fall 2002 - winter 2003

Fall 2002 / Winter 2003Volume XV, Number 2

EditorJane D. McCarthy

DesignTimothy R. Ditch and Jane D. McCarthy

ContributorsDavid V. Babbott, Elizabeth A. Bowman, Stephen M. Carter,Monique L. DeVane, Gregory T. Haggard, Richard J. Mazzo-la, Alisa D. McCoy, Kurt R. Meyer, Marshall C. Milligan, SamuelA. “Pete” Pond CdeP 1932, Sara Sackner, Joy Sawyer-Mulli-gan, Gallia K. Vickery, and Peggy Whyte

PhotographyJ. Bert Mahoney, Jane D. McCarthy, Joy Sawyer-Mulligan,and Timothy O Teague

Cover PhotoWood Shop instructor John Bueti watches as Hana Chang ’03planes the rails of her cherry coffee tablePhoto by Timothy O Teague

The Thacher News magazine is publishedtwice a year by The Thacher School, and issent free of charge to alumni, parents, andfriends of the School. In preparing thisreport, every effort was made to ensurethat it is accurate and complete. If there isan omission or an error in spelling, pleaseaccept our apologies and notify the Headof School’s Office at The Thacher School,5025 Thacher Road, Ojai, California93023-9001, call (805) 646-4377, or [email protected].

Third Class postage is paid at the OxnardPost Office.

POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 tothe preceding address.

C Printed by Ventura Printing with soy-basedinks on recycled paper.

NAISM E M B E R

From the Head3 Here and Abroad:

Coping with Duality

Campus Activities5 Nearing the Century Mark

6 We Will Never Forget

8 Family Weekend:Jam-Packed Fun

10 A Little Culture

11 Snippets of News,Numeracy Puzzle

12 New Faculty Members

14 Fall and Winter Sports

17 Historical Society

18 The Survey Says

22 Thacher’s Newest Trustees

The Campaign for Thacher26 Investing in Thacher

27 You’re Never Too Young

55 Til the Best We Can Do Is All Done

Profiles on Artisans28 Allen O. Dragge CdeP 1966

The Art of Light and Glass

30 Donald L. Reed CdeP 1967From Bronze to Sterling

32 Peter B. Dragge CdeP 1969Confessions of a Luthier

34 James W. Wiester CdeP 1983Carpentry with an Eastern Flair

36 Diana Lewis Callahan CdeP 1984Liam W. Callahan CdeP 1984Reviving Artisan Cheesemaking

38 Madeleine A. McQuillan CdeP 2002Binding Books Beautifully

40 H. Boyd Manson and John BuetiWorking Wonders with Wood

Alumni News42 Bookshelf:

H. Travers Newton, Jr. CdeP 1968Technique and Meaning in thePaintings of Paul Gauguin

44 Class Notes

52 Obituaries

54 Calendar

NewsT

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It is that time of year in theOjai when a miraculous du-ality presents itself to our

astonished eyes: orange treesare blossoming even as ripecitrus weighs branches down-ward. Winter and spring tugand pull at each other in thistransitional time, drenchingrain alternating with sunshineuntil, ultimately, the formergives way to the latter, andthe rich effulgence of the Ojaispring blesses our lives atThacher. Wildflowers carpetthe hills. The expansive scentof sage, pepper, and eucalyp-tus wafts on the light breezes.On campus, laughter peelsfrom the dormitories, cries ofexcitement echo across theplaying fields, clods of dampdirt fly on the Gymkhana Fieldas the Orange, the Blue, andthe Green compete hell-bent-for-leather. Freshmen, formerlyanxious and hesitant abouttheir horses, now gallop atfull-tilt with the strength and grace thatcomes from increased self-confidence.Thacher teams compete spiritedly and, inmany cases, with great success. Ourdancers, artists, musicians brighten thestage every week as they showcase theirtalents through large School productionsand their independent afternoon projects.Horse trips head out almost weekly, newgenerations of Thacher students discover-ing the rugged beauty and surprises of theSespe back-country: the waterfall and poolsof Spruce Falls, the skulking mountain lionat Pattons’ Cabin, the horse-swimmingholes at Bear Creek and Hidden BeachCamp, the warmest hot springs in all ofCalifornia. Magnificent. And so much ofit all at the hands of faculty members whoopen the doors for students eager to walkthrough. Their passion for their work, theirhigh standards, their humor and resilience,

Fall 2002 / Winter 2003 page 3

From the Head of School

and their encouragement are central toevery students’ Thacher experience.

Like those who came before us here at thisedge of the valley, we are enriched by thisSchool, this campus, this faculty, thesemountains, the vision of education thatSherman Day Thacher articulated somany years ago: to train young men andwomen in the art of living for their owngreatest good and for the greatest good oftheir fellow citizens. Even a stranger toour campus detects the pulse of learning;the unbridled friendliness and humor ofstudents and faculty and their palpablefriendships and camaraderie; the electric-ity of productions, plays, and practice; theflow of challenge and achievement; therichness of learning and relationships thattransform kids into adults: the alchemythat is Thacher.

HeadHere and AbroadCoping with Duality by Michael K. Mulligan

The Thacher News

So our full and meaningful lives on thiscampus and in these mountains unfoldmagically. Yet the backdrop of these lasttwo years—the tumbling of the Towers,the threats veiled and direct from terror-ists, the call to arms, to duct tape, and tothe dogfight between absolutism and rel-ativism, on all fronts—is unsettling andchilling. Most of our students continuewith their lives as yet free from deep angst.This is right and good; goodness knowsthere is plenty of time for that anxietylater in their life. I am not sure, however,how long this tenuous grace will last. Fear,and it seems, incipient anger from all sidesis on the rise.

Our work at Thacher is not to avoid con-flict, not to dodge—or have our studentshide from—the uncertainties that confrontour nation. Rather, our task is to help ouryoung women and men assess the ambi-guities, recognize the challenges, and seekunderstanding to the best of their ability.It is, after all, our job to educate, not topoliticize. Great education is about stu-dents and teachers, adults and children,finding the best possible answers together,through dialogue, debate, discussion. Wewill continue to do just this as this na-tional and international drama plays outbefore our eyes.

That our students can sing and run anddance and ride and laugh and study andhike in Nature’s splendor and amid thewarm friendship of peers and faculty de-spite the anxiety, uncertainty, and fear ofthe national atmosphere is, to repeat, sim-ply a good thing. Kids need love and beautyat their core in the midst of external un-certainty and challenge. And when it istheir turn to wear the mantle of leader-ship, they will have a base of compassionand trust from which to make decisionsthat will surely, we hope, reflect the kind-ness and love they have lived in here. e

Yet, beyond the orange trees that bear boththe promise of fruit and the thing itself,there is another insistent and real dualityin which we are all living. Even as I notethe on-going richness of our day-to-daylives at Thacher, our nation is engulfed innational dissent and international conflict.Each morning at breakfast, The Los An-geles Times and The New York Times blan-ket the tables in the dining room; studentsgo to CNN’s web site during free periods;faculty discuss and debate the pros andcons of American foreign policy at meals,in other free moments, in classes. Someread anti-war poems at Assembly; othersrespectfully admonish the risk of lackingcourage and vision when terrorists anddictators encourage and plan our demise.

Our students are several steps removedfrom the necessity of personal decisionshere—this despite the fact that recentalumni are at this moment flying Navy jetsin the Persian Gulf while others are march-ing on the steps of the Capitol. Most of usat Thacher, like so many across our coun-try, are confused and hesitant, at oncewanting to support our leaders but wish-ing to resist the call for armed conflict. Weknow that democracies should be slow toanger. We know that democracies fightbest only when facing an impasse. And yetwe recognize that a military buildup can-not be sustained through the searing heatof an Arabian summer. An inexorable cal-endar confronts us.

Those of us who are educators and thoseof us whose school years were blackenedby the anger and horror of Vietnam, fearthe wear on our moral fabric as trust tearsthrough confusion and ambiguity. Thoseof us who have lived through or taughtour students the lessons of World War IIand the dangers of placating dictatorsknow that courage and conviction are crit-ical to avoiding yet greater dangers downthe road. World views are in conflict on allfronts.

Faculty Emeritus JackHuyler hosted a fitting andmemorable School-wide

95th Birthday Party for JesseWalter Kahle December 4.From a Special Assemblywith skits to a horse-trainingvideo, from an Archival dis-play to a luncheon with long-time friends and familymembers, this celebrationwas a pointed display of whyJesse is such a beloved fixtureat Thacher.

Born the same year as theSan Francisco Earthquake,when Theodore Rooseveltwas President and when theUnited States’ populationwas one third of today’s 280million, Jess grew up in Ok-lahoma during the DustBowl era. He worked on thefamily’s ranch and married

his childhood sweetheart, Clarice, who died afew months ago; they’d been married for 74years. Headmaster Newt Chase hired Jess todirect the Thacher’s Horse Program startingon April 1, 1948; thus began a quarter-cen-tury career that continues even today whenJesse drops by the stables to give pointers tothe freshman riders.

During Assembly, Jack called on various Com-munity members to relate early tales of their in-teraction with Jesse. David Lavender, Jr. CdeP1951, who was a freshman on Jess’s first day ofwork, recalls that he has never heard Jess uttera foul word, even though he worked with somefairly rough fellows who used expletives liber-ally. After his freshman year, David workedalongside Jess during the summer vacation,digging postholes in rocky terrain for a newcorral. When they tried to lever a boulder outof the ground and it wouldn’t budge, Jessgrabbed a sledgehammer to pound the end ofthe crow bar deeper under the rock. He gave ita mighty swing, forgetting that his left handwas steadying the bar and that his thumb wason the top of it. As his appendage throbbedinto a bloody, gorey mess that brought tearsto his eyes, Jess muttered, “Mercy!”

Bruce Oxley CdeP 1954, one of Jesse’s succes-sor in the Horse Program, recalled Jesse’s han-dle test of strength while Bruce’s grandson Will’05 and Brendan Keane ’05 demonstrated thetechnique. Standing nose-to-nose and gripping

TributeNearing the Century MarkJesse Kahle Turns 95 by Jane D. McCarthy


Campus Activities

Jesse recites an Uncle Josh monologue

David Lavender, Jr. CdeP 1951 describes workingwith Jesse one summer

a horizontal handle overhead, the contestantstry to maintain their grip as they slowly backaway from each other and the handle lowersbetween them. One must succumb to theother’s stronger grip when the handle twists inhis hands. According to legend, Jess has neverlost this game and the only fellow who cameclose had the skin peeled from his palms; theresultant blood made the fellow’s hands so slip-pery that he lost his grip—and the game.

Setting the stage for the next skit, Jack re-minded everyone that Jesse is a “staunch Chris-tian and knows his Bible.” Jack recalledcoming across Jesse and a stranger squattingand whittling near the stables, where an orneryold mare was tied to the nearby hitching railand a horse trailer hitched to a car. Jack figuredsome sort of trading was taking place. Fol-lowing horse-trading etiquette, Jack pulled outhis knife and joined the squatters at their whit-tling. The pricing disparity for the horse was$30. When Jess came down $10, the strangeroffered to split the difference; Jess balked. Aftera few more minutes of silent whittling and con-templation, the stranger dropped his stick andclosed his knife; the deal was made. Aftermoney changed hands, the horse was loaded,and the buyer drove off, Jack inquired as tothe final price. Jesse’s answer seemed ratherhigh to Jack. He asked his riding friend, “Howcould you charge that feller that much for thatmare?”

Jess replied: “Like the Good Book says, ‘Hewas a stranger, and I took him in.’” He knowshis scripture!

While they were enjoying chocolate birthdaycake, Jack invited everyone to view the Kahlememorabilia assembled in the Brody ArtGallery and to watch a 20-year-old videotapeof Jess training a horse in the Sand Arena. Spe-cial guests—including Jesse’s son Ray Deanand many long-time friends of the Kahles andThacher—then adjourned to the Head’s hometo eat lunch and to share more favorite Jessememories. The birthday boy chimed in withhis Uncle Josh monologues, rambling andamusing tales with sharp twists of tongue anddeliberate misuse of words that have becometrademarks of this amiable cowboy.

Jesse seemed truly pleased—although some-what overwhelmed—by the adoration of somany friends. His reaction seemed only tosolidify why this gentle man has made such aprofound mark on generations of Thacherstudents. e

Bruce Oxley CdeP 1954 describes Jesse’s“handle test of strength”

The Thacher News

We Will Never ForgetSeptember 11 Memorial Service by Graham C. Dunn ’03 and Jane D. McCarthy

Thacher held a Special Assembly at the Out-door Chapel on September 11, 2002. Fivestudents shared these very poignant thoughts.

Sophomore Class President Max Anderson’smessage was one of tolerance:

About a week after September 11, I receivedthis story in an email from a friend:

A Native American grandfather was talkingto his grandson about how he felt about arecent tragedy. He said, “I feel as if I havetwo wolves fighting in my heart. One is thevengeful, angry, violent one. The other isthe loving, compassionate one.” The grand-son asked him, which one will win the fightin your heart?” The grandfather answered,“The one I feed.”

When I think back a year to the tragic events ofSeptember 11 some of the most chilling ac-counts for me were of telephone calls made,and email or phone messages left, by thosetrapped in the World Trade Center Towers thatknew or suspected that the end of their liveswas close at hand. It is telling, I think, and itleaves a lesson to be learned, that every mes-sage left was to express love. Every caller, fac-

ing his or her own death, only wished to con-nect one last time with loved ones, to offer andto receive one last assurance of love. Can wenot learn from these sad stories that, in theend, what is ultimately most important is ourconnection to others, the love and compassionwe offer and receive—not anger or violence?And can we not learn to nurture and “feed” inour hearts what is most important after all?

Senior Class President Ian Whittinghill gave apatriotic speech entitled The American Dream:

I am an American. I have lived a blessed Amer-ican life. I have the freedom to dream, to build,and to explore. You and I live the life thefounders imagined for us. We are the proofthat their sacrifices were not in vain. They hadsecurity and love, but they valued liberty more.The signers of the Declaration of Independencewere signing their own death warrants. Theyput a price on their heads for our sake and,thereby, set an American tradition of self-sac-rifice.

Why would they do such a thing? They livedprivileged lives. They were men of means, ed-ucation, and prestige. They were able to createwonderful lives for their children and hadproperty and businesses to hand down tothem. Why risk it all? Hadn’t they attained“The American Dream”?

This summer I learned that one of the signerswas my great-great, great-great, great grand-father, Carter Braxton. He saw his fleet of mer-chant ships swept from the seas by the BritishNavy. He eventually had to sell his home andproperty to pay his debts.

Five signers were captured by the British astraitors and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost sons serving in the RevolutionaryArmy; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 signers fought and died fromwounds or hardships of the war.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedsideas she was dying. Their 13 children fled fortheir lives. His fields and his gristmill were laidto waste. For more than a year, he lived inforests and caves, returning home to find his

Campus Activities

IanWhittinghill ’03, Max Anderson ’05, Sarah Shaikh ’03, Charlie Munzig ’03, and Julia Robinson ’04


wife dead and his children vanished. A fewweeks later, he died from exhaustion and abroken heart.

They were …who America became. A peopleof great vision. People committed to truth andhuman rights. A people willing to stand againsttyranny.

Twenty-five thousand people escaped the tow-ers on September 11. As they were runningdown the stairwells, we have all heard theirstories about looking into the faces of the res-cuers who were running into the building. Af-terwards, firemen from all over the country lefttheir families to climb onto the uncertainty ofthe five-story pile of rubble to look for sur-vivors. These brave men tie us to our past. Theall-American cause of freedom and self-sacri-fice runs deep within us. Americans are stirredto valor when liberty is hanging in the balance.There is not enough darkness in the world toput out the light of freedom.

This is the real American Dream. And youdon’t need a Costco card, J.Crew catalog, or astockbroker to get it. America dreams a dreamof freedom for the world.

Are we naive? Perhaps.

Is our view of right and wrong too simple?Maybe.

But still we cherish the lives of patriots whorun into the face of tyranny. Agonizing loss isredeemed through their self-sacrifice as theypass the mantle to us. They make us grateful.They make us proud. They make us remem-ber how fragile goodness and kindness and jus-tice are in this flawed and foolish world.

And so it goes. God has shed His grace onAmerica. I have been the lucky son who livedthe American life of which my father and mygreat-great, great-great, great-grandfather,Carter Braxton, dreamed.

Freshman Girls’ Head Prefect Sarah Shaikhgave a speech on freedom and leadership:

The day before the bombing of Pearl HarborPresident Franklin Delano Roosevelt said inan address to Congress: “We look forward toa world founded upon four essential humanfreedoms. The first is freedom of speech andexpression—everywhere in the world. The sec-ond is freedom of every person to worship godin his own way—everywhere in the world. Thethird is freedom from want, which, translatedinto world terms, means economic under-standings which will secure to every nation ahealthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world. The fourth is free-dom from fear, which, translated into worldterms means a world-wide reduction of arma-ments to such a point and in such a thorough

fashion that no nation will be in a position tocommit an act of physical aggression againstany neighbor—anywhere in the world. That isno vision of a distant millennium; it is a defi-nite basis for a world attainable in our owntime and generation. Freedom means the su-premacy of human rights everywhere.”

So my fellow students I encourage you to em-ulate these four essential freedoms. We are thenext generation of leaders and it is our dutyto lead the creation of a free world to all. Wemust create a world where hate and war arenot prevalent but instead were freedom standstall. So, my challenge for you is take on thistask, implement these freedoms, make themthe pillars of the world.

Junior Class President Julia Robinson shared apiece from the former poet laureate BillyCollins, followed by Mary Oliver’s poem“Poppies”:

“Pick a poem, any poem, from an anthologyand you will see that it is speaking for life andtherefore against the taking of it. A poemabout mushrooms or about a walk with thedog is a more eloquent response to September11 than a poem that announces that whole-sale murder is a bad thing.”

I would now like to read a piece by MaryOliver. It was not written in response to Sep-tember 11 but about the battlefields of WorldWar I.

Poppies

The poppies send up theirorange flares; swaying in the wind, their congregationsare a levitation

of bright dust, of thinand lacy leaves.There isn’t a place in this world that doesn’t

sooner or later drownin the indigos of darkness,but now, for a while,the roughage

shines like a miracleas it floats above everythingwith its yellow hair.Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade from hooking forward—of course loss is the great lesson.

But also I say this: that lightis an invitation to happiness,and that happiness,

when it’s done right,is a kind of holiness,palpable and redemptive.Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,I am washed and washedin the river of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—what can you doabout it—deep, blue night?

School Chair Charlie Munzig gave a touchingspeech that rang true with everyone at theAssembly:

In a recent editorial, news analyst DanielSchorr reflected on how American’s lives havechanged since September 11:

“I do not see the transformation of Americain the past year that many talk about. The yearsince 9/11 has left us with little more than aprofusion of flags, a heightened sense of re-spect for uniformed public servants, and anuneasy sense of vulnerability. The USA Free-dom Corps that President Bush called for hasnot taken off. The State of the Union summonsto a new culture of responsibility, to replacethe culture of selfishness, became almost amockery when the series of financial scandalsstarting with Enron broke. The Wall StreetJournal records that by 38% to 30% the econ-omy outranks terrorism as a priority for Amer-icans. The Washington Post records thatpositive attitudes towards government, whichsoared after 9/11, have largely changed back.

“One hears much about a greater sense ofsolidarity, of public spiritedness and religioustolerance since 9/11, and more civility. And,one might add, increased apprehension andincreased bridling at inconvenience. In theend, I suspect we will end up being much theway we were.”

I hope Daniel Schorr is wrong. We will alwaysremember where we were on September 11,2001. As a generation, we will be marked bythe events of that day. I hope we will demon-strate a new commitment to public service. Ihope that as we reach our eighteenth birthdaysand become citizens with full voting rights thatwe will exercise those rights conscientiously. Ihope we will have the courage to stand up forwhat we believe is true and right about ournation and brave enough to speak out whenwe believe it is misguided. I hope we will be ageneration to lead our nation to help others ina new spirit of compassion, generosity, and tol-erance. I hope we will become citizens not justof the United States, but of the world. e

Ahhh, the tantalizing aroma of tri-tip roast-ing on an open fire. Parentsand students gradually

mobbed The Pergola, descendingon the barbecue area like crazedjackals. And who can blame them?Parents, grandparents, and otherfamily members traveled countlessmiles to be present for the all-school barbecue dinner that kickedoff Family Weekend to the tune ofcountless barbecue-sauce-stainednapkins. This festive reunion wasfollowed by a cabaret comprised ofsamples from every discipline of theArts Department. The first act fea-tured The Jazz Ensemble thatplayed Dean Sorenson’s and BrucePearson’s “Jammin’ with Charlie.”The Dance Ensemble followed witha performance entitled The MixedSuite to Bach’s Cello Suites, chore-ographed by Gallia Vickery. DramaDirector Sandy Jenson orchestrateda movie trailer entitled “The Good,The Bad, and The Freshmen” fea-turing the newest members ofThacher’s Community. The Mas-quers performed excerpts fromDavid Mamet’s The Water Engine:An American Fable. Finally, theChamber Singers and the Chorus

Campus Activities

page 8 The Thacher News

Family WeekendJam-Packed Fun by Graham C. Dunn ’03 and Jane D. McCarthy

Spencer and Max ’03 with their parents Kellyand Bill Anderson CdeP 1976

sang several songs each that ended the eveningon a joyous note.

Bright and early the next day, everyone gulpeddown a buffet breakfast before attending As-sembly to hear announcements and entice-ments for the weekend’s activities. The soccerplayoff between student-built robots was thehighlight. Then it was off to Saturday classes,where teachers gave parents a sense of whattheir children are learning and students an-swered questions to demonstrate what they’velearned in just a few short months. Head ofSchool Michael Mulligan reassured the par-ents—nascent and veterans to the School—thata Thacher education extends well beyond theclassroom and that’s part of what makes thisexperience so valuable. Bill Mayher, author ofThe College Admission Mystique, gave familiesa taste of the roller coaster ride known as thecollege-admission process, and tips to makethe whole process more sane and productive.

While some folks attended parent committeemeetings, the annual parent-student trap shootgot underway. When the dust settled, Cather-ine ’03 and Riley Bechtel CdeP 1970 had taken

Chemistry teacher Spencer Stevens demonstrates theeffects of temperature change on aluminum cans


first place with 22 out of 25 shots; second placehonors went to Jennie ’04 and Paul Tuckerwho shot a combined 21. Thehordes then descended upon thefields and courts to watch girls playtennis and volleyball, whileThacher’s new football team routedRolling Hills Preparatory. Many stu-dents departed with their parents toenjoy dinner off-campus and tospend the evenings in area hotels.Those whose parents couldn’t comeweren’t left abandoned; the annualMr. Yoo dinner shindig was avail-able along with the ever-popularOpen House and embarrass-the-kids-by-remembering-only-a-few-of-the-words Hootenanny at theMulligans’ Open House.

At Sunday morning’s chapel serviceat the Outdoor Memorial Chapel,George Whittinghill (father of Ian ’03and Catherine ’04) gave a talk enti-tled “Abundant Life.” He shared vi-gnettes of his often times challenginglife, but one that has been lived in-tensively and enjoyably as a child, hus-band, father, and rocket scientist.His message can be summarized in thispassage: abundant life is “one thatpushes past an unknown—past dis-comfort. Succeeding or failing ishardly the point. It is the striving, theasking, the learning, the journey thatbecome[s] the reward.” He went on

to say that a perfect example ofabundant life would be the after-noon activities when we get “towatch the triumph of new riderswho have taken all but the easy pathand in the process conquered fear andmet themselves onthe posting trot ofunexplored terri-tory.” Indeed, thefreshmen demon-strated their equineskills in convolut-ed drills set to mu-sical strains andthundering hoovesto the amazementof all. And, as a vi-sual diversion, par-ticipants of theOutdoor Programdemonstrated theirprowess by scal-ing Jamieson Boul-der at the Gym-khana Field.

As kids said goodbye to their fami-lies, the campus breathed a collec-tive sigh of relief for a littledowntime after a jam-packed, butenjoyable weekend. e

George and Judith Whittinghill with son Ian ’03. George gave themessage, “Abundant Life,” at Sunday morning’s chapel service atthe Outdoor Chapel

Math and computer teacher Kurt Meyer calls “Time!” on the soccer match among student-made robotsconstructed by seniors Alexander Huth, Brian Keane, Hugh Gordon, and Luke Myers; Michael Mulligan looks onand Sandy Jensen videotapes the photo-finish

Off to class: Keely Walsh ’05 leads her parents, Cheryl andJeff, through the halls;Tommy Kim ’05 joins them

The Thacher News

The Arts and LanguageDepartments combinedforces for this February’sDepartmental Weekendthat offered students andfaculty opportunities to

explore multicul-tural celebrationsfrom around theworld. On Thursdayevening, StephenHuyler CdeP 1969spoke about HinduDevotional Rites,accented by spectac-ular slides from hisnumerous trips toIndia. The followingmorning, studentsbroke into small groups focused on,among other things, how to dye Ukran-ian eggs, cook French des-

serts, weave French lavenderwands, braid their horses hair, per-form flamenco dances, and painthenna designs on themselves andothers. One of the more interactiveworkshops included AfricanDrumming that then played forthose who learned African Dance;the dancers’ shoulders, torsos,arms, and legs moved independ-ently but rhythmically to the thun-dering beat. Before the afternoonsessions began, the Community en-joyed a noontime Mexican feast alfresco on The Pergola; a trio playedand sang popular traditional musicincluding boleros andrancheras to round outthe event. Those whohadn’t learned Africandance steps during theday had a chance to tryit Friday evening; amarange dance to thestrains of a women’smusical group fromSenegal completed theweekend’s activities.

Late in February, TheThacher Masquers tookcenter stage again topresent Bye Bye Birdie,the light teenage musi-cal comedy with suchmemorable tunes as

“Put on a Happy Face” and“Kids.” The ensemble’s largestdance number was ”A lot ofLivin’,” followed by a grand scenewith Spanish dancers and Shrinerskicking up their heals with Rosie.Four dozen energetic and dedi-cated actors, singers, dancers, mu-sicians, and technicians spentcountless hours perfecting theirlines, steps, tunes, timing, andlighting for the two spectacularperformances. It seems that thoseon stage enjoyed themselves everybit as much as the audience thatcouldn’t stop applauding, chuck-ling, toe-tapping, and singingalong with the cast. e

The Thacher Masquers treated their audi-ences’ senses and imaginations to the fallproduction of David Mamet’s The Water

Engine. Originally conceived as a radio play,The Masquers dramatized each scene throughmime technique and minimal props while

maintaining the live radio show qualities. Setagainst the backdrop of Chicago’s 1934 Cen-tury of Progress World’s Fair, a Depression-eramachinist invents an engine that runs solely onwater. He approaches an attorney to patent it,but soon finds himself battling to save his fam-ily from the evil corporate forces that try todestroy it.

Although technically difficult to stage, three-dozen talented actors and technicians collabo-rated to present a dimension of live theatertermed “third reality,” a scenic honesty thatengulfed the audience and demanded its col-laborative imagination to create the scenes andto reveal the theme. In this manner, the playstressed its running theme of “All people areconnected” and demonstrated the impor-tance—and fun—of creating and communi-cating with others.

Campus Activities

Emery Mitchem ’03 dazzled the cast of Bye, Bye Birdie

WeekendA Little CulturePerforming and Language Arts Opportunities by Jane D. McCarthy

and Joy Sawyer Mulligan

Sarah Shaikh ’03 demonstratessome African dance steps

Cast of The Water Engine

Sophomores Charlie Bennett and RebeccaMayne make personal prayer boxes duringDepartmental Weekend

After learning the basics, these new African drummersplayed for the African dancers

Tidbits

The last puzzle was contributed by RichardMyrick CdeP 1939 of Washington DC, andrequired a fair amount of fiddling to get it!To refresh your memory:

___ ___ ___ ___ ______ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ______ ___

___

Arrange the first 15 positive integers in thegiven pattern (each used exactly once) so thatevery entry is the difference (subtract smallerfrom larger) of the two entries just above it di-agonally. For example, this would be a goodbeginning:

The New Puzzle

No Carpet Bagging on This One!

You have two rugs of the same material, onethat is 10 × 10 and another that is 1 × 8. Howcan you make one continuous cut in the 10 ×10 rug, so as to form two pieces which, whencombined with the 1 × 8 piece, can be stitchedinto a carpet that is exactly 9 × 12? The tworugs are of plain pattern and have pile on oneside only.

Send your solution to Kurt Meyer in theThacher Math Department via email [email protected], or via US mail at theSchool address. Good Luck!

12 5 8 9 157 3 1 6

4 2 52 3

1

except that the values, 5, 3, 2, and 1 are re-peated, and 10, 11, 13, and 14 seem to bemissing.

Congratulations to Kip Witter (CdeP 1964)who found this solution (and its mirror):

6 14 15 3 138 1 12 10

7 11 24 95


Thacher senior Bessie Hatch is the firstThacher student to ever win—in its en-

tirety—the individual CIF Division V StateChampionship Cross Country Title. Amaz-ingly, her time was two minutes faster thanlast year (“almost unheard of,” according toher coach, Theana Hancock) and placed herin the top ten girl runners from any divisionin the state.

At this fall’s Secondary School Admission TestBoard meeting, the Everett Gourley Award

was given to Assistant Head for External Affairsand Director of Admission Monique DeVane.

This celebrated award recognizes an individualwhose “interest in students and concern forcolleagues are an inspiration to those who servein admission.” At the presentation, Moniquewas heralded as an “original thinker,” “com-passionate and intuitive,” “startlingly wise,”and “an impossible act to follow.” The honorwas made even sweeter by the surprise ap-pearance of husband and Campaign DirectorBrian Driscoll who brought sons Liam andOwen to San Antonio, TX, for the big event.

Speaking of honors, the 2001 PreliminarySAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualify-

ing Test Named eight Commended Studentsfor placed in the top five percent of morethan one million students who sat for thetest: seniors Katherine Bechtel, Hana Chang,Graham Dunn, Hugh Gordon, Alex Huth,Will Johnson, Emily Nathan, and WhitneySnyder. One senior is a semi-finalist, WillChamberlain; and Alison Flynn and LucyHodgman are heading into the final roundfor possible Merit Scholarship Awards.

That inimitable Ojai January sunshinebeamed on close to 200 alums and their

families and guests on Winter Alumni Day,2003. Recent grads shared college-transition

Campus Activities

tips with the seniors; groups of riders roamedfavorite old trails through the green hillsabove campus; and trap shooting echoed inthe distance. Varsity/JV Boys’ and VarsityGirls’ Soccer Teams played valiantly againstthe strong alum teams (the latter prevailing);Varsity Boys’ Basketball took the alumniteam. At sunset, all gathered at the Mulli-gans’ home to feast, catch up with class-mates, and visit with faculty. The event setnew records for participation level, enthusi-asm, and pounds of tri tip and chicken adoboconsumed.

Thacher won this year’s CIF Shake forSportsmanship Award for the Condor

League! This honor was earned by virtue ofcollecting the most Tony Dunn Sportsman-ship Awards through the course of the lastthree seasons. During the winter, the follow-ing Thacher teams won the the sportsman-ship award (by vote of the players andcoaches of each team in the league): Boys’Varsity Soccer, Boys’ Junior Varsity Basket-ball, and Boys’ JV Soccer (shared with Cate).Once again, the Teams scored well on boththe first and second scoreboards. See theSports highlights on pages 14-16 for the finaloutcome of these Teams’ seasons. e

Snippets of NewsNew Numeracy Stumper

Monique DeVane with sons Liam and Owen andhusband Brian Driscoll

Numeracy Puzzle

During Jake Jacob-sen’s sabbatical inSpain, Kara Hooperis teaching Englishand coaching theGirls’ Varsity SoccerTeam and the JVGirls’ Lacrosse Team.Kara is not a strangerto boarding schools;she grew up and at-tended The HotchkissSchool in Connecti-cut, where her father

still teaches. She played basketball, lacrosse, andsoccer while there before she earned a bachelor’sdegree in English from Colby College. She ispresently working on a master’s degree in Englishfrom Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School. Kara andher husband Jeff live in the Handball Court andadvise sophomores.

Jeff Hooper is teach-ing two sections ofSpanish and one sec-tion of history, and iscoaching football.He comes to Thacherfrom the Texas Mili-tary Institute, wherehe taught Spanishand Economics andcoached football. Jeffholds a bachelor’s de-gree in Economicsfrom Trinity Univer-sity and a minor in Spanish. He also earned a mas-ter’s degree in Latin American History from theUniversity of Texas.


Bill Rexford, his wifeSondy, and theirGolden RetrieverWilly, joined Thach-er’s community thisyear so that Bill couldteach history andcoach Varsity Foot-ball and VarsityLacrosse. He came tous from the RyeCounty Day Schoolin New York, wherehe served as the Dean

of Boys, taught history and language arts, andcoached boys’ lacrosse and football. Bill has abachelor’s degree in geography from DartmouthCollege, and a master’s in Secondary School So-cial Studies from Lewis & Clark. He’s also work-ing on a master’s in writing from ManhatanvilleCollege in New York.

Teaching AdvancedPlacement Biologyand chemistry thisyear is SpencerStevens, anothergraduate of Dart-mouth. He workedin biotechnology inBoston and JacksonHole, and taught atBrimmer & May inBoston last year be-fore arriving in Ojai.Spencer works in theRock Climbing Program, and he will coach Boys’JV Lacrosse this spring.

Campus Activities

Thacher’s New Faculty MembersBright,Talented, and Enthusiastic Additions to the Community


Rounding out theDevelopment Officeis Scott Smith who isworking as a Cam-paign Gifts Officer.He retired one-and-a-half years ago fromExecuTrain Corpora-tion, the world’slargest computertraining company,where he’d workedin all aspects of man-agement. Prior to

that, he worked as a consulting geologist, utiliz-ing his knowledge from a degree in geology fromDuke. Scott and his wife Betsy have three sons:Harry who attends Nordhoff High School,Richard who is a sophomore at Thacher, and Erniewho is in eighth grade at the Montessori School inOjai.

Helping in the HorseProgram are InternsCam Spaulding CdeP1992 and Erin An-derson. FollowingThacher, Cam at-tained a bachelor’sdegree from Lewis &Clark, and most re-cently, has been lead-ing wilderness expe-ditions for troubledadolescents. He works

with the freshmanboys in Lower School,too. Erin comes to usfrom Australia, whereshe spent several yearsworking with bothEnglish and Westernhorses. She is the nieceof Julie Manson, whoworks with her hus-band in the CasaDormitory.

Joining Thacher’sstaff in a variety ofcapacities is RaelynViti. With her out-door science and bi-ology degrees andtraining as an ArmyMedic, Raelyn is anasset to the OutdoorProgram, in whichshe teaches wilder-ness first aid, tele-mark skiing, andyoga. She is also

teaching a Wilderness First Responder course to12 juniors and seniors. And, she covers shifts inthe Health Center. Prior to arriving in Ojai, Raelynworked at Massachusetts General Hospital, teach-ing an alternative education program for kids withsocial disabilities. She also served as an instructorof the Stonehearth Open Learning Organization(SOLO) in Conway, NH, that offers variouswilderness medicine and outdoor programs. e

New faculty and their spouses before the New Year’s Banquet

The Thacher News

Varsity FootballCaptains:Tyler Caldwell ’03 and Charlie Munzig ’03

Coaches: Jeff Hooper, Eric McCarren, Bill Rexford, and

Fred Coleman

“A stellar group” of ten seniors according to CoachHooper—helped their coaches to set the high toneand laudable work ethic of Thacher’s first-ever 8-man football team. Seniors Tyler Caldwell (the team’seventual MVP), Robert Cerda and Richard Smith(Most Improved Players) helped lead this team’s rapidimprovement over the course of the season. The teamscored 48 points or more in six out of nine gamesand Charlie Munzig converted all but one of hisextra-point possibilities. The fall’s highlight wassurely the dramatic CIF tournament play-off victoryof Viewpoint School, in which Thacher sprang to anearly 21-0 lead, capped by an electrifying punt re-turn by Tyler. Eventually, however, Viewpoint pulledto within two points with less than a minute on theclock. Thacher emerged victorious at 36-34.

Girls’ Cross CountryCaptain: Bessie Hatch ’03

Coach:Theana Hancock

The girl harriers started off the year powerfully, beat-ing Cate solidly at the first Condor League meet, runon The Mesa. Unfortunately, that race proved to bethe highlight of the season for the team in its entiretyas four of its five top runners were soon hobbled byinjury and illness. Yet juniors Elly Harder, BiancaKissel, and Becky Swan, sophomore Cindy Sorrick,and ultimate MVP Bessie Hatch soldiered on and wasincontrovertibly first: undefeated in the CondorLeague, first in the Ojai Invitational, third in the Di-vision III, IV, and V sweepstakes at the Mt. SAC (SanAntonio College) Invitational, as well as first in theCIF preliminaries (for which Katie Frykman ’04 alsoqualified) and the finals in Fresno, there beating hernearest competitor by 40 seconds.

Girls’ Varsity VolleyballCaptains: Annie Wheatley ’03 and MacKenna Chase ’04

Coach: Melissa Fabulich

This team returned to school at the start of the fall aweek early to practice and to create the squad theywere to be, and, while their win/loss record favorsthe latter, they proved to be made of gritty stuff.Leader in blocks was newcomer sophomore (andMost Improved Player on the team) Megan Boswell(92); in aces, senior Julia Erdman (20); in digs, seniorSay Cooke (137); in kills, Captain Wheatley (60);and in assists, setter/MVP/Captain-elect for 2003 sea-son MacKenna (236).

Girls’ Junior Varsity VolleyballCaptains: Lauren Chase ’06 and Chandler Pease ’05

Coach: Raelyn Viti

“There’s a theme here,” suggested one of the bleacherfans of this team after witnessing a few matches: in-deed, this squad seemed to tuck away a win to start,then lose the second game, and finally, effect a come-back. While this pattern didn’t always end in success(equal wins and losses), the girls nonetheless man-aged several psychic victories, each contributing herparticular talent to the mix: sophomore ChanningEmord’s “pushing the ball in the face of the otherteam to score spectacular points of side outs”; LaurenChase’s infusing the necessary spirit when the chipswere down; junior Nhu Y Dang’s digs and a surpris-ing left-handed hit; sophomore Kirsty Mark’s run of11 points at serve during one game; MVP freshmanErica Puccetti’s quickness and game smarts; Chan-dler Pease’s rock-solid reliability; and freshman Lau-ren Church’s excellent ball instincts in the face ofnever having played the sport (which helped her towin Most Improved Player honors).

Fall SportsGirls’ Varsity TennisCaptain: Sarah Shaikh ’03

Coach: Stacy Margolin Potter

Season’s Record: 4-2

This team aced, lobbed, and volleyed their way to asecond-place finish in the Condor League. CaptainSarah Shaikh, who was voted Most Inspirational,said, “I feel it was one of our best seasons yet. Weworked harder than we ever had, played hard—andhad fun. I am so proud of the whole team.” Theircoach, Stacy Margolin Potter, commented “It was re-warding to see the girls make the connection betweenputting in hard work and developing both mental at-titude and physical skills—and to see them come to-gether; their spirit and sense of team grewdramatically from the beginning of the season.” EllaCarney and Dana Gal won Most Improved, whileMost Valuable went to the quad of Ellen Adams ’05,Arielle Flam ’03, Virginia Dawson ’04, and Sarah.

Girls’ Junior Varsity TennisCaptains: Mary White ’03 and Vivian Wu ’03

Coach: Jane McCarthy


This team, as is often the case with the JV squad,represented a wide range of abilities, talents, and ex-perience with the sport, and yet, when the last volleyof the fall echoed into silence, they’d accrued a veryrespectable season record of equal wins and losses.Most Valuable Player kudos went to Steffi Rauner’04 who led the singles; Most Improved Player wasFelicia Butts ’04, who had never played before thisseason. In addition to learning the basics of tennis, theplayers became adept enough to modify their game toplay effectively against a variety of strategies andstyles.

Campus Activities

Sportsand Afternoon Pursuits

by Joy Sawyer Mulligan,Richard J. Mazzola,and Jane D. McCarthy


Boys’ Cross CountryCaptain: John Babbott ’03

Coach: Pierre Yoo

First, there’s quantity: with a super-abundance of run-ners, this team (called by Coach Yoo “Thacher’s Lit-tle Army”) kept every Thacher trail busy (and a fewin the High Sierra, where some members of the squadspent their Fall Extra-Day Trip) throughout the prac-tice season, the older boys encouraging the youngerones at ever step. Next, there’s quality: for the thirdyear running, the Toads took first place in the CondorLeague, besting the competition at Cate, LagunaBlanca, Dunn, and Ojai Valley School. In addition,our harriers snagged first place at the Brentwood In-vitational and fifth place at the CIF preliminaries.

Winter SportsGirls’ Varsity BasketballCaptains: Annie Wheatley ’03 and Whitney Livermore ’04

Coach: Melissa Johnson (CIF Coach of the Year) and

Kurt Meyer


League Record: 8-0

This tiny but tenacious team went all the way to thePyramid and brought home the trophy engraved withthis: CIF Southern Section Champions. Other acco-lades, heaped along the way, stack up high: a CondorLeague Championship; junior Steffi Rauner’s electionto All-Tourney Team in the Fillmore Tournamentearly in the season; Coach Johnson’s CIF Coach ofthe Year Award. “I was astonished at the team’sgrowth throughout the season,” she said. “We wentfrom a decent team to a red hot Southern Section un-derdog that had the mental toughness to crave—andhandle well—high-pressure situations.” Winning thevotes for Most Valuable and Most Inspirational

Player were Steffi Rauner ’04 and Annie Wheatley, re-spectively. Sophomore Channing Emord claimed theMost Improvement award for the season. And, fi-nally, Steffi and Whitney Livermore made First TeamAll-CIF, and Becky Horton ’05 made Second TeamAll-CIF. What a team! What a season!!

Girls’ Junior Varsity BasketballCaptains: Jackie Au ’03 and Hana Chang ’03

Coach: Rich Mazzola


Although team members’ experience experience withthe game ranged from fou-year vets to new-to-the-game, “each girl improved and brought all she couldto what was a wonderful season,” according toCoach Mazzola. Even against tough non-league op-ponents, these girls battled with determination andcourage. “In Condor League play, the highlight wasa game against Cate in which our Lady Toads puton a veritable defensive clinic—allowing only sixpoints and pouring in 33 with Jackie Au leading theoffensive charge with 12 points. Although victoriesare surely sweet, Coach Mazzola contended that“perhaps the most exhilarating games were the closelosses to the powerful league champion, CornerstoneChristian—one in which seniors Au and Alison Flynnled a comeback charge in which we outscored themfourteen to four in the fourth quarter, and the other,a two-point barn burner in which each and everyplayer poured her heart into it.” Most Improvedhonors were shared by Mary White ’03 and MeganBoswell ’05; Most Valuable were Jackie Au and Mar-guerite Kissel ’04.

Boys’ Varsity BasketballCaptain: Brenton Sullivan ’03

Coach: Jason Carney

Like the other Toad varsity teams this winter, thissquad qualified for CIF competition after playing a

demanding schedule that required what their coachcalled “both heart and toughness.” In the playoffs,Thacher advanced to second-round play by travel-ing to south central LA and beating heavily favoredMasada on its home court. The next rung proved tootough, however; Thacher lost to the tournament’s #2seed in a closely contested game. Senior ChancePhelps earned Most Improved; Captain Sullivan, withan average of 18 points per game, won Most Valu-able Player.

Boys’ Junior Varsity BasketballCoach: Derick Perry Cdep 1983

Captains: Gilbert Acosta ’04, Jim Sligh ’04, and Leland

Franklin ’04

A Tony Dunn Sportsmanship Award winner by voteof the players and coaches of the Condor League,this squad, comprised entirely of underclassmen,dubbed themselves “The Tenacious Ten”—and, itturns out, for good reason. It’s true that few victoriescame their way, but that didn’t get in the way of thekind of memory-making camaraderie and gritty playthat makes the team experience really sing. “Everysingle team member contributed to the positive feel-ing,” remarked Coach Perry; in his own way, eachmember contributed enthusiasm, hard work, humor,resiliency, and leadership. Toby Nathan ’05 wonMost Valuable Player and Leland Franklin earnedMost Improved.

Girls’ Varsity SoccerCoach: Kara Hooper

Captains: Laurel Back ’03, Bessie Hatch ’03, and Sarah

Tapscott ’03

Decisive wins over Santa Clara (5-0) and Viewpoint(4-1) launched the winter propitiously for the varsitygirls, followed by post-holiday play involving fivegames in eight days. Some games were squeakers inthe wrong direction—losses by one goal—yet

Thacher won a berth in the CIF playoffsby virtue of the early wins. Kudos go toRachel Munzig ’05 who won Most Im-proved Player; Bessie Hatch earned MostInspirational, by vote of her fellow foot-ballers; and Midfielder Laurel Back,named MVP of the team for her six goalsand eight assists, also won First Team All-CIF honors (only one of two players fromthe Condor League so honored to eitherFirst or Second Team).

Girls’ Junior VarsitySoccerCaptains: Jacey Roche ’03 and Caitlin Wal-

ter ’05

Coach: Cam Spaulding CdeP 1992

This undefeated team, with players fromall four classes represented, secured nofewer than four shut-outs and threegames in which the opposition scoredonly one goal. Furthermore, out of ninegames, seven were either ties or were de-cided by a single goal—indication of justhow exciting the season was for bothplayers and field-side fans. Named MostValuable was freshman Kaggie Orrick,who utterly dominated the defensive halfof the field. Most Improved was sharedby sophomores Caitlin Walter at sweeperand Cindy Sorrick at center halfback.

photo by Chris Cantle, courtesy of Ojai Valley News

and JV teams, our boys generally competed againstmore skillful opposition. It was especially hearteningwhen our Thirds emerged victorious late in the seasonagainst the two teams that had beaten them in earliermatches. Leadership proved key and came from thesenior co-captains. Retiring Toad Coach Harris re-marked, “My last game as a coach was apt: playingagainst our archrivals from The Mesa in rain andmud.” And it was a winner, to boot.

The Outdoor ProgramThink “kaleidoscopic” when considering the winterportion of The Outdoor Program: running trails fourdays a week, studying Wilderness First Aid and re-ceiving certifications, honing map and compass skillsin the orienteering component. Led by Raelyn Viti,the five participants took two overnight trips to ThePines, as well as excursions to Big Bear and SnowSummit to try their hands—well, feet—at telemark-ing. Other activities of the season: bouldering, learn-ing Asthanga Yoga, developing leadership styles andworking through group dynamic issues. Said theircoach, “I would gladly summit any peak with thisgroup. They were able to put aside their differencesand work effectively and efficiently as a team.”

Polo TeamA dedicated band of mallet-wielding riders hasthroughout the year, under the tutelage of ChuckWarren, learned more and more about the art andskill of polo. Varsity players sought and found theirculminating moment in the Western Regional Inter-scholastic Arena Polo Championships in Santa Bar-bara, where, they faced the challenge of beingassigned an unfamiliar horse from a pool of poniesand going through the paces of a five-minute get-ac-quainted warm-up, followed by the actual competi-tion. Although the Thacher team lost to the eventualchampions, NorthCal Polo, they played fully cred-

itably. And, with only two graduating seniors on thesquad, they’ll no doubt return to even greater suc-cess next year. “With our own arena next year [wallsgoing up on the roping-arena perimeter] and with aformal schedule of regular matches next year, thingswill change for the positive. And since arena polo isbeing played in around 70 colleges in the US, weshould start seeing some Thacher riders in the newsin a year or two,” predicts Coach Warren. e


Girls’ Third SoccerCaptains: Phoebe Halsey ’03 and Elizabeth

Jackson ’04

Coach: Eric McCarren

Season Record: 2-1

Calling themselves JV2, this small, butspirited squad’s members gave their bestall along the way. In the process, theylearned much as individuals and as ateam, about the game and about being anathlete. And, this proved to be good train-ing grounds for feeding next season’s jun-ior varsity team.

Boys’ Varsity SoccerCaptains:Tyler Caldwell ’03, Charlie Munzig

’03, and Jimmy Madigan ’03

Coach: Fred Coleman (CIF Coach of the

Year)

With this year’s changes in the athleticseason, this team, like many, went upagainst some dramatically more compet-itive teams from significantly largerschools: Bishop Diego, Rosamond, LomaLinda, Fillmore, Carpinteria, FlintridgePrep, and Oak Park. Yet this increasedcompetition seemed only to fire the boysup further: in fact, they finished the regu-lar season with a string of 35 games with-out a loss—and with their thirdconsecutive Condor League Champi-onship title in the bag, and a Tony DunnSportsmanship Award, as well. The teamheaded into post-season play ranked anastonishing third out of 88 schools, thenboldly made their way through to the CIF finals,where St. Margaret’s edged them out, despite fine andcourageous second half play. “These boys dedicatedthemselves to trusting each other and to playing ab-solutely unselfish soccer,” said their coach. “Andwhen they were on their game…well, it was a beau-tiful to watch: athletics as an art form.” As voted bymembers of the team, Ben Babbott ’05 won MostImproved Player, Owili Eison ’03 Most Inspirational,and Most Valuable, Troy Pollet ’03.

Boys’ Junior Varsity SoccerCaptains: Eddy Tavernetti ’03 and Evan Werlin ’04

Coach: Kurt Supplee

Although the JV boys started off a bit slowly, they ral-lied magnificently by the end of the season to wintheir last two games—against Flintridge Prep andCate. Reported their coach, “I was especially im-pressed by the great determination to keep on im-proving that these kids showed when we were downearly in the winter. As a result, they learned a valuablelesson about the rewards of hard work, and I endedthe season as a very proud coach.” As sweeper andstopper, Gabe Yette ’05 was voted Most ValuablePlayer; Goalie-midfielder Stephen Rooke ’04, whowillingly played several positions, earned Most Im-proved; and Evan Werlin was bestowed Most Inspi-rational, likely because of his invitations at Assemblyto potential spectators, such as “Attractive boys inknee-high socks running around the field! Comewatch!” That’s an offer many just couldn’t refuse.

Boys’ Third SoccerCaptains: Chris Cahill ’03 and Nate Parker ’03

Coach: David Harris

Season Record: 3-2-1

High morale (in spite of high numbers of players)persisted throughout the season for this squad. Be-cause most of the schools we play field only varsity



Throughout Thacher’s history,artistic pursuits have been in-tegral to the making of a

well-rounded student. In theearly years, observation andcareful recreation of classicalGreek and Roman arts wenthand in hand with the study ofthe Classics in the Thacher stu-dent’s curriculum. e

Campus Activities

Historical SocietyArt through the Ages by Alisa D. McCoy

Studying from plaster busts,students render in clay and

charcoal the human form in theAgnes St. Claire Art Studio, circa1900. Over the years, more arts

and crafts were offered to Thacherstudents such as metalworking,

textiles, pottery, carpentry,photography, printmaking, andleatherworking, in addition to

drawing, painting, and sculpting.

Students work on various art projects in the old art studio, circa 1930s.

Marcus H. Dall, Head of the Art Department from 1928through 1949, supervises a group of young artisansin 1938.

The Thacher News

The Survey SaysHighlights of 2001-2002 Student and Parent Surveys by Monique L. DeVane

• Questionnaires were completed by 235 stu-dents in November 2001. Surveys were ad-mininistered by advisor groups.

• Student perceptions of The Thacher Schoolare very favorable. The current overall sat-isfaction rating of 5.97 has increased com-pared to the overall satisfaction rating givenin 2000 (5.65). There is a tendency for stu-dents’ overall satisfaction ratings to drop asgrade level increases.

• Students are most satisfied with AcademicPrograms and Departments, which has anaverage rating of 6.03, compared with 5.87in 2000. The Horse Program received the

next highest satisfaction rating on the cur-rent survey and the highest rating on the2000 survey.

• On the current survey, Activities, Clubs, andCommunity Life offers the greatest oppor-tunity for improving student satisfaction.Specifically within this arena, Off-CampusActivities Availability and Quality of Cluband Activity Leadership have high priorityfor improvement.

• Other areas offering good opportunities forimprovement include Grading and Home-work and Personal Development andHealth.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

0% 2% 2%4%

17%

42%

34%

Very Dissatisfied Very Satisfied

Per

cent

of

Res

pons

es

Campus Activities

All of us at Thacher would like to

thank the students and parents who

took part in the third round of bi-

annual Parent and Student surveys

during the 2001-2002 school year. The

responses help the School have a better

understanding of parent and student

needs and opinion, and how we at the

School are experienced.

The surveys, developed by Thacher

with help from the Pacific Consulting

Group of Palo Alto, were mailed to all

parents and administered to students

by advisee groups late last fall. The

surveys asked for feedback on over 145

components of school life, organized

into twelve different broad areas:

Advising and Counseling; Academic

Programs and Departments; Teachers

and Administrators; School Culture

and Discipline; Community

Composition; Athletic/Horse/Outdoor

Programs; Activities, Clubs, and

Community Life; Personal

Development and Health;

Communication and Involvement with

the School; and Cost and Affordability.

Parents and students also rated their

overall satisfaction with the School.

Parents and students rated most aspects

of the School using a seven-point scale,

where one equaled Very Poor and seven

equaled Excellent. The survey also

asked open-ended questions, which

helped guide the interpretation of the

responses to the rated questions.

Pacific Consulting Group also analyzed

the responses to the rating questions to

identify the areas that would have the

greatest leverage in improving overall

satisfaction with Thacher.

Student Satisfaction with Thacher

Student Survey Results of Note


Way TooLittle

Too Little About Right Too MuchWay Too

Much

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0%2%

63%

25%

10%

Per

cent

of

235

Res

pons

es

Use Alcohol on Campus

Use Drugs on Campus

Cheat on Work

Use Tobacco on Campus

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

99%

87%

99%

99%

13%

1%

1%

1%

None to Low Pressure Moderate Pressure Intense Pressure

Percent of 235 Responses

Student Top Eight

Highest Satisfaction (1-7 scale)

Item RatingWandering as a Senior Privilege 6.55Confidentiality Expected from Advisor 6.40Class Size 6.34Development of Riding Skills 6.25Library Services 6.16Quality of Horse Instruction 6.12Classes in History 6.11Teacher Interest in Helping Outside Class 6.11

Student Bottom Eight

Lowest Satisfaction (1-7 scale)

Item RatingStudent Government Productivity 4.30Comprehensiveness of HR&S Program 4.29Quality of Club and Activity Leadership 4.19Quality of Performing Arts Facilities 4.06Off-Campus Activities Availability 4.02Quality of HR&S Program 3.75Breakfast Check-In 3.43Opportunities for Sufficient Sleep 3.31

Student-Leverage Components

In addition to scoring 145 components of stu-dent life, the researchers identified those com-ponents, which, if improved, would leveragethe greatest increase in overall satisfaction. Stu-dents would be more satisfied with their over-all experience if the following areas wereenhanced:

• Activities, Clubs, and Community Life: Off-Campus Activities Availability andQuality of Club and Activity Leadership;

• Grading and Homework: The Relationshipbetween the Grades Received, How MuchHas Been Learned, and How Hard StudentsHave Worked; and

• Personal Development and Health: Oppor-tunities for Sufficient Sleep.

School Culture and Discipline: Competition

How would you rate the level of competition between students at Thacher?

School Culture and Discipline: Pressures

Please estimate the intensity of peer pressure to:

The Thacher News

Advising and Counseling

Whom at Thacher are you most likely to call regarding a concern about your child?

Academic Dean

Head of School

Dorm Head

Teacher

Advisor

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

81%

30%

22%

22%

9%

Percent of 161 Respondents

Percentages add to more than 100% due to multiple responses

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

0% 0% 0%2% 5%

60%


Per

cent

of

99 R

espo

nses

33%

Advising and Counseling

Community Composition

Communication and Involvement

Athletic Program

Activities, Clubs, and Community Life

Personal Development and Health

Outdoor/Camping Program

Academic Program and Departments

Horse Program

Teachers and Administrators*

School Culture and Discipline*

Overall Satisfaction*

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6.51

6.45

6.45

6.44

6.2

6.15

6.11

6.02

5.91

5.87

5.84

5.35


*Parents’ satisfaction is significantly higherin 2001 than in 2000

Parent Survey Results of Note

• Nearly half (102 parents) returned the ques-tionnaires which were mailed to them in thelate fall of 2001. The majority of parents(82%) had only one child enrolled inThacher in the 2000-2001 school year, andmost (63%) had only one child ever enrolledin Thacher.

• Parents give Thacher an overall satisfactionrating of 6.51 on a seven-point scale.

• Parents are most satisfied with the SchoolCulture and Discipline, which has an aver-age rating of 6.45. Teachers and Adminis-trators received the next highest satisfactionrating. Advising and Counseling received thelowest satisfaction rating (5.35).

• Ninety-nine percent of parent respondentssaid that Thacher had met the expectationsthey had when they first enrolled their child.

Parent Top Eight

Highest Satisfaction (1-7 scale)

Item RatingHonor Code in Guiding Behavior 6.62Development of Responsibilityand Confidence 6.60Administrators’ Effectivenessin Running Thacher 6.53Teacher Enthusiasm for Teaching 6.52Teacher Mastery of Subject Areas 6.51Family Weekends 6.49Overall School Culture and Discipline 6.45Overall Teachers and Administrators 6.45

Parent Bottom Eight

Lowest Satisfaction (1-7 scale)

Item RatingAmount of Contact Initiated by School 5.23Students Represent DifferentEthnic/Racial Groups 5.20Students Represent Diffent Incomes 5.03Preparation for College Admission Tests 4.90Opportunities for Religious/Spiritual Activities 4.69Quality of Performing Arts Facilities 4.39Amount of Administrative Contact 4.28Degree of Child’s Choice in Advisor 4.25

Parent Satisfaction with Thacher

Average Parent Satisfaction Ratings: Overall Arenas


Communication and Involvement:

Thacher Initiative

Cost

How do you feel about the current overall cost of sending your child to Thacher

High, But Worth It(85%)

Too Highfor the Value

(1%)

A Bargain(1%)

Reasonable(13%)

Percent of 100 Respondents

Too Aggressive Not AggressiveEnough

About Right

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 (120 responses)

2001 (98 responses)

Per

cent

of

Res

pons

es

2% 0%

20% 21%

78% 79%

Too AggressiveNot Aggressive

EnoughAbout Right

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%



Per

cent

of

Res

pons

es

3% 2% 6%9%

91% 89%

Yes, at Topof List

Yes, withEnthusiasm

Yes, withReservations

No

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

21%

7%0%

Per

cent

of

99 R

espo

nses

72%

Thacher’s level of initiative in identifyingopportunities for parental involvement

Thacher’s level of initiative insoliciting financial support

Overall Impressions

Would you recommend Thacher to a friend or relative?

Parent-Leverage Components

In addition to scoring individual componentsof the Thacher experience, the researchersidentified these components which, if im-proved, would leverage the greatest increasein overall satisfaction. Parents would be moresatisfied with the overall experience if the fol-lowing areas were enhanced:

• Personal Development and Health: Helpingstudents with their academic and extracur-ricular balance and the pace of their lives.

• Communication and Involvement: InitiatingMore Personal Contact with Parents aboutTheir Children.

• Activities, Clubs, and Community Life: Pro-viding additional weekend opportunities andoff-campus events.

The Thacher News

The Campaign for Thacher

THE CAMPAIGN FOR THACHER continues to build momentumas friends of the School give in ways that will strengthen and enhance the Thacher ex-perience. Gifts have been received in support of endowment for financial aid, faculty

salaries, and professional development. Some donors have chosen to support campus buildings suchas the Myers-Huyler Friendship Barn or the Commons Project, a combined student center and aperforming arts facility. Regardless of how particular gifts are directed, donors share a clear en-thusiasm for Thacher’s distinctive mission and spirit, and for The Campaign for Thacher.

For more information about The Campaign for Thacher, please contact the Development Office.

Total dollars raised to date: $35,000,000

Total number of donors: 221Number of gifts over $1 million 13Number of realized bequests to date 8Number of new irrevocable planned gifts 8Earliest class represented 1929Most recent class represented 1994

Investing in ThacherLeadership (Part 1):The First 50 Years

As I enjoyed thereunion festivi-ties this past

June with over 300alumni, spousesand children, all ofwhom gave everyindication of theirbeing thrilled withtheir affiliation withThacher, I askedmyself, “How, after113 years, can weaccount for the suc-

cess of this remarkable institution?”

I believe the key to the School’s success is its lead-ership, particularly the eight individuals—eachdifferent but all talented and right for theirtimes—who have served as its Head of School.As one of the few people around who hasknown and admired each of these men, I wouldlike to note for posterity the investment that eachhas made in the success of the School.

The first 50 years of the School’s existence weredominated by the personality and philosophyof Sherman Day Thacher, directly and throughhis son Anson. Considering the influential pres-ence during those years of Sherman’s wife ElizaBlake Thacher and his brother William LarnedThacher, these might well be called “the fam-ily years.”

SDT came to the Ojai Valley in 1887 havingbeen educated at Yale and its law school, hav-ing sold carpets at Sloane’s in New York, hav-ing been a law clerk in Kansas City, and not hav-ing a clue about his future. In a short time, thejoys of living in Ojai became more apparent, asdid a career as an orchardist. With $4,000 bor-rowed from his brother William, he invested inthe first 160 acres of what would become theCasa de Piedra Ranch and The Thacher School.

Two years later, SDT agreed to tutor the son ofa Yale professor in preparation for college forthe sum of $14 per week, washing excluded. By1892, 11 boys were being tutored at the Casade Piedra, and SDT was beginning to think ofhis boys as a more lucrative crop than oranges.As his attention shifted from ranching to teach-ing, he began to judiciously invest in bothhuman and physical resources for his School.

A careful, practical man, SDT scrutinized eachexpenditure and tailored the design of eachbuilding to his vision for the School. Alwaysthoughtful and articulate, he left us an exten-sive written record of his philosophy of edu-cation. Much of this appears in thecorrespondence from 1883-1931 between SDTand his Yale roommate Horace Taft, founderof The Taft School, published as The Taft-Thacher Letters. This philosophical legacy hasbeen the touchstone for SDT’s successors, bothHeads and Trustees.

SDT defined the ideal teacher as “a boy amongboys in heart; in judgment, a man.” Attractingsuch a person (presumably only to be found inthe East) to an isolated school in an arid valleyin Southern California was a challenge that re-quired his personal attention. As Horace Taftsaid, “Even the Angel Gabriel would find itdifficult to find such a person.” But SDT did findOliver Hart Bronson, a young Yale graduate, thefirst of several young teachers, followed bymore experienced scholars such as MorganBarnes and Forest Cooke. When SDT died inAugust 1931, these two men succeeded him asHead and Associate Head, respectively.

Mr. Barnes and Herr Cooke, having taught atthe School for 21 and 17 years, provided con-tinuity and stability for five years while SDT’sson Anson S. Thacher prepared to fill his fa-ther’s shoes. Mr. Barnes’s encyclopedic mindand his fluency in Latin and the romance lan-guages commanded the respect of teachers andstudents alike. Herr Cooke’s enthusiasm andsense of academic adventure enabled him toinspire true appreciation of English literature.Together, these two men established the stan-dard for academic excellence at Thacher. (Iconsider myself most fortunate to have beentaught by both of them.)

Anson Thacher devoted his life to his father’slegacy, having left the campus for only eightyears of his life to go to Yale, teach at Groton

Pete Pond CdeP 1932


At its best, estate planning is about muchmore than what you own. Rather, it is astatement about who you are. It is your

opportunity to make a tangible statementabout spouse, children, relatives, friends, andorganizations whose values you share.

Many people think that estate plans are theexclusive province of wealthy people in theirsenior years. Yet, the need to plan just in casebegins at a much earlier age. An estate plan isthe only way for a person to assert his or herright to direct the disposition of personal prop-erty and other assets, name guardians forminor children, and remember charitable or-ganizations such as Thacher. Without a will,

You’re Never Too YoungRemembering Thacher Through Your Estate Plan by David V. Babbott

When Erin Archer CdeP 1996 was reviewingher IRA in 2000, she was momentarilystumped by the ques-tion: “Whom do youwant to receive thefunds in this accountif there is balancewhen you die?” Sin-gle and without chil-dren, Erin didn’tname her parents assome of her peershave done. Instead,she named Thacher.“My parents don’tneed the modestamount I have in the IRA, and I wanted tomake a tribute to Thacher. Thacher helpedmake me who I am today and it seemed like anice way to make a difference and say thankyou.”

Andrew Shakman CdeP 1990 drafted his firstwill several years ago. For him, it was not re-

ally a choice. “I didnot want to leave amess behind me. Iwanted to make aplan that would re-member family andsome friends as wellas Thacher. Workingwith my attorney, Iwas able to structurea plan that wouldprovide exclusivelyfor my family if thevalue of my estate

went below a certain point. It includes Thacherand others if my estate is larger. With this plan,I don’t have to rewrite my will every time thestock market goes up or down.” Andrew re-ports that he entire process was, “an exceed-ingly easy thing to do.” e

If you have included Thacher in your estateplans or would like more information abouthow to do so, please contact David V. Bab-bott, Director of Special Gifts and PlannedGiving, at (805) 646-4377 ext. 242 or [email protected]

the laws of your particular state govern thedistribution of your assets and the care of yourminor children.

A recent survey by the National Committee onPlanned Giving suggests that people of all in-come brackets and all ages devote time to theirestate plans. For example:

• The mean age of people who make acharitable will provision is 58. Seventeenpercent of the will provisions are writtenby people less than 45 years old.

• The median income of people who makea will provision is $60,400.

• The mean age of people who create char-itable remainder trusts is 62. Sixteen per-cent of charitable remainder trusts arecreated by people less than 45 years old.

• The median income of people who createa charitable remainder trust is $70,700.

The Boot Hill Association, Thacher’s plannedgiving society, includes alumni, siblings ofalumni, current and past parents, and currentand past faculty members. I’d like you to meetfour of its younger members.

Janie Carroll Richard-son CdeP 1983 andWeston RichardsonCdeP 1980 are one ofthe earliest Thachermarriages. Janie refersto Thacher as a touch-stone. “Weston and Irealized that weneeded to have a planfor our assets and ourtwo young sons. Ourchildren are our top

priority, and it feltgreat to know that wehad taken the re-sponsible step of pro-viding for them.

“We also wanted toremember Thacher,which is so importantto both of us, so wehave included a spe-cific bequest for theSchool. I now realizehow important good planning is as I help settlemy mother’s estate with the associated estatetaxes.”

Weston RichardsonCdeP 1980

Andrew ShakmanCdeP 1990

Janie CarrollRichardson CdeP 1983

Erin Archer CdeP 1996

by Samuel A. “Pete” Pond CdeP 1932

for a year, and serve as Assistant to the Head-master at Catalina Island School for threeyears. He returned to the School when his fa-ther died in 1931 and served in the apprenticeroles of Business Manager and Assistant Headin an informal triumvirate with Messrs. Barnesand Cooke.

Faculty brat, star of the soccer and baseballteams, renowned camp cook, math teacher,soccer coach, Business Manager, AssistantHead, and Head for 13 years, Anson (a.k.a.“Red” as a teenager and later as “Scratch”)was an everyman. As likely to be found push-ing a broom as pushing paper, Anson guidedthe School through the late depression and waryears with calm confidence and a sense ofhumor that helped the faculty and the boysfocus on education in those tumultuous times.

When Anson passed the reins to Newt Chasein 1949, the Thacher-family era of the Schoolended gracefully. SDT had set the course, Messrs.Barnes and Cooke had set the academic stan-dards, and AST had set the tone. Together, theyhad created not just a school but a culture com-bining the finest attributes of academic, out-door, and community life. e

Sherman Thacher and His School, by LeRoyMcKim Makepeace CdeP 1936, is gratefullyacknowledged as the source of much of theinformation in this article.

The Thacher News

Brian J .Back andKathleen J.Back areserving onthe Boardthis year asParents’ As-soc ia t ionPresidents;they aremembers of

the Program and Development Committees. Bri-an graduated from Claremont Men’s College in1972, earned a master’s degree from ClaremontGraduate School in 1974 and a Juris Doctor-ate from University of Santa Clara in 1977. Hepracticed law in Ventura County for 22 yearsin the area of civil litigation with an emphasisin real property. He first practiced at Nordman,Cormany, Hair & Compton, and later with thefirm of, Arnold, Back Mathews, Wojkowski &Zirbel, which he co-founded. He was appointedto the Ventura County Bench in 1997 and is cur-rently the presiding judge of the Ventura Coun-ty Juvenile Court. Among his many volunteeractivities are coaching youth soccer and basketballand serving on the Los Robles Hospital Boardof Trustees, including a term as Chair. He hasalso served on the executive committee of theReal Estate Section of the State Bar of Califor-nia. He currently co- chairs the Ventura Coun-ty Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council and theCommission for Children and Families First.

Kathy graduated from Scripps College in 1973,earned a teaching credential from San Jose StateUniversity, and a Juris Doctorate from the Uni-versity of Santa Clara in 1979. She did an ex-ternship with the California Court of Appealsand completed her last year of law school atUCLA. She has worked as an Estate PlanningAttorney in Ventura County since 1980, first forNordman, Cormany, Hair and Compton andthen for Arnold, Back, Mathews, Wojkowski,and Zirbel. She has given her time to many or-ganizations in various capacities including teach-ing art classes for elementary students, tutoring,serving on school site council and the LosPrimeros Structured School Educational Foun-dation, serving as a room mother and/or teamparent nearly every year and doing special proj-ects for various organizations serving the home-less and needy. She has also co-chaired theThacher auction for the past two years. Brianand Kathy live in Camarillo and have five chil-dren: Gavin CdeP 1997, Shannon CdeP 1998,Michael CdeP 2001, Laurel ’03, and Heather.

Elizabeth BroomeGrether and herhusband Johnserved as Presi-dents of the Par-ents’ Committeelast year; in thepast, she served asAuction Co-Chairand Chair as wellas Chair of theFaculty-Staff Ap-preciation Day, Grandparents’ Day, and vari-ous Class Barbecues. This year Betsy isbeginning her tenure as a Trustees of Thacher’sBoard by serving on the Program and Buildings& Grounds Committees. Betsy is a landscapearchitect by training (she has bachelor degreesfrom USC in Art History and Cal Poly in Land-scape Architecture). She has served in numer-ous capacities with Ventura County non-profitorganization including Las Patronas Auxiliary,La Paloma Auxiliary of Childrens’ HomeScoiety, Mesa Union Schol, and the PleasantValley Swim Team Board. She has been par-ticularly helpful in connection with plans forcampus improvements at Thacher. She andJohn live on a ranch in Somis that growslemons, avocadoes, and vegetables; they havethree sons: Robert CdeP 1999, Ted CdeP 2001,and Russell ’03

Cecilia Healy Her-bert and her hus-band Jim reside inSan Francisco withtheir three chil-dren: James andAlex CdeP 2002,both of whom at-tend Stanford, andanother daughterDeirdre, who isjust beginning her

freshman year at Thacher. Cecilia received herbachelor’s degree in Economics and Commu-nications from Stanford and then attained herMBA with an emphasis in finance from Har-vard University. She worked for 17 years atJ.P. Morgan in New York and San Francisco,doing international and domestic corporate fi-nance, with a two-year hiatus in the mid-sev-enties, when she worked at Signet Bank inVirginia. She retired from Morgan as a Man-aging Director and head of Morgan’s San Fran-cisco Office to be home with their children.

Trustees

She keeps involved with finance in her volun-teer work where she has chaired or been amember of various finance and investmentcommittees at Schools of the Sacred Heart,Groton School, Catholic Charities of the BayArea, California Pacific Medical Center, andthe Archdiocese of San Francisco. She is also aTrustee of The Montgomery Funds, a family ofmutual funds based in San Francisco. OnThacher’s Board, Cecilia is serving on the Fi-nance and Trustee Committees.

Lance R. Oddenand his wife Patsymet Thacher’sBoard last Junewhen he was oneof the key speakersat the Aspen Re-treat. He is the for-mer Headmasterof The Taft School(29 years) and hasserved as presi-

dent/chair of The New England Association ofSchools and colleges, The Headmasters Asso-ciation, The Connecticut Association of Inde-pendent Schools, A Better Chance, and theIndependent School Commission of the NewEngland Association of Schools and Colleges.He brings a wealth of knowledge and experi-ence relating to independent schools and con-tinues the strong link between Thacher andTaft that started with Sherman Day Thacherand Horace Taft. Lance is now the president ofProspect Consultants, Senior Advisor of War-burg Pincus, Inc., and Director of Chancellor-Beacon and Irwin Financial Services. Lancematriculated from Phillips Academy to Prince-ton where he received his bachelor’s degree in1961; he then earned a master’s from the Uni-versity of Wisconsin. Various institutions haveawarded Lance with doctorate degrees (Mid-dlebury, Hamilton, and Piedmont Colleges),The Taft Alumni Citation of Merit, the NadalAward for Service to Interscholastic Athletics,and the Princeton Day School Alumni Award.He is serving on Thacher’s Program Commit-tee and the Personnel Sub-Committee.

TrusteesThacher’s Newest TrusteesDedicated Alumni, Parents, and Friends Join Board


The Board of Trustees at the autumn meeting in October

Cecilia B. Rauchresides in Uplandwith her husbandDudley. Since theirdaughter Heather’sgraduation fromThacher (1989),they have been de-voted Thacher sup-porters. Ceciliareceived bothbachelor’s (Experi-

mental Psychology) and MBA (one of the firstwomen to receive this degree) from HarvardUniversity. She has worked in business and fi-nance, including corporate planning and re-search for Times Mirror, and income taxpractice for H&R Block Premium and TedersBookkeeping & Income Tax Service. She hasbeen very helpful to various non-profits or-ganizations including Inland Society of TaxConsultants, Los Angeles Philharmonic Affil-iates, National Committee for the PerformingArts at the John F. Kennedy Center, The Mt.San Antonio Gardens, The Claremont UnitedChurch of Christ, and Foothill Country DaySchool. In her first year on Thacher’s Board,Cecilia is serving on the Finance Committeeand Audit and Personnel Sub-Committees.

Jacob C.Y. Wu isjoining Thacher’sBoard this yearand is serving onthe Developmentand ProgramCommittees. Hevisited Thacheroften during thefour years his sonRonald was here(he graduated inJune); daughter Vivian is now a senior. Jacobwas born and raised in Macao and latermoved to Hong Kong. After graduating fromMelbourne High School in Victoria, Australia,he came to Indiana University for his bache-lor’s degree and the University of Illinois (Ur-bana-Champaign) for his master’s. He thenworked as a programming-analyst atBrookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY,and later as a member of the technical staff atComputer Sciences Corporation in Maryland.He returned to Hong Kong in 1978, where heworked successively at Hong Kong PolytechnicUniversity, Citic Ka Wah Bank, and JP MorganChase Bank. When his father passed away in1986, he resigned from Chase to help managehis family business. He currently is the man-aging director of Wing Lee Management Com-pany, Actias Company, Ltd., as well as TheWelfare Foundation, a non-profit organizationdevoted to educational projects in remote re-gions of China. He married Lily Suc ChingBork in 1980. His leisure interests are traveland reading. e

The Thacher Community has a vastlydiverse group of artisans who have found

joy and satisfaction in creating with their ownhands. From manufacturing sheep cheese to gui-

tars, from Japanese carpentry to metal sculpture, thesegifted craftsmen take pride in their work and enjoy the ben-

efits of working for themselves and creating something out of“nothing.” In addition to specifics about how these artists chose

their vocations and their learning curves, a thumbnail sketchis provided of the intricacies of each discipline. Our only

misgiving is that we couldn’t profile all of the arti-sans who are part of the Thacher Community

for these are truly unique, wonderful peopleand this was a most enjoyable topic to

research and chronicle.

Artisan: A person manually skille

d in

making a particular product; c

raftsman

Allen Dragge

Don Reed

Peter Dragge

James Wiester

Diana and Liam Callahan

Maddy McQuillan

Bo Manson and John Bueti

Allen O. Dragge, Jr. CdeP 1966The Art of Light and Glass by S. Kittredge “Kit” Collins CdeP 1966

Allen Dragge CdeP 1966 is a founder of Re-flection Studios and the director of creativeservices. Reflection Studios is an

Emeryville, California based stained glass stu-dio that since 1972 has been specializing inleaded glass restoration and original glass art.Their catalog of projects is impressive and in-cludes San Francisco landmarks such as theOlympic Club, Grace Cathedral, The GardenCourt of The Sheraton Palace, The Hall ofFlowers in Golden Gate Park, The PacificUnion Club, the Palladian windows in San

Francisco City Hall,The Bohemian Club,and the 9th CircuitCourt of Appeals. Notlimited to restorativework, Reflection Stu-dios designs, builds,and installs originalglass art. A recent Re-flection’s project is arecreation of the glassdome that was abovethe Grand Staircase onthe Titanic for a newLake Tahoe home. Butit is the art and scienceof restoring massivestained glass art thathas built the interna-tional reputation ofReflection Studios.

Back in the scuffling days of the Viet NamWar and student unrest, Allen was (not)studying at UC Berkeley and working towardan uncertain future in architecture at theSchool of Environmental Design when an op-portunity arose to earn some cash building aSausalito houseboat and renovating a com-mercial building in Mill Valley. One day, atruck pulled up in the parking lot at Gate 5near the houseboat and the driver inquired ifAllen might be interested in his cargo ofstained glass. After sorting through the in-ventory of antique windows and doorsgleaned from vintage midwestern homes,Allen and his partner purchased the stainedglass pieces and incorporated them into thecommercial project on which they wereworking. Utilizing the pieces as space di-viders, demising walls and a stained glass col-lage across the front of the building, thehistoric glass turned an ordinary commercialstructure into a showcase that was featuredin Sunset Magazine and propelled Allen intoa career in stained glass.

Quite by chance, Allen and his partner, BarryRichmann, discovered that a fabulous treas-ure trove of historic glass existed in the oncegrand neighborhoods of midwestern cities suchas Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, andPhiladelphia. “We essentially discovered themother load of architectural ornament thatflourished in the Midwest at the turn of thelast century.” Allen explains. “We began toscour out historic glass in the once grandneighborhoods of inner cities. Although wesometimes employed agents to look for glass,most of the hunt consisted of driving throughthose towns looking for windows, doors, andmansions in decay.” They discovered there wasvery little competition for the glass relics leftover from the American heyday of decorativestained glass, which had swept the country be-tween 1880 and the First World War. That wasthe architectural period when stained glass hadbeen an essential element of architectural style;a luxury item; a fine art form used to enhancethe great homes and business of the East andMidwest.

Eighty years latter, covered in grime and soot,rattling with age, and leaking, almost no onecould see their beauty, their elegance. WorldWar I and the western migration started theprocess of decline. Then, the Art Deco style,the Great Depression, and WW II collapsedthe stained glass industry in the US to almostnothing. It went from more than 2,000 studiosin 1910 to perhaps 10 by 1970. The fabulousart pieces in glass by artist/craftsmen such asLouis Tiffany and John La Farge had “goneout of style,” were forgotten, boarded up, orleft for ruin.

A good example of this occurred in Cincinnatiwhere Allen and his partner learned that amansion, which once belonged to RudolphWurlitzer of the jukebox fortune, was goingto be razed. Allen and his crew were more thanenthusiastic to assist. “The Wurlitzer Mansionwas a wonderful example of the high crafts-manship of the period. In addition to the ex-traordinary stained and beveled glass, therewas a twenty-foot diameter dining room table,which revolved on a turntable, and an ovalmusic room with hand tooled Moroccanleather wainscoting that doubled as cases fortheir collection of rare musical instruments in-cluding three Stradivari. A parrot-themed,backlit, curved glass, mosaic frieze, encircledthe room. Behind the frieze, unseen, mouth-blown Quizel art glass shades covered the‘modern’ electric lights.”

Profile



water natatorium fed by ocean water pipedacross the city, the salt and steam had corrodedthe lead came (the term for the structural leadchannel which holds the glass together), andcovered the glass with a slimy stain. The Clubwas not interested in completely restoring thedome at that time; so the job was to replaceonly the worst sections of the dome. Com-pounding the challenge of physically perform-ing the repairs, the club wanted to keep thepool open during the work. As a result, theproject would have to be accomplished with-out the aid of scaffolding.

Allen secured a contractors license and set upshop on the Olympic Club roof. To access thetop of the dome, Allen used a boson’s chairrigged from an elaborate block-and-fall sys-tem borrowed from music promoter Bill Gra-ham. Protecting the workers and the swimmerssafety, fall nets rented from the Golden GateBridge, and tarps rented from Graham weresuspended below the domes. One of Reflec-

tion’s daring aerialists would don a harnessand work from the chair, suspended out andover the dome. All the work was performedon site. “This was not a complete relead,”Allen recalls. “It was more of a repair-and-runproject.”

Eight years later, the OlympicClub again called. The Club wasconcerned that the pile-driving


More often it worked like this: when Allen’spickers found an “old” house with stainedglass windows they would knock on the doorand offer to buy the “old, leaky, faded out”leaded glass windows for a few dollars and toreplace them with new, clear, aluminum sashwindows. It worked like a charm. “Through alot of dirty work and extraordinary good tim-

ing, we accumulated an amazing collection ofthe best ‘art’ glass produced a century ago.”To restore these windows that had been neg-lected for a 100 years, these young men nowneeded to learn a craft which had nearly diedout in this century. Thus, in 1972, ReflectionStudios was founded upon an inventory of finehistorical windows in various states of collapseand, out of necessity; Allen became a studentof the art and craft of stained glass.

Though in the beginning they were only look-ing to simply repair and restore their inven-tory and to market it to architects anddesigners, Allen recognized that again timingand chance were working in his favor. Duringthe 30 year period between 1885 and 1915, inaddition to what had been imported from theEast, the San Francisco United Stained GlassCompany had produced some of the best mon-umental stained glass in the country. The metalthat was used to hold the glass together was

for the most part an un-alloyed lead that pos-sesses a lifespan of 80 to 100 years. Thus, bythe 1970’s and 1980’s, virtually all of the vin-tage leaded glass windows, doors, and ceilingscreated during the golden age of Americanstained glass were due to be restored. The timewas auspicious for the emergence of a fledg-ling glass restoration firm.

In order to acquire the know-how to preserve and restorethese treasures, Allen adhered tothe tenants of a classical Euro-pean art education: copy fromthe masters. And the masters ofthe American stained glassmovement were John La Farge(1835-1910) and Louis Com-fort Tiffany (1848-1933), theson of the founder of Tiffany &Co. The movement began in1879 with the introduction ofopalescent glass by the then mu-ralist La Farge, which revo-lutionized the six hundredyear old, art of stainedglass. Opalescent glass hasa milky opacity created bythe suspension of particlesof various heavy metalsthat reflect and scatter light.While, at the time, opales-cent glass had been made inpressed glass and used tomanufacture tableware anddecorative items, it hadnever before been madeinto flat sheets for use inwindows. In the 1870’swhen La Farge was experi-menting in opalescent glassand plating (the layering ofone piece of glass over an-other to achieve deeper col-ors and shading), hereceived a visit by Tiffany.La Farge willingly shared

his work and his technical ideas with hisrival-to-be. Eventually, both men weregranted colored glass window patents in1880, fueling a terse controversy overwhich innovator should be credited withthe introduction of opalescent glass.Briefly, La Farge’s patent was for the de-velopment and use of opalescent glass inwindows, and Tiffany’s was for the as-sembly techniques. The patents were mu-tually interdependent: without permission touse La Farge’s, Tiffany’s was not possible; with-out permission to use Tiffany’s, La Farge couldnot have assembled his opalescent glass win-dows.

Reflection Studios’ first large-scale restorationcame in 1976, when the San FranciscoOlympic Club hired Allen and his Studio (in-cluding Thacher classmate, Derrick Von Schle-gal) to repair the two stained glass domes 70feet above their swimming pool. Once a salt-

continued on page 39

Reflections Studios team in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral

Refurbished stained glass domes above the SanFrancisco Olympic Club pool

Donald L. Reed CdeP 1967From Bronze to Sterling by Jane D. McCarthy

Omnis ars naturae imitation est, or “All artis but an imitation of nature.” This quoteby Seneca in AD 64 has always been a char-

acteristic of Don Reed CdeP 1967, a life-longartisan of metal objects.

Even before Thacher, Don studied and em-braced nature. Don came from a family of fivechildren and, as with previous generations, allattended eastern boarding schools—exceptDon. His cousins and uncle on his mother’sside all attended Thacher and in an effort to es-

cape eastern winters,Don opted to attendThacher, site unseen.“Best decision of mylife,” Don remarks,noting too, “I’m hop-ing our daughter Kyleecan attend Thacher,proving that I willhave made at leastthree great decisions inmy life. MarryingLinda was the sec-ond.”

Thacher’s outdoorfocus appealed to Don,even when the goinggot tough. During aholiday weekend tripin 1965 when most

students traveled home, Don joined Don “Jug”Reynolds and some others on a Mutau Loophorse-packing trip. While riding across a steepshale slope covered with snow, the horses losttheir footing; boys, panniers, saddles, horses,and pack animals slid 200 feet down a ravine.The group spent the balance of the day andearly evening plucking their belongings fromthe hillside and making camp on a saddle, toolate and too tired to move to better cover.While darkness grew and temperaturesdropped, they huddled around a fire to staywarm. The freezing campers were badgered bya Forest Service helicopter circling overheadand an amplified voice demanding, “Put outthe fire.” They refused and inched closer to thefire to make it through the night. In the morn-ing, Don found that though his feet were notfrostbitten, the soles of his cowboy boots wereburned completely through. A great memoryforged by misadventure. As Andy Bisaccialiked to say, “adventure—the result of poorplanning.” Andy Bisaccia took Don and nu-merous classmates on a backpacking trip tothe Supai Indian Reservation in the GrandCanyon. That was a terrific trip—photos and

memories of one of the world’s most beautifulplaces remain a part of Don’s favorite Thacherexperiences.

Horses and camping were a fraction of theThacher experience but as with many thingstheir impressions are lasting—so it is with Don,as well. Prior to coming to Thacher, one letterin support of Don’s candidacy to Thacher in-dicated: “It is not at all unusual for this boy toleap from a consideration of a frog’s eye to anevaluation of life as the frog must see it. His in-tuitive ability to project himself into other lifeis awesome.” Another spoke of his honestyand moral character that Don exuded, regard-less of the situation.

Don’s horse “Blue” was a favorite memory asare all the horses that share the lives ofThacher students. His best visual recollectionwas the spring release of all the horses fromthe stable area to the grazing in the Upper Ojai.“The stampede was so powerful in sounds,dust, and numbers—truly a golden Thachermoment to have witnessed.”

Memorable also was the time Don and HowieLewis’s horse collided in the outdoor ring. Donwas on Blue and Howie rode Tootsie. Ridingbareback and not paying much attention, Donand Howie found themselves head on and side-by-side going fast. Howie jerked back on thereigns. Tootsie threw her head up in Don’s faceand his front teeth were history—more accu-rately, they were imbedded in Tootsie’s fore-head. Don thinks it was probably moretraumatic for the horse than himself.

Socially, Don’s stories of growing up in theMidwest sounded far-fetched to his peers.Though based in fact, there was the “hint” ofexaggeration. These tall tales were soon to betermed Shaggy Don Stories. An example: Donarrived at the dorm late and nearly receiveddetention from a cranky Hub Segur. He savedhimself, however, by plucking a moth from thelight next to Hub’s head and swallowing it.“As I recall, it tasted like a maraschino cherry;Hub laughed so hard that he didn’t dare pe-nalize me.” For that action Don was knownas “The Mad Moth-Eater of Matilija.” Hubwas likely the teacher who wrote in Don’s file:“exasperating one minute and a jewel thenext.”

When Don was asked for an example of an-other Saggy Don Story, this was his offering: InIllinois—as in many states—the elusive, wary,and very keen-eyed wild turkey must be

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extinction. Some of the experiences of that en-deavor have aided in the program to recoverthe California condor from extinction as well.Owen had a great influence on Don and hisart. Owen liked to say that a good painting al-ways leaves you a way out and nature art is

about capturing theorderly disorderlinessfor things.

The road to sculptingand art casting was a“road less traveled”but it brought Don tothe doorsteps of thecorporate and civicworld in a way thatstrict industry couldnever have done.Don has been able todrive his daughter toschool everyday, at-tend her softball andtennis games, plays,and band concerts.He can drive his trac-tor, see and feed thewild turkeys, song-birds, and deer, andwage war on themole population in

the front year. It is not unusual for the Reeds tofinish a day in the art shop and then go to adinner party in Chicago with the Chairman ofthe Board of Trade, University Presidents,Pulitzer Prize winners, or politicians. Donmeets with CEO’s whose projects are mostoften highly personal and often designed astributes to groups or individuals who makepositive contributions to society—a very re-warding way to spend time and energy.

This said, Don is about to launch a new pro-duction facility doing only silver. Productionin this sense is how master-craftsman Buccellatiuses the word, as in being in close control andthe use of extremely gifted craftspeople toexact the final piece. This project should be thefinal of five foundries Don envisioned he’dneed to build to complete the route suggestedby Salvador Dali: Perfection in art in conjunc-tion with nature.

Don’s current projects are working to com-plete a life-size work of Ronald Reagan onhorseback in bronze, portraits and retirementgifts for the Chicago Tribune executive board,a new line of bronze vases for his gallery inSanta Fe, more bronze vegetables, and the ster-ling silver project. Based on Don’s memory ofAnson Thacher donning a beaded lanyard witha hanging decimated toad, he began the RoadToad Collection.“Anson would haul that thingout to athletic events and urge in thehuddle…‘Win one for the Feelie!’”When Don came to his 35th Re-union in June, he supplied Michael


stalked and hunted with camouflage clothingand extreme stealth. Don has bagged a largetom turkey with his bare hands. This is a Donstory but it doesn’t become “shaggy” until herelates that he did it in a three-piece suit. Hewas on his way to a meeting and on the wayout of his driveway when he noticed that therewere 20 or so juvenile and female turkeys in ameadow next to the drive, separated by aclose-mesh fence. The big male was betweenthe car and the fence, madly searching for away through the wire. Don left the car stillrolling—dove at the turkey and grabbed himby the leg—a proud moment when you couldhold up a live turkey while dressed in a suitand tie and no gun. That’s a Shaggy Don Story.

For his senior project, Don cast plaster por-traits or busts of long-time art teacher Ed-guardo Catalan and John Galloway (whocoached Thacher’s first Lacrosse Team, therebybringing lacrosse to the west coast. Don isproud of having lettered on that first team.)Don’s artistic prowess earned him the Fine ArtsAward upon his graduation and admission toUC Berkeley. There he studied ceramic engi-neering and social sciences for several yearsbefore going to the Sorbonne in Paris. While atthe Sorbonne, Don studied language and art.Don spent hundreds of hours at the Louvre.“You could still touch the great art treasuresand were encouraged to do so. Those were thedays before the Pieta was attacked and dam-aged,” Don remembers. After that, art in thegreat museums ceased to be accessible. Whilein Paris, he encountered Salvador Dali ad-dressing a student throng in the central squareat the Sorbonne. Dali was waist deep in cauli-flower in a vintage Rolls Royce convertible.Speaking French, English, and Catalonia, Dalitalked of the “mathematical perfection of cau-liflower.” After completing his speech thecrowd dispersed to waiting classes and hefound himself trapped in a sea of cauliflower.Don helped extricate the captive artist and thenhad a brief private conversation with theworld’s most celebrated surrealist. Dali askedof Don’s interests and goals. Don spoke of hisstudies in art and the existence of the familyfoundries. Dali chastised Don for not makingthe obvious association between the cauli-flower talk and his future: “Make vegetables;beautiful perfect vegetables in cast metals.”

Don joined his family’s industrial foundry busi-ness in 1972 and ran the iron works for 10years with his father, C. Stephen. For the pre-vious two generations, the Reeds made most ofthe world’s piano plates. These harps that arethe frameworks for strings and action werevery aesthetically pleasing; their shape andmanufacture were more art than industry andgave rise to the smooth transition to art cast-ing. In 1983, Don incorporated a commercialart casting facility that made lost wax castingsfor a large portion of the Midwestern market.Using observation, experience and industrialmethods, Don has developed new processesfor handling sterling silver. “It is a very tricky,atypical metal and requires some effort to

work well. Many castings and restorationworks from Don’s shop are incorporated inthe fabric of Chicago. Affecting the skyline,downtown monuments, and corporate entries.Don’s company completed thousands of artprojects for its customers.

Favorites among those projects include: therestoration of the two giant Mestrovic Horse-men in the Chicago Loop, the making of the10-foot tall bronze Madonna for the top ofNotre Dame de Chicago, and finally the mak-ing of a bronze band that went on the crackedivory of Barnum & Bailey’s huge elephant KingTusk (this work required the recipient to bepresent for the fitting). The people that Donhas encountered over the years in conjunctionwith his works have been more than enter-taining. He has done work with the people atChicago’s Art Institute where his classmateFred Endsley worked for many years as headof the Photography Department. Don hasworked with the Los Angeles County Museumof Art and the Chicago Tribune. His friends atthe newspaper are fine artists in their own rightand do much of the cartooning for the paperincluding Jeff MacNelly who did Shoe andDave Barry’s illustrations and Dick Locher stilldoes the Dick Tracy strip along with the edi-torial cartoons. On occasion the Reeds findthemselves written into the strip.

Don also spent several years ghost sculptingfor the painter Owen Gromme, often referredto as the “Dean of Wildlife Art.” While Donmade bronze sculptures to compliment the ca-reer of Mr. Gromme, the 90-year-old artistwould go afield near his home in Wisconsinwith Don in tow. One afternoon, they watchedas one tenth of the world’s population ofwhooping cranes (100) passed over theirheads, in a flock of sandhill cranes. “It was atruly spine-tingling experience to be with theman who, with George Archibald, had pio-neered the International Crane Foundation,thus brining the whooping crane back from

Don Reed’s bronze sculpture that he’s making in honor of former PresidentRonald Reagan


Peter B. Dragge CdeP 1969Confessions of a Luthier by Jane D. McCarthy

Purfling and kerfing. Rosette and peghead.Quilted mahogany, Gaboon ebony, andmother of pearl. This disparate concoction

of words are integral ingredients of fine guitarbuilding, the passionate pastime of Thacheralumnus Peter Dragge CdeP 1969. Visiting hisshop adjacent to his home in the Ojai foothills,one can’t help but be captivated and intriguedby the enthusiasm and expertise with whichhe produces handmade guitars—both acousticand electric—that each require three to twelvemonths of focused work to complete. It’s even

more fascinating towatch Peter workwhen one notices thatdespite his massivehands, his nimble fin-gers can produce intri-cate, detailed workthat requires a delicatetouch for one step fol-lowed by brutestrength for the next.

Peter became a luthierby way of a circuitousroute. He’d alwaysloved listening tomusic, playing guitar,and working withwood, but the notionof combining these ele-ments didn’t catalyze

for many years. Peter’s earliest recollection ofan interest in woodworking was with hisgrandfather; the two shared trips to hardwoodshops and lumber mills, fascinated with thevarious grains, textures, and aromas of the dif-ferent kinds of wood. In the wood shop hisgrandfather, a quiet and gentle man exhibitedinfinite patience, discipline, and the strengthof character formed by a life of working aNorth Dakota farm. The hours he spentwatching and occasionally helping his grand-father make furniture in their home workshopserved as both foundation and inspiration forhis future career in woodworking.

Many years later, at Thacher, he took DavidBarber’s wood shop class and crafted a coffeetable for his girlfriend (and future wife), and apair of portable stage lighting boxes for aThacher band he played in known affection-ately as “The Vacant Lot” (ultimately called“The End”). Peter wistfully remembers, “I wasreally pretty bad, I think the rest of the bandput up with me mainly because I had a decentguitar and amp. The “rest of the band” con-

sisted of classmates Greg Smith on lead guitar,and Bob Cross on bass, along with annualchanges in drummers and lead singers. Theband did, on rare occasions, gain some credi-bility through the gracious addition of JamesNewton Howard (Okay, Jim Howard) on key-boards. Peter recalls, “Although we practiceddaily, and played at most of the ‘exchangedances,’ the high point of our sadly abbrevi-ated career was a graduation concert to apacked auditorium full of parents and alums,for whom we played The Doors’ ‘Light MyFire,’ (the long version, of course) with a lightshow by Larry Falk, musical direction by C.Michael Erhardt, and James Howard at thepiano. That was the pinnacle of my performingcareer.”

During his junior year Peter observed a seniorattempting to make a guitar for his Senior Pro-ject. He remembers thinking how incrediblycomplex it was and why would anyone in theirright mind want to do that? The followingyear, 1969, Peter got his first acoustic guitar, aMartin 12-string, and from that time on hewas hooked on acoustics. But it wasn’t untilmany years later—after a stint as a recordingsound engineer in Hollywood, refurbishing andrunning a restaurant in Arcata,CA, and variouscarpentry/ fine woodworking projects—that heconsidered making guitars as a vocation.

Peter and his childhood sweetheart, Darian(who grew up across the street from theDragge family in San Marino, CA), had mar-ried and were living in Sebastopol, a ruralnorthern California area where making a livingwas a challenge. After building a home for hisfamily and participating in the transformationof a horse ranch into the Summerfield WaldorfSchool (where their children Josh and Jennyattended kindergarten through twelfth grade),Peter attained his contractor’s license. As landand lumber prices soared, and Sonoma Countyinstituted a moratorium on building, he de-cided to focus on work he could do at home inhis workshop. “The overhead was zero, andit was hard to beat the commute.” It was dur-ing this time that the notion of building musi-cal instruments first struck. Looking tocombine his skill in woodworking with his loveof music he made up his mind to search for ateacher. Peter had heard about a renownedCeltic harp maker, Chris Caswell, who livednearby and decided to pay him a visit. Al-though very kind and polite, Chris made itclear that he was not interested in instructing apotential competitor. Who can blame him?

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Chris did, however, know a fellow in Berke-ley who took on one or two apprentices eachyear to teach them how to make guitars. Thismaster guitar maker, or luthier, was Budapest-born Ervin Somogyi, who had made guitarsfor many of the early Windham Hill artistssuch as Alex De Grassi and Will Ackerman,two of Peter’s favorite acoustic musicians atthe time. “If he could teach me to make guitarsthat sounded half as good as those, then thatwas the opportunity I had been looking for.”

Peter spent two years learning his craft fromErvin, although they seldom worked side byside. Instead, Peter made weekly trips from Se-bastopol to Ervin’s Berkeley studio where hewas given some instruction on how to getstarted with each step, what to look for in ma-terials, and a brief demonstration of the tech-niques involved. During the next week, Peterwould complete those tasks and return toErvin’s studio where it was three steps back-ward and four forward as Ervin pointed outhow Peter might improve his work. He’d re-work those aspects and go on to the next se-quence of tasks. As Mr. Somogyi recalls, Peter’scraftsmanship was quite good, especially forhis first attempt; but what stood out about himwas that “he stayed with it instead of fanta-sizing about doing it and either waiting yearsbefore acting on the impulse or never actingon it. It takes some self-starting to make some-thing as complicated as a guitar.” In additionto Ervin’s tutelage, Peter learned through read-ing as many books as he could find on the sub-ject, conferring with other builders willing toshare their secrets, joining the Guild of Amer-ican Luthiers, attending conventions and trade

shows, and constantly experimenting as he de-veloped his own techniques for making gui-tars.

A guitar is essentially an air pump that ampli-fies the vibration created by strumming orplucking the strings; the energy from playing astring is not dissipated all at once, but a por-tion is retained, rolled around in the cavity ofthe guitar, and then projected out into the lis-

tening environment. The ability of the instru-ment to harness that string energy and trans-form it into something that is pleasing to the earis essentially what determines a good guitar. Infact, in better guitars, because the wood is re-sponsive, one can actually feel the vibration ofthe top, back, and sides as well as the air be-ing emitted from the sound hole. The top or face(the part with the hole in it) is probably the sin-gle most important component of the guitar. Typ-ically made of spruce because of its superiorstrength-to-weight ratio (it is the strongestwood for its weight—thus its use in ear-ly aircraft and masts for sail boats) the tophas the job of transmitting the strings’ vi-brations and amplifying them into audi-ble sound. Have you ever tried pluckinga string on an unplugged electric guitar?It is very difficult to hear. Why? The pick-ups and amplifier are necessary to do thejob that the top does in an acoustic gui-tar. The trick in selecting the right woodand applying the correct bracing (interi-or structural supports also made of thinpieces of spruce) is to result in a di-aphragm light and thin enough to vibratewell, but strong enough to withstand theconstant force that the fully tensionedstrings exert upon it. A steel string guitarwith light gauge strings typically createsa force equal to a 190-pound person standingon the top. After selecting pieces of wood forthe perfect balance of strength, flexibility, andtonal response, two “book-matched” halves arethinned to less than one eighth of an inch andjoined together. The rosette, a decorative bor-der for the sound hole, is inlaid into a channelcut into the surface of the top. At this time an

assortment of braces, aboutthirteen for a steel string andeleven for a classical, areshaped, arched, and glued tothe inside of the top in a hol-low form, forcing the top totake on the curvature of a 25-foot sphere. Both the sizeand placement of these bracesare critical to the sound of theinstrument, and are often re-shaped after installation toachieve a particular tonal ob-jective. Here lies one of themajor opportunities for thehand builder to “dial in” atop, an impossibility for afactory-made guitar. In fact,throughout the buildingprocess Peter continuouslyreevaluates the components as

they are joined together and tweaks them in or-der to achieve the optimal response. He admitsthat the result is “equal parts intuition, commonsense, and luck. There is no universal formulathat works all of the time. Wood has a life ofits own, and as such can be quite unpredictable.There are definitely times when a little luck (orlack there of) can make or break the outcomeof situations that are really quite beyond our con-trol.” As every tree is different so is every piece

of wood sawn from that tree. Selection of theright materials is as critical as the constructionprocess itself. Along with selection, proper ag-ing is also a critical factor. Luthier’s rule of thumb:the older the wood the better. Some of hismost prized tone woods are as much as 40 yearsold. As an aside, Peter is convinced that the richsound of older instruments, such as those madeby Stradivari, produce that wonderful tonefrom years of vibration breaking down theresin within the wood’s cellular structure; the

resulting powder vi-brates at a molecularlevel which in turnaugments the instru-ment’s ability to pro-duce a pleasing sound.

In order to not damp-en the sound, butrather aid in its pro-jection, the back andsides are typically madeof denser woods suchas rosewood, ma-hogany, Hawaiian koa,and many others.Rosewood, typicallythe densest of thesewoods but displaying

the most amount of variation from one pieceto another, usually yields a more dynamic tone(wider range of response) and longer sustenancethan the other varieties, though Peter is quickto point out that even within certain species therecan be huge variations in quality. The guitar back,like the top, begins with a book-matched set,two pieces cut from the same log that are mir-ror images of each other. The two pieces mustbe shaped, trimmed, planed perfectly, and sand-ed so that they can be glued together seamlesslyand set to dry. As with the top, there is actual-ly a concave shape to the back that is compa-rable to an arc from a 15-foot diameter sphere.“This curvature gives the guitar more strengthand ability to project. A quartet of spruce crossbraces are arched and glued to the inside of theback in order to hold this semi-spherical shape.”

Next, the sides are bent into the traditionalguitar-shape. It has been said that this shape wasoriginally inspired by the female figure, andwith over 150 years of repeating this form, nei-ther science nor technology have been able toimprove upon it. The characteristic double-Scurve is a very difficult shape to achieve sincethe wood must be flexible enough to curve inone direction, then the opposite direction withina few inches, and then back again. Soaking thewood (a somewhat painful process for Peter,after drying it for 40 years), and then heatingit over the boiling point makes it pliable enoughto mold the sides. Traditionally they are shapedover a hot pipe, but thisruns the risk of overheatingthe wood and burning it orcracking it. At current prices for


A rosette on one of Peter’sguitars

Peter checks the neck of a guitar in production

James W. Wiester CdeP 1983Carpentry with an Eastern Flair by Derick S. Perry CdeP 1983

Japan—the country, the customs, the tradi-tions—has fascinated James Wiester CdeP1983 as long as he can remember. Growing

up in Los Angeles, James had many opportu-nities to meet people who fed and fueled thisinterest. As an adolescent, he focused his at-tention on the martial arts and became a blackbelt and an avid follower of the spirit of karate.Never intrigued in the fighting method solely asa means of defense, the spiritual connectionbetween mind and body became James’ pri-mary goal. As Gichin Funakoshi, the father of

“modern” karate says,“True karate is this:that in daily life one’smind and body betrained and developedin a spirit of humility,and that in criticaltimes, one be devotedutterly to the cause ofjustice.” James cer-tainly understood thatthe critical element ofthis art was the under-standing of self, whichcame through consis-tent practice. Jamesnever lost this connec-tion between the phys-ical and the spiritual,and he is now involvedin a new art—Japanesecarpentry.

James’ journey to the master craftsman he istoday had its genesis in those long hours ofkarate practice and in his fascination withJapan. He designs, builds, and remodels homesin accordance with traditional Japanese archi-tecture and design. Characteristically, Jamesdownplays his work as “fancy pants” carpen-try, but this art took years of apprenticeshipand dedication. After graduation from Wes-leyan, James thought about being an architect.It seemed to be a job that would let him spendas few hours as possible in a suit and tie. He re-calls, “I wanted to work in construction, soarchitecture seemed the preferred route. I wentto an architecture school in So Cal and justfigured it was not my calling. I went to a job-site and saw the guys working with the shov-els and wheelbarrows. That jazzed me morethan any schematics ever did, so I knew Iwanted to work with my hands.” He loved thephysical nature of construction, and he wantedto return to Japan, so he decided to combineboth interests and return to Japan to work. He

found a job almost immediately and settleddown for the long haul. Of course, James’work ethic and competence designated him forgreat things and soon he was the foreman forhis company. With the advantages of this pro-motion, James felt trapped with more insidetime and paper shuffling than he wanted. Hemoved to a carpentry firm owned by his wife’scousin and began training as a “daiku,” a tem-ple and/or teahouse builder.

Peter Wechsler, another American trained inJapanese carpentry describes the work in thefollowing manner: “Teahouses are small, gen-erally with a floor space of 9 feet by 9 feet orsmaller, depending on the number of strawmats or tatami. They are rustic in appearance,and nothing is supposed to call attention to it,but at the same time, they are built with ex-traordinarily high standards of workmanshipand attention to detail. One of the first West-erners to see a teahouse, a 16th century Por-tuguese missionary, said it ‘seemed to havebeen built by the hands of angels rather thanby those of men.’While the basic features oftea ceremony architecture were established bySen no Rikyu, the founder of the tea ceremony,teahouses are all very different in layout andappearance, and the aim is a feeling of fresh-ness and spontaneity, reflecting aesthetic phi-losophy associated with the tea ceremony,which emphasizes the rough over the smooth,the irregular over the symmetrical, and the nat-ural over the artificial. The teahouse is usuallyset in a garden intended to evoke the remotemountain hermitage of a Chinese landscape.Guests approach by a stone pathway, whichcauses them to slow down and concentrate ontheir surrounding. After washing at a stonewater basin, they crawl through a smallwooden door, symbolically shedding all socialdistinctions. The inside is dimly lit and bareexcept for the tokonoma, a raised alcove withan irregularly shaped post, usually containinga hanging scroll.”

The artistic and spiritual elements of this car-pentry attracted James because he enjoys theproblem solving and the creativity involved inthe process. In his words, “I like to think ofmy work as functional art. Each craftsmanputs his own special touch in the building. Youhear about artists hiding their names or thenames of loved ones in their work, but I feelthat construction exposes my soul to theworld, especially with this style of construc-tion. There is warmth that emanates from thestructure because of the design. The entire

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frame is exposed inside and out. It is one ofthose things that you either get or you don’t.”Most of the customers who seek James’ ex-pertise already have an affinity for Japanesearchitecture, and they seek to meld their west-

ern sensibilities with eastern spirituality. Mostof his customers have worked or lived in Japanfor an extensive time, which permits them tohave a unique outlook. James comments, “Thehomes, rooms, or buildings I build provide re-lief from the tumultuous world of finance,technology, and any other business you canthink of. Each person wants to relax after ahard day at work, yet your home can be thebiggest impediment to relieving your stress. Imake buildings to contribute to a feeling ofease and peace.”

Larry Ellison, Chief Executive Officer of Ora-cle, seems to understand James’ feelings. Hehired James’ firm for two projects on his Sili-con Valley home. While these projects havebeen challenging and fun, James likes to workon projects that let him solve problems cre-atively. Never one to shirk from a difficult task,James loves to create exactly what his cus-tomers have in mind. His greatest satisfactioncomes from the sight of his customers’ facesat the completion of a project. “They areblown away most of the time,” he says. “I re-ally think my work is honest and beautiful.The exposed frame lets no error go unnoticednor hides blemishes behind drywall. My proj-ects are meant to be seen. This means I have torespect the work, the client, and myself.”

James sees his work as respecting the environ-ment, as well. Although this construction stylecosts more, James sees it as money well spent:

“Would you spend 20% more on your home ifyou know that future generations would ben-efit? The work I do is environmentally soundand safe. These projects will last for years andnot require constant remodeling and rebuild-

ing. I think homeowners would benefitfrom thinking about this prior to con-struction.” It is this type of thoughtful-ness that allows James to dedicatehimself to his work.

James has not spent all of his time work-ing. He married Suzumi 12 years ago inJapan, and they have two children.Suzumi provides him with the supportand understanding that he needs when hisjob pulls him away for days at a time. Heexplains, “Suzumi is my biggest fan as Iam hers. Long hours at the jobsite areroutine, so her equanimity and patienceare the qualities I appreciate most. Thebiggest relief I get is to come home andsee the smiles of my children, Mayia (11)and Nina (8). My family provides thestability I need in the crazy constructionworld. Suzumi gets all of the credit for anymellowing I have done over the years.She is the person who makes me smilewhen I awake and the person whom Ithank my lucky stars for as I fall asleep.”James actually does some tinkeringaround the homestead, but he feels thatit would be unfair to work all day andthen throw his family into constructionproject frenzy, as well. A devoted father,

James spends the requisite hours doing the fam-ily shuffle with his wife—soccer practice here,music lesson there—quite different pastimescompared to their lives in Japan. James triesto keep the wild pace to a minimum, but admits

that it is difficult. “My family is the most im-portant thing to me, so the sacrifices that needto be made are done with love and trust.” Hecredits his own mother and father with estab-lishing these values.

When asked about other influences on his val-ues, James is quick to mention Thacher.“Other than my interest in and study of Japan,Thacher influenced me more profoundly thanany other experience,” he believes. “Mr.Driskill’s Spanish class confirmed that there

was a whole wide wonderful world out therethat Americans needed to understand. His classwas not just about the language; it was a studyof a culture. I loved it. Mr. Shagam’s PoliticalPhilosophy class was also a revelation. His wayof questioning our long-held and treasured pre-cepts about the way the world worked re-quired us to look beyond our own insularworld and question many ideas at a funda-mental level. The most mind-opening momentfor me was the film My Dinner with André. Inever looked at an electric blanket the sameway again. I hope students today are still ben-efiting from the wisdom of Mr. Shagam andthe film.” I assured him that Mr. Shagam wasstill teaching and that the film was still inspir-ing students today.

James also credits his college experience atWesleyan with providing him with inspirationand values that stick with him to this day. Hisyear abroad in Japan “was the most valuableexperience I could ask for. I was able to live ina place I had always dreamed about and be-came fluent in Japanese. Every student shouldtake a year abroad. I would require it if I werea college president.” James also made good useof his time on campus at Wesleyan, continuinghis study of dance begun at Thacher. Dancereplaced karate “as a way to express myself. Itook this great class at Thacher that startedmy interest.” This creativity needed new out-lets, which led to his involvement in the con-struction industry.

Construction is not just about art to James.He loves the rough and tumble image associ-ated with the work. He says, “Working withmy hands in the outdoors is truly a dreamcome true. After Thacher and college, I figured

I would be tied to a desk, hopingthat an exciting project would comealong. With this job, I never dreadgoing to work. At the very least, Iknow that I am going to get out-side, work up a nice sweat, andhave some fun.” James also lovesthe entrepreneurial aspect of beinga contractor. He is starting his ownfirm, RJ Kenchiku, to provide bothdesigns and construction for home-owners interested in this type ofwork. He says, “If you want towork with us, you will not get theall-American vanilla ice creamhome. We will build you a bananasplit with a cherry on top. Of

course, you have to work with nuts like me,but I guarantee you will love it.” Soundsyummy. e

James roughhews a beam for construction

An example of James’ Japanese construction

Liam and Diana Callahan CdeP 1984Reviving Artisan Cheesemaking by Jane D. McCarthy

Back in the summer of 1986, Ed Callahanand his wife Cindy sought a relaxing envi-ronment in which to retire from a busy

medical practice in cosmopolitan San Fran-cisco. They purchased a 35-acre ranch ofrolling hills half way between Bodega Bay andPetaluma in Sonoma County, California. Asthe pasturegrass grewtall and lush,their nextpurchase was

one ram and 15 ewes to keepthe grass in check. The flocksoon multiplied to the extentthat the Callahans began sell-ing the young lamb to fine

restaurants including Chez Panisse in the BayArea.

Liam Callahan CdeP 1984 was studying po-litical economics at Cal Berkeley when his folksretired to their ranch. During Thanksgivingand Christmas breaks, he’d come home to helptend the flock. The Callahan family’s initial in-terest in milking their sheep was sparked whena friend mentioned that the best yogurt in theworld is made from sheep milk. Their early re-search revealed that many well known cheeseswere made of sheep milk–in fact, Ed Calla-han’s favorite cheese, Roquefort, is made ex-clusively from sheep milk. Since all of theCallahans were big cheese fans, Cindy dustedoff an old cook book and experimented withmaking sheep cheese as a means of using theexcess milk produced by their small flock ofsheep. By all accounts, the first cheese was hardto stomach, Liam recalls. “It tasted terrible ifyou could get beyond the smell.” Not an aus-picious beginning, but so began the Callahans’journey into the American revival of artisancheese making.

In 1990, Bellwether Farms began milking itsflock. The name ‘Bellwether’ was taken from a

traditional shepherding term. When sheep arekept in open pasture, it can be difficult to lo-cate them as they are constantly on the movegrazing. A neutered male sheep or ‘wether’ waskept with the flock because he would assume aleadership position yet not breed the sheep outof season. A bell around his neck helped the

farmer locate the flock. In modern Eng-lish, a bellwether is someone or some-thing that leads or initiates; this is anapt definition since the Callahans’ op-eration was the first sheep dairy in Cal-ifornia and one of the first handful inthe US. It has developed a followingthroughout the nation.

Although the United States and Canadaimport more than 100 million poundsof sheep cheese annually, sheep dairy-ing is virtually nonexistent in thesecountries. Now numbering fewer than100, most American sheep dairies pro-duce cheese, with a few making icecream and yogurt. Since so few dairiesexist in the US, little tradition or ex-

pertise is available in the art of cheese making;those starting a dairy are typically self-taught.In the Callahans’ case, Liam took courses inbiology and cheese making, read extensively,resorted to trial and error, and took severalEuropean trips to learn the traditional, hand-made techniques from artisans whose craft hasbeen passed down for centuries.

One of the oldest foods in the world, cheesewas first made by nomadic people who prizedtheir limited supply of milk (probably fromsheep) for its nutritional value. According tolore, someone tried to store or transport freshmilk in a water bag made from an animal’sstomach. When the milk was needed, enzymesin the stomach had curdled it. These early, ac-cidental cheese makers were delighted to findthat once they had separated the solids (curds)from the liquid (whey), the milk, now in theform of cheese, would last for a very long time.And, when salt was added, it lasted even longerand tasted even better. Milk, a nearly perfectsource of nutrients, became even more valu-able in its altered state when it was preservedand available throughout most of the year.

The Callahans have taken three ‘cheese re-search’ trips to northern Italy, the last of whichincluded Liam’s bride, Diana Lewis CdeP1984. “We didn’t know if they would perceiveus as competitors and not talk to us,” Cindyremembers. “But I guess we weren’t threaten-

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ing to them. The cheese makers there showedus everything. We spoke very little Italian, butalways managed to communicate.” Theylearned enough to make a decent imitation ofa Pecorino Toscano, a hard cheese with a but-tery, nutty, fruity flavor. With experience camethe desire to develop their own recipe in orderto make a cheese which better expressed thequalities of their milk. Bellwether Farms’ agedsheep milk cheeses are made from raw milk.That allows the flavors produced by theirunique combination of climate, soil, animals,and cheese-making methods to figure promi-nently in their product. The French word forthis is “terroir”; Liam works with the quali-ties inherent in his sheep milk to produce acheese with flavors attainable only on his farm.In the mid-1990s they branched into producingcow’s milk cheeses, utilizing the milk from aneighbor’s herd of Jersey cows.

At its most basic, cheese making is simply theprocess of removing moisture from milk andcapturing the solids. Depending on the type ofcheese, it takes from five to ten pounds of milkto produce one pound of cheese. Althoughcheese varies dramatically in texture, flavor,aroma, and nutrient content, all forms followthe same basic processing stages. After milk isassessed as free of antibiotics or harmful agentsthat would affect the process, the milk (eitherpasteurized or raw) is held at a given temper-ature called for by the recipe. Special startercultures are then added to the warm milk;

these change the milk sugar (lactose) into lac-tic acid. This fermentation is critical to theprocess, and controlling the rate of fermenta-tion is one of the cheese maker’s main tools.Rennet (extract from a ruminant’s stomach lin-ing, but also available in a vegetarian form) isadded to the milk; this enzyme affects the pro-tein in the milk, causing it to precipitate out ofsolution and soon a curd is produced. At thispoint the milk is solid and it looks and feels abit like thick custard. This curd is cut intosmall cubes thereby starting the process of re-moving whey (mostly water) from the curd.Generally, by cutting the pieces smaller, acheese maker can produce a firmer cheese, orby leaving them larger a softer cheese. Addi-

tionally, various techniques are used to affectthe rate of moisture loss from the curd andcontrol the fermentation that is occurring si-multaneously. Once the curds are the right sizeand moisture content, they are put into cheesemolds that help to form them into wheels orblocks. The story does not end here, becausedepending on the length of ripening and thetemperature and humidity of the ripeningroom, many different cheeses could still be pro-duced from the same batch of curd. It is amaz-ing to think that almost every cheese isproduced using the same four ingredients:milk, enzymes, bacteria, and salt.

Employing milk from different species ofmammals affects the qualities of the cheese aswell. Around the world, cheese is made fromthe milk of not only cows, sheep, and goats,but also yak, water buffalo, camel, horse, andprobably others mammals as well. The num-bers below give an indication of the wide vari-ation found in the milks of different species.Even within a given species, milk can varygreatly depending on breed, season, feed, tem-perature, and health of the animal.

Animal Fat Protein Milk Sugar MineralsCow 3.8% 3.0% 4.8% 0.75%Sheep 9.0% 4.6% 4.7% 1.00%Goat 6.0% 3.3% 4.6% 0.84%

The Callahans presently make San Andreas(named after the nearby earthquake fault), a

classic sheep milk cheese witha smooth and nutty flavor thatis one of Liam’s original cheeses.They also make Pepato that isaged for two to three monthsand contains whole pepper-corns throughout the mounds.Their cow milk cheeses are Car-mody (this Blue Ribbon Winnerat the LA County Fair has asmooth texture with a butteryflavor) and Crescenza (a tradi-tional Italian soft-ripened cheesethat is extra creamy with a rich,slightly tart flavor). Bellwetheralso makes some fresh cheesesthat are not aged: traditionalfromage blanc (a low-fat tangy,spreadable alternative to cream

cheese and chevre), ricotta (a sweet and lightcheese from the whey of Jersey cows that’s a farcry better than the supermarket variety), andCrème Fraiche (the French classic culturedcream that chefs use in place of sour cream be-cause it never curdles). These cheeses and recipesusing various Bellwether products are avail-able on line at www.bellwethercheese.com orthrough some specialty grocers.

Bellwether is a classic family business requiringlong hours, help from all members, and vari-ous hats worn by one and all. The cow milkproducts are made year round, but during theeight-month sheep lambing and milking sea-son, the family often works over 12 hours a

day as two milkings per day are squeezedaround an already full schedule. Liam man-ages the dairy and makes all the cheese. Cindytends the flock—especially during lambing sea-son—and helps in making the cheese and putstogether the weekly orders. Liam’s brother,Brett, helps Cynthia with flock maintenanceand deliveries. Finally, Diana tends the books,does the marketing (sales calls and web sitemanagement and orders), and watches overtheir two-year-old son, Connor.

Although Diana and Liam were classmates atThacher, they had only one history class to-gether. From Thacher, they matriculated to op-posite ends of California (Berkeley for Liamand Irvine for Diana) and then started theircareers: Diana as a paralegal for a law firm inNewport Beach while Liam fell into the familybusiness. They reconnected in 1994 whenclassmate Launce Gamble married in San Fran-cisco and Liam served as one of the ushers. Ayear later, Diana moved north to work as aparalegal for a San Rafael law firm; the fol-lowing year they married.

The future looks bright as the demand for theircheeses has continued to grow. Bellwether’scheeses are used by many of the finest restau-rants throughout the country and have beenmentioned in Martha Stewart Living, SunsetMagazine, Williams Sonoma, Fine Cooking,Wine Spectator, The New York Times, andother gourmet food magazines.

According to Liam, the key to their successhad been that “people in the US are discover-ing just how satisfying the flavors of a wellmade cheese are. Also, they are happy to knowthat there is still food out there made by a fam-ily in the old-fashioned way.” If they ever findthe time the family hopes to one day have aretail outlet on the farm so that those whohave enjoyed their cheeses will be able to comeand see where they are made. e

An array of Bellwether Farms sheep cheese products

Madeleine A. McQuillan CdeP 2002Binding Books Beautifully by Zoë S. Towns CdeP 2002

Madeleine McQuillan has been working onher craft as a bookbinder for many yearsnow. While attending Thacher, she re-

searched and practiced the art in two seasonsof independent study, each ending with an ex-hibition of her work.

Maddy grew up in an environment concernedwith art as it related to function. She wasraised in her parents’ textile shop where beau-tiful sheets of patterned linen intended for cur-tains and upholstery hung from walls and

stretched across hugesilkscreening tables.Maddy learned how tobind books from hermother, who made herown big, simple booksto display her designs.In her creations,Maddy has alwaystended towardssmaller books, experi-menting with intricatesewing patterns andfolds. While hermother’s books wereintended for morepractical use, Maddy’swere always left tostand as art alone. Shehas, for the most part,left her books empty.

However, the same way in which a good ar-chitect must first appreciate a home to build ahouse, Maddy’s gift for bookbinding at leastpartly stems from a lifelong romance withwords. She binds books in the same fashionshe writes: with preparation, study, carefulconstruction, quiet creativity, and a perfec-tionist’s finish.

Of her interest, Maddy says, “I think the mainreason I love [bookbinding and printing] somuch is because I like the kind of stuffy, old-fashioned feel of lead type and presses, and Ilove old books.” Maddy did her freshman yearI-Search project on book restoration and shebegan to focus seriously on book binding inher second summer at Thacher. She read bookson Japanese bookbinding styles and used thepapers and patterns she liked to practice in herparents’ shop. That same year during thespring season she did an independent study inbookbinding. I can remember my junior year,when I spent most of my time in her room,maneuvering around cutting boards, string,and rolls of paper while Maddy leafed through

design books and labored over tiny details: an-gles and lines, careful folds, and no glue show-ing. Maddy helped me make a small book formy mother that year, and I was struck by hermanner in her art room element. I had alwaysknown Maddy as a reader and a speaker, anobsessive movie watcher and critic, but I hadnever seen her occupied with her hands in suchan honest, artistic fashion. Not being overlyneat or particularly patient in other areas ofher life, I was surprised to find Maddy so ca-pable of an art that demanded such qualities.

In her senior year, Maddy applied for anotherindependent in bookbinding, this time with afocus on printing. She named her own pub-lishing company Quill Press and printed thelogo on all of her subsequent books. She col-laborated with artists and poets at Thacherand produced several poetry books and onebook of block prints. This study allowed herthe opportunity to focus not just on the paperand binding but also on the lettering and con-tent of her books. This past summer Maddybecame acquainted with large-scale printingpresses, a hand-operated rolling press, and amechanical Heidelberg.

Maddy started school last fall at Brown Uni-versity, a fitting choice for many reasons, andnot least for its classes in book arts. This se-mester she is taking an art class from Walter

Feldman, a well-known bookmakerand artist, and sheplans to study moreabout binding and pa-permaking at school.She doubts her art willevolve into a career,but she does hope todevote more time,study, and practice toher passion.

Although this quietercraft may be placed to

the side when she writes her novel or directsher first film, I feel certain the combination ofpurpose and aesthetic Maddy found in book-binding will remain a template for, and a re-flection of, all her creations. e

Profile


This is one of Maddy’slarger books


nearly completed the second cycle of the historicstained glass in the Bay Area: preserving theoriginal glass which is nearly impervious todecay, and replacing the lead framework withstrict adherence to the original maker’s design.They have given this heritage another 100 yearsof brilliance. “The United Stained Glass Co.built and installed much of the glass art here;Reflection Studios has now restored most ofit. What a privilege that has been.” e

Allen Draggecontinued from page 29

phase of the Portman Hotel construction proj-ect being built adjacent to the natatoriumwould compromise the integrity of the glassdomes. Allen reiterated that age was in fact theculprit and advised the Club that while theglass was removed to protect it during con-struction a full restoration was due. Bothdomes would consequently have to be com-pletely removed, panel by panel, crated, andtransported to the studio, disassembled,cleaned, rebuilt in new lead came, adequatelyreinforced with a seismic-restraint system Allenhad developed, and then reinstalled. “This be-came the watershed project that put ReflectionStudios in play for other large scale work”,says Allen.

Of course, once again, the Olympic Club didnot want to lose the use of their pool. Unlikethe first repair project, this time around thejob called for working beneath the glass as wellas above. So Allen designed what he refers toas “soft scaffolding”: two layers of custommade tarps that were suspended directly be-neath the 40-foot oval leaded-glass ceilings.The top ones were a series of verticallyswagged “platforms” which were used as thescaffolding. A second tarp replete with theClub’s winged “O” logo was hung below thefirst. This one was tight fitting to the oval andwas designed to catch debris and to provide aredundant safety barrier for the craftsmen andthe swimmers.

The individual sections of the domes were dis-assembled and the panels taken across the bayto Emeryville where the “discovery phase”began. Photos were taken and a cartoon ofeach lead line and each pane of glass was drawn.The technique is to lay a glass panel on a flatsurface; then, paper is placed on top of thepanel, and a tracing is produced by rubbingcarbon stone over the raised lead came to pro-duce a pattern. The result is the paper templateor “cartoon.” This process is repeated on acid-free velum used for archival documentation.The original paper template is laid on the work-bench and each piece of glass is then removedfrom the lead frame, cleaned, and situated onthe proper space of the template. The result isjigsaw like reproduction of the panel withoutthe lead came. The final step is to replace thelead came, carefully reproducing all the nu-ances of the original line work.

The several hundred panels were transportedback to the Olympic Club, reinstalled in the“T” bar frame, and secured by a novel andproprietary earthquake-restraint system (ERS)developed by Allen. “Essentially, I used a 1/16-inch cable threaded through the leaded glassand a two-holed washer to strategically hangthe dome. We eventually replaced the washerswith drilled pennies to visually blend into thelead came. And for this the project architects

thought it best we ask the Treasury Depart-ment for approval to deface the coins. Theylaughed.”

The ongoing restoration project for San Fran-cisco landmark Grace Cathedral’s 93 windowsand 7,290 square feet of glass is another no-table milestone for Allen’s studio. This monu-mental task came about after an epic 1995windstorm blew out 17 plate glass windowsfrom a nearby apartment building, showeringthe fragments on the Cathedral with hurricaneforce. Allen surveyed the extensive damage tothe Charles Connick, Jr. windows and advisedthe Church that all of the 1931 and 1946 win-dows were in an advanced state of deteriora-tion. It was during the course of thisrestoration that Allen and his staff not onlylearned from but also shed new light on Con-nick, a practitioner of medieval techniques andan opponent of the Victorian, opalescent styleof Tiffany and La Farge. Connick is known fordeveloping brilliantly colored transparent glassand an almost impressionistic style of paint-ing. His blue, known as Connick Blue, isprominent in Grace because Connick wantedto emphasize the cooler qualities and to cre-ate a quiet place of meditation and prayer.“With these windows, virtually every tech-nique stained glass artists are aware of wasused and more were discovered”, says Allen.“Our challenge was to acquire or create thematerials and techniques used by the originalartist and to treat them in a style consistent tothe original.”

Allen characterizes the Grace restoration workas one of trial and error. The Studios’ paintershad to match “the hand” of the original artistas well as color and design. The length of thebrush strokes was as important as the color.After a piece of glass intended to replace one ofthe shattered original panes was painted andfired, Reflection’s artists would compare anddiscuss that piece to the fragments of the orig-inal, and if the consensus found any variationfrom the original, it would be redone. The rig-orous attention to detail, very quickly taughtthe Studio artists how to work in the style ofConnick and his artists. Once the Connicktechnique was mastered, the new glass paintedand baked, and combined with the cleaned,old glass, the panels were reassembled using avariety of came widths to reproduce the Con-nick style. Ever the student, Allen reminisces,“You don’t get a lot of opportunities to workat such a high level of apprenticeship withgreat artists. Even if the original artist is nolonger available, his work is there to learnfrom. We respect not only the era, but also theconsistency of the piece. First, we fundamen-tally respect and conserve the original artist’swork and, second, we reconstruct the piece tobe a viable part of the building fabric. Alongthe way, we expand our own repertoire oftechnique.”

During the last 30 years, Allen Dragge and hisReflection Studios’ artists and craftspeople have

Don Reedcontinued from page 31

Mulligan with a flattened toad paperweight.“When Anson made a point, it was often withhumor and the not so obvious. I really likedMr. Thacher and I really liked his squashedtoad—the seagull on the ranch wagon wasn’tso bad either,” recalls Don.

Don’s favorite pastimes now are flying high-performance sailplanes and single-engine am-phibious aircraft. He still plays a littleguitar—”hard to do when you don’t have asense of rhythm.” Don’s wife knows that helikes to paint but refuses to encourage him.Don is hoping to improve his clay-bird shoot-ing; he and his classmates did pretty well inthe 2002 alumni shootout in June.

Thacher gives so much to the student, and Donconsiders the experience and the friends he hasfrom his days at Thacher to be the most en-during influences on his life. Like Anson’s flat-tened toad, Don has been elevated out of thedust and inflated—“but hopefully not too in-flated; I guess that’s the lesson.” e

H. Boyd Manson and John BuetiWorking Wonders with Wood by Jane D. McCarthy

Thacher offers an array of Visual and Per-forming Arts courses throughout the stu-dents’ tenure. Beginning in the freshman

year, students are introduced to two- and three-dimensional art (painting and ceramics, re-spectively), music, and acting during a one-yearIntroduction to the Arts course. For many, thissparks an interest or talent that can be furtherenhanced during a second year of art in a spe-cific area. This second year, which the Univer-sity of California now requires for admission,further supports Thacher’s Mission to producewell-educated citizens who possess an under-standing and appreciation of the arts. In addi-tion, it develops talents for that small groupof students who may choose to enroll in pre-professional colleges geared to the arts.

Wood Design, one of the year-long offerings,introduces students to fine woodworking withan emphasis on furniture design and construc-tion. The course begins with a comprehensiveintroduction to the tools and techniques ofwoodworking. During the first semester, stu-dents produce several small projects while de-veloping their woodworking skills. They thendedicate their second semester to designing andconstructing a functional piece of furniture of

heirloom quality. “I want the students to de-velop an appreciation for all aspects of finewoodworking, but most importantly to un-derstand the high level of accuracy and crafts-manship that well-made furniture requires,”says Bo Manson, who has overseen the WoodShop for the last several years in addition todonning the hats of Casa Dormitory Head andEnglish instructor. “I hope that the studentswill learn skills that they could use profes-sionally someday.”

Thacher’s woodworking program received anadded benefit this year when John Bueti, fa-ther of Grace ’04 and Belle ’06, moved fromConcord, Massachusetts, to Ojai. Along withlots of hardwood and tools, John brought theknowledge, experience, and skills that he’shoned during the last three decades. In ex-change for space in the Royal Barney HoganShop, John offers his expertise to Thacher stu-dents and compliments Bo’s talents.

Between the two craftsmen all woodworkingtasks are covered. Bo grew up around wood-working in a home his father was constantlyrebuilding. Following college, he pursued a ca-reer in wooden boat building in San Diego,

CA, and Melbourne, Aus-tralia, before returning tograduate school andteaching. John began hiswoodworking careerbuilding houses on Nan-tucket Island. After com-pleting a two-year degreein woodworking at theNorth Bennett StreetSchool in Boston, MA, hestarted his own businessmaking custom furniture.“After twenty years ofwoodworking in NewEngland, I’m looking for-ward to reestablishing mybusiness here in Califor-nia,” John says.

Wood Design’s second se-mester projects begin onthe shop’s newly con-structed drafting tables,where the students learnto render their designs infull-scale. During this ini-tial stage, Bo and Johnwork with the students todetermine details of scale,

Profile


With Bo’s guidance, Carrie Blayney ’03 trims the legs for her coffee table


dimension, and joinery. From the drawingroom, they return to their workbenches withcompleted cutting lists in hand ready to beginthe lengthy process of handcrafting their finalprojects. Some of this year’s projects include acurly maple bench with hand-cut moldings andbeadwork; a modern, sculpted chair made ofwalnut; Arts and Crafts-style dining chair andcoffee table in quarter-sawn oak; and a cherrycoffee table with maple veneer. These and therest of the students’ final projects will be ondisplay in the Brody Gallery in May.

Beyond working with the students, Bo andJohn continue to create pieces of their own.John designed their first project together, anArts and Crafts library table in curly cherry.After being sold at last spring’s Parents Auc-tion, its new owner generously donated thetable back to Thacher’s library where it com-pliments the Arts and Crafts decor of the

building’s original wing. Also last spring, Bodesigned and completed a glass-topped gamestable for the Head’s home. The table includesfour removable panels on which consecutivesenior classes will leave their carved initials.This year’s projects include a new speaker’spodium of Bo’s design. In the future, the twowoodworkers hope to include several designsin the new Student Commons such as a con-ference table and display cabinets for studentart and trophies. e

of recording and touring with Elton John. Al-though they hadn’t seen much of each othersince Thacher, their friendship picked up whereit had left off during a day of hiking and fish-ing on the Navarro River. James was impressedwith Peter’s work and generously offered toopen some doors for him in the music world,including contacts for Melissa Manchester(won a 1982 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Fe-male Performer) and Riki Lee Jones whobought Peter’s second guitar. The third waspurchased by Steve Lukather, one of TOTO’sguitarists who won five Grammy Awards in1982. Peter’s career as a luthier had begun.When asked why Peter’s guitars are so special,James quickly responds: “Peter has a gift, anatural knack for working with wood. I wasshocked at how incredibly good the soundwas, even from his first guitar.” James wenton to say that another reason Peter has done sowell is that he is “tremendously personable andsensitive to the needs of musicians. He listensintently to what a musician wants from the in-strument; he’ll work with the musician andtweak the guitar until it has the exact tone themusician wants.”

These sentiments echo the comments of oth-ers when asked about Peter. Upon his admis-sion interview to Thacher, Jack Huyler’simpression was “gentle, kind, affable, and funloving.” And, his older brother Allen who pre-ceded him at Thacher by three years, said,“Peter is one of the nicest people I have everknown. Even when he was little, he caredabout others and animals.” Beyond that, Allenbelieves Peter’s success comes from the com-bination of personal attributes and work ethos:“He has an intuitive relationship with wood,but he is very persnickety and focused on thedetails of his work. After finishing a produc-tion step, he’ll go over it with a magnifyingglass; if he finds even a slight imperfection,he’ll take it apart and redo that step until it’sperfect. That’s probably why his guitars soundso good.”

Finally, Peter’s guitars are truly works of art.The woods, craftsmanship, and design are phe-nomenal, even before a chord is strummed.He’s made quite a name for himself, particu-larly with studio musicians on the West Coastas well as Nashville; however, anyone who seesone of his guitars won’t soon forget how beau-tiful it is. Peter is truly an artisan, in every senseof the word. e

Brazilian Rosewood in the thousands of dollarsthis process is no longer viable for Peter. Asthe result of destroying a few such sets, he builta contraption that keeps the wood sandwichedbetween two very thin pieces of stainless steelwhile it is heated by three 200-watt light bulbswithin a guitar-shaped form. As the wood isheated it becomes malleable enough to be ma-nipulated into position, thereby making one ofthe most difficult steps of guitar constructionpossible without extensive headaches. After acertain amount of heating and applying justthe right amount of pressure Peter says, “youcan actually feel the wood relax and ease intoposition.” Peter then uses a guitar-shaped moldto keep the wood in place until it cools com-pletely and retains its shape.

The two sides are then trimmed to their finalshape and glued at each end with blocks ofmahogany, one of which will later be mortisedto receive the neck tennon when it is joined tothe body. At this time thin pieces of flexiblewood called kerfing are glued to the insideperimeter of the sides to provide additionalsupport for the top and back when they areglued together. Before they can be joined how-ever the edges of the sides must be milled toconform to the spherically-arched shape of thetop and back, as well as miniature mortises cutinto the kerfing wherever the braces penetrateit. This is also a very critical step as the in-tegrity of the entire structure as well its sonicresonance are at stake.

The shape and feel of the neck are critical tothe playability of the instrument since thehuman hand is extraordinarily sensitive tominute changes in dimensions and curvature.However, since every hand is different, this isanother chance for the builder to customize aninstrument for a particular player. The carv-ing of the heel and neck and the shaping andinlay of the peghead afford the luthier an op-portunity to further personalize the instrument.The fingerboard—made of ebony since it isharder, denser, and wears longer—is glued tothe neck, after which the final shaping is com-pleted. For steel-string guitars, it is typical forthe fingerboard to be arched. The frets, smallsteel bars which determine the scale length andnote intervals, are then hammered into narrowslots cut into the ebony. Finally, the instrumentis sanded, sealed, pore-filled, and sanded again.Then the lacquer finish is painstakingly appliedand cured, a process that can take from four tosix weeks to complete. The final step is to gluethe bridge to the top, install the tuning ma-chines, make the nut and saddle (pieces of boneor ivory that support the strings at each end).All that remains is to string it and pray.

Just as Peter was finishing his first guitar, hisThacher friend and classmate James NewtonHoward called and wanted to come visit theDragges to decompress from the frenetic pace

Peter Draggecontinued from page 29

John Bueti demonstrates the use of a biscuitjoiner to Ryan Church ’05

Technique and Meaning inthe Paintings of Paul GauguinThe Subtleties of Strokes by Jane D. McCarthy


Trav recalls, “I was seated next to a master-piece of Michelangelo Caravaggio [an Italianpainter in the late 1500s]. There’s nothing likelearning in the midst of some of the greatestworks in the world. I wouldn’t trade that ex-perience for anything.” While doing graduatework at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum in 1979-80, Trav studied an 1888 self-portrait of vanGogh that had been repaired. Through exten-sive study, he found the repair to be rather hap-hazardly done with a palette knife, not withthe meticulous brush strokes spiraling aroundhis head that van Gogh had painted. Upon fur-ther study, Trav and a colleague, Vojtêch Jirat-Wasiutynski (an art history professor atQueen’s University in Canada, specializing innineteenth century art) realized that the repairhad been done by Gauguin shortly after theylived and worked together in 1888 in Arles.Thus started the collaborative efforts of Jirat-Wasiutynski and Trav, whose backgrounds andinterests complement each other—as historianand conservator/ artist, respectively—andround out what’s known about Gauguin;they’ve been collaborating ever since on thelecture circuit and in writing about Gauguinand van Gogh.

Although many books and exhibitions havebeen devoted to post-Impressionist artists,Technique and Meaning includes original


“The beauty of art is the journeyon which it takes us.”

The painting that initiated Trav Newton’strek towards becoming a fine art conserva-tor and author, world-traveler and lecturer,

began while he was a student at Thacher. Heaccompanied his father to an exhibit at the LosAngeles County Museum of Art and caughthis first glimpse of Gauguin’s “Vision After theSermon, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.” Thebroad, flat area of bold solid red with figuresdistributed unconventionally and cut off thecanvas is a signature piece of Gauguin’s style.As the artist wrote to van Gogh just beforecoming to visit him in Arles, “I believe I haveachieved in these figures a great rustic andsuperstitious simplicity;” the painting, indeed,separates Gauguin radically from others at thetime. So intrigued was Trav by this painting

and what Gauguin wasportraying that heindependently re-searched the artist, hislifestyle and technique,along with his otherworks. He especiallyliked Gauguin’s ability“to push” the edge ofthe post-Impressioniststyle, more so thanother period artistssuch as van Gogh, Seu-rat, and Cezanne.

Trav’s intrigue withGauguin, combinedwith his interest in his-tory and his artisticability (both of whichearned him commen-

dation at Thacher, including the Darrah Cor-bett, Jr. Studio Prize for his painting andceramics work) were the basis of his careertrack. Even his advisor and art teacherEdgardo Catalan found characteristics in Travthat would later mesh with his career choice. Inan advisor letter to Trav’s parents, Edgardowrote that Trav was “the most creative boy ofthe last couple of years…he’s quite artistic andperceptive.”

Trav matriculated from Thacher to UC SantaCruz, where he studied art history (and studiedat UCLA and UC Davis, as well), before spe-cializing in painting restoration and techniquein Rome for six years. “From the very first dayof class at the Istituto del Restauro Rome,”

Bookshelf

By Vojtêch Jirat-Wasiutynski and H.TraversNewton, Jr. CdeP 1968; Cambridge UniversityPress, 2000, 286 pages; $75


thinking about how Gauguin’s unorthodoxtechniques and materials can be linked to thebold painting of early Renaissance frescos. Em-ploying chemical analysis of pigments, x-rays,infrared and ultraviolet light, and special tech-niques of photography, the authors analyze indetail the progressive layers of a few paintings.They correlate the type of canvas and its initialpreparation (or lack thereof), the priming, un-derpainting, or drawing, and the paint usedand how it’s appliedto the date and sub-ject of the paintingsand the artist’s writ-ten notes or accountsof those who knewthe artist. Theylearned that he devel-oped his own tech-nique that graduallyemphasized the matteand flat appearanceof his painted sur-faces. Instead of thechoppy brushstrokesof the Impressionists,he filled areas withrelatively flat anduniform color that“decorated” theworks. Like Renoirin the mid-1880s,Gauguin tried to imi-tate the effects of Re-naissance frescoes for their decorative and“primitive” qualities. This fresco appearancewas achieved by treating the canvas withchalky coatings—or grounds—that absorb oil

paint in order to produce a matte surface andalso by avoiding varnish that results in reflec-tive surfaces. He adopted Pissarro’s andDegas’s technique of using preliminary draw-ings for figures and painstakingly transferringthem to the prepared canvases.

Trav believes that if art students learned moreabout painting restoration, artists’ techniques,and the intent behind the painting, it will in-

crease their enjoyment ofpainting, whether as artistsor viewers. Stephen Carterhas incorporated some as-pects of Technique andMeaning into his Studio Artclass at Thacher. While teach-ing the class how to preparesupports and grounds fortheir oil paintings, they stud-ied Gauguin’s technique forpriming his canvas in orderto create his matte sheen.“The students were surprisedto learn,” Steve commented,“that in many cases Gau-guin’s paintings have subse-quently been varnished,which totally negates his in-tent.”

Although rather technical,this book validates that look-ing into the artists’ lives, ex-

amining their materials, methods, andtechniques, along with considering their intentare vital to appreciating art and to becomingmore capable artists. e

Gauguin’s “Vision After the Sermon, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel”

van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait Dedicated toPaul Gauguin” that spawned thepartnership between the book’s authors

Notesby Jane D. McCarthy

1930

Ken Rhodes came to the big bash on the Carpin-teria Bluffs overlooking the Pacific last spring.Due to the tireless efforts of his son, Ted CdeP1965, this rural area will forever be preserved “asnatural open space for future generations toenjoy.”

1940

Donald Allan observed his 80th year with a 26-mile bike ride in “vigorous opposition to warwith Iraq.”

1948

Chris Boyle and his wife, Mary Ella, celebratedtheir 50th reunions at Mt. Holyoke and Amherstrespectively, last June, as well as their 50th wed-ding anniversary with their entire family at a get-together in Whistler, BC, Canada, in August.

1950

Two 1950 Alumni and their wives had a mini-Reunion during Jesse Kahle’s 95th Birthday Cel-ebration: Bob and Alice Chesley with Walt andPatricia Foster.

1951

Edward M. Hamilton, Jr., reported that after 42years in Atherton, his family has “down-sized”and moved into a condo in Redwood City. Intheory, they can “just lock the door and take off”in their motor home for months at a time. “KeithVosburg would be proud.”

1954

“From famine to feast!” writes Ric Laurence. Heand Ann are now proud grandparents of twoboys and a girl born November 2001, January2002, and April 2002.


1957

It seems that Caroline and John Thacher’s clangets bigger—and more photogenic—every year!

1958

William Strong does a good deal of business inthe oil/gas countries up and down the ArabianGulf and finds most, if not all, quite pleasant.Oman reminds him of Arizona because the cli-mate and geography are so similar. “Though notexactly on the Arabian Gulf, Egypt, too, producesoil and gas,” Bill writes. “When the AmericanEmbassy in Cairo offered me an armored car andarmed driver to take me to my meetings, the mes-sage was clear. It is too unstable. Cairo is electricwith disenfranchised, angry Egyptian Moslemsand Moslems from other Middle Eastern coun-tries. It is a cauldron that can boil over at anytime. Needless to say, I am postponing future vis-its to Egypt indefinitely.”

1961

After 12 years of heading a private school nearAtlanta, John Meehl is now the new Headmasterof Cape Fear Academy, a school of 536 studentsin grades preK-12. His new address is 4704Wedgefield Dr, Wilmington, NC 28409; phone910-794-1421; and email: [email protected].

Class1963

In 2002, Dan E. Murphy III retired as a partnerfrom Barney & Barney Insurance Co. He is nowin his first year of law school.

1965

Carter Beise is returning to the US after 28 yearsabroad. He’s “looking forward to everything ex-cept tuna casserole.” His new address is PO Box1005, Wilson WY 83014 (email: [email protected])

Honorary member of the Class of 1965 anddaughter of emeritus faculty member Jack Huylerand his wife Margaret, Ruth Huyler Glass hasbeen appointed Head of School for the WesleySchool in North Hollywood, CA. The WesleySchool is a fully accredited, coeducational, inde-pendent day school for 200 students in gradeskindergarten through eight. Ruth will begin hernew job on July 1, 2003.

Ted Rhodes figureseverybody is prettytired of hearingabout Rhodes andthe CarpinteriaBluffs, but if youclick onto earth-island.com/bluffsyou’ll find speechesand photos of the big celebration last spring. Also,take note of the photo of Ted, Joni, and Rachelpleading for help now that son Jesse is driving.

The Chesleys and the Fosters

Alumni News

Jane andJohn Wheaton

Caroline and John Thacher’s family: Peter CdeP1984, Blake (20 mos.), Jane, Jack (31⁄2),Tom, John,Sarah (20 mos.), Caroline, RJ, Jacqueline (4mos.), Shelly, and Sherman.

Susan and Jim Acquistapace with daughtersAnna, Marian, and Caroline

1974

John Pickering’s son, Matthew, was born in Au-gust of 2001 and his first spoken word, accordingto his Chinese wife, was “horse” in Mandarin.Perhaps this obsession signals a bright future forMatthew in Ojai?

Louise and BryanBeckham continueto enjoy life in PasoRobles with theirdaughters Maggieand Annie.

1975

John Gates and his son Emmo passed their ChoPac tests in Soo Bahk Do karate in October. Johnwent pheasant hunting in England with ScottLeFevre in November. Susan and Scott’s childrenkeep on growing!


1967

Frank Tooby recently returned from a successfulsix-week journey to Australia.

1970

The entire clan convened for this year’s holidayphoto. Julie and Phil Angelides are pictured with

their daugh-ters: Megan,Chris t ina,and Ari-anna. Phil’soffice is try-ing to carvea night outof his busyschedule sothat he canshare with

the Thacher Community the inside scoop of whatit’s like to serve as California’s Treasurer.

Liz and NewieHastings spentsome time inAustralia withtheir two chil-dren: ShannonCdeP 1999 andJamie CdeP2002.

1976

Kate and John Rosen-blatt got all dolled upfor this photo.

Frank Bennett gave up on retirement and re-turned to work by joining Inphonic, Inc., a young(but profitable!) startup. Inphonic is an integratedwireless provider enabling custom branded ful-fillment for large channels from the Web (AOL,Yahoo, Lycos) to major retailers (Staples, Office-Max), to affiliated groups (Amway, NEA). Heserves as Chief Operating Officer for the 250 em-ployees; his office is located in Largo, MD.

Peter Morse just purchased a home in Mukwon-ago (Place of the Bear) big enough for twins(Jacob and Lucas, almost 21⁄2 years old) to ramblein. He’s teaching French to 5th-8th graders inBurlington, WI, and theatre courses at the Uni-versity of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and AlvernoCollege. “Go Toads!”

1977

Kate and Lexi,daughters of So-phie and KendricFoultz, are allsmiles in Santa Bar-bara, CA.

1978

M a r g a n n eWinter Oxleyand her hus-band David B.Oxley CdeP1979 are re-ally enjoyingbeing Thacherparents! Theirson Will W.

Oxley ’05 loves the School and the new FootballProgram as well as the ol’ Horse Program. “Ihighly recommend it for all Thacher alums—sendyour kids!”

Mary Paredes Karnes and her family watched thefinal girls’ basketball game. She loved seeing theSchool again and “all the Thacher spirit.”

NoriLivermorewith Mo,daughterWhitney ’04,and theirthree puppies:Chocolate,Chloe, andLindsey

Bob Johnsonwith wife Ali

and sons Mattand Nick

Kimberleigh andPaul Gavin withChloe and Claude

Dave Livermore with wifeRebecca and daughter

Jenn

Laura and Ned Banning

Charlie andAnnie, childrenof Susan andScott LeFevre

Louise,Thomas, and

Samuel,children of AnnHollingsworth

and HarryHanson

Vickie and CarlCostigan’s sons Robert

and Will

The Thacher News

1980

Jill Oxley Souto-Maior reports that she’s been inMiami for four years now. Their kids (Kristina, 9,and Austin, 7) don’t remember what it’s like towear jackets in the winter. Luiz loves his job soFlorida’s liable to be their home for a while. Ifyou’re in the area, they’d love to see you. P.S.“We see Kit Miller and Doug Smallwood andtheir families occasionally, but there are not a lotof other Thacher grads around!!”

Now in Loveland, CO, and specializing in equinephotography is none other than Cynthia Hunter.She’s also engaged and a “step-mom” to threeteenage boys; the youngest will apply to Thacherfor Fall 2004! Tracey Stevenson Garret, Jill OxleySouto-Maior, and Cynthia are planning to ren-dezvous in Jackson Hole this year.

1981

When Deborah Taylor McAtee isn’t planning andgetting entitlements for a new town center in BigSky, MT, she’s home-schooling four kids and lov-ing it.

Ken Chance and his family are finishing their firstof three years in Naples, Italy. Don’t hesitate tolook them up if you’re in their neck of the woods!

After a decadeplus of flyingF-16’s and thel ike from abase in Fres-no, Tony andMary EverettBourke are

moving their brood to Ross in Marin County (northof San Francisco) in June.

1982

June 2002 landed a great 20th Reunion for the classof 1982, as half the class returned to the Ojai.Familiar faces and voices blurred with changinghairlines at the Robbies’ barbecue and in the verylate nights around the fire on the Hill. Saturdaymorning some 20 horses were saddled up for theclass ride to Thacher meadow and over to theGymkhana Field, bringing us back. Honestly,though, mixing it up on the soccer field with theclasses of ’92 and ’97 reminded how far we’dcome. Stanley Chiu has managed to uproot fromthe snowdrifts of Minnesota (what’s a SoCal surferdoing there anyway?) and begin his life as an ar-chitect-father in Venice, CA. Sorry, Stan, we allwant to know how does one find time to surf withthese occupations? Jill Stevenson came from Boiseto share her good spirit and banter. Must be some-thing about the northern air that is more agreeablethan the LA city living. Geoff Lipman topped allcomers with the most outlandinsh long hairstyle,which must be some kind of a reflection of life inNYC (Brooklyn actually). Or was it just a re-minder of his innate unpredictability? Lips is har-monizing music electronics when he’s not sprint-ing on the soccer field. The group gave a hugethumbs-up to the idea of traveling to Hawaii tovisit Kelly Maloney Fabyonic; and she did notdiscourage talk of a 22.5 reunion in the earlymonths of 2005 on the big island. After 20 years,you just know where Mark Cameron stands: hishome is in San Luis Obispo and he’s done moredaring fire responses than any Toad we know. So-phie Julien was gracious at the mike and spoke forthe class, reminding us what a rare time the Ojaiwas and remains in our lives. With a tow-headeddaughter beaming in her company, life in SF agreeswith Soph more than NYC. Phoebe Twichell Pe-terson is happily juggling painting and motherhoodin Virginia. No doubt, the award for furthest afieldin search of opportunity goes to John Davies, whohas lived in Azerbaijan, Russia, Alaska and nowChina. Think about doing that. John Herzog is stillthe fastest right wing in Toad soccer history thatany of us could remember. It turns out there aregood reasons to manage an athletic club in SantaBarbara. Surely among the longest business part-nerships between two Toads, Doug Francis andBrian Kopperl continue to manage Pegasus In-vestments in Boston nine years later. Like many ofthe class, Doug had tales of his sweetheart daugh-ters Julia and Olivia to share, while Brian was abit more focused on river kayak trips and whatmoving into an old house in Cambridge feels like.Hunter Hollins traveled from D.C. to the Ojaiaccompanied by his now newlywed bride Chris-tine. Apparently, a good deal can happen betweena June in Ojai and a November in Virginia! InMarch Belinda Hanson helped host a party at theCalhouns’ home in San Francisco to celebrate the25th Anniversary of CdeP’s coeducation. DrewHorton has spiritedly transitioned from the mo-bile life in film production to hosting at BeckmenVineyards in Los Olivos, which suits his outgoingways to a T. Perry Noble and Alex Koo vied forfurthest to travel back: Perry from Down Under andAlex from his native Malaysia. Perry would haveto be psyched if we said that they also vied for best-looking in the saddle 20 years later, as Alex retainspretty graceful form on horseback. But we all hadfun riding up the steep trails without falling off.Gayle Heirshberg and Sam Kirkeby both continueto live very near each other and see one anotheroften in LA, whenever Sam’s back from the filmproduction world. Alison Terbell Nikitopouloscame from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where shealso juggles motherhood and professorship.

1979

Dave Heard and family justmoved from Sao Paulo, Brazilto Santiago, Chile: “Remindsus a lot of California. Pickedup snowboarding this winter,with great slopes only 90 min-utes away. The coast is also anhour away, but the water is a

little cool compared to the Brazilian coastline.From our living room window we have a greatview of El Plomo, a 5,300-meter Andean peak.Haven’t tried to climb it yet. We can’t believe howlucky we are to have landed in such a beautifulplace after six years in Sao Paulo’s concrete jun-gle. Andre, our oldest, is 12 years old, and Camilais 9. They’re both bilingual English/Portuguese,and picking up Spanish quickly. They haveadapted to Chile very quickly, and will most likelycontinue in the Heard globetrotting tradition. Mywife, Julieta, got a job within one month of ar-rival, at the Fulbright Commission, where she isa program officer helping Chileans who have wonFulbright Scholarships gain admission to univer-sities in the US.” Finally, Dave just completed 15years with AIG, and is now general manager ofthe Chilean subsidiary.

Kathelee Banister is now a Doctor of OrientalMedicine, practicing Chinese Herbal Prescription,Acupuncture, Chinese Nutrition, and still usingExercise Physiology for physical rehabilitation.

Adriana Schwartz Gores really enjoyed her visitto Thacher in early November at her daughter

Elisa’s high school ad-missions day. Her fa-vorite parts of the daywere seeing familiarteacher faces and meet-ing new faculty andstudents. “What atreat to be back oncampus while school isin session!”

Caitlin, Casey, and Molly—children of Michelle and

Will Wyman

Harry IV and Donald,sons of Brooke and

Peter Conkey

Gathering in the lobby of the Connaught Hotelin London, England, in September 2002 areLeslie and Paul Manning, Natasha Long CdeP1991, Cricket and Terry Twichell, Erik and FionaLandsness CdeP 1988, and Mark Leydecker

David andChristine

LeydeckerTroast withConrad and

Margaret


Susan Taylor Hance is living in Bozeman, MT,with husband Steve and his daugher Shelby andson Andrew, while Louise Rose Curcio camesouth from Lake Oswego, OR, having just re-cently moved there from southern California withher family. Louise is married with two boys(Michael, age 4, and Ryan, age 2). She and herfamily are in the process of job-hunting to relo-cate back to California. Louise has been homewith the boys for 2 years and is ready to return towork. Shawna Weseloh Biel lives in San Diego,has two kids, and has her own successful interiordesign business. Belinda Hanson and her husbandRob saw Shawna and Scott last summer for Rob’s40th birthday barn dance at Belinda’s Woodsidehome, up in Lassen at Shawna’s family’s cabin,and up on Orcas Island.

It didn’t take long for John Davies to leave forparts beyond our shores. He can now be reachedat 12, Academika Sakharova prospect, Suite 211,Moscow, 107078, Russian Federation;[email protected] or [email protected].

“I think this is aboutas close as I can cometo the timeless har-mony and peace oftwo old friends at a re-union,” wrote BrianKopperl of his buddiesJohn Herzog and JillSt. Helens Stevenson,pictured in the LosPadres courtyard.

As of Feb. 22, Stacey and Tom Saidy are theproud parents of a daughter, Margaux. And thefirst stuffed animal in the hospital room? Whatelse…a toad.

1983

Katie Ballou Calhoun took time out of her vol-unteer life as President of a San Francisco Chil-dren’s Charity (where she headed up a successfulcampaign that brought in $500,000 for the sec-ond year) to enjoy a great week at Golden Troutthis past summer. Now she’s shifting gears toserve as President and CEO of Calhoun &Schwartz Communications, a PR firm that spe-cializes in wine and spirits brands. She’s takingreferrals…

Tyler and Dilys Bart Sheltonare enjoying their new littlegirl, Elizabeth. Dilys is an oph-thalmologist in San Francisco.

Everything is coming uproses for Camelia and Vio-let, daughters of Carolineand Bruce Somers.

“Three kids, two dogs, building a new house,going broke, going crazy,” reports Jake Cun-ningham who is happy and healthy in upstateNew York (a quick and beautiful train ride fromNYC). Come and visit and meet ColemanGrayling Cunningham who was born June 4.

Bob Henshel and Randy Bessolo, basketballteammates at Thacher, teamed up again inChicago in 2001-2002 to coach the Illinois War-riors 14-and-Under AAU team. The Warriorswon the Illinois State AAU Championship andcaptured eighth place at the AAU NationalChampionships in Orlando, FL.

Frederick and Samuel Rich-ardson are giving their parents,

Janie Carrolland WestonRichardsonCdeP 1980, arun for theirmoney!

What cute bucka-roos! Jordan andEvan Perry (daugh-ters of DerickPerry and MollyTwichell PerryCdeP 1985) andGus Van Newkirk(son of John andEve Stacey Van

Newkirk) intersected in Alta, WY, last summer.

Even thoughshe’s spendingmore time oncampus in sup-port of TheCampaign forThacher, EmilyWi l l i a m s o nHancock, herhusband Hen-ry, and theirthree children(Charles, Sarah, and Eleanor) found time to hikenear Mammoth Lakes last summer.

1984

Kyhm Penfil has been elected to the partnership atthe law firm of Irell & Manella LLP, focusing oncomplex litigation, including intellectual prop-erty and art-related litigation. She lives in New-port Beach, CA.

Due to previous knee problems, Alison Fielddidn’t think she would ever run a marathon. Butin August she climbed Mt Kilimanjaro withoutpain on the descent, thereby figuring that shecould be a smarter runner in her thirties thanwhen she started having knee pain. Alison is nowpart of a charity marathon team, benefiting pedi-atric health care and research at Children’s Hos-pital Boston; truly a win-win situation for all.

“Her name is SamanthaClaire Willson; we will callher Sam,” writes Rod andKathryn Riddell Willson oftheir second daughter whoarrived on February 24.“She looks just like her bigsister Jenn did at this age—perfectly amazing. We are allvery excited to have her jointhe family.”

1985

Eric Gross tied the knot with Carmen Zuniga inthe Santa Cruz Mountains on July 28. MorganSmith, Bill Fellows, Molly and Derick Perry CdeP1983, and Paul Gutierrez enjoyed the festivities,before the newlyweds left to honeymoon in theHawaiian Islands.

Jenny and Thatcher Brown have their hands fullwith the wonders of parenting. Their four-month-old daughter, Hollis, is making a fast friendshipwith five-month-old Jacqueline “Jackie O,”daughter of Celia and Peter Kong. Rumor has itthat they have been seen together in The Fair-mont San Francisco’s Tonga Room drinking vir-gin Mai Tai’s.

The Illinois Warriors with coaches Bob Hensheland Randy Bessolo

Stacy and MichaelKong with children

Phoebe, Isabella,and Tessa

Gus and Jesse, sonsof John and Eve

Stacey Van Newkirk

Sibyll andRodrigo Catalán

with childrenNicholas and

Sophia

David Chao andAmanda Minami with

sons David (6) andLukas (3)

The Thacher News

1988

Elizabeth McLaren became Mrs. Ethan Levi onAugust 18, 2002, in the Crystal Springs Rhodo-dendron Gardens in Portland, OR. Five otherThacher graduates were in attendance, includingElizabeth’s father, John McLaren CdeP 1952; hersister, Jessica McLaren CdeP 1992; Bruce OxleyCdeP 1954, and Elizabeth’s classmates ElizabethReynolds Mahoney and Emily Loomis Murphey.Jessica McLaren was a bridal attendant for theceremony on a warm, sunny afternoon. Bothnewlyweds are public defenders in the Portlandarea. They saw more of the Oxley clan—includ-ing Rachel CdeP 1989, David CdeP 1979,Margeanne CdeP 1978, and Will ’05—when theyhoneymooned in Ashland.

1989

Joanne Hughes is spending this year in a remotecorner of Washington State, doing comparativeorthopedics research in preparation for a surgeryresidency. She writes, “Good thing I’m so busyat work, as you can only spend so much timewatching wheat grow!” Feel free to break the mo-notony by sending emails to Joanne [email protected].

Melissa and MarcGanzi were thefirst husband andwife combinationto win the USPABronze Cup in thetournament’s 72-year history. It isone of the oldesttrophies in USpolo and it is themost competitivepolo tournament

of the year based on number of entries. TheBronze Cup is the third most important trophy inUS polo behind the US Open and the USPA GoldCup. Pictured here is Marc’s team: his wifeMelissa, Dale Schwetz (Wellington, FL), JuanBollini (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Marc.

The big news for Cathy Ruhl is the arrival ofBridget Adelle Kemp in January 2002; her folkshave been trying (unsuccessfully) to catch up ontheir sleep ever since. They’re having a great time,though, and little Bridget has already been snowshoeing at Mammoth, backpacking in the RockyMountains, and, of course, exploring the Sacra-mento environs.

Future ThacherStudents? RachelOxley-Eaton andShell DuncanGrimes enjoyedthe ranch settingof Chad andRachel’s propertyin Oregon withtheir babies: Tay-lor Eaton and

Duncan Grimes. Rachel and Shell had plenty oftime to catch up and remember all the good timesat Thacher.

Connie Arbogast and David Lindsay are back ingood old Saugus, CA, where they teach at thesame school and their two little guys (John andNathan) also attend. As Connie says, “It is prettywonderful having the whole family in oneplace.” They would love to hear from you:[email protected]

Jen and Rob Morrill have a wonderful baby boynamed Ronan who arrived last June.

1990

Christian and Kina Gibbs Kreer are the proudparents of Jonas, who will turn two this Septem-ber; they should be in their new home in Napa bythen. [email protected].

Sadie Harrison-Fincher is still in law school butthe end is in sight. Last year she joined the law re-view and is serving as the comment editor on thisyear’s volume. Other than that, she’s just enjoyinglife with her husband, Allyn, in Texas.

As of January 9, FionaCarter McLaughlin has anew sister: Amalia (akaMolly). The very happyparents are Mike and Chris-tine Carter McLaughlinwho named their daughterafter a great-great-aunt andgreat-grandmother.

Ceri and David Van Slyke will leave Rochesterafter Ceri graduates: “Destination not known yet,though I do miss you all” at Thacher.

Jennifer Utman Sommers gave birth to daughterTalia on August 2, 2002.

Rie Reniers married Toby Maitland-Lewis onSeptember 1, 2002. They live in Oakland as theyhave for a year or two.

When Win Burleson isn’t working on a doctorateon Creativity and Technology at the MIT MediaLab, he enjoys sailing, including a trip fromHawaii to Seattle on a Tall Ship last spring.

Monica Morse and JohnStacey are anxiously awaitingthe arrival of a sister orbrother for Piper who is al-most two.

1986

Mark Yeh finished a fellowship in MRI last Juneand joined a private practice radiology group inPomona, CA.

“Time to advance my career,” wrote NancyNichols. With two masters, she’s decided to leavethe high school classroom and enter a doctoralprogram in 20th century US history-fields: Chi-cano, race and ethnicity, and the West. She hopesto finish before she’s 40!

The new Dean of the Bay-Area Theatre SportsSchool of Improv is Dan Klein. He sets curricu-lum, trains and manages teachers and organizesthe calendar for the 10-12 3-hour classes weekly.Whew!

Carolyn andDoug Kirkpatrickare spending moretime in the snowwith their kids(Colin and Liam)now that they livein Denver.

1987

Oliver Gustav Berg made hisgrand appearance into theworld on September 29,2002. His happy parents areIngmar and Michele BarnettBerg who made their homein Chevy Chase, MD, andrecently moved to Lausanne,Switzerland.

Linda and Tom Colespent time in Ghana,South Africa, and Swe-den with daughter In-grid.

Eleanor Whelan O’Neill “saw Katie Parsons Za-marron over New Years and met her beautifuldaughters Paloma and Hannah.” Eleanor alsosaw Lisa (wife of Dave Sitzman), at a mutualfriend’s baby shower and saw a picture of their lilone, Eli. By the time the class of ’87 celebratesits 20th Reunion, all these babies will be grownup! If anyone needs an architect, Eleanor is work-ing at Koning Eizenberg Architecture in SantaMonica.

Life is grand for Zoe Edelen in Portland, OR. Shehas two young sons: Gus is three years old andEliot is almost two. She was teaching 8th gradeLanguage Arts, but now she is working for aneducational software company as a Content De-veloper. Although she hasn’t been back toThacher since graduation, she’s looking forwardto visiting sometime soon.

Jessica McLaren CdeP 1992, Emily LoomisMurphey, Elizabeth McLaren, Bruce OxleyCdeP 1954, Ethan Levi, John McLaren CdeP1952, and Elizabeth Reynolds Mahoney

Chris Stacey with pal Zephyr


1991

Brooks and Emily Wor-thington Jordan gavebirth to Lief Jordan onApril 5, 2002; thehappy family lives inHealdsburg, CA.

Jason Wenz is now a married man; his wonderfulbride is Elizabeth. Will Redfield stood at the wed-ding. Jason is enrolling full-time in the Univer-sity of Chicago MBA program.

Speaking of Will Redfield, he got engaged to Els-beth Norton on August 31 in Mt. Whistler,British Columbia. He’s still employed athttp://www.bom.com “Not dot bom! BOM DOTCOM! (Bill of Materials)!” he writes. “I’m thePresident of the Georgetown Club of NorthernCalifornia and coach of our SFHOYAS SoftballTeam which just crushed an NBC corporate team.I don’t even really know how to play softball, butcheck out the action at www.sfhoyas.com.” Youcan reach Will at [email protected].

Katie Prager enjoys her work as a small-animalvet in Berkeley almost as much as her weekends.

Dana and Mara FischbacherGibson love being parents ofMark, who will turn three thisMay.

This just in! Amy O’Shea married Harry T. Hunton August 10, 2002.

1992

Brittany Walker married Pat Conant over thesummer. They met while she was living in SanFrancisco, but they have since moved to FortCollins, CO, where she is taking steps to get herteaching credential while trying to keep her mar-keting business afloat.

Paige Fulton graduated from UCLA Magna CumLaude in Philosophy/Far Eastern Religions in2001. Now she’s opening her own Equine Train-ing Facility in Santa Rosa, CA: Fulton Farms,47240 Guenza Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Gatsha Small graduated again last year with adegree in Aerospace Engineering and now worksfor Edwards Air Force Base as a Performance andFlight Qualities Engineer. He is engaged, spendinga lot of time biking (hopes to do the AIDS ridefrom San Francisco to LA in June), and just fin-ished making his fiancée a hope chest.

Since Sharon Dana Karlsberg was looking for-ward to seeing all of her Thacher friends andclassmates at the 10th Reunion, we’re glad shewasn’t disappointed. She and her husband Craigmoved from Arlington, MA to Berkeley for busi-ness school. Before they left the east, though,Sharon and Craig had a great tour of the MITMedia Lab from Win Burleson CdeP 1990, spentSt. Paddy’s Day with Betsy Burleson in NewHaven, and saw Andrew Shakman CdeP 1990 inVentura over the winter holidays.

Steve and Anne Berube Gard welcomed sonKaden to their home on December 13, in the yearof the horse. What irony?!!!

Sarah Diggle Duffy has shifted from being a mar-keting manager, to teaching. After studying inOxford for one year, she is now in her secondyear of teaching in Chiswick, West London (a“big, bouncy state school!”), where she teachesmostly English, some Latin and Classics. Insteadof attending the Ten-Year Reunion, she marriedChris Duffy—the origin of that extra appendageon her name—but she’s still known as Digs. “Imissed everyone enormously!”

1993

Who would have thought surfing and a law de-gree could go hand-in-hand? Meghan Jeans fig-ured out a way. Having just graduated fromVermont Law School, she’s now practicing envi-ronmental law on the island of Kauai. She’s rep-resenting some homeowners in an environmentallawsuit against a developer whose Clean WaterAct violations destroyed one of Hawaii’s mostpristine coral reef ecosystems. She is looking for-ward to seeing all the CdeP 1993 folks in June.Aloha! Her new email address is [email protected].

Another practicing lawyer is Matt Farrer, whoworks in San Francisco. He remains an avidmusic-lover and philosopher, but now he’s takenup Chinese Kickboxing.

Sonya Day is doing Bio-Chem research at theGene Center in Munich, Germany. Her home ad-dress: Sonya Day, Alspitz Str. 11, Munchen, Ger-many 81373. Email: [email protected].

Joining the ranks of double-Toad marriages are LauraWentworth and Todd Mc-Closkey who married onAugust 14, 2002, in theRockies.

Camillia Joy (Carley) married Evan Louden onJune 16, 2002 at Cape Cod.

Speaking of double-Toad unions, Rosa Barkusand Jose Klein joined the Peace Corps and willcall Suriname, South America, their home for thenext two years. They’re working with a Non-Government Organization in the capital citydoing HIV prevention and support activities.If you contact them via email, you can find outabout their bizarre tropical afflictions:[email protected]

From the decks ofthe USS Constella-tion, Ben Clammerwrote that “stress isbuilding over here.”He’s been busy withOperation SouthernWatch, flying rou-tine patrols and

waiting for the next command. Despite flyingover enemy terrain, he finds landing on the ship atnight to be his most stressful activity.

1994

According to Rika Howe Toll, Aspin Bowers iscurrently in Telluride, CO, living out her cowgirlheritage. She still loves the smell of hay and thatgood old horse *&#^. She has applied to Mid-wifery School in Taos, NM, and started a two-year program in January. Rika is still a graduatestudent at UGA in Athens, GA; meanwhile, NateToll is head coach of the UGA crew team.

Did you catch the Time magazine article on theterrorist attack in Bali? The October 12 coverstory described the party atmosphere that wastransformed into a crucible of horror when a carbomb blew up the Sari Club nightclub, resultingin the loss of hundreds of lives. Brian Bennett au-thored Time’s account of that tragic evening.

Flying in the bush slowed down for Will Scoularlast summer after he totaled his old Cessna in aless-than-graceful landing in the Chugach Moun-tain Range. Instead, he’s the resident high schoolteacher in a subsistence Eskimo village calledKoliganek. This is Will’s fourth job teaching sincehe graduated from high school, and with eachnew teaching experience, he “gains better per-spective of the opportunities we had at Thacher.Now I particularly appreciate the great educa-tors, such as Chuck Warren and Bill Tabrisky…Ina heated discussion, a high school educator oncewarned me, ‘If you live long enough, life has away of getting back.’ I now understand the wis-dom of his statement.”

Last September Car-son Campe and ChrisNichols met up inPhiladelphia to hearthe music of NickYoung’s band AI:“The show was amaz-ing!” Pictured here is the Nichols family: Vicki,Gary, Amy, and Chris.

Mark Peirsol CdeP 1962 reports that daughterCate Peirsol graduated summa cum laude with aBS in Nursing from the Dominican University andpassed her California State RN Board. Cate isnow working in the ICU of Kaiser San Francisco.

Alec Perkins with hisbride Serena

Brian and HelenHolmes Gold

The Thacher News

According to his folks’ holiday letter, RyanKurlinski is now a research assistant in engineer-ing/physics at the University of Nevada, LasVegas, while pursuing prerequisite courses forgraduate study in alternative energy.

Douglas Johnson just returned from four monthsin Australia and New Zealand, and is consideringcareer options.

1998

College Counselor Maria Morales Kent sharedthe happy news that Kellie Lynn Dolan completeda double major in Art History and InternationalRelations at St. Andrews in Scotland last spring.Congrats!

While finishing her degree from Lewis & Clark,Bonnie Porter (and her boyfriend) are starting anon-profit foundation to benefit homeless youthboth locally in Portland and globally. Throughthe sale of merchandise (primarily t-shirts do-nated by Patagonia), they hope to generate fundsto give children worldwide a better quality of life.Through building water wells and school facilitiesand encouraging community involvement and in-teraction, they hope to make a difference.

Bryson Brown graduated from NYU’s GallatinSchool in June.

Jenny Silverman graduated in June with a degreein Economics and Spanish. Next year, she will bethe new math teacher and soccer and lacrossecoach at St. Andrews, a boarding school inDelaware. But, the most exciting news of all isthat she got engaged last spring!

Nick English wrote in with an update of variousclassmates: “First and foremost Seagull (Liv Vig-nos) is studying alone in the woods of Georgia.Booer (Jamie Bowie) is extremely happy livingwith Naz (Wil Caldwell) and Sack (MikeBracken) at Vanderbilt. As for us (David “Chav”Chevalier and Mung) we’re 200 lbs. apiece andgrowing! What Now!! Last but not least, we sawG-Ride (Gavin Back) on TV recently. GOTOADS!!”

We just received word from her very proud par-ents (and this year’s Presidents of the Parents’ As-sociation) that Shannon Back has receivedadmission to law school.

1999

According to his mother, Tim Johnson spent lastsummer teaching Spanish and English in Brazil.He’s now buckled down back at Dartmouth com-pleting his final year of undergraduate school.

Sarah Sawyer was recently accepted into Stan-ford’s graduate program in human biology fornext fall.

Shauna Nyborg is in New Zealand for a semesterat the University of Auckland. She reports that, “lifeas a college student is going very well,” and thatshe is taking full advantage of the opportunity totravel and explore the north and south islands.She continues to study geology (she is pursuing acombined geo/environmental science major).

2000

According to his parents’ holiday letter, SethKurlinski “continues his very successful efforts atBates majoring in philosophy, food, and Laura.”

Jake Braitman is spending his spring term abroadstudying marine biology in the British WestIndies.

Marley Orr continues to enjoy Colby College asa Psychology major and a Creative Writing minor.This past summer she worked for a Public Rela-tions firm in Connecticut and made frequent vis-its to New York City and Long Island. Thiscoming summer, she hopes to live in NYC withYui Scribner and work as a research assistant.

2001

The Lethbridge Herald on August 22 includedan article entitled “No matter where she is, De-loria will run home,” an account of Deloria Lane-Many Grey Horses winning four medals in theNorth American Indigenous Games in Winnepegover the summer. She’s also hitting gold at Calwhere she was named to the National Society ofCollegiate Scholars in June.

According to his folks, Josh Kurlinski is workingin Las Vegas for Keystone International, an engi-neering firm dealing with government contracts,and continues to take courses at the Universityof Nevada, Las Vegas, to prepare for graduateschool in computer science.

1995

Big news for Kacey Perkins: she’s in her first yearof medical school at Tulane in New Orleans, andshe’s planning her July 5 wedding when she’ll be-come Mrs. William Tift.

1996

Jennifer Reissen traded one coast for another, butstill thinks we’re the “lucky [ones] to live in sucha beautiful place.” She left her family’s home inSanta Barbara and took up residence in JerseyCity since she’s working for Goldman Sachs inNew York.

Alexia Allen is now Mrs. Jeffrey Stevens. Shesewed her own wedding dress, with white feath-ers all around the hem—perfect attire for the cer-emony that took place in a swamp in Florida. Jeffand Alexia are both avid birdwatchers.

1997

Chris Labbe held a gathering of many Thacheralums and friends in Bozeman, MT, on October5, 2002, including Jim Labbe CdeP 1990, TedLabbe CdeP 1987, and mother Leslie Labbe; as wellas Peyton Holmes CdeP 1996, Abigail Dachs CdeP1996, and Manuel Nikel-Zueger CdeP 1998. Notsurprisingly, they had plenty in common!

Cameron Boswell was elected Parliamentarian ofPrescott College Student Union Board for the ’02-’03 school year.

From proud dad: Jessica Sawyer graduated fromCornell this past May with a double degree, inHistory and Biology, and has joined the Teachfor America program. After spending the sum-mer training in the Bronx, she’s now teaching bi-ology at Lynwood High School in L.A. She’s alsoin the graduate program in education at LoyolaMarymount, and playing on the UCLA Women’sRugby Club.

Mark Forte is currently employed by World Sav-ings Bank in Oakland, CA, as Buyer in Purchas-ing.

The Kurlinski Family: Joshua, Claire, Kurli, RyanCdeP 1997, and Seth CdeP 2000

James Bowie and sisterJennifer CdeP 2001

Caitlin Caldwell

Lucy Milligan withsister Claire CdeP 2001

Mollie Gardner withsister Besse CdeP 2000,daughters of Gretchen

and Bob GardnerCdeP 1960

The GretherFamily: John,Ted CdeP 2001,Betsy, Robert,and Russell ’03


Marisa Binder met up with Brian Driscoll (De-velopment) and Michael Mulligan at a ChicagoGathering, now that she’s back in the States fol-lowing her year in London with the EnglishSpeaking Union program. Although initially a dif-ficult adjustment, she found that experience veryrewarding because it included participating inspecial activities (observing production of anopera, attending Wimbleton and one of London’sbest jazz clubs), touring Australia, and forminggreat friendships.

Tyler Manson is back from South Yarra, Mel-bourne, Victoria, Australia, and is coaching Boys’JV Lacrosse. Go Toads!

2002

When Jaime Everettisn’t horsin’ around,he’s working hard atNaval Academy PrepSchool in Newport,Rhode Island.

Amanda Grumman “hopes you all are having ablast in college or during your time off.” Shemisses everyone, but she’s having fun at collegeand riding a lot. You can reach her at [email protected] or at 315-655-7717.

Jamie Hastings is having a great time living outon the range near Tuscarora, NV. He’s workingon the 2.5-million-acre IL Ranch as a cowhand;living in the bunkhouse with other buckaroos.He’s been given a string of six horses, which hehas to train and shoe himself (that requires a two-hour drive to Elko to purchase shoeing equip-ment to add to his supplies). He’s riding a gooddeal, staying up nights to care for the first-yearheifers as they calf. He’ll be riding the chuck-wagon in June when he and other cowboys willcheck the cattle, gather and brand daily, but notreturn to headquarters at night. Instead they andtheir extra horses will follow the chuckwagon,camping out under the stars. According to hismother, “He’s loving every minute and soundsvery, very happy…due to the Thacher spirit hecarries in his hands, head, and heart.”

PAST FACULTY

Terry Twichell: “Life in the retirement lane is evenbetter than I anticipated. I’ve got to say, I lovedwatching Thacher’s terrific football team!!”

Having spent 21 years at Thacher as a teacher inthe Science Department, camper, backpacker, andtennis coach, Marcia Edwards is enjoying her re-tirement, especially when pressed into service tocare for her grandchildren. During her Thachercareer, Marcia served as Director of Studies, Di-rector of the Human Relations and Sexuality Pro-gram, Chair of the Science Department, and as atireless and devoted worker who chaired the BlueRibbon Committee which led to Thacher beingdesignated as a Blue Ribbon School, and chairingthe School’s most recent WASC Accreditation Sur-vey in which Thacher passed with flying colors.Her attention to detail, high standards, moralhigh ground and practical understanding of stu-dents have been sorely missed as she entered thethird phase of her life: retirement. She is spendingmore time with her husband Sam on their ranchin Santa Paula; traveling; and indulging theirgrandchildren.

Abby Davis stopped by campus in January tosoak up the sun before she heads back to the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania to become a Nurse Prac-titioner.

And another new babe isHenry Dean Nelson, son ofEric and Sarah Hill Nelson,former history teacher. Sarahmarried Eric in 2000 andHenry arrived last March.Together with their dog,Lucy, they live in Lawrence,KS, close to the familyhydro-plant business.

In a very newsyholiday letter, for-mer art teacherAnnie Faber-Rootannounced thebirth of their thirdchild, Ellie; she ar-rived on Novem-ber 1. She and her

husband, Jamie, recently moved to Chicago forhis new position with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals An-imal Health Division as an Account Executive.Their other two children are Ian and Emma.

Offered an opportunityhe “just couldn’t turndown,” Campaign Di-rector Brian Driscollswapped the WestCoast for the EastCoast to become theVice President of Re-source Development atBabson College. Brian’swife, Monique DeVane(Assistant Head for Ex-ternal Affairs and Di-rector of Admissionand Financial Aid) willfinish out this schoolyear before taking sonsLiam and Owen to joinBrian in Boston. Ourgrateful thanks go to the entire Driscoll-DeVaneclan for their dedication and efforts on behalf ofThacher; we wish you all the best of luck on yournew endeavors. e

Clarissa Caldwell

Molly, daughter of Johnand Sarah Reimers

The Edwards Family: Sam, Charlie, Marcia, andHarold

Assistant Head forInternal Affairs PeterRobinson and Dean ofStudents ChrisMazzola laud BrianDriscoll for hisextensive efforts forthe School

severe lung cancer exactly one year afterbeing diagnosed. He is survived by his wife,Lois, of Exeter, CA; two sons: Mark of ElkGrove, CA, and Thomas of Wetzlar, Ger-many; and a brother Frederick (CdeP 1954)of Glendora, CA.

David G. Duff (CdeP 1975) of Wayzata, MN,died September 30, 2002. His father said thatthe cancer he’d suffered as a baby was respon-sible for his early death. Although he attendedonly one year at Thacher, he always regrettedthat he left early.

Tamima Michelle Al-Awar CdeP 2002 diedNovember 9, 2002, ather family’s home. Uponher graduation, MichaelMulligan read this briefsketch of her time atThacher: “Tamima ex-plores and shares thelandscape of emotionand values through her creative writing and,most publicly, her impressive artwork. Hervision of the people of this world, both sin-gularly and in relation to each other, can beexotic and dreamy, or hard-edged and blunt;but either way, she invites us (as well as thosein select cafes from Ojai to Santa Barbara),through controlled brushstroke and inspireduse of color, into a new awareness of howtone, form, line, medium and something in-side and indefinable can combine in artisticbeauty. Independent and plucky, Tamima hascapably juggled many extracurricular de-mands with those of her work here at School,in part because she possesses the ability to re-main serene and controlled even in challeng-ing situations. She is also quick to learn: howclassical and Christian elements synthesize inMategna, and how Che Guevara won thehearts of the people. These qualities, com-bined with an essential optimism and un-usual sense of calm balance, have earned hermuch growth during her time at Thacher; weare proud of what she has accomplished inour midst and beyond.” Tamima will besorely missed by her family, classmates,friends, and teachers. A memorial service washeld at Thacher on November 18; her familyinitiated a scholarship fund in her name tosupport Thacher art students.

William K. Cole CdeP1932, who attendedThacher for his senioryear of high school,died September 21,2002. He matriculatedto Yale where earnedboth a bachelor’s de-gree and law degree.He lived in Southbury,

CT. Bill is survived by his wife Ula; and threesons: David, Frank, and Livingstone.

Jon W. Frost (CdeP 1937), who attendedThacher for his freshman year, died in June2002; Paul “Red” Fay was the bearer of thissad news. Jon earned a bachelor of arts degreefrom the University of New Mexico in 1949.He had lived in Pueblo, CO. He is survived bythree children: daughter Harah; and two sonsWallis and Jay.

Sheldon Von HagenBrooks CdeP 1939,known as “Wuxtra” dur-ing his one year atThacher, died February1, 2002, in North KeyLargo, Florida. Whilehere, Sheldon wasknown for his photogra-phy and swing; he playedon the Third Soccer Team and Second Base-ball Team; he served as manager of the TrackTeam and manager of the Glee Club; and heparticipated in Dramatics and the NationalRifle Association. He also won the TurkeyShoot. From Thacher, Sheldon matriculated toYale for two years before he began serving inthe Navy from May 1942 until December1945; he became a lieutenant (JG).

Sheldon served as chairman of the Board forthe Minnetonka Boat Works in Wayzata, MN.He was involved with various organizationsincluding St. James School (trustee), HennepinCounty Animal Rescue League (director), Min-nesota Boating Associatiion (director), andDucks Unlimited (trustee). He was first marriedto Frances Harriet Atkinson, then Delores W.Brooks (1967); and finally Carroll. He has fourchildren: Paul, Judith, Molly, and stepsonMatthew Hoy.

John Pillsbury CdeP1942 died Dec. 8, 2002.“Pills” attended Thacherfor only his senior year,but made quite a markon the School for his co-ordination, fine athleti-cism, and scholarly ways.He had a great interest incamping and horses, and

became a member of the Bit and Spur. He alsoenjoyed skiing, golf, tennis, baseball, soccer,and basketball—the last three of which he par-ticipated on the First Teams. He was popularwith classmates because of his fine sportsman-ship, sense of fair play, and sense of humor.John went on to Hamilton, but earned hisbachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 1949.He lived in Piedmont, CA. He is survived byhis wife Margaret; and four children: Thomas(CdeP 1973), Karen, James, and Joanne.

William A. Coulter(CdeP 1951) died De-cember 10, 2000, butwe only learned thisnews at the end of theyear from David Laven-der. Bill was born andraised in Covina, CA; heattended Thacher for hisfirst two years of highschool and later attended Claremont-McKenna College. After he married LoisLogan in 1962, they moved to NewportBeach, where Bill worked in advertising forDel Taco for 17 years. He also worked withhis family in avocado ranching. His hobbywas carving miniature sailing ships (two-inchvessels). Lois wrote to the ClaremontMcKenna College magazine that they had“spent the last eight years with a little busi-ness [they] created, Little Stuff Miniatures.Bill carved historic ship models for the doll-house world. Together, [they] traveledthroughout the U.S. to various shows andeven went on several cruises related to thisbusiness.” Bill was an active member of theExeter Kiwanis Club, he attended the ExeterMethodist Church, and was a former mem-ber of Rotary International for 39 years. Hehad been an active member of the NewportBeach Chamber of Commerce and he was aformer president of the 552 club of HoagHospital, Newport Beach, CA. Bill died of


Alumni News


Friends of Thacher

Harriet Doerr, mother of the late MichaelCdeP 1949, died on November 25, 2002. Shehad lived in Pasadena, CA.

Larry D. Heitz, a long-time teacher at and afriend to Thacher, diedNovember 19, 2002,after a prolonged battlewith cancer. He was sur-rounded by his family.Larry attended UCLA,and then worked as anelectrical engineer sup-

porting the Apollo space program. He movedhis family to Ojai in 1969 and began a newcareer as a teacher and an artist. Working atThacher from 1971 through 1987, he taughtceramics, jewelry-making, photography, as-tronomy, The Ascent of Man, and introduc-tion to art classes. He also taughtrock-climbing and was an active part ofThacher’s outdoor program, introducing thejoys of a billy-can and gourmet camp cookingto many Toads, including his three children:David CdeP 1980, Eric CdeP 1981, and Re-becca CdeP 1983. Larry was a Renaissanceman and a free spirit. He brought lively dis-cussion and a new perspective to all whocrossed his path. He will be truly missed.

Stories, memories, and/or anecdotes about Larryare welcome; please email them to his widow,Lily, whose email is [email protected]

Mary Wig Johnson, mother of Bob JohnsonCdeP 1967, died on March 5, 2003, of lungcancer. She and her late husband Stan servedon many boards and supported various col-leges including Pomona, Cal Tech, Occidental,Scripps (where she graduated in 1935), andThe Claremont Colleges.

Eleanor and William F.H. Purcell, parents ofJohn CdeP 1958 and W. Denys CdeP 1967,have died. Eleanor died a few years back andBill in November 2002. Bill served onThacher’s Board of Trustees from 1965 until1978.

John T. Saidy, MD, husband of Mary Jane andfather of John CdeP 1979 and Tom CdeP1982, died February 21, 2003 of pancreaticcancer. As highlighted in the Spring/Summer2002 issue of The Thacher News, Dr. Saidywas instrumental in directing a gift of$100,000 from the Hazel Reed BaumeisterTrust to The Thacher Endowment for schol-arships in memory of his medical practice part-ner, Oscar W. Hills, MD CdeP 1934.

Bruce E. Wallace, a dis-tinguished biologist andone of the first employ-ees of the biotechnologygiant Amgen, was acci-dentally killed on Sep-tember 20, 2002, whenhis paraglider crashedinto a cliff face near Mt.Whitney in the Sierras.

He was fascinated with the mechanics andbeauty of flying and had flown in Brazil, theSwiss Alps, and Santa Barbara. Bruce had justbegun his second year of serving on Thacher’sBoard of Trustees, where he played a key rolein the Technology Sub-Committee, as well asserved on the Program and Buildings andGrounds Committees. He was known for hiskeen intellect, dry humor, and adventurousspirit. Bruce is survived by his wife Marilynand four children: Elizabeth CdeP 1996, Ben-jamin CdeP 1999, Nathan CdeP 2002, andAlissa ’04. e

CalendarThacher Gatherings and Events

Spring and Summer 2003

Tuesday-Wednesday, April 8-9

Grandparents Days

Thursday-Sunday, April 10-13

Senior Exhibitions

Thursday-Sunday, April 24-27

Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament

Friday-Sunday, May 2-4

Big Gymkhana Weekend

Sunday-Friday, May 18-23

Extra-Day Trips

Friday, June 6

Baccalaureate Service

Saturday, June 7

Commencement

Friday-Sunday, June 13-15

Reunion Weekend

Sunday-Friday, July 20 August 8

Golden Trout Encampment

GINNY HUNTER

Marshall, VirginiaGiving to Support the Horse and Camping Programs

INNY HUNTER is connected to Thacher by what she has loved most in her life. Her

husband Phelps, who graduated in 1924, supported the School throughout his life and served on

the Board of Trustees. Their daughter Cynthia was one of the first girls at Thacher in the class of

1980. Ginny, herself, was the first woman on the Thacher Board of Trustees.

Ginny cannot help believing in a school that so profoundly shaped the people closest to her. And she

cannot help believing in a school that has forged a unique link between horses and education. Horses

have been an essential part of her life

since she was a young girl. Today, living

and riding in the Piedmont hunt

country of Virginia, she thinks often of

the wonderful times her family spent

together on horses. When she returns to

the School, she sees the enduring value

of horses in young people’s lives, and

she always stops by to visit the Hunter

corrals, given in memory of her husband

by his many friends from Thacher.

The Campaign for Thacher

Thacher alumni are fiercely loyal

to their school because of what

they experienced here, and of

how they have come to

understand that experience as the

years have passed. Thacher

parents and friends are so

committed to the School because

they have seen what it has meant

to the people they love. Over

time, this understanding deepens,

and with this deepening comes an

immense gratitude and

commitment to see Thacher

continue and thrive for succeeding

generations of young people.

Beginning with this issue of

The Thacher News, we will share

some of the stories of people

whose recent gifts represent the

generosity of so many who are

now giving to Thacher in new

magnitudes. The particulars of

their reasons for giving may differ,

but they share a common

understanding that Thacher is an

important and singular work in

progress—til the best we can do

is all done.

It amazes me how much the alumni all like each other. You say “Thacher” and everybody’s facejust lights up. I’ve gone to Thacher reunions and special programs here in Virginia, and youcan pick up and talk to anybody. Everyone has had different experiences, but the final analysisis that they’ve all gotten the same sense of responsibility and awareness of other people fromThacher. They’re a pretty unique group. And they all want to go back to the School.”

“I certainly try to give as much as I’m able to because I think that my daughter, my husband,and all the people that I know who have gone there have always been so keen to make sure thatthe School continues, and improves—and that it has the facilities that are necessary for all theprograms that are now available for all the students.”

“

G

TIL THE BEST WE CAN DO IS ALL DONE


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