Participant Bios
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THE KEW-FOREST SCHOOL 2021 COMMENCEMENT & ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND PARTICIPANT BIOS LIZA DELUCA BURBY ‘81 EDWARD DI GANGI ‘66 Liza DeLuca Burby (lizaburby.com) is the Adopted at birth in New York City, author of the middle grade nonfiction and an only child, Edward Di Gangi book VIP: Very Important Person Amelia (digangiauthor.com) made no effort to Bloomer (Harper Collins, summer 2022), explore his heredity until, at age 67, a How to Publish Your Children’s Book, visit to a cemetery where members of 2nd edition (Square One Publishers), 37 his adoptive mother’s family were buried nonfiction children’s books, and the ghost- stirred his interest. Over a period of three writer for three adult nonfiction books. years, through extensive archival research Her first published works were at Kew-Forest, where she wrote and DNA testing, Edward peeled back the layers of his once for The Forester and served as editor for the literary magazine unknown family. Edward’s book, The Gift Best Given: A Mem- Chimera. Dr. Whitehead was one of her greatest mentors. oir, tells two interwoven stories. The first recounts the author’s search for the woman who had placed him for adoption at the Liza is also an award-winning freelance journalist and proj- time of his birth and the surprising discoveries he made. Set in ect-based editor and former magazine publisher. Her articles the 1940s, as America emerged from the Great Depression and have appeared in national publications like Better Homes went to war, the second story is that of a young woman’s cour- & Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal, the New York Times, age as she overcame obstacles to achieve her dreams. and the Los Angeles Times. She is a senior adjunct professor of journalism at Adelphi University. Prior to his retirement in 2013, Edward held executive po- sitions in the airline, communications and medical fields. He Liza earned a BS in journalism with a minor in business from and his wife, Linda, live in Hillsborough, North Carolina, “the St. John’s University. She lives in Northport with her husband Writingest State’s writingest town!” Their son, James, lives in Steve, a high school English teacher. They have two daughters: nearby Durham. one is a literary agent and the other is a nurse. JAMES GRAY ’87 NICHOLAS D’ARIENZO ‘79 James Gray is an award-winning film di- For nearly ten years, Nicholas D’Arienzo rector and screenwriter. Since his feature was a columnist and Sports Editor for the debut Little Odessa, which he made at Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspa- the age of 25 in 1994, James has made six per Group, an outlet reaching more than other features, four of which competed for 150,000 readers throughout the city, and the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. even more via its award-winning website, Miramax Films released James’ second fea- QueensLedger.com. Nick has also served ture, The Yards (2000) starring Mark Wahl- as an editor for It’s Queens magazine, and berg, Joaquin Phoenix, Faye Dunaway, Ellen Burstyn, Charlize for the New York Mets 1986 World Champion Lenny Dykstra’s Theron, and James Caan. The film was selected for official com- high-end publication The Players Club. He is founder and pub- petition at the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival. Other lisher of metroBASEBALL magazine, a print-only quarterly cele- notable films include We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers brating baseball at all levels throughout the metro area. (2008), The Immigrant (2013), The Lost City of Z (2016), and Ad Astra (2019) starring Brad Pitt. While teaching journalism after-school for Williamsburg Col- legiate Charter School, Nick was encouraged, coaxed, and James is currently working on his next film,Armageddon Time, cajoled into becoming a literacy instructor for Uncommon a coming-of-age drama inspired by his childhood memories Schools. In honor of his mentors Harry Edson, Frances Sergi, growing up in Queens and attending Kew-Forest. The film and Walter Woerner, he has now spent the last 12 years teach- stars Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Donald Sutherland, Cate ing Reading and Writing to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in Blanchett and Oscar Isaac. Brooklyn and Manhattan. A graduate of the Harvard Class of ‘83, Nick was a student at The Kew-Forest School for all twelve James attended the University of Southern California School of years, and is a proud member of the Class of ‘79. (And was the Cinematic Arts. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Alexandra first boy ever allowed to co-write a Stunt Night show... a truly Dickson, and their three children. revolutionary moment in K-F history!) THE KEW-FOREST SCHOOL 2021 COMMENCEMENT & ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND PARTICIPANT BIOS MICHELE KIRSCH ‘79 She graduated with honors from Skidmore College with a BA in Michele Kirsch has been a freelance jour- English/Creative Writing. She lives in Forest Hills Gardens with nalist and author based in the UK for 36 her infant daughter, Sadie. years. Her critically-acclaimed memoir Clean (Short Books) won the Royal Soci- ety of Literature’s Christopher Bland Prize DR. CHRISTOPHER SPELMAN in 2020. Her most recent publication is a Dr. Christopher Spelman began teaching story in an anthology, A Wild and Precious Latin at The Kew-Forest School in Sep- Life (Unbound). Her love of writing start- tember of 1981. After 10 years at K-F, ed in her years at Kew-Forest, between 1974 and 1979, when he left to get his Ph.D., studying at Duke she contributed to The Forester and K-F’s literary magazine University and teaching courses in Latin, Chimera. Michele holds a BS in Education from the University Greek, and Ancient Cultural Studies at of Massachusetts, Boston. Duke, North Carolina State University, and Oberlin College. He returned to K-F in September of 1997. Since then, besides teaching Latin and CARLA JANTOS MACMULLEN a course on Myth and Identity, he has served as the Chair of Carla Janto MacMullen joined The Kew- the Foreign Language Department and as faculty advisor to the Forest School as Head of School in July Mock Trial team. 2017. Carla began her career at Hopkins as a chemistry teacher. She rapidly rose to As a musician, Christopher began formal piano lessons at age assume the duties as Chair of the Science four, though he eventually switched to violin in elementary Department and then Dean of Faculty, school. While in middle school he began teaching himself gui- supporting the welfare and professional tar, and developed a love for the blues that has stayed with activities of 125+ faculty members. Carla him ever since. He first studied orchestral classical music and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Den- opera as a student at Columbia University, and most recently ison University in Granville, Ohio with a B.S. in Chemistry and his ongoing musical education has taken him to Juilliard. He extensive coursework in Spanish language/literature, ballet and began his film career working as a musical consultant on three Afro-Caribbean dance. She received her M.Ed. in Independent of James Gray’s earlier films, and composed the musical scores School Leadership from The Klingenstein Center at Teachers for both The Immigrant (2013) and The Lost City of Z (2017). College at Columbia University. Carla and her husband, J. Alex- ander “Sandy” MacMullen have three children. WALTER WOERNER, JR. Walter Woerner, Jr. was hired at Kew-For- CHRIS NORKUS est in 1973 and worked at the School for Chris Norkus is the founder of Cocktails 46 years, teaching all levels of math and From Home (cocktailsfromhome.com). He science in the Middle and Upper School. has been in the bar and restaurant indus- He was a highly committed educator, al- try for over 15 years, managing high vol- ways offering positive reinforcement and ume restaurants early in his career before encouragement to his students, which he focusing solely on bartending five years credits as the key to his success. ago. When the pandemic hit, Chris was bartending in downtown Austin and lost In addition to teaching, Walter served the K-F community in his job, like so many in the industry. He had his first stint as a countless ways. He started a number of programs and com- virtual bartender when a friend asked him to lead her team at munity service initiatives at the School, including the Summer Dell through a happy hour. This event was the start of many to Enrichment Institute, the Outdoor Education Program, Thanks- come and a year later, Cocktails From Home has grown to a giving food drives, Toys for Tots, and Boy and Girl Scouts. He full-time business with a staff of six people. coached basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, and tennis. He ran numerous clubs, including Photography Club, Science Club, SAT Prep, and mentoring clubs. Known as “the man who built SAMANTHA SCHUTZ ‘96 K-F”, Walter had a hand in several different construction proj- Samantha Schutz (samantha-schutz.com) ects for the School, many of which still remain today, such as is the author of the acclaimed memoir library bookcases, podiums, art benches, and the stairways to I Don’t Want to Be Crazy, which was a the locker rooms. He built designs and sets for the K-F Galas New York Public Library Best Book for and did the carpentry for many of the School musicals. Teens and a Voices of Youth Advocates Poetry Pick. Samantha lives and works in Walter holds a BS from The City College of New York. He has New York City and is a Publishing Director two children, both of whom graduated from Kew-Forest, Wal- at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.