Four Seasons on the SPS Trails the Literary Standards of Andrew Wylie ’65 NPR’S Michel Martin ’76 Moderates in Ferguson PHOTO: KAREN BOBOTAS, SEPTEMBER 2014
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Alumni Horae ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL FALL 2014 Four seasons on the SPS trails The literary standards of Andrew Wylie ’65 NPR’s Michel Martin ’76 moderates in Ferguson PHOTO: KAREN BOBOTAS, SEPTEMBER 2014 RECTOR Empowering Students to Actively Do Good At the end of the of adolescents. One of the places to which I summer, I returned turned was the writing of Fourth Rector Samuel LOUIS H. FOISY with my older brother, S. Drury. He was a person of certainty and I was Rob, to our childhood looking for certainty this summer. It was within home in Cheshire, this context that I read his Fathers and Sons, an Conn., on the sad oc- instruction manual of sorts for family life “as it casion of our father’s was supposed to be” in the early 20th century. rapidly declining Drury’s book did not provide all of the guid- health. Between two ance I was seeking, but it gave me one timeless of our visits to see bit of wisdom: him in the hospital, we took the time to walk Our day seems the wildest page in human history. around our old neighborhood, a collection of Was there ever such an unfortunate time to bring suburban homes built in the late 1960s. up children! Oh for the good old days, the quiet As we walked, we named every family who lived simple protected days of long ago. Do you think in the 30 or so homes we passed. We noted the they really existed? Do you suppose that the social individual gifts those families brought to our lives fabric of the eighteenth century, for example, was as we grew up. We also recalled specific, powerful less menacing than that of the twentieth? The fact memories of how we interacted with one another. is that the moral arena of human character has What Rob and I were really talking about was liv- always wild beasts in it. At any stage of history ing in community those years ago. the adversary takes varied forms, but the forces It was a wonderful place to grow up, but it of evil are no cleverer today than they were in couldn’t be described as an intentional commu- Galilee two thousand years ago, or in any century nity. St. Paul’s School, of course, is an intentional since. Youth has ever been beset, and has always community. One overt intention is to make sure been empowered to win. we are providing our students with the very best St. Paul’s School has never been impermeable classroom experience, grounded in the philosophy to the wild beasts of the real world. It would be a that learning should be student-centered. I sus- mistake to believe it is now or ever was. Recog- pect the phrase “student-centered learning” nizing this reality and using it to teach our students sounds like redundant educational jargon; in is one of our most sacred responsibilities. some ways it also does to me. But the phrase More interesting and certainly more inspiring describes our effort to better understand our in my view is Drury’s faith in adolescents. I love students as learners. the last line of his words above. You can hear the While understanding our students as classroom confidence in Drury’s voice. learners is important, it is more important to I’ll confess that I do not share Drury’s faith in extend this effort to understanding them as social youth’s ability to overcome the challenges the beings in this particular age so we can continue world presents. I am not less confident that youth to advance the noblest intentions of this commu- can improve the world, only less confident that nity. The allegation of a sexual assault here last they can do it alone. This is the work we are called spring and the subsequent media coverage of it to do; to give our students not only the skills to reminded me of the School’s fundamental calling win against whatever the “wild beast” of the day – to do good. may be, but to ground those skills in moral con- I spent my summer searching for answers to fidence, one that will empower our students to questions about our community and the raising actively do good. Michael G. Hirschfeld ’85 2 Alumni Horae Vol. 95, No. 1 Fall 2014 Features Alumni Horae 14 An Uncompromising Commitment EDITOR Jana F. Brown to Quality by Tom Owen ’11 DESIGNER Cindy L. Foote Literary agent Andrew Wylie ’65 on the publishing industry EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS and the economics of good books Leeann Doherty Arielle Greenleaf Driscoll ’99 Mary Jo Hansen 20 Emerging from History Meg Heckman by Rachel S. Cox Hannah MacBride Michael Matros Nearly seven decades after his suicide, alumnus John Gilbert Winant’s image has been resurrected Alumni Association ADVISORY BOARD Chair 24 Whose woods these are . T. Brittain Stone ’87 Photographs by Karen Bobotas Members David B. Atkinson ’59 Exploring the many wooded trails of St. Paul’s School – Brett A. Forrest ’91 in four seasons Mary F. Karwowski ’04 Michael Matros Robert H. Rettew Jr. ’69 Lockhart Steele ’92 Nancy E. Weltchek ’78 Departments Published by 2 Rector 30 Reviews The Alumni Association The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson of St. Paul’s School 4 Action and the American Way of War 603-229-4770 Capital campaign exceeds its goal – by Joshua Kurlantzick [email protected] a year earlier than expected Thirty Below Trustees of St. Paul’s School by Harry Groome ’55 7 Perspective Whiskey, Sun & Fish 8 Memories by George Carlisle, faculty emeritus Sally Carroll Keating ’72 shares a letter 32 Community penned by her great-great-uncle, Waldo Newcomer of the Form of 1885, 35 Formnotes that provides details of life at SPS in the 19th century 51 Deceased 10 Athletics 58 Facetime Triple-amputee EQ Sylvester ’57 has When it comes to military miniaturism, turned personal hardship into a new artist Sheperd Paine ’64, says a fellow mission – helping disabled golfers get modeler, is the “Beatles, Rolling Stones, back in the game and Elvis, all combined” ON THE COVER: Hiding along the SPS trails, sprites and other creatures watch 60 Spotlight Michel Martin ’76 for wanderers. (Photo: Karen Bobotas) 3 ACTION dents at St. Paul’s. That is the true gift of this successful campaign.” Trustee Hilary Parkhurst ’80 credited the initial leadership of former Rector Bill Matthews ’61 and other members of the Board, who led by example in terms of giving, which inspired volunteers and SPS other members of the School community. She also spoke of the vision of current Rector Mike Hirschfeld ’85, and called giving under his tenure a vote of faith in his leadership. Seven years ago, in July 2007, St. Paul’s “The campaign’s success has recon- “Thanks to this leadership, there has School recorded the first gift in what was nected many people to the School and been a huge resurgence in terms of the to become SPS Matters: The Campaign reaffirmed its importance,” added Lindsay. School’s popularity, and this helps ensure for St. Paul’s School. With a goal of “One senses a lot of new energy in the our future,” said Parkhurst. “I am hoping $175,000,000 by June 30, 2015, the cam- various constituencies – alumni, parents, this campaign has helped instill the idea paign officially kicked off in New York faculty, and the students themselves, all of giving to St. Paul’s as a habit.” City in October 2010, with a public launch of whom are proud to be connected to a Hirschfeld was quick to credit others attended by more than 500 alumni, parents, place with great aspirations underpinned for the extraordinary results of the and friends of the School. In its “quiet” by great support.” campaign. Mattersphase, SPS Matters had by that point In addition to the bricks and mortar of “Thanks to Bill Kissick, his team, and raised $98 million. the campaign, the generosity of donors the remarkable leadership of Bob and After the Board of Trustees voted in also led to the establishment of new Douglas, the success of the campaign 2013 for a more ambitious fundraising regional scholarships in Alabama, El Paso, will provide an enduring platform for timeline, the campaign came to a close a Texas/Juarez, Mexico, South Carolina, the School’s continued success,” said full year ahead of schedule, in June 2014, and California/Wyoming. A fifth new Hirschfeld. “I was inspired not only by the and the figures are in: $178,748,436 raised scholarship is pending for prospective campaign’s fiscal success, but also by the since 2007, with participation from more students from Colorado. Overall, the coming together of this community in the than 80 percent of alumni and parents. campaign has resulted in more than effort. I feel very fortunate to be leading “The campaign has produced a number 40 endowed scholarships, five endowed the School at this moment in its history.” of great benefits to the School,” said Bob chairs, four endowed teaching fellows, Campaign success was spurred by Lindsay ’73, who chaired the Campaign more than 20 endowed faculty support better-than-healthy levels of annual for St. Paul’s School and was the lead funds, and more than 200 new members giving – more than $39.5 million over the donor in the $44 million Lindsay Center of the John Hargate Society, who have life of the campaign, including $6,696,131 for Mathematics and Science. “The obvi- included St. Paul’s in their estate plan- for fiscal year 2014, with participation ous ones are growth in the endowment to ning.