and television interviews, and
cations, interviewing appliThe Iraqis are amazingly
Security. Bayer helps usher
placed advertising in media
cants, helping students negoresilient people.” x
them through the process.
throughout the country. “The
tiate the visa process, and
Bayer would enjoy hearing
Bayer spends most of his
normal way to publicize somepromoting the program
thing like the Fulbright,” Bayer time in the Green Zone, and his from members of the St. John’s
throughout the country. “Our
community: gbayer@sjcsf.edu.
daily life restricts him to his
explains, “is to go to universiFulbright program in Iraq is
Finding Fulbright
Scholars in a War Zone
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{From the Bell Towers}
Green Power
While it can’t install wind
turbines on back campus to
power the college, St. John’s in
Annapolis is nevertheless doing
its part for green energy. The
college has purchased renewable
energy credits (RECs) to cover
100 percent of its energy
consumption. Renewable energy
credits are created for every
1,000 kilo-watt hours produced
by a renewable energy generator.
Power plants that use alternative
sources, such as the sun, wind,
methane from a landfill or wastewater treatment, geothermal
energy, and the ocean, garner
additional revenue from the sale
of RECs so that they become
increasingly economical to build
and maintain.
“We can’t buy wind directly,
because there are no turbines in
our region or in our grid,”
explains Don Jackson, director of
operations in Annapolis. “So the
energy industry sells credits for
electricity produced by wind or
photovoltaic sources that say
we’ve paid a premium for its
product at another location.”
By purchasing the credits, the
college supports the production
of energy through renewable
resources.
The state requires that about
3.5 percent of all energy
purchases be covered by renewable energy credits. Currently,
100 percent of St. John’s energy
is covered by renewable energy
credits. St. John’s purchased
enough to cover 10 mega-watt
hours; the college uses 6 megawatt hours per year. “St. John’s
will be the first college in Maryland to engage in a green energy
commitment beyond current
state requirements,” says Skip
Trimble, an energy consultant
who helped the college evaluate
energy options. Green energy,
Trimble says, is more than
helping the environment.
“It establishes alternative energy
sources that also make a more
secure nation by limiting our
reliance on oil and provides a
more reliable energy grid by
introducing prudent energy
diversity,” he says.
Although green energy is
more expensive than traditional
energy sources, Jackson says the
college made the purchase of
energy credits a spending
priority. “It was the right thing
to do,” he says. x
Inspiring
Future
Leaders
For one week in August, the
pristine Limberlost Forest in
northern Ontario will be a
rendezvous for 12 student
activists from around the world.
The students will meet under the
auspices of International Partnerships through Education and
Collaboration
(IPEC), a youth
conference founded
by St. John’s sophomore Malcolm
Cecil-Cockwell.
Malcolm CecilCockwell (A10),
cleaning the
shoreline of
College Creek,
wants IPEC to
encourage others
to be activists in
their community.
Cecil-Cockwell was recently
awarded a $10,000 grant by the
Kathryn Wasserman Davis
Foundation to put his proposal
for a youth-oriented leadership
and education retreat into
practice. His idea is to support
“personal development through
conversation and study, for the
sake of leading social change.”
Before they meet in Canada, the
students, traveling from Canada,
India, Mexico, Tanzania, and the
U.S., will research their own
locality and develop a project to
improve their environment and
society. While in the Limberlost,
“The students will spend time
reading and discussing issues
related to their projects, as well
as participating in workshops led
by qualified guest-mentors,”
he explains. Cecil-Cockwell has
recruited professional volunteers, government lobbyists, and
experts on social thought to lead
workshops on topics ranging
from current news stories to how
to collaborate with the media.
The big picture, Cecil-Cockwell writes in his proposal, is to
make efficient use of youthful
motivation by giving it support,
direction, and practical skills
through dialogue. “In that way,
it is very like St. John’s,” he says.
Long after the participants leave
Canada, Cecil-Cockwell hopes
IPEC will be a source of mutual
support as these potential
leaders return to their countries
with new ideas and plans for the
future. x
From
Sanskrit to
Skype
The Eastern Classics program in
Santa Fe immerses graduate
students in ancient languages—
Sanskrit or Classical Chinese—
and texts such as the Tao Te
Ching, written by Lao Tzu in
about 600 BCE. Jason Litton,
who will finish the program this
August, took a detour from his
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
5
study of ancient works to
consider how 21st-century
technology is playing a role in
shaping societies and creating
conversations across cultural and
geographical barriers.
Last March, Litton presented
a paper, “On the Potential for
Communications Technology to
Cause a Fundamental Shift in the
Way People Form Societies,”
at the New Directions in Critical
Theory Conference, an interdisciplinary graduate student
forum. Graduate students from
all disciplines were invited to
present papers on “negotiating
and constructing identities” at
the University of Arizona conference, and Litton chose to explore
how technology facilitates crosscultural communication and the
formation of entirely new social
groups drawn together by
common interests and ideas.
Litton taught English for
several years in Seoul, South
Korea, and used Voice Over
Internet Protocol, which allows
for phone-like conversations
via the Internet, to stay in
touch with friends and family.
He observed how “in Korea,
the most wired country in the
world,” virtual communication
created a shift from “parlor”
conversations to virtual
dialogues open to many participants. Advances in translation
technology offer the promise
of creating communities by
overcoming linguistic barriers,
he adds.
There is a potential downside
to virtual interaction, Litton
acknowledges: those who replace
person-to-person encounters
with strictly online interaction
can experience isolation, rather
than the sense of community. Yet
Litton still see great potential for
the use of communications technology in education. “You don’t
need to be physically present for
a conversation,” he says. “Online
seminar discussions, conducted
across cultural boundaries, could
be richly diverse.” x
—Oliver Lemke (SF08)
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
Worlds Away
Each year, at least half a dozen foreign students enroll in St. John’s.
The College visited with two “F-1” students, an Annapolis Johnnie
halfway through the Program and another in Santa Fe, just
graduating from St. John’s. Interviews are by Elizabeth Burlington
(A08) and Caroline Caldwell (SF08).
Yuhai Zhou (A09)
Lanzhou, China
Distance from Annapolis:
6,258 miles
Legendary City
“Lanzhou is my birthplace, and
I lived there for 15 years until
my family moved to Guangzhou
in 2002, one of the three
biggest cities in China (Beijing
and Shanghai are the other
two). The other name for
Guangzhou is “The City of Five
Goats.” It is said when there
was famine, five gods on five
goats came, each with wheat in
its mouth. People accepted the
wheat and they finally got a big
harvest. Then Guangzhou
became the wealthy city in the
south. The interesting thing is,
before I came to St. John’s, I
met four alumni of St. John’s
who were teaching in the same
college in Guangzhou.”
On Dante
“So far my favorite book is
Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Originally, I wanted to write
on the Divine Comedy for my
sophomore essay, but, because
I feel that it is so beautiful, I am
afraid of destroying the beauty
in that book by writing about it.
So I decided to destroy the
beauty in another book.
I ended up writing on Job.”
Alarming Moment
“I really like cooking and I
have become very famous
around campus for my cooking.
One day [in Gilliam Hall], the
fire engines came and all the
alarms went off. Chinese
people are famous for their
cooking-oil smoke. My father,
was living in England in 1995,
and he was cooking in the
apartment and he caused a lot
of oil smoke. So finally he was
kicked out by the landlord.”
Plans after St. John’s
“My plan after St. John’s is to
continue to study. When I first
left China, I thought that I
would like to be a teacher in the
countryside. The countryside
of China is 70 percent of the
population. My father says that
if you do not understand the
countryside then you don’t
understand the whole condition of China. So I decided to
go teach in the countryside, but
I am not sure if that plan will
change after a couple years
here. Both of my parents are
teaching at the University of
China. My mother teaches
economy, my father teaches
geography.”
Felicitas Steinhoff (SF07)
Stanhope, Germany
Distance from Santa Fe:
4,613 miles
Cultural Highlight
“Well, in the town I grew up in
mostly, in the north, there was
this old monastery and there
was a rose bush that apparently
was over 1,000 years old. That
was it. That was the cultural
highlight. So basically there
was nothing special; lots of
towns in Germany have these
odd little cultural artifacts that
are famous. Usually they will
build a church around it. I’ve
noticed in America that people
will proudly put up signs for a
street that’s like 250 years old
or a settlement that’s been
there since the Founding
Fathers. The little town close
to where I lived, where my
mother lives now in Stuttgart,
is originally from 1250 or
left: A cooking oil incident made Miss Zhou briefly famous in
Annapolis. Right: Even with years of English practice,
Miss Steinhoff struggles with idioms.
something like the Middle
Ages, but there’s no sign or
anything proclaiming that
loudly.”
Biggest Headache
“I had been speaking English
in school and lived with
international students for
three years in boarding school.
We would basically mix and
match English and German
phrases all the time. It was still
odd to come [to Santa Fe] and
all of a sudden there was no
German, and not the slightest
possibility to speak German, so
for the first three days I had the
biggest headache ever. I think
in English now. I dream in
English. The only thing that is
still a bit problematic are little
idioms and figures of speech
that I usually butcher in
hilarious ways. I had big issues
with the word ‘pneumonia.’ ”
On Kant
“Kant made up a lot of his own
words to describe the things he
was talking about. It was easier
to read [an English] translation
of that because in order to
translate you have to interpret
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
it in a certain way that makes
sense to you. So the translation
itself is almost already an interpretation in itself, which helps,
whereas the original is stranger
in German. I started reading it
in German then I picked up the
English one along the way and I
thought the English one made
much more sense.”
Plans after St. John’s
“I am right now waiting to get
my work permit approved.
I don’t really want to go back to
Germany yet. I was planning to
go to grad school but my senior
essay got a little bit in the way
of my application process.
So I’m going to stay in Santa Fe
simply because I have no
relatives in the states, but a
couple of my friends will be
staying too. We’ll all be
working full time, saving up
money, and then I will apply
to grad school in October. I
want to get my master’s in
counseling psychology.” x
�7
{From the Bell Towers}
Good Will Preservation
The last will and testament of
Francis Scott Key, class of
1796, came to the college in
1993 when a descendant of
Key thought the college
was the rightful place for a
document of such historic
importance. The author of the
“Star-Spangled Banner” was
also founder of the college’s
Alumni Association and is
considered its most famous
alumnus.
Earlier this spring, the will
was transported to the
Conservation Center for Arts
and Historic Artifacts in
Philadelphia for an overhaul.
The Conservation Center
will clean and flatten the
document (it was folded in
thirds for many years), and
will repair a slight tear to one
of the pages. The document
will be returned to the college
next spring in a special box
that will preserve it for
another two centuries or so.
The center will also provide a
facsimile of the will that
St. John’s will enclose in a
glass case and make available
for public display.
James M. Cain Was Here
roy hoopes, roy hoopes collections
The words film noir evoke
images of a fedora-wearing,
wise-cracking private eye, a
curvaceous and ultimately
treacherous femme fatale, and
stark, smoky cinematography.
Who would have thought that
such scenes, deeply engrained
in the American pop consciousness, were straight from the
novels of an author who spent
his childhood on the sunny
campus of St. John’s College?
Born in 1892, the son of a
St. John’s professor, James
Mallahan Cain grew up in the
Paca-Carroll dormitory, which
was then faculty housing.
His father eventually became
the vice president of St. John’s
before moving the family to
Chestertown, Maryland, to
become the president of
Washington College, from
which Cain graduated in 1910.
After some time in the army,
Grants from the Anne
Arundel County Trust for
Preservation; Four Rivers: the
Heritage Area of Annapolis,
London Town and South
County; the Maryland Bar
Association Foundation; and
the Nielsen Bainbridge
Company provided funding
for the project.
Distinguished by bold,
elegant script that may or may
not be Key’s, the will was first
penned in 1837 and amended
several times. It arranges for
the distribution of Key’s
assets to various relatives.
Alas, no bequest was made to
the college. x
Cain became a reporter for the
Baltimore Sun, where he met
and was influenced by the
famous journalist and satirist
H.L. Mencken. In 1923, he
returned to St. John’s as a
professor of journalism.
He stayed in Annapolis for
just a year before moving to
New York to become an editor
and writer for various publications, including The New
Yorker. With the onset of the
Depression, Cain moved to
Hollywood where the pay for
screenwriters was generous,
although his best-known
works are novels that
became screenplays.
As Cain’s novels hit the
silver screen during the
1940s, some of the
brightest movie stars in
Hollywood brought his
stories to life: Double
Indemnity starred Fred
MacMurray and Barbara
Stanwyck; Joan Crawford
was Mildred Pierce; and
The Postman Always
Rings Twice featured
Lana Turner. “Hardboiled” is a term that is
James M. Cain penned
19 novels in addition to
his short stories and
screenplays.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
Key’s will will be preserved
for future generations.
often applied to Cain’s writing
style and, consequently, to the
entire genre of classic cinema.
(As an example of hard-boiledness, the protagonist in The
Postman Always Rings Twice
says, “Then I saw her…she
really wasn’t a raving beauty,
but she had a sulky look to her,
and her lips stuck out in a way
that made me want to mash
them in for her.”) Cain’s works
were important contributions to
what later became known as the
hard-boiled school of American
detective and crime fiction, a
genre that included another
Maryland-born author, Dashiell
Hammett (The Maltese Falcon),
and Raymond Chandler, who
wrote the screenplay for
Double Indemnity.
Though some may dismiss
Cain’s work as pulp fiction, he
claimed a loyalty to what he
called in the preface of Double
Indemnity, “the logos of the
American countryside,” saying
that “the average man, from the
fields, the streets, the bars, the
offices, and even the gutters of
this country, has acquired a
vividness of speech that goes
beyond anything I could
invent.” x
—Emily DeBusk (A06)
�8
{From the Bell Towers}
Guggenheim Winner
Santa Fe tutor and musician-inresidence Peter Pesic has been
awarded the prestigious
Guggenheim Fellowship Award
for his investigations into the
connections between music and
natural philosophy. Guggenheim Fellowships recognize
“distinguished achievement in
the past and exceptional promise
for future accomplishment.”
Pesic plans to examine music in
relation to parallel developments in science, philosophy,
politics, and art.
In Pesic’s view, music and
natural philosophy have long
and deep connections. “With
this award, I hope to explore the
dialogue between ‘ancient’
music, or music modeled on the
dispassionate beauty of the
‘music of spheres,’ and ‘modern’
music–music devoted to moving
human passions,” he says.
In February, he was elected a
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science.
Glitch Silences Bell on
Essay Night
It’s a wonderful tradition at
St. John’s for seniors to ring the
bell, signifying the completion
of their senior essay. But this
February in Annapolis, about
50 seniors were robbed of their
celebratory peal when the
button that students press in the
McDowell Hall bell tower
stopped working. “The switch
got stuck because it’s not made
to ring a 100 times in a row,”
suggested Sid Phipps, director of
buildings and grounds in
Annapolis.
The college applied to the
city of Annapolis for a second
exemption to the noise
ordinance, and arranged for
the seniors who missed the
chance in February to have their
moment of glory on March 31.
chelsea stiegman
News & Announcements
Board of Visitors and
Governors
Anna Greenberg (HA96) with Chris Nelson (SF70), left, and
Michael Peters, right, has served the Annapolis community well
for more than 40 years.
Anna E. Greenberg (HA96)
and M. Brownell “Brownie”
Anderson (HSF98) have been
named honorary members
of the college’s Board of Visitors
and Governors. The designation
recognizes individuals who
are stepping down from the
college’s governing board
for their commitment and
contributions to St. John’s.
An Annapolis native,
Mrs. Greenberg has served for
more than four decades as a
volunteer leader with civic,
educational, social service
and religious groups in the
community. Ms. Anderson is
Senior Associate Vice President
of the Association of American
Medical Colleges’ Division of
Medical Education, where she
also serves as the division’s
deputy director and executive
secretary for the association’s
Group on Educational Affairs.
The college’s board also
welcomes several new members:
Sheila Bobbs Armstrong
(SF70, EC92, SFGI95) has been
involved with the college for
more than 40 years. Brad
Davidson (A77) is president of
SPARDATA. He is a captain in
the United States Army Reserve
and served on the Annapolis
City Council. Until he retired
last year, Austin Ligon was
the first president and chief
executive officer of CarMax,
Inc., the nation’s largest retailer
of used cars. Mark Lindley
(A67) is a retired America
Online executive and volunteers
for Touchstones, Inc. Ford
Rowan (AGI06), a former NBC
correspondent, is now a national
security consultant. Dolores E.
Wolf of Washington, D.C.,
served for 18 years as vice president of Personnel Resources for
American Airlines. Roxanna
Zirakzadeh (SFGI04, EC05)
owns a bookstore, Symposium,
in San Francisco.
Staff
Earlier this spring, the Santa Fe
community said farewell to a
long-time and much-valued staff
member. Lawrence Martinez,
head custodian, retired in
March after 31 years of service.
Emily Mawhinney (AGI07)
joins the Advancement office in
Annapolis, where she will
manage the Fielding Challenge,
part of the college’s $125
million capital campaign. x
{Letters}
Natural Consequences
I am writing to thank you for,
and to comment upon, the article
entitled “Good Design Starts
with Good Questions” (Winter
2007), which features architect
David Schwarz (A72). The
article’s title is an apt summary
of a fascinating conversation.
On the other hand, Mr.
Schwarz says that “[St. John’s]
gives you three things, and only
three things: it teaches you how
to think, how to read, and how to
speak. If you’re lucky, it will also
teach you how to write…” I beg to
differ on two counts, although I
stand in The Great Outside, as a
mere Johnnie-parent.
My first difference with
Mr. Schwarz’s statement is
that the word “all” implicitly
denigrates skills—thinking,
reading and speaking—that are
both crucial to our ability to
function socially, and so rare as
to be remarkable, based on my
experience of nearly a quartercentury of teaching graduate
students. Even if these comprised
the “all” that St. John’s College
offered its students, they would
be an “all” difficult to improve
upon; schools, employers, and
organizations—including, I am
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
sure, Mr. Schwarz’s firm—would
be ecstatic if they could find a
sure source of students, teachers,
employees, and workers who
could in fact think, read, and
speak well. . .
My second objection to
Mr. Schwarz’s statement,
however, is more substantive—
it concerns his omission of the
natural consequence of the
pedagogy of St. John’s College.
�9
{Letters}
The pedagogy fosters in students
the skill of listening—of hearing
what is being said by someone
else, whether that someone is an
ancient Greek philosopher,
medieval Christian theologian,
or the person sitting across the
table. The ability to hear another
does not mean merely to keep
one’s mouth shut, but to actively
listen to what they are trying to
say—to seek clarity, or (in a word),
understanding. The ability to
hear is rare. . .in part because
hearing (understanding) requires
patience: waiting to hear everything that the other person has to
say, waiting a bit more to be sure
that they have finished and to
consider what they have said,
and then responding in such a
way that our reply implicitly
reverberates with their question,
suggestion, insight, or concern. . .
I write this letter because I am
very happy to say that I have seen
this ability to listen develop in my
daughter (A08) during her time
at St. John’s, and in other Johnnies whom I know. . . I have been
struck repeatedly by their attitude—a kind of quiet intensity—
that focuses their attention on
the speaker’s words and ideas, so
that their comments and questions in turn further our conversation.
I also write because this ability
to hear, to understand (a text,
another person, or ourselves)
underlies our ability to be and
increasingly to become fully
human, to allow our lives to be
examined by others, living and
dead, and ourselves. It is a great
gift offered by the pedagogy of
St. John’s, and one that ought not
to be overlooked or assumed.
Frederic Clarke Putnam
Admiring Jane
I am writing belatedly to thank
you for the excellent Fall 2006
issue of The College. Life is busy
and sometimes we don’t get all
our assigned readings done, but I
held onto this magazine through
the winter. Being a descendant of
Jane Austen’s mother’s family
(the Leighs of Stoneleigh
Abbey), I knew I wanted to give
this issue more than a cursory
reading. I was delighted to find
appreciations of Grand-Aunt
Jane’s work in so many different
voices. I really do think that
women of today appreciate Jane
Austen much more than earlier
generations. These articles
demonstrate that her social
analysis was deep, insightful, and
abiding in value, yet always
tender and sympathetic. Sometimes I myself feel that I am just
now catching up to her in my
understanding of the war
between the sexes (as another
favorite author, James Thurber,
used to call it). Congratulations
on a wonderful issue that I will
save on my bookshelf alongside
my own favorite Austen work,
Sense and Sensibility.
Christel Stevens (A72)
Constructive Criticism
Reading Mrs. Maschler’s
“A Life” in the Winter 2007
issue, I was reminded of a stillvivid comment that she wrote on
an assignment submission of
mine during our freshman
science [laboratory], 1986-1987.
The assignment, allowing now
for my failures of memory,
consisted of observing for a time
an animal, any animal, and
reporting in writing on its
actions. I picked a turtle,
because there was already at least
one in captivity at the college.
I observed this turtle, which to
my knowledge was unnamed,
for approximately one hour.
Using the notes I compiled,
I prepared a more formal essay
for submission. My only concrete
recall of my submission was that
I likely anthropomorphosized
the turtle’s actions to a degree
(e.g., its banging its body into
the glass walls of its tank indicated a desire to exit the tank,
etc.). While I didn’t quite “get”
the assignment, I thought that
my submission was well-written
and satisfied the assignment’s
objectives. When the assignments were returned to the class,
the following, solitary comment
was written on my submission,
verbatim: “Nothing much came
of this.” I’m relatively sure that
whatever measure of success I’ve
achieved since that day has been
due, in some small part, to overcoming that pithy dismissal.
Sandro Battaglia (A90)
Du Bois and McCarthy
I can’t help (1) congratulating
you on that wonderful story
about Martin Dyer and “Web”
Du Bois and (2) telling you my
own story . . . It happened the
same year, 1952. I was a senior at
Yale Law School and chairman of
the Yale Student Guild Chapter.
We had invited Dr. Du Bois to
give a lecture at the law school.
The day before the event there
was a knock at my dormitory
door which, when opened,
revealed—I am not making this
up—two gentlemen in trench
coats and Fedoras, flashing FBI
badges at me. “Oh boy,” I said to
myself, “there goes my legal
career.” (The McCarthy witchhunt was in full swing in those
days, which entitles President
Weigle to a posthumous
commendation for inviting
Dr. Du Bois to the college).
As it turned out, my two
visitors wanted to interview me
about Peter Davies (class of
1948), who had applied for
conscientious objector status in
the draft. I waxed as eloquent as
I could about Peter’s patriotism,
high moral standards and
sterling character and the fact
that, since he was doing God’s
work on earth, he must,
according to St. Thomas,
believe in God even though he
refused to admit to such belief.
(To merit CO status at the time
you had to have a credible belief
in some kind of divinity.)
I also mentioned in passing
that Peter and I had spent the
previous summer in Israel on a
project sponsored by the Foundation for World Government,
headed by Stringfellow Barr and
Scott Buchanan, to wit, several
weeks of research on whether
the kibbutz was a workable
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
model for use in underdeveloped countries. The two
gentlemen … listened attentively
and took copious notes. At the
end, one of them asked if he
could read his notes back to me
for verification. When he got to
the part of the previous summer,
said, “In 1951, subject and
interviewee went to Israel to
study underdeveloped Jews.”
The fact that I was able to
make the appropriate correction
without cracking up was one of
the proudest achievements of my
senior year . The St. Thomas
gambit did not get Peter out of
the draft, but it may have helped
him get into the Merchant
Marines as alternate service.
We have remained good friends
ever since. The Du Bois lecture
the next day was a great success.
Peter Weiss, class of 1946
Corrections: An article on
W.E.B. Du Bois in the winter
2007 edition misidentified the
late husband of Priscilla BenderShore; his name was Merle
Shore.
A profile of Richard Field
(SFGI98) in the fall 2006 issue of
The College incorrectly reported
his doctoral degree; he holds a
PhD in exercise physiology.
Santa Fe tutor James Carey
was misquoted in the same
issue; instead of being “faithfully impressed with the cadets,”
during his time as a visiting
professor at the Air Force
Academy, Mr. Carey was
actually “favorably impressed.”
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, or
e-mail to: rosemary.harty@
sjca.edu.
�10
{Capital Campaign}
“WITH A CLEAR AND
SINGLE PURPOSE”
How the Campaign for St. John’s College is
Making a Difference in Santa Fe
by Gail Griffith
t. John’s College Santa Fe
President Michael Peters
had been on the job barely a
month when one of the first
major events of the Capital
Campaign was held in
Boston. “The Board of Visitors and
Governors made a decision to launch the
campaign at the same time they made the
decision to launch me,” he says.
The magnitude of a campaign to raise
$125 million—more than triple the
amount raised by the previous campaign—
might have been daunting to a new college
president. But because so much of the
S
groundwork had been well-established,
Mr. Peters says he “just stepped into the
job.” Although his presidency began at
one of the most critical times in the
college’s history and required him to
get up to speed quickly, it also gave him
an opportunity to get to know the community. Working with Annapolis president
Chris Nelson, he has met board members,
alumni, parents, and other college
supporters at campaign events across the
country. He discovered how strongly
Johnnies feel about their alma mater, and
saw that non-alumni share the same fierce
loyalty to St. John’s.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�11
{Capital Campaign}
anthony russo
Much has transpired on the
Santa Fe campus since Mr.
Peters’ inauguration in
October 2005, and the
success of the campaign thus
far gives him reason to feel
confident that some of the
goals he articulated early on
are coming to fruition and
others are within reach. “I
believe it is important to
establish and maintain a
campus community that is
worthy of the program of
instruction,” Mr. Peters says.
“That means having the
resources to make classrooms as productive as
possible and to provide the
kinds of services and
resources both inside and
outside the classroom that
enhance the learning experience for our students. It is
critical that we have not just adequate, but modern,
facilities that provide the infrastructure to make
this possible.”
Of the $125 million campaign goal, $49.5 million has
been earmarked for capital projects on the two campuses.
The building projects included the renovation of Mellon
Hall and the construction of
two new dormitories in
Annapolis; these have been
funded and completed,
thanks to gifts of $23.5
million from alumni, parents,
friends, and foundations.
In Santa Fe, campaign
priorities include a new
Graduate Institute building,
a new residential center, a set
of campus improvement
projects, and renovations
and an addition to Evans
Science Laboratory.
Fundraising for the Santa
Fe projects is progressing
nicely, says Mr. Peters. Last
summer, Dr. Norman Levan
(SFGI74), gave the college a
$5 million gift for construction of a Graduate Institute
center. An architect has been
hired, and the college has
engaged a local firm to help negotiate the complicated
process of securing required permits from the city of
Santa Fe. The building, to be situated between Weigle
Hall and the Fine Arts Building, will offer graduate
students “a welcoming place to congregate in the center
of campus,” says Mr. Peters.
The college’s capital campaign
seeks to address priorities that
will sustain the Program and
student instructional material
(manuals and workbooks);
and ensure small class sizes and
strengthen the college.
Funding these priorities will
require $125 million. To date,
1:8 tutor-to-student ratio.
$107 million has been raised.
FINANCIAL AID: $33 million for
need-based aid.
FACULTY AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT:
$34 million to increase faculty
salaries to the median of peer
institutions; provide faculty
development opportunities;
develop Program-related
Technology infrastructure;
staff professional development
and compensation.
BUILDING PROJECTS ON THE
STUDENT SERVICES: $3.5 million
TWO CAMPUSES: $49.5 million for
to improve services to students,
fund internship opportunities,
and provide grants so that
elementary and secondary
teachers can attend the
Graduate Institute.
building projects, including a
Santa Fe dormitory, a Graduate
Institute Center in Santa Fe
(funded), and the addition to
and renovation of Evans
Science Laboratory. The renovation of Mellon Hall and the
addition of two new dormitories in Annapolis are completed
and fully funded.
ST. JOHN’S IMPROVEMENT FUND:
$5 million for library collections and laboratory equipment; improving Information
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�12
{Capital Campaign}
“It is critical that we have not just adequate, but modern, facilities.”
Michael Peters, Santa Fe President
and with the launch of the
Eastern Classics program in
1994, it was clear that the
original footprint mapped out
for the Santa Fe campus
was inadequate. “Having a
structure dedicated to the
Graduate Institute programs
on campus physically demonstrates the importance and
centrality of these programs,”
says Mr. Peters.
The new center, Levan Hall,
will hold classrooms, offices,
and common rooms for graduate students. The building is
being designed so that in the
future, it will be possible to add
an auditorium that can accommodate the entire campus
community.
The Evans Science Laboratory renovation and addition is
the most pressing unfunded
capital need for the campus,
says Mr. Peters. The current
Ronald Fielding (A70) has pledged $2.5 million in a
labs are 30 years old, and there
challenge grant for Santa Fe’s new residence hall.
are not enough of them to
An Evolving Campus
accommodate the number of
The bold move to establish a second campus of St. John’s
laboratory classes that need to be scheduled. Expansion of
College in 1964 presented challenges that the founders of
the laboratory building calls for the addition of four new
the Santa Fe campus could not have imagined. The
state-of-the-art labs with adjoining prep areas and four
program of instruction remained constant, but the
seminar rooms. Renovations will include installation of
demands of adapting to both the distinctive physical
new multi-purpose workstations, safety equipment,
surroundings and the needs of the growing student popuchemical storage facilities, and improvements and repairs
lation have meant ongoing challenges. When, in 1967, the
to the laboratory ventilation systems.
Graduate Institute was established in Santa Fe, the size
and scope of the college’s educational mission expanded,
The Santa Fe Initiative, a
group of smaller-scale campus
improvement projects, has
been completed. The purpose
of the initiative was to make
the kind of improvements that
would affect the first impression appearance of the
campus. The Campus Core
Renovation
project,
for
example, transformed the
upper campus by replacing
chipped and patched concrete
with 105,000 bricks and renovating the koi pond.
In addition, the college now
has pledges in hand to build a
new residence hall, allowing
the campus to house 80
percent of its students on
campus. Campaign Chairman
Ronald Fielding (A70) has
pledged $2.5 million toward
the construction of the dormitories, and the college received
pledges and gifts of $7 million
from several other donors.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{Capital Campaign}
A Community of Learners
At 30,000 square feet, and with 60 beds, the new residential complex in Santa Fe will allow the college to house
about 80 percent of its undergraduate students on
campus. The new project will provide a more affordable
and convenient housing option for students and support
the college’s student recruitment efforts while providing
more opportunities for learning outside the classroom.
As is the case in Annapolis, some students will still
choose to live off campus, even with additional housing.
For Will Hollingsworth (SF08), moving off campus for his
sophomore and junior years had some advantages, such as
the convenience of a kitchen. But it also removed him
from the community in more than a physical way.
“Moving off campus really severed my ties with a lot
of friends—the dynamic shifts so much from year to year,”
he says.
Because she found herself in a double room in a
“gregarious dorm” for her first year, Betsy Hardin (SF08)
sometimes found it hard to go about her work without
13
The Santa Fe Initiative, paid for in part by gifts to the capital
campaign, included the transformation of the central campus
area. Still to come: The Norman and Betty Levan Hall, a center
for the Graduate Institute; major renovations in Evans Science
Laboratory; and a new residence hall for Santa Fe.
being distracted. On the other hand, being in a friendly
environment eased the social pressure of making friends
and adjusting to the campus and the Program. “I made
great friends from that dorm,” she says. Living off campus
during her sophomore year was more challenging than
Hardin expected. But a Johnnie life doesn’t leave a lot of
time for chores like grocery shopping.
Ensconced in a suite on campus this past year, Hardin
found a happy medium. She enjoyed the conveniences of
the dorm without the distractions of a double, along with
the conveniences of a kitchen. “I often make breakfast for
myself and it’s a nice way to start the day,” she says.
When the new dorm is open and ready for students,
more Johnnies will find that balance of community and
independence. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�14
{Capital Campaign}
New Program, New Collection
by Jennifer Sprague
Meem Library Director
“Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know
men.” Confucian Analects, 20:3.iii
W
hen a pilot program of the Institute for
the Study of Eastern Classics began in the
fall of 1992, Meem Library accordingly
started to develop a collection to support
these studies. At that time the library had
just a few copies of the primary texts.
The librarians thus had the joy of building essentially a brand
new collection. Thankfully, the Lounsbery Foundation and the
Bradley Foundation provided generous grants to fund the
institute that also provided for enhancing the library’s collection.
The tutors involved with the pilot program gave Inga Waite,
then library director, lists of book recommendations, and the
library staff went to work ordering and processing the texts.
The initial inventory of texts included just one copy each of
130 recommended readings. In 1994, the college enrolled its
first students in the Eastern Classics master’s program. The
library now needed to support a new curriculum—without an
adequate budget increase. Book donations and gifts made the
growth of the collection possible. In 1998 the William H. &
Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation gave the college a $10,000
grant for Eastern Classics acquisitions, allowing the college to
purchase multiple copies of program readings and alleviating
some financial burden for students. The library also acquired
translation tools such as grammars and dictionaries as well as
significant secondary materials.
The library continues to depend on gifts to fund Eastern Classics collection development. The Harris Foundation gave the
library two more
grants in 2004 and
2006. Eastern Classics
alumni have been
generous donors, too.
Recently, one alumnus
who wishes to remain
anonymous gave the
library a gift of
$20,000. A tutor
committee identified
authors and texts to
focus development
efforts on, including
Chuang Tzu,
Confucius, Dogen,
Nagarjuna, Shankara,
Sima Qian, The
Mahabharata, The
Pali Sutras, The Tale
of Genji, and the
Upanishads. The goal is to create a broad, more comprehensive
collection to support the study of these primary readings.
Increasing the depth of the collection will provide tutors
with resources for their own inquiry, says Graduate Institute
Director Krishnan Venkatesh. “The library collection is
essential for faculty development,” he says. Having effective
language learning tools is important as well because both
students and tutors depend on library resources to enhance
their study of either Sanskrit or classical Chinese. The language
requirement for the Eastern Classics degree sets St. John’s apart
from other Eastern studies programs, and Meem Library has
specialized tools such as the Sanskrit Atlas, Ralph Swentzell’s
classical Chinese program, and other language software.
In addition to focusing on program-related materials,
Meem Library plans to supplement its book collection with
movies and music that can offer a historical setting to the
readings. Mr. Venkatesh suggests that such materials “can
provide a cultural context for places that can be quite foreign for
some of our students.” These resources will likewise serve as
another avenue for introducing the Eastern Classics program to
undergraduates and Santa Fe residents who use the library.
As Meem Library expands its collection, it continues to face
the challenge of maintaining the physical condition of its print
materials. Most of the books that come from India have poor
bindings and acidic paper. The library often sends these books
to a professional bindery to be rebound. Many classic Indian
texts are now available in beautiful editions as part of the Clay
Sanskrit Library, a bilingual series co-published by New York
University Press and the JJC Foundation. Another challenge
in maintaining the collection is the regular wear on books in
circulation, requiring
the frequent purchase
of replacement copies.
Collection development is truly a dynamic
process, and the library
is deeply grateful for
those donors who have
supported this ongoing
endeavor. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
The Meem Library’s
collection expanded
with the launch of
the Eastern Classics
master’s program
in 1994.
�{Capital Campaign}
15
Great Books, Rare Books
by Andrea Lamb
Greenfield Library Director
A
victoria smith
reputable
Dragon in St.Paul’s Church-yard.
academic library,
Its publication history reveals
regardless of its
that there are three Leviathan
editions bearing this same
size or age, must
imprint. These editions are
convey upon
generally known as the “head,”
scrutiny an
“bear,” and “ornament,” named
informed and knowledgeable
for the ornaments that appear on
oversight of its collection. The
the title pages. The “head” is the
legacy of the college librarians on
first edition, and this is our copy.
the Annapolis campus reveal an
Our copy of the Leviathan is
informed, thoughtful pattern of
extremely valuable from a
decisions over time that have
printing history perspective; it is
shaped the collection of today’s
also in disrepair. Its ailments
Greenfield Library.
include a previously leather
The selection, care, and
reback of only modest quality,
preservation of a unique
pervasive red rot, and damage
collection depends on adequate
from rodents. The frontispiece is
funding and a sustainable,
detached, along with several
long-range acquisitions budget.
leaves. The paper is soiled. It is
Every year 75 to 150 titles are lost
an excellent candidate for
or damaged irreparably. Book
restoration by a professional
replacement costs are absorbed
conservator.
into a general books budget, and
Acquiring such funds for this
most years we exhaust the
book, and for the 100 or so
library’s funds in acquiring
notable other titles in our rare
multiple copies for replacements.
book collection is a worthy goal
Our paper-based periodicals
for additional library funds.
increase in price 7 to 20 percent
The restoration of these titles,
every year. Yet our needs extend
estimated at up to $10,000 per
beyond the quid pro quo replacement of books that circulate, or
book, should be a priority for the
the acquisition of the periodicals
library over the next decade.
that our community loves to read A 17th-century copy of LEVIATHAN is among the Greenfield
These rare books are directly
library’s treasures.
in the library’s hidden nooks.
related to the circulating collecThe age of the Annapolis
tion in that they represent the
campus’ collection mandates that we acquire conservation funds
first appearance of a Program work, the first in the line of
for the rarer books that represent a real treasure for our campus
continuity. The Leviathan’s imprint history includes the
modern editions by Oakeshott, Lindsay, Waller, and Curley.
and our college. We need to turn our attention to the urgent care
We have these editions in our circulating collection.
and feeding of the older collection.
Another book that is a prime candidate for conservation
The library’s primary collection remains, of course, the
treatment is an incubula title of St. Augustine, a 1486 Venice
Program title works. We also acquire other works written by
imprint of De Civitate Dei. Only three other identical works are
Program authors. We carefully select the original texts of
contemporary authors of the canon authors. This historical
known to exist in the world.
continuity in our collection development contributes to the
At St. John’s College, “the books are the teachers,” and the
intrinsic value of our collection overall and defines the unique
heart of the Greenfield Library’s collection will always be the
character of the library. Another of our legacies is a small but
circulating collection. Books are the constant companions of
impressive collection of rare books, many of which have direct
our students and tutors, the friends of all friends. We who
ties to Program readings.
advocate for the library appreciate the continuing and valuable
For example, we are fortunate to have in our rare books
investment that alumni and friends of the college continue to
collection a first edition of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, printed
make to the Greenfield Library. x
in 1651 in London by the Printer for Andrew Crooke at the Green
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�16
{The Program}
“SING, GODDESS”
Music and the Program
by Rosemary Harty
s they have for many years on the
Annapolis campus, the freshman class
gathered in the Great Hall for its spring
choral performance. The last notes of
Sicut locutus est from Bach’s Magnificat
hung in the air as the upperclassmen
and tutors in the balcony sounded their
approval. This year’s performance—by
an unusually large freshman class
crowded into the hall—was outstanding, many told tutor Peter
Kalkavage as he gathered up his scores. “They were very good,
weren’t they?” he agreed.
J.P. Snyder (A10), who doesn’t enjoy singing, was just relieved
it was over. “I’m very flat, I’m just good at hiding it,” he
confessed. Freshman chorus and sophomore music are parts of
the Program he’ll have to endure; laboratory and math have his
passion. “Honestly? If I could avoid music, I would,” he
confesses.
Music wasn’t part of Barr and Buchanan’s original plan when
they came to St. John’s in 1937; it first appeared in the 1949-50
academic year. Dynamic personalities such as Victor Zuckerkandl and tutor Douglas Allanbrook shaped the development
of music in the early years in Annapolis, and the college’s
approach to music has been fine-tuned many times on both
campuses. Music is an integral part of the Program, an essential
liberal art, says Santa Fe Dean Victoria Mora. “Music is part of
our humanity,” she says. “Our reason and our passions come
together in the study of music. Fundamental questions about
A
this relationship between reason and the passions arise and are
addressed.”
Both campuses are focusing their efforts on the music
program this coming year. In the fall, Santa Fe will make
changes in its approach to teaching music in freshman year. This
summer, Santa Fe faculty will meet in a study group to refine and
develop materials for sophomore music, with a goal of making
them more broadly accessible and less reliant on individuals’
expertise. “I don’t think there is a big debate here in Santa Fe
about trying to get more tutors to teach the music program,”
says tutor John Cornell. “Our purpose is going to be to improve
the access even further.”
In Annapolis, where there are no changes planned to
freshman chorus, faculty will meet in a study group designed to
better prepare tutors for teaching sophomore music for the first
time. Proposed by Dean Michael Dink (A75) to address his
concern that more faculty need to be involved in sophomore
music, the study groups will be paired with released time to
allow faculty to audit the second half of sophomore music. Plans
call for an inter-campus exchange of faculty to learn from the
innovations in place on each campus, and the college’s joint
Instruction Committee will review the results.
A New Approach in Santa Fe
Cornell and tutor Ned Walpin in Santa Fe will lead the campus’
revamped freshman music program, carrying out an idea developed by Peter Pesic, tutor and musician-in-residence. “We were
at an impasse over what to do,” says Santa Fe tutor John Cornell
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�17
{The Program}
“Other tutors have said that chorus is often the place
where the freshman class becomes a class.”
peter howard
Tom May, tutor
says. “We could see our management of 110 freshman in chorus
was not worthy of St. John’s students. Peter had the brainstorm.
It’s somewhat daring, but at the same time, it’s totally in
keeping with the St. John’s program of instruction: to sit at that
common table.”
Freshman music (its provisional name) will depart from the
exclusively choral approach and will be organized as tutorials
focusing on Gregorian chant and ancient music theory. The
material in the first five weeks of sophomore music will move
into the freshman year, but students will still sing, and often in
combined groups. “Those five weeks are focused on the Gregorian chant, and a significant portion of the time is spent
singing,” says Walpin. “We’ll have about six sections of
freshman music and each tutorial will meet as the same time as
another, so that there will be two tutorials meeting at the same
time. Those tutorials will get together regularly to sing so that at
least 30 people will be singing together at all times. Then, there
will be all-college events where all freshmen will get together to
sing as a whole chorus, and they will be singing the pieces that
they have been studying and singing in their tutorials.”
Music is included on the St. John’s Program because the
ancients accorded music a place among the liberal arts; they
understood it as one of the essential functions of the mind,
associated with the power to grasp number and measure.
Walpin expects that the tutorial approach will give students
the fundamentals they need to get more out of singing, paving
the way for an even more productive sophomore music tutorial.
“With this new structure, we are giving them reasons to sing
because they’ve been learning how to interpret a melody, what
makes a piece have a beginning, middle, and end. When they
understand what they’re hearing, the singing will become
crucially fulfilling for them.”
A required freshman chorus, Pesic believes, is antithetical to
the ideals of the Program. “Students come to St. John’s to talk to
each other,” he says.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
continued on p. 19
�18
{The Program}
On the Double Origin of the Music Tutorial
By Elliott Zuckerman (HA95)
tutor emeritus
T
he three musical works that have been perennial
in our seminar list are a passion, an opera, and a
music-drama. They are all settings of narratives
that can sustain a discussion apart from the
music. But in the late 1950s the seminar list
included quite a few works of music that were
wordless, such as the Goldberg Variations, the Rite of Spring,
and (along with the Ninth, that does blossom into verse) the
Fifth and Eighth Symphonies of Beethoven. These works of socalled “pure” music were among the losses when (in the early
’60s) the list was decimated in order to make room for the
preceptorials. As with some of the scientific readings, and the
plays of Molière and Racine, we had the excuse that the works
were already being discussed at length in the tutorials. But the
lost music seminars were scarcely regretted, for it was widely
thought that it required a particular talent to lead a seminar on
a musical work that had no plot or poem to fall back on.
Yet Victor Zuckerkandl, who designed the music tutorial,
said to me more than once that if we eliminated the music seminars from the program, the music tutorial should go, too. It
was well known that Zuckerkandl himself could get any group
of people to talk about music, as well as about almost anything
else. But I gathered that for him the chief aim of the tutorial
was to provide the students with the wherewithal for talking
about music in the seminar, even when they didn’t have an
inspiring conductor.
Zuckerkandl’s successor as leader of the music tutorial was
Douglas Allanbrook, who disliked music seminars, and did
nothing to defend them. At the same time, despite his fondness
for Zuckerkandl and their friendship, he had an aversion to
Zuckerkandl’s view of music, which Allanbrook characterized
as Ton-Wille—the tones somehow had a will of their own–and
attributed it to windy philosophical music-lovers such as
Schopenhauer. Zuckerkandl’s notion of music as a message
from another world was as remote as possible from Allanbrook’s down-to-earth New England view that composers put
tones together to delight us, and possibly move us, with imitations of our own motions.
The music tutorial had to be justified as worth doing apart
from music seminars. From the beginning, the most venerable
justification lay easily at hand. Music, after all, had been part of
the traditional liberal arts, and the music tutorial rounded out
our study of the quadrivium. As in the laboratory and the mathematics tutorial (and, less systematically, in the language tutorial) we are invited to learn and think about the elements of a
subject. The compounding of intervals gives us an audible
example of the compounding of ratios in Book Five of Euclid.
And there is a unique correspondence between the two-to-one
ratio of pitches in the physical world, and the universal human
response to that simplicity when we recognize the sameness as
an octave.
Annapolis photographer Dimitri Fotos captures this portrait
of Elliot Zuckerman (HA95) for Fotos’ “Facing the Music”
series.
It is worth studying the first chapter of Zuckerkandl’s textbook—let alone his remarkable theoretical works—with a view to
how little he accounts for the power of music by adducing the
arithmetic correspondences that elated the Pythagoreans. I
think I can safely assert that for him the Miracle of the Octave is
something other than our response to the simple ratio.
We are fortunate to have a music tutorial with this double
origin. We ought to become more aware of what it means to
hold the Grand View or the Practical View, and embrace the
argument between them as our domestic dialectic. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{The Program}
“You were either
daring enough to
jump into music or
your weren’t.”
19
However, the music tutorial needs true
amateurs, Pastille says. “When I’m teaching
He believes the changes help make music a
something I’m not an expert in—say freshman
more integral part of freshman year. “This will
lab–I can enter into class discussions on a level
happen just when students are discovering
much closer to the students. It’s almost imposPeter Kalkavage, Tutor
ancient mathematics and ancient philosophy,
sible for me to do that in music,” he says.
which I think is ideal in that way,” he says. “It
“When you’re too inclined to see things that the
also allows the students to learn the elements of
students probably can’t see, you can let a lot of
music as they’re discussing what the elements really mean, as
fundamental questions go unasked.”
they do with Euclid and everything else.”
Beginning this summer, Annapolis will have in place a system
Mora likes Pesic’s approach and suggests that it more fully
for bringing more faculty into the tutorial. Seven tutors have
integrate music into the rest of the Program, particularly in
signed up for an eight-week study group to be led by tutor Peter
freshman year. “Just as students come to understand the
Kalkavage. In each of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years,
elements of mathematics by discussing them as well as by
two tutors who have participated in the study group and who are
demonstrating them on the board, so too will they learn the
teaching the tutorial in the first semester will gain a station of
elements of music by discussing them as well as practicing them
released time in the second semester in order to audit another
by singing,” she says.
music tutorial. “The college hasn’t had something like this
in place before,” he says. “You were either daring enough to
A Study Group for Sophomore Music
jump in to music, or you weren’t,” he says, acknowledging that
While Annapolis plans to continue freshman chorus as it is, this
“it can be scary. If you haven’t had music training or you feel you
summer it will take the first step toward making more tutors
don’t have a taste for it, it can look like the most difficult part of
comfortable leading sophomore music. Dink understands why
the Program.”
some tutors on his campus are intimidated. In his 26 years at
Chorus Goes On
St. John’s, he has yet to lead sophomore music, although he
audited it during one of his sabbaticals. As do many tutors, Dink
Freshman chorus will continue as before in Annapolis; indeed,
worries his lack of musical training will hamper his effectiveness
Tom May can’t imagine the college without the freshman
in class. “I may be at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms
chorus. “I find it absolutely exhilarating,” he says. May has
of lack of preparation, but there are people who have played
spent much of his life immersed in music; as a seminarian, he
an instrument who still feel sophomore music would be a chalwas a choir director, and he later found a job singing sacred
lenge,” he says.
music in an Episcopal church. He has always been impressed by
Throughout the years in Annapolis, musical tutors have
the place music held in the Program, and he believes that it is
applied their expertise to reshaping sophomore music to make
especially important now, at a time when public and private
it more accessible for their nonmusical colleagues. When Bill
schools invest fewer resources in music.
Pastille came to St. John’s in 1986 (with a PhD in music from
Preparing students with different backgrounds to tackle
Cornell), only about a dozen tutors were willing to teach music.
sophomore music together remains the prime focus of freshman
When he revamped the curriculum in Annapolis in 1989,
music. Some students are experienced musicians; others can’t
Pastille built the tutorial around Zuckerkandl’s The Sense of
read a note of music when they come to St. John’s. “How are
Music and created a supplementary series of tapes for tutors and
people with that wide a range going to be able to talk to each
students. “We made the tutorial more accessible, and we did
other? We have students who’ve had a great deal of technical
manage to sign up a whole bunch of new people,” he says.
training but they’ve never sung. Freshman chorus performs a
That curriculum lasted a decade in Annapolis, before it was
similar role in the music program to that of the practica in
changed again. Today, in addition to Zuckerkandl’s text, the
the laboratory program, in giving a class a common experience
campus uses a manual called “Materials for Sophomore Music,”
of the phenomena—it’s for this reason as much as any other that
an ordered sequence of readings and musical examples.
I believechorus is such a vital part of the way we learn here,”
Although it was designed to make the tutorial more accessible to
May says.
more tutors, many are still reluctant to volunteer.
continued
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�20
{The Program}
A Dialogue between Ancients and Moderns
by Peter Pesic
A
of beauty and cosmic order. Only a
mong the diverse
few fragments remain of ancient
projects underGreek music, but Gregorian chant
taken at St. John’s
represents this first practice.
College, none is
Chant is essentially monophonic,
more remarkable
a single beautiful melodic line
than our music
that generally does not aim for
program. Beside music conservaemotional expressivity. For
tories, I know very few other
example, the same chant melody
colleges where all students study
could be used to set “sad” as well
music. Moreover, our study of
as “happy” texts.
music is unique in its approach
Our sophomores begin with a
and scope, not simply “music
month of singing various chants
appreciation,” music history, or
and reading Boethius (who transtheory. I would like to describe
mitted ancient musical theory
how this approach has developed
to the West), each student
here in Santa Fe, where I have
composing a chant to a given text,
had the privilege of being
which the class then sings and
involved with this program over
discusses. Beginning with a kind
the past 25 years.
of music unfamiliar to almost
Before then, our music
everyone (whether musically
program had been led by such
trained or not) allows fresh considdistinguished and talented tutors
eration of the elements of music.
as the late Michael Ossorgin and
We then consider the momentous
Sam Brown, accomplished
and mysterious transition to
musicians who emphasized
polyphony, the interweaving of
certain masterworks that remain
several independent voices so
fixtures of our music tutorials:
characteristic of Western musical
Bach’s St. Matthew Passion,
Mozart’s Don Giovanni,
art, so strikingly absent from
Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde—that Music is an integral part of the “great adventure” that ancient practice (or from world
unique trilogy about passion.
music in general). This leads to a
is St. John’s, says Tutor Peter Pesic.
About 1980, Dean Robert Bart
month devoted to the polyphonic
asked Ralph Swentzell to rethink
art as developed by such masters as
the music tutorial so that it would
Palestrina and taught by Fux’s
be more open to tutors who did not feel they had a specialized
celebrated dialogue Gradus ad Parnassum, which taught Bach,
background in music. In his unforgettable way, Ralph took
Mozart, and Beethoven the art of counterpoint and whose
this project to heart and produced an amazing historical
exercises we also do. Our touchstone is Palestrina’s motet “Sicut
compendium of music and theoretical writings, the basis of the
cervus,” a theme-song on both campuses, its haunting beauty a
program we still do in Santa Fe, which remains indebted to
fitting epitome of music’s first practice.
Ralph’s foundational vision, even as it has been shaped and
The crucial transition between ancient and modern music
refined by many colleagues since then.
may have begun even before the parallel, momentous
In my view, the heart of our music program is a dialogue
transitions in mathematics, philosophy, and natural science that
between ancients and moderns. For music is not simply the
we study in other parts of our Program. Their seminal works
expressive art it became over the past centuries, but needs
date from around 1600; our music tutorials treat Claudio
to be understood in reference to two parallel traditions,
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607) as the pivotal work. In it, La
both extending back to antiquity. For clarity, let me use the
Musica herself steps forward and announces that she can
terminology introduced by a crucial figure in the story,
inflame the iciest heart, “now with noble anger, now with love.”
Vincenzo Galilei, Galileo’s father, who distinguished two
Monteverdi here puts into action the aspirations of Vincenzo
“practices” in ancient and modern music. His “first practice”
Galilei and others who wanted to revive the Greek drama and its
(prima prattica) is exemplified by the ancient “music of the
incomparable emotional power, which they thought the first
spheres,” which is essentially passionless and eternal, a paragon practice had wrongly ignored.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{The Program}
21
“Our reason and
our passions
come together in
the study of
music.”
There’s another benefit as well, one important
being in the presence of music in a way that is
to the shaping of community. “It’s amazing that
ultimately unforgettable. At the end, they know
we ask all of our students to sing together,” he
if it’s going to work, we have to work hard—and
says. “Other tutors have said that chorus is often
they do, year after year.”
the place where the freshman class becomes a
Kalkavage, who has shared chorus duties with
class.” During spring performances of the
May for many years, believes freshman chorus is
Victoria Mora, Santa Fe Dean
chorus, upperclassmen on the balcony will often
not only a tradition in Annapolis, but an excellent
chime in on some of the songs. During the Senior
way to introduce students to “making music.”
Dinner each spring, students join their tutors in singing
Certainly some students never take to music, yet he observed
favorite selections from freshman chorus, and alumni at
that year after year, many Johnnies develop confidence in their
Homecoming speak fondly of their freshman chorus memories,
singing and discover a great love for great music. “It’s a thrill to
he says.
get students together and watch them discover their musicality,”
Students of lesser ability would be unlikely to have this expehe says. x
rience to stretch themselves, he says. “The whole is greater
than the sum of its parts,” says May. “Students get a sense of
Their “second practice” (secunda prattica) was explicitly
designed to seize power over human passions, as La Musica had
proclaimed, as Orfeo fatefully enacts. This new Orpheus is the
master of a reborn art—opera— that can move mute stones and
even infernal powers, but in the end Orfeo is mastered by his own
passions, loosing Eurydice to a second death after having won
her back from her first. Thus Monteverdi, crafting the first
masterwork of the second practice, also foresaw its tragic
dilemma, incarnate in Orfeo himself; near the same time,
Francis Bacon’s mythical retellings also foresaw the powers and
tragic possibilities of the new science he envisioned.
Thus emerged a deep dialogue between
beauty (the ideal of the first practice) and
power (the goal of the second), a dialogue
that continues to this day and had in fact
already begun in ancient times, for Plato
described both the music of the spheres and
earthly modes capable of ruining the soul
through sensuous indulgence or firing it to
courage. Our music tutorials explore the
harmonic art that Monteverdi pioneered,
an art that went on to empower the great
masterworks of Bach, Mozart, and Wagner
mentioned above. For them, the controlled
use of ever-stronger and more unstable
dissonances is crucial, reminding us of the
transition from the fixed Aristotelian earth
to the mysteriously movable condition of
Newtonian planets or from unalterable chemical elements to
radioactive instability.
As we explore these works of musical and scientific
imagination, we draw close to the sources of their immense
powers and also confront the attendant questions those powers
imply. In the story of Orpheus, the project of power reacts on
itself; our music program concludes by considering modern
masterworks that turn from ever-intensified expressivity to
reconsider the first practice and its austere ecstasies, works by
Debussy, Stravinsky, Webern, Messiaen, Arvo Pärt. Thus the
opening question posed by the two practices—by beauty and
power—resounds from past to future.
Throughout, we aspire to a complete
musical experience, encompassing
listening, singing, reading, discussing,
composing, analyzing, playing. Next year,
we will experiment in Santa Fe with a new
format for freshman music as normal
tutorials, rather than a single large chorus,
so as to encourage the discussions that are
the lifeblood of St. John’s classes.
As with so much of St. John’s Program, our
study of music is rightly a work in progress,
always trying to improve, grow, and deepen.
This great adventure, artistic and philosophical, has opened new vistas for me, in my own
education, as I hope it will continue to do for
many others, now and in the future. x
“Throughout, we
aspire to a complete
musical experience,
encompassing
listening, singing,
reading, discussing,
composing,
analyzing, playing.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�22
{Pop Culture}
POP JOHNNIES
In the examined life, is there room for Shakespeare and Shakira?
by Emily DeBusk (A06)
op culture is easy, fun, prevalent, comforting,
and of-the-moment. The great books are
dense, rigorous, distant, provocative, and
old. Can they coexist without mocking each
other? The question has implications beyond
the movies Johnnies choose to see or music
they download to their iPods. It touches on
some deeply felt beliefs about a St. John’s
education and Johnnies in the wider world. Is
it odd to finish up a seminar reading on, say, the gospel of John, and
then settle down for a good listen to the new wave of Swedish death
metal? Is it snobbish to think one shouldn’t spend time on fleeting
fads with so much rich material in the canon?
Consider the (apparent) tension between pop culture and the
St. John’s culture. In one corner, there is a peculiar St. John’s
culture where, according to the college’s creeds, dialogue is king.
The campus is characterized by the reading of great books, earnest
conversations, tweedy traditions involving waltzing and pipesmoking, and all-around bookishness. In the other corner, there is
pop culture. A broad definition begins with media—music, TV
shows, movies, and the pervasive buzz that the Internet and
advertising emit—and its fundamental connection with certain key
ingredients: mass appeal, commercialism, consumerism, and
transience. In short, the St. John’s culture is anchored where pop
floats; limited, where pop is universal; and for the inner, where
pop concerns itself with the outward. Nothing about what is done
at St. John’s is “quick!,” “e-z!,” or “for a limited time only!”
Pop culture is entertainment, not education. So why make the
comparison? In 1937 Scott Buchanan, the first dean of St. John’s
under the new Program, wrote in the Bulletin of St. John’s College:
“Ultimately the ends of liberal education are the intellectual
P
virtues, the development of the capacities from which they come,
and the integration of the characters to which they contribute.”
That is, the intellectual virtues should not be left at the door as
students exit the classroom. Stringfellow Barr (who published a
novel and a cookbook along with academic works) said that while
immersion in the Program will foster a taste for higher things, the
St. John’s alumnus can still find riches in the culture of his times:
“From his constant association with the first-rate, he will have
acquired a distaste for the second-rate, the intellectually cheap and
tawdry; but he will have learned to discover meaning in things that
most people write off as vulgar,” he wrote in a 1939 report.
The St. John’s education seems to have the power to elevate
higher pursuits over popular ones, but should it?
Three Views
As pop culture and the St. John’s culture contend for attention,
some tension arises. In a college-wide survey asking current
students for their opinion about the relationship of pop culture and
the St. John’s culture, at least three differing viewpoints surfaced.
Many students saw no connection at all between what they do as
students and what they do as pop culture consumers. These
students turn to pop simply for relaxation and entertainment. “Pop
culture functions like Reality,” says Kayla Gamin (A08). “It
provides emotional release, social lubrication, and a way to group
people into social sets distinguished by their tastes in music and
entertainment.” There are many college-wide symptoms of pop
culture, such as film clubs, video games, and dance parties. The
relatively few TVs on campus (rapidly becoming obsolete thanks
to laptops with streaming video and DVD players) have some
faithful watchers. One group of students gathered every Tuesday
night to follow the sensational life of the misanthropic House of the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{Pop Culture}
“Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s
metaphysical value judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of
reality which represent his fundamental view of man’s nature.”
raphael’s
SCHOOL OF ATHENS
digitally adapted by lord thomas burbridge
Marcel Proust
“I want to be an artist that everyone can relate to,
that’s young, happy and fun.”
Britney Spears, singer
{ T h e C o l l e g e • John’s College • Spring 2007 }
23
�24
{Pop Culture}
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
Albert Einstein
“For me, just being on the cover of a magazine wasn’t enough. I began to think,
what value is there in doing something in which you have no creative input?”
Elle Macpherson, model
eponymous Fox TV show. (Again, the intertwining of pop and the
Program was startling; one Johnnie read his lab manual during
commercial breaks.)
Pop culture is also used as a source of information about what’s
going “out there.” Cloistered by size, geography (Santa Fe), and a
relatively closed curriculum, St. John’s can seem to be a world of its
own, and it is a constant struggle to be engaged in the present as
well as the past. “The world is so large,” says Annapolis tutor Eva
Brann, an unapologetic fan of monster truck rallies, Louis L’Amour
novels and Law and Order. “I don’t want to be totally out of it.
Whatever it is they like, I want to know about it. Our students don’t
want to cut themselves off.”
Another group of students views pop culture as a distraction. “I
think the most disturbing part of [pop culture] is how reason just
isn’t there,” says Liz Curry (A07). “There are things about it that
should bother us. Everything is so emotionally driven, and it’s the
very excess of emotion that is praised. I don’t think it should be
studied, but engaged. We won’t always be reading and talking about
these books, so there’s got to be a way for the things we do here to
resonate with people in general. I think Johnnies in particular have
the power to give another perspective from pop culture that’s not
necessarily elitist or bookish. There’s a way that these books live for
us as much as pop culture lives for others.”
Tristan Chambers (SF08) goes beyond wariness to outright
disdain. He sees a connection between the nature of pop culture
and the rhetorician Socrates warns about in his dialogues. “Most of
pop media is morally debasing and it obfuscates the truth on all
levels,” Chambers says. “I feel like pop culture panders to our vices
as Socrates says the rhetorician panders to our vices and more
animalistic urges. Pop media wants your attention, and its main
means is to appeal to basic urges, which are harder to endure or
manage. I think it’s bad for our souls. These media generators are
unconcerned with what’s true or false, but are more interested in
manipulating for effect. Pop reflects that rhetorical attitude in its
sound bytes, one-sided stories, and advertising.”
Still others are simply not attracted to pop. This group chooses
instead to be entertained and inspired by media that is too eclectic,
old-fashioned, or avant-garde to rightly be called pop. Zack Hay
(A08), for example, listens to records of Moondog, a blind musician
who busked on the streets of New York City and made his own
instruments—a far cry from Billboard’s Top 100. “I’ve just always
had an inclination to look for things in obscurity, not things that are
readily available,” Hay explains, “because there is a tendency, I
think, in all cultures, to overlook a lot of things, which do not
deserve to be—if something is just a little bit weird, it just gets
thrown by the wayside. I always take delight in knowing that there’s
always a little pocket of these alternatively-minded people scattered
about the world, now, and historically.”
Fleeting Fads vs. Great Works
In trying to pinpoint the tension between pop culture and the
St. John’s culture, it is tempting to think it is simply a matter of
aesthetic quality. Just compare the newest American Idol’s hit
single to Mozart and voila! the one withers in the shadow of
the other. The music and literature of the Program is mainly
“high” culture (Mozart, Milton) with a bit of counter culture
(Marx, Baudelaire), and nothing that could be classified as modern
pop. Yet it is too simplistic to take the omission as an a priori
condemnation by St. John’s of pop culture. “There are obvious
quality distinctions between the best and the worst forms of
hip-hop, and this is true of classical music as well,” says Santa Fe
tutor David Carl, who is routinely described as a “cool” tutor by
students. “The best hip hop is better than the worst classical music,
so aesthetic value cannot be determined simply based on what part
of culture (popular or ‘high’) something participates in.”
Hollywood produces a few good films each year, the recording
industry manages to produce work by good artists, and some
television shows “are not simply a waste of time,” says Carl. “How
to distinguish between what I would call ‘good’ and ‘bad’ culture
(pop or otherwise) is the challenge,” he maintains.
Annapolis tutor Mera Flaumenhaft posits that the real danger of
pop culture in the St. John’s community is more of a how than a
what. “Everything goes so fast, everything is loud, and many things
happen at once,” she says. “One of the best things we do at
St. John’s is develop the habit of slowing down. This is a place
where people look carefully at something: a tree, a sentence, a
math demonstration, a difficult argument. We look for a long time
and with other people. We ask questions, converse, and look again.
This way of life makes our encounters with everything, including
popular culture, more thoughtful and more interesting.”
Brann submits that these habits are the means to meet the
challenge Carl speaks of: “Going through the Program is the
shaping of taste,” she says. “If you have thought about really good
works, it gives you the tools to think about the difference about the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{Pop Culture}
25
“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”
Plato
“We all feel love, and that might sound kind of corny, but I really feel that’s
what joins musicians together around the world.”
Enrique Iglesias, singer
faith—that Johnnies bring to the
seminar table. Carl points out that
Shakespeare and Aristophanes
might be considered the pop
Pop and the Johnnies
culture of their day. Someday,
Pervading the general attitudes of
St. John’s students might be
St. John’s students towards pop on
reading the lyrics of 21st-century
campus, there was a reluctance to
pop songs or movie screenplays,
treat pop culture as a single
but by then these works will have
whole, to be entirely accepted or
outgrown the pop label. Could
rejected. Perhaps this is because
students in some future tutorial
for those who tune into pop
be examining the film Fight Club
culture with their minds as well as
for truths about the human
their headphones (and some
condition in the same way we now
deliberately choose not to engage
consider Fleurs de Mal?
their minds) the movies, TV
St. John’s treasures the old
shows, and commercials born of
because it endures, but it doesn’t
pop are raw source of information
reject all in current times.
about the human condition.
“Pop culture is something like
Kim Paffenroth (A88), an
the Blob in that old Steve
associate professor of Religious
McQueen movie,” observes Carl.
Studies at Iona College, devotee
“It consumes everything in its
of heavy metal and classic TV
path that it thinks it can get somescience fiction, and author of
thing from, and this means that
(most recently) Gospel of the
a few truly good things (maybe
Living Dead: George Romero’s
even great things) will get
Vision of Hell on Earth, has found
consumed along with all the
plenty of material in pop culture Elizabeth Burlington (A08) takes a break from Hobbes to
worthless trash.”
catch up on Slash.
to engage him. “I think St. John’s
The real struggle between pop
teaches you to take ideas and texts
culture and the St. John’s culture
seriously, analyzing them with
seems one of dominance; “The
habits of curiosity and interrogation,” he says. “I apply that to
St. John’s way” has ambitions to be an integral part of a Johnnie’s
current pop culture. There is writing out there that tries to fit pop
life. So does pop culture. The consumer is meant to buy what he
into some post-modern analysis, but I try not to bring any theoretsees, think what she listens to, and not worry about time for
ical baggage. I just give it a close reading. I don’t think all of pop
dialogue or “unplugged” reflection. “Life is too short to listen to
deserves this approach, but some does.” In Paffenroth’s opinion,
bad music and read bad books and watch bad movies,” says Carl.
to reject pop culture “guarantees that you are regarded as irrele“Pop culture offers to do all the choosing for us, but I think we are
vant and disconnected from the larger world that we live in. [At
better off getting out in the world and discovering for ourselves
St. John’s] what one strives for is not so much to refine your taste,
which music, books, television, and movies are worthy of our
but to refine your analytical skills and to analyze what is valuable.”
time.” This is where free people, living examined lives, politely
In other words, within the morass of pop lie shreds of the very
decline pop’s offer. x
same kinds of questions—of philosophy, art, political science,
emily debusk
good and the bad. You ask yourself
‘What about this will pass away?’
What revives?’ ”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�26
{Visual Think er s}
VISUAL
THINKERS
uestioning is at the heart of discovery for
these artists who move beyond words to
shape clay, carve wood, and paint.
Q
Smart Hands
In 2005, Betsy Williams (SF87) and her partner Mark Saxe, a stone
sculptor, opened Rift Gallery in Rinconada, N.M. Functional
pieces designed for daily use are the foundation of her work,
complemented by objects for contemplation and display.
When I graduated from St. John’s, truth be told, I had no idea
what to do in this world for the next several years. Not that I wasn’t
trying to figure it out. Circumstances eventually had me employed
at a small Japanese regional bank with a branch in New York City,
working as a trader on the money market. Then a co-worker
invited me to an exhibit of 17th-century Korean ceramics at the
Metropolitan Museum. Standing in front of a slightly asymmetrical celadon vase, I had what is perhaps best described simply as
a profound moment, and my life took the direction that it has
today. I scrimped and saved so that I could make a move to Japan
and study pottery seriously. I wanted to learn about traditional
methods, digging clay, making glazes from natural materials
and firing with wood. In 1994, I did make that leap, and managed
to find a teacher, Mr. Yutaka Ohashi, in Karatsu, Japan, with
whom I apprenticed over the next four years. I learned through
observation, imitation, and lots of repetition.
In working at the wheel a surprising kind of knowledge was
revealed to me gradually about just how smart my hands are. I
made thousands and thousands of the same cylindrical cup, over
and over, until after a couple of years I knew all about that cup,
everything that could go wrong, every millimeter of the anatomy
of that cup. With practice, one’s hands and eyes can detect differences of less than a millimeter without conscious discrimination.
Awareness of this physical sensibility helps hold conscious
discrimination and corporeal knowledge in balance, and I believe
the act of creating as a whole can also be described as this kind of
balancing on a larger scale.
In 1999, I “graduated” from my apprenticeship, with the
pronouncement, “Now you have the skills to teach yourself
anything else that you may need to learn.” So I returned to New
Mexico, bought land in a remote mountainous region about an
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�bob eckert
{Visual Think er s}
hour north of Santa Fe, built a house and studio, and then my own
wood-fired kiln. I’ve been working away ever since, trying to bring
my well-trained self and my creative self into a kind of balance,
while making a living doing it.
My work relies heavily, even now, on repetition, but in a new
way: drawing on the visual impact that multiples carry. My wallhung cup grids, which range in size from three cups to 180 cups,
emphasize sameness and difference of their components at once.
The cup becomes visible in its relationship with others in a way
that one cup alone cannot. Currently I am working on a grouping
of 52 teapots, one for every week of the year, for a show entitled
“Imagine” that will open at our gallery in May. (www.riftgallery.com)
St. John’s continues to have a positive influence on my career.
Over the past summer, St. John’s student Carolyn Lobeck (SF07)
was an apprentice in my studio through the Ariel Internship
Program. She was introduced to many of the basics that are
essential to a career in clay, in accordance with what I learned
during my own apprenticeship. This opportunity to pass on to
another young woman some of what I have worked so hard to learn
is really important to me. St. John’s also presents one of my handmade cups to each of the graduates of the Eastern Classics
program every year. That the college recognizes the importance
of the handmade object in today’s society, its importance as a
symbol and as a way of life, is huge.
At left, MATTER AND TIME, wall-mounted cubes. Above, Betsy
Williams apprenticed in Japan for four years before opening
her studio in New Mexico. At right, a 4-inch tea caddy.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
27
�28
{Visual Think er s}
Natural Proofs
Karina Noel Hean (A00) is a painter and teaches drawing,
painting, and design as visiting instructor of art at Fort Lewis
College in Durango, Colorado. She has exhibited in numerous
solo and group shows. In fall 2008, she will complete a twomonth artist fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Center in Ballycastle, Ireland. Hean grew up near the Annapolis campus,
where her mother, Miriam Callahan-Hean (AGI87), is graduate
admissions officer for the college.
I am a planner. From eighth grade on, I took art-making seriously. As much as public school and free time allowed, that is
what I did, taking every art class I could at my public school,
earning scholarships to classes at the local art center, and,
though it clearly has not improved my social skills, I spent most
of my teen and pre-teen years alone in my room painting or
drawing. While I was very concerned about what would happen
to my “art career” if I did not attend an art school, I knew that
St. John’s would provide me with the intellectual exposure, critical thinking, and verbal skills I would need to be an artist who
was not only technically proficient but thoughtful as well.
When the conditions are right, I work 14-hour days in the
studio. The rhythm of these days is paradise. The places my
mind and hands may take me and the work fluctuate: unpre-
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{Visual Think er s}
“When the conditions are right,
I work 14-hour days in the studio.
The rhythm of these days
is paradise.”
Karina Noel Hean (A00)
dictable, exciting, reassuringly familiar, ridiculous, calm,
transcendent.
For several years my work was concerned with communicating a sense of reverence for nature and understanding
nature as a source of spirituality. My Pendular Motion Series
monotypes and Emotional Proof Series explore the aesthetic
and intellectual capacity of geometric and dynamics diagrams
and theorems. Studying the history of Western mathematics
and physical sciences at St. John’s exposed me to Euclid’s
Elements and Huygens’ On the Motion of Bodies from Impact
amongst other heavily diagrammed attempts to explain the
nature of our world and how it functions. What initially strikes
me about these proofs is the clear beauty of their lines and
shapes. As a visual communicator, I am intrigued by the quantity and quality of information these images can convey. In
addition to this is a skeptic’s pondering of the kind of knowing
they claim to present.
The Emotional Proof Series are improvisations that riff off of
the Euclidian proofs that I studied at St. John’s. These proofs
are logical and predictable. My version of the proofs is a
humorous comment on the contemporary desire to categorize
and comprehend human emotions. They ask questions such as:
How far can we take the relationship between word and image?
How much distance exists between these two supposedly
distinct forms of communication?
“Learn by doing and making mistakes” has become one of
my pedagogical mottoes that stems from my own experience as
an art student and artist. If you are not frustrated, you are probably not learning anything or challenging yourself.
Karina Noel Hean is drawn to the beauty of mathematical
proofs, as shown in these untitled works.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
29
�30
{Visual Think er s}
Daja Music
Billy Lieb (class of 1945) attended film
school at UCLA after his graduation
from St. John’s. Following graduate
school and teaching film making, Lieb
worked in Los Angeles as a motion
picture cameraman and film editor until
his retirement in 1984, when he began his
career as a sculptor. His artwork
includes two different media: assemblage (making things out of found
objects) and abstract wood sculpture.
I have enjoyed collecting things since
I was a kid. First it was postage stamps,
then shells, rocks and minerals. As an
adult I started to go to flea markets and
swap meets where you could buy interesting things cheap. Gradually, I
learned to put some of these things
together to make constructions of
assemblages.
After I retired from the film industry
in 1984, I moved to the Ocean Park
district—right on the Santa Monica
beach. That summer there were storms
that brought piles of driftwood onto the
beach. I soon discovered that some of it
was very heavy and was carvable. A
surfer classmate of mine (from grad- A surfer told Billy Lieb (class of 1945) where to find the manzanita burl—prized by
sculptors—that washes up on Malibu beach. (UNTITLED)
uate school, UCLA) suggested I drive
20 miles north to the Malibu beaches.
He was right. For the next 10 years, my
I started exhibiting at the factory and local galleries. Meanbest wood came from Malibu, mostly manzanita burls.
while, Sony Music was building its West Coast headquarters on
I had also started collecting art posers. I found out about the
our block. When it was finished, the president of Sony Music
Picture Framers Guild, which would help you learn how to
invited our college, the Santa Monica College of Design, Art,
frame art posters. The next year, I started The Magic Picture
and Architecture, to decorate their new building. They wanted
Gallery, my own framing operation in Malibu.
us to submit art “with a musical theme.” As I started making
Soon I started taking drawing and art history classes at Santa
Silent Musical Instruments they finally accepted 14 of my assemMonica College. There I learned about a new art school being
blages including The Daja Music Machine and The Daja Guitar.
founded at Santa Monica College, using an empty furniture
The word “Daja” became my brand name for my style of assemfactory for its classrooms. All of the faculty were professional
blage, being a sum of “Dada” and “Jazz.” I have entered several
artists, including Laddie Dill and George Herms, who became
wood sculptures and assemblages in the alumni art show at
my favorite teacher.
St. John’s in Santa Fe.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{Visual Think er s}
31
Playing in the Mud
by Eleanor Peters
ven as a small child I loved playing in the mud.
My mother is an artist so there were always
opportunities to try out new things at home.
When Mike was in grad school in Seattle and
our children were young there was a great
recreation center program that included
pottery classes—a place where adults were encouraged to play
in the mud! Perfect. I was hooked in no time.
Long before Santa Fe was in the picture for us, I discovered
the work of legendary San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez
and was intrigued by her work. I haven’t adopted her Native
American techniques but the respect and awe remain. I never
dreamt that one day we would be practically in her neighborhood, surrounded by her legacy.
Imagine my delight when we arrived at St. John’s to find a
wonderful pottery right in the Fine Arts Building. Not only
could one throw pots, but be variously serenaded by
sophomore music, jazz groups, piano, bass, drums or horn
playing. There is a very knowledgeable instructor in the
person of local artist Sadiq Kahn. Our pottery assistant is
Carolyn Lobeck (SF07), who spent last summer as apprentice
to Betsy Williams. A small but dedicated group of students
find their way to the studio. Some become regulars; others
come for a season as their class schedules allow. Some bring
considerable pottery experience, and some are beginners. All
bring enthusiasm. What I really enjoy is that our intersection
in the Pottery Studio gives me an opportunity to get to know
students in a non-academic setting. But, being Johnnies, it
also means there are conversations about what they’re
E
Eleanor Peters, wife of Santa Fe President Michael Peters,
is a regular at the campus pottery studio. She entered these
works in the Santa Fe Community Art Show.
reading in seminar or the topic of their current paper, as well
as how to throw a tall cylinder or make a plate. x
In August 2006, I bought a home in a senior mobile home
park in Poway, California. I did this to be near my daughter Joy
and my two great grandsons Danny and Alex. When my dear
friend Jonnie Zheutlin learned of my move, she sent me funds
to build an art studio as part of my new home. Few artists are
lucky enough to be able to open their front door and enter their
art studio! x
For color images of art by Betsy Dixon, Billy Lieb, and Karina
Hean, visit the St. John’s Web site; click on Publications and on
The College magazine.
An avid collector, Billy Lieb sculpts driftwood and makes
eclectic sculptures from items lost and found.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�32
{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s }
I F J O H N N I E S RU L E D
T H E WO R L D
by Jennifer Wright (A08)
chelsea stiegman
W
ith global events
whirling around
us, recently I have
been putting
thought into what
the world would
be like if run by Johnnies.
Initially euphoria overwhelmed me.
The notion of a place run by “philosopher
kings” most obviously points toward The
Republic. I can’t imagine we would strictly
follow Plato’s notions if only because we
might prove woefully disinclined toward
the whole martial aspect of Socrates’
utopia. But we could surely expect a society
in which everyone at least knew of Plato
and, when one exclaims that she loves him
in the course of conversation no one would
reply, “Yeah, I loved Play-doh too, but I
kind of grew out of it.” When I mentioned
this notion of a world run by Johnnies to
other students, almost everyone responded
with wild enthusiasm. “Can you imagine?”
asked one boy. “Everyone everywhere
would be really well read. Also, undeniably
sexy in that way that Johnnies are.”
A freshman remarked, “Think about it—
it would be amazing. We’d just go up to
people in the streets, and instead of saying,
‘How are you?’ we’d say, ‘And how do you
feel about the Cartesian Dichotomy?’ ”
Then I queried one of my best friends
who may have been feeling a tiny bit bitter
about writing her sophomore enabling
essay that day. “Well,” she said, “I think
we’d still be sitting around in caves. I think
that if someone tried to free us from the
cave, we wouldn’t notice, let alone kill him,
After three years’ acquaintance with Program authors, Jennifer Wright (A08) has a few
ideas on how Johnnies would run things.
because we’d end up debating the
definition of light, and whether or not it
was a form. Then we’d debate the
definition of, say, the rocks in front of us.
We’d make some tepid attempt to figure
out whether or not rocks were edible, using
research gleaned from Harvey, which
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
would be totally irrelevant. The rocks
wouldn’t be edible, but we’d end up talking
about what it means to be ‘edible.’ Eventually, we’d all starve to death.” She sighed,
and resumed writing about Dante’s
depiction of God’s divine love.
�33
{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s }
She may well have had a point. But then
can it really be the case that Johnnies are as
wholly impractical as the cloud-dwelling
Laputans of Gulliver’s Travels? Would we
be doomed to perish if left to our own
erudite devices?
We might not starve to death, but in a
world governed by the ideals of the
Program we might have to deal with some
substandard food, if the case of Glaucon
or Cato is anything to go by. Relishes,
we remember, are for the epicurean and
indulgent. So we are going to have to begin
frequenting cafés that make their food
entirely without relishes, which, as
ketchup-wielding modern Americans,
might prove pretty difficult.
However, if we pay attention to the
Program sophomore year, we will happily
realize that wine will be everywhere. Wine
abounds in Shakespeare, it abounds in
The Canterbury Tales, and it abounds
especially in the Bible. To the relief, I’m
certain, of our Reality archons, at no point
in the Program do we come upon characters who don’t love wine; even Socrates,
our paragon of moderation, is particularly
in his element at drinking parties. The
abundance of alcohol in our brave new
world may make us considerably less
concerned—indeed indifferent to—the lack
of relishes in our food.
When Johnnies are in charge:
The Johnnie Beauty Salon: No one
who has ever seen a picture of Immanuel
Kant can possibly think that beauticians
would be frequently patronized by those
who emulate the Program authors. Ultimately, beauticians will fade into obscurity, patronized only by those followers of
Socrates who believe that beautiful
people offer us insight into the good–and
those people will mostly be regarded as
drunken degenerates by anyone following
the ideals of later Program authors. Hairdressers will become obsolete in favor of
brain-dressers who will be capable of
straightening the mess under the head of
hair. They will be known (to those in the
know) as ‘tutors.’ Of course, this may lead
to a slightly less beautiful world.
The Johnnie Department Store:
Despite the proponents of Karl Marx
standing outside the store and adamantly
A nation comprised of very hungry
alcoholics might not seem like the best
setting for, well, anything, but it would
have certain redeeming features. The food
of love, at least, would abound with all its
relishes intact. Music would be everywhere, provided that the philosopher kings
in charge were not paying overly close
attention to St. Augustine. If they were,
music lacking polyphony would be
ubiquitous (but surely Palestrina put an
end to that argument). Of course, it might
not be the music that the vast majority of
the nation listens to. We would relish our
Mozart, our Brahms, our Shostakovich but
whenever “Louie, Louie” came on the
radio people would (and I find this truly
tragic, as I love “Louie, Louie”) sniff
dismissively and remark upon the
simplistic 1-3-5 pattern. “Surely,” people
would exclaim, “this piece is lacking in the
dynamic qualities Zuckerkandl describes in
The Sense of Music!” Classical stations
would quickly become the most popular in
the nation, and listening to “Louie, Louie”
would prove one to be a harmless but
quirky eccentric.
Other forms of entertainment would
undergo drastic alterations as well. Reality
shows and dating games would become
passé in favor of PBS and the BBC, which
would re-create our favorite literary pieces
in loving, eight-hour miniseries. Buddy
protesting that the items within it
shouldn’t exist (and those reading Kant
and Hume declaring that that’s fine,
because they don’t) everything would
probably function as usual until people
realize that mathematics tutorials have
left Johnnie cashiers with an inability to
do simple mathematics. Instead, they will
be left trying to explain to patrons—
eagerly awaiting change from the $20
dollars they gave for a $3 dollar
purchase—what the nature of infinity and
the ultimate actually are.
The Johnnie Music Store: These
would be located in very close proximity
to religious institutions, as sophomore
year has taught us that the two are closely
intertwined. Far from being a carefree
environment, Johnnies would stand
listening to bars of music playing over the
intercom in such stores, and would nervously call out “1-3-5! 1-3-5!” Then they
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
comedies would feature a wily, irascible
bloke named Socrates, and his timid pal
Plato. Young women everywhere would
stand in line for hours to see new interpretations of Jane Austen. (Johnnies must
find it nice to note that many young
women already do this, given the success of
Pride and Prejudice, a selection featured
proudly on the Program list, which is to
say, we knew it was cool before the rest of
America did.)
And as for sports? People would sigh and
dismiss the rare sorts who wanted to toss a
football around, but in the croquet players
would reside the hopes and dreams of a
dapperly dressed, hat-wearing nation.
For every Johnnie knows that nothing says
“athletic prowess” and also “hand-eye
coordination” like croquet.
While I will save my notions on Johnnies
in the boardroom and our diplomatic
prowess, at least in the basics of life our
rule will pursue the form of the good.
We might wish that we did not have to
spend another day eating Cato-approved
portions of gruel. But then, we would
realize that we could wear wonderful
outfits and go to our local stadium or park
to watch a rousing game of croquet, with
Haydn blasting in our iPods. And whatever,
the fact would remain that we would stay
sexy in that undeniable way that Johnnies
are sexy. x
would engage in fervent discussion about
whether or not they had gleaned greater
insight into the nature of the divine.
The Johnnie Grocery Store: The
Johnnie grocery store would feature a
fairly ordinary assortment of items save
the fact that no apples would be sold, nor
a variety of other “unclean” items.
Johnnies, after all, have not spent an
entire semester reading the Bible only
to make the same mistake twice. The
enormous supply of wines, however,
would compensate for it.
The Johnnie Bookstore: Bookstores
would immediately establish themselves
as the social hub of the Johnnie society.
The philosophy section in each of them
would expand magnificently, and trashy
paperbacks would be relegated to back
corners, near the restroom. In a tribute to
great writers past, everything would be
categorized by the Greek alphabet. x
�34
Back to Basics
A Summer Crash
Course for Readers
How to Read a Book
Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren,
Simon and Schuster, 1940, revised 1976
How to Read a Page
I. A. Richards, W. W. Norton, 1942
How to Read Two Books
Erasmus G. Addlepate, Frederick Stokes
Company, 1940 (out of print)
by Emily DeBusk (A06)
s long as St. John’s is in
the business of asking
gadfly-ish questions,
here is one to ponder:
do you know how to read?
Paradoxically, you must
read to learn how to read.
It is no coincidence that the philosopher Mortimer Adler (HA86), a selfdescribed “educational evangelist”
and co-author of How to Read a Book,
was instrumental to the shaping of the
Great Books movement in the late 1930s.
An underlying premise of Adler’s book is
A
{Bibliofile}
also the lifeblood of St. John’s; as
Einstein put it, “Information is not
knowledge.” Newspapers, encyclopedias,
and textbooks, while valuable in a
particular way, do not add up to the
kind of knowledge valuable to a Johnnie.
Nor will a single one of our great books
magically radiate knowledge to the
reader as soon as the first page is turned
(with the possible exception of
Lucretius). Ultimately, what is read is
secondary to how it is read.
For Adler and co-author Charles Van
Doren (class of 1946), reading well is
something of a superpower. “With
nothing but the power of your own mind,
you operate on the symbols before you in
such a way that you gradually lift yourself
from a state of understanding less to one
of understanding more.” Skilled reading,
the authors write, is our only defense
against a pre-packaged opinion. How
to Read a Book is an exhaustive
presentation of the four levels of reading:
elementary, inspectional, analytical, and
syntopical. Elementary reading is what a
kindergartener does, or a freshman just
learning to piece together the Greek
alphabet. Inspectional reading, or “timebound, systematic skimming,” is familiar
to the student who procrastinates on a
seminar reading and must try to piece it
together in an impossible amount of
time. (When not forced to take the place
of analytical reading, inspectional
reading is a valuable skill to have.)
Analytical reading is the fount of a
good seminar. This is reading for
understanding, applied to material
that is perhaps slightly out of the reader’s
grasp so that it takes analysis, first to get
through the book and secondly, to talk
about it. Finally, syntopical reading is
analytical reading of multiple books,
synthesizing ideas from various sources,
which ideally leads the reader to a unique
idea from the many.
“The art of reading, in short, includes
all of the same skills that are involved in
the art of unaided discovery: keenness of
observation, readily available memory,
range of imagination, and, of course,
an intellect trained in analysis and
reflection,” the authors write. What is at
stake in the quality of your reading?
If you are reading for more than just
information, the authors posit that it is
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
What is at stake in the
quality of your reading?
If you are reading
for more than just
information, the authors
posit that it is the life
of your mind.
the life of your mind. If you ask a
challenging book a question, “it answers
you only to the extent that you do the
work of thinking and analysis yourself.”
It is almost necessary to read How to
Read a Book in order to read How to
Read a Page: A Course in Efficient
Reading with an Introduction to 100
Great Words, written by British literary
critic and semanticist I.A. Richards in
1942. Like Adler and Van Doren,
Richards offers his book as a remedy to
poor reading, poor thinking, and the
consequent downfall of civilization.
“What is the point of toiling through
thousands of pages, if the chief outcome
is an accumulation of misunderstandings?” he asks. How to Read a Page
delves deeply into the theory of language,
uncovering the “systematic ambiguity
�35
{Bibliofile}
(or ‘resourcefulness’) of all our most
important words” in order to read and
think afresh. The book combines reading
exercises with the gradual development
of a doctrine of the fundamentals of
reading. Nevertheless, Richards does not
aim to strictly codify the art of reading.
For Richards, as for Adler and Van Doren,
reading is an almost sacred act of
communion, not with authors, but with
ideas. “There is no such thing as merely
reading words; always through the words
we are trafficking or trying to traffic with
things—things gone by, present, to come,
or eternal. So a person who sets up to
teach reading should recognize that he
may be more ambitious than he seems…”
Once the reading of a page and a book
have been mastered, we may now move
on to Erasmus G. Addlepate’s tongue-incheek parody, How to Read Two Books,
published in 1940. The book aims to
show non-thinkers “how to become
near-thinkers, part-time thinkers, and for
those who wish to follow the Rules, how
to become mental giants.” Although the
author pokes fun at the idea of a “How
To” book that aspires to true education
(and although he would call I.A. Richards
a practitioner of that “technique of
thought
What Tutors are Reading
We asked tutors from Santa Fe and
Annapolis what non-Program books they
were making time for: a few novels, many
nonfiction works, and a book about a
teddy bear made the list.
Basia Miller: “Céline’s Mort à Crédit is a
long term project.” Also, W. Somerset
Maugham’s The Painted Veil. “After
seeing the movie version, I found the
plot-lines simpler and more delicately
woven [in the book].”
Emily Langston: Obasan, by Joy
Kogawa, about Japanese Canadians
interned during WWII. Also, The Custom
of the Country, by Edith Wharton.
Jon Tuck: Plowing the Dark, by Richard
Powers, The Road by Cormac McCarthy,
Pillar of Fire by Taylor Branch, The Last
Samaurai by Helen DeWitt, and Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem.
Henry Higuera: The Wild Ass’s Skin, by
Honoré de Balzac and The Sot-Weed
Factor by John Barth. “As to why I read
them: both were just to keep sane.”
Sherry Martin: Winkie, by Clifford
Chase, “in which Meletus testifies at a
trial of a teddy bear. Yes, really. On a
recent road trip, I listened to the new Le
Carré novel, The Mission Song. I like to
read novels during the holidays to decompress.”
Joseph Macfarland (A87): Before
France and Germany: The Creation and
Transformation of the Merovingian World
and The Myth of Nations: The Medieval
Origins of Europe, both by Patrick J.
Geary.
Jacques Duvoisin: The Ancient City, by
Fustel de Coulanges, “a classic study of
the religious foundations of Ancient
Greek and Roman cities. It is a real eyeopener. I heartily recommend it.”
Susan Stickney: One Good Turn: A
Natural History of the Screwdriver and
the Screw, by Witold Rybczynski; The
Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan;
and Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the
Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, by
David Hockney.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
Greg Schneider: “Since I took a small
group of Santa Fe campus folks on an
alternative spring break experience in
Haiti, I have been reading about the
country. In particular, I recently read
Breath, Eyes, Memory, by Edwidge
Danticat, is a Haitian-American, and
Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy
Kidder, a nonfiction book about
improving health care in Haiti.”
David Starr: is doing some syntopical
reading: Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical
History; Margaret Barker, The Great High
Priest; Robin Fox, Pagans and Christians;
and Jean Danielou, The Christian
Centuries, vol. I: The First Six Hundred
Years.
“I am reading most of them because I
am interested in the question, why the
early Christians were willing to risk their
lives for their faith. This, of course,
presupposes the question, what was their
faith (or Gospel)? I do not think it is very
well understood by most modern and
post-modern scholars—Christian or not.”
�36
{Croquet}
H A P P Y B I RT H DAY,
C RO Q U E T
by Emily DeBusk (A06)
N
eed there be more reasons for
merry-making on croquet
day? In addition to the muchanticipated victory of the
Johnnies over the Mids (5-0),
the reunion of dear friends,
delectable picnic spreads, flowing champagne, and springtime on the Annapolis
campus, Johnnies had five more reasons to
be of good cheer. The first is that it has been
a quarter of a century since the fateful wager
between St. John’s student Kevin Heyburn
(A86) and a Naval Academy officer that
sparked the good-natured rivalry. Both
Heyburn and the first Imperial Wicket for
St. John’s, John Ertle (A84) attended the
25th croquet match, along with Ertle’s wife,
Kathy, who goes by “First Lady Wicket.”
That first year, the Mids were clearly
outmatched, Imperial Wicket Ertle recalls
with pride. “I did a chop shot and the Mid
turned to his buddy and said, ‘I think we’re
in trouble.’” Ertle points to a snapshot of the
1982 mallet-wielding teams on the steps on
Barr Buchanan, which is eerily similar to the
present day, complete with boater hats and
the trophy securely held in a Johnnie’s
hands. Instead of trophies and mallets, this
year Ertle and Heyburn held champagne
flutes. The commemorative glasses were a
gift to St. John’s alumni in honor of croquet’s
25th birthday.
Old Roots, New Tree
The Liberty Tree that once stood on the front
campus of St. John’s was a piece of American
history in our midst; each of the 13 colonies
had a Liberty Tree, which patriots used as a
meeting place as well as a symbol of their
revolutionary ideals. The 400-year-old
Annapolis Liberty Tree, the last surviving
tree, had to be taken down after it was
critically damaged by Hurricane Floyd.
This year croquet spectators celebrated
the dedication of a new Liberty Tree, a gift
from the 2007 senior class. The senior class
voted to purchase the tulip poplar, located
between the Barr Buchanan Center and
McDowell Hall, as a perennial gift to both
St. John’s and the Annapolis community.
Before the start of the croquet match George
Zahringer (A07), president of the Senior
Class Gift Committee, spoke briefly on the
seniors’ choice. “Of all places, no ground is
more receptive to this symbol of liberty;
here, where the ideal of liberty in thought is
so strong,” he said. “It makes me proud as an
American and as a member of this Polity to
offer this tree on behalf of my class, to reinforce the ideal of liberty.” President Nelson
accepted the gift on behalf of the college,
and the ceremony was made complete when
an ensemble of Johnnies offered their
rendition of “Liberty Tree,” a poem by the
famous revolutionary Thomas Paine.
gary pierpoint
A Gift from the Croquet Gods
In 2005, the unthinkable happened: the
St. John’s croquet team lost the Annapolis
Cup to the Mids. The match was two for two
on that drizzly day, and victory in the fifth
game depended on partners Christopher
Mules and Tristan Evans-Wilent, both
juniors at the time. They lost. “We were so
distraught when we lost, we took a year off
from school,” Evans-Wilent says. Two years
later, Mules and Evans-Wilent were back on
the team, sporting Springsteen-inspired
“Born in the USA” attire, determined to
make this match a victory for St. John’s. The
croquet gods smiled upon them. “I went
rover, then Tristan played a great turn,”
an ecstatic Mules says after their triumph.
Christopher Mules (A07) demonstrates
the “whack-n-watch” pose adopted by many
players after a tense shot.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�{Croquet}
“We [lost] the decisive game five two years
ago, so this is retribution. I feel amazing!”
Love is in the Air
While the croquet teams might have had the
jitters about the day’s competition, no one was
as nervous as G. August Deimel (A04). Deimel
had been planning for weeks to propose to his
girlfriend of two years, Sara Wagner (A08). He
and some friends tricked her into looking for
stereo speakers in Barr Buchanan while
Deimel and Wagner’s families, both from Pittsburgh, were brought out from hiding. When
she emerged from the building, Wagner was
puzzled to see her family. “Then August got on
one knee and asked me and I said yes, of
course,” she recounts. After a champagne
toast, the couple—planning to marry next
summer—danced in front of Barr Buchanan.
People Watching, Balzac Style
Nostalgia, the Annapolis Cup, champagne
glasses, Liberty Trees, divine justice and
romance—what more? Croquet 2007 also had its
usual fantastic parade of characters. “I love the
endless variety of people,” said Bryan Smith
(A08) as he surveyed the teeming assembly of
Johnnies, Mids, alumni from both institutions,
and Annapolitans. “It’s like entering a Balzac
novel; you get a whole social scene with all their
foibles and eccentricities, ” he said. x
Clockwise: Souvenir glasses celebrate a silver anniversary; The
original Imperial Wicket John Ertle (A84); George Zaringer (A07),
Eric Honor (A10), Sara Luell (A09), Lindsay Wyett, Rachel Bartgis
(A09); Lining up the shot; The prized cup; Young boy; A Springsteeninspired team; the original 1982 croquet team.
photos by gary pierpoint
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
37
�38
{Alumni Profile}
A Humanitarian Calling
Christian Acemah (SF05)
by Rosemary Harty
united nations/mark gasten
T
hat he would pursue a career
in the field of international
development was essentially a
foregone conclusion for
Christian Acemah (SF05), a
native of Uganda. His father
was a deputy ambassador for his country; his
mother had worked as an attaché to the
U.N. Security Council.
That he was able to land his first professional job based in Geneva, Switzerland,
with an international nonprofit was beyond
expectation. His studies at Georgetown’s
School of Foreign Service played a role in
that good fortune, he says. But as a foreign
student who suffered several personal
tragedies, he wouldn’t have gotten to
Georgetown or Geneva without the support
and encouragement he found at St. John’s.
Acemah won two merit-based scholarships to attend Georgetown University’s
highly regarded Walsh School of Foreign
Service. Being at Georgetown was a
wonderful experience, if a little intimidating, he says. His fellow students were
serious, ambitious, and already quite
accomplished. “I was the youngest one
there,” he says. “I entered my first class
and the professor started to talk about
Thucydides—everyone else in the class had
no idea what she was talking about. I could
at least relate to what she was saying, and
that was great.”
As a graduate student, Acemah
conducted research and worked as a
teaching assistant in the African Studies
Program. In the summer of 2006, he served
an internship with the Lutheran World
Federation in the Uganda/Sudan Country
Office. He analyzed the federation’s health
policy in the context of Uganda’s national
policy and helped provide health workshops. Through Georgetown, he heard
about a job with a division within UNICEF
that worked to get vaccines and immunizations to children in developing countries.
After he put in his application, he heard
nothing for months, and he braced himself
for disappointment. Finally, a call came for
an interview, and Acemah eventually landed
the job, which was based in Geneva and
would start in a matter of weeks. Because it
Christian Acemah (SF01) greets former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
during an event Acemah organized at Georgetown. The event celebrated Annan’s
lasting legacy to Africa.
would mean interrupting his studies, he
consulted his graduate adviser, who urged
him to accept the job. “It would have taken
me eight years to get to this level, and even
to get into the UN system is so difficult.
Most people give up along the way,” he says.
Acemah’s official title is Executive
Officer, Policy and Research, for the GAVI
Alliance Secretariat. The GAVI alliance is a
public-private partnership focused on
increasing children’s access to vaccines in
poor countries. GAVI unites UNICEF, the
World Bank, and major international foundations in setting mutual goals, sharing
strategies, and coordinating efforts. “We
bring principles from the private sector and
apply them to the public sector,” he says.
One of the agency’s goals is to improve
the mechanisms involved with getting new
vaccines out on the market as soon as they
are ready. It also seeks to create sustainable,
long-term financing for immunization
programs in the countries in which it works.
“Being in such an intense environment is
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
quite interesting for me. We work from
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on almost any given working
day,” he says. “There are constant briefings
and writing pieces to compose. Travel is also
a huge part of this office. I cannot believe
the amount of responsibility I have been
given.” Most recently, Acemah is working
on HPV vaccine advocacy and leads GAVI’s
relationships with African initiatives.
Though he grew up with privileges,
Acemah was raised to be aware of responsibilities and obligations to others. He
undertook his education with those goals in
mind. In Uganda, aptitude tests identified
him as gifted in science and mathematics,
but Acemah wanted to study literature and
was stubborn about it. “My mother came to
the school and told them, ‘he knows what he
wants to do, and it’s going to be difficult to
change his mind,’ ” Acemah recalls. The
school wouldn’t budge, so Acemah found
himself at Olney Friends School in Ohio,
where he learned about St. John’s.
He had already accepted a full scholarship
�39
{Alumni Notes}
1944
CARL S. HAMMEN, a Maryland
scholarship student at St. John’s
College, married Deborah Reinhold-Kazor on March 31, 2007,
in St. Petersburg, Fla. Since
retirement from the University of
Rhode Island, he has served as a
tax-return preparer, census
enumerator, and adjunct
professor at several Florida
colleges. Carl likes to run, and
in 2006 was ranked second in
the state, in the men’s 80 age
division in the 10K and third in
the 15K. Deborah won the
1500-m run in December 2004
at the state senior games, where
they met. She is an equestrienne,
and her quadrille team was
second in the nation in 2001.
Surrounded by Mountains
A
fter 15 years as head of school at Friends School
of Minnesota, MARK NIEDERMIER (A84) has
moved on. He is now head of school at Pacific
Northern Academy in Anchorage, Alaska. His
8-year-old daughter, Sophie, is a second-grader
at the school, and his 3-year-old son, Caleb, will
soon enroll as well. Mark’s wife, Karen, is a nurse practitioner
at Anchorage Midwifery and Women’s Health, and they all enjoy
an active lifestyle, surrounded by mountains and wildlife. x
Carl is the father of five children,
four living, all highly successful,
and the grandfather of seven, all
of whom he dearly loves. Deborah
and Carl, when he completes his
duties as teacher of “creative
geometry” at Ringling School of
Art & Design in Sarasota, will
travel to Portugal, Spain, France,
and England.
to Earlham College, but St. John’s intrigued
him. He called the Santa Fe Admissions
office, rushed to get his material in, and was
offered admission. Acemah says he was
drawn to St. John’s primarily because he
could pursue all his varied interests. “The
place spoke to me from the first moment I
learned of it,” says Acemah, though it took
some time for him to feel confident in the
Program. “I was very scared at first, reading
Euclid. David Carl was my math tutor,
and by the time he called on me to do a
proposition, I did it my own way, and it
worked. From that moment, I just
enjoyed everything.”
Acemah experienced two great losses
during his St. John’s years. His mother,
Monique Kwagala, died when he was a
sophomore. As a foreign services officer in
Uganda, she had helped people escape the
regime of Idi Amin. “She had always been
the anchor of my life,” he explains. “The
day she died, I got up and went to class, and
I got called to do a very long proposition of
Apollonius. Continuing at St. John’s was
important to me. I think that strength came
from her, saying I have to go on.”
A year later, Acemah lost his grandfather,
Nicholas Magoola. Acemah had spent
several years living and working with his
grandfather on his farm, and he learned how
to observe and respect the natural world
through him. “He was one of those people
1960
MARY CAMPBELL GALLAGHER
presented “Easier than IRAC:
The Under-Here-Therefore Legal
Writing System” at the Rocky
Mountain Legal Writing Conference at the University of Nevada
Las Vegas on March 10. Mary first
who can just see right through you, see the
things you can do, and try to encourage you
to look fear in the face,” says Acemah.
“Now, my second anchor was gone.”
His tutors and friends saw through his
stoic demeanor, Acemah says. “They would
always check in with me, and that was a
good thing,” he says. When it seemed
finances would force him to drop out,
his tutors went to the administration
on his behalf, and then-president John
Balkcom (SFGI00) found money for
Acemah to continue.
Career Services Director Margaret O’Dell
watched Acemah evolve from a “quiet,
polite freshman into a mischievous, determined, self-assured senior who would not let
any obstacles stand in his path to Georgetown University and graduate school. He
needed to take two economics classes as
prerequisites before entering Georgetown,”
she explains. “Most students would have
taken a year off and finished those classes in
a leisurely fashion, but not Christian.
He found the classes he needed at the
University of New Mexico, figured out how
to manage the tuition, found a way to
commute to Albuquerque, convinced the
professors to let him enroll for the summer
session, and passed both classes with flying
colors in the space of eight weeks.”
Odell is not surprised Acemah is already
serving a humanitarian cause; she has
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
described her writing system,
which is based on Aristotelian
logic, in the first edition of her
book Scoring High on Bar Exam
Essays, published by ARCO in
1991. BarWrite Press brought out
the third edition in 2006.
1967
LARRY (A) and HAZEL
SCHLUETER (A69) report from
New Orleans: “Hazel has an oldtime country and bluegrass music
show every Sunday morning,
10 a.m. to noon at www.wwoz.org
on the Web for her style of what is
happening in New Orleans postKatrina. We are restoring the
house and enjoying having all the
family here.”
always felt that Acemah’s drive stemmed
from his desire to return to Uganda and
work to improve the lives of others. “This
inner drive could have made him dour or
overly intense but in reality the intensity you
felt from Christian was his love for learning
and for his friends,” she says.
At St. John’s, Acemah met his fiancée,
Marie Craig (SF05), who now teaches at
Olney Friends School and will begin graduate studies at Columbia University in the
fall. They will marry this July at a lodge on
Murchison Falls in northwest Uganda. Many
of his classmates and tutors are planning to
attend, he says.
In the meantime, Acemah is adjusting to
life in Geneva, where finding affordable
housing is a challenge. “The city is very
beautiful, very clean, so many gardens, and
it has a multicultural feel to it because the
UN is here. I can eat the food that I would
eat in Uganda! My favorite is green bananas
with chicken—I can buy it at the grocery
store, go home and prepare it for myself.”
Living closer to his father, Harold
Acemah, ambassador to the European
Union in Brussels, is another plus to
his location.
In the long run, Acemah wants to find a
happy medium between conducting field
work and policymaking. “I don’t know yet
what that blend will look like,” he says. “I
hope it will be exciting and challenging.” x
�40
{Alumni Notes}
on. Daughter HANNA (A96,
Georgetown Law ’01) had a
beautiful wedding on Tilghman
Island to Stephen Goldstein in
November 2005, in which I
participated in Highland dress
plus yarmulke; they live on
Capitol Hill, and it’s great to
be nearby. Catch us at the
New Orleans Jazzfest!”
1968
A good long classnote from
JOSHUA GILLELAN (A) covers a
lot of ground: “I finally made my
escape from the Office of the
Solicitor of Labor in June 2004,
to start my own practice, the
grandiosely entitled Longshore
Claimants’ National Law Center,
practicing primarily before the
federal courts of appeals and the
Supreme Court. I can’t imagine
why I waited so long (except, of
course, that the new practice,
though busy from the start,
produced almost no cash flow for
the first two years). My wife,
writer Allison Blake (be sure to
get the current edition of her
widely available Chesapeake Bay
Book: A Complete Guide before
your next trip to the area), and I
have a second home in New
Orleans (bought four months
before Katrina—great timing—but
in the ‘sliver by the river’ that
didn’t flood, though it was an
anxious two and a half weeks
before we could make sure it was
still there and not pancaked by
the water oak in the back yard or
the live oak in the neighbor yard),
and intend to spend half the year
there (appellate practice is
wonderfully portable) from now
1975
Publishing news from ERIC
SCIGLIANO (SF): “Been
grounded in Seattle, helping start
a magazine (Seattle Metropolitan,
nominal position ‘news editor’).
Article “The Mind of an
Octopus” picked for Best American Science Writing anthology.
Last book, Michaelangelo’s
Mountain, was finalist for
Washington State Book Award.
Lost to Tim Egan’s The Worst
Hard Time, which went on to win
the National Book Award.”
C
(SANDERS) SOKOLOV (SF02) and her
husband, Christopher, welcomed their second
son, Gregory, on November 22, 2006. He joins
his brother, Nicholas, in contemplating the two
greatest inventions of the Western world: fire
trucks and helicopters. x
RYSTAL
Institute of St. Louis
(www.kabbalahmadeeasy.com),
along with publishing poetry:
“In 2005, my poem was featured
alongside Maya Angelou’s in a
poetry anthology called, Cosmic
Brownies—Poems about Lessons
Learned in Life. In 2006, I was
the original winner of the only
scholarship (based solely on
merit) given by the Washington
University Summer Writer’s
Institute, which I turned down
because it wasn’t a full scholarship and due to health reasons at
the time. I also help one of my
friends with her matchmaking
business.”
1976
ALICE JOY BROWN (A) works as
an office assistant while doing
promotions for the Kabbalah
Another Croquet Fan
alex fotos
T
heodore
Gammon (A28
or A30 if he is
slow like his
father; SF28 if
contrary like his
mother) reports that his
parents, ALEX and BETH (both
A94), are doing well in Baltimore. Other places, too. He is
trying to teach them that as
long as you sit under the maple
once a day, get dirty once a day,
eat some currants and dance a
little, you should smile more
than frown. x
Fire trucks and
Helicopters
1988
For the last year and a half,
JULIET BURCH (A) has been
working at the National Center
for Jewish Film, an archive
located at Brandeis University
and dedicated to the preservation
and restoration of Jewish-themed
films. “I feel as though I’ve really
found my niche in this interesting
and quirky collection,” she
writes. “It’s great to have a job
I love!”
ERIN MILNES (A) writes that she
was married in June 2006 to
Chuck Guest, a writer and musician, in Oakland, Calif.: “We had
more fun than anyone should all
weekend, with family and great
friends, including half a dozen
Johnnies from the infamous class
of A88.”
In March, KIM PAFFENROTH (A)
was named a recipient of the
Bram Stoker Award for his
nonfiction work, Gospel of the
Living Dead: George Romero’s
Visions of Hell on Earth (Baylor,
2006). His book tied with Final
Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die, by Michael
Largo. The award is bestowed in
recognition of “superior achievement” by the Horror Writers
Association. Winning the award
puts Paffenroth in the company
of writer Stephen King, and he
takes home an award that is an
eight-inch replica of a haunted
house with a door that opens to
reveal a brass plaque engraved
with the name of the winning
work and its author. Gospel of the
Living Dead is a non-fiction book
connecting social and religious
views with the classic American
zombie and horror genre; it has
attracted much critical acclaim.
1991
JONARNO LAWSON (A) has
received the 2007 The Lion and
the Unicorn Award for excellence
in North American poetry for his
book Black Stars in a White
Night Sky.
continued on p. 43
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�41
{Alumni Profile}
What was so special about the Class of ’66?
by Emily DeBusk (A06)
e came to St. John’s
from having marched
with Martin Luther
King on a hot day,
holding hands,
singing ‘We Shall
Overcome.’ Kennedy was President. Bras
were to be burned. We had come to St. John’s
as prospectives, gone to seminar, become
converts. We came to the college, the
Program, with something resembling
religious reverence. I can’t speak for my
classmates, but my guess is that it was more
the rule than the exception.
We read seminar with Jacob Klein,
complete with pipe and joyous love of Plato;
sang in freshman chorus for/with Victor
Zuckerkandl, who had but to lift his hand for
us all to feel held by angels; studied the Bible
in small groups with Mr. Kaplan, whose
humanity almost eclipsed his brilliance; read
Greek with John Kieffer, whose cadence still
echoes. Elliott Zuckerman, Joe Cohen, and
John Sarkissian were the ‘young ones.’ Al
Main was in charge of the laboratory. Bob
Bart, Charles Bell, Paul Scofield, were our
guides, with Winfree Smith, and Sam Kutler,
Beate Ruhm van Oppen, Douglas Allanbrook, Tom MacDonald. Life with them was
totally engrossing. We were obsessed with
books, dialogue, discovery.
Annapolis was tacky and rundown, not at
all its up-market today self. McDonald’s was
new and had just sold a million burgers. The
night the Cuban missile crisis threatened,
there was silence around the seminar table
until Mr. Klein broke in with the opening
question and we were off, again, in the
traditional search. Afterwards, we sat in a
dormitory room, listening to the radio.
The Russian fleet turned back. And later,
W
Kennedy was shot. The only television on
campus was turned on, day and night. I
didn’t watch, but that was a choice I’m not
sure I don’t regret. Anyway, in 1963, or
maybe it was 1964, we heard the first Beatles
recording wafting out from Humphrey.
We sat and watched the sunsets over
College Creek, and fell asleep reading Aristotle or Kant or Cervantes or Tolstoy (all four
just the right size for a pillow), drank coffee
in the eponymous shop, and partied as soon
as lecture—or sometimes the question
period—was over, making good use of the Sin
Bins in Campbell, and walked down to the
shabby dock dubbed ‘Piraeus.’ I guess sometime in there, we grew up–sort of–and then,
of course, we left.
Where did the class of 1966 go and what
did they do? Like every graduating class,
the diverse career paths taken by alumni
reflect the versatility of their education: a
news executive, several clergy members,
an internationally acclaimed playwright,
doctors, lawyers, artists, and even a
lighting technician for Grateful Dead
concerts.
bruce preston (A65)
Constance (Bell) Lindgreen (A66) and her
classmates came of age during an extraordinary time of metamorphosis in America.
Growing up in tumultuous times, and
immersed in the great books as they were,
they were bound for great things. Connie
retired as a vice president in IBM’s European
operation and took on the role of “class
leader” for her reunion last year. Collecting
news of her classmates inspired her to reflect.
She writes:
For Lindgreen’s classmate Mel Kline, it
was sophomore seminar on the Bible that
was an especially formative experience.
“Sophomore seminar, when you face the
Bible and religious questions, had a strong
effect on me and my Jewish roots,” Kline
says. Soon after graduation, he moved to
Israel, where he lives today. “St. John’s really
helped me find my life’s work. About 25 years
ago I began a research project dealing with
Jewish texts without commentaries, which is
unheard of in Jewish studies. I made a
number of discoveries utilizing the tools of
inquiry I developed at St. John’s.”
Theodora Carlile echoes Lindgreen’s
memories of cultural change: “When I
entered in 1962, Beatnik folk was the cutting
edge of music. By the time I left, it was The
Stones, Dylan, The Beatles. As far as the
Program goes, it was a charmed experience
for me. I was thrilled with the conversations.” So much so that Carlile went on to
become a professor in the liberal arts
program at Saint Mary’s College in
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
Irene (Lindermayer) Dortch and Connie
(Bell) Lindgreen, both class of 1966.
California, a position recommended to her
by Brother Robert Smith. “I get to go
through the Program over and over again,”
she says. “I never really left in a way. I also
remember that my class was known as “the
Matriarchy” because of the many wonderful
and strong-minded women in the class.”
Margaret Winter was one of them. “In
late ’66 there was beginning to be a lot of
political ferment,” Winter recalls. “I wanted
to work for social justice. I decided the best
thing to do after St. John’s was to go to law
school and use that as a tool for political
activism.” Today, as the associate director of
the National Prison Project of the ACLU,
she works to protect the constitutional rights
of prisoners. x
To exchange memories, post pictures, and
help tell the story of your class, visit and
join the online community of alumni.
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu
/?AlumniAssociation
�42
{Alumni Profile}
Planting Seeds of Peace
Munir Hussein (A90)
by Patricia Dempsey
D
and expose young people to their ‘enemies’
at a time in their life when they’re forming
their opinions and perceptions. Hopefully
this will help create a new generation of
leaders who will be wiser and perhaps less
judgmental of someone’s looks or beliefs.”
He discovered the organization while
studying for his MBA at Columbia University, through a Jewish colleague who was
serving on the Seeds of Peace board.
“He came to me and said, ‘I think you will
really appreciate what this organization is
doing,’ ” Hussein says. Observing the camp
in action inspired Hussein to offer his
considerable management skills to Seeds
of Peace. He volunteered on the Young
Leadership Committee, managing fundraisers in Manhattan and mentors former
“Seeds” with career advice. Last year,
Hussein joined the organization’s board
of directors and is currently its only
Palestinian American member.
As a board member, Hussein hopes to
provide a leadership model for teenagers
who come from Palestine. “I want to set a
good example and use my Palestinian
heritage as a positive thing,” he says.
“There are many occasions—business
meetings, parties—when I’ll hear comments
christopher huston
ressed in khaki shorts and
sneakers, he could easily
have passed as one of the
camp counselors. But
Munir Hussein (A90) a
real estate dealmaker, had
come to this peaceful spread of tall pines
and clear lakes near Lewiston, Maine, to
observe. As a guest of Seeds of Peace
summer camp, he quietly listened to a
tense dialogue between Israeli and
Palestinian teenagers.
“The professional facilitator opened with
a question: ‘What do you think about the
wall between Israel and the West Bank?’
There were 14 teenagers from Israel and
about 10 from Palestine,” recalls Hussein, a
Palestinian American. “They were probably
on their best behavior because there were
visitors in the room, but it was a very open,
candid dialogue. They bunk together, sail,
do the ropes course, and have discussions
that remind me in some ways of a St. John’s
seminar-starting off with a question.”
As a managing director in real estate
acquisition and development for a private
equity firm in Manhattan, Hussein skillfully
arranges financing and structures lucrative
real estate deals. Yet for all the delicate
negotiations he has
managed, nothing
prepared him for this
first visit to Seeds of
Peace in 2003. The
camp brings together
teenagers from both
sides of a conflict
area, such as
Palestine and Israel,
India and Pakistan,
the United States
and Iraq, and the
Balkans, in order
to foster mutual
understanding.“I was
dazzled,” Hussein
says. “Here’s an
organization that is
really doing something about the
problems in the
world. They’re
seeking to educate
or someone will ask ‘where are you from?’
I say, ‘Rye, New York’ and they say, ‘No,
where are you really from?’ It depends how
diplomatic people are, but in this climate of
fear the tiniest little difference stands out.
I want people to see that I’m not just like an
American, I am an American.”
Last summer Seeds of Peace touched
Hussein personally when his then 13-year
old cousin Dana attended the camp in
Maine. “She lives in a small village in
Palestine, Zeita, near Nablus, of about
2,100 people,” says Hussein who has
numerous relatives on his father’s side who
live on the West Bank. Hussein has visited
Palestine several times, and when he
traveled there in 2000 with his parents he
spent time with Dana, whom he describes
as “exceptionally bright.” Yet the opportunities for a young woman like Dana in her
village were, and still are, limited. “The tiny
village where Dana was growing up has dirt
roads, stone houses, olive trees, and
chicken farmers,” Hussein says. “The
women are raised in a totally traditional
Middle Eastern culture and handle the
children and household chores. Although
they are given the opportunity to go to
college, they typically do not have the same
choices that men do.”
Hussein’s father, a
Palestinian immigrant
who spent his career
with large consumer
product companies,
and his mother, a
classics professor at
Montclair State
University in New
Jersey and an advocate
for woman’s rights,
later returned to
Palestine to convince
Dana’s parents to let
her attend the
program. “Her father
was cautious,” says
his corporate life is
about deal making,
but with Seeds of
Peace, Hussein builds
bridges.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�43
{Alumni Notes}
continued from p. 40
1993
RACHEL BLISTEIN (A) is in
Michigan: “I completed my
master’s degree in Landscape
Architecture at Morgan State
University in Baltimore,
graduating in 2003. After
working in Baltimore for several
years, I met my future husband,
Paul Alexander, and decided to
re-locate to Ann Arbor, Mich.,
where he was completing his PhD
in Mechanical Engineering. We
were married in October of 2004
and, one and a half years later,
bought our first house in nearby
Ypsilanti. My husband works for
General Motors as a research
engineer and I recently began my
own residential design firm, Veris
Landscape Design, L.L.C. We
love Michigan, despite the cold
winters and troubled economy.
The surroundings are beautiful,
the people are friendly, there’s a
funky local music scene and lots
of great food (it goes with the
cold winters). Anyone who
wants to get in touch is
welcome to reach me at
rblistein@yahoo.com.”
OMAR S. MANEJWALA, M.D.,
(A) writes: “Over the last six years
(since finishing up as Chief
Resident in psychiatry at Duke)
I’ve become very interested in the
treatment of addicted healthcare
professionals. In July 2006,
I moved to Virginia to become
the Associate Medical Director
of the William J. Farley center,
a program for chemically
dependent professionals. I also
spend a few days a month
lecturing across the country on
various topics in addiction
medicine. This is exciting and
rewarding work, as about half of
my patients are addicted medical
professionals including
physicians, pharmacists,
veterinarians, dentists, etc.
It’s really been an honor and a
privilege to participate in their
recovery. When I’m not working
I’m still traveling like crazy. Last
year I climbed Kilimanjaro and
hiked the overland track in
Tasmania. Last month I returned
from my fourth trip to India, this
time to attend my brother’s
marriage at the Taj Mahal.”
1998
1997
DOMINIC CRAPUCHETTES (A) has
been encountering great success
in the board game business: “Our
latest party game, “Wits &
Getting the Word Out
K
EVIN BROCK (SF96) and KHIN KHIN GUYOT
BROCK (SF88) hope to add a new member to
their family soon: “We married in 2004, after
meeting in a summer alumni seminar on Jane
Austen in 2000 and in several more over the
following years. For our honeymoon we did the
Coast-to-Coast walk in England, a 200-mile hike from the
North Sea to the Irish Sea through Yorkshire and the Lake
Country. We live in Mountain View, Calif.” Kevin is a software
engineer with a networking start-up in Santa Cruz and Khin
Khin teaches first grade in a local public school.
“We are currently trying to adopt an infant through domestic
open adoption,” he adds. “Open adoption is very different from
international adoption, because the birth mother and the adoptive parents know more about each other, and there is usually
some degree of continuing contact after the baby is born. The
birth mother chooses the adoptive parents who she wants to
raise her child, so there’s a lot of uncertainty involved while
waiting for a match. The biggest challenge is getting the word
out, so if you know someone who is pregnant and considering
adoption, please feel free to give them our contact information:
408-806-9190; brock@kevin.com.” x
Hussein. “She’d never been out of the
village and it’s a big leap to go from this
tiny village in the Palestinian countryside—
not only to go to the United States, but to a
camp where she would be bunking with
roommates from Israel.” By June 2006
Dana joined fellow Palestinian “Seeds” at
an orientation session before they took a
plane from Tel Aviv to the United States
with the teenage Israeli “Seeds.”
Hussein, his parents, and his uncle from
Boston visited Dana on her second day of
camp in Maine in part to reassure her
parents that she was thriving. “She was
wearing her headscarf and she was a little
nervous, but she got out and was playing
soccer with the kids. She’d never been
swimming before; she played all kinds of
sports and went boating and did crafts, and
of course they do a ropes course, where
you’re learning to spot one another and
build trust.”
Hussein says Dana’s English, along with
her confidence and world outlook, reached
new heights. “Now she’s back in her village
and she’s started a Seeds of Peace type
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
Wages,” won 11 industry awards
last year including Games
magazine’s ‘Party Game of the
Year,’ ” he writes. “It will be
carried nationwide at Target
starting in August! I am very
excited.”
JEAN (TULLY) FLAHERTY (A) and
her husband, Seamus, joyfully
announce the births of their three
children, Aoife Marie, born
December 1, 2003; George
Anthony, born March 26, 2005;
and Saoirse Anne, born October
7, 2006. They live in Plantation,
Fla., and will move to South
Bend, Ind., this autumn.
DAWN (SHUMAN) BORCHELT
(A), Matthew, and Wolfgang
welcomed their new son and
brother, Robin Wylde Borchelt to
the world in their new home on
May 2, 2006. He was 7 lbs.
9 ounces and 20 inches long.
2000
ALEXIS BROWN (SF, EC03)
recently joined the Board of
Directors of Creative Santa Fe.
She has added this to her list of
other volunteer efforts at the
Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma
Treatment Center, Santa Fe
Cares and AIDS Walk, and High
program there,” he says. “It’s had a
tremendous impact on her life and
broadening her horizons.”
“It’s funny,” Hussein adds, “back when I
was at St. John’s, I was never aware of being
that different in college. People were just
people. This is the way I was brought up, a
face is a face, a mind is a mind, an idea is an
idea, you don’t look at a person’s culture or
ethnicity–you look at who they are as a
human being.” x
�44
{Alumni Notes}
A Journey to China
B
TURNER (EC03) has been accepted to CIEE’s
Teach in China program. He will teach Oral English
and American Literature classes at Jiaxing University
in the city of Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. “Beginning
this August, this appointment will last an entire
academic year (10 months), and I couldn’t be more
excited,” he writes. “I took classical Chinese courses under the
eminent Mike Bybee at the Santa Fe campus, and his classes were
the initial impetus for this journey of mine. Apart from my teaching
load, I intend to diligently study Mandarin with a private tutor,
thereby returning to the States slightly more fluent than I am now.
“Not only did I want to share my good fortune with the Johnnie
community, but I also wanted to invite others to offer their advice
and suggestions. If any others have embarked on similar experiences, I would love to glean some sage advice with regard to living
conditions, textbook choices, etc.: bennett.turner@gmail.com.” x
ENNETT
Mayhem Emerging Arts Studio.
She is excited to work on
promoting the prosperity of
Santa Fe’s creative industries
and their economic potential.
If you want more information on
Creative Santa Fe, please feel
free to contact Alexis at:
alexis_i_brown@yahoo.com.
2001
“I’d like to give an update on my
whereabouts to my fellow
alumni,” writes WILL BONNER
(SF). “In February 2007 my wife
and I moved to Buenos Aires,
Argentina. We keep a daily blog
about the experience at
www.willbonner.com.”
“This is just a shameless note to
let you all in on some personal
news,” writes NATHAN WILSON
(AGI). “I recently signed a fourbook deal with Random House
for young adult novels, the first of
which (Leepike Ridge) will release
May 22. I shamelessly rip-off
some of the greats in service of
my plot (Twain and Homer
mainly). In a very different
market, I also have a piece of
short fiction in the February issue
of Esquire. It’s sort of mixed-
media, I guess—typed on pieces of
a cocktail napkin (their idea, not
mine). Another short story was
just nominated for the Pushcart
Prize. I feel a bit cheesy telling
you all, but is the phrase alma
mater meaningless? Can’t I brag
to my mater?”
2002
STEVE ROSE (AGI) sent in a note
for himself and MAILI SHAFFER
(AGI), who look forward to
traveling together in Europe
this summer: “Ms. Shaffer, after
teaching first grade since
graduation in May 2000 is
about to finish her first year of law
school at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her firstyear summer law position will be
in Baltimore, and she is looking
forward to beautiful evenings in
Annapolis. Maili would be
delighted to hear from classmates
or Johnnies interested in UM Law
School. For myself, I have been
teaching in Annapolis since May
2000, with two lengthy interruptions for visits to Iraq with
B Company, 4th Light Armored
Recon Battalion. Our most recent
vacation was to keep the rivers
and lakes safe for fishermen and
farmers, and we received many
thanks from the Iraqis for
providing some small measure
of security. I’m delighted to
be home and look forward not
only to hearing from former
classmates, but most of all to
backpacking through Europe
with Maili in August.”
SHELLEY (WALKER) SAXEN
(SFGI, EC03) writes: “Doug
Saxen and I are now married and
enjoying all the skiing and hiking
we can get while in Montana for
another year. While I finish up my
doctorate in Natural Resources
Management, Doug is in the
throes of writing a children’s
book series. There’s always room
for SFGI alumni at our place if
you happen to be in western
Montana and we would love to
hear from you.”
Since last spring MICHAEL
SULLIVAN (A) has been trying to
teach Plato, Aristotle, Boethius,
Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant,
and Nietzsche to semi-grateful
freshmen at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., and and
The Catholic University of
America in Washington, D.C.
He is also working on his doctoral
dissertation, on the debate over
universal hylomorphism in
13th-century metaphysics, for
Catholic University.
RACHEL ROCCIA SULLIVAN (A)
is nearing the end of her third
year of medical school at
Uniformed Services University of
the Health Sciences (USUHS) in
Bethesda, Md. Options for
specialization remain open, but
she is strongly considering a
future in psychiatry.
Their younger daughter, Grace,
has had two eye surgeries and a
heart surgery since her birth last
July, but she’s doing very well;
their older daughter, Clare, is,
hopefully, coming out of her
terrible twos as her third birthday
approaches.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
2004
GIDEON CULMAN (SFGI, EC05)
is living in the District of
Columbia and organizing alumni
gatherings every week; alumni in
the D.C. area should look him up
to get on his e-mail list. The
group provides networking
opportunities, camaraderie,
and fun get-togethers with other
Johnnies.
2005
CHARLES CLAUNCH (SFGI), now
in the master’s program in politics at the University of Dallas,
has been accepted to that school’s
PhD program for the fall term in
2007. If anyone has any interest
in this program, please direct
questions to him at
cclaunch@alumni.stjohnscollege.edu.
JOHN PETERSON (A) and
CAROLYN ANN STRIPLING (SF07)
were married in July 2006. 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 October;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is August 10.
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
�{Alumni Notes}
45
A Greek Adventure Runs Aground
ack Ladd Carr, class of 1950, and his
wife, Lois, had been looking forward
to a stimulating trip to the “Greek
Islands and Beyond,” as the tour
operator billed it. But on the day that
their cruise ship, the Sea Diamond,
was scheduled to make an afternoon
trip to Santorini, the excursion provided a
bit more excitement than they had
bargained for. Just a few days into their twoweek trip, the couple had already visited
several Aegean islands and made stops in
Patmos and Crete. “We were to sail into the
harbor at Santorini,” Carr recalls. “The
island is spectacularly beautiful; there are
these very unusual cliffs, and they go
straight down into this deep caldera. We
were preparing to disembark for a brief run
to the island when for some reason the ship
struck a rock ledge.”
While the crew prepared to evacuate
passengers, the ship began listing to starboard. “Everybody was calm,” he says.
“The crew managed to calm every one
down. There were some youngsters,
teenagers from a school in North Carolina,
and they were in good spirits, clowning
around, snapping each other’s pictures.”
Carr and his wife are both in their 80s,
and another passenger, a young French
woman took notice of them, got them life
jackets, and made sure the couple were
safe. “She made certain that in the crush of
people that we were not pushed down, and
J
she took her own
life jacket off and
put it on Lois,”
Carr says. “She
spoke no English,
and we speak no
French, but we
managed to
communicate our
gratitude to her.”
While many
passengers
climbed down
ropes to rescue
vessels, the Carrs
were evacuated to
a waiting ferry by
means of a
makeshift chute,
assembled of
mattresses, which
linked the
automobile ramps
of both ships.
Jack and Lois Carr on dry ground after the disaster, and below,
“Thank God I
Lois, after sliding to safety.
didn’t have to
climb down a
ladder,” says Carr.
woman named Rea, and Rea arranged for
“The last time I climbed down a ladder into
our group to go to a very nice, new hotel in
the boat was during the second World War
the village,” says Carr.
when I climbed down cargo nets into
“We got there by going up the cliff in a
landing boats, which I did several times.
sort of funicular, and after a short walk
It was scary when I was 19, and it would be a through the village, caught a bus that took
lot scarier at 82.”
us to the hotel. They gave us dinner, a
Carr has read many reports
room, and breakfast the next morning. And
that people panicked, that
at breakfast, I found out the ship had sunk.
there was chaos, and that the
That was the only time we sensed any fear.”
crew wasn’t helpful, but their
Carr had a shoulder bag with some euros,
experience was much better.
credit cards, and glasses. The couple’s
They saw no panic and
clothing and everything else in their
thought the crew acted professuitcase, including souvenirs, were lost.
sionally. “We decided to keep
The group’s passports were also safe and
calm and observed everything
returned to them on the next leg of their
with great interest,” he recalls. trip. Each passenger was provided with
“We were separated—they did
200 euros to pick up some clothing and
the women-and-children
other items in Athens. Then they continued
thing. That’s when I began to
their trip for another 11 days. “We lost only
feel that I was on the Titanic.
one day of the tour,” Carr says.
By this time, the ship was
The accident won’t stop the Carrs
listing at 15 degrees.”
from traveling, says Carr. “I’m not
Lois was rescued first; Jack a superstitious,” he says. “But I could do
little while later, and their tour with less adventure.” x
group of 39 was brought
—rosemary harty
ashore together. “Our tour
guide was a wonderful Greek
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�46
{Obituaries}
LILLIAN VANOUS NUTT
FRIEND OF THE COLLEGE
“Of course, Lillian also loved to paint, and
exhibited in juried shows all over the area. I
Lillian Vanous Nutt, who died earlier this spring at
imagine that I have seen thousands of her waterage 99, was a generous and dedicated supporter of
colors, mostly on note cards, pieces of paper
St. John’s College in Annapolis. Her gifts
not-to-be-thrown-away. And in the last 10 years,
supported scholarships for St. John’s students,
I’ve been pleased to gaze upon hundreds of painted
helped establish the Mitchell Gallery, and under“jolins”, flowers designed by Lillian as a gift in
wrote the renovation of a room in the Greenfield
honor of my wife, Joyce Olin . . . four years ago, we
Library to serve as the Nutt Room, a second
added to our personal collection of framed “jolins”
exhibition space for art on the Annapolis campus
and other “still-lifes,” a bell pull, hand-painted by
which also serves as an elegant reading room.
Lillian with beautiful roses. I still pull on the darn
The following excerpt, from a eulogy given at
thing, but nobody comes a-running. I suspect
her memorial service by Annapolis President
Lillian knew that too. ‘Each of us was meant to
Christopher Nelson, celebrates Mrs. Nutt’s
attend to his own needs,’ I can hear her say.
many contributions:
“I have loved Lillian’s colorful and vivid
“Lillian was born four weeks shy of 100 years ago
imagination . . . In 1964, Lillian wrote a brief poem
in a small wooden house on the corner of Taylor
about herself. I think it captured her rather well.
Lillian Vanous Nutt
Avenue and Annapolis Street. She grew up in a
It was titled, “Me” and opened as follows: ‘If I am
home her parents soon thereafter built on Revell
anything/ I certainly am prolific/ No matter what
Street. Lillian remembered it for its central heating
the merit/ My output is terrific!’
with gold radiators and two bathrooms, but also for its large fishpond
“Indeed, it was. How many of us in this room have received
with a fountain in the middle. She recalls the parties at the outdoor
envelopes stuffed with hand-painted note cards (on recycled paper)
fireplace, and the use of red-checked tablecloths and cloth napkins,
to be used for friendly “thank yous” or just to lift the spirit. She was
not the paper products of today which she shuddered to call “throwgenerous but tough and always faced down the advance of age. . .
aways.” No one who knew Lillian could forget her abhorrence of
She befriended St. John’s College many years ago and generously
throwaways: Everything to its purpose, at least twice over . . .
provided student scholarships for those with need. She also
“Lillian remained at home until 1943 when she was married to Hi,
underwrote the renovation of the Lillian Vanous Nutt Room in
a marriage that lasted for her remaining 64 years. She attended the
the Greenfield Library, where regular shows of local artists are
Peabody Institute for her music lessons, traveling back and forth to
exhibited through the year. Her gifts are put to use over and over
Baltimore on the old B&A Railway. She even remembered giving a
and for multiple purposes . . .
recital at age 13 in McDowell Hall at St. John’s College. She also
“A small group of us gathered in Lillian’s and Hi’s home last May
remembered her youthful parties at St. John’s and the Naval
for her 99th birthday. Anna Greenberg (HA96) asked her what she
Academy. By the time she was 20, she had her own car and began
considered was the most important thing she had accomplished in
teaching piano, something she did for three generations of
her lifetime. She answered quickly, ‘without a doubt, it was my
Annapolitans . . .
teaching children to play the piano and appreciate art!’ ”
DR. PETER HAMILL
CLASS OF 1949
Dr. Peter VanVechten Hamill,
class of 1949, died on March 10,
2007, at the age of 80. He had
forged a remarkable life and
career as a scholar and scientist,
an avid sportsman, accomplished sailor, and collector of
fine wines.
Dr. Hamill was born in Baltimore in 1926, and grew up in
Detroit. He earned a bachelor’s
in philosophy from the
University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor and medical degrees from
Michigan and Johns Hopkins
University. He served in the
Navy during World War II and
had a career as a commissioned
officer in the United States
Dr. Peter Hamill
Public Health Service. He was
the scientific director of the
Surgeon General’s Study on
Smoking and Health and also
designed the Growth and
Development charts for use
in charting the growth of
juveniles.
Eva Brann, who spoke at
Dr. Hamill’s memorial service,
described him as “first and last”
a Johnnie, with an “acute,
detailed and wickedly judgmental memory.”
In 2002, Dr. Hamill sent
Miss Brann an oral history of his
role in the 1962-64 study on
smoking, which is now in the
JFK Library in Boston. The
study was the first declaration
from the government that
smoking causes cancer, as
the Senior Surgeon in the
Commissioned Officer Corps of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
the Public Health Service,
Dr. Hamill played a key role in
establishing the criteria for the
study and assembling the staff
and professional personnel for
the committee, but the oral
history also demonstrates
qualities far beyond professional ability:
“He was passionately engaged
as Peter the man and desperately objective as Peter the
scientist. He was impatiently
temperamental as a man with a
mission and generously understanding as a man with an
administrative charge. He was
naively forthright and dutifully
cunning, fascinated and
repelled by personal and
bureaucratic obstructionism. . .
�47
{Obituaries}
“But besides personalities
there was Peter’s main
principle, which, I imagine,
made everything work. He was
a believer in dialogue. ‘When
I say dialogue,’ he told his
recorder, ‘remember I’m a
St. Johnnie and the dialectic
process of antithesis and
eventually synthesis is part of
my whole being.’ And this was a
true self description: Peter was
passion tempered by appreciation, prejudgment mitigated
by receptivity, spiritedness
leavened by self-doubt.”
Dr. Hamill is survived by his
wife of 54 years, Margot Henry
Hamill; four children, and 11
grandchildren.
successive “most powerful”
computers in their time.
He was also the first corporate
technical director at Computer
Usage Company, the world’s
first software company. He
was system engineer on the
first large electronic publishing
system.
His experience spanned the
full spectrum of systems software and support packages and
included a tremendous variety
of disciplines, including
system programming, data
communications, publishing,
command and control systems,
scientific/engineering
applications, statistics, and
operations research.
GEORGE TRIMBLE
CLASS OF 1948
KENNETH KRONBERG (SF68)
George R. Trimble, a pioneer in
computer development, died
March 13, 2007, at the age of 77.
He made many original contributions to both the design and
application of data processing
equipment in a career that
spanned the computer industry
from ENIAC in 1949 to the most
advanced large-scale computer
systems. After graduating from
St. John’s he studied numerical
methods at the University of
Delaware and in 1951 earned
a master’s degree in
mathematics.
Mr. Trimble developed
mathematical analyses and
machine applications for a
variety of the earliest electronic
computers, including ENIAC,
EDVAC, and ORDVAC, to
minimize data reduction errors
in rocket trajectory calculations
for captured German V-2
rockets. As a senior staff
member in IBM’s Applied
Science Division, 1952-1956,
Mr. Trimble was involved in the
logical design and application
requirements of virtually every
computer made by IBM in the
early 1950s. Between 1955 and
1966, he was involved in the
development of numerous
Kenneth Kronberg, a member
of the first graduating class of
St. John’s College in Santa Fe,
died April 11, 2007, at the age
of 58. He was the husband of
Marielle (Molly) Hammett
Kronberg (A70) of Leesburg
and the father of Max
Kronberg, a 2006 Annapolis
graduate.
After graduating from
St. John’s, Mr. Kronberg spent a
year as a junior fellow at the
Center for the Study of
Democratic Institutions in
Santa Barbara, Calif., and later
did graduate work at the New
School for Social Research in
New York.
He was an editor for the
American Institute of Physics
and for John Wiley & Sons
before founding WorldComp in
1978. He had been a member of
the National Caucus of Labor
Committees since 1974.
He directed amateur theater,
and taught poetry and drama
classes to children and adults
for many years. He edited
The Campaigner, a cultural
magazine, for a number of
years. In 1992 he co-founded
Fidelio, a quarterly journal of
poetry, science and statecraft,
which he edited until 2006.
Kenneth Kronberg
At his memorial service on
April 19, his wife, Molly,
described him as “a man of
character, honor, and
integrity—old-fashioned virtues.
He was a man of his word.
“He weighed words carefully,
always trying to say precisely
what he meant, because he
understood the connection
between morality and right use
of language, and on the other
hand, the enormous damage
done to truth and therefore
people by perversion of
language. His love of language
reached back to his earliest
childhood—for example, his
discovery at the age of eight of
the poems of Emily Dickinson
and Christina Rossetti. By the
time that, barely 16, he went off
to college, he was a practicing
poet himself, a calling he
followed for many years
thereafter.
“Ken’s poetic instinct could
be found in everything he did:
his efforts to make every
publication on which he worked
a harmonious composition; his
efforts to bring beauty in visual
form to the printed page; in
written form to the articles he
wrote or edited; in aural form to
the audiences of the dramas
he directed.
“The same beauty could
be found in his gentleness,
his abhorrence of brutality,
his kindness to all who
encountered him (kindness
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
mixed with the sardonic
brusqueness he deployed as an
educational device), and his
truthfulness. His enthusiasm
for learning and teaching, for
new ideas and for the more
precise expression and rigorous
examination of venerable ones,
was the content of the Socratic
art of midwifery he practiced in
directing plays or in editing.
He was like the Clerk of Oxford
of whom Chaucer writes,
‘And gladly wolde he lerne and
gladly teche.’
ALSO NOTED
REV. DUNCAN BROCKWAY (CLASS
OF 1953), JANUARY 23, 2007
JEREMY DAWES (SF01),
JANUARY 15, 2007
NANCY FARIDANY (CLASS OF 1962),
SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
ROBERT GOLDBERG (CLASS OF
1950), SEPTEMBER 3, 2006
JOHN GORECKI (CLASS OF 1960),
DECEMBER 12, 2006
JOSEPH HOFMANN (CLASS OF 1942),
APRIL 2, 2007
MARION JENKINS (SFGI89),
JANUARY 13, 2007
ANDREW KLIPPER (A80),
JANUARY 22, 2007
JOSEPH LEGUM (CLASS OF 1933),
JULY 26, 2006
SUSAN LEUBUSCHER (A68),
FEBRUARY 28, 2007
DOROTHY LUTTRELL (CLASS OF
1960), MARCH 26, 2007
VICTOR PERRETTA (CLASS OF
1932), APRIL 13, 2007
ALBERT POPPITI (CLASS OF 1942),
FEBRUARY 9, 2007
RAY SMITH (A94),
MARCH 1, 2003
DOLORES STRICKLAND (SF71),
MARCH 16, 2007
�48
{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
Even the Dead Know No End of War
A Reporter in Iraq
Nelson Hernandez (A99), a reporter on the
Washington Post’s Metro desk, covered the
war in Iraq from late December 2005 to
February 2006, and again from mid-April
to mid-June 2006. The Post has assigned
some Metro reporters to two-month rotations in Iraq; Hernandez was the first to
volunteer. He agreed to a second rotation
because his younger brother, Thomas, a
Marine reservist, would be serving at the
same time. “I wanted to relate to him when
he got back,” Hernandez says.
Hernandez interned for the newspaper
while at St. John’s and joined the Post staff
after graduation; he took a year of leave in
2004-05 to earn a master’s degree in history
at Yale. He now covers education in Prince
George’s County, Maryland. The events
described in his essay took place on
May 9-10, 2006.
inutes after leaving the
port of Umm Qasr at the
southeastern tip of Iraq,
the land turned to
desert. The convoy sped
north to Baghdad.
Outside the window of a pickup truck, the
earth, flat and pale and lifeless, met a dull
gray-blue sky. It could be Mars.
In this wasteland the road was like a
river. Food and money flowed up and
down it, allowing life to cling to its edges.
Sometimes this took the form of thin,
yellow grass that grew like peach fuzz, or
mud huts with thatched roofs. Weathered
men in red-checked kaffiyehs tended
sheep and camels; they were as hungry
and filthy as their animals. Barefoot boys
ran out to the side of the road as we flew
past, waving. The guards riding in the
beds of the trucks, helmeted men cradling
machine guns, flung ration packs to them
without slowing down.
That was the closest connection they
had with the people of Iraq. For the
private security contractor in the front
passenger seat, a Welshman named Mark,
every sign of life by the road was a
potential threat. The mujaheddin stalk
these lands. Every parked car could be a
M
Nelson Hernandez volunteered to cover the war in Iraq.
bomb, every highway overpass an ambush
and every man, woman and child a killer.
The insurgents have sometimes hidden
bombs in the carcasses of animals lying by
the roadside. In Iraq, even the dead do not
know the end of war.
They made a brief stop. I walked a few
yards off the road, out into a desert barren
as far as the eye could see. Mark urinated
on the tire of his pickup truck.
“Don’t get too far away,” he warned.
“We don’t know what’s out there.”
The convoy was on a mission of peace.
Mark and his group of British and Iraqi
contractors were escorting a convoy of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
about a dozen water trucks. The trucks
were made in Texas and cost over
$120,000 apiece. They were a gift from
you, the American taxpayer, to the people
of Iraq. Such convoys are not shepherded
on their way by the military, but by an
invisible army of private contractors:
drivers, engineers, logistics specialists,
stevedores and security men, usually
former soldiers. This convoy had a
journalist attached. That was me.
As the sun set, we arrived at an oasis
called Camp Scania. It is the major
refueling stop in southern Iraq, a massive
gas station run by the U.S. military. Here,
�{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s }
in the middle of the desert, are parked
hundreds of trucks that carry supplies of
every kind up and down the road. The cost
of creating and maintaining this piece of
America on a patch of sand across the
globe is stupefying. Sophocles had a point:
Many are the wonders, but none is more
wondrous than man.
The Iraqi drivers and guards, who made
up the majority of the convoy’s crew, slept
outside the base. They settled down to
meals of rice and chicken, sleeping in the
cabs of their trucks. The four British
security men, all ex-soldiers, went inside
the base and ate what was, by Iraqi standards, a delicious repast: Cornish hen,
potatoes, fruit smoothies, ice cream—
the base’s cafeteria was well stocked.
Mark ran into another team returning
from a delivery. On their way home a
bomb exploded in the road, destroying
one of the heavily armored pickups.
The bomb was four artillery shells tied
together, enough to obliterate the front
half of the truck. Everyone in the truck
survived unhurt—a miracle—and they
showed off a picture of a man standing in
the waist-deep crater left by the bomb.
Hours passed in a large tent filled with
cheap bunk beds. Mark watched a movie,
Big Momma’s House, while another man
in his team, Leon, played a video game.
In the back of the tent, the other team was
still talking about their close call.
“You used up one of your nine lives
today, lads,” one of the men said quietly.
For the first time I felt a quiver of fear.
I imagined what it would be like to be
driving along the road one moment, and
in an instant be torn apart by flying shards
of jagged steel. Would it hurt? Would I
have time to give a noble soliloquy or
expire with an undignified groan?
The feeling was fleeting. I wish I could
say for you that having read the Great
Books gave me some preternatural calm.
It would make for a better story. War is
full of such concessions to romantic
imagination. But in war, the physical
trumps the philosophical. So it was with
me: I was too dirty and tired by that point
to care about something so totally beyond
my control, and so I went to sleep.
At midnight, the tent began flapping
madly. The air tasted like dust. Then
water began flying in horizontally.
Outside, a massive storm was bearing
down on the camp. The tent shook
savagely as the desert tried to scrub itself
clean of us. Half-awake men grunted at
the tent entrance, trying to seal it shut.
Outside, sentries scurried for cover.
Eventually they gave up and moved beds
farther away from the entrance. And in
half an hour, the storm blew itself out.
In the morning we rode for Baghdad.
The country was no longer desert. The
convoy had entered the verdant valley
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers—
the cradle of civilization, and a place more
dangerous for being more habitable.
The journey was tense but uneventful.
When the convoy rolled into the water
directorate, a large, walled compound
“I imagined what it
would be like to be
driving along the road
one moment, and in an
instant be torn apart by
flying shards of jagged
steel. Would it hurt?
Would I have time to
give a noble soliloquy or
expire with an
undignified groan?”
Nelson Hernandez (A99)
with a heavy iron gate, Mark arranged the
trucks in a defensive perimeter. The gate
was closed, the better to protect against
car bombers, and the Iraqis began slowly
unloading the trucks.
Mark gave the director an envelope
carrying the keys to the trucks. The
unsmiling director, a corpulent man with
an arm in a sling, counted the keys twice,
seemingly suspicious of being cheated. He
refused to say anything to me. A boy
walking by greeted my wave with a blank
stare. We soon discovered the reason for
the chilly reception. Our hosts were
planning to kill us.
Some time later, a rocket-propelled
grenade exploded nearby.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
49
“Get in the truck!” Leon screamed.
The contractors fired back at unseen
enemies as the civilians scattered,
running for cover. I crawled over a pile of
lunches and body armor in the truck’s
back seat, lunging at the doors to close
them. By the time I turned on my video
camera, the shooting had reached a
crescendo of long machine gun bursts and
cracking rifle shots. An Iraqi guard
standing in front of my truck fired his rifle
wildly, clearly terrified and having no idea
what to do.
After this spasm of violence, the firing
died down. Only the frenzied gunner atop
our truck kept shooting, ripping chunks
of concrete out of a nearby building.
“Tell him to stop firing!” Leon yelled at
the Iraqi driver. Mark ran at our car,
raised his hand, and cried “Stop!”
The gunner stopped shooting.
Leon shouted at the frightened Iraqi
contractor. “You!” He hit the truck’s horn
twice to get his attention. “Get in here!”
The young man did, breathing heavily and
shaking as he sat next to me. As he
slammed the door shut, the shooting
started again.
The next few minutes were a babble of
urgent commands, shouting in Arabic,
scratchy radio chatter, gunfire, confusion,
confusion. Why were the guards shooting
it out with them? Why weren’t we moving?
What was going on?
“Mark, are we gonna get out of here or
what?” a voice over the radio pleaded.
They were trapped because the gate to
the complex was closed, though I did not
understand that until later. Under fire,
one of the British guards ran out to the
gate to open it. This act of heroism
allowed them to escape. The gunfire
continued on the way out and down the
highway. The whole engagement had
lasted about five minutes.
“Is everybody okay?” Mark asked over
the radio.
Yes. They raced past election posters
and checkpoints to safety. Behind us they
left two dead insurgents. Behind us they
left the Iraqi truck drivers they were
escorting; three or four did not make it
back. Behind us they left the water trucks.
All we were left with was our lives, and
this memory I have related to you.
Every day, as it reels past in my mind,
I give thanks that the desert was so
generous. x
�{Alumni Association News}
CHAPTER CONTACTS
ALBUQUERQUE
alumni@sjca.edu
BALTIMORE
Deborah Cohen, A77
410-472-9158
deborahwcohen@
comcast.net
DALLAS/FORT
WORTH
Paula Fulks, SF76
817-654-2986
puffjd@swbell.net
DENVER/BOULDER
Tom Byrnes, SF74
720-344-6947
tbyr@pair.com
MINN./ST. PAUL
Carol Freeman, AGI94
612-822-3216
Freem013@umn.edu
SALT LAKE CITY
Erin Hanlon, SF03
916-967-2194
PHILADELPHIA
Helen Zartarian, AGI86 erin_hanlon@juno.com
215-482-5697
SANTA FE
helenstevezartarian@
Richard Cowles,
mac.com
SFGI95
505-986-1814
PHOENIX
rcowles2@comcast.net
Donna Kurgan, AGI96
623-444-6642
SEATTLE
dakurgie@yahoo.com
James Doherty, SFGI76
206-542-3441
PITTSBURGH
jdoherty@mrsc.org
Joanne Murray, A70
724-325-4151
SOUTH FLORIDA
Joanne.Murray@
Peter Lamar, AGI95
basicisp.net
305-666-9277
cplamar@yahoo.com
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
Jason Walsh (A85)
Alumni Association President
SOUTHERN CALIF.
Elizabeth Eastman,
SFGI84
562-426-1934
e.eastman@verizon.net
TRIANGLE CIRCLE,
NORTH CAROLINA
Elizabeth (A92) &
Rick Ross (A82)
919-319-1881
Elizabeth@
activated.com
’s C
ohn olle
.J
mn
u
AUSTIN
Joe Reynolds, SF69
512-280-5928
jpreynolds@
austin.rr.com
CHICAGO
Rick Lightburn, SF76
847-922-3862
rlightburn@gmail.com
SAN DIEGO
Stephanie Rico, A86
619-429-1565
srico@sandi.net
two-thirds of the funds are from alumni,
and the percentage of alumni giving has
grown remarkably. These funds will
support the institution through capital
improvement projects (including new
dormitories, a Graduate Institute center,
and much-needed enhancements to buildings and grounds, especially in Santa Fe);
increased endowment to support financial
aid, and additional support for increases to
faculty salaries.
With the conclusion of the campaign
approaching, the college has embarked on
a broad strategic planning process. The
Alumni Association, along with the
Alumni Relations committee of the Board
of Visitors and Governors, will be actively
involved in this process to articulate the
specific programs that can better support
our alumni throughout their lives.
These are all part of the Alumni
Association’s mission to foster
opportunities for more Alumni to
connect more often and more richly. x
Al
ANNAPOLIS
Beth Martin Gammon,
A94
410-332-1816
emartin@crs.org
NORTHERN CALIF.
BOSTON
Reynaldo Miranda, A99
Dianne Cowan, A91
415-333-4452
617-666-4381
reynaldo.miranda@
diannecowan@rcn.com
gmail.com
PORTLAND
Jennifer Rychlik, SF93
503-547-0241
jlr43@coho.net
Jason Walsh (A85)
ge
Call the alumni listed below for information
about chapter, reading group, or other alumni
activities in each area.
NEW YORK CITY
Daniel Van Doren, A81
914-949-6811
dvandoren@
optonline.net
“We are working to
expand our outreach
to recent graduates...”
n
I
n January in Santa Fe and April in
Annapolis, the Alumni Association
hosted our annual senior dinners
with the senior class. These events
offer a chance for 15-25 alumni to
toast and celebrate the upcoming
graduations, when students become
“permanent members” of the college as
alumni. We also now provide the students
with brief bios of the hosting alumni. In
Annapolis, a senior I spoke with was
thrilled to find that she was not alone in
her interest in neuroscience; she had an
opportunity to meet an alumna and speak
at length about her career path.
This is a key first step the Association
takes to help Johnnies in the transition
from the warm confines of the campuses to
the seemingly daunting world. We are
working to expand our outreach to recent
graduates (more than 50 percent of our
alumni have graduated in the last two
decades), through programs tailored to
appeal to Johnnies beginning their lives
and careers, and who often want to take a
break from seminar readings. In New York
for many years we’ve had a recent
graduates’ reception each fall, where newly
arrived alumni can reconnect with
classmates and meet alumni established in
the region. This year in Portland, Oregon,
and New York City, we’ve begun chapter
“bar nights,” open to all but sponsored by
the Recent Graduates group leaders and
at very casual locations that help build
a community of younger alums in
these cities.
On the campuses, we’ve been working to
enhance the events welcoming alumni
back, for both intellectual and social
pursuits. This spring we introduced the
“Piraeus” program, several long-weekends
of alumni seminars. Within two months
after announcing the program, the first
April weekend was a terrific success and
the June and January 2008 weekends had
filled to capacity. A waitlist has begun with
the possibility of opening a second set of
seminars to satisfy alumni demand for
those weekends.
In addition, we are working as advocates
for the alumni community as the college
develops its strategic plan. In 2008, the
college will conclude its most successful
capital campaign in St. John’s history. The
tremendous success is overwhelmingly
due to the contributions of alumni. About
WASHINGTON, DC
Deborah Papier, A72
202-387-4520
dpapier@verizon.net
WESTERN NEW
ENGLAND
Peter Weis, SF84
413-367-2174
peter_weis@
nmhschool.org
io
From the Alumni
Association
President
St
50
i A s s o cia
t
Providing
opportunities
for more alumni
to connect
more often and
more richly
�{Alumni Association News}
Celebrating Chicago
In a Cultural Mecca, a Chapter Thrives
by Patricia Dempsey
In his rare free time when he isn’t providing
video and editorial content from the
Midwest for ABC news, including shows
such as “Good Morning America” and
“World News,” television producer Kevin
Kraus (A82) reads reams of newspapers,
periodicals, and online reports. Yet Kraus,
one of five Chicago chapter officers, says,
“It’s a different experience to read Plato or
Thomas Mann. The news-related material
isn’t truly thought-provoking.” Kraus,
who moved to Chicago six years ago from
southern Florida, where at that time there
was no alumni chapter, says he was “starved
for substantial reading and conversation.”
The long-established (since 1982) Chicago
chapter offered him both – and a chance
to share his love of architecture with
fellow Johnnies who live in this urban
cultural Mecca.
In 2005 Kraus helped organize a
well-attended chapter visit to his “favorite
building in America,” the Farnsworth
House by architect Mies van der Rohe.
For another event, the group visited the late
19th-century Auditorium Building, which
houses a National Historic Landmark, the
Auditorium Theater. While the chapter
members do not usually have a formal
seminar on the architectural sites they visit,
they do typically “duck into a restaurant
afterwards to talk about it,” says Kraus.
“We’re all architecture junkies,” says Rick
Lightburn (SF76), current Chicago chapter
president and a self-employed marketing
strategist for consumer groups. “In August,
we have an annual potluck picnic and
business meeting. We have it with the
Grant Park Music Festival held downtown
in Millennium Park, beneath a fabulous
trellis designed by Frank Gehry.”
These architectural jaunts complement
the traditional seminars that focus on
readings as diverse as the city itself.
“This fall we’re hoping to start the year
with a children’s literature piece. We also
try to relate to events in this fabulous city,”
says Lightburn. “For instance we had a
science reading on Mendel’s paper and tied
this to a visit to an exhibit on Mendel’s
research at the Field Museum.” Along with
Kraus and Lightburn, readings are
suggested by chapter officers Elizabeth
Long (A86), a University of Chicago
librarian and an artist; Barbara Schmittel
(A76), a librarian for the city of Chicago;
and Paul Frank (SF82), an editor at the
American Medical Association.
The chapter hosts
most of its monthly
seminars on Sunday
afternoons at The
Great Books
Foundation, where
Don Whitfield (SF68,
SFGI84) is the
director of college
programs. “Don was
one of the rugged
pioneers who
attended Santa Fe in
the early years and he
very kindly allows us
to use rooms at the
foundation,” says
Lightburn. Typically,
about a dozen Johnnies attend the seminars. “We always have
more, of course, when
Class of 2007 members, now alumni: from left, Eric Torgerson, a tutor is here to lead
Christopher Bea, Andrew Romiti, John Dodge, Lee Branner.
it,” says Lightburn.
Senior Dinners
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
51
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 (SFGI95)
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.
In April the chapter hosted a seminar on
Plato’s Phaedo, led by Annapolis tutor
Robert Druecker. Lightburn says Druecker
first led the chapter in a seminar two years
ago in a reading from Thomas Mann’s
Magic Mountain, and they were delighted
to have him back. The seminar on Plato’s
Phaedo used the translation by Eva Brann,
Peter Kalkavage, and Eric Salem. Among
those who attended are younger members
including Stassia Sullivan (SF06), Grae
Drake (SF05) and Tom Hammerman
(A93). The Chicago chapter officers seek to
attract more young members, but they
realize young alumni don’t have the time
to commit; they’re busy establishing
careers and raising families.
Lightburn, who is self-employed and has
a more flexible schedule than his fellow
officers, serves as the chapter’s de facto
president. “We have a revolving group of
officers,” he explains. “We shared the
responsibility of president except for Paul
[Frank], who was doing such a good job as
treasurer it made sense for him to
continue. None of us really wanted to be
chapter president because we didn’t have
the time. I became de facto president, but
how would we like our future president to
be chosen? That’s been established in our
bylaws. Those are online on the Alumni
Web site, for everyone to see and use for
other chapters.” x
�52
greenfield library
{St. John’s Forever}
Seventy Years of Genuine Conversation
I
n the summer of 1937, Stringfellow
Barr and Scott Buchanan arrived in
Annapolis, preparing to launch a
“radical” new academic program at
a small college that had lost its
accreditation and teetered on the
brink of bankruptcy.
Neither of the two men, according to
various reports, wished to be president.
However, Barr proved very good at it:
telling the St. John’s story to outside audiences and to the media, wooing prospective donors and foundation executives, and
working with Maryland’s legislature and
the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors to set the college on firm ground.
Far from a figurehead, Barr always made
time to be part of the community of
learners, as Charles Nelson (class of 1944)
writes in Stringfellow Barr: A Centennial
Appreciation of His Life and Work:
“…Barr, despite the heavy travel and
speaking schedule, regularly led seminars,
tutored in Greek and French, and could
often be found in the coffee shop to
converse with students and tutors about
the coming war, the relevance to the European crisis of the Melian Conference in
Thucydides’ account of the Peloponnesian
War, or perhaps the meaning of the allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
After leaving St. John’s in 1946,
following a successful fight to protect the
college from annexation by the Navy, Barr
joined Buchanan in attempting to establish
another college based on the St. John’s
model; however, their efforts did not come
to fruition. Barr later served as president of
the Foundation for World Government,
taught at the University of Virginia and at
Rutgers, and later was a fellow at the
Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in California. He died 25 years ago, in
Alexandria, Virginia. x
�{Alumni Events Calendar}
Alumni Calendar
Santa Fe Homecoming 2007
September 14-16
Annapolis Homecoming 2007
September 28-October 1
Friday, September 14
9 a.m. Dixon Studio and Winery tour
Friday, September 28
1 to 6 p.m. Water activities (sailing,
boating)
3 p.m. Registration
12 p.m.Lunch
12 p.m. Classes of the ’30s and ’40s
luncheon
1 to 5 p.m. Activities for children
2 p.m. Freshman chorus, Revisited
Wine and cheese reception for alumni,
tutors, GIs, and undergraduate upperclassmen to celebrate the 40th anniversary
of the Graduate Institute
4 to 8 p.m. Registration
3 p.m. Mitchell Gallery tour
5 p.m.Barbecue for the Class of 1982
4 p.m. Alumni booksigning
5 p.m. Dinner for the classes of the ’30s
and ’40s
4 p.m. Soccer Classic
5:30 p.m. 40th Anniversary Celebration
for the Graduate Institute
5:45 p.m. Fiftieth Reunion Dinner for
the Class of 1957
8 p.m. Homecoming lecture
6 p.m. Welcome reception for Graduate
Institute
7:30 p.m. Alumni Association Banquet
Evening Waltz/Swing Party and Rock
Party
10 p.m. Coffee Cabaret & open mic
8:15 p.m. Homecoming Lecture
Saturday, September 15
8 a.m. Yoga
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration
6 p.m. Cocktail party
Sunday, October 1
11 a.m. President’s brunch
Rock Party
1 to 5 p.m. Water activities
10:30 a.m. Seminars
Saturday, September 29
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration
12 p.m. Fiesta Picnic
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Water activities
1 p.m. Search and Rescue Team open
house
9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Breakfast and AllAlumni Meeting
1:30 p.m. Family nature hike around
Monte Sol or a hike to Atalaya Mountain
Peak
10:30 a.m. Seminars
Questions
For more information about Homecoming
logistics, details, and events, contact the
alumni office at 410-626-2531 or
alumni@sjca.edu.
2 p.m. Family Fun afternoon
5 p.m. “Speaking Volumes” lecture
6 p.m. Seventh Annual All-Alumni Art
Show and Reception
7 p.m. Homecoming dinner dance
Sunday, September 16
8 a.m. Yoga
11 a.m. President’s Brunch
Joanna Stone (A07), her husband Donald Stone (A06), and Travis Price (A71) at the
Washington, D.C., campaign event in April.
Back cover photo by Chelsea Stiegman
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2007 }
�P ERIODICALS
P OSTAGE PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
�
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College
The
St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe
Frederick Douglass
Considering Freedom
S u m m e r
2 0 0 9
�“It is only by the practice of the liberal arts that the human animal becomes a free man.
It is only by discipline in these arts that spiritual, moral, and civil liberties can be achieved
and preserved. It is in such obvious propositions as these that the founding fathers of 1784
and 1789 gave reasons for the institutions they set up.”
Scott Buchanan, Bulletin of St. John’s College, 1937-38.
On Freedom
T
he roughly chronological structure of the St. John’s Program puts readings
such as Marbury v. Madison and Abraham Lincoln’s speeches in senior year.
These readings allow students to think deeply about governing and being
governed just as they are about to emerge from a college created, in part, to
render them educated citizens, guardians of democracy.
Assembled together in one spiral-bound book are the Marbury and Dred
Scott readings, along with works by Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Booker T. Washington. While the selections vary, Johnnies have been reading Douglass’ “The Constitution of the United States: Is it Pro-slavery or Anti-slavery” and “Oration in Memory of
Abraham Lincoln.”
Douglass’ speech on the Constitution was delivered in Glasgow in 1860. Along with his
eloquent argument that the Constitution is anti-slavery, the speech includes his acknowledgement that he has examined and revised many of his opinions. He no longer seeks revolution—as he had as a follower of William Lloyd Garrison—but reform: “When I escaped
from slavery, and was introduced to the Garrisonians, I adopted very many of their opinions, and defended them just as long as I deemed them true. I was young, had read but
little, and naturally took some things on trust. Subsequent experience and reading have led
me to examine for myself.”
Douglass’ “Oration” is a moving speech, but one that acknowledges the political realities that faced Lincoln. He calls Lincoln “the white man’s President, entirely devoted to
the welfare of white men.” He recounts the many decisions that “taxed and strained” the
faith of those who sought emancipation. As Douglass was shaped by his youth in bondage,
he points out that Lincoln was shaped by a hardscrabble youth: “He calmly and bravely
heard the voice of doubt and fear all around him; but he had an oath in heaven, and there
was not power enough on earth to make this honest boatman, backwoodsman, and broadhanded splitter of rails evade or violate that sacred oath. He had not been schooled in the
ethics of slavery; his plain life had favored his love of truth.”
When the two men came together, their respect for each other grew, writes James Oakes
in The Radical and the Republican: “Both were uncommonly intelligent. Each was a
brilliant orator whose greatest speeches fused razor-sharp logic to soaring idealism. . . .
They respected self-made men and so they respected each other.”
A few blocks away from the Annapolis campus the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass
is commemorated in the Banneker-Douglass museum. On the grounds of the Maryland
State House sits an imposing statue of Roger Brooke Taney, most remembered for
presiding in the Dred Scott case. And Lincoln himself walked through campus in February
1865 during a brief stop on his way to the Hampton Roads Conference in February 1865.
For her essay in this issue, Laurel Pappas (A09), senior seminar readings fresh in her
mind, read Frederick Douglass’ autobiography and explored his life through visits to his
homes in Anacostia and Anne Arundel County. She found in Douglass’ quest for freedom
striking parallels to her own education.
Some changes to The College in this issue: You’ll find the alumni calendar in an
expanded Alumni section, featuring Alumni Association news and what’s happening in the
chapters. In its place, on the inside back cover (in the magazine trade, supposedly the way
most readers enter the magazine), you’ll find Eidos, a new section created to highlight the
work of Johnnies in the fine arts.
—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
Sophia Koltavary
Sara Luell (A09)
Laurel Pappas (A09)
Nathaniel Roe (SF08)
Deborah Spiegelman
Curtis Wilson (HA93)
Magazine design by
Claude Skelton Design
�College
Summer 2009
The
The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College
Annapolis
•
Santa Fe
{Contents}
10
Commencement
d e p a r t m e n t s
page
2
At Commencement in Annapolis and
Santa Fe, the theme was courage.
•
Norman Levan: a portrait of philanthropy
Launching the Jeff Bishop
The man in the basement
St. John’s new BVG chair
Celebrating 20 years of Summer Classics
What Caritas means to St. John’s
News and announcements
New board members
Still obsessed with the white whale
Letters
30
bibliofile
•
•
•
14
A Freedom Through
Education
•
page
A brand-new St. John’s graduate
discovers why education and freedom
were synonymous to Frederick Douglass.
from the bell towers
•
•
•
•
•
page 14
16
On Freedom
page
•
We gave three tutors free reign to talk
about freedom, and they roamed far and
wide with their topic.
32
J.B. Shank’s The Newton Wars details
how French thinkers viewed Newton’s
theories; plus, celebrating Johnnie poets.
alumni
P RO F I L E S
32 Michelle Vest (SF90) explores the lives of
22
Resilience in a Recession
page
page 16
Few American lives remain unaltered by
the economic crisis. Four Johnnies detail
how their lives have changed.
immigrants in her one-woman play.
36 Jazz producer A.T. Michael MacDonald
(SF76) seeks a balance.
41 St. John’s provides an educational model
for school founder Melanie Hiner (A81).
48
46
Croquet
52
page
This year, it was East vs. West as Santa Fe
fielded its first croquet team, and Vikings
vanquished their foes.
page 22
on the cover
Frederick Douglass
Illustration by David Johnson
alumni association news
st. john’s forever
�2
{From the Bell Towers}
A Life Changed by Giving
By Diane Hardisty
Bakersfield Californian
His first donation went to Bakersfield College, where it is being
Carmen Schaad sat quietly in a room at Bakersfield’s Heart Hospital.
used to develop the Norman Levan Center for the Humanities.
In the bed slept her 88-year-old boss. To pass the time on that long
His $5.6 million donation is the largest the college has ever
night in 2004, she watched the Bakersfield Beautiful Awards cerereceived and is funding the renovation of an existing building to
mony on television.
Dr. Norman Levan, a Bakersfield dermatologist, her employer and house the center and its programs. A portion of the money also
supports the Levan Institute that offers lifelong learning classes to
friend for four decades, faced surgery the next morning to clear a
area residents 55 years of age and older.
blockage from his heart. As Carmen watched people being honored,
At the University of Southern California, where he earned his
she chewed on an idea.
medical degree and later headed the school’s Dermatology DepartHours later, when Levan awoke from surgery, his office manager
ment, a similar donation funds the Norman Levan Institute for
lectured him. “If he thought he had nine lives, he had already gone
Humanities and Ethics, encourthrough seven of them,” she
aging students to explore new
recalls telling him.
ways of thinking.
Her message was clear: His
At Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek
time was running out. Instead of
Medical Center, another nearly
just doling out his money to
$6 million donation opened the
worthy causes in his will, as he
Dr. Norman Levan Center for
planned to do, he should give the
Humanistic Medicine to foster
millions of dollars he amassed
compassionate care at the
through his lifelong investing
105-year-old hospital.
while he was still alive.
St. John’s College in Santa
“I wanted to see the smile on
Fe, N.M., is using a fourth
his face. I wanted him to see the
$5 million gift to build the
buildings that would be built
Norman and Betty Levan Hall
with his money and the
[for] its Graduate Institute of
programs that would be started.
Liberal Education. . . . Levan
And I wanted to nominate him
says the advanced degree he
for an award,” she explained.
earned from St. John’s College
She was convincing. Levan
“changed my life.”
soon began giving away his
Levan’s medical career and
money. He also began smiling a
his passion for studying the
lot. Both Carmen and his longPrompted by a friend, Dr. Norman Levan (SFGI74) began giving
back to St. John’s College and other causes instead of preparing
humanities are as remarkable as
time friend, former Bakersfield
bequests. His $5 million gift to the college makes possible a new
the millions of dollars he has
College President John Collins,
graduate center on the Santa Fe campus.
given away.
agree: The giving campaign
Levan was born in a Clevecame at the right time.
land suburb, where his father,
Levan’s wife, Betty, had just
Joseph, worked as a toolmaker and his mother, Rose, stayed home
died. The childless couple, who met on a tennis court more than a
to raise Levan, the youngest, and his three sisters. His parents
half century ago, were the centers of each other’s lives. Levan
profoundly missed his wife. Her death narrowed his world to his one- divorced and his mother moved with her teenage son to Detroit,
where his sister, Goldie, landed a teaching job. It was during the
day-a-week medical practice and reading books.
Depression, when jobs were scarce. Levan and his mother later
His decision to start giving away his money “changed his life,”
followed Goldie to the West Coast.
said Collins, who also is Levan’s patient. “He is now having a lot
A good student whose education was jump-started at home by his
of fun.”
teacher sister, Levan skipped grades and graduated from high
So far, Levan has made four massive donations—each nearly
school at 16. He then entered USC as an English major. Teased by a
$6 million—to three colleges and a Jerusalem hospital. With each
brother-in-law that he would end up teaching like his sisters, or
donation he gets accolades, invitations to events and encourageselling newspaper ads, Levan took the USC medical school
ment to watch buildings and programs started in his name.
entrance exam, passing it with a top score. This was remarkable,
Although coy about the size of his wealth, it appears the now
since Levan had shunned “boring” science classes and thought
93-year-old plans to give even more.
pre-med students were “quite dull.”
Each donation is structured to reinforce his lifelong belief that no
He acquiesced to the school’s demand that he complete at least a
matter what your career is, you must study the humanities to be truly
course in organic chemistry and went on to earn a medical degree
educated. He is an outspoken critic of his medical profession, which
from USC. He served as a medical officer during World War II,
he considers dominated by people too focused on science and the
with assignments in the Pacific.
commercial rewards of healing.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�3
{From the Bell Towers}
Launching the Jeff Bishop
years served as vice president
of the college. Bishop died in
July 2007 after a long battle
with cancer.
Athletic Director Leo
Pickens (A78) gave a brief
patricia dempsey
College board member Ray
Cave (class of 1948) was on
hand April 22 to christen the
racing shell he donated to the
college in memory of Jeff
Bishop (HA96), who for 20
Ray Cave (A48) christens the Jeff Bishop as Johnnies welcome a
new eight to the fleet, (l. to r.): Rachel Ulrich (A11), Brook
Pendergast (A11), Margaret Ansell (A10), and Virginia Harness
(A11).
A teenage bout with acne exposed him to dermatology. That,
combined with his wartime experience treating soldiers’ skin
diseases, led to his medical specialty. He joined a private practice
after the war and volunteered to teach in USC’s fledgling Dermatology Department. When the department expanded, he became
its first chairman and full-time faculty member.
In 1961, a group of Bakersfield doctors asked Levan to travel to
Bakersfield once a week to treat difficult cases. When he retired
from USC a few years later, he and Betty, a champion bridge
player, moved to Bakersfield.
Levan credits his fortune to luck. He said he was required to
invest 8 percent of his faculty salary into a university account,
which USC matched. He invested another 8 percent privately.
“That was when the Dow was 400,” he recalled. By the time he
began giving his fortune away, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
had climbed to more than 14,000.
Levan is similarly humble in explaining his decision to give
away his money.
With a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his lips, he quotes
19th-century American industrialist Andrew Carnegie: “The man
who dies rich dies disgraced.”
Levan won’t be disgraced. x
Copyright 2009, the Bakersfield Californian. Reprinted with
permission.
speech, praising Bishop’s dedication to supporting the
college and its students.
Pickens noted Bishop’s willingness to tow the college’s first
eight-person shell to the
campus. Bishop also helped
cultivate a relationship with
The Hodson Trust, which
funded an extensive renovation
of the college boathouse and
helped support the crew
program. Bishop also
embodied “many of the virtues
that rowers admire,” Pickens
said—particularly by showing
courage in the face of overwhelming challenges.
“Jeff loved to compete,”
Pickens said. “And perhaps
even more than the competition itself, Jeff relished the
training and preparation that
goes into any successful
performance. He was also the
most mentally tough
competitor I have ever known.
Rowers here often refer to that
dreaded no-man’s land in a
2,000-meter race, somewhere
between the 1,000-meter mark
and the 1,500-meter mark, as
‘the house of pain.’ Jeff showed
no qualms about willingly
pushing himself across that
threshold into the ‘house of
pain.’ And even though it
seemed that in his last years he,
without choosing, lived in that
house of pain, he never was
discouraged or lost heart.
He kept his chin up and eyes
always looking forward. This is
the type of courage rowers
admire.”
As he poured champagne
over the bow of the college’s
newest eight, Cave remarked
that the tribute was a fitting
one, given Bishop’s extraordinary success in raising money
for the college. Bishop was the
driving force behind
St. John’s most recent capital
campaign, which raised
$134 million. “He kept the
place afloat,” Cave said. x
Breaking Ground
Construction began this summer on the Norman and Betty
Levan Hall, the new home of the Graduate Institute of
Liberal Education in Santa Fe. A LEED silver-certified
building, Levan Hall will be located between the Fine Arts
Building and Weigle Hall and will house seminar rooms,
offices, and common rooms. Dr. Levan’s gift provided the
means for a long-needed home for Santa Fe’s two graduate
programs, Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Master of
Eastern Classics.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�4
{From the Bell Towers}
You can’t go to the Internet to
find the kind of laboratory
equipment required for the
classic, sometimes obscure,
experiments conducted at
St. John’s. Try finding
Hauksbee’s globe or Faraday’s
rotating rectangles in a catalog.
That’s why the college needs
Gary Dunkelberger to make a
wide variety of wood and metal
apparatus for the college’s laboratory program. Before he
joined the college as laboratory
craftsman, Dunkelberger
worked in Annapolis’ boating
industry as a yacht carpenter.
He built classic wooden boats
from scratch and crafted the
interiors of mega-yachts
(100 feet or bigger) for
clients including the late
Walter Cronkite.
Laboring in a stressful
industry gradually took its toll,
and after suffering a heart
attack, Dunkelberger pursued a
career change. He answered an
ad for the lab position at
St. John’s, and right from the
start, impressed Laboratory
Director Mark Daly and tutor
Chester Burke (A74) with his
craftsmanship and ingenuity.
“Gary began making laboratory equipment beyond our
wildest dreams,” says Burke.
“He listens intently to our
requests and then goes quietly
into his gigantic basement to
work his magic.”
Dunkelberger moved into a
position held for years by Al Toft
(H02), John Cook, and Otto
Friedrich. His special talent for
woodwork has “raised the bar”
for the laboratory program.
“He really loves beautiful wood,
so we’re going from equipment
made of plywood and 2 x 4s to
pieces made of cherry, oak, and
walnut. If he makes something
in brass or steel, he polishes it
until it gleams. They’re works
of art,” says Daly.
Precision is essential to the
instruments, Daly says, and
Dunkelberger is a perfectionist.
“We’re talking about scales of a
thousandth of an inch range.
Everything has to be precise or
the experiment may not work.”
A graduate of York College,
Dunkelberger worked in the
steel industry before moving to
Annapolis, and as a self-taught
carpenter and machinist, found
steady work in the city’s boating
industry.
One of Dunkelberger’s first
tasks was to create a set of
Faraday rotating rectangles.
These rectangles, of varying
perimeters, are wrapped with
copper wire. It was Faraday
who noticed that when the
rectangles rotate in a
magnetic field, electric
current is induced in them,
the amount of which
depends upon the speed of
rotation and the area of the
rectangles. “This is one of
the most important principles which we study in the
second semester of the
junior laboratory and Gary
has given life to the
phenomena,” says Burke.
Making the Faraday
rectangle involved looping
a length of copper wire
around a wooden frame
500 times—three to four
hours of work for each one.
rosemary harty
The Man in the Basement
above, Gary Dunkelberger has taken over the job of crafting the
unusual apparatus required for St. John’s laboratory program.
Left, Hauksbee’s globe, just one example of Dunkelberger’s
handiwork, demonstrates principles of electricity.
(Dunkelberger made four.) “It
was a bit tedious,” he admits.
At one point in his life,
Dunkelberger harbored “vague
dreams” of a life in academe;
now that he’s part of a college
environment, he takes pleasure
in talking with tutors and
students about the laboratory
program and making their
investigations possible through
wood, metal, and a lot of
patience.
As an Annapolitan, Dunkelberger was familiar with St.
John’s, he says. “But I was
rather amazed at the high
quality of the students.”
When students in junior
laboratory take up Maxwell this
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
coming year, they’ll explore
electromotive force and electromagnetic momentum using a
model Maxwell devised in his
Cavendish laboratory. Dunkelberger used cherry, white oak,
and a brass rod to make a beautiful and functional instrument
for students to see for themselves what Maxwell hoped
to show.
Even if—mired in Lagrangian
analysis—students don’t notice
the fine beveled edges and
polished wood, Dunkelberger
can’t resist. “Why not add a bit
of beauty?” he asks. x
—Rosemary Harty
�5
{From the Bell Towers}
An Exciting Time to Lead a College
transaction complete,
Uremovich moved to Santa Fe
with plans to retire.
Early in his business career,
Uremovich acquired the 55volume set of Britannica’s
Great Books of the Western
World, which gave him his first
introduction to St. John’s.
He enrolled in the Summer
Classics, where his first
seminar was on Galileo. It
didn’t take long for him to
become deeply connected with
the college. He got to know
then-president John Agresto (a
fellow fly fisherman) and
Robert Glick, then serving as
vice president for advancement. Uremovich went from
fan to supporter, making a
pledge to support construction
of the Student Activities
Center. He enrolled in the
Graduate Institute and joined
the college’s Board of Visitors
and Governors in 2003.
Enrolling in the GI provided
a much fuller experience than
he could have
found reading
great books
at home.
“It was very
enlightening
for me,” he
said. “I had
the typical
rough spots,
as a business
person
coming out of
the real world
to the very
isolated and
insulated
world of the
seminar. I
was more
used to
telling people
things, rather
than
listening.”
Uremovich
took a special
interest in the
history segment. “I took a
preceptorial that examined the
Greek plays of the time and
juxtaposed them against
Thucydides,” he recalls.
“We went through the war and
being a Vietnam vet myself,
I found that really insightful.”
Uremovich chaired the
committee that led the search
to name John Balkcom’s
successor after Balkcom
(SFGI00) stepped down in
2003. At the time, Uremovich
was back in the business world,
running his own consulting
firm, Manalytics. A president
was named, but the search was
relaunched after the appointee
resigned before taking the position. The second search was
immensely successful,
Uremovich says, putting
Michael Peters in place in
Santa Fe in 2005.
It’s a “pretty exciting time”
to lead a college governing
board, Uremovich says. “We’re
facing significant challenges at
dimitri fotos
Michael Uremovich (SFGI05)
lives in Virginia, heads a
business based in Ohio and
California, and is on the road at
least three days a week. But the
newly named chair of the
college’s Board of Visitors and
Governors—who tried earnestly
to retire a decade ago—isn’t too
concerned about taking on the
role on top of his business
responsibilities. After all, his
predecessor, Sharon Bishop
(class of 1965), led a successful
and growing company during
her seven years as board chair.
“There’s an old saw that says
if you want something done,
give it to a busy person,”
says Uremovich.
Uremovich is chairman of
the board and CEO of Pacer
International, an intermodal
and logistics freight transportation services provider.
According to the journal Smart
Business, he’s widely recognized as a “logistics industry
guru, who helped revolutionize
the business.” For example,
Uremovich served as part of a
team that invented the doublestack train, an innovation that
doubled a train’s capacity for
transporting goods while
reducing costs.
Reared in Tucson,
Uremovich earned a bachelor’s
degree in logistics transportation management from the
University of Arizona and an
MBA from City University of
New York, Baruch College.
Over the years, he’s been a
principal at the consulting
giant Booz Allen Hamilton and
held key strategic planning and
marketing positions at companies including Pepsi and American President Lines. In the
1990s, he served as vice president of marketing for Southern
Pacific Transportation and
president of TSSI (its logistics
operating company), where he
helped negotiate the company’s
sale to Union Pacific. With the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
the college in terms of
balancing the things we value
about our community with the
brutal realities of the outside
world,” he says.
Even if the economy
rebounds in the coming year,
some difficult decisions may be
in order, Uremovich says.
“There’s a great saying in
the business world these days
that you don’t want to waste a
good crisis,” he says. “This is
a good time to examine the
institutional infrastructure
that supports the Program.
We can go down this path
carefully, and begin with a
recognition that some compromise may be required to get the
best solution.”
St. John’s is in a better position to meet today’s challenges
than it would have been when
Uremovich first joined the
board. The college has strong,
stable leadership; the Management Committee effectively
guides collegewide decisions;
and there’s momentum from
a successful capital campaign
in which alumni demonstrated
a strong commitment to the
college.
The board itself is one of
the college’s best resources.
“I’ve been affiliated with many
not-for-profit boards, and I
don’t think I’ve ever worked
with a group of people so
singularly dedicated to the idea
of the institution and its underpinnings,” he says.
Uremovich has another
reason for his fondness for the
college; he met his wife, Susan,
in a seminar on Emerson at the
campus. “She ran the crime
labs for the State of New
Mexico and was periodically
intrigued by the college up on
the hill,” he says. “Ours was a
Coffee Shop romance.”x
—Rosemary Harty
Rooted in the Program,
St. John’s can weather
turbulent times, says BVG
Chair Michael Uremovich.
�6
{From the Bell Towers}
Summer Classics Program Draws Devotees
The Dueling
Gluckmans
Santa Fe’s popular Summer
Classics program marked its
20th year this summer with
three weeks of seminars on
topics ranging from the poetry
of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound to
The Godfather.
The program was launched in
1990 with a single seminar on
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. The following
summer, the college offered
three consecutive weeks of
seminars. Now including both
morning and afternoon
sessions, the Summer Classics
has enjoyed nearly sell-out
popularity. Lively, in-depth
conversations—in a captivating
city—inspire many Summer
Classics participants to return
year after year.
Such is the case with Jon and
Stephen Gluckman, father and
son, who returned this summer
for their second Summer
Classics. Stephen discovered
the program while exploring
colleges in his junior year, and
Jon has a colleague and friend
who attended the Graduate
Institute.
For their first summer experience (in 2008), Jon, a high
school English teacher in New
Jersey, and his son, about to
embark on his senior year in
high school, decided on two
consecutive weeklong seminars:
Dostoevsky’s The Idiot and the
Mahabharata. They originally
planned to fly to New Mexico,
but then Tom Waits tickets went
on sale. “We’re big fans,”
explains Stephen.
The plane trip became a
music-themed road trip that
ultimately took five weeks,
with the Waits concert in
Birmingham, Ala., and the
Santa Fe Opera’s production of
Billy Budd among the highlights. Their blog (www.gluckmanvroom.blogspot.com),
chronicles their cross-country
adventure.
At St. John’s, Jon and
Stephen shared a suite with two
other men, both long-time
participants, who shared their
seminar discussions on the
Aeneid and the Iliad. “[Our]
tutors were great … [asking]
probing questions that brought
the most out of the texts,” Jon
writes on their blog, adding:
“We made a bit of an impression being dueling Gluckmans
in our two seminars.”
“Somewhere between a
monastery and mountain
resort” is how Gluckman Senior
describes the Santa Fe campus.
“These were truly two of the
most inspiring and renewing
weeks of the summer.”
When they returned home,
both felt the lingering benefits
of their experience. “I’d always
taught somewhat like St. John’s
does, but this solidified what I
do and honed the way I questioned my students,” Jon notes.
“It definitely made me more
confident in my classes,”
Stephen says.
The two hoped to renew their
friendships with some of their
fellow Classics participants
when they returned this July, to
read Thomas Mann’s Joseph
and His Brothers. After their
summer in Santa Fe, Stephen is
off to Sarah Lawrence. And
while Stephen’s unsure of his
plans for next summer, his
father plans to be back in Santa
Fe, he says. “This will become
my summer camp.” x
—Deborah Spiegelman
A Summer’s
Journey with
Suffering Souls
I arrived at St. John’s on a blustery April afternoon to visit the
college with my daughter
during her junior year in high
school. I was immediately taken
with the natural beauty
surrounding the college,
but it was the brief stop at
the bookstore that took
my breath away. Plato,
Aristotle, Dante and
Montaigne—these were
the books I had longed to
read in college. I returned
home with my daughter
wondering how I could redo my college education.
A few years later I
happened upon an advertisement for Summer Classics in The Atlantic and
immediately signed up for
the mailing list.
A Santa Fe’s Summer Classics seminar was a bonding experience for Jon
The following spring
(l.) and Stephen Gluckman of New Jersey.
the brochure arrived in
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
the mail. After discovering my
first choices were filled, I
settled instead on The Letters of
Vincent van Gogh and the
Brothers Karamazov. Soon my
books arrived, and I happily
plunged into the mysterious
world of Aloysha and his
brothers.
On the shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, the driver
noticed my Brothers K on my
lap. He inquired about the book
and St. John’s. As we turned
onto Camino Cruz Blanca he
asked, “Why are you studying
about suffering souls?” Why
indeed, I asked myself, as I
wrestled with my book-laden
suitcase up the stairs at
St. John’s. I mused, “Aren’t
we all suffering souls?”
The lunches at St. John’s
became an extension of the
classroom discussions.
Munching on tuna salads, we
wondered about Dostoevsky’s
own faith as we explored his
exquisite discourse on free will
and religion in the Grand
Inquisitor’s speech. A doctor
wondered why many of Dostoevsky’s characters suffered
from “brain fever.” Classmates
became friends as we delighted
in the process of joint intellectual exploration. The refrain
was similar: “We do not have
anyone to discuss books with
back home.”
Last summer I had the good
fortune to study Plato’s Symposium and the Phaedrus. On the
last day of the class a classmate
asked our tutor, Eva Brann,
whether it is possible to reach
transcendence other than
through love. Miss Brann
smiled. “Ah, you will just have
to read Plato’s other dialogues
to find out.” With those words
in our hearts, most of us will
return for another summer of
intellectual delights. x
—Sophia Koltavary
�{From the Bell Towers}
7
A Life-Changing Year
It was the summer of 1973, and
Jim Jarvis (A75) was getting
ready to take a job waiting
tables at a Colorado resort
instead of embarking on his
junior year at St. John’s. After
adding up his grants, loans,
and personal savings, he came
up $500 short for tuition and
room and board. “I know it
doesn’t sound like a lot now,
but it was more than anyone in
my family could scrape up,” he
recalls. He wrote a letter to
Barbara Leonard (H55), then
assistant dean, to tell her he
was taking a year off.
Jarvis had been visiting
friends in New York City at the
end of the summer, and he
stopped at a phone booth in
Grand Central Station to call
his mother, who had an urgent
message for him: “Barbara
Leonard wants you to call her
immediately.”
He reached in his pocket for
more change, but didn’t have
another quarter. “So, there
were my friends and I scrambling around Grand Central,
panhandling for spare
change.” When he reached
Leonard, she was characteristically direct. “What’s this
about you not coming back?”
When Jarvis said he couldn’t
find the money, Leonard
replied: “Just get on the train,
come down here, and don’t
worry about the money.”
About two weeks after the
semester started, Jarvis
learned that the grant to keep
him in school came from the
Caritas Society. By way of
thanks, he picked up his guitar
and with Janet Hellner (SF77)
on flute, gave a recital for a
Caritas luncheon.
For more than 40 years,
Caritas has been helping Johnnies with emergency financial
needs, and over the past year,
their support has made a great
difference in the lives of
students whose families are
suffering in the
economic downturn.
In thank-you letters to
the society, students
wrote of health crises
in their families, foreclosures, and job
losses. One student
was grateful for the
money that allowed
her to go to the
dentist—her family
had no insurance and
could not afford the
$2,000 bill.
“Caritas has always
helped students who
still come up short
when all the financial
Dr. Jim Jarvis (A75, third from left and shown with students in his lab)
aid has been doled
almost missed a year at St. John’s, until Caritas stepped in.
out,” says Lynn
Yarbro, the organization’s president.
Steps in March. What motihe decided on the course for
“When we read these letters,
we know their burden has been vates the group, says Yarbro, is the rest of his life: a career in
a deep admiration for the
medicine and research.
softened somewhat.”
college, its academic program,
“The research I’m doing
Working with the college’s
and especially, the students.
now is the research I predicted
financial aid office during the
“If we can make a difference I would be doing in my junior
2008-09 academic year,
essay: studying biological
Caritas made $34,650 in emer- for even a handful of students
who might not be able to stay
complexity,” he says. “It was
gency grants to 13 students.
at St. John’s in this economy,
literally a life-changing year.”
Another $2,000 from the
then all our efforts are worth
Today, Jarvis is a professor
society’s Weigle Great Books
it,” Yarbro says.
of pediatrics at the University
Fund helped five students buy
More than 30 years later,
of Oklahoma Health Sciences
Program books. During the
Jarvis looks back on the
Center, where he specializes
capital campaign, the society
support he received from
in pediatric rheumatology.
established an endowed
Caritas with enduring gratiAmong his research projects
Caritas scholarship to support
tude. Instead of waiting tables
is a study to determine why
need-based financial aid for a
at a luxury resort, he settled
juvenile arthritis afflicts
student.
into a wonderful corner room
Native Americans at a higher
All this is supported by the
in Pinkney. He had French
rate than other populations, as
membership of about 200 and
with Brother Robert, who led
well as an ongoing investigaby the group’s fundraising
his advanced class through
tion into the role the innate
events: a November Book and
Remembrance of Things Past.
immune system plays in
Author event (this year’s star
He studied Darwin with Leon
chronic arthritis in children.
attraction is novelist Alice
Kass and discovered scientific
Who knows what might have
McDermott), and a benefit
ideas that intrigued him. And
happened if he’d gone to
performance by the Capitol
Colorado, Jarvis muses. But
because one life touches many
others, “there is a room full of
medical students right next to
me” conducting important
research because Caritas
stepped in. “It reverberates
from 1973 right to the
present,” he says. x
In thank-you letters to the Caritas
Society, Annapolis students wrote
of health crises in their families,
foreclosures, and job losses.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�8
{From the Bell Towers}
News & Announcements
BARBARA GOYETTE (A73),
vice president for Advancement
in Annapolis, was among
26 women selected to receive
the YWCA’s Tribute to Women
in Industry (TWIN) Award for
2009. The award recognizes
extraordinary women who are
leaders in their corporations,
organizations, and communities. Goyette has been vice
president since 2002, overseeing fundraising, alumni
relations, and communications
at the college. She joined the
college in 1994 as director of
public relations.
Alumna Appointed to
DOT Post
ANNE FERRO (A80) has been
nominated to lead the Department of Transportation’s
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration, charged with
reducing crashes, injuries, and
fatalities involving large trucks
and buses. A former Peace Corps
volunteer in Cote d’Ivoire, Ferro
was most recently President of
the Maryland Motor Truck
Association. Between 1997 and
2003, she directed Maryland’s
Motor Vehicle Administration,
where she established a strong
record in highway safety, regulatory compliance, and agency
leadership.
SF Alumni Win
Fulbright Awards
Annapolis VP Barbara Goyette
was honored by the YWCA.
Two recent St. John’s graduates
will be heading overseas thanks
to the Fulbright Program.
THADDEUS THALER (SFGI09)
received a Fulbright grant to
study in Russia. Thaler will
examine how Russia’s image of
Latin America was shaped by
film and telenovelas (soap
operas) between 1959 and 2009.
AUSTIN XAVIER VOLZ (SF09)
received a Fulbright English
new board members
The Board of Visitors and
Governors welcomes these new
and returning members:
KEITH HARRISON (SF77) is
professor of law and the chair of
the International Criminal Law
and Justice Graduate Programs
at Franklin Pierce Law Center
in Concord, N. H. He has
served on the Board of Trustees
for Capitol Center for the Arts
in Concord, the Planning
Committee for the Emerging
Leaders of Color Conference,
and the American Bar Association. He previously served on
the board from 2001-2007. He
received his JD from the
University of Chicago.
MIKE MILLER is principal of
The Arundel Group, as well as a
financial consultant at a Washington, D.C., area public utility.
Previously, he worked for
Florida Memorial College,
Africare, IBM, and PepsiCo.
Miller earned a bachelor’s
degree in history from Yale
University and an MBA in
finance from the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
He currently serves as a Board
Member of the District 30
Democratic Club in Annapolis,
jennifer behrens
Annapolis VP Honored
Ready for a ride: The Senior Gift of the Class of 2009 in
Annapolis launched a bicycle-lending program on campus. Thanks
to donations from the graduating students, six high-quality
Globe bikes (tested above by Carol Partonen, A12; Zach
Harrington, A11; and Katie Corder, A11) were purchased to
launch the program.
Teaching Assistantship. He plans
to pursue questions about how a
second language is learned and
how advanced students accomplish fluency in speaking and
writing another language.
Allanbrook Honored
WYE JAMISON ALLANBROOK,
professor emeritus at the
Maryland, and is a former
board member of International
Services Agencies, Africare,
and the Sandy Spring Friends
School.
CATHY RANDALL (A82) ran
the Philadelphia and Baltimore
offices at Deutsche Bank Alex
Brown for 20 years. She served
on the firm’s Executive
Committee, which handled
such items as how to standardize procedures across the
branches by comparing and
contrasting effectiveness and
compliance with firm and
industry rules and regulations,
and gathering best practices for
conducting business.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
University of California,
Berkeley, was named an
Honorary Member of the
American Musicological
Society. She served on the
Annapolis faculty for 25 years.
She currently holds an Andrew
W. Mellon Emeritus Fellowship
supporting research for
2008–10. x
DANIEL VAN DOREN (A81)
received his law degree from
Boston University School of
Law in 1985, where he cofounded the Public Interest
Project, a fellowship program
that distributes grants to
students for summer work in
public interest jobs. Since 1986,
he has worked in several of his
family’s real estate companies
and currently serves as
managing director of Van
Doren Management Co, LLC,
in New York City. He served as
president of the New York
chapter of the St. John’s
College Alumni Association
from 2004 to 2009. x
�9
{From the Bell Towers}
Still Obsessed with the
White Whale
At the University of Pennsylvania, Mike Kelly (AGI06) was
torn between a career in
economics and a career
teaching literature. Economics
won out, and right after graduation in 1972, Kelly landed a
job at NASA. One of the college
books he kept was a paperback
copy of Moby-Dick, a novel he
fell in love with as a teenager.
“It’s one of those stories you
can’t get out of your mind,”
he says.
In the fall of 2004, Kelly
brought that same copy—now
patched up with duct tape to
keep the pages from escaping—
to the Graduate Institute,
where he joined other students
in a preceptorial on the novel.
In a lively class in which each
participant had a passionate
interest in Ahab, Starbuck, and
the rest of the doomed crew of
the Pequod, he added to his
margin notes, wrote a paper
about courage, and left with
even more questions about
Melville’s masterwork.
In part, this obsessive
pursuit of the white whale can
be pinned on the preceptorial
tutor, David Townsend. In
response to one of Kelly’s
observations, Townsend wrote
in the margin: “What would
Aristotle say about this?” Even
with his diploma in hand in the
spring of 2006, Kelly was still
grappling with that question,
and as soon as he retired, he
devoted himself to pursuing it.
He applied to the GI to write a
master’s essay, and on a
Saturday afternoon in April, sat
for his oral examination.
Any GI graduate who desires
to write a paper may do so
within two years of graduating.
Kelly is one of a handful of
students who have taken this
step, although there’s no
tangible benefit to one who has
already completed the degree.
GI students can substitute the
master’s essay and oral for one
preceptorial.
“I think the fact that people
want to do an essay even after
graduating shows two things,”
says Marilyn Higuera, director
of the Graduate Institute in
Annapolis. “One: the essay is
really serving the purpose it
was meant to serve, namely
that it provide an opportunity
for graduate students to engage
in an extended, focused study
of some question which arose
for them during their time
here; the fact that people want
to follow up on such questions
even though it doesn’t ‘count’
toward a degree drives that
point home.”
Also, Higuera says, many
students are reluctant to give
up the rich discussions of GI
preceptorials in order to write
the master’s essay.
Kelly worked for 35 years as a
business deputy at NASA’s
Goddard Space Flight Center,
supporting key projects such as
weather and communications
satellites. But he never lost his
love for literature, and he
enrolled in the GI just at the
time he was preparing for
retirement. “I loved every
minute of it,” he says of the
graduate program.
Soon after he retired from
NASA in 2007, Kelly asked
Townsend to be his adviser, and
he sat in on Townsend’s undergraduate preceptorial on the
novel. It was a pleasure for
Townsend to take the journey
through Moby-Dick with Kelly
again, helping him synthesize
other ideas from his graduate
studies. “Mike Kelly took on
Moby-Dick as a genuine lover
of wisdom, confronting
squarely the need for courage
in facing the deepest questions
of life and death,” says
Townsend.
Kelly doesn’t plan to be
retired for long. He began
looking for a teaching job last
spring. x
—rosemary Harty
Letters
The Spring 2009 edition of The College contained a list of
the “best” booksellers. You failed to mention a wonderful
bookstore, The Symposium, on Hayes Street in San Francisco. It’s a unique store, with great selections, and is
owned and operated by two recent graduates of St. John’s.
I think they merit a note of recognition. Bookselling is a
very difficult business, and I think they would appreciate a
much-deserved comment for carrying on the tradition of
the Great Books.
Doug Head
Editor’s note: Robin Dunn only recommended bookstores
he has visited personally for “The Love of Books” in the
Spring issue. He’ll be sure to visit The Symposium next time
he’s in the Bay area, thanks to this tip from Mr. Head, a
Johnnie parent. Also, The College heard from John R.
Traffas (SFGI75), who chided us for not including Eighth
Day Books in Wichita. He has high praise for the store, with
a setting that “inspires cordial and wide-ranging conversation,” has free coffee, and offers a good selection of serious
books, including “a shelf of Loebs.”
Corrections
rosemary harty
A story on Karen Cook (SF74) in the Spring 2009 issue
incorrectly identified the institution for which Cook works.
It’s the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
A preceptorial paper on Moby-Dick left Mike Kelly with more
questions than ever, prompting him to write a master’s essay.
In the same issue, a story on Touchstones had the wrong
title for Stefanie Takas (A89). She is Touchstones’ executive
director.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�10
{Commencement}
CELEBRATING
COURAGE
Commencement Speakers Laud Graduates
for Choosing a Different Path
by Rosemary Harty (AGI09)
I
gary pierpoint
t was an unlikely coincidence that rain forced Commencement ceremonies indoors in both Annapolis and Santa Fe,
but both ceremonies went off without a hitch in the Francis
Scott Key Auditorium and Student Activities Center, respectively. For both ceremonies, alumni were speakers, and
both touched on the theme of courage in their addresses to the
graduates.
In Annapolis on May 17, 110 undergraduate students received
their Bachelor of Arts degrees, and 39 Graduate Institute students
received their Master of Arts in Liberal Arts degrees. Tutor Anita
Kronsberg (class of 1980), completing her third term as assistant
dean this spring, told graduates not to worry if they fail to
remember in perfect detail the paradigms and proofs they studied.
Kronsberg’s speech focused on courage—the courage needed to
enroll in a college such as St. John’s and the courage required to
pursue a lifelong habit of subjecting one’s opinions and beliefs to
constant scrutiny. “What is good is difficult, and questioning the
opinions we cherish is among the most difficult things to do,” she
said. “It requires courage, and when you leave this college it will
require more courage, for you will often be without communal
encouragement to it. But you will carry with you a disposition to
seek out this and other forms of what is good, and this is a
resource.”
In her address, Kronsberg likened the journey students take
through the Program to that of the hero of Homer’s Odyssey—in
part because Johnnies spend their four years reading the works of
long-dead authors, and Odysseus travels to the Land of the Dead.
But while Odysseus made his trip alone, Johnnies journey in the
company of their “shipmates” as they encounter strange new
things. They draw courage from each other.
“The illumination and enrichment of your life through your
efforts to coax the dead into a living conversation will be different
for each of you,” Kronsberg told the graduates. “Some of you may
have heard here what sort of life lies ahead for you, many of you are,
just now, overwhelmed by the welter of possibilities. All of you have
Left, Annapolis graduates Tabitha Silver (l.) and Jessica
Zimmerberg-Helms toast their success.
Opposite page: Top, Kevin Andrus and Erin Destito. bottom,
Anita Kronsberg (A80) spoke to the value of a Johnnie’s journey
“in the land of the dead.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Commencement}
“You have practiced courage through the constant practice
of making mistakes of various kinds, both publicly
and in the presence of an ever-sharper inner witness.”
the disposition to enter into the experience of another as far as
possible while remaining the author of your own opinions.”
On May 23 in Santa Fe, 86 seniors and 21 graduate candidates
heard from Dr. Stephen J. Forman (A70), chair of the Hematology
and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Department at the City of
Hope Cancer Center in California. Forman is also the principal
investigator for a $15.2 million, five-year National Cancer Institute
bone marrow transplantation program project grant and principal
investigator of a five-year, $11.5 million Specialized Program of
Research Excellence grant by the NCI for translational research
studies for Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Forman focused his remarks on the way in which the college has
been a continuing presence in his life and work. He explained why
he chose his specialty in medicine and why he has devoted himself
to working toward a cure for cancer: “When asked about my choice,
and the unusual college background that could lead me to such
work, I often answered that I chose the most philosophical of the
medical specialties as it forces one to confront, daily, the important
questions in our life and its meaning, about how we live our life, and
our relationship to each other, our family, and community, our
country, our world,” Forman said. “In essence, the work has
allowed me to continue to think about the same questions that you
gary pierpoint
teri thomson randall
Anita Kronsberg (A80)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
11
�12
{Commencement}
“You have learned to pursue truth, an often painful process,
which has an inherent integrity, which is never ending
and as Socrates taught us, is not always welcome.
But it is the pursuit of truth that will enrich your life’s work,
deepen your friendships and your love of another human being.”
gary pierpoint
teri thomson randall
have been considering for the last four years.
Graduates are not the only ones to benefit from St. John’s,
Forman said. Because the college cultivates lifelong habits such as
“learning, listening, and the pursuit of truth,” the benefits of St.
John’s extend to graduates’ families, co-workers, and communities.
When graduates are asked about the significance of their liberal
arts education, Forman advised: “. . . I would say that we have
helped our young to become lifelong students, capable of anything,
who understand listening to be a virtue, who will pursue truth in
their work and in their life. Not a bad education.”
He congratulated students and their parents for choosing St.
John’ and the commitment this education demands. “I do hope that
you will remember this day, as we celebrate your graduation, the
courage that each of you has demonstrated in coming here, as this
is a very daunting place, as it exposes your fears, and, rather than
running away, you have remained, and, with the help of the college,
you have overcome them. We celebrate the courage of your parents
to trust you, and the college to guide and protect you and bring you
to this day. Yes, you are ‘Johnnies,’ and so are your parents. And, of
course, there is the courage of our faculty, resistant to the educational fads of the day and, like you, not here by accident or casually,
who, like you, face their own challenges in learning and teaching in
all parts of our community of learning. And, like all of you, I remain
grateful and respectful of their role in preserving this oasis of
learning.” x
teri thomson randall
Stephen Forman (A70)
Above right, Commencement speaker Dr. Stephen Forman (l.)
and Santa Fe President Michael Peters. Bottom right, Tutor
David Levine and other faculty members lined up in Santa Fe’s
SAC weight room for the processional. Bottom left, parents Ben
and Anna Bernanke with daughter, Alyssa, at the post-graduation reception in Iglehart Hall.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Commencement}
13
The Last of the Brocketts
Noel decided in his sophomore year of high school that he was
headed to Annapolis. “There was never really a doubt in my mind
that I was going to St. John’s,” he says.
St. John’s brought out their children’s talents, the Brocketts
say, and each participated in the life of the college in his or her
individual way. Hayden was the waltz archon and editor of The
Gadfly. Gillian was devoted to intramural sports and discovered
a love for science in the lab program and by working in the
college observatory. Noel proved to be passionate about the
liberal arts and Georgian culture and helped found a nonprofit
organization called OLEG (the Organization for Liberal Arts in
Georgia) to support a discussion-based liberal arts program at
New Gelati Academy in Tbilisi. He helped create a student club
that organized Georgian feasts and a Georgian dance class. Along
with other OLEG members, he applied for and won a $10,000
Davis Peace Grant to bring a two-week program, based on readings from classic works, to Georgian youth this summer.
Hayden, who met his wife, Mary Townsend (A04), when he was
a prospie in her freshman seminar, just graduated from George
Washington University’s School of Law and now works at the
Department of Justice. Gillian worked at the United States Naval
Observatory for a year before accepting a position as a medical
researcher at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. She’ll be
studying optical instrumentation in a master’s program at the
university’s department of System Design
Engineering. “I would not have discovered my love for astronomy or astrophysics if not for the relationships I built
while at St. John’s,” she says. She also
married a Johnnie, Ian McCracken (A04).
And after spending most of the summer
in Georgia, Noel plans to remain in
Annapolis and work on OLEG, with an eye
to graduate studies in philosophy in the
near future.
The Brocketts say that it was a sacrifice
to send three children to a private liberal
arts college. But as Philip Brockett
explains, they believe in two principles
when it comes to raising children. “One,
we’ve never regretted any money we’ve
spent on our children’s education,” he
says. “And our other mandate was to do
everything we could to ensure our children are independent. College is about
launching your kids into the world. And
St. John’s was just the right place to
launch them.” x
Each of the Brocketts (l. to r. Hayden, Gillian and Noel) found a special niche at
gary pierpoint
Among the graduates who marched across the stage in Annapolis
May 17 was Noel Brockett, the third and last member of a
Connecticut family to receive a St. John’s College diploma. In the
audience were his parents, Philip and Nancy; sister, Gillian
(A07); and brother, Hayden (A04), who launched the family’s
devotion to St. John’s when he received a college brochure in the
mail and made his college decision almost instantly.
It’s not unusual for a family to send several children to
St. John’s. Children follow parents, brothers follow sisters, and
legacies are born. Philip Brockett remembers when his eldest son
came home for Thanksgiving during his first year, brimming
with excitement about the books, his tutors, and his friends at
the college. “He told us St. John’s was home for him,” he says.
“On the one hand I was really glad for him, on the other hand,
I was a little taken aback that he felt so comfortable at the
college. He was so enthusiastic about St. John’s that he became a
salesman for the college to his younger siblings.”
Reluctant to follow her older brother, Gillian spent a year at
the University of Connecticut. By the second semester, however,
“she wasn’t satisfied with the educational experience she was
having” at the large university, Nancy Brockett says. After
visiting her older brother in Annapolis, “she called us up and
said she wasn’t going back to U Conn. It just wasn’t the right fit
for her. But she did really well at St. John’s.”
St. John’s, but they and their parents (Nancy and Philip) share a deep appreciation
for the college.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
—rosemary harty
�14
{Frederick Douglass}
FREEDOM
THROUGH
EDUCATION
by Laurel Pappas (A09)
A
fter four years of St. John’s it was
time to read a bestseller. I needed
something accessible, mesmerizing, full of colorful events and
characters to snap me out of the
aftershock of graduating. I hit on
something modern, from 1845:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, an American Slave.
As a student, looking ahead usually consisted of checking
the seminar list to see what we would read next. As a graduate
looking ahead means wondering what I should do. Impressed
by the necessity for action in my own life, I was delighted to
encounter in Frederick Douglass a man whose genius was so
immediately applied to improving the world. Douglass makes
his childhood and the challenges of his growth central in his
books, and I soon realized that anyone who has sought
freedom through education can identify with his pursuit of it.
I was reminded that freedom is not merely a liberated body,
but a liberated intellect.
No Program author is as physically present in Maryland as
Douglass. He was born a slave on the Eastern Shore, worked
in a shipyard in Baltimore, had a summer house in Highland
Beach and made his final home in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. His Anacostia home in particular
revealed the breadth of Douglass’ curiosity, innovation, and
learning. He taught himself the violin, made his own checkerboard, spoke and wrote in German and French, read in Greek
and Latin, appreciated the arts and had one of the most
modern homes of his time. However, it turns out that he
shared more than his renaissance ethic with St. John’s. When
our tour guide, Noelle, learned where I went to college her
face lit up in a smile. Knowing that her news would delight,
she exclaimed, “Douglass loved to play croquet!”
As early as age 7, still ignorant of the existence of the free
states, Douglass knew the concept of freedom. “I distinctly
remember being, even then, most strongly impressed with
the idea of being a freeman some day,” he wrote in his autobiography. He wrestled to understand the commonplace
brutality of the plantation. He was told that God, who was
good, made white men to be masters and black men to be
slaves. He recalls, “I could not reconcile the relation of
slavery with my crude notions of goodness.”
In 1826 Douglass was sent to Baltimore to live with the
Auld family. His new mistress, Sofia, began to teach the 9year-old Douglass how to read. The lessons were halted after
she guilelessly told her husband that “Fred” was a fine pupil.
The resistance of his master awoke in Douglass a “slumbering train of vital thought.” He suddenly understood what
had mystified him about the power men had to perpetrate
slavery. He saw ignorance at the root. He realized that,
“knowledge unfits a child to be a slave.”
If his mistress’ help cracked the door to literacy, his
master’s resistance only reinforced the importance of
pressing all the way through. He reflected later that, “He is
whipped oftenest, who is whipped easiest.” Douglass was not
easily whipped, either by the obstacles keeping him from an
education or by the brutality he faced later.
The speeches he found in his first book, The Columbian
Orator, gave him the means to articulate his own thoughts.
“The more I read them, the better I understood them. The
reading of these speeches added much to my limited stock of
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Frederick Douglass}
chad salecker
language, and enabled me to give
tongue to many interesting
thoughts, which had frequently
flashed through my soul, and
died away for want of utterance.”
He had discovered the power of
naming. Notably, Douglass also
pored over a short dialogue in
The Columbian Orator between a
master and his freshly captured
runaway slave. The master points
to the kindnesses he has shown to
his slave and insists that the slave
explain why he attempted
escape. The arguments of the
black man sway the master at
every turn; in the end, the master
emancipates him. Douglass’ and
his lifelong devotion to speaking
for social justice can be seen as a
living out of the texts that first
gave voice to his own thoughts
and desires.
After seven years in Baltimore
he was sent to St. Michael’s.
When Mr. Covey, the man hired
to break him, gave him a serious
head wound for being too ill to work, Douglass walked the
12 miles to St. Michaels and sought help from his master.
He knew he would receive no aid on the grounds of his
humanity, but argued that as property, he would be irreversibly damaged. His master sent him back. Douglass
returned to the farm of Mr. Covey and refused to be beaten.
He recounts that he and Mr. Covey gripped each other in a
cow pen for several hours and that there were no blows
exchanged between the men because Douglass neither
The Frederick Douglass summer home: Twin Oaks in
Highland Beach, Maryland. 410-267-6960 (open by
appointment)
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site: Cedar Hill
in Anacostia:
www.nps.gov/archive/frdo/freddoug.html
The Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis,
Maryland: www.bdmuseum.com
Douglass on the Eastern Shore of Maryland: Douglass
was born on the Anthony farm, near the banks of the
Tuckahoe River. A historical marker on the Eastern
Shore on Route 328 is six miles away from Douglass’
birthplace.
15
In Frederick Douglass, Laurel
Pappas (outside the BannekerDouglass house in Annapolis)
found a man devoted to education
as a means of improving the world.
administered nor permitted them.
“This battle was…the turning
point in my ‘life as a slave.’ It
rekindled in my breast the smouldering embers of liberty; it
brought up my Baltimore dreams,
and revived a sense of my own
manhood. I was a changed being
after that fight. I was nothing
before; I WAS A MAN NOW.”
Four years later he escaped
disguised as a sailor, and his free
papers were purchased in 1845 by
friends. However, before he was
legally emancipated Douglass
made himself free through his
access to the written word, by
gaining the power to name his own
thoughts, and by confirming and
embracing his stature as a man.
His learning was not static. He
taught black men to understand and love words, and later,
when he was invited by abolitionists to join their circuit, he
taught white men to understand and hate slavery. When
initially invited to speak he was instructed to tell his story and
leave the philosophy to the white abolitionists. Douglass
chafed in this role. He later wrote that repeating the same
story night after night “was a task altogether too mechanical
for my nature. I could not always obey, for I was now reading
and thinking.” He wanted to do more than relay the horrors
of slavery; he wanted to condemn them. In a nation deeply
saturated in its prejudices Douglass persisted and became
one of the most gifted orators America has ever known.
In reading, I was enthralled by Douglass’ spiritedness. His
palpable legacy in Maryland helped me to meet, not simply
the force of Douglass’ sentiments, but a man. The bestselling
author I encountered did not help me sort out the particulars
of what I should do with myself, but his example encouraged
me. Douglass is a reminder that a true education, while for its
own sake, is toward practical life.* x
*“Statement of Educational Policy and Program,” Spring
2006, Michael Dink (A75)
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�16
{The Program}
ON FREEDOM
“In any account of Freedom the great symbols
are chains and fetters. There is no universal and
immediately transparent symbol of Freedom as
such. The torch and the Statue of Liberty, the
Phyrigian cap, the gesture of open and uplifted
arms—these all symbolize freedom at best indirectly, by way of some historic or sentimental
connotations. But chains—that’s different. They
mean, directly, always and under all circumstances, compulsion. Why is this so? I think,
because, in the most concrete way, we are never
free. We are inescapably bound to the necessities
of life, we cannot escape death; we depend
intrinsically on everything around us, in the
present as well as in the past.”
– Jacob Klein, “The Problem of Freedom.”
I
n an essay he delivered 40 years ago at what
was then the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, Jacob Klein spoke of both
political freedom and the freedom of
human beings as “thinking beings and as
beings having a will.” The concept of
freedom comes up frequently in program
readings, from Aristotle to Faulkner. In readings such
as the Dred Scott decision, the concept of freedom is
made most clear when we’re confronted with its opposite: bondage. The College asked three tutors to think
about freedom and write an essay. Not surprisingly,
the Program itself came to mind for tutor Jon
Lenkowski. Bill Pastille questions whether each individual unknowingly sets up barriers to freedom.
And Claudia Honeywell turned to a fictional character, Mrs. Dalloway, to examine freedom through the
difficult choices of one woman’s life.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�17
jennifer behrens
{The Program}
The Being-at-Work of Human Freedom
by Jon Lenkowski, tutor, Annapolis
As much as is possible, given all of the external exigencies
to which we are subject in our daily lives, St. John’s College
tries to provide us with freedom from certain sorts of wants
and needs, as well as freedom from care and from distraction. The ancient word for this condition is schole, from
which we get our modern words “school” and “scholar.”
The word schole originally means leisure, as well as the
place where leisure activity takes place, therefore
suggesting a deep connection between leisure and study, or
that study is the proper work of leisure. The liberal arts
have been traditionally conceived as the arts of freedom,
not only because they depend on leisure, but also because
they provide us with certain kinds of resources to help lead
us out of ignorance and blindness. In this way the liberal
arts can be viewed as liberating.
Any liberal arts college worth its salt must subscribe to
this view of the liberal arts. But here at St. John’s we go even
further than this: Learning can itself be slavish. What I
mean by this is that one can become enthralled by any
number of great thinkers, so that one takes a fancy to a new
way of thinking, or a new view of things, or a new technical
vocabulary, and learns it almost by rote, letting it take
possession of one’s soul without scrutinizing it carefully
enough to see whether it is really worthy of such an exalted
status. And then there are all the various methods and
procedures and models that one comes across in this or that
departmental specialty; these tend to be forced upon the
learner as though they were simply the truth of things; and
even without this compulsion and enforcement these also
often have a tendency to insinuate themselves into our
souls surreptitiously and almost automatically. These are
all forms of enslavement and un-freedom. And thus it is the
task of the liberal arts to be liberating in yet a further way,
that is, to help us develop powers of criticism such that we
don’t simply and immediately internalize unthinkingly
what we read, hear or learn.
Thus then the liberal arts as liberating. But all this is in
a way only preparatory to another freedom, which is the
most essential sort of freedom that we can achieve here.
It is perhaps the quintessence of our interior freedom.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�18
{The Program}
with it a new responsibility—
viz. to seek out those great
thinkers who can best help us
to formulate questions in just
the right way, and help us
pursue them and think about
them most profitably—for
without this guidance we run
the risk of missing many
things, as well as the risk of
trusting in our own abilities
alone, and just spinning
our own wheels, as self-indulgently delightful as that may
be.
jennifer behrens
This is the freedom of
thought, the freedom to be
able to think in whatever
direction the logos seems to
lead us, to follow its pointings wherever they may lead,
without fear of reprisal or
consequence—to question
and interrogate each of these
pointings as vigorously as we
can at each and every step of
the way, and then to be able
to say openly what we have
learned and what we think.
But this freedom also brings
Freedom: Comedy?
William Pastille, tutor, Annapolis
Some years ago I gave a lecture questioning the value of questioning. The Socratic project of radical questioning in the
service of the Delphic injunction “Know thyself” had become
unsatisfying for me. It seemed that all the questioning I was
doing was merely uncovering a host of unexamined prejudices,
long-standing beliefs, and inherited errors that had been
planted—often without my knowledge—in a hidden part in my
soul. For all I could tell, this subconscious network of thought
was irreducibly complex; and if that were the case, the Socratic
project would never be realized. I could spend my entire life
exposing the errors and the ignorance of my subconscious
“self” to the light of day, sanitizing its piles of trash, cleaning up
its mistakes, patching its holes—and I would be no closer to
knowing myself at death than I was at birth. Or, as Schiller once
put it, I would “miss” myself for the sake of an unrealizable
Socratic project.
In fact, it seemed to me then that the subconscious self
controls our lives far more than the conscious one. The whole
attempt to probe, to question assumptions, and to correct
errors is conditioned by the subconscious self, since it is the
source of the difficulties that radical questioning seems to
uncover, and it retains them until the conscious self happens to
light on one of them. Hence, the Socratic project is a sort of selfdeluding servitude to the hidden self: by convincing our
conscious self that something is being accomplished by our
continual exposure of unexamined assumptions, we conceal or
play down the impossibility of the project and the futility of our
activity. The subconscious self will never let go, no matter how
many errors the conscious self corrects. Seen from this perspec-
tive, questioning leads to slavery rather than to freedom.
In the question period, my colleague Chaninah Maschler
asked, “What is the obsession with freedom? Why is freedom so
important that it overrides everything else?”
“It bothers me,” I replied, “to think that something else is
living my life for me.”
“You should be grateful!” she shot back.
Everyone else in the room, including me, burst into laughter.
***
Of course, I thought that Ms. Maschler had somehow misapprehended my point, but in the days that followed, her “You
should be grateful!” kept running through my mind. Soon I
realized that it was a signal directing my attention to the fact
that I had gotten something very wrong. And it was not long
before the problem made itself known.
By assuming that the unconscious self was dominant, I had
granted it autonomy in its relations with the conscious self. But
surely this is a mistake. The unconscious self is evidently not
wholly self-determining, since ideas surreptitiously enter it
from the outside, and since the conscious self can modify it
through Socratic inquiry. So neither the conscious self nor the
subconscious self are independent, stable, fundamental beings.
Was it possible that there could be a more fundamental self? If
so, where was it, and how could I come to know it?
It turns out that there is a candidate for this more fundamental self. It is an aspect of consciousness that is sometimes
called “the watcher.” Despite the mystical overtones, there is
really nothing strange or extraordinary about it, even though
for the most part we do not notice its activity. In order to notice
it, you need to “step aside” from your thoughts and perceptions. The process for uncovering the watcher is well known in
meditative traditions, and is pretty simple: Choose a quiet place
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�19
{The Program}
As paradoxical as this formulation may seem, it is—
finally—this interior freedom of thought that is the great
freedom that we have tried to force you to exercise.
Now, having said all of this, let me add a restriction: We
tutors are always under the gun. We spend the better part of
our waking lives in the service of this college, preparing,
and preparing and then preparing again. The things we
study are so difficult and so many-sided. A single page of a
book may point in a dozen different directions, and we feel
obligated—and it is both an intellectual and a moral obligation—to follow up each and every one of these leads. There
never seems to be enough time. We always feel rushed and
hardly ever feel adequate to the task. Usually we prepare
right up to class-time, and almost always go to class
thinking: if only we had another hour or two! But once
where you can be alone, and close your eyes. In your mind’s ear,
recite a line of poetry that you know well. Slow it down progressively until there are long gaps between the words. Then
concentrate intently on the gaps between the words. If you do
this repeatedly and with persistence, you will sooner or later
notice the presence of a constantly active awareness that is
always ready to take up content in the form of thoughts or
perceptions, but is just as lively when no such stimuli are
present. As far as I can tell, it is always the same every time I
clear space for it—an empty attentiveness without distinguishing marks. Is this the independent, stable, and fundamental self that grounds the unconscious and the conscious
selves?
It seems unlikely. Although it appears to have stability, it is
hardly self-determining: it cannot resist being filled with
content. The conscious self must strive to keep thoughts and
perceptions off to the side in order for the watcher to remain in
the open. This shows that the watcher is yet another self that
dances with the conscious self in a continual interplay of
submission and dominance, servitude and freedom.
Maybe there just isn’t a fundamental self.
***
And yet perhaps we can learn something from the process of
bringing the watcher into the open. What if the stepping aside
that makes room for the watcher is the right kind of activity, but
just isn’t complete enough to clear the way for the fundamental
self? What if we need to step aside not only from thoughts and
perceptions, but also from the body, the conscious self, the
subconscious self, the watcher, our memories, our various
identities, and whatever else may be in our makeup—from
everything that makes us ourselves? What if only something
that total could open up the clearing necessary for the funda-
Our classes work because we
have trusted you and you have
lived up to that trust.
Jon Lenkowski
inside the classroom something magical happens: the
conversation starts and a spirit of fluency takes over where
we anticipated only a sort of stuttering and hemming and
hawing. And so the class goes on quite wonderfully as
though it had a life and spirit of its own. And so it turns out
that we were all up to the task after all. And this happens
because our students have also been busy, preparing and
mental self to appear? What if only something like that could
reveal to us the “something else” to which we should be
grateful for living our lives for us?
Strictly speaking, such a total stepping aside is inconceivable. It would be a complete metastrophe, a turning of our
backs to our very existence, a kind of self-naughting. And if an
inconceivable experience of this kind were to open a clearing
for the fundamental self, then it would also be a supreme
paradox: how could we be gone and yet something be left over?
It seems likely that the approach to such an experience would
be terrifying, amounting, as it were, to a kind of death. And
indeed, in religious and mystical traditions where something
like this collapse of the self is discussed, it is often treated as a
death. Hence the famous dictum attributed to Mohammed:
“Die before ye die.”
But I wonder what the experience would look like on the
other side of the collapse. Would it be like suddenly getting the
punch line to a gag that had seemed utterly nonsensical beforehand?
***
There is an old Zen joke: A student approaches his master with
the question “Master, how can I be liberated?”
“Who binds you?” the master responds.
“Why no one binds me, master.”
“Then why do you want to be liberated?” the master says with
just a hint of a smile.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if we have been missing ourselves just
because we are in our own way; if the divine comedy really is a
joke—and the joke is on us; if the best way to step out of our own
way is to fall out of it by slipping on the banana peel of being?
Wouldn’t it be funny if learning to laugh at ourselves is the real
key to ultimate freedom? x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�20
{The Program}
preparing again. Our classes work because we have trusted
you and you have lived up to that trust by investing yourselves in our common enterprise.
You are not our pupils, but rather our co-workers, since
we learn from you, as you learn from us. This makes you full
partners in this great adventure of the Spirit that is at once
the quintessential being-at-work of human freedom.
Adapted from a toast given in December 2008 to degree
candidates of the Graduate Institute, Annapolis.
The Freedom to Be Herself
By Claudia Honeywell, tutor, Santa Fe
jennifer behrens
Thanks to the education and opportunity we have had, our
most pressing concern with freedom is often with the
highly individual choices that give us the freedom to be
ourselves. Yet our personal choices may be difficult for
those who love us to understand or even accept.
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway gives an interesting
example of this. Peter Walsh, who has loved Clarissa for
30 years, does not understand why she rejected him and
chose instead Richard Dalloway and a marriage devoid of
passion.
The loss of personal freedom that Clarissa’s choice
entailed is emphasized throughout the novel, beginning
with the famous opening line which introduces her only
by her husband’s name and limits her autonomy to a frivolous trip to the flower shop. Yet in spite of being defined by
her husband, Clarissa has not succumbed, like Lady Bradshaw, to the “slow sinking, waterlogged, of her will into
his” (100). In fact, she is more open-minded than she was
30 years ago: “She would not say of any one in the world
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{The Program}
21
Peter realizes that there is a connection between the way
now that they were this or were that… and she would not
Clarissa’s “emotions [are] all on the surface” (75) and her
say of Peter, she would not say of herself, I am this, I am
creativity, her “extraordinary gift of making a world of her
that” (8).*
own wherever she happened to be” (75). Peter credits
Clarissa chose to marry Richard although she knew
Clarissa’s detachment with giving her this ability to express
herself to have stronger feelings for Peter. As the novel
life fully by her presence, to make a world of her own,
progresses, her choice appears due to something unfeeling
“to sum it all up in the moment as she passed” (174). Unlike
in Clarissa herself. Peter would like to condemn her for
Peter and Sally Seton, who are diminished in the post-war
“this coldness, this woodenness”, but instead he senses
world, the detached Clarissa retains her compelling
that it is “something very profound” and finds himself on
presence.
the day of the novel “unable to get away from the thought of
Peter and Sally looked for fulfillment in private life, but
her… trying to explain her” (76).
this option was never open to Clarissa, for private life
Clarissa’s lack of feeling is what connects her to
demands the feeling that she lacks. Clarissa can only
Septimus, her parallel character in the novel. Clarissa,
express herself socially, where human relathinks Peter, is “cold as an icycle” (80),
tions are more abstract than intimate. She
while Septimus, the narrator tells us
sees her party as an occasion to get at somerepeatedly, “could not feel” (86). This
thing “unreal in one way; much more real
quality of detachment, explored through
in another” (171) and her party is for her an
these two otherwise unrelated characters,
end in itself: “it was an offering to
is the main theme of the novel. Septimus is
combine, to create, but to whom? An
driven to suicide because those around
offering for the sake of offering, perhaps”
him are so threatened by his detachment.
(222). Clarissa’s connection is not to indiClarissa avoided Septimus’ fate by rejecting
viduals, but to human life as a whole: “in
Peter, with whom “everything had to be
the ebb and flow of things, here, she
shared; everything gone into” (8). By
survived. . .she was part” (9).
choosing to live “like a nun” with the
Claudia Honeywell
Until the final lines of the novel, Peter
emotionally undemanding Richard, Clarissa
thinks of this as Clarissa’s “transcendental
Dalloway has ensured that she will not be
theory” (152), which, he acknowledges,
harassed for her own detachment.
“worked to this extent: brief, broken as their actual meetAlthough not an artist, Clarissa thus has a certain
ings had been… the effect of them on his life was immeastemperamental connection to the woman of “A Room of
urable” (153). But in the novel’s closing line, Peter finds
One’s Own” who needs “money and a room of her own if
that Clarissa’s transcendence is not just theoretical, it
she is to write fiction” (4). In “A Room of One’s Own,”
manifests in her being, in her presence in the world.
Virginia Woolf suggests that detachment is a truer artistic
Through Peter’s experience of Clarissa’s presence, we
response than passion. Romance, she says, may have been
learn that Clarissa has retained the rare and personal
always an illusion:
freedom of being herself.
“Shall we lay the blame on the war? When the guns fired
Clarissa’s power to draw Peter fully into the present is a
in August 1914, did the faces of men and women show so
creative power, akin to the power of the author herself. In
plain in each other’s eyes that romance was killed?. . . .Why,
“A Room of One’s Own,” Virginia Woolf discusses the
if it was an illusion, not praise the catastrophe, whatever it
difficulties that women have faced in developing their
was, that destroyed illusion and put truth in its place?” (15).
creative powers. Clarissa’s strange choice to marry Richard
Although Clarissa’s enigmatic detachment was out of
now appears guided by her woman’s intuition of how to
place during the pre-war summer of romance and
protect and develop her own unique self. Mrs. Dalloway
courtship that ended with her choice to marry Richard, it is
gives us a woman’s insight into the source of creativity and
suited to the realism of the post-war aesthetic. Peter, who
encourages us to give up our romantic illusions and learn,
once believed that passion was the most important thing in
with Clarissa, to “wish everybody merely to be themselves”
life, has since learned that it is not passion but detachment
(126).
that gives “the supreme flavour to existence—the power of
* Line numbers are from the Harcourt edition.x
taking hold of experience, of turning it round, slowly, in
the light.” (79).
Clarissa can only
express herself
socially, where
human relations
are more abstract
than intimate.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
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{Resilience}
RESILIENCE
in the face of
RECESSION
by Patricia Dempsey
U
nemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies—these
are unsettling times for
Americans. The experiences of these four Johnnies reflect the gravity of a
prolonged recession, but they also inspire
optimism. Policy analyst Jim Sorrentino
(A80) helps people keep their homes.
Small business owner Trudy Koch
(AGI82) rides out the recession in a tiny
Virginia town, helping others along the
way. Mandy Dalton (A89) fearlessly
ventures into a new career. And in California, where the economy is staggering,
therapist Tom Horvath (A75) teaches
clients to hang on even when they’re
losing everything.
“This is A bout Community”
Jim Sorrentino (A80) Offers Hope for Homeowners
Jim Sorrentino (A80) fondly remembers the movie It’s a
Wonderful Life from the days when he ran the film program
at St. John’s. When the Depression hits, there’s a run on the
bank, and George Bailey offers the cash he saved for his
honeymoon trip to keep the Building & Loan and his
Bedford Falls neighbors afloat. “Let’s face it,” says
Sorrentino, a policy analyst at the Office of Housing and
Urban Development. “There are no George Baileys
anymore. Lenders, whether they are large or small companies, aren’t interested in the homeowner. Once they originate a loan for a home mortgage, they immediately sell it
and get it off their books. Once it’s sold, the homeowner’s
ability to stay above water is no longer the lender’s
problem. There is no sense of community anymore.”
At HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C., an Orwellian
concrete building that Sorrentino and his colleagues affectionately call “10 floors of basement,” the water-cooler talk
includes terms like “ninja loans,” “subprime,” “trenches,”
and “foreclosure contagion.” Working in a windowless
office, Sorrentino is one of many anonymous, unsung
heroes of the bailout, something of a modern-day George
Bailey. He doesn’t hand over his own cash, but Sorrentino
was tapped by the Treasury Department in 2008 to help
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Resilience}
“There are no George Baileys anymore.”
mike gillispie
Jim Sorrentino (A80)
Jim Sorrentino, outside HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C., is an unsung hero of the Bailout.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
23
�24
{Resilience}
of Chicago and after class, this gentlemen
craft a plan to funnel Troubled Asset Relief
came up to me. He was from a mediumProgram (TARP) funds into the right
large mortgage lender. He didn’t exactly
hands. The funds provide lender incentives
say we [HUD] were wasting our time, but
for foreclosure prevention and relief.
he implied it. He said, ‘Nice presentation,
“My job is public service,” says
but I gotta tell you the next big thing is
Sorrentino. “I want to help people stay in
subprime mortgages. Lenders will look at
their homes. What one person pays out,
your programs and say, ‘This is too complianother benefits from. In this way we
cated. There are so many rules, consumer
are in this bailout together. This is about
Jim Sorrentino
protections, to get an FHA-insured mortcommunity.”
gage, so we’re going to get out of the FHA
In 2008 Sorrentino was tapped to work
and all its verifications.’”
for six months in the Treasury’s newly created HomeownAt that time lenders were beginning to eagerly extend
ership Preservation Office, assisting in the development of
subprime or “ninja” (no income, no job, no assets) loans to
the Making Home Affordable program, the federal governhomeowners. “The mortgage business came up with all
ment’s attempt to address the housing part of the economic
sorts of creative terms to aggressively market these
crisis. Today Sorrentino is back at HUD, continuing to
subprime loans to homeowners. They refer to subprime
work on foreclosure relief through the recently revised
loans as ‘nonprime’ or ‘fault A rating’—that is one of my
Hope for Homeowners program, administered by the
favorites. One lender, Countrywide, called their program
Federal Housing Administration (FHA). As a result of this
Whole Spectrum. No credit? No problem. We’re Whole
program, the percentage of FHA loans is on the rise. “The
Spectrum, for everyone, like a big happy family. Thus, the
FHA market share dropped dramatically over the years.
magic of mortgage-backed securities took flight. The
Now we’re on our way to close to 20 percent. By the end of
lender could sell the loan in a package very quickly and be
the year 30 percent of the nation’s homebuyers will be in
done with it. When the loans were off their books, it was not
FHA mortgages.” That’s compared to just 2 percent of
their problem.”
homeowners in 2005-6, he points out.
Investment banks and hedge funds bought mortgageIn 1985, Sorrentino, just out of University of Maryland’s
backed securities to sell to investors. “Depending on the
School of Law, was hired by HUD’s Baltimore field office as
amount of risk involved they would package these things
an attorney-advisor to assist homeowners facing foreclointo ‘trenches’—pronounced “tra-ah-h-nches.” They loved
sure when Baltimore’s slumping steel industry left thouto use the fancy French terminology,” explains
sands out of work. Then he went to HUD headquarters as a
Sorrentino. “This was all part of the marketing hype, the
policy analyst in foreclosure prevention and relief and dealt
sales seduction.”
with the collapse of the shale oil industry in Colorado in the
The lure of easy money attracted not just unsophisticated
late 1980s. “Those were regional crises,” Sorrentino
borrowers, but highly educated, savvy borrowers who
explains. “What we haven’t had for a long time is a collapse
thought “their property would appreciate until the end of
of national scale. I remember in the late 1980s going out to
time,” says Sorrentino. “People were getting fairly complex
our office in Denver and driving down street after street
loans, an adjustable rate tied to the London Libor rate,
and seeing foreclosure signs. Those folks left—they went to
terms many of us have never heard of. How is that person,
another city. They had a place to go. Now there is no place
even a highly educated person, supposed to really underthat is a safe haven financially. So we are all in this
stand what kind of obligation he or she has signed?” By
together.”
contrast, Sorrentino has kept a tight rein on his own
Sorrentino first heard the term “subprime” in Chicago
finances and only refinanced his home once in the last
over a decade ago. “In 1998 I taught a class on a program
seven years. “We only took out enough to cover the
that required all FHA lenders to evaluate potential homeexpenses of adopting our children,” he says, “and just last
owners. I taught this program at the Federal Reserve Bank
“Now there is no
place that’s a safe
haven financially.
So we’re all in this
together.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Resilience}
month we refinanced a second
time, for home renovations.”
For those like Sorrentino, who
have managed their finances
conservatively, shelling out tax
dollars for TARP bailout funds is
a tough pill to swallow. He
understands why people who
live within their means angrily
wonder why their tax dollars
should help those who didn’t.
“My answer is this is a national
crisis,” he says. “Besides, how
many foreclosed homes do you
want on your street lowering
your property values? In places
like Detroit there is something
we call ‘foreclosure contagion.’
Guys pull up, kick down the
door, and remove all the copper
pipes from foreclosed home
after home. The values deflate
even further. We need to all care. We need to pull together
to get through.”
Though he primarily deals with foreclosure policy, in
some cases borrowers track Sorrentino down. Sometimes,
they’re referred to him after they’ve complained to their
congressman, senator, or even the White House about the
lenders’ terms for their restructured loans. If a case looks
reasonable, it may land on his desk, and Sorrentino reviews
the case with the loan servicer, sees if the lender violated
policy, and gets the HUD field office involved to offer
housing counsel to the borrower. “I try as much as possible
not to be a go-between between borrower and lender –that’s
not my job, but I’ve done it on many occasions. I have held
onto thank-you letters from borrowers that I have helped
out. I hope that as the years went on they managed to get
their lives straightened out. I hope I helped them in some
way with that.”
Now that the percentage of FHA loans is increasing,
Sorrentino is home on weekends, no longer putting in
extra hours. This leaves him more time to spend with his
wife, his 6-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son. It’s a
25
While the recession means slow sales at her quilt shop, Trudy
Koch is devoting time to making quilts for good causes.
sad irony that the Sorrentinos were able to adopt their son
because the child’s mother, who lives in Maryland, could
not afford to raise him. In that way, Sorrentino says, “Our
baby was a gift of the recession.”
Quilts Made With Love
Trudy Koch (AGI85) Fosters Goodwill
Times are threadbare in Tappahannock, Virginia, a sleepy
colonial town along the Rappahannock River. “There are
now three ‘cash-to-you’ places in town. This is a bad sign,”
says quilt shop owner Trudy Koch (AGI85). “Some weeks I
sell not even a yard of fabric.” While sales of fabric and
notions at her downtown shop, Water & Queen, have
slowed, Koch is rich in time, friends, and energy. The long
tables in her brightly lit shop in a rambling colonial house
are often filled with customers, neighbors, and friends,
who quilt and talk while listening to the radio. Water &
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�26
{Resilience}
“The director was so helpful. St. John’s changed my life,”
Queen is more than a gathering spot; it’s a stage for a recesshe says. She attended during summers and cooked familysion trend Koch calls a return to service. “Some things in
style dinners for fellow GIs to pay for gas for the drive to
this depression, and people sense it, are important. These
and from her home in Silver Spring, Maryland, where
are the things that do not cost money—kindness and free
she raised six children as a single mother. “Money was so
energy. It’s not about turning a buck. It’s about goodwill
tight that during the week when I was in Annapolis, I
and service.”
cooked big dinners and charged $3 a person,” she says.
Koch, who settled here after retiring from teaching,
“I would write the menu on a brown paper bag—things like
organizes fellow quilters to create “Quilts of Valor,” handfried chicken, corn on the cob, cornbread—and post it.
stitched works of art, often in red-white-and-blue and starsWe’d eat at the house where I was staying. The sense of
and-stripes motifs, for injured vets of the Iraqi war. “These
community was wonderful.”
are soldiers who are severely mutilated, legs blown off,
Koch creates a sense of community wherever she lives.
limbs severed. How good it must feel to drape beautiful
Even though she’s a “come-here” in Tappahannock, she’s
colors over these injuries, whether in a wheelchair, or over
gained acceptance in a town sometimes wary of outsiders.
a bed, they can savor the bright, cheery colors.” Koch’s
“When strangers walk in the shop I say, ‘Come visit. Let’s
group, called the Sting Ray Quilters, is part of a larger
put on a pot of tea and talk.’ You meet the most wonderful
national movement and ships the quilts to vets in regional
people. They tell me their life stories. Some come to quilt.
hospitals as well as those across the country and overseas.
I don’t charge people anything to use the space. Eventually
“Every now and then we get a thank-you letter, but that
they will buy some fabric.”
isn’t why I make them,” says Koch. “Down in the corner of
mine I embroider ‘God, bless this American soldier’
The Fears of a Clown
because I feel so deeply for the tragedies of war and how it
affects these strong young people. These quilts are made
Mandy Dalton (A89) Shifts from Mime to New Media
with love.”
Koch also creates brightly colored quilts—block square,
When people cut back on expenses, apparently clowns are
diamond, and Baltimore album patterns, and fancy
among the first to go. That’s what Mandy Dalton (A89),
appliqués—for those in need who live closer to home. She
known as “Mandy the Clown,” was facing when the
and fellow quilters, a cross-section from various church
economy sank. Like Americans in all walks of life she has
denominations in Rappahannock County, reach out to the
had to reinvent herself to survive.
homeless and others in county shelters and rehab centers.
“Around 9-11, back in 2001, the bottom dropped out of
The program is called “Project in So Much,” a reference to
the event market in this area. That’s how I was making
a Bible verse: “. . . for what I do unto brothers that you do
most of my money,” says Dalton. “During the next six
unto me in so much. . . .” “I donate fabric and we make
months special events went into a tailspin. Municipal funcquilts in my shop for the homeless in shelters for battered
tions, grand openings, corporate events weren’t
women, lap robes for elderly in wheelhappening. People didn’t feel like celechairs at rehab centers, and even tote bags
brating. Then there was the sniper scare in
lined with cheery fabric for the handiWashington, D.C., and the anthrax
capped.” Her group is called “The
threats, schools were shutting down.
Menders,” says Koch, because “we hope
People had the jitters.” Even the buildup
we mend hearts and lives as well as fabric.”
to Iraq slashed her bookings says Dalton,
Koch is no stranger to resiliency and
who had numerous clients at Fort Meade,
survival. About 30 years ago, then a public
an army base in Maryland. “Not many
school teacher in Montgomery County,
people want to have a party when their
Mandy Dalton
Maryland, she wrote a letter to the Gradloved ones are going to war.”
uate Institute asking for a scholarship.
Just as things were starting to pick up
“Not many people
want to have a party
when their loved ones
are going to war.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Resilience}
again, the recession “knocked my business out of the
water,” says Dalton. This past February, she didn’t have
a single booking. And one of her corporate clients who
owed her money declared bankruptcy. “By the time I would
have gone to New York and attended the bankruptcy
proceedings to try and collect it, I would have gotten
pennies on the dollar. Besides, can you imagine the judge
in bankruptcy court, what he or she would have to say about
a fee for a clown?”
Dalton, who attended professional clown school for two
years before attending St John’s, has spent decades cultivating what she calls her clown personae. “There is no
pretense. You pull something out of yourself and reveal it.
My persona is an overgrown 5-year-old. I’m a rag doll
on Red Bull—with red hair.” She’s feisty and resilient,
much like Pippi Longstocking, but last winter when she
was laid up with a back injury, Dalton hit bottom. “I was
flat on my back for three
days. Clowning is very physical work. I juggle, I walk on
stilts, I goof around a lot
and fall a lot. My knees
can’t take the stilts anymore,
and my back is in bad shape
after falling for more than
20 years. My doctor wants me
to stop.”
Finally, Dalton faced the
fact that she had to find
another way to make a living.
Since then she has transitioned her flair for performance, stunts and stilts into
another precarious profession: journalism and its
cutting edge of new media.
Dalton’s bright red hair
stands out on the United
Press International (UPI)
27
website, where her footage as a news videographer
conducting man-on-the-street interviews appears in the
“Issue of the Day” feature. “I’ve always been a news junkie
and have had a long interest in video—the production,
writing, editing—since high school. I also still love the
ability for analysis that I cultivated at St. John’s.” Dalton
sought mentoring from a friend who is a production editor
at ABC News and informally worked as his personal editing
assistant. Then last fall she landed her part-time internship
with UPI. “I tell people I’m transitioning right now.
At 43 looking for a new line of work means I’ve been facing
a lot of unspoken age discrimination. But given the recession and the fact that so many people are looking to career
shift, this has been a good time to transition.”
Being a news and event videographer adds another
dimension to her repertoire as professional clown, drama
instructor, and mentor to youth. “The best part is how
When bookings for “Mandy the
Clown” began dropping off,
Mandy Dalton looked to her
talents for a new career plan.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
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{Resilience}
clowning and news videography inform each other. They
feed one another in a natural way.” For instance when
Dalton conducts interviews for UPI, she poses questions
that her producer has written on a subject that is breaking
headline news. Dalton stops some 50-75 people a day to ask
them for 30 seconds of their time to comment on these
issues. Her producers may write the questions, but it’s up to
Dalton to get people to open up. “Most people walk fast,
avoid eye contact, talk on their cell phones, but I have this
gesture from my clown training—I keep my mike pointed
down and put my hand over my heart. I don’t know
scientifically why it works, but it does. People stop and talk
to me. From my years of clowning I’m more sensitive and I
find this gesture helps. People see my sincerity. I fear
becoming robotic, too aggressive, chasing the bouncing
silver ball of news.”
Some days as a UPI videographer are especially
compelling. “It involves writing, creating, observing,
listening, storytelling—all the things I love. The Johnnie in
me likes to go out and start a conversation with people
about random subjects. When [Justice David] Souter was
retiring from the Supreme Court, we jumped on it to find
out what qualities people would want to see in a Supreme
Court Justice. A woman rushed out of Starbucks and said to
me, ‘I have to talk to you about this.’”
In the future Dalton wants to improvise and create her
own questions for her video interviews. “Money is fascinating, especially in a recession. What is the meaning of
money ultimately? Have you done any
bartering to save money? I’d like to
ease into a conversation about money.
People want to know how I fare as a
clown in the recession. What about
the other side? I want to know how
they are dealing with money.” She
even has already found some people
who want to laugh about money.
“They are laughing through their
tears about money, but who knows,
the desire to laugh means that my
clowning business might pick up
again.”
A Lifeline in Times
of Stress
Tom Horvath (A75) Knows
How to Listen
Therapist Tom Horvath sees the
emotional toll the recession is taking
on his clients who come to him for
treatment at Practical Recovery in La
Jolla, California. One of his clients
just lost her home and is coping with
Tom Horvath’s clients are struggling
through California’s hard times.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Resilience}
29
as treatment. His clients include the
anger and doubt as she’s forced to make
affluent, as well as those who struggle
financial decisions. She and her husband
economically and attend free therapy
have moved into a rental property, and
sessions offered through Practical
her mother is paying for the treatment to
Recovery’s community program. Both
help them get through their crisis. “She
groups experience anger and grief related
wants to come through this with some
to their economic woes, though on
sense of honor,” Horvath says. “The bank
different scales. “We’ve had clients come
keeps squeezing her and her husband. . .
in who are under stress because they’ve
pressuring them to sign a $50,000 note to
Tom Horvath
lost a lot of money,” says Horvath. “Their
avoid foreclosure and ruining their credit
portfolios are not what they used to be.”
rating. Even though her husband is a
As a psychologist, Horvath has his pulse on crisis-related
construction worker and they are breaking even right now,
stress. As the author of the book, Sex, Drugs, Gambling
they won’t be able to keep up with those payments. She
and Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions, he
feels it is dishonest to sign the note, since she knows they
understands how human beings crave comfort during hard
cannot afford it.”
times. “During Hurricane Katrina, a time of catastrophe
Horvath can empathize with the stress of financial loss.
and crisis, there was an increase in substance problems. It
Horvath, who has a doctorate from the California School of
is a natural response,” says Horvath. “I have noticed statisProfessional Psychology, founded his addiction treatment
tics that show that in the last year since the recession,
center, Practical Recovery, in San Diego in 1985. Three
alcohol sales [nationwide] are up by 10 percent, romance
years ago, when San Diego’s economy took a nosedive, his
novels have seen a 33 percent increase in sales. This is a
business was hard hit. “It was a disaster,” says Horvath,
kind of female pornography; women escape into a
“Spending is more discretionary here so we felt the receswonderful relationship in these novels. Men tend to steer
sion sooner than the rest of the country. Discretionary
towards Internet porn in times of stress. The economy
spending, which includes counseling, fell dramatically.” In
dipping is a factor that is out of one’s control, so that
2006, Horvath laid off four people. “By 2007, I had to put
creates a stress. And escape is a time-honored way to deal
my own money into the practice to keep it afloat, and I took
with stress.”
no salary for a year,” he says.
In his work Horvath draws on the Johnnie approach to
Horvath hired three new employees this spring, and his
conversation and listening. As part of SMART Recovery, an
business is strong, thanks to a new Internet marketing
organization he helped to establish and led as president
strategy. As a small provider in a big industry, Horvath had
from 1995-2008, Horvath occasionally leads a SMART
difficulty competing with larger, well-known treatment
Recovery meeting, one of more than 400 recovery discuscenters such as the Betty Ford Center. In May 2008, he
sion groups held weekly around the world. “There is a
hired a consultant to help build an online presence, and the
handbook and like a math tutorial, we work through probinvestment paid off. “Since September 2009, we typically
lems,” Horvath says. “The discussion focuses on rational
rank near the top in searches for addiction counseling,”
analysis of thoughts, feelings, and situations. This is a way
Horvath says. “While revenue was down 20 percent three
to give back, especially to those who cannot afford treatyears ago, now it’s up 20 percent.”
ment. When I’m leading one of these these groups, or
With his business on solid ground, Horvath can focus on
training the volunteer facilitators, I feel very much like
what he does best: counseling clients who struggle with
a Johnnie.” x
addiction. He has clients from the San Diego area and from
around the world who come to his center, which offers both
inpatient and outpatient treatment. Horvath says Practical
Recovery offers “an empowering alternative” to the traditional view of addiction as disease and the 12-step program
“By 2007, I had to put
my own money into
the practice to keep it
afloat, and I took no
salary for a year.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�30
{Bibliofile}
The Newton Wars and the
Beginning of the French
Enlightenment
J.B. Shank (AGI92)
University of Chicago Press (2008)
By Curtis Wilson (HA83)
J.B. Shank’s The Newton Wars and
the Beginning of the French Enlightenment is an account of changing
attitudes and controversies among
French thinkers, from the 1690s
through the 1750s, regarding the
scientific and presumptive moral and
metaphysical import of Newton’s
Principia. From the start, French
reviewers praised Newton’s mathematical achievement in this book but
complained of his failure to explain
how bodies could attract one another
gravitationally over distances
through empty space. The Cartesian
vortex theory, which assumed transmission
of force by contact of solid bodies, seemed
more rational. (Truth to tell, “solidity” and
“contact” are as problematic as action at a
distance.) Other objections, moralistic and
metaphysical, were raised later. Was not
the metaphysics implicit in Newton’s book,
Leibniz asked Samuel Clarke in 1716,
conducive to materialism, atheism, and
immorality? (See The Leibniz-Clarke
Correspondence.) At times the controversy
turned ugly.
Shank follows the twists and turns of this
discussion in detail. He focuses on the politics and sociology of it: the “self-fashioning” whereby individual players in the
field sought to create a persona that could
survive and prosper amidst controversy
and the politics of a stratified society. For
42 years, from 1697 to 1739, the ‘perpetual
secretary’ of the Académie des Sciences
was Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, a
gentleman of the Cartesian persuasion.
He was succeeded, for still a few more
years, by another gentleman of the same
persuasion, Dortous de Mairan. For these
gentlemen, the correct posture was that of
the honnête homme, fair-minded, decent,
ready to compromise, ‘rational.’ The ultimate power over the Académie, to be sure,
rested with the King’s minister, for the
Académie was state-funded, the creature of
the monarchy.
Yet by 1758, according to d’Alembert, a
younger member of the Académie, the
Excerpt:
On May 28, 1728, a little-known member
of the Paris Academy of Sciences rose
before the assembly to deliver a paper
on celestial mechanics. The academician was Joseph Privat de Molières,
and in the spring of 1728, although fiftytwo years old, Private de Molières was
still struggling to establish his reputation as a savant. He began his career as
an Oratorian priest and teacher,
studying mathematics with Father
Reyneau at Angers in the 1690s and then
serving as a priest and professor of
mathematics at the Oratorian colleges
of Saumur, Juilly, and Soisson from
1699 to 1704. He had come to both the
Oratory and mathematics through a
devotion to the writings of Nicolas de
Malebranche, and in this way his intellectual trajectory mirrored that of many
others in France in the same period.
J.B. Shank, The Newton Wars.
Cartesian theory of vortices was a dead
duck. How had it happened? Shank
portrays the change as the result of the
self-fashionings and shrewd interventions
of two men, Pierre-Louis Moreau de
Maupertuis, working from within the
Académie des Sciences, and the enfant
terrible Voltaire, hurling his witty barbs
from the safe distance of Cirey, the home
of his learned Newtonian mistress, the
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
marquise du Châtelet. The important result, in Shank’s view, was the
emergence of a new public persona,
the philosophe, free-thinking, libertine, Newtonian, instigator and
agent of Enlightenment.
Unquestionably, it is a leitmotif in
a highly publicized drama. Is it the
whole story? Certain scientific
developments, I would urge, can
have had an important role in the
triumph of the Newtonian program.
In 1749 Clairaut showed that the
motion of the Moon’s apse could be
derived from Newton’s theory,
contrary to earlier failed attempts,
his own and those of other mathematicians. In 1749 d’Alembert
published his Recherches sur la
Précession des Equinoxes, showing
Newton’s attempted derivation of
the precession (in Prop.39 of Book
III of the Principia) to be fatally
flawed. But d’Alembert then went
on to show that both the precession and
the nutation (an effect established empirically by James Bradley in 1748) were exact
consequences of Newton’s theory.
Newton’s failure had been due to his lack of
a correct dynamics for rotational motion,
which had been responsible as well for his
failed disproof of the Cartesian vortex
theory of planetary motion. Also in 1749
was published Euler’s Recherches sur la
question des inégalités du mouvement de
Saturne et de Jupiter. Here Euler introduced trigonometric series, which made it
possible for the first time to compute the
mutual perturbations of planets systematically and exactly. Newton had had no way
of computing these effects. A reasonably
accurate table of the perturbations in the
Earth’s motion due to planetary perturbation became available in 1758 in Lacaille’s
Tabulae Solares. The Earth was the platform from which astronomical observations had to be made, and errors in its position were unavoidably projected into all
celestial observations.
In sum, by the 1750s a Newtonian
program to account for planetary and lunar
motions precisely was an up-and-going
enterprise, and success could be reasonably hoped for, independent of disputed
metaphysical questions. In this race the
Cartesian vortex theory was not yet out of
the starting-gate. Where to put one’s bets
was a no-brainer. x
�31
{Bibliofile}
Beatrice Hawley Award, and the Academy
of American Poets’ James Laughlin Prize.
Editor’s note: see the inside back cover of
The College for one of Waldner’s recent
poems.
Each Month I Sing
L. Luis Lopez (SFGI69)
Farolito Press, 2008
Celebrating
Johnnie Poets
Trust
Liz Waldner (A83)
Cleveland State Poetry Center, 2008
Our senses entrust to us the world that the
heart minds, and so gives us a point of
view, the “sight we hope to see through
(to) / Always.” Deeply attentive to form
and music, each of Liz Waldner’s poems,
written between the early eighties and midnineties, serves as a trust for the mending
of that sense of separateness. Ever the
stranger in yet another strange place—in
subway and orchard, ER and library, cemetery and classroom—they ask: “What is the
shape?” of the story. “Who is mindful of
me?” and sometimes answer: “Thank you,
I have enjoyed / imagining all this.”
Trust won the Cleveland State Poetry
Center’s Open Book Competition in 2008.
Born in Cleveland, Waldner grew up in
rural Mississippi and worked in various
factory, janitorial, botanical, and museum
jobs before graduating from St. John’s. She
later earned an MFA at the University of
Iowa’s Writers Workshop. She wrote for
18 years before publishing the first of her
six previous books, which have won such
awards as the Iowa Poetry Prize, the
Longino Lopez’ Each Month I Sing is a
collection of poems inspired by the months
of the year, capturing the poet’s impressions, observations, and experiences of
each month. The book won The American
Book Award, presented by the Before
Columbus Foundation at Berkeley, which
honors works that represent multicultural
diversity in American literature. The
Colorado Independent Publishers Association also honored the work with an EVVY
first-place award for poetry.
Lopez, in his 44th year of teaching, is
currently at Mesa State College in Grand
Junction, Colorado, where he has, until
recently, served as director of the Academic Honors Program. He received two
National Endowment for the Humanities
fellowships, one to study lyric poetry with
Helen Vendler at Harvard, and a second to
study the literature of innocent suffering
with Duke University’s Terrence Tilley.
Lopez has published two other volumes
of poetry, Musings of a Barrio Sack Boy
and A Painting of Sand.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
Poet L.S. Klatt, author of Interloper.
Interloper
L.S. Klatt (AGI98)
University of Massachusetts Press, 2008
Lewis Skillman Klatt teaches literature and
creative writing at Calvin College in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. His poems have
appeared in Columbia Poetry Review,
Turnrow, the Southeast Review, Notre
Dame Review, Phoebe, and Five Fingers
Review. He also published a new essay on
the poetry of Walt Whitman in the
Southern Review.
In 2008, Klatt was named the winner of
the University of Massachusetts Press’
Juniper Prize, for which he was a finalist
twice before. The prize included publication of his manuscript, Interloper. The
poems in this volume unsettle frontiers
between disparate worlds so that the imagination is given room to roam: pears
become guitars, racks of ribs are
presented as steamboats, and helicopters
transmute into diesel seraphs. The poetry
aspires acrobatically in the manner of
prayers and pilots, but adventure
throughout the book is viewed as precarious and the will to conquest leads to
apocalypse and ruin. The interloper
wanders through crime scenes and crash
sites as he glosses the landscape—at home
and not at home with the America of
yesterday and tomorrow. In symbols that
scat and ricochet, the interloper scores a
new song, one that composes—and decomposes—on the page. x
�32
{Alumni Profile}
Listening to the Unknown
Michelle Vest (SF90)
by Deborah Spiegelman
“They line up. First the men, then the
women, then the children. My first job?
Fell in my lap. I was out driving around
looking to dig a grave on the outskirts of my
family’s ranch. It’s that way, you know.
It’s a country unto itself out there. We own
miles not just acres. Have for more than six
generations. Funny, it was Mexico then . . .
it’s Arizona now.”
S
o begins the dramatic monologue written and performed by
Michelle Vest (SF90), part of
her one-woman play, Sole
Survivors: Journey Across
Borders. The speaker is Maria,
the adult daughter of an Arizona rancher
who starts out with altruistic intentions
toward the migrants she encounters on her
land but eventually becomes a greedy, hardened “coyote.”
Based on extensive interviews with documented and undocumented Southwestern
migrant workers, the play is a stirring presentation of the experiences of immigrants
who risk everything for a chance at a better
life in the United States. “I wanted to look
beneath the usual stereotypes and assumptions and explore the more enlivening
truths that exist there,” Vest explains.
Inspired also by Woody Guthrie’s
“Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),”
Vest presents four characters: the coyote
Maria, and three immigrants: Rosa, Jesus,
and Juan. Though their stories are contemporary, the characters are named for the
four deportees killed in the 1949 New
Mexico plane crash Guthrie memorialized.
Rosa, who grew up in a small Mexican
village, left her son behind to cross the
border illegally in search of work. Juan,
also undocumented, tells of how he came to
accidentally kill a man who was trying to
take his job. Once a professor in San
Salvador, Jesus was forced to flee his country
during the civil war of the 1980s. He left his
family behind to seek political asylum in the
U.S., reuniting with them 11 years later.
A mariachi band opens the play with a
traditional song about immigration and
remains on stage throughout as a Southwestern-inspired version of a Greek chorus.
Vest moves to stage right to transition from
In her play Sole Survivors, Michelle Vest
went beyond stereotypes to portray the
experiences of migrant works in America.
one character to another, changing her
shoes or shirt, or putting on a hat—all part of
the drama. “A lot of people are mesmerized
by this,” Vest says.
The shoes symbolize the many connotations of the word sole, as an allusion to the
characters’ footsteps across the border and
to the notion that the ordeal of migration is
a test of individual determinism. The play
on words (sole, soul) also underscores Vest’s
desire to draw from these stories the
common threads of humanity—love for one’s
family, hopes and dreams, resiliency, loss—
that unite people of different backgrounds
and experiences.
Since debuting her show in Santa Fe in
October 2007, Vest has performed in D.C.,
Philadelphia, and New York City. After a
sold-out show last year in New York, Sole
Survivors returned to New York in June for a
limited run at Stage Left Studio, followed by
performances in Albuquerque.
Born in Annapolis and raised just two
blocks from the St. John’s campus, Vest met
Johnnies at her family’s downtown restaurant and in the college library, her preferred
homework spot. An early enthusiast of the
classics, she developed an aptitude for
languages and fascination for other
cultures. After a year at Florida State,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
she enrolled at St. John’s in Santa Fe.
“St. John’s just happened to be what I
needed,” Vest says. “To be with a group of
students who shared a similar love [for
learning] changed my whole life scholastically. I never knew that education could be
so well-rounded and that I could love every
aspect of it.”
After graduation, Vest attended the
Cleveland Institute of Arts’ international
program in Florence to study painting. She
moved to San Francisco to pursue photography and later worked as a documentary
photographer at the Smithsonian’s Museum
of Natural History. Since returning to Santa
Fe in 1997, Vest has shown her photographs
in a number of galleries around town, and
her paintings were included in the 2005
New Mexico Women in the Arts Juried
Show at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Vest found her way to performance via
dance. Physical movement, she speculates,
triggered talking, which led to acting. Keen
on developing a one-person show, Vest
plunged into a yearlong workshop taught by
Tanya Taylor Rubinstein, artistic director of
Project Life Stories (and now the director of
her show). One assignment—to deliver a
short monologue based on an interview—
changed Vest’s life. Talking with her housekeeper, a native of Mexico, Vest was struck
by both the differences and commonalities
of their lives.
Motivated by the workshop’s enthusiastic
response to her monologue, Vest began
collecting more stories, including that of a
man she had known while working in a San
Francisco café. He served as inspiration for
her character Jesus. The former professor
was now the cleaning person, while she, a
college graduate, was “taking money and
selling muffins.”
Her experience in the Program, with its
emphasis on dialogue and careful listening,
greatly influenced the spirit of Sole
Survivors, says Vest. St. John’s “was a safe
place to admit that you didn’t know something, and also to affirm the importance of
wanting to know.” If her play is part quest
for knowledge, she has found a grateful
audience. “They tell me that I did a great
service [by telling these stories],” Vest says.
“They are listening.” x
�33
{Alumni Notes}
1932
1945
HENRY SHRYOCK, JR., is a
member of the Cosmos Club of
Washington, the Wilderness
Society, the Census Alumni Association, Nature Conservancy,
Population Connection, So
Others May Eat (SOME), and the
Union of Concerned Scientists.
EDWARD MULLINIX reports: “In
recent months, I have been
heavily involved as a member of
the American College of Trial
Lawyers Task Force on
Discovery, which has been
working with the University of
Denver’s Institute for the
Advancement of the American
Legal system on a project seeking
reforms to reduce the out-ofcontrol cost of civil litigation in
the United States. Our final
report, released to the public on
March 11, 2009, puts out a series
of proposed principles for
nationwide discussion—built
around the most significant
principle, which calls for radical
reduction of the pretrial
discovery procedures currently
permissible. The report has been
the subject of widespread
publicity in the general media
and in law-related media.”
1937
A retired dental surgeon,
HAROLD BROOKS writes that he
and his wife, Norma, will be
married for 72 years on Nov. 26,
2009. They live in sunny Sebastian, Fla., and are in good health.
1942
ERNEST HEINMULLER has
published a new book, A
Different Focus. It’s available at
the college bookstore, on
Amazon.com, or in the library.
The poems are from 1938-2008,
including some haikus he wrote
his freshman year.
1943
“How nice to see the names of so
many members of the classes of
1940 through 1944 in the capital
campaign report,” writes
MARTIN ANDREWS. “They evoke
vivid and happy memories. In
recent years, the enchantment of
St. John’s has even expanded for
me by the good fortune of
meeting and getting to know the
incomparable Eva Brann.”
BURTON ARMSTRONG has been
living in Charlottesville, Va.,
since 1982. He recently became a
great-grandparent to Henry
Burton Alt, age 1.
“For the old bod I do tai chi
(after a fashion) and walk
(slowly). For the rapidly disappearing gray cells, I write stuff
for judges (incredibly technical
and boring), play mediocre
bridge, and read, most recently
Crime and Punishment with
great pleasure and American
Pastoral with lesser pleasure.
We travel lazily, mainly on cruise
ships, today’s best travel deal.
Am in the hands of doctors literally from head to toe, but hey, if I
weren’t, I probably wouldn’t be
writing this. Just the same, old
age should happen to younger
people,” writes GEORGE BRUNN.
1946
PETER WEISS, in his capacity as
president of the Lawyers
Committee on Nuclear Policy,
addressed the Nonproliferation
Treaty Conference at the United
Nations on May 5 and gave a
lecture on “The Legal Obligation
for Nuclear and General Disarmament” at a Peace Through
Law Conference in Berlin on
June 26. “I have also decided to
try my mind at topical poetry in
my retirement,” says Weiss:
If you’re feeling kind of blue/But
not unhappy through and
through/Is what you’re having a
depression/Or, you hope, just a
recession?
1950
THOMAS MEYERS writes: “I have
become one of those old men I
used to see at Homecoming when
I was a St. John’s freshman.
I recall meeting a very nice
gentleman who had been graduated from St. John’s when I was
but 6 years old. Wow! I may not
be as gentlemanly as he, but I
have made it to 87 years. And
counting!”
1955
HAROLD BAUER has taken his
life’s activities beyond the world
of music, the world in which he
has spent most of the past
50 years. Painting (mostly oils)
has become a major area of
concentration. He regularly takes
classes at the Evanston Art
Center in Illinois, where in addition to being a student, he also
serves as president of the Board
of Trustees. He also has become
an involved Rotarian. He was
first attracted to the Evanston
morning club by their extensive
involvement in international
humanitarian outreach and now
will become the chair of that
committee. He felt a strong need
to “do something” for the
severely needy of the world, and
this seemed to offer a window
into that possibility. He’s
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
wondering if the 55th anniversary year is going to bring classmates back to Annapolis in 2010.
JOHN GORDON retired from film
and video production in 1997 and
is happily engaged in designing
landscapes and gardens in Maryland. Most recently back to
school in the landscape architecture program at the University of
Maryland, John has taught landscape design at the USDA graduate school for two years. Having
previously traveled widely as a
documentary film cameraman,
John and his wife, Jenny, will be
in Italy this summer on a tour led
by a landscape architect.
“Anyone need a Renaissance
parterre garden designed?”
he asks.
1957
MARCIA DEL PLAIN REFF
reports that she and her
husband, Martin, are continuing
to enjoy life in Naples, Fla.
Marcia is in her third year as
president of the Naples Orchestra
and Chorus. She was playing the
violin in the orchestra but taught
herself to play the viola and made
the switch last season. Marcia
also enjoys teaching bridge
classes at the local duplicate
club. Her son, MICHAEL
O’MAHONY (A77) also lives in
Naples. The Reffs enjoyed a visit
in May to Annapolis to visit sister
PAULA DEL PLAIN BINDER
(class of 1959).
1959
ROBERTO SALINAS PRICE writes
with an update and some
Homeric musings: “A new life
begins for me with the loss of my
friend, mistress, wife, of more
than 50 years, but, in the meantime, before we meet yet again
forever, I continue with my
Homeric researches. I am
�34
{Alumni Notes}
currently writing ‘Homer, from
Scholion to Myth,’ in which I
hope to show how ‘myth’—
nonsense data about this or that—
developed from a lack of tutorial
guidance in Homeric thinking.”
1960
JOHN LANE is doing some
community work in retirement.
He is the vice president of the
Cascades Homeowner’s Association, with 6,500 households, the
largest HOA in Northern
Virginia. He is vice chairman of
the Loudon County Board of
Equalization, which hears
taxpayer appeals on assessment.
He has acquired a real estate
license and is a practicing realtor
in Great Falls, Va. “Retirement
has turned out to be a short
time,” he says. “Life is good.”
PETER RUEL writes with hopes to
attend the 50th reunion of his
class. He also noted that the
University of Chicago held a
“spring weekend” devoted to
Darwin: “How could we pass that
up? Darwin, Freud, and Einstein:
three fascinating authors for the
senior year at St. John’s.”
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 letter by HARRISON SHEPPARD.
Sheppard’s letter, criticizing the
book of that name by Philip K.
Howard and its review by
Anthony Lewis in the publication’s April 9, 2009, argued that
both the book and the review
failed to identify the root cause of
abuses in American legal education and practice attributable to
the dominance of an adversarial
“war-making” model as opposed
to a “problem-solving, peace-
Ahead of the Pack
C
HAMMEN (class of 1944) has been running in
races all over the country. “There was a big
runners’ weekend in Tampa, Feb. 28 to March 1,
the Gasparilla
distance classic,
with thousands of
runners from all over the U.S.,” he
writes. In the 5k race, Carl won
the M85-89 division, and his wife,
Deborah Kazor, finished twelfth
in the F55-59, which had 276
women. This summer, they were
busy training for the National
Senior Games this August in Palo
Alto, Calif. x
ARL
making 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 now 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,
written by a woman who, as a
teenager, had dated Presley.
1962
JERRY BRENNIG reports:
“I continue to work at the
Department of State, now
12 years since I retired from the
Foreign Service. The long
commuting time is definitely a
downside, and I would like to
give more time to my garden, but
I work in the bureau that covers
Pakistan and Afghanistan (and
India, too). There is no lack of
daily stimulation and the satisfaction of being involved with
central concerns of our country.”
1963
“After more than 30 years in
advertising, I am now retired and
enjoying as many weeks on Cape
Cod as the weather will allow,”
writes JED STAMPLEMAN. “I am
also participating in the monthly
seminars held by the New York
alumni chapter. I went through a
bout of cancer but I am doing
fine, and the doctors are happy
with my recovery. Best to all at
St. John’s.”
WILL DAVIS, retired from his
longtime work as chairman of the
Board of the Berklee College of
Music, continues working for
Credit Suisse from his office in
Holderness, N.H., where he and
JESSICA HOFFMANN DAVIS (class
of 1965) now live most of the
time. Jessica retired from
Harvard in 2004 to do more
writing and has completed three
books so far. They enjoy visits
from their three sons and their
wives and their three sons’
three sons.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
1965
TOM EATON is retired at age
67. He has served as class captain
and an alumni interviewer for a
number of years. Additionally, he
set up a small library fund in his
mother’s name in Santa Fe and
was able to persuade three of his
students to attend St. John’s.
In the “better late than never”
category, MICHAEL WOOLSEY
writes: “Forty-four years
removed from St. John’s and five
years into retirement, I received
this May a Master of Liberal
Studies degree from the University of Minnesota. My thesis title
is “The Limits of Liberalism:
A Study of Liberal Disillusionment in the Twentieth Century.”
The thesis relies heavily on the
political thought of former tutor
Leo Strauss and former deans
Scott Buchanan and Jacob
Klein.”
1968
“At the prompting of my children
and grandchildren, I’ve entered
the brave new world of Facebook,” confesses SARAH FISHER
(A). “It’s fun, but I wonder if I
can keep up? Time for reflection
and consideration doesn’t seem
to be part of the picture.”
DEAN HANNOTTE (A) has
created a new website devoted to
the 20th-century philosopher
Paul Rosenfels. It makes available for free all of Rosenfels’
writings as well as numerous
contributions from his many
students around the world. Visit
the Paul Rosenfels Community at
www.rosenfels.org.
ANTIGONE PHALARES (SF)
reports that the Sacramento-area
seminar group has received a
most welcome influx of a number
of local and not-so-local St. Johnnies: “Most meetings have been
�35
{Alumni Notes}
held at TOM (HA94) and Marion
SLAKEY’s home and also at other
members’ homes. I became a
grandmother December 17,
2008. Iris Aurore Marie Wastyn
Moore at three and one half
months has three passports:
Peruvian (she was born in Lima);
has an American mom (my
daughter) and a U.S. passport;
and a French passport from her
father (who is French). When a
child is born, so is a grandparent!
It’s lovely being a parent once
removed. I’m still teaching
middle-schoolers at a public
school in south Sacramento.
I have 13 more years to go to get
to 30 [years]!”
1969
The Before Columbus Foundation awarded LONGINO LUIS
LOPEZ (SFGI) the American
Book Award 2008 for his latest
book of poetry titled Each Month
I Sing. The book also won first
place in poetry from the
Colorado Independent
Publishers Association.
1970
DAVID DEBUS (SF) finished a
bachelor’s degree in English at
UCLA, and after three years as a
conscientious objector during
the Vietnam War working at a
United Methodist Church with
street kids, attended the Claremont School of Theology: “I
never had a ‘call’ to be a pastor.
Then I entered doctoral studies
at the United States International
University in San Diego (now
called Alliant International
University) and received a
doctorate in clinical psychology.
I stood for the test in 1980 and
passed the first time. After many
years in private practice and as
the clinical director of a therapeutic community for schizophrenia founded by Moira Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., I enrolled in
music at University of San Diego
for studies in music.”
RONALD FIELDING (A) retired
from OppenheimerFunds on May
20. “Three days later my wife
and I took off for a three-week
trip to Europe, starting in
Barcelona, cruising the Mediterranean Sea with 74 other guests
and three professors on a small
(and 30 percent empty) cruise
ship and ending in Greece.
Surely the highlight for me to
report to Johnnies was entering
the huge so-called Treasury of
Atreus, but really the Tomb of
Agamemnon, just outside the
walls of Mycenae. It’s quite
amazing how the Greek legends
and Homeric poems seamlessly
merge into Greek history, from
Perseus to the present. We have
sold our residence in Rochester
and established residency in a
beach house on Kiawah Island,
just outside of Charleston, S.C.,
though we will get a much
smaller summer house in
Rochester to evade the hot,
humid summers here. I will be
back on the Board of Visitors and
Governors in July, as well as a
small insurance company board,
Plato Proves Useful
J
EFF HUME-PRATUCH (A79) writes that she and her
husband, Tom Pratuch, recently completed the adoption
of their daughter, Meredith, after a long foster relationship: “We are ecstatic! Currently, I am working as an
editor for a publisher of scholarly journals. I’m convinced
they hired me because in my first week as a temp, I
caught the author misquoting Plato, Hegel, and Descartes.
Who says the Program won’t help you get a job?” x
a tiny mutual fund board, and
the International Museum of
Photography board. Plenty of
stuff to keep me busy between
trips hither and yon. And I need
to attend Summer Classics
again, too.”
MARTIN ROSENTHAL (SF)
recently published a novel,
The Cult Teacher, using the
penname Phillip Ahtmann.
There is a chapter which takes
place at St. John’s Annapolis is
1966. It is available at
www.amazon.com or at
www.theCultTeacher.com.
1972
HAROLD ANDERSON (A) writes:
“I live outside of Washington in
Greenbelt. I am currently a
member of the core faculty for
the Master of Arts in Cultural
Sustainability graduate program
at Goucher College (where I
teach cultural documentation). I
also teach cultural anthropology
at Bowie State University. But my
main (pre-) occupation is as a
contract ethnographer. And I
have completed ethnographic
studies of communities in the
United States and abroad.
Currently I am working a project
for exhibition at the new Prince
George’s County African American Museum and Cultural
Center of North Brentwood. The
project is titled “The Arts of
Praise” and it aims to document
aspects of how people celebrate
and perform their faith in Prince
George’s County, Maryland.
Products of this project include
transcriptions of oral histories,
audio, still photographs, and
video for exhibition at the Prince
George’s County African American Museum.”
EVAN (A) and Jane’s son,
Matthew Dudik, will arrive as a
freshman in Annapolis this fall
with lexicon in one hand and
French horn in the other. His
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
twin is studying bassoon and
German in Vienna in a gap year
before deciding about this or that
college/university. Elder brother
Graham appears to be in his
senior year at Portland State
University. Empty nests rule!
Jane is thinking about post kids.
Evan is running his
strategy/operations management
consulting firm including recent
projects with Daimler and
Novartis. In between saxophone,
painting, art history, he is
working on a book with the
working title “Thinking Independently.” He’s also finishing
up his second term on the
college’s Board of Visitors and
Governors, having raised enough
hackles for six or seven years.
1973
MICHAEL AARON (SF) was
named the Director of Banking
and Financial Markets, Growth
Markets Unit, IBM Corporation
in 2009. In this role, he is
responsible for the Banking and
Financial Markets Industry
vertical business in the growth
markets, which cover AsiaPacific, Latin America, Central
Europe and the former Soviet
Union, as well as Africa and the
Middle East. Michael considers
his St. John’s education to have
been an important step in his
developing the capabilities to
deal with this type of executive
role, as it requires constant
reading, analysis, informed judgment and the ability to communicate—listening and speaking. It is
also useful to know how to read
very long books on very long
flights of up to 24 hours. Michael
remains married to Danuta (30
years this August) and has two
sons, Daniel and David. The
Aarons live in Sydney, Australia,
close to Bondi Beach.
MARY L. BATTEEN (A) was chair
of the Oceanography Department at the Naval Postgraduate
�36
{Alumni Profile}
Seeking a Balance
Jazz Producer A.T. Michael MacDonald (SF76)
by Nathaniel Roe (SF08)
M
nat roe
ichael MacDonald
(SF76) brews another
cup of coffee in
AlgoRhythms, his
mastering studio
tucked away in
Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood.
He recounts how his journey—from a
new graduate with no career plans to a
music producer who has recorded jazz
legends including McCoy Tyner and
Tito Puente—began on a bicycle.
“My gift to myself after graduation
was a cross-country bicycle trip,”
MacDonald recalls. “I ended up getting
injured and had to come home early. I
remember sitting in an Amtrak dome car
going through Montana, just looking at
the stars and soul searching. I asked
myself, ‘what would I really love to do?’”
With time to think about his future,
MacDonald decided to become a
recording engineer because it combined
his love of music and knack for science.
Michael MacDonald records jazz legends in his
“After this epiphany, I moved to
brooklyn, N.Y., studio.
New York to break into the recording
business.”
MacDonald is best known as a virtumaybe I could help you.’”
osic jazz producer; numerous AlgoRhythms
The record executive didn’t understand
sessions have garnered Grammy nominathat the old friends meant they were happy
tions. His live recordings at the Village
with each other’s work. At the end of the day
Vanguard are considered among the best in
MacDonald got a pink slip. Hersch sorted
the celebrated jazz club, a space that
out the situation, and the duo finished
demands masterful microphone placement
recording together. “We still laugh about
and sense of musical balance. In addition to
that today.”
Tyner and Puente, MacDonald has worked
When he arrived in New York City in 1977,
with legends such as Hank Jones, Roy
MacDonald began at the bottom of the
Haynes, and John Scofield. He has recorded
ladder, as an intern at Skyline studios. Since
two Grammy-winning albums with McCoy
then, changes in technology have meant
Tyner, who is most famous for his early work
radical changes in his industry. “Because of
in John Coltrane’s band.
the Internet, most people today consider
One of MacDonald’s most lasting
music to be a free commodity. This demorelationships is with renowned pianist
cratic approach can be really great, but let’s
Fred Hersch. “When we work together, we
say McCoy Tyner wants to record another
don’t have to talk about sound anymore,”
big-band project. That recording requires a
says MacDonald. “We know exactly how
certain minimum dollar amount. If the
we want it to be.”
people investing the money don’t break even
During one recording session with
in record sales, they are less likely to fund
Hersch, a record company executive came
the next record. And so Tyner will have to
to sit in. “Fred and I argue to entertain
scale back the big band to a trio, so the
each other,” says MacDonald. “When Fred
listener won’t get the full effect.”
came into the control room and said ‘this
The availability of inexpensive quality
sounds awful, can’t you do anything right?’ recording technology has similar drawbacks.
I replied, ‘If you knew how to play piano,
“I’m really hard pressed to find jazz record{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
ings recorded today that are as good
sonically as the golden age, when Sinatra
was recording. [Producers and engineers] had limited technology, but they
had great ears and great training.
There’s no technology shortcut for that.”
As an adjunct engineering professor at
Johns Hopkins University, MacDonald
trains budding recording engineers and
producers by emphasizing the basics and
systematically limiting the tools they can
use to complete assignments. His goal
is to produce engineers who rely on
knowledge and instinct.
In his courses, MacDonald incorporates the St. John’s approach to questions. “A student wanted to know how
and why VU [volume] meters were
invented,” he says. “I scoured up the
original 1933 Western Electric white
paper and held a class discussion.”
When no one had questions, MacDonald
picked out a detail and stumped the
class by saying, “I don’t understand what
this means.” In the ensuing discussion,
“we gained insight into a real engineering problem and how the pioneers
of audio solved it.”
The Program, and language tutorial in
particular, has helped shape MacDonald’s
outlook on recording. “What I learned in
language class is what has carried me most
through my recording career,” explains
MacDonald. “I’m really a translator. Sound
is a three-dimensional physical phenomenon
that changes from moment to moment.
I’ve got to carefully capture and then
translate it into a series of ones and zeroes
and somehow reconstruct something that
resembles the original.”
When translating Baudelaire, literally
rendering a word will likely obscure the
poetic qualities of the French. By the same
token, focusing only on the lyrical qualities
of words can make a translation vague.
MacDonald looks at recording the same way.
“When translating, something is always lost.
To focus on one part, you necessarily lose
something else. If I make the vocal sound a
little more present, will that affect the right
hand of the piano? It’s always a balance.
Asking the questions of translation has
always served me well in recording.” x
�{Alumni Notes}
School in Monterey, Calif., from
2001-2008: “I am now on a yearlong sabbatical at the Hopkins
Marine Station of Stanford
University. I am writing a textbook called Exploring Ocean
Physics, which I hope will excite
future scientists to explore the
important roles of ocean physics,
from helping us understand
climate change to taking better
care of our earth, which is really
the Ocean Planet.”
SUSAN MARTIN DRESSEL (SFGI)
retired in June 1994 from Los
Alamos National Laboratory,
where she had served as Division
Leader for Information Services.
Six months later, Susan’s
husband, Ralph W. Dressel, died.
After a couple of years, Susan
relocated to Albuquerque to be
near her son and daughter. In
July 1999, Susan bought a lot in a
development on the Rio Grande
and retained an architect and
construction boss to build a
Tuscan-style villa “on spec.”
About three months before
construction was to begin, Susan
met Donald Myers, a retired
lawyer and judge, accomplished
pianist and certified flight
instructor. She soon realized she
did not want to manage a
construction project, sold the lot,
and left for a winter on South
Padre Island with her new friend.
They are now married and living
in their mountain home on
wooded acreage bordering the
Cibola National Forest, where
they both enjoy hiking and
birding. Although back surgery
required her to give up skiing and
white water kayaking/rafting,
Susan is happy to be traveling,
golfing, and dancing with Don,
and spending snowy months in
warmer climes. And she is
grateful to Don for his willingness to relocate in New Mexico
near her family “At our ages, a
loving family support system
becomes increasingly important.
Retirement brings many advantages that help compensate for
the aches and pains that come
with advancing years.” She would
be happy to hear from any GI
alumni.
1974
DAPHNE KAPOLKA (nee
GREENE, A76) and GERRY
KAPOLKA (A) are celebrating
their 35th anniversary. Gerry
writes: “I am now Dean of Academics and chair of the English
department at Santa Catalina
School in Monterey. Daphne is
senior lecturer in physics at the
Naval Postgraduate School, also
in Monterey. Our daughter,
BASIA (A01) is in Chicago about
to produce a play she has written
based on The Jinx, by Teofile
Gautier. Our older son, Andrzej,
is a computer game designer for
Three Rings in San Francisco.
Our younger son, Marek,
will be a junior at San Jose
State University.”
MARGARET SANSOM (SFGI)
reports: “I am enrolled in The
Ultimate Game of Life, a highly
effective teleconferencing
coaching program led by Jim
Bunch. As a result of participating in the program, I have lost
40 pounds, amped up my fitness
level, and completely remodeled
my house, a project that I had
been just contemplating for the
past five years. Because traveling
is my passion, I have been to
Paris for five months in 2005,
to Great Britain in 2006, Alaska
in 2007, and Zion, Bryce, and
Yellowstone in 2008. Next on my
list is a Greek isle cruise in 2011.
In the meantime, I am going to
stay home and enjoy my home for
a couple of years and concentrate
on getting the funding at a functional level for the scholarship
foundation that I head. Scholarships are awarded to people who
have been out of high school for a
few years and have finally realized
that they need further
training/education in order to
fulfill their dreams.”
1975
BOB SHIMIZU (SF) has recently
released a new CD of jazz for
his quartet, Bob Shimizu and
Signal Strength. “Cuchillero”
is available online at
www.signalstrengthband.com.
1977
CLIFF ADAMS (A) has been living
in Germany for nearly eight years
and has been married to a
German woman since July 3,
2008. He worked for Amadeus, a
travel services computer
company as a software test engineer from 2001-2006 and is now
a self-employed web programmer
in Erding, just outside of
Munich. Cliff has been working
on various Mideast peace projects in connection with participating in Landmark Education
(www.landmarkeducation.com)
programs. The most recent one is
www.israelpalestineproject.com.
He has three grown children
living in New York.
1979
LESLIE W. WESTMORELAND (SF)
writes: “I’m a deputy attorney
general in the Appeals, Writs,
and Trials section of the Criminal Law Division of the Attorney
General’s Office of the California
Department of Justice. (That’s a
mouthful—I’m a trial and appellate prosecutor.) Married to
Carmen Milagros Delgado (de
Puerto Rico), a criminal defense
attorney. Living in Fresno with
too many little dogs, and near our
two grandchildren. Classmate
LAIRD DURLEY (SF79) surprised
me recently by dropping by.
It seems he lives about one mile
away. I’d love to hear from
anyone who’d like to say hey.”
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
37
OWEN GOLDIN (SF) lives in
Milwaukee, Wis., with his wife,
Miriam Sushman, and their
daughter Esther, 5. He teaches
philosophy at Marquette University. His translation with notes of
Philoponus’s Commentary on
Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics 2 is
scheduled to be published soon
by Duckworth Press.
BEN HAGGARD (SF) divides his
time between Santa Fe and
Berlin, and divides his energies
between Regenesis (an ecological
consultancy he helped found
12 years ago) and painting.
After 27 years, he and JOEL
GLANZBERG (SF84) are still
working together, these days as
principal designers with Regenesis and contributors to the blog:
www.edgeregenerate.com. Ben
shares an apartment in Berlin
with his partner, Joe, who plays
French horn with the Deutsches
Symphonie Orchester. Photos of
Ben’s paintings can be seen at
www.benhaggardstudio.com.
He’s planning to attend Homecoming in Santa Fe.
MARILYN L. SCHAEFER (SFGI) is
glad to see “growing links
between St. John’s and Shimer
College,” as reported in the
Fall 2009 issue of The College.
Her sister, Susan Schaefer,
graduated from Shimer in the
mid-1960s, and Susan and her
friends are very enthusiastic
about the college, she says.
“There seems to be a natural
compatibility among grads of
St. John’s, Shimer, and the
University of Chicago.”
TONY WATERS (A) is a professor
of sociology at California State
University, Chico. He is married
to Dagmar Waters, and they
travel back and forth to her
native Germany frequently.
They have two children, both of
whom are college students at
St. Olaf College in Northfield,
Minn. His recent books include
When Killing is a Crime (2007)
and The Persistence of Subsistence
�38
{Alumni Notes}
Agriculture: Life Beneath the
Level of the Marketplace
(2007/2008).
1980
“As of January 1, 2009, I am now
vice president for international
programs at the Atlas Economic
Research Foundation,” reports
TOM G. PALMER (A). “I remain a
senior fellow at the Cato Institute. At Atlas I direct field operations to promote libertarian
values worldwide, along with
active programs of book
publishing, websites, video
production, summer schools, and
more in 15 languages. Since the
start of the year I have given
lectures, held conferences,
appeared in the media, and
organized new ventures in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, Malaysia, Indonesia,
the UK, and Brazil and on
Thursday I depart for India,
Pakistan, and Afghanistan. I’ll be
quite busy with summer schools
and site visits throughout the
summer and fall, as well as with
additional programs, including
delivering papers at academic
conferences in Germany, France,
and Italy. My book Realizing
Freedom: Libertarian Theory,
History, and Practice, will be
published later this month. I am
keeping busy, and there is not
one single day during which I do
not draw on my education from
St. John’s, which not only
provided me with a good springboard to my further education,
but continuously informs how I
understand the world and the
choices I make.”
ANGEL ANN PRICE (SF) writes:
“For six months, I’ve left my
plum position at the US EEOC
(federal sector appeals and
training team) for a detail as a
Special Assistant US Attorney for
the District of Columbia. I’m
prosecuting misdemeanor
domestic violence cases and have
seen more of the inside of the
courthouse, tried more cases,
and signed off on more witness
vouchers in the past few weeks
than in almost 15 years of
practice. The opportunity to
speak on behalf of the community comes often, but with only a
moment to be heard. The theme
of the season is the split-second
rhetorician.”
December 2008 brought some
dramatic changes for JIM
SORRENTINO (A): “I began an
inter-agency assignment to the
Department of the Treasury’s
Office of Financial Stability, in
the Homeownership Preservation Office, created as part of the
Troubled Asset Relief Program
(TARP). It’s exciting, dynamic
and challenging—not words one
usually associates with large
government bureaucracies.
Two weeks or so after I began the
job at Treasury, our adoption
agency contacted us. And on
December 31, we brought home
our new son! Vincent Sorrentino
was born in mid-December, in
Baltimore. He is a healthy,
happy, hungry little boy, and he
is a delight to us all. Although it
seems a little crazy to become a
father (again!) at 49, I recall
something Brother Robert said to
me after meeting my daughter,
Sophia (who was not yet three),
at Homecoming in 2005:
‘Children complete life,
don’t they?’ The answer, once
again, is yes.”
1982
ADRIEN HELLER (A) has been in
Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic
of China for the last three years,
teaching English and doing art.
1983
JACK ARMSTRONG (SF) writes,
“I’ll be driving from Philadelphia
to Los Angeles this summer with
my son, Michael. Really looking
forward to it.”
Arugula and Wild
Turkeys
J
L. BUSH (SF84) and his wife, Elizabeth, are
savoring summer in Blacksburg, Va. “She has her
garden going with the usual garden herbs, tomatoes,
peppers, pole and bush beans, basil, fresh arugula, and
other greens. I am trying to do more fly fishing and get
out to the Blue Ridge for morel and wild turkey hunting
as often as possible. I am also trying to utilize the
wondrous natural qualities of the area such as the New River for
canoeing, rafting and small mouth bass fishing, and the
Appalachian Trail for hiking, camping, and trail running whenever possible. We both are beginning to think about a house
design for some property we have in Ellett Valley in Montgomery
County. I am reading Russell Banks and Cormac McCarthy as
well as Grant’s autobiography. Our grown boys are well and prospering, and we would love to hear from or visit with old friends.
We have made contact with Robert and CHARLA ALLEN (SF79)
since they moved back to the Smokies near Asheville and hope to
see their new house and both of them soon. I am running for
local office this summer for Town Council and so that will keep
me occupied and engaged in local politics.” x
OHN
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
1984
PETER GREEN (A) is living in
New York’s Washington Heights
and loving New York. As a world
news reporter at Bloomberg
News, he was off to Prague in
June to interview Vaclav Havel,
the former Czech president, and
then wander around the East for
a few weeks. He’s looking
forward to Homecoming.
TRISHA (FIKE) HOWELL (SF)
has been focusing recently on a
healing and life coaching system
she developed called Lifonics
(www.Lifonics.com) She also
continues to write books and
screenplays and hopes to resume
her acting career soon. Before a
year hiatus, she was appearing in
many plays and low-budget films.
Trisha welcomes hearing from
classmates at Trisha@TrishaHowell.com.
DENNIS ROBERTS (SFGI) retired
from the Associated General
Contractors of New Mexico
Building Branch after 40 years of
service. He is currently an
adjunct professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the
University of New Mexico.
MARK POTHIER (A) writes:
“ANNIE KEZAR (A) has been
tireless in keeping our class
engaged and happy.”
1985
L. JAGI LAMPLIGHTER WRIGHT
(A) reports: “My first novel
comes out from Tor (a major
publisher of science fiction and
fantasy) this August. It is the first
of a trilogy. A fantasy story set in
the present day with humor and
mystery, it is a sequel of sorts to
Shakespeare’s Tempest.
The series is called Prospero’s
Daughter. The first novel,
coming out in early August,
is Prospero Lost.”
�39
{Alumni Notes}
1987
PEGGY O’SHEA (A, SF05) was
married to Susan Unger in
Massachusetts on January 2.
RAY ANDRE WAKEfiELD (A)
has published The Disordered
Police State: German Cameralism
as Science and Practice.
Wakefield is associate professor
of history at Pitzer College in
Claremont, Calif.
1988
JANA GILES (A) will be starting as
an assistant professor of 20thcentury British literature at the
University of Louisiana at
Monroe in fall 2009. Her specializations are modernism, postcolonialism, and aesthetics. She
would love to have any visitors,
so please let her know “in the
unlikely event” that you are
passing through Monroe.
1989
Having never run before in her
life, SARA CATANIA (A) ran the
LA Marathon on May 25 to raise
money for AIDS Project Los
Angeles. Details are available at
www.laobserved.com/runon.
GEORGE TURNER (A) is working
half time to make room for
“more fun and family time.”
He’s training for the California
International Marathon on
December 6 in Sacramento, with
hopes of qualifying for Boston,
“the runner’s Mecca.” “Other
than that,” he writes, “same
house, same spouse, kids another
year older. Life is good.”
Dante Meets the Zombies
K
PAFFENROTH’s (A88) zombified version of
Dante’s Inferno, is now available as a limited
edition hardback from Cargo Cult Press
(www.horror-mall.com). In it, the Florentine
stumbles onto an infestation of the undead,
and the horrors he witnesses there—people
being burned alive, devoured, decapitated, etc.—are what later
inspires his epic poem. x
book of poems will be published
by Salmon Poetry (Ireland) in
April 2010.
IM
1990
GRAHAM HARMAN (A) has been
named Associate Vice Provost for
Research at the American
University in Cairo, Egypt. His
fourth book, Prince of Networks,
has recently been published by
re.press (Melbourne). His next
book, L’objet quadruple, will first
appear in French translation with
Presses Universitaires de France
(Paris) in 2010.
1991
JULIE RENNINGER PASS OBER
(AGI) writes: “I am a humanities
professor and painter, and I
retrain thoroughbred racehorses.
My paintings and horse
tales/tails are all at my blog:
www.honeysucklefaire.
blogspot.com. My painting,
Smoke, was juried into
Pennsylvania’s Art of the State
2009. This is my third year
accepted into this show. Horses,
art and family consume me!”
1992
ANNE ASPEN (née BOYNTON, SF)
left her senior city planner position at the City of Fort Collins in
January for a project manager
position at the city’s Downtown
Development Authority. “It
allows me to focus on what I love
most: architecture and our
downtown. We’re doing a lot of
exciting projects here, and I’m
learning some new tricks. Family
life is fulfilling now that the kids
in our life finally moved here
from Santa Fe. Unfortunately,
Jane and I don’t have ready
excuses to visit Santa Fe
anymore, though.”
1993
ALEX and VANESSA ELLERMANN
(AGI, 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.
John Abraham Kelley, the first
child of Genevieve and OWEN
KELLEY (A), was born with a
shout on September 11, 2008.
They still live in Greenbelt, Md.,
and Owen still works at NASA.
NANCY MARCUS (A) has moved to
Cleveland and joined the law firm
Berhmen, Gordon, Murray and
DeVan, the firm that put
Mapp v. Ohio on the map, and
has had a number of other
historic successes. Her practice
includes trial and appellate litigation in the areas of constitutional
law, civil rights, torts, criminal
defense, and LGBT rights.
Ernest Marlowe Strautmann was
born in May 2008 to Jacob
Strautmann and VALERIE DUFFSTRAUTMANN (SF). Valerie’s first
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
1994
“My wife, ELIZABETH (RHODES)
FARLEY and I (both A), are happy
to report the birth of our third
child, a boy. Samuel Duncan
Farley was born on April 5,
2009,” writes DAN FARLEY.
“Our other two children, Hannah
(11) and Dylan (9), participated
wonderfully in the birth of their
brother and are now doting
siblings. We are now measuring
our lives not solely with coffee
spoons, but also with diapers
again! We have also recently relocated to Eugene, Ore., and invite
any Johnnies in the Northwest in
particular to contact us and come
and visit if possible!”
BEN FELDMAN (A) was married
in January to Chaya Bracha Silver
from Israel/ N.Y. “I have
continued to work in New York as
a master’s-level psychologist,
providing services for developmentally disabled individuals.
Now, I am getting ready to move,
in August with my wife to Cleveland, Ohio, so I can pursue a PhD
in Experimental Psychology,
specializing in developmental
disabilities research, at Case
Western Reserve University.
I will begin by helping to run a
research study on Prader-Willi
Syndrome.”
1995
HEIDI OVERBEEK (A) lives in
the East Mountains outside of
Albuquerque and loves it.
“My partner, Cindy, and I have a
14-year-old son named Ashante
who we adopted five years ago.
I work as a labor and delivery
nurse and am (leisurely) looking
at grad schools to become a nurse
�40
{Alumni Notes}
the company and spending
my weekends with Karen. Life
is good.”
Business
Leader
P
KATZ
(SF95) was the
subject of a
cover story in
Milwaukee’s
Business
Journal. Katz is founder and
principal of Phillip Katz
Project Development, a
Milwaukee-based design
and management practice.
An architect, Katz was among the journal’s picks for
Milwaukee’s top 100 “movers and shakers.” x
HILLIP
practitioner. I’m a ‘master
gardener’ for the county and try
to live in my garden!”
CRAIG SIRKIN (A) reports that he
and his wife, Wendy, are happy to
welcome a new addition to their
family: “Sarah Isabelle was born
on March 10, and due to a very
short labor was born at home
with me acting as midwife and
her older brother, Isaac, sleeping
peacefully in his room. Everybody is happy and healthy.”
“Our impending exodus from
Mobile, Ala., has been nudged
along by the economy, thanks to
which my first small business
venture—a coffee house across
from the university—has come to
a close,” writes KIRA ZIELINSKI
(SF). “Not allowing business
failure to equate with personal
failure has been a tremendous
emotional education for me as
well. But I’m learning that
although it’s quite possible that
we are responsible for the entire
world economic collapse, I’m
learning to be OK with that.
I’m looking forward to some time
to catch up on life—reading,
continuing our home improvement saga, getting back into
music, and putting a match to the
contents of no less than 15 filing
cabinets. Despite all the tumult,
my wonderful Nathan is still my
fiancé, and our pre-marital
counselor allows us to return
each week and invent new
psychoses.”
1996
“I am in Vermont,” writes
CHERYL HENEVELD (AGI),
“sometimes leading discussion
groups for the Vermont Humanities Council. Taking a mythology
course from the nearby state
college. Re-reading the
Odyssey—keep learning the
St. John’s way! Come for a visit.”
JEFFREY A. PALMER (A) married
MARGURITE T. PFOUTZ (SF03)
in Pittsburgh, Pa., in a wellexecuted elopement.
1997
DOMINIC CRAPUCHETTES (A)
was recently married to Karen
Litsinger. They live in Bethesda,
Md., and Dominic’s board game
company, North Star Games, is
going strong. “We now have six
people working for North Star
Games with product in Target,
Barnes and Noble, Borders, and
many other locations,” he says.
“I’m having a lot of fun growing
VAN CUNNINGHAM (SF) writes,
“Mom graduated from the GI a
few years ago, Stella’s 9 1/2,
Rockstar is a scaredy-dog, we are
7 miles from the ocean until we
figure out which mountains to
head to.”
JACOB CURTIS (SF) and DAYNA
SIMS CURTIS (SF98) announce
the birth of their second baby,
Atticus Hamilton: “Big sister
Clio is adjusting well, we are
feeling very blessed with a boy
and a girl.”
BRENDA JOHNSON (AGI) has
completed the docent training
course at the Walters Art
Museum in Baltimore, Md. She is
enjoying taking some of the
28,000 school children who visit
every year through the museum.
JESSICA CAMPBELL MCALLEN
(SF) writes: “Lowry, Isaac,
and I welcomed Patrick Oliver
with so much love on February 1,
2009. He was 6 lbs. 13 oz.
and 19 1/2 in.”
JILL NIENHISER (SFGI)
completed a two-year acting
program at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in
Washington, D.C., in December.
She appeared in The Houseguests
and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
in April, and will perform this
summer with Kaleidoscope
Theatre in a two-person production of The Lion, the Witch, and
the Wardrobe for schools and
libraries.
NATHAN SCHLEIFER (SF) reports
that his second son, Elijah, was
born June 16, 2008.
1998
STEPHEN CONN (SF) reports:
“On the literary front, I recently
had my 10th published letter in
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
Mojo Magazine, and to top it off,
I am studying for my MFA in
Screenwriting at the Academy of
Art in San Francisco. Any Johnnies who feel like a nice Italian
dinner in North Beach, feel free
to come on over!”
RICK FIELD (SFGI) and his wife
Jessica welcomed twin girls into
their lives on August 2, 2008.
The elder child, by two minutes,
was named Grace Apollonia, and
the younger, Alexandra Electra.
Both girls love to hear books read
aloud, and they enjoy various
types of music.
DORA JACOBS (A) and
WALKER STUMP-COALE (A00)
will both begin law school at the
University of Baltimore in
August. Their son, Mac, is now 11
months old and their daughter,
Isabel, is almost 2 1/2, so things
will be crazy at their house for a
while—but not too crazy to catch
up with old friends, particularly
if there’s advice to be had about
managing full-time school
and a young family. Use
dorajacobs@hotmail.com or
walkerstumpcoale@
hotmail.com to drop a line.
1999
Having completed seven years of
formation at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Seminary in Denton,
Neb., BRIAN T. AUSTIN, FSSP
(A), was ordained to the sacred
priesthood on May 30 in Lincoln,
Neb., and sang a Solemn High
Mass of Thanksgiving on June 6
in Philadelphia. The Rev. Austin
is a member of the Priestly
Fraternity of St. Peter, a clerical
Society of Apostolic Life of
Pontifical Rite, founded in 1988
by His Holiness John Paul II for
the sake of fostering the ancient
Latin Liturgy of the Roman
Catholic Church.
�41
{Alumni Profile}
Nurturing a Love for Learning
Melanie Jago Hiner (A81)
by Rosemary Harty
bruce weller
A
t nine years old, Melanie Jago
Hiner (A81) was a curious
bookworm attending a
progressive school in
Chicago. “Our social studies
teacher told us we could
study anything we wanted, as long as we
could explain why,” she recalls. “I decided to
study the Mongolian invasion of China. I
made a scale model of the Great Wall and
loved every minute of it.”
While her social studies teacher encouraged independent thinking and creativity,
her math teacher frequently gave timed tests
that made Hiner so anxious she suffered from
stomach aches. “I came to loathe math,” she
says. “And I almost didn’t come to St. John’s
because the Program included four years of
math.”
Hiner made the leap and discovered she
loved mathematics. Her experiences at St.
John’s—learning through dialogue, being a
part of a community, delving into difficult
and unfamiliar subject matter—helped to
shape her ideas of what education could be.
She enrolled in a graduate program at the
University of Delaware, focusing on cognition and instruction, and finished the coursework required for her doctorate.
In 1995, at the prodding of her 7-year-old
son, Hiner founded the New School in
Newark, Delaware, using St. John’s College
as her model for helping children and young
adults become lifelong learners. The school’s
motto: “Education for the courageous,
inquisitive, and independent-minded.”
“The ‘radical inquiry’ of St. John’s is very
much at the heart of what we do,” says Hiner.
“We’re always challenging the kids to think
deeply about things.”
Hiner started the school in the basement
of a women’s club with $1,000 and seven
students. Now housed in a historic home
with an acre of land, the New School has
about 40 students in kindergarten through
grade 12. Students vote on the governing
principles of their school and decide individually what to study and how to study it. “Children learn to listen to one another and learn
from another. We’re not hierarchical. There
are no experts—just like at St. John’s, the
teacher is a fellow learner.”
So far, three New School graduates have
matriculated at St. John’s. One of Hiner’s
Her own experiences in the classroom led Melanie Jago Hiner to create a school that
fosters creativity and wonder, in the spirit of St. John’s College.
first students was Molly Roach (A09). “It was
more like a family than a school,” Roach
recalls. “I was used to being told what to do,
so at first, I had a little trouble adjusting to
the self-directed aspect of the school.”
At the New School, Roach enjoyed
learning through conversation. Hands-on
projects such as sewing gained time alongside reading and studying mathematics, and
in time Roach began to thrive with her new
freedom. Her senior thesis explored the
concept of paradise, focusing on the Persian
root of the word as enclosed garden. As part
of her project, she transformed the school’s
meeting room into a “paradise garden,” with
plants, a bench, and a fountain.
“If I had gone to a traditional high school
and had all the pressures about test scores
and college applications, I would have been
miserable because I would have wanted to
please everyone,” says Roach. “I wouldn’t
have known anything about what I was actually interested in.”
The New School restricts students choices
in a way, because students are strongly
encourage to seek out things that are difficult
and they’re required to explain their choices.
The ultimate goal, says Hiner, is creating
self-reliance and perseverance in students.
“We talk to them about Plato’s discussion of
the soul—if you’re just drawn along by the evil
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
horse to things you merely enjoy doing,
you’re not going to get anything worth doing
done,” Hiner says.
On Wednesday nights, Hiner leads seminars for New School parents and community
members. Readings from The Wealth of
Nations, Democracy in America, and Pascal’s
Pensées have been recent choices. Hiner has
also developed an informal continuing
educational program for adults. She mentors
adults who want to structure their own
program of self-education.
Along with devoting herself to offering a
St. John’s-inspired education, Hiner is
moving into community organizing. Last
year, she created a nonprofit called Omnia
Humanitas, aimed at encouraging individuals and communities to pursue “integrated,
sustainable lives” that include lifelong
learning, community involvement, and environmentally responsible lifestyles. The
school and nonprofit organization together
allow Hiner to introduce the concept of “the
examined life” to those who haven’t read
Plato. “To be fully engaged in what you’re
doing, to take time to develop neglected
aspects of your life, to keep asking important
questions—that’s what it means to live a
productive life,” she says. x
�42
{Alumni Notes}
MICHAEL HOKENSON (SF) has
been spending the last several
years creating a fund to provide
loans to microfinance institutions (“MFIs”). The Minlam
Microfinance Fund lent money to
10 MFIs, which created more
than 18,000 new loans during
2008 in emerging markets from
Peru to Azerbaijan. These loans
are intended to help small businesses grow and boost household
income for poor families, which
is linked to higher investment in
education, nutrition and health.
The institutions have loans with
more than 400,000 women.
He continues to live and work in
New York City.
2000
Here’s some news from JASON
(AGI) and SUSIE SALINAS
(AGI99): “Susie and I will
celebrate our ninth anniversary
on June 10. I just finished three
years in Annapolis, where I
taught English at the Naval
Academy. This week we moved
back to San Diego so I could
return to flying helicopters for
the Navy. Susie has been busy
raising our two boys, Henry, 4,
and Sam, 2.”
2001
After five years of living in Santa
Fe and working in the art gallery
scene, BRENDAN BULLOCK (SF)
moved back to New England and
has been in Portland, Maine, for
the last two years. “I’ll be moving
to Rockport, Maine, shortly to
begin a summer-long position as
a teaching assistant at the Maine
Media Workshops, an incredible
institution for photographic
learning,” he says. “I’ll be
working alongside some of the
best photographers working
today, teaching both seasoned
professionals and young children
getting involved with photography for the first time. That
aside, I’ve been getting in plenty
of good fishing with fellow
Johnnie GEORGE DEANS (A02),
who, incidentally, is now working
as a stonemason, has just bought
a house and will be getting
married to his fiancée, Ludmila
Svoboda, in September.”
2002
AMELIA ADAMS (A) begins her
residency in Orthopedic Surgery
at Washington University in
St. Louis this June.
BENJAMIN ANDERSON (AGI) has
received a three-year David E.
Finley Fellowship from the
Center for Advanced Study in the
Visual Arts at the National
Gallery of Art. “This will support
completion of my dissertation
(Bryn Mawr, History of Art) on
images of the Ptolemaic cosmos
in the early Middle Ages,” he
says. “At present I am traveling
about the near East, researching
late Roman and early Islamic
monuments, but will spend most
of the next two years in Munich
before returning to D.C. for the
final year of the fellowship,
insha’Allah!”
ISABEL CLARK (A) writes: “I’ve
moved to Austin, Texas, and am
working for Whole Foods Market
on the new healthy eating team
at their global HQ. Before the
move, my partner, Brian
Ambrose, and I went on an epic
cross-country adventure for
several months (detailed in the
archives of brianandisabel.com).
I also have a new website with
recipes, articles, and materials
from my previous work doing
wellness counseling at
forkbytes.com.”
AMANDA SIMONE KENNEDY
FINNEY (SF) graduated from
Southern Methodist University
Dedman School of Law in Dallas,
Texas, with a Juris Doctor on
May 16, 2009.
2003
CHELSIA (WHEELER) HETRICK
(SF) was married May 24, 2009,
to Erik Hetrick, whom she met
while doing her first tour as a
foreign service officer in
Rangoon, Burma. They are
scheduled to finish their tour in
Burma this September, then
move to Johannesburg, South
Africa, in October.
SEAN MCLAIN (A) writes:
“I have been living in Abu Dhabi
for the past year and a half, and
writing editorials for a new
English-language daily here.
I never expected I would end up
in the media. However, in retrospect, getting paid good money
to tell people what I think is
pretty much the ideal career.
Called to Virginia
J
USTI SCHUNIOR (A99) recently graduated from Candler School of
Theology at Emory University in
Atlanta and in June was ordained to
the priesthood in the Episcopal
Church at the Cathedral of
St. Philip. “I’ve accepted a call to
Christ Church in Old Town Alexandria and
will be moving up to Virginia to begin work
in July. I hope to make the reunion this fall
and catch up with class of ‘99. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
The UAE is a fascinating young
country. In 37 years it has gone
from a collection of desert
emirates under British mandate
to a thriving hub of commerce.
There are innumerable growing
pains from such rapid growth,
and one of the most rewarding
aspects of my job is to try to make
sense of the country to the world
and vice versa. I don’t know if I
could do this forever, but it is
certainly a rewarding pit stop on
the way to whatever future lies
ahead.”
MARGURITE T. PFOUTZ (SF)
married JEFFREY A. PALMER
(A96) in Pittsburgh, Pa. They
then ran away together to
Portland, Ore., with their cat
and some books.
MICHAEL WALDOCK (SFGI) and
JOHANNA OMELIA (SFGI02)
have launched Ailemo Books in
Oregon and just released their
first title, Voyage 185: A British
Gentleman’s Extraordinary
Adventures Abroad by Thomas
Hughes Jackson.
2004
ENJOLI COOKE (A) will begin
optometry school at Pennsylvania College of Optometry at
Salus University in the fall. “It is
a four-year program without a
required residency, so I will
(hopefully) be a practicing
optometrist in four years and
two months!”
ANNIE ROLLINS (née BAILY) and
DUSTIN ROLLINS (both SF) are
currently living and working in
the Boston area. Dustin recently
finished his MA in Philosophy at
Boston College and works as
adjunct faculty at several New
England colleges. Annie finished
a master’s in teaching at BU and
just wrapped up her first year
teaching senior English in a
regional high school. They have
purchased an old colonial house
�43
{Alumni Notes}
north of Boston in the Bradford
area and are looking forward to
beginning a family. “Best wishes
to our classmates, and give us a
holler if you are in the area,”
they write.
2005
SAMANTHA BUKER (A) plans on
hosting musical après-midi in her
Baltimore garden all summer
long. First on the performer’s
list, JAMES PEARSON, cellist
(A05) was well received for his
Bach Suite #3 in C. All nearby
musical alums are invited to
showcase their talents. When not
inviting musicians to drink her
wine and gorge on rich, buttery
desserts and decadent fruits, she
praises or pans them in writing
for the Baltimore City Paper’s
rated Best Local Music Blog:
Auralstates. Read her posts right
here: http://auralstates.com/
author/sbuker. While this music
critic stint takes her round to the
nation’s top orchestras, it doesn’t
pay the rent. So she rounds out
her day by delving deep into
Federal Reserve mayhem and all
sundry things sociopolitical and
economic for Agora Financial—
particularly enjoying her status
as roving reporter for their
Libertarian-leaning rag Whiskey
and Gunpowder.
After two years of post-bac
coursework, JAMES HARRISON
(A) will be starting medical
school at the University of
Philadelphia this fall. “To old
friends and classmates, all are
welcome if you’re passing
through Philly.”
CARLY ROSE JACKSON (SF)
began a master’s program in
journalism in September 2008.
She lives in Boston, goes to
school, interns at a local weekly,
and like everyone else in the
universe has a blog. Cross your
fingers that newspapers will
still exist in 2010 when she
graduates.
ALEXIS SEGEL (SF) is happy to
be through the first year of her
Master of Fine Arts program at
Mills College in Oakland, Calif.
She will continue her studies in
Italian at Middlebury this
summer, and hopes to see some
Johnnies at her master’s recital
in spring 2010.
2006
DANIEL GRIMM (SF) writes:
“I own and operate Fishbar on
the Lake, a seasonal seafood
restaurant in Montauk, N.Y.,
the last town in the Hamptons.
My partner, Jennifer Meadows,
is the executive chef. The restaurant overlooks Montauk Harbor
and serves seafood right off
local boats, many of which
dock right in front of the
restaurant. Pictures of the view
are available on our website:
www.freshlocalfish.com.
Everyone is invited to come!”
MADELINE MAHOWALD (SF)
will begin a post-baccalaureate
premedical program at Bryn
Mawr College in May.
CARRY ROSE (A) and her fiancé,
Jacob Brown, will be having a
baby in November, their first
child.
KELLY KEENAN TRUMPBOUR
(AGI) was recently named senior
director of Running Start, a
nonprofit dedicated to inspiring
high school and college women
to pursue political office.
2007
BRENDAN GREELEY (SFGI)
has completed primary flight
training at NAS Corpus Christi,
Texas. He will fly the T-45 (Navy
Planning and serving in
the Volunteer State
W
ILLIAM GREGORICUS (SFGI00) is a senior
policy advisor in Tennessee Governor
Bredesen’s Office of Planning and Policy.
His main charge is the coordination of the
efforts of the Governor’s Criminal Justice
Coordinating Council, a 15-member
group, appointed by the Governor to examine ways to reduce
juvenile and adult recidivism and improve public safety and
serving as the deputy to the director of the Governor’s Tennessee
Recovery Act Management Office. Prior to joining the Bredesen
administration, he served under Governor Bill Richardson with
the deputy cabinet secretary for Children, Youth and Families,
with responsibilities for the Juvenile Justice Division. You can
find him on Facebook. x
Strike Jet Trainer) at NAS
Kingsville, Texas, where he will
earn his “Wings of Gold.”
CHELSEA STIEGMAN (A, now
Chelsea Ihnacik) has been
married for more than a year to
Ryan Ihnacik, her boyfriend
since high school. She’s
managing a Starbucks at the
Annapolis Mall and planning to
go to law school in the fall of
2010. In good weather, she may
be spotted traveling through
town on her new scooter.
2008
and helping a student-initiated
fundraiser to help save the
Javan rhino.”
2009
DALTON LOBO DIAS (A) is
working this summer as an e
mergency medical technician and
will be starting his premedical
post-baccalaureate program at
Bryn Mawr College in the fall. x
What’s Up?
Last May, DON BRIGGS (AGI)
was a panelist for the National
Association of Homebuilders
Green Building Conference on
“Valuing Green Buildings” in
Dallas, Texas.
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 November;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is October 10.
ALEXANDRA SCHWAB (A) has
been teaching sixth-grade math
for the past year at The Pingry
School in New Jersey, where she
will be next year, too: “My
non-math-related adventures this
year included vocal coaching for
our high school production of
Les Misérables, backup singing
for the middle school’s Godspell,
Alumni will also be sent a call
for classnotes via e-mail in
September. To see the last
mystery picture identified,
visit the online community at
www.stjohnscollege.edu, click
on Alumni.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
The College Magazine
St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404;
rosemary.harty@sjca.edu
�44
WILLIAM DARKEY, CLASS OF
1942
William Darkey, tutor
emeritus, died in Santa Fe on
June 22, 2009, at the age of 88.
He will be remembered by
friends and colleagues for
contributions that made a
tremendous difference in the
life of the college. He was
among the first students of
Barr and Buchanan’s New
Program, and he spent a year as
a tutor right after graduating.
As a founding faculty member
and dean in Santa Fe, he
helped create and foster a new
St. John’s College community
in the high desert. As a lifelong
learner and encouraging
teacher, he inspired others
with his passion for ideas.
Mr. Darkey was active on
campus when Victoria Mora,
Santa Fe dean, arrived as a
tutor in Santa Fe. “He had such
a lovely, understated way of
drawing our attention to the
important things in faculty
meetings,” she recalls. “He
had a quiet, Mark Twain-like
wit. He loved the college and
he loved the Santa Fe campus.
He had a fascinating view of
how the landscape and light on
this campus added to the
student experience of the
program, their starkness
confronting the students with
themselves as profoundly as
the books do.”
Mr. Darkey’s lecture on translation remains fresh and relevant to the work of the college
today, Dean Mora said. “It is
used widely in language classes
to help students see what a
powerful and rewarding experience a simple translation can
be. Bill saw meaning in the
everyday and familiar; what
better wisdom does a lifelong
dedication to this program
have to offer?”
{Obituaries}
He was also appreciated for his
quiet humor.
“He loved music, poetry, and
literature,” says tutor emeritus
Sam Kutler (class of 1954), who
was a student of Mr. Darkey’s.
“He was one of the founders of
the Key School here in
Annapolis because he cared
about education at all levels.”
Mr. Darkey was preceded in
death by his wife, Constance
(SFGI85). He is survived by his
stepson, Peter Nabokov; his
daughter, Catherine Darcy;
and a grandson, Aaron Darcy.
BRIAN WALKER (SF90)
by David Marquez (SF90)
William Darkey will be remembered for his quiet, Mark Twainlike wit, says Santa Fe Dean Victoria Mora.
Raised in Western Maryland,
Mr. Darkey attended St. John’s
on a scholarship and, before
graduating in 1942, was offered
a faculty position. He enlisted
in the U.S. Army in 1946 and
then, upon his honorable
discharge, pursued a graduate
degree in English literature at
Columbia University. Noted
poet and professor Mark Van
Doren was both a mentor and
good friend. Returning to
St. John’s in 1949, Mr. Darkey
joined a cadre of tutors who
helped build the college’s reputation, including intellectuals
and refugees from Europe such
as Eva Brann and gifted
composers such as Elliot
Carter.
At the new campus in Santa
Fe, Mr. Darkey served as dean
from 1968 to 1972 with “imagination, diligence, and perceptiveness,” former president
Richard Weigle wrote in one of
his memoirs. A dedicated
teacher and proponent of the
St. John’s Program, Mr. Darkey
was known for his intellect, his
gentle manner in the seminar
room, and his ability to bring
out different points of view.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
As his classmates, much of our
appreciation of Brian is framed
in our shared experience of
St. John’s College. To us,
Brian’s life is not a series of
accomplishments and milestones, especially given that
he, like us, chose to attend a
college without the usual yardsticks of letter grades, midterms, multiple choice tests or
final exams. His decision to
follow an ancient method of
learning based on the simple
and complex tasks of reading
and conversing and also to lead
a life full of complexity, beauty
and creativity is proof of his
deep inspiration and feeling for
the world. Our Brian Walker
was, without a doubt, the
exemplary “Johnnie.”
To list Brian’s accomplishments is a little like trying to
trace the course of a stream
from its mountain origins as it
grows to a river and onward to
its ultimate union with the
greater sea, and in that course,
name all of the ways that gift of
water affects the places and
creatures it touches as it
passes. It is better then to say at
least some of the things Brian
was to those of us who knew
�45
{Obituaries}
him. Above all else he was our
friend: a whirl of life, joy,
sarcasm, wit, hilarity, sorrow,
vanity, appreciation,
generosity, empathy, deep
understanding, profound imagination, grammatical knowledge and a boundless well of
love for life and all that was a
part of it.
He was a poet and a creator:
the very highest honors one
could take from the college
Brian chose. It was his ability
to use wit and sarcasm that
kept his feet firmly planted on
the ground. His cock-eyed view
of pretentiousness when he
encountered it and the way he
could cut to the quick of any
situation to reveal its true form
told all of us that here was
someone who could see
through the most carefully
crafted constructs. This was a
power to be reckoned with and
respected. For many of us, it
was Brian who would give voice
to what we were all thinking,
but could not diplomatically
express.
He was a master of creating
the world as he saw it and in
such completeness that those
of us around him could not
imagine it not being so. In this
way a big green Ford pick-up
became both chariot and
limousine, and a student flat
with bad plumbing could
become a banquet hall fit for
tasting the world’s finest champagnes. Those of us around
him happily engaged in his
world view not out of dissatisfaction with the world as it was,
but because what Brian
brought out in each of us was
the hope and the belief that the
world would be just as we all
imagined it could be: full of
poetry and low humor, music
and guffawing, crassness and
beauty, and throughout all,
love.
It is no coincidence that all
who met Brian in those years at
St. John’s, and I am certain in
those years before and after,
are unable to forget him. This
is because he is one of those
rare individuals who those of us
fortunate enough to have as a
friend know that because of
him our view of the world and
of our own lives will never be
the same. As he departs it is
undeniable that any honors and
accolades that Brian may have
collected during his time here
are only dim reflections of the
light he shared with us.
IRA MILLER (AGI07)
Ira Miller, a retired general
surgeon whose passion for the
classics brought him to
St. John’s, died in March at his
home in Bethesda, Md. He was
78 and had prostate cancer.
Dr. Miller was on the staff of
several hospitals, including
Suburban Hospital, where he
chaired the surgery department from 1991 to 1993 and
served as chairman of the
medical staff from 1993 to
1995. A native of New York,
he received a bachelor’s degree
in English from Columbia
University in 1951 and a
medical degree from the
University of Buffalo in 1956.
During retirement he came to
St. John’s to continue his
education. “Ira’s years at
St. John’s were a very
rewarding time after his retirement from surgery,” says his
wife, Barbara. “He was very
grateful for the opportunity to
study the works of many of the
thinkers whose writings he had
glossed over as an undergraduate. His studies at St. John’s
enhanced his abilities as a
discussion leader in the Great
Books program, and led to his
developing courses on the Iliad
and the histories of Herodotus
and Thucydides.”
PATRICK PATRONE (SF78)
Patrick M. Patrone, M.D., died
suddenly at his home in
Hopkins, Minn., on April 16,
2009. He was 51.
Born in Izmir, Turkey, Dr.
Patrone spent most of his early
years in Fairfax, Va. After graduating from St. John’s, he
earned an MS in physiology
from Georgetown University,
and his medical degree from
the University of Virginia. He
completed his residency in
pathology at the Cleveland
Clinic and did a fellowship in
pediatric pathology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He practiced pathology at
Jefferson University Hospital in
Philadelphia before moving to
Lancaster County, where he
worked as a pathologist at
Lancaster General Hospital for
nine years. He also worked at
Reading Hospital and most
recently at Lower Bucks
Hospital in Bristol, Pa. He was
a fellow of the College of
American Pathologists.
JOHN M. ROSS (A69)
John Maxwell Ross died
April 6, 2009, of natural
causes at his home in Seattle.
After graduating from
brian walker
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
St. John’s he served for four
years in the U.S. Coast Guard,
where he was stationed in
St. Louis, Mo. He eventually
settled in Seattle, where he
spent the next few decades
pursuing personal and
professional interests.
An accomplished author of
technical books, Mr. Ross also
pursued other writing projects,
including a planned study of
the writings of E.B. White.
He combined his Coast Guard
radio engineering experience
and his love for music and folklore to serve many local organizations, including KRAB
Radio, Northwest Folklife, and
the Seattle Folklore Society.
A dedicated archivist, Mr. Ross
was deeply committed to
preserving the musical
heritage of the past in new and
different media. He also
enjoyed collecting local Pacific
Northwest wines and making
homemade apple cider with
members of the Northwest
Cider Society. He served on the
Wallingford Community
Council.
ALSO NOTED:
RICHARD FRANK (CLASS OF
1949), MAY 5, 2009
CHARLES WYMAN GROVER
(CLASS OF 1948), MARCH 19,
2009
STEVEN KEY (A74), MAY 26,
2009
ALVIN LEVY (CLASS OF 1938),
JAN. 22, 2009
WILLIAM SPRANKLE (CLASS OF
1951), FEB. 7, 2009
KEVIN STACEY (A75), MARCH
23, 2009
BOWEN WEISHEIT (CLASS OF
1940), APRIL 29, 2009
JOHN WINSLOW (CLASS OF
1933), DEC. 28, 2008
�46
{Croquet}
Johnnie vs. Johnnie:
Showdown with Santa Fe
F
aced with
another Sunday
croquet match
this spring (Navy
had a scheduling
conflict), Alumni
Director Jo Ann Mattson (A87)
hit on an idea: why not fill the
empty Saturday with a Johnnie
vs. Johnnie, East vs. West
match? When enough Santa Fe
students took the challenge,
Mattson made it an official part
of the weekend. Since Sunday
drew the largest crowd ever—
about 3,000 people—the
informal and intimate Santa Fe
vs. Annapolis match was the
highlight of the weekend for
many. “This is what croquet
was like in its early days,” said
Mattson, her picnic set up on
the edge of the playing court.
“Look at all the students here.”
Students who made the trip
from Santa Fe, along with
transfers to Annapolis, gathered under a tent where they
proudly displayed the New
Mexico flag. Other students
lounged on blankets in the sun
and did homework or read as
the games went on around
them. “I’m not really following
the game,” confessed Gina
Russom (A09), who spent her
first two years in Santa Fe. “But
it’s nice to have a little bit of
Santa Fe here in Annapolis.”
Even though Santa Fe’s team
included six former Annapolis
students who transferred to
Santa Fe, Annapolis prevailed
3-0. And though the Santa Fe
players practiced a couple of
times a week, it can’t be said
that either team took things
too seriously on Saturday.
Santa Fe’s team was led not by
an Imperial Wicket but by a
“Grand Marnier.” Another
player donned a clown’s outfit
for part of his match. Along
with their nicknames
(“Drunken Alex” and “Fried
Smokra” among them), the
Santa Fe competitors printed a
quote from the Roman poet
Claudian on their red shirts:
“It is no victory unless the
vanquished admits your
mastery.”
But on Sunday, it was all
business. Perhaps it was the
spring warmth after a dreary,
bad-news winter that brought
such a large, enthusiastic
crowd to campus for Sunday’s
match. Dressed as Vikings
(costumes chosen to hint at
domination of the seas), the
Johnnies triumphed 4-1 over
Navy.
Imperial Wicket Micah Beck
was well pleased with the
victory, although he and his
partner lost their match.
Perhaps the large crowd had
something to do with it, he
ventured. “There were alumni
lining the sidelines watching,”
he says. “We had some nervous
jitters to work out.”
The following weekend the
Johnnies closed out their
croquet season by bringing
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
home another trophy, as
winners of the National Intercollegiate Championships held
April 25-26 at the Merion
Cricket Club in Haverford,
Pennsylvania. The Johnnies
were among the top seeds
going into Sunday’s play, and
they won all of their six-wicket
matches. Teams were fielded by
institutions including the Naval
Academy, Bard, Haverford,
Davidson, and SUNY-New
Paltz. x
�{Croquet}
Opposite page: Top right, Santa Fe players consider their choices; Bottom
right, a quote from Claudian on a Santa Fe t-shirt; left, Gina Russom (A09)
watches the action. Above: clockwise from top, fierce Vikings face off against
the nattily dressed midshipmen; the Annapolis cup awaits the victor in the
alumni tent; the Santa Fe-Annapolis match was like the “old days” of
croquet; Elsabe Dixon (A11) and Joao Fernandes (A09) join the swing dancers.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
47
�48
{Alumni Association News}
CALENDAR
Alumni, it’s time to come home to Annapolis
and Santa Fe this fall!
ANNAPOLIS
Friday, September 25
4-8 p.m.
Registration
4:30-6 p.m.
Alumni/student networking and welcome
reception, FSK Lobby
5:30 p.m.
Class reunion dinners/receptions
8:15 p.m.
Homecoming Lecture: “Don Quixote and
the Law,” by Pedro Martinez-Fraga (A84)
Saturday, September 26
8:30-noon
Registration continues
10:30 a.m.
Seminars, children’s story hour and seminars
noon
Family barbeque/ class reunion luncheons
2 p.m.
Freshman chorus, revisited
3 p.m.
The Mitchell Gallery’s “Tools in Motion”
exhibit; Soccer Classic
4 p.m.
All-Alumni Meeting/awards assembly;
book signing
5-7 p.m.
Cocktail party/birthday celebration
7:30 p.m.
Alumni banquet
9:30 p.m.
Alumni ball; rock party
SANTA FE
Friday, October 9
4-8 p.m.
Registration
4:30-5:30 p.m.
Alumni/student reception
5:30 p.m.
Class reunion receptions
6 p.m.
GI welcome reception
8 p.m.
Homecoming lecture
10 p.m.
Movie
Sunday, September 27
11 a.m.
Presidents’ Brunch
CROQUET
St. John’s vs. the U.S. Naval Academy
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Raindate: Sunday, April 18, 2010
PIRAEUS, Alumni Continuing Education
Thursday, June 3, to Sunday, June 6, 2010.
Saturday, October 10
8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Registration
9:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m. State of the college
10:30 a.m.-noon Seminars and children’s story hours
12:30 p.m.
Picnic
2 p.m.
Hike to Atalaya
2-4 p.m.
Bocce tournament and Italian lawn party
5 p.m.
Speaking Volumes lecture
6 p.m.
Collegewide Art Show
7 p.m.
Homecoming dinner
9 p.m.
Homecoming dance
Sunday, October 11
11 a.m.
President’s Brunch
Seniors and alumni came together for a reception at the Paca
Gardens before Commencement. L. to r.: Jessica ZimmergbergHelms, Carol Freeman (AGI94), and Alexandra Munters.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Alumni Association News}
A Day in the
Country
E
ach May Sharon Bishop (class
of 1965) welcomes Washington-area alumni to her
home in Winchester, Va., for
an annual “Day in the
Country,” featuring a picnic,
tutor-led seminar, and an opportunity for
Johnnies to frolic in the sunshine. This
year, the popular event had one of its best
turnouts since Bishop began hosting about
six years ago. About 50 participants
attended the event, held on Memorial Day
weekend. Tutors Eva Brann (H89) and
Peter Kalkavage led the seminar, on Book
10 of Augustine’s Confessions.
Each group talked for an hour, then
Brann and Kalkavage switched groups.
Kalkavage’s opening question was: how
does Augustine lay out the difference
between the inner man and the outer
man? The discussion focused on memory
as the medium for inner man. Brann
concentrated on the chapter as “first
phenomenology.”
Bishop provided a catered lunch (salad,
grilled chicken, salmon, lemon squares,
chocolate mousse) paired with wines from
alumni winemakers: Hawk’s Crest, from
Warren Winiarski (class of 1952); Frog’s
Leap, from Larry Turley (SF69); and
Sanglier Volant, from the vineyard of the
late Jeff Bishop (H96), the college’s longtime vice president for advancement.
After the seminars, some alumni played
croquet, bocce, and badminton; others
lounged under shady trees and talked.
Bishop’s bearded collies, Brie and
Sunshine, participated in every activity.
Ymelda Martinez-Allison (A74) and her
husband, David (A73), were among those
who made the trek. “The Day in the
Country was fabulous,” Martinez-Allison
said. “We had lovely weather and a great
time of socializing. The luncheon was
absolutely delicious, and the seminar
discussions were lively and fruitful.”
“Thanks to Sharon, it was an absolutely
perfect day,” says Jo Ann Mattson (A87),
director of Alumni Relations. “It was such
a generous gift to her fellow alumni.”
“I enjoy hosting the event,” says Bishop.
“I love having the house in the country,
and I enjoy sharing it. And, we had great
weather.” x
Scenes from a day in the country: Seminars, Augustine on
Kindle, friends, and badminton. Photos by David Allison.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
49
�50
{Alumni Association News}
A Special Correspondence
Alumni Association Honors WWII Hero
H
“. . .He modestly
disowns any praise for
his personal courage.”
tutor Eva Brann, on Martin Andrews
lives, and his family and friends joined in
congratulating him. In her remarks at the
brief ceremony, Miss Brann noted that
Mr. Andrews is “the alumnus of alumni.”
He left St. John’s in 1941 to enlist as an
aviation cadet in the Army Air Force. After
he completed his flight training in 1942,
Mr. Andrews was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and flew the B-17—the Flying
Fortress—out of England. On his 13th
mission, his plane was fired on by Luftwaffe fighters, and Mr. Andrews was forced
to set his damaged bomber down in neutral
Switzerland. He spent seven months in
internment camps there before being
released through a prisoner exchange with
Germany. (Along the way, he carried out a
spy mission for Allen Dulles, who headed
up the OSS in Europe.) After the war
Mr. Andrews settled in New York, where he
became a documentary filmmaker.
Although he didn’t finish the Program,
Mr. Andrews carried the ideals of the
joe sledge, va medical center
is health wouldn’t allow
World War II veteran
Martin Andrews (class of
1943) to come to
Annapolis to receive the
Alumni Award of Merit,
the highest honor given by the Alumni
Association. So Alumni Director Jo Ann
Mattson (A87) and Steve Thomas (SF75),
vice president of the association, traveled
to the Northport Veteran’s Administration
Medical Center on Long Island, New York,
to present the award to him on March 17.
They brought with them a special guest:
tutor Eva Brann (H89), who through a
dedicated correspondence with
Mr. Andrews developed a friendship that
has lasted more than two decades. When
they arrived at the center Mr. Andrews
introduced his wife, Jean, to the group
and quipped to Miss Brann, “she knows I
love you.”
The Award of Merit was presented by
Mr. Thomas, in recognition of
Mr. Andrews’ outstanding service to the
country, his affection and dedication for
St. John’s and the ideals it represents,
Mr. Andrews has been deemed a most
worthy recipient of the Award of Merit,” he
said. The ceremony was held in a common
room of the VA Center, where Mr. Andrews
college to war with him, Miss Brann said:
“Under the pilot’s window of the Flying
Fortress he piloted, he preempted the
display of the customary buxom blonde by
a stenciled quotation from our old seal:
Nulla via invia virtutis—No way is impassable to courage,” she said. “From his
aircraft he released catalogues of the
New Program attached to little parachutes.
It still makes my heart leap to think of
these plans for a liberal education floating
down from the heavens into totalitarian
Germany.”
Miss Brann recalled meeting
Mr. Andrews at Homecoming in 1998,
and shortly afterward, she received the
first of his letters, an account of his war
experiences. “ How young they all were,
Lieutenant Andrews himself only 23? And
what the world owes them. He won’t,
I hope, mind this way of putting it,
although he modestly disowns any praise
for his personal courage.”
She expressed her gratitude for the
friendship that has developed through
letters: “When I see his beautiful handwriting on an envelope, I’m happy.” She
noted that they have occupied the same
places but at different times or under
different circumstances during their lives.
For example, in 1943 Mr. Andrews passed
under escort through San Sebastian in Spain
after his release from internment in Switzerland. “As it happens, I too passed under
escort through San Sebastian, but in 1941,
when a last refugee transport was mounted
leaving Berlin for Lisbon.” Miss Brann and
her family settled in Brooklyn, and after
earning a doctorate at Yale, she became a
tutor at St. John’s in 1957.
“So now, once more, space and time
have happily made connection for us,”
Miss Brann concluded. “It is indeed purely
wonderful to me, for I’ve grown to love
Martin.”
Still dapper at age 89, Mr. Andrews
was visibly moved by the presentation.
He expressed gratitude for both the honor
from St. John’s and the visit from
Miss Brann.
“This is a thrilling moment for me,
because Eva Brann is an extraordinary
woman,” he told the guests. “She is the
dearest correspondent I have, and I love
her dearly.” x
Penpals Eva Brann and Martin Andrews
have developed a deep friendship, rooted
in mutual admiration.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�{Alumni Association News}
Spotlight: The Harrisburg
Reading Group
W
hen Hannah
Eagleson (AGI04)
moved back home
to Hershey,
Pennsylvania, to
work on her
doctoral dissertation on lyric poets, she
found herself missing seminar. She missed
the conversations she had at the St. John’s
Graduate Institute and as a graduate
student at the University of Delaware.
It might have been easy to find a book
group or a reading club in the area, but
that wasn’t what she was looking for.
“I wanted to meet more people who
enjoyed reading and wrestling with
texts in the way that Johnnies tend to,”
she says. “Many of my friends in this area
are thoughtful readers, but they might
not have time for a St. John’s style
reading group.”
In February, Eagleson started a
St. John’s alumni reading group in nearby
Harrisburg. Meeting once a month at a
local coffee house, participants get
together to discuss works. Leadership of
the discussion rotates between members,
who can ask an opening question if they
choose. Participants in the group include
alumni from both campuses, and from
both the undergraduate and graduate
programs. Regular participants include
51
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.
“I love reading with
Johnnies because they
tend to be interested in
approaching the text on
its own terms. . .”
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.
Hannah Eagleson
Randy St. John (AGI87), Aaron and Sarah
Frederickson (SF95), Kristen Litsinger
(A93), Marvin Israel (SFGI73), Rebecca
Stevenson (AGI95), Mike Jerominski
(SF97), and Kristin Lockhart (SF97).
Readings have included selected poetry
of John Donne and King Lear, which
Randy St. John has been leading the group
through act-by-act. Group members are
eager to move beyond the seminar to
arrange social and cultural outings; they’re
planning to attend a local Shakespeare in
the Park production of Cymbeline, as well
as organize a group hike.
“We’re still figuring out a lot of things,
but it’s been very exciting so far,” Eagleson
says. “[I]t has been a great pleasure to give
careful attention to texts together, and to
hear what everyone else has to say. I love
reading with Johnnies because they tend to
be interested in approaching the text on its
own terms, but also interested in how texts
interact with life experience.”
The group typically meets on the fourth
Friday of each month at Cornerstone
Coffeehouse, 2133 Market St., Camp Hill,
Pennsylvania. Contact Hannah Eagleson
(hannaheag@comcast.net) for more
information.
— Sara Luell (A09)
Introducing Nancie Wingo
I
n June, Nancie Wingo
joined the Santa Fe
staff as director of
Alumni Activities.
Prior to joining the
college, Wingo
worked in Richmond, Va., for
the YMCA of Greater Richmond Association. She held
numerous roles in her seven
years with the association,
most recently directing
member services.
A native of Merced, Calif.,
Wingo is a 1981 graduate of
Baylor University, where she earned a
bachelor’s degree in communications.
She has also held jobs in public relations
and marketing. She has two sons:
Harrison, 23, and Andrew, 19. An avid
traveler, Wingo enjoys tennis, hiking,
reading, films and trying new recipes.
Wingo is pleased to join “this gem of a
college” and eager for the opportunity to
reach out to Santa Fe alumni. “I have a
deep and growing respect for the College,
the Program, a stimulating community,
and the opportunities that the future
holds,” she says. x
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�52
greenfield library
{St. John’s Forever}
A
century ago this past
February—just as the
college was preparing to
celebrate the 125th anniversary of its charter—
McDowell Hall was gutted
by a blaze most likely caused by defective
wiring. President Thomas Fell had been
working in his McDowell office that
Saturday morning, February 20. He later
told the Baltimore Sun that he and his
secretary had smelled smoke, but they both
thought someone was burning trash
nearby. Fell went home to lunch at 1 p.m.,
but within minutes, his secretary was at the
door, reporting that McDowell was on fire.
Students formed a bucket brigade, but
they soon realized they could not reach the
source of the flames. Instead, led by faculty
members, they concentrated on saving the
building’s contents, including college
records (including some from King
William’s School), class shields and
portraits of the college’s presidents. Led by
Lt. E. Berkely Iglehart (class of 1894), a
squad of students was dispatched to carry
out the 30,000 rounds of ammunition for
the college’s military program stored in
the basement. Firemen and midshipmen
from the Naval Academy also helped fight
the blaze, which could be seen for miles
around and attracted hundreds of spectators to the campus.
When it was all over, the upper two
floors of McDowell were gone. Falling
debris and water left the building’s first
floor in ruins.
Though badly damaged, the masonry
walls were intact, and this helped Fell and
the board decide that McDowell would rise
again. Contributions from alumni started
pouring in immediately. With their
financial support, the college rebuilt
McDowell according to its original design,
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
with the largely intact rear rooms serving
as models. By June 1910, the reconstruction was complete.
In 1989, the college undertook an extensive restoration of McDowell, moving
administrative offices to a new wing in
Mellon Hall and refiguring them as classrooms, installing heating and air conditioning, and shoring up the floors and
galleries.
It’s hard to imagine the Annapolis
campus without McDowell. Its iconic bell
tower was carried over to the design of
another building 2000 miles away, what
would become Weigle Hall in Santa Fe. x
For more on McDowell’s history and a full
account of the 1909 fire, consult McDowell
Hall at St. John’s College in Annapolis:
1742-1989, by John Christensen with
Charles Bohl.
�{Eidos}
On Moving Again
This evening, walking along the long field
My eye was drawn to a living shimmer in the sky:
Three aspens alone alive in a world of almost motionless
Cottonwood and willow and Chinese elm trees.
The breeze that barely stirred the others
Sprang it free, spangling leaves like light on water,
An electric flutter, the secret energy
In the heart of the world revealed. Free.
An aspen leaf might believe itself inordinately busy
(especially comparatively) and certain therefore
It will expire prematurely, useless, stupid, failed.
From where I stood, it was the most beautiful thing to see.
My life could be similarly pleasing to God.
I guess this could be service enough for me.
Liz Waldner
About the artist and poet
Karina Hean’s Nebulous (36" x 24" charcoal, conté, and graphite
on cotton rag paper, 2007) was created for an exhibit at the
University of Colorado. After teaching at Fort Lewis College and
completing several national and international fellowships and residencies, Hean (A00) will be a visiting professor at the University
of Montana this fall. Upcoming solo exhibitions include the
Contemporary Center for the Arts in December 2009, Fort Lewis
College in January 2010, and ArtHaus 66 in summer 2010.
Liz Waldner (A83) is the author of Saving the Appearances; Dark
Would (the missing person),winner of the 2002 Contemporary
Poetry Series; Etym(bi)ology; Self and Simulacra (2001), winner
of the Alice James Books Beatrice Hawley Prize; A Point Is That
Which Has No Part, winner of the 2000 James Laughlin Award
and the 1999 Iowa Poetry Prize; and Homing Devices (1998). Her
poetry has appeared in the New Yorker, Colorado Review, Denver
Quarterly, Ploughshares, VOLT, and many other publications.
{ T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Summer 2009 }
�NON -P ROFIT ORG .
U.S. P OSTAGE
PAID
P UBLISHED BY THE
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
P.O. BOX 2800
A NNAPOLIS , M ARYLAND 21404
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
A NNAPOLIS , MD
P ERMIT NO . 120
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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<em>The College </em>(2001-2017)
Description
An account of the resource
The St. John's College Communications Office published <em>The College </em>magazine for alumni. It began publication in 2001, continuing the <em>St. John's Reporter</em>, and ceased with the Fall 2017 issue.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The College" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=56">Items in The College (2001-2017) Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.
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St. John's College
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Annapolis, Md.
Santa Fe, NM
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St. John's College Greenfield Library
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thecollege2001
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paper
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52 pages
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St. John's College
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The College, Summer 2009
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2009
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pdf
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Issue of <em>The College</em> Magazine. Published in Summer 2009.
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St. John's College
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Annapolis, MD
Santa Fe, NM
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text
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English
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The_College_Magazine_Summer_2009
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