Celebrating the Arts - Dwight-Englewood School

monthly Dwight School newspaper called
The Penton reported news on the school
events. Then in 1958 Calliope was
established, replacing The Penton and
incorporating the literary works of the
student body.
The modern era of Calliope might be
said to have begun in 1973, when
the Dwight School merged with the
Englewood School for Boys and a
relatively new faculty member named
Frimi Sagan became the advisor.
Sagan’s 15-year tenure would see
Calliope grow in size, scope, and
quality. “When we started, it was a
small pamphlet with only an occasional
sketch,” notes Sagan. “When the
schools merged, it became ambitious!
We decided to ask students to contribute
artwork. We [also] decided to make it
much more comprehensive.”
More than a
Few Awards
In the 1980s, Calliope became a
member of the Columbia Scholastic
Press Association (CSPA), an
organization that is affiliated with the
Columbia University School of
Journalism and that promotes quality
in student publications. D-E students
took a big step toward putting together
a polished literary magazine, and editors
began to take their work very seriously.
Notes Sagan, “They had to learn how to
be tactful without destroying ambition
of the writers and the poets. We all
were crazy about the magazine and
utterly committed.”
Student editors began submitting
Calliope to CSPA for both rated critiques
and entry into a separate national
competition. Calliope has done extremely
well in recent decades in the critique
category, earning Silver Medalist
certificates from 2000 to 2003 and Gold
Medalist certificates seven years in a
row, from 2004 to 2010. In addition, the
magazine has earned awards at the
national level in what the CSPA calls the
"Crown Awards.” Frimi Sagan remembers
what it was like when Calliope received
its very first awards: “We practically
threw ourselves out of the window!
What an affirmation of our efforts.”
Many of the awards came during the
tenure of Nancy Melser, who took over in
the late 1980s, and more recently with
Debbie Minsky as faculty advisor.
A Profound Impact
Calliope has had a profound impact on
many alumni who have gone on to creative
careers. Diane Barzman Heiman ’76,
author of See What You Can Be: Explore
Careers That Could Be for You! (American
Girl Library), is a former editor of Calliope.
“Mrs. Sagan, through her gentle
enthusiasm, nurturing comments, and
insightful support gave me courage to
submit my poems and essays to Calliope,”
she notes. “To see my own words in print,
when I felt vulnerable, was so affirming.
Calliope started me on my present career.”
Mark Shapiro ’77, an opera, choral, and
orchestral conductor (see Alumni Profile
Frimi Sagan Retiring after 43 Years
Frimi Sagan and students, in a moment
that has been replayed hundreds of
times in the English classrooms of
Dwight-Englewood.
on p. 10), has fond memories of coediting
Calliope, and also contributing.
“Working on the magazine helped me
cultivate a sensitivity to language and
poetry that has been useful in my
subsequent work as a conductor of vocal
music,” he says. “The skill set needed to
produce the magazine—working with a
team to coordinate a multiplicity of
elements in time to meet a deadline—
has also been invaluable.”
Artist Matthew Weinstein ’82, whose
works can be found in public and private
collections around the world, notes,
“I wrote some very, very bad poetry for
Calliope. But I grew up to make some very
good art, and this is where it started.”
Nurturing Calliope to become the awardwinning
publication it is today is just
one part of the legacy of English
Department faculty member Frimi Sagan, who
will be retiring from Dwight-Englewood at the
end of the school year, after 43 years of
teaching.
It is no exaggeration to say that she has had
an impact on the lives of literally thousands of
D-E alumni, nurturing students’ love for great
literature, strengthening their ability to read,
think, and write critically, and personally living
our School mission by fostering a passion for
life-long learning. She will always be
remembered for her wonderful smile,
encouraging manner and voice, and for her
famous Russian literature course. Soroya Zarghami Gage ’79, a news writer and
producer for NBC Universal News (and a former editor of Calliope) attests that reading
Anna Karenina in that class changed her life. “With the modest whisper of a therapist
and the neutrality of a mathematician, she guided me through lust, murder, betrayal,
jealousy and revenge,” she says of Sagan. “She suggested that adult life was going to
be very interesting and, thanks to her, it is.”
Claudia Weinstein ’78, a producer and writer for 60 Minutes and member of Calliope,
also remembers Sagan’s influence. She says, “My memories of this class and Mrs.
Sagan aren’t just about being 16 and reading a great book, but also about being
guided by a teacher of such kindness, intellect, grace, and encouragement—a person
who valued our minds, encouraged us to do the same, and showed us we had the
intellectual stamina to stand on our own, voice our opinions, and move forward into
the world.”
A special celebration honoring Frimi Sagan’s service to the School will take place
during the 2011 Reunion Weekend. We will gather at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June
4, in Hulst House. The dedication of the Frimi Sagan Classroom will follow
immediately thereafter in Leggett Hall. We welcome and encourage members of the
D-E community to share their memories and tributes about Frimi for these events,
and for future publication. To submit a tribute or for more information about Reunion
Weekend events, please email Alumni Director Maria Sanchez-Gardner ’78 at
sanchm@d-e.org.
Spring 2011
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