Farewell to the Oddens Farewell to the Oddens - The Taft School

Farewell to
the Oddens

Bulletin Staff
Editor
Julie Reiff
Director of Development
Jerry Romano
Alumni Notes
Karen Dost
Design
Good Design
www.goodgraphics.com
Proofreaders
Nina Maynard
Robin Osborn
The End of the Odden Era
Twenty-nine years ago a young Lance Odden took on the
task of leading The Taft School and transformed it into one
of the nation’s top boarding schools. Today, Lance and Patsy’s
children are grown (Jake has a child of his own), and the
school is in better shape than it has ever been. Their work here
may be done, but how can we say “thank you ”or “good-bye?”
Mail letters to:
Julie Reiff, Editor
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
ReiffJ@TaftSchool.org
Send alumni news to:
Karen Dost
Alumni Office
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
TaftBulletin@TaftSchool.org
Deadlines for Alumni Notes:
Summer–May 30, 2001
Fall–August 30, 2001
Winter–November 15, 2001
Spring–February 15, 2002
Send address corrections to:
Sally Membrino
Alumni Records
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
TaftRhino@TaftSchool.org
1-860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
This magazine is printed
on recycled paper.

BULLETIN
SPRING•2001
Volume 71 Number 3
S P O T L I G H T
Ut Ministret .............................................................. 12
A Tribute to the Statesmanship of Lance and Patsy Odden
By Barclay Johnson ’53
Influence and Ideals .................................................. 15
Voices from some of the many whose lives the Oddens touched
The Odden Years: A Timeline ................................... 24
1961–2001
Mr. Odden’s School .................................................. 28
By Andrew Karas ’01, Taft Papyrus editor-in-chief
Reflections ................................................................ 32
The dedication of the Odden Arena, and the accompanying
Alumni Games, turns into a winter homecoming to remember
By Richard S. duPont ’60
D E P A R T M E N T S
From the Editor .......................................................... 4
Alumni Weekend 2001 ............................................... 4
Alumni in the News .................................................... 5
Around the Pond ........................................................ 8
Scoreboard ................................................................ 11
Endnote: The Virtues of Horace Taft
By Lance R. Odden .................................................... 38
On the Cover
Already praised for its successes, the Odden Era will be even more fully
appreciated with a certain amount of distance. The same is true of this
photomosaic, composed of more than 100 different photographs of the
Odden years from the Leslie Manning Archives—and best viewed from 15
or 20 feet. The master image is by Camille Vickers. Collage by Good Design
The Taft Bulletin is published quarterly, in February, May, August, and November, by
The Taft School, 110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100 and is distributed
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ALUMNI WEEKEND 2001
From the Editor
Not since Horace Taft has our campus
faced the departure of someone whose
leadership is nearly synonymous with the
school. And yet it is precisely because
Lance Odden made a point of “bringing
Horace Taft back” to his school—in his
words and in our buildings—that he will
be missed as much as the King himself.
Although the Odden Era might truly
be called the Golden Age of the school,
don’t expect this issue of the Bulletin to be
a history of the school’s last thirty or forty
years. Dick Lovelace has already covered
that ground very well in his book. Since
Lance’s leadership is so often praised for its
resurrection of the school’s physical plant,
it seemed important here to focus on the
influence he and Patsy have had on so many
lives. In fact, 75 percent of all living alumni
passed through Watertown in his 40-year
tenure, and others too as parents.
Who better to describe Patsy and
Lance’s leadership than longtime friend and
colleague Barclay Johnson ’53, who joined
the faculty with Lance in the fall of 1961.
I’ve also included his more personal recollection
of an adventure that they shared
(page 17), in part because Lance told me
the story first last spring as Barclay prepared
to retire, and I thought it telling that both
remembered that trip so fondly and so well.
I also thought it fitting to give the
nation’s most senior headmaster the final
word, so in the Endnote (page 66), Lance
reminds us of Horace Taft’s mission to
teach character first, to do things well and
do them for others, and that school, indeed,
is what we make it.
Over the years, Board Chairman
John Vogelstein ’52 tells us, Lance received
more lucrative offers, offers to head socalled
more powerful schools, but he chose
to stay the course. Lance can confidently
move to Vermont this summer with his
wife and able partner Patsy, knowing that
this school is indeed what he made it. He
stayed because he loved it, and for this I
believe the alumni who entrusted him
with their alma mater and the parents who
entrusted him with the education and care
of their children will always return that
affection. It is still very much Mr. Taft’s
School, thanks to the Oddens.
—Julie Reiff
Alumni Weekend 2001
Thursday, May 17
6:30 50th Reunion Cocktails and Dinner
Class of 1951
Waterbury Country Club
Friday, May 18
7:50-2:00 Classes in Session • Alumni Welcome
8:00-3:00 Taft Golf Tournament
Watertown Golf Club
11:00 Campus Tours
Harley Roberts Room
11:00-1:00 School Lunch • Alumni/ae Welcome
Armstrong Dining Hall
12:00 Reunion Class Luncheons
Classes of 1933, 1936, and 1946
3:15-5:00 Early Registration, Main Circle
3:30 The Old Guard classes host
Students’ Views of the Taft Experience
Choral Room
5:00 Annual Service of Remembrance
Bingham Auditorium
6:00 Old Guard Dinner
Headmaster’s Home
6:30 Reunion Class Dinners
Classes of 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971,
1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996
Saturday, May 19
7:00-8:00 School Breakfast
Armstrong Dining Hall
7:00 Class of ’46 Reunion Breakfast
Heritage Inn
7:30-12:00 Registration, Main Circle
7:50-11:45 Classes in Session • Alumni Welcome
9:00-11:30 Student-Guided Campus Tours
Main Circle
We welcome Letters to the Editor relating to the content of the magazine. Letters may be edited for
length, clarity, and content, and are published at the editor’s discretion. Send correspondence to:
Julie Reiff, Editor • Taft Bulletin
110 Woodbury Road
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
or to ReiffJ@TaftSchool.org
10:00 The 50th Reunion Class hosts
Taft Today and Tomorrow
with Headmaster Lance R. Odden
Choral Room
11:00 Dedication of the Mark Potter ’48
Art Gallery
Charles Phelps Taft Hall
11:45 Assembly and Parade
Main Circle
12:30 Alumni Luncheon
The Donald F. McCullough ’42
Field House
12:45 Children’s Program
McCullough Field House
1:30 Founders’ League Golf Tournament
Watertown Golf Club
2:30 Home Athletic Contests
2:30-5:00 Celebrating Diversity in the
New Millenium
Panel Discussion and Reception
Choral Room
3:00 Alumni vs. Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse
Geoffrey C. Camp Field
6:00 A Night for Patsy & Lance
The Odden Farewell Gala
Cocktails, Dinner, Dancing and
Farewell Tribute, black tie optional
Under the Tent
Sunday, May 20
10:00-12:00 School Brunch
Armstrong Dining Hall
For more information, please call the Alumni Office at 800-959-TAFT (8238)
10:30 John Small One-mile Memorial Run
William Weaver Track
11:00 Alumni vs. Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse
Geoffrey C. Camp Field
12:30 Picnic Lunch
Headmaster’s Home
4 Spring 2001

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Alumni
IN THE NEWS
Cord Keller ’69 Down Under on Survivor II, the sequel to the hottest show on TV last year. Directing everything except the day-to-day
campsite reality of the contestants, Keller says, as far as he’s concerned, he got all the fun stuff.
Survivor, Too
You may not have seen Cord Keller ’69
snuff his torch at the last tribal council or
display feats of bravery in one of the challenges,
but Keller is a survivor, too. As senior
producer, his main function on Survivor II
was to serve as the show’s director. “I directed
anything that was essentially
directable,” he says, “the marooning, the
challenges, the tribal councils.”
It’s a real fleece-jacket, rugged crowd
over there at Survivor, according to Keller,
and for good reason. “The shoot was very,
very difficult. The hours were long, the
terrain and weather challenging. I was one
of a multinational crew of 250 who ultimately
inhabited our little camp-town in
the bush; I lived in the Outback for 11
weeks with a three-man tent as my home.”
Keller headed a team of 35 Australian
and U.S. camera operators, sound
technicians, and assistants in the multi-
camera coverage of those one-time events.
(“We did insert shots of body doubles,”
he admits, “to add a cinematographic element
to the games!”) His counterpart
supervised the four producers who managed
the shooting of the reality segments,
“which, believe it or not,” he adds, “was
entirely documentary. There is not a
scripted moment in any of the shows.”
To describe the experience as enjoyable
would be all too limiting, he says. “I
was shooting 53 days in a row (10 days in
rehearsal and 43 with the contestants) with
only a brief 30-hour break somewhere in
the middle there; it was agonizing at times.
“We had an early wet season, and the
rising river threatened to take out our massive
Tribal Council set. We lost a few lights
to the current as it was. At one point we
were marooned in our camp, forced to cross
the river by boat, and then hoof it a half
mile to our bus when the road was washed
out. But I don’t believe a day passed without
a moment of deeply felt appreciation
for the magnificent countryside that I had
the privilege to know for those many weeks.
Life was simple, deconstructed to suit the
demands of the isolated environment.
A rare simplicity that I cherished even in
the worst of times.”
Keller is supervising the production
of yet another vérité-style show, “so I am
pleased with the audience response that
these shows have generated,” he says. “I
think people have tired of the old formulas
and are hungry for something new.
I also have always felt that television is
a medium of immediacy, conducive to
a direct, unsullied connection between
the human drama and the spectator.
Unscripted, real people behaving questionably
will always have a home there.”
Taft Bulletin 5

Daniel Forster
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Yachtswoman of the Year
Olympic Silver Medalists Pease Herndon
Glaser ’79 and J.J. Isler
Pease Herndon Glaser ’79, of Long
Beach, Calif., received the 2000 Rolex
Yachtswoman of the Year Award during
a ceremony in the Model Room of the
New York Yacht Club in Manhattan
February 9.
The annual award, established in 1961
by U.S. Sailing and sponsored by Rolex
Watch U.S.A. since 1980, recognizes outstanding
on-the-water achievement in the
calendar year just concluded. A panel of
noted sailing journalists selected the Olympic
medalist for this year’s distinction.
Glaser and her skipper J.J. Isler were
recognized for their perseverance in the
470 women’s class, which resulted in a
silver medal at the Olympics (see winter
2001 Bulletin). Isler and Glaser first
made headlines in October 1999 when
they won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials,
surprising many who had labeled the
talented pair as underdogs.
After securing their berth to Sydney,
the duo embarked on a rigorous training
program, spending significant amounts of
time overseas fine-tuning their boat handling
skills. They finished seventh at the
470 European Championships, eighth at
Kiel Week, and 11th out of 57 boats at
the 470 Women’s World Championships.
Isler and Glaser posted a 6-1 on the
first day of the Olympic Regatta, earning
them the right the next day to wear
the gold bibs that identify the regatta’s
leaders. Acknowledging that they were
“challenged by the conditions,” Isler and
Glaser fell to sixth overall at one point in
the regatta. They recovered their form,
however, with a brilliant performance on
the final day—passing five boats on the
last leg of the last race of their 11-race
series—going from fourth overall to
claiming the silver medal.
“That they were perceived as having
come out of nowhere only strengthens
their claim on this award,” remarked a
member of the panel.
Before teaming up with Isler,
Glaser—who, with 13 years, holds the
record as longest consecutive member of
the U.S. Sailing Team—had launched
three previous Olympic campaigns as a
470 and Tornado skipper. In the Tornado,
noted as the fastest Olympic-class
boat, she made her mark as the only
woman skippering in any of the four
open classes during her ’92-’96 Olympic
campaigns. The 1986 Goodwill Games
470 Women’s Silver Medalist, Glaser has
three national doublehanded titles and
is also a three-time North American
Champion in the Tornado class. She
works at Ullman Sails where her husband,
1984 Tornado Olympic Silver
Medalist Jay Glaser, is a partner. Jay also
coached the Isler/Glaser team at the
Olympics and was named U.S. Sailing
national coach of the year.
“Winning the Rolex Yachtswoman of
the Year Award is the perfect finale to a special
year of sailing,” Glaser said.
Born to Rule
For centuries British government was dominated by members
of a small number of families—a ruling elite whose every
generation was almost guaranteed a place in Parliament. In
his new book, Born to Rule, Ellis Wasson ’66 explores who
these families were and how they were able to command
social, economic, and political primacy.
Based on data of nearly 2,800 families and 18,000 individuals,
Wasson creates a landmark book, including Welsh,
Irish, and Scottish elites as well. “Although it is focused most
sharply on the years between the Restoration and the First
World War,” he explains in the introduction, “the data assembled
here also have implications for the study of England
ranging between the reigns of both Elizabeths.” Such exhaustive
study, he adds, is made possible for the first time by
the development of computerized database programs.
Despite families like the Edgcumbes, who produced an
unbroken chain of fifteen generations
of the head of the House in
parliament between 1467 and
1945, what becomes clear is how
Britain’s “much larger second echelon
broadly open to ‘new men’
from business helped Britain become
the first modern society and
prolonged the elite’s supremacy.”
Wasson is the author of Whig
Renaissance: Lord Althorp and the Whig Party, 1782–1845
and a contributor to the new Dictionary of National Biography.
He is head of the History Department at Tower Hill
School, Delaware, a member of the AP European History
Test Development Committee, and a fellow of the Royal
Historical Society.
6 Spring 2001

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
New Additions
to the Alumni Collection
The Hulbert Taft Jr. Library has received the following additions
to its collection of alumni publications:
Not-So-Accidental Tourists
In Salon.com’s Wanderlust: Real-life Tales of Adventure and
Romance, Don George ’71 and 40 other travel writers describe
for us the “sensation of being spellbound outsiders,
wide open to all the beauties of a place.”
The collection, also edited by George, includes pieces
by Peter Mayle on Provence and Isabel Allende on her journey
through the Amazon. Lonely Planet founder Tony
Wheeler gives a Down Under perspective on travel, renowned
author Carlos Fuentes discovers the less neutral sights of Switzerland,
and Taras Grescoe’s sojourn in Spain in search of
“the liquid muse of the avant-garde, the licorice-flavored, highoctane
herbal alcohol” known as absinthe, cites a fine book
on the topic by Barnaby Conrad ’70.
There are newer voices, too, that open windows to
extraordinary places around the planet. The book boasts
“compelling adventure, delectable food, and poignant humor
that will transport you to a wish-list of exotic locales.”
Armchair travelers and veteran globe-trotters alike will enjoy
the adventure.
Don George moved to Paris after graduating from
Princeton more than two decades ago—and never looked
back. He has lived in Athens and Tokyo, has wandered
through some 50 countries, and has written more than 500
articles for such publications as Condé Nast Traveler, Travel
& Leisure, and Travel Holiday. He was travel editor of the
San Francisco Examiner from 1987-95 and is the founder
and editor of Salon magazine’s travel column “Wanderlust.”
Don began work for Lonely Planet in March, writing and
editing—developing magazine-style content for their
Website and possibly for a print publication. He’s developing
an ongoing series of interviews with travel writers and
explorers to be called Lonely Planet Conversations, which
they hope to syndicate to TV and radio. Don lives with his
wife and two children in the San Francisco Bay area.
Illustration by Zach Trenholm, Salon.com
Cover design by Eleen Cheung, Villard Books
1943
Hostage to Fortune: A Novel, Ted
Mason ’43, Bartleby Press, 1999
1949
The Wall Paintings of Thera,
1997. A three-volume publication
of the proceedings of the
First International Symposium
on the wall paintings of Thera,
organized by The Thera Foundation
and Idryma Theras—Peter
M. Nomikos ’49, under the auspices
of the Archaeological
Society at Athens.
1956
From Knight Hospitaller of Saint
John of Jerusalem to Knight of
Malta, Gerard Le Roux ’56,
O.H.F.O.M./B.G.F., 1998
1958
Goodman and Gilman’s the Pharmacological
Basis of Therapeutics,
Dr. Alfred G. Gilman ’58, editor.
Pergamon Press, 1990
1964
Masterworks of American Sculpture:
Selections from Members of the
National Sculpture Society, 1975-
1999 (Fred Brownstein ’64)
1965
David Armstrong Paints the Vanishing
American Landscape: The World
and Works of David Armstrong [’65].
Video Recording, directed and
produced by Michael Briggs, 1995
David Armstrong: A Retrospective
1965-1995, David Armstrong
’65, Butler Institute of American
Art, 1995
1966
When the Moon Fell on California,
Robert Force and Albert
d’Ossché ’66, LP recording,
Kicking Mule Records, 1984
Born to Rule: British Political
Elites, Ellis Wasson ’66, Sutton
Publishing, 2000 (facing page)
1970
Pan Am: An Aviation Legend,
Barnaby Conrad III ’70.
Woodford Press, 1999
1971
Salon.com’s Wanderlust: Real-life
Tales of Adventure and Romance,
edited by Don George ’71,
Villard Books, 2000 (at left)
1974
Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the
Western Inner Traditions, Richard
Smoley ’74, Arkana, 1999
1977
Wild Thing, CD recording, Laura
Biddle ’77, Spirit Productions,
1998
Happy Valentine’s Day, Miss Hildy!
Bridget Starr Taylor ’77 illus.,
Random House, 1998
1992
Andrew Solomon, Andrew Solomon
’92, CD recording, 1999
Taft Bulletin 7

Peter Frew ’75
AROUND THE POND
pond
“Lift Every Voice: Twentieth Century African American Artists”
Until very recently, little attention has
been paid to African American artists, so
it is more than fitting that the first major
exhibit in the Mark Potter ’48 Gallery
should highlight a broad spectrum of
important African American artists of the
last century during Black History Month.
The show was loaned to the school
through the courtesy of the Stella Jones
Gallery in New Orleans; the Jones’s son
Harry is a member of the Class of ’02.
“Lift Every Voice” includes works by
such wide-ranging talents as Benny
Andrews, Ernie Barnes, James Richmond
Barthe, Romare Bearden, Phoebe Beasley,
Margaret Burroughs, Anthony Carreno,
Elizabeth Catlett, Jeff Cook, Louis
Delsarte, Reginald Gammon, Frank
Hayden, Richard Hunt, Loïs Mailou
Jones, Gwen Knight, Artis Lane, Jacob
Lawrence, Richard Mayhew, Barbara
Chase Riboud, Gale Fulton Ross,
Howard Smith, Charles White, and Dennis
Paul Williams.
“It is not my aim to paint about the
Negro in America in terms of propaganda,”
Romare Bearden said when asked
why his artworks are usually of the same
themes of jazz and music, “[but] the life
of my people, as I know it, passionately
and dispassionately as Breughel. My intention
is to reveal through pictorial
complexities the life I know.”
The show was on display in the
Mark W. Potter ’48 Gallery from January
15 to February 27. Benny Andrews
was on campus on February 20 to talk
about his work.
8 Spring 2001

Peter Frew ’75
AROUND THE POND
Wynne Dedication
With the construction of the Odden Arena last fall came renovations to other
athletic facilities, including the wrestling room. The previously unnamed room
was dedicated to John Wynne, honoring this highly successful coach who retired
last spring after ruling the mats at Taft for 35 years. Above: John and Gail
Wynne, center, at the dedication of the Wynne Wrestling Room in January,
pictured with the 2001 wrestling team and alumni wrestlers Al Reiff ’80, new
head coach (left); front from left, Slade Mead ’80, Lee Burbank ’68, Gary Sklaver
’68, Jon Albert ’79, Jim Miller ’71, Eric Albert ’77, Paul Klingenstein ’74, and
assistant coaches Lenny Tucker ’92 and Greg Hawes ’85.
John Kilbourne ’58 with the school’s
first Kilbourne Fellows: Margeaux
Walter ’01, Greg Stevens ’02, and
Vanessa Wood ’01. Kilbourne grants
underwrite all or part of the expense
of participating in summer programs
in the performing or visual arts. Offered
to sophomores and juniors, grants may
be made to one or more students in a
given year, who must submit proposals
to the head of the Arts Department.
Taft Scientists Soar
Taft students proved their prowess at
two competitions sponsored by the Junior
Engineering Technical Society
(JETS) this winter.
Taft sent two teams to the Connecticut
regional Tests of Engineering Aptitude,
Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) on
December 14. The test consists of ten indepth,
multiple-question problems that
the team solves cooperatively. The varsity
team placed first in its division and received
an “Outstanding Performer in the
State Award” given by JETS and the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Office of Industrial
Technologies.
Congrats to seniors Vanessa Wood,
Torsak Luanphaisarnnont, Andrew Karas,
and Victoria Choi, and uppermids Henry
Tsai, Annabelle Razack, and Kyle Dolan.
Our JV team placed second in its division:
uppermids Jason Chen and Natalie
Ie, and middlers Steven Ambadjes, Khanh
Do Ba, Pea Phadhana-Anake, Emily
Marano, and Tucker Serenbetz.
The Taft entry in the National Engineering
Design Challenge (NEDC)
placed second in the Connecticut competition
on January 17. This year’s
problem statement was very open-ended,
asking teams to design anything that
would assist a disabled or injured person.
“We owe a special thanks to trainer
Maryann Laska,” said advisor Jim
Mooney, “for her assistance in their design
of an ankle brace that allows for
greater range of motion in directions that
do not conflict with the sprain.” After
consulting with Laska, students did research
on the Web and got some useful
information from a polymer production
company, eventually contracting a local
engineering firm to turn their plans into
a functional prototype. Vanessa Wood
’01 captained the team of Nirica Borges
’01, Andrew Karas ’01, Grace Morris ’02,
and Elena Sorokin ’02.
Below: From left—David Hostage, James
Lee ’03, Pea Phadhana-Anake ’03, Grace
Morris ’02, Khanh Do Ba ’03, Andrew Karas
’01, Vanessa Wood ’01, Dan Riley ’02, Nirica
Borges ’01, Jim Mooney, and Elena Sorokin
’02 with their engineering medals.
Taft Bulletin
9

AROUND THE POND
Pailey
Dance
Studio
Maryann and William
Pailey Jr. ’57
and their daughter
Joann ’95 were on
hand on Mothers’
Day at Taft, February
17, for the
dedication of the
Pailey Dance Studio.
Julie Pailey ’00 was unable to attend. Members of the Dance
Ensemble showed their appreciation for the new space, located in the
former Black squash courts at the north end of the Arts and Humanities
Center, by performing for the assembled guests. “Dance extends beyond
the physical definition of a sport,” senior Aimee Palladino told the audience,
“and includes a unique emotional component. It is an art. Dance
is constantly changing and adopting new ways of movement, and yet,
similar to a sport, it is deeply rooted in tradition and technique. Only
after combining physical aptitude and emotion can one achieve dance—
an incomparable and timeless expression.”
Model U.N. Conference
Taft students represented the country of Brazil on the Economic and Social
Council and Specialized Agencies in February at the 38th North American
Invitational Model United Nations.
For four days, delegates attend committee meetings and spend hours
debating and deliberating over two current U.N. issues. Representing their
appointed country, delegates attempt to pass resolutions that would help
solve the problem. Hundreds of other schools from across the country and
around the world, as far away as Japan, send delegates to this annual event;
there were over 3,000 students this year. “The key to success,” explains advisor
Rachael Ryan, “is learning which countries are your allies in order to
form coalitions, but more importantly the delegates must learn the fine art of
compromise.”
This was the first year of the Model U.N. Club at Taft, organized by
senior Greg Dost after attending an international relations conference at
Georgetown University last summer. “What is remarkable,” says Ryan, “is that
none of the students had ever participated in a Model U.N. before, and they all
jumped right in with two feet and were not afraid to speak before their committee
nor to sponsor resolutions. The Taft delegation did such an outstanding
job that this club is sure to have even more success in the future.”
Uppermids Arllyn Hernandez, Jen Higgins, Kristina Leone, Elise Mariner,
Ali Rickards, Dan Riley, Julia Shlyankevich, and Jane Ventresca
completed the team.
In Brief
Professor Peter Kreeft was the third of the
Paduano Lecturers in Philosophy and Ethics
(following Dr. Christina Sommers and the
Tibetan Buddhist Monks). A professor of
philosophy at Boston College and the author
of over 55 books, he is widely regarded
in his field as one of the leading moral philosophers
in the country, specializing in
Catholic moral philosophy. In two of his recent
books, Refutation of Moral Relativism and
Back to Virtue, Professor Kreeft picks up one
of his familiar themes, challenging the culture
of moral relativism and defending the
claims of moral absolutism.
Nancy Rankin, a psychologist who works
with families and adolescents, spoke with
faculty about the issues and anxieties that
parents have about their adolescent children.
Rankin has worked as a teacher, administrator,
and most recently as a counselor in
private practice and as coordinator of counseling
services at Loomis Chaffee. One
teacher remarked, “Her perspectives on the
roles of educator and parents seem to be spot
on.” Others called her “one of the most practical
speakers we’ve had this year; that she
was able to answer our questions with distinct,
specific suggestions was most helpful.”
Steve McCabe resigned as head football coach
after nine seasons. He had been an assistant
coach under former head football coach Larry
Stone for the previous 11 seasons.
Steve felt that after 20 years, it was
time to devote more time to his children
Kara ’02, Kate ’04, and Michael, 11.
McCabe guided the Big Red to the New
England Class B title in 1992 and finished
with a 32-41 career record. “This is not
necessarily my finale as a coach,” McCabe
told the Waterbury Republican American.
He will remain as head track coach and
math teacher. Athletic Director Dave
Hinman ’87 will succeed McCabe as head
football coach this fall.
10 Spring 2001

AROUND THE POND
Winter Big Red Scoreboard
Boys’ Basketball
Record: ............................................................................. 9–14–0
Logan Award:...........................................Anthony T. Piacenza ’01
Girls’ Basketball
Record: ............................................................................. 16–5–0
Basketball Award:.......................................... Jennifer K. Feffer ’01
K. Christine Murphy ’01
Elizabeth Barisser joins the Taft faculty as the new dance
teacher, replacing Robyn Lewis, who left at the end of
the fall term to join Dance Masters of America. Barisser
is an experienced professional dancer and teacher. For
several years she’s been the head of the nonprofit Brass
City Ballet in Waterbury.
Fifteen students and faculty gathered last fall to participate
in a 5K walk in Hartford for cancer research. They
were joined by Liz Terenzi, mother of Rob ’01 and a oneyear
survivor of cancer.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
Founders League Co-Champions
Record: ............................................................................. 20–3–1
Angier Hockey Award: ............................. Christian M. Jensen ’01
Ryan M. Trowbridge ’01
Coaches Hockey Award: ............................... Ryan P. Shannon ’01
Girls’ Ice Hockey
Record: ............................................................................. 13–6–3
Patsy Odden Hockey Award: ........................... Victoria S. Fox ’01
Boys’ Ski Racing
Record: ..............6th grand slalom, 7th slalom in Berkshire League
Ski Racing Award: ............................................ John C. Parker ’01
Girls’ Ski Racing
Record: ............................................... 3rd in Mt. Institute League
Ski Racing Award: ...................................... Courtney J. Krause ’01
Boys’ Squash
Founders League Champions
Record: ............................................................................. 13–2–0
Squash Award: ................................................ Eric S. Wadhwa ’01
Girls’ Squash
Record: ............................................................................... 6–8–0
Squash Award: ............................ Alexandra Maas-Geesteranus ’01
Wrestling
Founders League Co-Champions
Record: ............................................................................. 12–5–0
Hitch Award: .................................................... Colt T. Lorson ’01
Wynne Award: ................................................. Ryan M. Burns ’01
“We wanted to raise as much money as possible for
the American Cancer Society,” said Rob, “but in doing
so, we also wanted to raise awareness, not just that cancer
is a part of so many lives, but also about the Taft Cancer
Forum.” Rob co-founded the Taft Cancer Forum last year
as a support group, but it also does some fundraising. This
year, Rob is trying to get the program going in other boarding
schools under the name of ISUAC (independent
schools united against cancer).
Poet O Quartet, a highly acclaimed jazz group, performed
a Valentine’s Day concert on campus. Critics
cite “a completeness, an organic development that carries
the listener through a musical story.” Tyler Jennings
’02 said, “I observed a most sane and beautifully composed
jazz-fusion arrangement; my fascination with that
song still lingers.” Guitarist Michael Musillami, Mario
Pavone on bass, Peter Madsen on piano, and Micahel
Sarin on drums form the quartet.
Taft Bulletin
11

S P O T L I G H T
Ut Ministret
A Tribute to the Statesmanship of Lance and Patsy Odden
By Barclay Johnson ’53
I slept and dreamt
That life was joy.
I woke and saw
That life was duty.
I acted, and behold!
Duty was joy.
—Rabindranath Tagore
Last fall, when Headmaster
Odden announced his retirement
at the year’s end, he told
the school that he has had “the
best job in the world.” Everyone
could hear the gratitude in his
voice—a voice known to be steady, dispassionate. The seniors,
however, may have questioned this claim. Headmasters enjoyed
good, clean work, but little life of their own. The horizon had to
promise better jobs. With his knowledge of the world and his desire
to serve it, Mr. Odden could have been a statesman and served
multitudes. Those seniors probably concluded that “Lancer” just
wanted his people to feel glad for him.
The Oddens in Vermont in the early ’70s
“Like diligent statespeople, Lance and Patsy have used role models from history to
become role models themselves.” Photographs courtesy of the Leslie Manning Archives
and Insight Studios. Portrait by Larry Bruce Bishop.
The faculty, of course, knew the truth in
what he had said. Lance, of all leaders,
would not have given up the teaching and
coaching that he loved for anything less
than the best job in the world. As the head
of a renowned independent school, he had
thrived on a rare combination of privileges:
a clear mandate for progressive change
with the freedom and support to bring it
about. Then, beyond their remarkable
achievements, Lance and Patsy had realized,
perhaps, the greatest satisfaction that
any leader could have. In what other
Taft Bulletin 13

S P O T L I G H T
position could anyone know personally so
many people of all ages and nations and
contribute to their individual lives?
For those alumni less familiar with
the new Taft, the questions may remain:
How did this partnership manage to
pilot such a traditional school into the
vanguard of secondary education for the
21st century? How did Lance become
the president of the nation’s Headmasters
Association in its Centennial year,
and Patsy, the leading advocate for
women’s hockey in the U.S.A.? Colleagues
and trustees have known the
answer for years: The Oddens, both of
them coaches at heart, created a worldclass
team from all constituents, then led
it with the wisdom and grace of premier
statespeople day by day.
It is difficult to realize all the qualities
necessary for great statesmanship. The list
is ponderous, if not interminable. Of
course, integrity, fortitude, and joy of duty
must quickly come to light; composure and
compassion often take longer; and, for the
less rarefied leaders, humility may take forever.
Therefore, it is with some amusement
that older colleagues recall which quality
Lance may well have developed first.
Mystically, the day that he became the
youngest headmaster in the nation, at age
32, Lance impressed the faculty as “experienced.”
At the same time he appeared no
older than the day he shaved off that
black beard, cultivated on sabbatical to
Wisconsin University five years before. One
afternoon, while picking up papers in the
main hall (Mr. Cruikshank style), Lance
noticed a candidate for admission treading
time in the Harley Roberts Room. Apparently
the parents had gone off for their
interview. Lance welcomed the boy to Taft,
then inquired, “Is there something, in particular,
that you’d like to see?”
The boy answered quickly, “I’d like
to meet the headmaster.”
Hardly pausing, Lance said, “I am
the headmaster.”
The boy’s eyes grew dim. “You are?”
After a brief, one-sided conversation,
Lance returned to his office and told his
secretary about the encounter. She was
so tickled that he, too, had to laugh. Then
he added reflectively, “I think this young
man expected to see Horace Taft.”
Of course, the irony is not lost on
the “Old Guard” who once knew the
A champion of women’s athletics,
Patsy annually presents
the Marion Hole Makepeace
award at graduation.
Former Taft faculty at the
Washington, DC, party in 1975,
from left, Bob Poole ’50, Fred
Clark, George Boggs ’65, Henry
Welton ’35 (son of Paul Welton),
Dave Miller, and Lance Odden
Welcoming old boys back to
campus on Alumni Day, boater
and all, in 1982
The Oddens’ first grandchild:
Margot, daughter of Karen and
Jake ’86

A succession of headmasters and their wives: John and Katherine Esty, Paul and Edith
Cruikshank, and Lance and Patsy Odden
Hockey coaches
Lance Odden, Len
Sargent, and Mike
Maher
A natural athlete, Patsy joins her team
out on the practice field in 1978.
Influence
and Ideals
When Lance and Patsy announced
their upcoming retirement this June,
letters poured in by the hundreds. Parents,
grandparents, old colleagues,
and especially alumni wrote in to express
their joy for the Oddens and their
great sadness at the loss for the school.
All remarked on the incredible
influence Lance and Patsy had on their
lives and those of their children, as
well as their strong moral example in
a time when heroes often fail to live
up to our expectations.
—Editor
Any individual who has ever worked
with Lance has to recognize his keen
mind. In addition, in my days with the
association, he stands out as the single
most significant president who had the
admirable ability to cut through rhetoric
and always see the big picture.
Everything he did was done with a vision
as to how best to serve the total
association family….
—Richard J. Bradley
former executive director,
New England Association
of Schools and Colleges
Years ago I spent a day in Washington
calling on congressmen with Lance
Odden and a few other school heads
from Connecticut. “Our” side needed
a few more votes, and our task was to
persuade those votes to come our way.
Lance clearly was in his element. And,
as the hours passed, I began to see
one of the reasons he has been such
an outstanding school head. Not only
is Lance bright and well informed,
committed, articulate, and incisively
thoughtful; he loves to be involved in
the process of persuasion!
—Peter B. Tacy
executive director,
Connecticut Association
of Independent Schools
Headmastering can’t be all bad if part
of the job is hanging out with Jeff “Skunk”
Baxter ’67 of the Doobie Brothers and
Adam Bronfman ’81 at the Los Angeles
dinner in 1991.
Taft Bulletin 15

Insight Studios Insight Studios
S P O T L I G H T
founder, or on anyone who has learned
about “the King” and his beneficent wife,
Winnie. In principles, humor, and devotion,
Lance and Patsy have replicated
the Tafts. Like diligent statespeople, they
have used role models from history to
become role models themselves. In fact,
a large part of Lance’s scholarship has
focused on great leaders in direct service
to others: heads of state, diplomats,
education reformers. With references to
outside authorities, his cogent speeches
have invariably probed a particular social
or moral malaise that threatens the
minds and bodies of young people.
Also, to support his position, he has
acknowledged the ideas of many headmasters—past
and present—and quoted
the input of students.
Undoubtedly the earliest influence
on the Oddens at Taft was that of their
predecessors. Recognizing the diverse
strengths of the Cruikshanks and Estys,
the Oddens struck a balance between traditional
discipline and attention to detail,
on one hand, and bold, creative life, on
the other. Today Taft abounds with examples
of this original balance, its most
aesthetic symbol being Patsy’s elegant arrangements
of fresh flowers for every
major occasion.
Needless to say, the Oddens have led
this school with at least three distinctions
of their own: worldly conviction, stormproof
composure, and generous spirit.
Quite possibly these convictions have
developed from what may be called a
“double vision”—at once, incisive and
high-angled—one a view on progressive
teaching; the other, on humanity. While
Lance’s respect for “school masters” has
sounded old-fashioned, his charge to the
faculty in the mid-1970s came ahead of
its time. Convinced that his faculty was
the best in the business, he directed all
teachers to turn traditional teaching into
student-centered learning. Lance believed
that, if they could become
classroom coaches as well as inspiring
“professors” immersed in the texts, the
students would learn, first, to think for
themselves and, second, to solve problems
in teams, sharing insights and
credit. Therein, his faculty was going
to lead the fight against superficial
analysis and “information overload”
masquerading as knowledge.
Lance greets Taft’s first Nobel laureate, Al Gilman ’58.
Patsy coached
girls’ lacrosse with
Ferdie Wandelt ’66
for many years.
Always remembering
those who volunteer
countless hours for the
school, Lance thanks Class
Agent Linc Johnson ’40.
16 Spring 2001

INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
Lance has always known what to say to heal the wounds when a member of our school
community dies. In 1995, together with the graduating class, he pays tribute to Dan
Peynado at a tree dedication in his memory.
Patsy has carried
on the tradition of
pouring at Taft.
Here, she visits with
A.J. Mleczko ’93 and
A.J.’s grandmother,
Mrs. C.H. Gifford.
In these times when the average tenure
of a headmaster seems to be
approaching that of the life span of a
fruit fly, he survived the upheavals of
the ’70s, moved through the changing
climates of the ’80s, and gracefully
surfed the tide of the ’90s.
Lance has been so steadfast in his
vision of the school, perhaps one could
say that he has the tenacity of a bulldog,
though that particular comparison
would not please him. Those who have
witnessed his competitiveness on the
sidelines or at rinkside or on the golf
course might call him a tiger, a mascot
much more to his liking.
His colleagues in our odd trade
see Lance as a peer without equal. He
has been a veteran director of the National
Association of Independent
Schools, determined spokesman for
the Founders League consortium of
schools, president of the august Headmasters
Association in its centennial
year, chair of the visiting committees
for the decennial evaluations of
Deerfield, Exeter, Groton, Hotchkiss,
St. Paul’s, and The American School in
Zurich, among others.
Now in his fifth decade of leadership,
Lance is poised to enter the
pantheon reserved for the Peabodys
and Boydens of our little world. What
he has said along the way has been
memorable. What he has done has
been to take on a great school and
leave it a far greater one.
—Don Werner
former headmaster,
Westminster School
Todd Gipstein ’70
Lance and John Wynne coaching
lacrosse from the sidelines
A young Jake Odden ’86 and Andrew
Everett ’88 on the athletic fields
In an era of fierce competition among
independent schools Lance Odden
believed fiercely in the collective
strength of schools and implored his
colleagues to join forces in resisting
the increasing threats to our schools’
independence.
A wise and courageous man with
strong personal convictions, he was always
willing to take the high moral
ground on controversial issues–from
athletic recruitment, to US News &
World Report’s editorial policy, to state
and federal attempts which threatened
to compromise the autonomy of independent
schools.
In his 18 years on The Gunnery
board, he always made time in his busy
life for the little school up the road.
—Susie Graham P’98,’01
head of school, The Gunnery
Taft Bulletin 17

S P O T L I G H T
Moreover, a conviction of faith has
supported this challenge. In 1976 Lance
initiated the first formal program for professional
development. He assigned a
committee of teachers to design a process
for teacher evaluation and provided
a generous budget to pay for summer
study grants. But a key to Taft’s strength
over the years has been Lance’s unerring
judgment in appointing administrators
and in assigning the right projects to the
right teachers, regardless of age or experience.
Then he has given them the same
freedom that John Esty had given him
in the turbulent ’60s.
It is the Oddens’ most worldly conviction,
however, that may have been their
most controversial. Lance has always embraced
Horace Taft’s philosophy about
teaching “the whole person.” In recent
years he has been adamant about developing
character, largely because many
colleges have shifted their emphasis from
liberal arts education to professional training.
Moreover, the Oddens believed that
bright, sensitive teenagers can learn to be
social leaders. This idea takes Taft’s motto
one meaning further: “Ut Ministret” now
means to lead as well as to serve. If altruism
is difficult to nurture in an age of
rampant selfhood, it seems particularly
important to young people searching for
purpose beyond the accumulation of
things. Benjamin Franklin’s adage has begun
to make moral sense: “When you are
good to others, you are best to yourself.”
Conservative educators have doubted
that leadership could be taught. To them,
it is a natural gift, like creativity. But these
skeptics may have overlooked the distinction
between innate characteristics such as
resourcefulness, stamina, and comfort
with power, and those moral qualities that
social leaders must learn. To the queen bee
and the head goose, leadership is a natural
duty. From the day they take flight,
they probably know who they are, what
has to be done, and how to do it. Not so
for leaders in the human world. Moreover,
no matter how well the queen bee and
head goose perform, the hive and the flock
change only in numbers; whereas the
human community or city state, when directed
by a sublime leader, will evolve
toward the sublime. How did this leader
acquire such wisdom and grace? He
learned it. Furthermore, history shows that
Patsy Odden,
right, and Muriel
Losee, wife of Tom
’59 and mother of
Tommy ’84, at a
trustee gathering
in 1999
Innumerable headmasters and college presidents alike demonstrated
their admiration for Lance’s leadership by sending
their children to Taft. Colin Campbell, right, then president of
Wesleyan University, spoke (briefly due to rain) at his daughter
Blair’s graduation in 1989.
Lance marches
with former N.Y.
Governor Nelson
Rockefeller, who
spoke at the 1974
graduation of his
granddaughter
Clair Pierson.
For years Lance returned to coaching for
the alumni games in hockey and lacrosse,
adopting a new motto for the occasion.
18 Spring 2001

INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
Patsy with Jill Bermingham ’82, just one
of the many long friendships Lance and
Patsy form with parents and advisees.
Lance Odden, in his second year as head,
escorted retiring math chairman Ed Douglas
to an alumni gathering in Detroit in 1974.
As a young faculty member at
Kingswood Oxford School, I first knew
Lance Odden as a remarkably animated
coach observed across fields
and ice rinks. I was delighted when,
at an impossibly early age, Lance was
named head of The Taft School. Over
the last twenty years, no one who has
ever engaged Lance in discussion of
academic or ethical values has
emerged without a sense of the intensity
with which he holds his
convictions. The leadership he has
demonstrated has energized his colleague
school heads as well as his
faculty and students.
—Ty Tingley
headmaster, Phillips Exeter Academy
A Canoe Trip with Mr. Odden
Late one spring, about thirty years ago, Lance took my seven-year-old son and
me up the White River between New Hampshire and Vermont. His canoe, a
veteran of rougher trips, was happy just to be out of the garage. While he and I
stroked the flat water, Clay sat like a chief on the gear. He liked the way our
paddle swirls came up to the gunnels in places and no farther. I liked the warm
brightness under our chins. But by the time the sun had left the mountaintops,
I had had enough of the silence and the river. Of course, Lance and Clay could
have followed the river all the way to its source. They were wilderness men.
In near-darkness we pitched the tent on Bear Island as planned, then built
a fire. (I’ll never forget the first beer.) Clay loved the way we cooked the “chow”
and quickly ate it, talking like trappers around the hot coals. Before long it was
sack time. But Clay wouldn’t close his eyes. He kept asking Lance about bears.
After Lance rebuilt the fire, Clay was out in minutes.
The morning came fast through the trees. The sky was as blue as the underpart
of a flame. I made the coffee; Lance fried the hash, then topped it with eggs
kept whole in a jar. The coffee was strong enough to clean a rifle with, but the
heat went down nicely. Soon, with nothing left to see on the island, we broke
camp and shoved off.
A mile or so downriver I felt Clay behind me twisting back and forth.
“Hey, Dad...Mr. Odden,” Clay whispered hard. “Indians!”
“How many?” I said, stroking through some kind of reverie. Lance was
busy in the stern, trying to keep us off the rocks. We hadn’t seen a living thing
for two days, except birds and fish.
“They’re getting closer,” Clay insisted.
When he wouldn’t give up, I brought my paddle in and corkscrewed around.
“Hey, Lance. Take a look.”
Lance smiled back, then glared, as this war canoe overtook us. The braves,
all painted up, began whooping and waving many paddles. But their canoe, a
shiny helmet green with white lettering, gave them away.
It must have been tough for a Princetonian to wave back to the Dartmouth
Outing Club.
—B.G.J.
I was asked recently to explain our
community to someone unfamiliar with
independent schools—what they
stood for, their value, relevance, direction,
and future. I decided that the best
reply was to describe the head of one
of our members who epitomizes what
we are all about: Lance Odden.
—Jefferson G. Burnett
director of government relations, NAIS
Lance knew kids and he knew schools.
He trusted young teachers with responsibility
unheard of in peer
institutions. He made us believe in
Taft’s mission to serve students. It was
an exciting time and place to live. Everywhere
there was a sense of purpose
and vitality. He mentored a whole generation
of teachers and headmasters
(and one headmaster’s wife). All of us
have been shaped by his example and
deeply influenced by his vision of education.
Always there is a sense of
following in his long shadow.
—Monie T. Hardwick
Taft faculty 1977–89
Taft Bulletin 19

S P O T L I G H T
many great statespeople were products of
families revered for political or social service;
also that many had been young
leaders as students. In other words, leadership,
like creativity can, at least, be
nurtured through increased opportunities
and motivated by role model teachers.
• • •
The Oddens themselves have set the standards
with their demeanor. To be sure,
they are natural leaders, but no one is
born with composure and compassion.
Masters of formal bearing and self-control,
the Oddens have never bent under
the weight of responsibilities. It is difficult
to remember when either one has
evinced frustration, confusion, fatigue, or
despair. Anger, perhaps, when confronting
an act of incivility or a stupid breach
of sportsmanship, but anger directed at
the act, with only disappointment toward
the kids. Moreover, for all their pride in
Taft and in themselves, the Oddens have
lived above vanity or arrogance. Humor
and a sense of reality have served them
like friends.
Of course, stormproof composure
must be seen to be believed. For examples,
Lance in one of those full-faculty
meetings “suddenly announced” or Patsy
coaching a pivotal hockey game on
Mothers’ Day. No one would know that
Lance is off to a New England or national
meeting and will have to polish his
speech between airports, or that Patsy,
as director of girls’ athletics, has spent
the morning checking the arrangements
for home and away teams, and, as First
Lady, directing the reception and lunch
for 500 parents of both sexes.
Undoubtedly the source of their
poise has been a “joy of duty” and a generous
spirit. All constituents have known
the Oddens’ far-reaching hospitality. For
dinner parties under thirty, Patsy has often
done the cooking. Their house in
Vermont is a veritable Green Mountain
inn for drifting Tafties. (Lance and Patsy
will play golf with almost anyone.) Also,
“until this year,” Lance has known every
student by name. Together he and Patsy
have rooted from the sidelines of every
game they could get to. (But don’t touch
Lance’s cap with the “T” on it.) Perhaps
most memorable will be the Oddens’
Lance with Kathy Sheridan ’79
Patsy greets mothers
on opening day
in 1992.
An accomplished hostess, Patsy graciously returns alumni
applause for her contributions in making the Centennial Celebration
an outstanding success.
One of the school’s greatest strengths has been Lance’s unerring
judgment in appointing administrators, here late assistant
headmaster Al Reiff Sr.
20 Spring 2001

Insight Studios
INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
Proving that Taft is indeed like a family, the Oddens welcome Lance’s college roommate
and past ambassador to Egypt and India Frank Wisner and his wife Christine, whose
son David graduated with the Class of 2000.
Board Chairman
Peter Fink ’51
confers honorary
diplomas on Lance
and Patsy at the
Centennial Celebration
in 1990.
Lance has been the best in the business,
and has the school—and the
affection of its people—to prove it. I
am among many school heads who
regarded him as the model. His work
for independent schools at the state,
regional, and national levels did much
to raise the stature of our institutions
in the public and government eye. In
that sense, all of us have been indebted
to him.
—James M. Coyle ’52
former headmaster,
Greens Farms Academy
When Patsy and Lance took our ’89
hockey team to Switzerland, I remember
sitting at a typically Swiss
restaurant with local music, good food,
and a round of simple drinks. Lance
and Patsy and the whole team broke
out into song as the musicians taught
us the chorus. At that moment, I realized
that they were not only
administrators, leaders, coaches, parents,
and teachers who deserved my
utmost respect, but they were also incredibly
fun people and good friends.
—Jess Matzkin ’90
Spanish teacher
Lance set us on a course that allowed
us to believe in ourselves. Much as we
speak about teachers empowering students,
for 28 years, he empowered
teachers and taught us how to lead.
—Ferdie Wandelt ’66, P’91,’96
director of admissions
Lance and Patsy on the athletic fields
in 1974
I always had someplace to go for an
opinion I respected. Lance’s influence
has not been just on the school, but
on those who have worked with him.
—Rusty Davis
assistant headmaster for residential life
Lance has made countless contributions
to higher education beyond the
walls of the kind, firm molder—especially
the too often thankless, but
manifestly necessary undertakings:
assuring equal opportunity in secondary
school education, and teaching
The Taft School and other communities
to open their eyes to the
educational value and joys of diversity.
—Wesley S. Williams ’59
Never underestimating the role of the
headmaster’s secretary, Lance frequently
credited Milly Reilly with helping him secure
his first post at Taft. Karyl Scrivener
and Graceann Hess (pictured) have been
her able successors.
Taft Bulletin 21

S P O T L I G H T
visits to the infirm and their many
thoughtful letters of praise, thanks, and
sympathy; also Lance’s fun-loving tributes
to compatriots departing; and those
heartfelt eulogies, which are masterpieces
of eloquence and personal loss. Finally,
all these gestures of loyalty and appreciation
have prevailed in the remarkable
continuity of Taft’s teachers.
Moreover, the Oddens have extended
themselves to people as far away
as Southeast Asia. As humanitarians who
have traveled the world, Lance has served
as spokesman for diversity and as a trustee
for several philanthropies; Patsy has taken
her teams to compete in Europe. Their
greatest initiatives, however, have been directed
at the humanity of young people.
The Oddens continue to encourage
students to see a world beyond the mall.
For all their own privileged education in
the ’50s, they want others to have what
they themselves had missed, like the best
in coeducation, community service, and
direct attention to people of all nations.
• • •
The faculty once thought that the
Oddens would leave Taft for Andover,
Princeton, or Washington. (Originally
Lance had come to Taft largely by chance,
and Patsy with, perhaps, less deliberation.)
It was during his announcement
last fall that he told the assembly why he
and Patsy have stayed for all these years.
Between the explicit reasons about
teenagers, opportunities, trustees, a single
sentiment flowed: Lance and Patsy have
always felt a deep affection for Taft people
as their extended family—all the more so,
perhaps, because each of them had lost a
parent early in life, and what better place
than Taft to raise Jake ’86 and Laurie ’89.
Therefore, as we celebrate the luminous
careers of the Oddens in a season
of old and new beginnings, we also pay
homage to Taft. Both the old and new
school are strikingly visible from the
hill—and immensely durable. But for
those leaders to come it will be the statesmanship
of Lance and Patsy, like the
character of Horace and Winnie, that
holds the light. Meanwhile, we the people
are most grateful that Headmaster Odden
has had the best job in the world and his
best friend to share it with.
At a panel discussion in 1990, Lance laughs with New York Times
reporter Steve Erlanger ’70 and former Headmaster John Esty
Lance and Patsy
with retiring faculty
members Susan and
Jol Everett in 1999
Patsy, Lance, Laurie, and Jake
travel with Dinny and then director
of development Fred Genung ’63
and their first child, Alec, in 1973 on
one of Lance’s alumni tours around
the country.
22 Spring 2001

Vickers and Beechler
INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
Lance shares his vision for the campus with the Long Range Planning Committee of
the board of trustees in 1989.
To observe Lance Odden at A Better
Chance and at NAIS was to keep him
in mind should I ever need a companion-in-arms
to man the barricade.
—Mildred Berendsen,
former head of Chapin School
In our era, money is glorified and dedication
is trivialized, as typified by
professional athletes. Lance is the antithesis
to this lowering of standards.
If I had three words to describe him,
they would be class, strength, and vision.
Not a bad hat trick.
—William Mayo-Smith ’74
I am proud to tell people where I went
and I have the Oddens to thank for that.
—Dick Williams ’89
Posterity will recall the “Odden Era”
as the golden age of the school.
—Craig Shealy P’76,’81
I want to thank and congratulate Lance
and Patsy for living lives that those who
want to make a difference will look to
for inspiration for many years to come.
—Ron O’Connor P’91
Patsy and her
crews on Community
Service Day
have planted thousands
of spring
bulbs throughout
Watertown.
I have always thought that one of the
best decisions I ever made as head of
Taft was to step aside so that Lance
could be considered for the position.
It was a good decision for my family
and me; I hope it was a good one for
his family and him. Lord knows, it was
a magnificent decision for Taft!
—John C. Esty Jr.
headmaster 1963-72
Retiring Board Chairman
Don McCullough
’42 sums up his affection
for Lance at the
“Hats off to Don” party
after the dedication of
the McCullough Athletic
Center in 1999.
Lance’s talks were always the highlight
of parents’ weekends and often
made us reflect on the jobs we were
doing as parents, and how we could
do even better.
—Charlie and Charlotte Atwood
P’94,’95,’97
A southern boy, sent off to an eastern
prep school, I felt like a stranger in a
strange land for much of my time there.
All was not gloom, however, because I
was able to find two of my old friends
there: sports and words. Lance Odden
and Barclay Johnson were the lighthouses
I looked to for direction.
—Marty Pryor ’68
Taft Bulletin 23

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Bradford Joblin ’73
S P O T L I G H T
1961—
The new arrivals,
fall 1961: Lance
Odden, Barclay
Johnson ’53,
Edward Schriver,
Dave Mitchell,
Walter Foley,
Thomas Fox, and
Thomas Weld
1972—
The new headmaster and his family
Odden
The
Years
1961—
A cholera epidemic cancels Lance
Odden’s plans to participate in the Yalein-China
program after his graduation
from Princeton. A last-minute interview
with Headmaster Paul Cruikshank secures
Lance a position coaching hockey
with Len Sargent and running the school
store. By the next semester, Lance is
teaching history.
1963—
Marries Patricia Kerney, who also grew
up in Princeton.
Under Lance’s leadership, lacrosse
becomes a varsity sport.
1964—
Introduces a course in Far Eastern History
and is appointed director of the newly
created Independent Studies Program.
1965—
Awarded Mailliard Fellowship for “excellence
in teaching.”
1966—
Sabbatical year at the University of
Wisconsin, where he earns his master’s
in history. His thesis deals with American
Foreign Policy with China from
1929–31.
Odden Lacrosse Award created by
the varsity lacrosse team of 1966.
1967—
Named chairman of the History Department.
1968—
Son Jake (Class of ’86) born.
1969—
Appointed assistant headmaster by
John Esty.
1970—
Awarded the Robert Congdon Memorial
Chair in History.
1971—
Coeducation begins, also the year daughter
Laurie (Class of ’89) is born.
1972—
Lance Rue Odden is named the school’s
fourth headmaster, and—at age 32—is
the youngest to lead a major independent
school. School endowment stands
at $2 million.
24 Spring 2001

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INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
1979—
Daniel Lam ’74,
Lee Klingenstein
’44, Lance Odden,
Louis Lam ’80,
and Francis Lam
’74 in Hong Kong,
on Lance’s first trip
to China
Lance has been a wonderful leader,
and both he and Patsy have been
great friends to the community of
Watertown.
—M. Heminway Merriman II
’67, P’93,’97
Lance and Patsy’s greatest legacy is the
expansion and deepening of the Taft
family, representing the best of the traditions,
clear values, and care that
characterize a strong family.
—Bill Morris ’69, P’97,’99,’02
dean of studies
1973—
Patsy begins the girls’ ice hockey program.
1978—
Long Range Planning Committee Report
provides the master plan to make Taft
“the best middle-sized coeducational
independent school in the country.”
1979—
Fulfills a long-postponed personal and
professional dream with a two-month
visit to China, accompanied by Patsy and
by Daney and Lee Klingenstein ’44.
Founds the Taft Education Center
under Ed North, a summer program for
teachers Lance sees as an important
bridge between the worlds of private and
public education.
1980—
Groundbreaking
for the new
Cruikshank Athletic
Center, Lance’s first
major construction
project in what
would become
the school’s
greatest period of
physical growth.
1980—
Challenge grant of $2 million by the
William Rand Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust
helps the school to double its endowment
in less than three years and inspires the
board to embark on a campaign to raise
the endowment to $30 million.
Paul and Edith Cruikshank Athletic
Center joins the Mays Rink and Logan
Field House to complete the move of the
athletic facilities up the hill.
Patsy Odden Hockey Award given
by the 1980 girls’ varsity hockey team
to that member of the team who in the
minds of the coaches best exemplifies
the spirit of leadership, determination,
and ability.
I am grateful to Lance for the way in
which he built on Taft’s great traditions
to shape an institution that is vital and
relevant to a troubled society in a complex
world.
—Bob Bremner P’87,91,94
What has touched us so deeply about
Taft is the school’s powerful interest in
doing the right thing, whether alerting
parents of potential problems in a
child’s behavior or trying to direct
young people to make the right
choices, or at least be aware of the
consequences if they do not. Both our
children are far better equipped to
face the world having had the Lance
Odden/Taft experience.
—Nancy Novogrod P’98,’01
Lance’s teaching helped me as a
teacher and a historian. Only one lecturer
ever approached his excellence
during the course of my education
(Stephen Ambrose at Johns Hopkins),
and no other teacher conveyed the
passion for learning about other cultures
and the past with the conviction
he brought to the job. Some years
ago a student of mine went to
Princeton and took a course from
Arthur Waldron ’66. After a while the
student began to recognize a similarity
in the way material was presented
and in other aspects of the course. Finally
he asked Arthur if he knew me.
Lance not only inspired us, but also
helped shape the way his students
look at problems and conduct intellectual
discourse—an influence so
powerful that the young Princetonian
could recognize it. In a sense, he had
become Lance’s student too.
—Ellis Wasson ’66
Taft Bulletin 25

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Paul Horton
S P O T L I G H T
1986—
At the dedication
of the Arts and
Humanities Center
Insight Studios
Insight Studios
1989—
With Vassar
President Frances
Ferguson,
Princeton President
Harold Shapiro,
and Board
Chairman Peter
Fink ’51 at the
Centennial
Convocation
1993—
Patsy’s three-time New England
Championship team: clockwise,
Sara Vintiadis, A.J. Mleczko,
Heather McVicar, Kate Schutt,
Natasha Fine, Whitney Parks,
and Coach Odden
1981—
Patsy named assistant director of athletics,
following Marion Makepeace.
1983—
Serves as president of the New England
Association of Schools and Colleges.
1985—
With the completion in 1980 of athletic
facilities up the hill, the Arts and Humanities
Center is created out of the old
gymnasiums at the heart of campus.
1988—
Creates the Poole Summer Fellowships
in honor of Robert Keyes Poole ’50, who
left education to devote his life to service
through the Peace Corps and African
Wildlife Federation.
1989—
School begins its hundredth year with a
special convocation in the fall. Lance is
joined in leading the festivities by college
presidents Frances Ferguson and
Harold Shapiro and former U.S. Commissioner
of Education Doc Howe ’36.
1990—
As the school nears gender parity in
the enrollment, construction of more
housing for girls becomes essential.
Centennial Dormitory, named in honor
of John C. Esty, creates a new quadrangle
in front of the Hulbert Taft Jr. Library.
A gala celebration in May brings over
3,500 people to campus to celebrate the
landmark year.
1991—
Patsy’s girls’ varsity ice hockey team wins
its first in what will be an unprecedented
string of three New England Championships.
1992—
Donald F. McCullough Athletic Center
built (dedicated in 1999) to help eliminate
nighttime practices in the winter.
1993—
Patsy Odden appears in Sports Illustrated’s
“Faces in the Crowd” for guiding her ice
hockey team to its third consecutive New
England Championship.
Lance receives an honorary doctorate
from Piedmont College, along with
Senator Sam Nunn. The degree is presented
by Harry Walker ’40.
26 Spring 2001

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Vickers and Beechler
INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
1997—
Honoring Sir
Gordon and Lady
Ivy Kwok Wu on
the eve of the
dedication of the
new science
building
Without discounting the many priceless
personalities of Taft, I have never
associated any institution more closely
with one individual. Nor, would I guess,
has one individual ever done so much
for a single institution.
—Peter Bowden ’91
It is certainly true that the school reflects
the headmaster, and Taft has
become the finest of its kind.
—Samuel F. Pryor III ’46, P’73
Lance and Patsy always set the tone in
a way that connected Taft to its great
traditions, but kept it marching forward
into the new millennium.
—Gregory J. Seitz ’86
Craig Ambrosio
1997—
Lady Ivy Kwok Wu Science and Mathematics
Center and the Nancy and Ben
Belcher Learning Center are added to a
renovated library.
1998—
Odden named honorary doctor of humane
letters from Hamilton College and
received Princeton Country Day School’s
highest alumni award.
1999—
Five-year Campaign for Taft closes at
$133,035,898 on December 31, surpassing
the original $75 million goal.
The New England Girls’ Prep School
Ice Hockey Association votes unanimously
to name the N.E. Championship
trophy after Patsy, recognizing her unparalleled
25-year coaching career.
2001—
In front of a
packed house,
the Odden family
gathers for the
Odden Arena
Dedication in
January: from left,
Mike Brown,
Margot, Karen,
and Jake ’86,
Lance and Patsy,
and Laurie ’89.
2000—
Lance and Patsy announce to the assembled
faculty and student body their plan to
retire at the end of the school year. John
Dayton ’64 heads the trustee committee
charged with finding Lance’s successor.
2001—
January: Odden Arena dedicated in
honor of Lance and Patsy. A record number
of alumni and parents attend,
surpassing even previous Alumni Weekend
turnouts (see page 30).
May: The Taft community honors
the Oddens’ four decades of devotion to
the school with a black-tie gala planned
for May 19 (see page 2).
Lance has done so much for our beloved
school. The King would be
proud of him and so am I.
—Nelson Howard ’25
Lance’s quiet battle for an open-hearted,
liberal-minded society is a legacy I hope
his successor will carry forward.
—David J. Piel ’42, P’72
I can say with certainty that I am sitting
in the chair I have now thanks to the
profound influence Lance had on me
as a student and then as an educator.
—Jim Mooney ’74
headmaster, Vermont Academy
American history abounds with the
unique stories of many remarkable independent
school heads. There is
another book waiting to be written,
however, and it will be called The
Oddens of Taft, or something like
that. Their tenure has always been
highlighted by its being a team effort,
and that process helped move coeducation
along.
—Peter Buttenheim ’60, P’84
Here’s to a man who could have done
or been anything that he wanted, only
to choose the noble profession of seeing
to it that others could be more than
they thought possible.
—Donald S. Tuttle III P’98,’00
Taft Bulletin 27

Insight Studios
Mr. Odden’s
SCHOOL
By Andrew Karas ’01
Vespers was a tradition Lance believed
to be at the heart of our school—a coming
together, a time of reflection—and
throughout his tenure spoke every week
when possible.
There is a certain comfort in convention, for
institutions as well as individuals, especially
when the tradition is one of sustained success
and strength.
This alone might have been reason enough for the
Taft community to register a significant response to
the announcement that Headmaster Lance Odden
will retire from his post on June 30. Taft has, after all,
grown accustomed to having a sure hand at its helm.
28 Spring 2001

Craig Ambrosio
Insight Studios
INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
Lance reveled in student accomplishments
and spent innumerable Wednesday
and Saturday afternoons out by the athletic
fields rooting for the Big Red.
Over the past 29 years, that hand has
steered our school to prosperity and
prominence, which we take for granted
but which were unattainable for much
of Taft’s history.
That we are an equal and a rival of
the greatest boarding schools in the
country, that we rest on a $132 million
endowment, that our facilities are new
and first-rate, we know. And we recite
The happy task of awarding diplomas at
Commencement
that list every time we try to explain
what Mr. Odden has done for Taft, and
why we revere him for it.
And yet, we cannot help but feel
that there is more—more than money,
more than buildings, numbers, and
fundraisers—to account for Mr. Odden’s
success as headmaster of Taft.
For while the numbers so often
quoted—the soaring dollars, the shrinking
As master of ceremonies, Lance dedicates the Weaver track last spring with the help
of captains Venroy July ’00 and Kim Noel ’00, and of course, Bill Weaver.
It’s been a long day, longer than usual.
The fluster of six classes over, I want
to talk to someone. About my day,
myself, about me, me, me. I want
someone’s full attention, even though
I have no significant problem. As I pass
his office, I see the open door. I wonder
if he’s too busy... I wonder if I could
pop in for no reason at all... I wonder
if he would mind...? I peek in.
“Hello, Mr. Odden.”
He sets his pen on his desk, leans
back, and motions me to the “advisee
chair” located nearest to his own. This
is the man who runs The Taft School,
who is readying for his retirement,
whose daily desk work is more crucial
than my end-of-year exams, whose
schedule for every day of next week is
already booked. But he drops everything,
his eyes on mine, his chair facing
mine, and asks, “How are you, Annie?”
I am struck by his genuine interest
in me. For 20 precious minutes, he
devotes his attention, knowledge, advice,
support, and encouragement to
me. Amidst all of his influence and
power, Mr. Odden is a teacher. Although
he has never taught me a class,
he is the best teacher I have ever had.
—Annie Olson ’01
Mr. Odden has been so much fun to
work with this year. Our school monitor
meetings with him are influential
yet entertaining. He is always concerned
with what we see going on in
school, and asks how we think any
problems should be dealt with. Mr.
Odden has led by example, showing
us how to be patient and understanding,
yet influential and strong in the
face of any problem. He is always interested
in how we are doing. By
having us be involved in everything
that goes on at Taft, Mr. Odden has
allowed us to see what it takes to run
such a successful school.
—Ashley Cecchinato ’01
I really enjoy getting to know Mr. Odden.
I used to think he was always formal, but
now that I’m one of his advisees, I can
talk to him in a casual way. I am comfortable
talking to him about anything.
He always has some piece of advice, like
a wise godparent. I am amazed by his
smarts and by his knowledge of the
world. He knows how to read people,
and he takes care of the students at Taft
so well. I don’t know what the school
will be like without him here. I know that
I will miss our meetings, and his Morning
Meeting speeches.
—Hannah Baker ’03
Taft Bulletin 29

Insight Studios
S P O T L I G H T
A voracious reader, Lance routinely kept
faculty informed and inspired about the
latest education research.
Lance continued to teach Asian history even after being named headmaster.
acceptance rate—are impressive, they
are also cold and impersonal. Instead,
Mr. Odden’s greatest contribution to the
school can be easily summarized with the
simple number “one:” one life, elevated
by purpose, sustained by will, and dedicated
to service through leadership.
This characterization preempts all
others; it represents quantifiable accomplishments
and recognizes personal
success at once. There can be no greater
gift than that of self to community.
And that is what we should remember
through this year, and what the school
must remember into the future. We have
benefited not only from an administrator
but also from a visionary, whose
concern for students—not for donations
or reputations—drove him.
Finally, Mr. Odden has been responsible
for setting the tone of the place,
something that we at Taft have come to
know as progressive but reflective, focused
on the future but rooted in the past.
When our school was founded, it
was known simply as Mr. Taft’s School.
For the last three decades, it might
appropriately have been called Mr.
Odden’s School. Without the first man,
it wouldn’t exist, and without the second,
A varsity lacrosse and ice hockey coach, Lance took equal pride
in the successes of the school’s football team, particularly if they
beat Hotchkiss on Fathers’ Day.
Supporting a strong belief in nurturing student leaders, Lance
worked closely with school monitors: here, head mons Kate Schutt
’93 and Andrew Solomon ’92.
30 Spring 2001

INFLUENCE AND IDEALS
Taking part in the annual Community
Service Day
it wouldn’t exist as we know it. We learn
in buildings he has built, under policies
he has implemented, in a school
he has shaped. It is not easy to imagine
his absence.
Remembering that Taft needs to replace
an educator, not a businessman or
a bureaucrat, the one thing we must not
do is fear, either for the school or for its
future. Change is difficult, true. It can
Always reminding us of Horace Taft’s motto for the school
Lance Odden often
claimed to have
“the best job
in the world.”
also be beneficial beyond all expectation.
We take heart in the fact that the last time
the trustees hired a new leader for Taft
they chose Mr. Odden.
This essay originally appeared in The Taft
Papyrus, of which Andrew is co-editor-inchief.
The ranking scholar in his class, he
received both the Harvard and Brown
book awards last spring.
It’s been great to get to know Mrs.
Odden both as my advisor and my
coach. She has always taken an interest
in me on and off the ice.
—Christina Jankowski ’02
Mr. Odden is one of the most versatile
and well-rounded thinkers I have
ever known. He spends so much time
broadening his many areas of expertise
that he has a supported opinion
on nearly everything we talk about. I
think his greatest strength has been
the genuine interest he has in every
area of Taft life.
—Christian Jensen ’01
I was timid about asking Mr. Odden
to be my advisor, as I am a freshman
and new to the school. He said “yes”
in the days before announcing his retirement,
and I was thankful I would
have the opportunity to spend a year
under his guidance. He made me feel
Taft was my home away from home,
encouraged me when a class proved
difficult, and invited me for a round
of golf, a sport he knew I loved. Each
time I would pass him in the hall, he
would speak a kind word or ask about
my classes and activities. He made my
first months at Taft special and rewarding.
I respect Mr. Odden for his
character, integrity, and intelligence.
I am thankful I had the opportunity to
work with him.
—Lauren Mielbrecht ’04
Mr. Odden has been my advisor for
two years. Some people are a little intimidated
by him because he is the
headmaster, but when you sit down
and talk to him, you realize that he is
an average guy. He likes hockey, plays
golf religiously, and enjoys what he
does. He is one of the most genuine
and sincere men I know. When you talk
with him he gives you his full attention
and the needed support. He has
taught me many important lessons
about confidence, personality, and
leadership. But the greatest thing Mr.
Odden has given me is his friendship.
On many occasions, he has taken me
to go play golf with him. As insignificant
as this may seem, it means a great
deal to me, as it’s times like this when
Mr. Odden becomes more than an
advisor, he becomes a friend.
—Colin Read ’02
Taft Bulletin 31

S P O T L I G H T
Reflections
32 Spring 2001
The dedication of the Odden Arena, and
the accompanying Alumni Games, turns
into a winter homecoming to remember
By Richard S. duPont ’60
Photography by Craig Ambrosio

S P O T L I G H T
Lynne, Elise, and Peter Maro ’83 with Jol Everett and Jeff Kelly ’85
As I turned left up the hill from Watertown
toward my final destination, I began to
recall an image. I was back slogging up the
snow-covered path in unfastened boots, up from the
gym locker room where we dressed, with skates and
sticks over the shoulder, plodding onward—past the
Infirmary and the Wade House and the tennis
courts—to the Mays Rink for yet another afternoon
of valuable self-discovery.
Each day (and there were many over four
long winter terms) there was this sallying
forth and later retreat—a time to
gather your thoughts and your resolve on
the way up and an opportunity to run
through instant replays and lessons
learned on descent. We did this because
that’s the way it was then. But, you know,
it wasn’t a negative at all. You climbed
the hill; you got the view from the top.
This trip to Watertown was, in fact,
a pilgrimage for me, as heartfelt as it was
impromptu. What a profound experience
it was to attend the rink opening.
Pulling into the redesigned parking
lot, the outside of the rink looked
normal enough. If ever form follows
function, here it must do. Inside I was
greeted by a bright, functional, and balanced
interior—everything you might
need or want in a first-rate prep school
hockey rink, but nothing of excess—
plenty of good ideas and quality
without the frills.
I moved on down the passageway on
the “business side” of the rink and who
do you suppose came charging by to greet
me at full stride on the pass? It was Lance
beaming, “duPs! You made it.” And he
was on his way again.
I climbed the stairs at the other end
to the spectator level to get a name tag
and found a warm greeting from Chip
Spencer ’56 and Olivia Tuttle. I began to
look around for other familiar faces.
There was Jerry Mitchell ’60 with son
Dave ’92, cheerful and happy to see me.
Over here was Larry Stone for a quick
hello. Then followed a warm handshake
from Drummond Bell ’63, Fred Genung
’63, and Neil Peterson ’54. God, this was
great. I headed toward the entrance corridor,
stopping by the Rhino, and paused
to give Patsy and Lance’s portrait a careful
inspection. Portraits tend to make me
Lance Odden and Steve Potter ’73
Left: Lance and Patsy officially open the Odden Arena. They could have no better lead-in
to the ceremony than the girls 3–2 sudden-death victory of Choate minutes before.
Linda and Hem Merriman ’67 with Smithie
Merriman P’67,GP’93,’97
Taft Bulletin 33

S P O T L I G H T
uncomfortable; they so easily miss the
mark. But here was a definite exception—a
fine statement and a testimony
to the rewards of undertaking risk.
Next I cruised down the corridor
and took in the wonderful mural on its
interior wall—a life-sized black and white
photocollage of relevant faces, poses,
action shots of key players and coaches
over the years. Hey! There’s Lance with
hair. And I always loved that shot of
Len Sargent with hockey stick and whistle.
And here’s my cousin Kate Schutt’s radiant
face with classmate A.J. Mleczko ’93 and
their epic team. What a terrific record
they had at Taft (and after)!
I moved on to the foyer, stopping
to peer at the various trophies and
awards. When you view a compilation
of teams over many more years than are
spent as a student at Taft, you see things
in a more comprehensive and honest
perspective. It was comforting to see my
name flash by among the others.
I rounded the bend and looked
down a corridor with shiny new squash
Jol Everett, left, with Lance Odden, Hal Erdman and his three hockey-playing sons: Fred
’71, Carl ’77, and Guy ’68
courts on the left and windows to the
exercise room on the right. What a sight!
There was a full-blown match in
progress portside, complete with abundant
spectators, and then a perfect
cross-section of the student body wringing
out the various contraptions to the
starboard. It seemed to me that none
were idle. I couldn’t help thinking how
much healthier they all seemed in comparison
to my memory of our student
body. Or was it just my age? I tiptoed
past the matches in progress and made
my way toward the Mays Rink. I wanted
to pay my respects and take one more
long drink from that barrel.
I wasn’t sure of the exact way in.
I made a quick change of direction
instinctively, as I sometimes would do
when carrying the puck into the enemy
zone, there to drop it for Sam “without
looking”—then hard to the net. (A good
portion of what goals I scored came
from Sam’s rebounds.) I made that move
and, bingo, there stood Sam Crocker
’60—looking just as he always does and
smiling that fetching smile—and his
delightful daughter, Wizzie. Without
the slightest bit of communication, once
again we had, “without looking,” remade
our connection with each other
and with the old Winter Palace. That
moment alone was worth the trip.
Peter Maro ’83 makes the save as Kyle Reis ’93 waits for the
rebound.
Classmates Dave Forster and Bryan Remer ’62 present Lance with
his own commemorative photo of the 1962 hockey season—
Lance’s first season at Taft.
34 Spring 2001

S P O T L I G H T
Sam and I stayed glued together after
that. In fact, it was Sam who called
Edith Fenton Tuckerman’s presence to
my attention. We stopped to greet her
and her husband Roger. Their daughter,
Kat ’01, was hard at it in the squash
match with Andover. We paused to
watch a bit of the boys’ varsity basketball
game against Hotchkiss and had
dinner and a legal beer together (in fact,
we had two) and attended the Dedication
Ceremony side by side. I sincerely
hope we didn’t bore Wizzie to death.
We both got the biggest rush from
the girls’ game against Choate. We felt
our side had demonstrated superiority,
but our two-goal lead disappeared and
there we stood 2-2 for the whole third
period—and thus did it end in regulation.
We wondered if overtime would
be allowed in view of the Dedication
Ceremony to follow, but, in typical
Odden form, there was never a doubt.
There would be a five-minute, suddendeath
overtime. The pulse went to warp
speed with more near misses for Taft
than for the Choate girls. And then in
the last thirty seconds of play one of our
girls made a rush and reached for that
extra something that astounds us all. She
found it—just. She managed to get
around the Choate defense, but,
wouldn’t you know, her shot missed the
opposite goal post by inches. Our hearts
sank. But then our girls made one more
Herculean effort. There was a hardfought
retrieve and a great pass and, this
time, a shot that was not to be denied.
What a moment—what a victory! The
Taft girls all poured out of their bench
and smothered our heroine in a heap of
joyous wriggling bodies. My eyes filled
with tears of joy. It was great stuff!
It was staggering to witness what has
been achieved in four decades through
the burst in popularity of the sport,
through the advances in devoted coaching,
and through the pursuit of excellence
from an early age. It is crystal clear to me
that Sam Crocker’s and my experience
Tammy Shewchuck ’96 burns up the ice in
the alumnae game. Tammy went on to play
for Katey Stone ’84 at Harvard and then
for the Canadian national team.
Rafe de la Gueronniere ’70 at center ice
Old friends Whitey and Judy Frew P’71,75 and Dutton and Henry Long GP ’04,’04,’04
would be tough to duplicate today.
We started our play lowermid year and
somehow managed three years of varsity
hockey. Forget that idea now. But, on
the other hand, just look at what these
brilliant young players—boys and girls—
have achieved. It’s fantastic!
Next came the dedication—all the
more moving for the moments just gone
down. The last words out of Lance imparted
the message that if our boys were
to play with the same heart demonstrated
by our girls, then they could
expect similar results.
Then, BOOM, on with the boys’
team and were they cranked. The pregame
stuff was worth the price of
admission. They were flying! Pucks
Taft Bulletin 35

S P O T L I G H T
were flying. Everything was flying over
the new glass and everywhere. I had
scouted out a viewing spot earlier. It
was right beside the check-in table
overlooking the left corner of the rink.
But the crowd came on a little quicker
than I thought. I was obliged to “weasel”
my way in between a very tolerant
man and an unrelated woman on his
left. First I put a hand on the railing
and then my shoulder was in. Hell, fi-
The oldest alumnus on the ice, Day
Brigham ’44 smiles for the crowd in the
Odden Arena.
nally the Full Monty, as it were. It was
an ugly piece of work, except my desire
was of the purest sort, there really
was plenty of room and everyone else
was doing it. I just couldn’t resist.
To my great surprise, this very nice
man to my right looked up and smiled.
I liked him instantly. I glanced at his
name tag. It read “Dave something” and
there was a son, “Chris ’01” I asked him
if he had a son playing. He answered,
Christian Jensen ’01 presents Lance Odden
with a team jersey
“Yes, he’s the goalie—no. 1.” I had just
been watching him. He moved like a
leopard. I was dumbfounded to learn
Chris Reis had started as a lowermid.
With the game underway, the boys
wasted no time expressing their intentions.
Choate was perfectly able, but
Taft was dominant. The first period
ended with Taft ahead 2-0 and it could
easily have been more, but the second
period was not so fine. A few of our
Taft lads succumbed to temptations
unmentionable, and, BANG, in go two
well-deserved goals on two Choate
power plays. I can imagine what Mike
Maher had to say about discipline and
focus and what it would take to win.
And while those curative measures were
undoubtedly in progress, I took leave
of Dave Reis to say hi to Lily Stroud
’03, the daughter of Moose and Boo
Stroud and a former classmate of my
son, Zack. Then back to the railing.
Taft was “born again” great in the
third period and virtually unstoppable.
It was simply a matter of time before
the pucks started dropping into the
Choate net. And then it was all over,
5-2 or 6-2, I can’t remember, but it was
soothing. Just before the end, Jerry
Romano was kind enough to slip an
Odden Arena puck in my pocket which
I had requested earlier. What a guy!
And what a game! What games! What
a day! What a trip!
I was a young trustee when the board
asked Lance to serve as Taft’s new headmaster.
So I was more than happy to have
been there for the real closing ceremony
marking the end of The Odden Years—
both Oddens. What a fine passage Taft
has undergone. And what a fine bit of
stewarding—the sort of leadership one
always hopes for but seldom gets. And
so the seasons come and go, and passages
are made and the really good stuff in life
lives on to move on.
Patsy readies her alumnae team as they’re about to take on the varsity squad that beat
Choate the night before.
—Richard S. duPont ’60
36 Spring 2001

S P O T L I G H T
Alumni Squash Team
Front, Andrew Bogardus ’87, Rob McLean ’98, Nick Kyme ’99; standing, Bill
Morris ’69, Peter North ’62, Andy Taylor ’72, Peter Frew ’75, Geoff Blum ’73
Alumnae Basketball Team
Front, Evelyn Baratta Lee ’75, Loren Wright ’92, Adriana Blakaj ’00, Justine
Landegger ’00; standing, Leila Brazo Spelman ’84, Sarah DePolo ’94, Anna
DePolo Schultz ’89, Kristen Kawecki ’98
Alumni Basketball Team
Front, Chris Persley ’91, Rob Hicks ’92, Ryan Jordan ’95, Jamie Menapace ’95,
David Kilborn ’86, Peppie Wagner ’81, Andy Hertzmark ’94, Tommy Daily ’78;
standing, Michael Baudinet ’00, Mshangwe Crawford ’00, Roger Bensen ’52,
Tom Scozzafava ’88, Paul Graham ’88, Tim Mariano ’87, Jon Willson ’82, Jon
Dodd ’92, Pat McCormack ’92, Sean Wright ’84
Alumnae Hockey Squad
Front, Sara Coan Carr ’86, Katey Stone ’84, Marian Reiff Cheevers ’74, Elise
Brokaw ’81, Amy Upjohn ’79, Emily Smith ’00; standing, Jess Clark ’94, Laurie
Odden ’89, Jess Matzkin ’90, Kelvey Richards ’95, Alison Coope ’98, Tammy
Shewchuck ’96, Patsy Odden
Alumni Hockey Squad
Front, John Long ’88, Chris Watson ’91, Peter Maro ’83, Dave Jenkins ’97, Adam Gorra ’94, Brett Chodorow ’96, Greg Seitz ’86, Ed Travers ’86, Jeff Potter
’80, Jamie Better ’79, Carl Erdman ’77, Fred Erdman ’71, Tom Strumolo ’70, Rafe de la Gueronniere ’70, Whit Knapp ’66; standing, Jim Stone ’83, Jack Kenerson
’82, Jerry DeLeo ’82, Kyle Reis ’93, Mike Stone ’74, Nick Tuozzolo ’87, Matt Gora ’90, Todd Mills ’90, Dave Forster ’62, Garry Rogers ’83, Scott Richardson
’82, Colin Aymond ’88, John Cavanaugh ’86, Jake Odden ’86, Chad Bessette ’74, Steve Potter ’73, Day Brigham ’44, John Collett ’70, Guy Erdman ’68, Rick
Preziotti ’82, Larkin Glazebrook ’76, Don Taylor ’76, Drew Stone ’79, Ted Judson ’73, Rocky Shepard ’69, Jol Everett, Mike Maher, Lance Odden
Taft Bulletin 37

E N D N O T E
The Virtues of Horace Taft
By Lance R. Odden
With the retirement of Barclay Johnson ’53
last June, I have become senior master—the
last to have worked for Paul Cruikshank and
to have been initiated into Taft by those who
worked for Horace Taft, as well as Paul
Cruikshank. My mentors were men like Ed
Douglas, Jim Logan, Harry Stearns, Joe
Cunningham and others who worked for a
long time for Horace Taft, and then some of
the most significant but younger men such as
Bill Sullivan and Len
Sargent. The impact
of those men was extraordinary,
and I will
be forever indebted
to them, as was a generation
of Taft students
and faculty.
All this moves
me to talk about
our history and
about Horace Taft
in greater depth than
I ever have before.
Although Horace
Taft retired in 1936,
his influence on the
school remains essential.
In fact, I
am proud to have
brought him back as
a central icon for our school community, for
I deeply believe his values are as apt today as
they were 110 year ago.
Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of a
lawyer, judge, and diplomat, Horace Taft
graduated from Yale in 1883, having roomed
with Sherman Thacher for several years.
Trained in the classics and destined to study
law, Taft often mused with Thacher about
teaching and starting his own school. However,
family directives pushed him into the
law to prepare him for politics and service to
the nation—the family’s calling. Within a few
years, Horace Taft rebelled, leaving the law,
returning to Yale to teach classics, and earning
the disdain if not disrespect of his parents,
who were sure that he would soon come to his
senses and return to a higher calling.
After several years on the Yale faculty,
Horace Taft did come to his senses, not to
return to the law, but instead to start his own
school to prepare young men for college,
preferably in New Haven. His years at Yale
had taught him that a student’s fundamental
character was in place by the time he arrived
at college and that it was at the secondary
level that the fundamental habits of heart
and mind were established. A secondary
school would offer a teacher the greatest
influence on the next generation.
From our very beginnings in Pelham Manor,
New York—where the school resided for
three years—through the entirety of Horace
Taft’s career, he spoke of educating the whole
student. While Mr. Taft believed that preparing
the mind was the first responsibility
of his school, he insisted that the heart,
spirit, and conscience of a student were of
equal importance, and that the totality of a
person’s character counted most. In this
regard, he was thoroughly Emersonian, and
was most assuredly influenced by Emerson’s
seminal essay on American character.
Horace Taft believed deeply in personal
honor, a value he emphasized continually in
public speeches. He
said, “As for me,
truthfulness or honor
is the foundation.
Whatever else a student
is, if they tell the
truth, there is hope,
there is something to
build on.” From this
value, evolved our
honor system, so essential
to our school
today, and so much
at odds with the
world at large.
“Next to honor,
we have counted
hard work as the
most important element
in character
training.” Indeed, he
believed so deeply in hard work, that he
believed it could overcome nearly every obstacle.
In his speeches, he praised students
with “gumption”—the ability to overcome
setbacks with hard work—which was so
much more important than theoretical aptitude
or natural ability.
Mr. Taft derived great pleasure from the
remarkable records his students wrote on
college entrance examinations. He was always
delighted by the great records of leading scholars,
but he was proudest of the triumphs of
those less able. How delighted Horace Taft
would have been with Bill Weaver, the donor
38 Spring 2001

E N D N O T E
of our new track, who commented at the
dedication ceremony last spring that “the
harder you work, the luckier you get.” A
comment so Taft-like, that it nearly belongs
on the Belcher Library windows.
Horace Taft also believed that the individual
is responsible for his or her lot in
life and that a residential school teaches
enduring lessons. In his earliest recorded
Vespers notes he wrote, “The first lesson
here and everywhere is the lesson of unselfishness.
Not to or for yourself. The great
advantage of boarding school is that it gives
opportunities for a student to get out of
himself. He must work for others and learn
that he can work with others. He must go
into things and make them work. The great
value of football and baseball is the unselfishness
and self-suppression they enforce.
The grandstand player or the one who trains
only when the coach’s eye is on him, is not
the one to be successful in life.” Or, “School
is what you make it.”
Horace Taft believed in total commitment
to whatever he or his students undertook.
Thus, he wrote, “There are two elevating
aspects of work at Taft, first to do it well,
and second, to do it for others.” Of course,
the latter sentiment is rooted in his family’s
deep belief in public service, a belief still
carried on so many generations later by our
own Bob Taft ’59, current governor of Ohio.
In one Vespers after another, Horace Taft
spoke of the duties of Tafties to contribute to
American society, most often speaking of
Washington and Lincoln as models of selfsacrificing
men, one who gave up his fortune
for the country’s good, and the other his life.
From these beliefs came our motto—not to
be served but to serve—a call to all Taft
students and teachers to make a difference in
the years ahead.
Horace Taft’s school was designed to assure
that the whole student and his learning about
every aspect of life would be the responsibility
of his faculty. At Taft, masters would live
among students, not segregated to the side,
in houses connected to dormitories. Faculty
meetings were to be about students, who
were to be known well in the classroom and
even better on the playing fields, in the
dorms, or as young people growing up.
George Van Sanford, the great headmaster
of Hotchkiss and a fellow Yale classicist, was
famous for stopping students in the hall and
asking them to conjugate verbs or to cite
declensions. Horace Taft conversed with his
students about their roommates, their extracurricular
activities, and how well they were
doing. He cared for the whole person and
asked his faculty to do so as well.
His was to be a student-centered community,
and here his vision is also clear.
Connectedness was virtue, and so we would
eat, sleep, go to classes, and live together in
one ever-connected, serpentine building, always
designed so that people would acknowledge
each other. While his collegiate Gothic
architecture was grand, it was designed at a
human scale so that people were connected
and not diminished.
Last spring, I went back to my alma
mater for a meeting and arrived early. I went
on a nostalgic walk only to find myself surprised
that the students neither acknowledged
visitors, nor asked if they could be of
assistance, which our students do routinely.
The academy’s paths and hallways are grand
allowing people to pass without any eye contact,
remaining anonymous. Size, scale, and a
vision of connectedness shaped our campus
and lie behind our traditions of reaching out
to each other and to visitors, which we have
maintained even as our campus has grown.
Trained in the law, Horace Taft was a man
of undeniable principle. An avid opponent
of Prohibition, Horace Taft gave one last
dinner party the night before Prohibition
began and never again took a drink in the
United States until Prohibition ended. Perhaps
this explains his deep devotion to
Murray Bay and his beloved vacations in
Canada! From 1890 to 1927, Mr. Taft
owned his school and rejected all offers of
financial gifts, fearing that they might somehow
compromise his independence. When
he was persuaded to incorporate as a nonprofit
organization and turn governance
over to “Old Boy Trustees,” to assure the
school’s survival after his death, he continued
to reject any gift which had strings
attached. Thus, when the great philanthropist
Harkness approached him about a gift
of $5 or 6 million, equal to his benefaction
at Exeter, Mr. Taft asked if it meant we
would have to incorporate the round table,
or Harkness system, of teaching. Harkness
said yes, and Mr. Taft said, I appreciate the
offer, but I cannot accept, proving him to
be a man of impeccable principle—and for
our school to have a little less principal than
we might have had otherwise.
However, Mr. Taft was never rigid. Two
stories come to mind. In 1926, Ben Belcher,
a middler from Lakeville, Conn., was caught
importing enough bootlegged booze to intoxicate
his entire class. Mr. Taft expelled
young Ben, but called Mr. Van Sanford at
Hotchkiss and asked him to take Ben on as a
special day student for classes only, to return
home before athletics each afternoon. If
Belcher did well, Taft said that he would take
him back as an upper middler. Van Sanford
agreed and Belcher went to Hotchkiss for six
months, meeting Mr. Taft’s requirements.
Belcher returned to excel in his upper middle
year, and subsequently Mr. Taft appointed
him head monitor of the school. He went on
to be not only a great head mon, but also a
distinguished alumnus and, of course, a great
benefactor of Taft. Penalty, contrition, and
absolution were Mr. Taft’s values.
Once Taft was asked how he had survived 46
years as headmaster. He immediately replied,
“I have never forgotten the little boy
inside me.” He could empathize with the
students. Imagine this story. One night the
east wall clock hands disappeared from the
Town Hall down by the old P.O. Drug
Store. The town was scandalized. The next
night, the south wall clock hands disappeared.
Several nights later, the west. Several
nights thereafter, the school’s best rock
climber returned with the north wall clock
hands, crept into bed in the dark certain that
he had pulled off a remarkable coup. Imagine
his surprise when he found Horace Taft
Taft Bulletin 39

E N D N O T E
resting comfortably in his bed and thus, he
was caught. The clock hands were returned
the next day and for a summer, the student
lived at Taft and worked for the town. Horace
Taft was a firm but creative and loving man.
Mr. Taft never liked to see anyone hurt.
Imagine this: on Saturday nights in the 1920s,
dinner was black tie and the school orchestra
played. The wife of the athletic director,
Jeannie Shons, then in her late twenties, was
every boy’s romantic fantasy, and I can believe
this because she was in her seventies
when I first arrived, and she was still an
astonishingly beautiful woman. One Saturday
night, a graduate of the previous year
returned from Yale for dinner and asked
Jeannie to dance. She accepted, and they
whirled amongst the tables eliciting admiration
from all the boys while Jeannie earned
the total disdain of faculty wives, who were
shocked and envious. Afterward, when she
entered Horace Taft’s living room for coffee,
every wife present turned her back. Seeing
this, Mr. Taft bellowed, “Jeannie, you look
so beautiful tonight, I would have danced
with you myself had I been a younger man.”
Point made.
Horace Taft was not perfect. He was not a
Lincoln Republican when it came to race,
for African Americans were not welcome as
students in his time. In turn, he did not
countenance coeducation as a viable educational
principle. However, he did welcome
Catholics and Jews when most boarding
schools did not.
He was slow to recognize the importance
of science. He would be dumbfounded
to find all that we offer today. He loved
music, but had little interest in the visual arts
and, in general, creative activities were not
part of his curriculum. In each of these areas,
his vision paralleled that of his generation.
I also believe that he did not imagine
how rich, rewarding, and creative learning
might be. Of the changes of the past 35 years,
our success in Advanced Placement programs,
in Independent Studies, and most
recently in Senior Seminars, has shown how
remarkably talented and self-reliant Taft students
can be. In Horace Taft’s day, there was
material to be mastered, and the idea that
students might generate their own courses or
projects for their own search for meaning or
for their own intellectual quest was unthinkable.
Again, he was in sync with his era.
In one area, however, he was light-years
ahead. Horace Taft believed deeply in principles
and in pursuing a life of ideals. A
Unitarian by upbringing, he loved to debate
religious issues. Once following a dinner
hosted by Taft, Father Sill, the Episcopal
priest who founded Kent, wrote “My Dear
Horace, thank you for a wonderful dinner
and a great conversation about religion. You
should continue to worship in your way and
we, of course, will worship in His.”
Horace Taft’s way was rooted in the
Judeo-Christian world. He carefully chose
from the Gospel of Mark our school motto.
Chapter 10:42–45, “And Jesus called [the
Disciples] to him and said to them, ‘You
know that those who are supposed to rule over
the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great
men exercise authority over them. But it shall
not be so among you; but whoever would be
great among you must be your servant, and
whoever would be the first among you must
be slave of all. For the Son of man also came
not to be served but to serve, and to give his
life as a ransom for many.’” Of course, from
this paragraph, Horace Taft, chose Non ut sibi
ministretur sed ut ministret. Not to be ministered
unto but to minister. These words reflect
the genius of Jesus’ life. Whether he was
a Jewish prophet or the Christian son of God,
he had the wisdom to challenge humanity to
rise above its innate selfishness and to understand
the paradox that it is in helping others
that we help ourselves most fundamentally.
We find our purpose on earth, our very being,
by helping others. This was Mr. Taft’s deepest
belief and it is our most important credo
today.
I ask you to consider who your heroes are. I
suspect they are individuals of conscience
who have reached out to help others. I suspect
that they are not defined by the money
they have made, but by the lives they have
touched. Inevitably, the people we admire
are the ones who have served others. In our
world of rampant selfishness, of self-actualization
through materialism and personal
adventure, we need to remember the power
of human connections, of caring for each
other, and of trying to find new ways to make
the world a better place.
Several years ago, I asked a group of
seniors who their heroes were. They cited
rock and movie stars and professional athletes.
There were no political figures, no
intellectuals, no spiritual leaders. However,
they did cite their parents and grandparents,
and their teachers, coaches, and advisors.
They gave witness to the power we have to
help them as they shape their character and
seek for meaning in their lives. I believe if we
live by Horace Taft’s beliefs, we will challenge
students to be better people and to live
more generous lives.
In the chaotic world our students live in, the
simple Victorian virtues of our school have
remarkable power in helping youth define
themselves and their way. Recall again
Horace Taft’s virtues: personal honor, hard
work in every important endeavor, empathy
for others, the obligation to be responsible
for ourselves, the obligation to go into things
and make them work, the understanding
that school—and indeed life—is what we
make of it, the call to help others and thereby
to help ourselves.
Once Horace Taft wrote to his fellow
headmaster, Sherman Thacher: “Whenever
I see a youngster who never thinks about
anything but himself, of getting and spending
money and making the easiest life possible,
it is hard to see what harm I can do in
upsetting any creed he claims to have. The
greatest problem is how to stir our students’
determination to do the right thing.”
Indeed, our calling is to serve our students
by stirring their determination to do
the right thing, not just here, but always.
Lance Odden adapted this column from
his opening address to the faculty in
September.
40 Spring 2001

The
Lance R. Odden
SCHOLARSHIPS
An endowment fund to provide financial aid to Taft students established in
honor of Lance R. Odden, headmaster of The Taft School from 1972 to 2001
The board of trustees invites graduates, parents, and
friends of the school to join them in honoring Lance
Odden through the establishment of a permanent endowment
fund to provide financial aid to a select group of
talented and motivated students.
The Lance R. Odden Scholarships pay tribute to Lance’s
extraordinary leadership of Taft during his twenty-nine
year tenure as the school’s fourth headmaster. Lance has
been the central figure in the life of the school. He has
put his heart and soul into seeing Taft emerge over the
past three decades as one of the nation’s leading independent
schools. At the same time, he has had a profound
influence upon the course of education in America as
president of the New England Association of Schools and
Colleges and the Connecticut Association of Independent
Schools, founder of the Taft Education Center,
and as chairman of A Better Chance and trustee of the
National Association of Independent Schools.
The Lance R. Odden Scholarships will bring to Taft a
select group of talented and motivated students who show
promise of fulfilling Horace Taft’s and Lance Odden’s
highest aspirations for young people. Each, as headmaster,
saw the education of the whole person as the mission
of the School. Each saw a student’s experience at Taft as
crucial to the formation of lasting principles and values.
Each took great delight in seeing young people build from
a foundation acquired at Taft to lead productive lives as
concerned and committed citizens.
In establishing The Lance R. Odden Scholarships, the
board of trustees believes there is no more fitting way to
recognize what Lance has given to Taft and to education
in America than to create a significant program that bears
his name. Following his personal preference, the program
will bring to Taft what he believes in most: students eager
to reach for the best in themselves as they develop their
character, potential, and capacity to lead.
To learn more about The Lance R. Odden Scholarships or to discuss any aspect of a contribution, please contact either Jerry
Romano, director of development, at 860-945-7738 or Chip Spencer, director of planned giving, at 860-945-7751. Direct e-mail
to RomanoJerry@TaftSchool.org or SpencerC@TaftSchool.org or write to either at 110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795.

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