AndoverMagSpring2015

stay connected...and classroom discussions. Previous recipientsof the award include the artist Frank Stella ’54,opera and theatre director Peter Sellars ’75, andGeorge H.W. Bush ’42.As you may recall, John, who was voted “classrebel,” got kicked out toward the end of oursenior year, shortly after Harvard had told himhe was assured of acceptance if he did not screwup, which he did. In John’s affecting memoir(Almost a Family), he describes how he came tobe expelled: “One Saturday night I left campus ina car after signing in to my dormitory; I went to abar in the nearby town of Lowell and had half aglass of beer. My absence was discovered when mymother tried to phone me and the housemastercouldn’t locate me. The horrible part was whowas driving the car: my brother [Robert]. He hadcome up from Harvard to visit me, along with hisgirlfriend, and she and I had convinced him on thesteps of my dormitory to keep the evening alive.‘Let’s go somewhere,’ I said. He was reluctant toget me in trouble, but neither did he want to looklike a spineless killjoy. In the bar, we had a grandtime. There was an open mike, and he and I sang ahillbilly song, ‘As Fer as I’m Concerned,’ until wewere practically booed off the stage by the barflies.“In my dorm my housemaster waited inambush. He had been alerted to my absence whenmy mother had phoned. He interrogated me, andI tried to lie my way out of it. I said I had been inthe infirmary. He knew I had not been; he hadcalled there. He said he smelled alcohol on mybreath. I did a quick calculation. Could I save thesituation by making a clean breast of it? Of course.I admitted what I had done and apologized forplacing him in the position of having to make sucha difficult decision: He could report me, and endmy time at Andover, or he could ignore this unfortunateincident, knowing that I had learned my lessonand that I would never do such a thing again. Istopped, my heart racing, waiting for his response.He looked me in the eye. ‘I’m not in a difficultposition,’ he said quickly. ‘I have no choice. I mustreport you.’ Within two hours, Dean Benedict andanother faculty member convened a meeting oftwo and expelled me.”When Harvard withdrew its acceptance,John took a year off from school and went toParis. Upon returning stateside, he attended theUniversity of Wisconsin, then took a job with theNew York Times, where his father had worked as acorrespondent (and was one of the first Americanjournalists killed in World War II). Beginningas a copy boy, John rose rapidly through theranks, progressing from city reporter to overseasassignments, including stints in Africa, the MiddleEast, and Europe. He won a Pulitzer Prize for hiscoverage of the Solidarity movement in Poland,served as bureau chief in Madrid and London, andeventually became the cultural affairs editor of theTimes, a post that he held for six years.John also wrote several best-selling works offiction, including Neanderthal, The Experiment, andMind Catcher. Though he retired from the paperin 2005, he continues to consult there, as editorialdirector for special projects. In 2009, Long IslandUniversity named him curator of the prestigiousGeorge Polk Award in Journalism (which he hadwon twice).Also in November, Barry McCaffrey deliveredthe keynote address at PA’s fifth annual VeteransDay dinner. He warned that the “single biggestlong-term threat to the American people and ourallies is not the Taliban, it’s not ISIS, it’s weapons ofmass destruction—and by that, I mean chemical,biological, nuclear, and cyber-warfare.” Hedeplored the current tendency to underestimatethe danger posed by such weapons: “Very fewpeople talk about them. We have no championsin uniform or in Congress about maintainingAmerica’s nuclear deterrence capability.”Currently, he argued, “We’re in the midst of aperiod in Washington when people are saying,‘We’ve seen the end of warfare.’ Foot warfare,tank warfare, warfare at sea—that’s all past [theysay], and what we’re going to think about [for thefuture] is small unit operations. Nation building.Counterterrorism. Counterinsurgency. And Iwould say that’s shortsighted.”Attending the event were several veterans,including Massachusetts congressman-elect (andMarine Corps captain) Seth Moulton ’97. In 2011,Moulton helped found Andover and the Military,PA’s military affinity alumni group, which hostedthe dinner. According to Army Lt. Col. CharlesDean ’79, editor of the newsletter of Andover andthe Military, Barry’s visit was emblematic of theprogress the Academy has made in reaching outto veterans. “Having him on campus, sharing hisinsights and experiences with students, faculty, andgraduates alike, was a rare and wonderful experiencefor all,” said Dean.Jeremy Wood reports that his artist son,Jonas, will have a show at London’s GagosianGallery in the fall. In January, Jeremy and his newwife, Catherine, had Nick Kip to dinner. Jeremyreports that Nick “seems well and is in pretty goodspirits.” Jeremy also visited with other classmates,including Charlie Bradford, Laird Smith, andLarry Butler.Jeremy’s neighbor Tony Lee calls attention toJohn Nields’s daughters, Nerissa and KatrynaNields, who for more than two decades havepursued careers as folk-rock singers. Their 17th (!)album was released in February.Be sure to mark your calendars for our 55thReunion, June 12–14. See you then!1961ABBOTCarolyn “Cally” Butler Dow44 Spruce St.Portland ME 04102207-899-4178Callydow365@gmail.comIt was very sad news to hear of the passing of oneof our dear classmates, Cynthia Eaton Bing.She and I had a common bond through ourconnection to Maine—she as a native of Belfast,and I as a summer rusticator in Brooksville. Iremember her fondly as an amiable and elegantwoman, always with a warm smile and a friendlygreeting. Sybil Smith remembers Cynthia as “avery kind, caring, hard-working, loyal person.”She says, “I knew her because she was from thesticks of northern New England, as I was, and alatecomer in upper year to Abbot. Also, she andI worked together on the Board of Trustees andthe Alumni Council.” Joan Smith Bowker says,“We are all lessened by her leaving us. She wasa generous spirit at Abbot.” And Cynthia wasindeed a generous spirit in later life as well. She wasinvolved in Prep for Prep and Early Steps, helpingto place New York’s most promising students ofcolor in independent schools throughout theNortheast. She also worked with Search andCare, where she assisted older people in thecommunity with managing life’s daily activities,providing them the support and companionshiprequired to live with security and dignity. InCynthia’s memory, donations may be made to theChurch of the Heavenly Rest, 2 E. 90th St., NewYork NY 10128, and to Search and Care, 1844Second Ave., New York NY 10128. [Editor’s note:Please see Cynthia Eaton Bing’s obituary in theIn Memoriam section.]PHILLIPSPaul Kalkstein42 Doubling Point RoadArrowsic ME 04530207-443-5675pkalkstein@gmail.comFrom Carey Cook comes a reminder of the lastingjoy of our 50th Reunion: “Because Don Davis andI reconnected at the 50th, [wife] Jan and I havevisited Don and his wife, Tommye Lou, in personseveral times. We talk about Baylor and Stanfordand have enjoyed the dynamics of this party offour! We planned to visit with the Davis team—wonderful people and great ‘giver-backers’ tosociety—in Waco in February, when we expectedto participate again in the annual TCEA (TexasComputer Education Association) conference inAustin, Texas.“On our annual six-day round-trip drives fromCalifornia to Florida, we always get such a good82 Andover | Spring 2015