Ecolint - Newsletter.indd

ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 18
spent one year there in 1967-1968, I
am now located near Newport, Rhode
Island, retired from my position as
director of the Newport Art Museum
Previously I was a curator at the
Museum of Art of the Rhode Island
School of Design while my husband
was a professor at Brown University.
He subsequently became President of
Amherst College before his untimely
death in 1983. I think back to the
influence M me Maurette and Miss
MacKinnon had on me developing
my appreciation for art and so much
more. I would love to hear from any
“old timers” who attended La Grande
Boissière in the 1930’s.’
Stéphanie Oats Farrall/51
(class of ‘59) - Australia
Sfarrall@netspace.net.au
It was wonderful to return to Ecolint
last December, to renew friendships
and make new connections and to
join in the Escalade dinner. It’s not
easy to get to Geneva from as far away
as Tasmania, but going to see our
young family and our first grand-child
in Grenoble brought us closer and
gave us this opportunity to visit the
school.
A special part for me was meeting
with Sue Anthony and Richard Vyvyan,
to share memories and to learn
about Richard’s work in the archives,
continuing Vicki Stereva’s task of
preserving the past of the school.
Seeing photos from this collection
brought back many happy memories
from 1949-51, of being in Manguère’s
class, and of Alouette, the Roquette
family, “Mutti” Hartoch, Miss Lidster,
and singing with Monsieur Buard. But
our main focus was on my father’s (Bill
Oats’) strong links with Ecolint, first in
1938-40 as a teacher at the beginning
of the Second World War when he
was asked by Madame Maurette to
take a group of students to safety in
her home in Hendaye, SW France,
then in 1949-51 when he returned
as directeur-adjoint, to work with
Monsieur Roquette. The archives held
some treasures for me. Richard showed
us a letter my father had written to
Vicki Stereva on hearing of Madame
Maurette’s death, in 1989: “Who but
she could have had the willingness
to trust a raw young teacher with the
challenge - you take the kids down to
Hendaye, set up a school in exile and
I’ll cook for you.”
It was good to see George Walker
again, and to be reminded of another
link with Ecolint - through the IB
which we recently introduced at The
Friends’ School in Hobart. Catching
up with fellow Anciens, and at last
meeting Georgia Achard after being
in touch by e-mail made this a special
homecoming.
Jane Hougen Fast/59
jhfast@mchsi.com
‘I have just returned from Ecuador
(the Galapagos Islands and Quito)
and Peru (Machu Picchu, Cusco, and
Lima). Besides the amazing natural
beauty of these incredible and unique
places, I was able to spend an evening
with Hernando de Soto/59 (Ernie to
us) in his gorgeous home. I found him
to be very involved with the welfare of
his country and the economically
disenfranchised of the world. He
looks well and fondly remembers so
many from Ecolint. Now, if you can
only get him to a world reunion!
As for me, personally, I am adjusting
to a new life without my 35 year
marriage partner, Chet Fast, who
passed away in Oct. 2004. My mother,
now 95, continues to live with me and
encourages me to “go forth” so I do! A
trip to Mexico and southern Utah in
April; then, who knows
Best wishes to all.’
Joan MacPhail Knight/60 -
Woodstock, NY, USA
Jkmacgriff@aol.com
‘After leaving Ecolint I moved back to
the US with my family who had been
living in Tunis, spent my senior year at
Mt. Vernon Seminary in Washington
DC and then graduated from Smith
College. The mother of two daughters,
Elizabeth and Sophie, I lived most of
my adult life in Manhattan, working
as a children’s book editor and
have become a writer myself - most
recently a series of books set in the
1890’s about Charlotte who travels to
France with her mother and father
who is a painter. Six years ago Bill
and I moved to Woodstock, NY, and
started a company, Catskill Mountain
Pictures, a location services company
for fashion and film. I enjoy writing,
gardening and long walks with my
Brussels Griffon dogs. I would love to
hear from friends and can be reached
at : Jkmacgriff@aol.com, 20 Lasher
Rd., Woodstock, NY 12498.’
Riva Freifeld/61
New York, NY, USA
rivaf@attglobal.net
Riva lives in New York City and is
currently producing a one hour
historical documentary on Annie Oakley,
funded by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities and
WGBH-TV in Boston, MA, USA. It will
air as part of the “American Experience”
series on American public television in
late fall 2005.
Richard Bruland/64
Los Angeles, CA, USA
rbruland@cyberhotline.com
Richard writes, ‘A survey of the
last 15 years of my painting at LA
ArtCore in downtown Los Angeles
just ended. It was very well received,
and was a wonderful chance to show
the progression and evolution of my
current work.
On April 16th will be the opening
reception for a month long solo show
of all new paintings at the Gail Harvey
Gallery, Bergamot Station, B-5, 2525
Michigan Avenue Santa Monica, CA.
Tel: (310)829-9125. In the fall I will be
having a solo show at Mt. San Jacinto
College, San Jacinto, CA.
All my painting is still absolutely
connected to what I absorbed and
learned in Mr. Holmes and Mr. Uzzell’s
art classes at Ecolint. Both those
teachers (particularly Mr. Uzzell) had
a huge impact on my development
and understanding of what art and
painting is all about.
Farifteh Hafezi-Robb/66
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
f.v.robb@btinternet.com
‘I can’t believe it’s almost a year since I
made that emotional and such a happy
a visit to Ecolint and Geneva. Life is
extremely busy for me at present as I
have added a new re-search adjunct to
my post as NHS midwife here. I visited
Ecolint for the first time after nearly
40 years (I left in 1966) last April, and
what took me most by surprise was the
number of motor vehicles around the
school, also the fact that my Primary
School playground at La Grande
Boissière is now a car park!, and the
general disappearance of the green
open spaces of my childhood memories
within the school. Otherwise, I
suppose, “plus ça change, plus c’est
la même chose”. Many thanks once
again for all your kindness in showing
me around and entertaining me.’