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

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