AndoverMagSpring2015

stay connected...over the holidays. Sally’s 93-year-old father wasdiagnosed with Parkinson’s and now resides in aHanover, N.H., nursing home. Unfortunately, thefamily’s 13-year-old Keeshond, Toby, passed awaythis past fall. Sally and Rich have placed a depositon a Keeshond puppy that will be home andmuch loved by the time you read this.PHILLIPSFrank duPont8 Nichols DriveHastings-on-Hudson NY 10706914-478-7818dupont@wdfilms.comThe news this mid-winter week has been saturatedwith classmates Bill Belichick and Jeb Bush.Deflate-gate has been marginalized by the SuperBowl, which is literally unfolding at this moment.Jeb has been “actively exploring” a run for presidentand is now among a crowd of Republicancontenders competing for Romney’s big donors.This is the sixth appearance of the Patriotsin the Super Bowl since Belichick—supportedby collaborator and director of player researchErnie Adams—took over in 2000. Beyondthe play-by-play, we’d love to know the strategicinterplay between this duo at game time.What is Ernie, the “black ops” specialist for theteam, doing at this moment? Is he in headsetcommunication with Bill? Designing the idealreceiver-ineligible play?Game update: Early Patriots momentum hasbeen reversed, putting in doubt Tim Gay’s predictionthat “Bill will prevail.”February also saw an article about Jeb’s years atAndover published in the Boston Globe. Watchingthis develop was frustrating, to say the least. AsGeoff Foisie commented, “Did the story containsome recycled mistruths, exaggerations, and individualperceptions peddled as universal facts? Ofcourse, but...journalism can...be much worse.”By the time I received the second call from thewriter, the methodology was clear: Bait the intervieweeinto conversation by quoting over-the-topcomments about dysfunction at PA, mix in referencesto Jeb’s allegedly less-than-stellar behavior,gauge the response...then proceed.I liked Greg Zorthian’s response to a similarline of questioning for the Vanity Fair storya few years back. When asked if it was truethat Jeb was on probation for drinking, Gregresponded, “I have no idea, but wasn’t everyone?”Rick Prelinger mirrored my impression andresponse: “The Globe guy wanted a sensationalsoundbite, but I couldn’t oblige.”At its conclusion, the story did capture asignificant turnaround for Jeb in Tom Lyons’sMan and Society course. Charlie Keefe providedinsight into this one-of-a-kind class: “Aninterdisciplinary course...taught for the first timeour upper year by Wayne Frederick, Tom Lyons,and teaching fellow Hugh Hill. The academicside of it was an inquiry into the distribution ofpower and wealth in modern society, using theAmerican inner city and rural Mexico as casestudies. But the course went beyond the classroomwith the Mexico and Boston community servicetrips. Not unlike the Search & Rescue and OutwardBound programs of that era, M&S aimed toteach life skills—self-sufficiency, teamwork—bychallenging the students to complete real-worldprojects in the poor communities we had beenstudying... . M&S was an experiment, maybe onlyhalf successful in and of itself, but...emblematic ofthe zeitgeist in 1970.”Like a number of guys—Heath Allen,Stewart Crone, Alec Chessman, Dick Cashin,John Gillespie, John Schmitz, Peter Halley, andothers—Jeb was fortunate enough to take thecourse. It took him to Mexico, where, among otherthings, he met his future wife, Columba.Speaking of turnarounds, the Patriots just won!Grover Burthey sent a note after the game, “ErnieAdams wins another one for Bill,” then excusedhimself, saying, “I’m actually embalming now.”Later, Grover got back to me with news that he washeaded to Detroit shortly to hang out with DeolisAllen at a weekend fraternity party.From Nebraska, Tim Gay sent more news: “Myfirstborn is getting married on Pi Day in March(3/14) in Fort Worth, Texas. If we time the bestman’s toast to the second, we can get 10 significantfigures on that sucker. Fred’s wedding has causedme to think about the cycle of life, but more oftenabout the exorbitant cost of champagne by thecase. At least if you want it to be vaguely drinkable.”Jeff Thermond reports from the Bay Area thathe and his wife, Cathie, have made the empty-nestadjustment. Cathie is doing volunteer work, andJeff is working with and investing in early stagestartups. The kids “have good jobs and live on theirown, but close enough to visit often.”Jeff reports seeing Luis Buhler, who has had“multiple CFO roles in startups.” When asked howhis career in Silicon Valley developed, Jeff credited,“dumb luck...and a few lucky guesses,” then added,“Reading Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Ibecame converted to the view that computationalpower behind a great user interface could changeand improve human decision making. I went towork for a company doing that in 1979 as a salesguy, and my career and the general computer techfield took off.”Jim Parker reports that he and his wife, JaneYokoyama, have recently moved from Alaska,where they lived for 35 years, to Asheville, N.C.Starting off as a Vista volunteer in Anchorage,where he met Jane (Rick Prelinger was best manat their wedding), Jim moved through a series ofpublic service and legal jobs, becoming a legal servicesattorney, a public defender, and head of theAlaska public guardian program. He says, “My legalcareer was focused on representing the interests ofunderserved and poor people, starting with representationof Yup’ik Eskimo and Athabascan Indianclients in the bush. I liked my clients and feel luckyto have had those jobs. I made a living wage andhad good benefits, and the jobs suited me.”Harking back to Andover in 1970–’71,Sam Walker writes, “I did not participate in thediscussions on Vietnam. I went to class on the dayswhen it was optional. Good days for interactionwith [instructors], because we actually talkedabout what was happening. As you know, manyof our professors had served, so they had theirtake on what was going on. Not all supportive ofthe war effort. I have to say I enjoyed my time atAndover. I felt very lucky to be there. I actually lookat Andover as my college years. West Point was myreal preparation for my eventual vocation.”And from Charlie Keefe: “So many peoplethink that was a dark time for the school. Formyself, I can’t imagine a more exciting time tohave been there.” [Editor’s note: The Academyhas received word that Joel Tansey passed awayon Dec. 28, 2014. Please see his obituary in theIn Memoriam section.]1972ABBOTJulia Gibert300 Banbury RoadOxford OX2 7EDEngland+ 44 0 7766 022832juliagibert@gmail.comAfter a year of celebrations (and a fewcommiserations) when most of us, one by one,entered our seventh decades, AA ’72ers seemto have gone to ground. My usual appeal fornews didn’t unearth much, but Linda Rawson(somehow) found the time to write:“I am loving working on Cavalier Rescue USA’snational website, where I do a lot of the photo editingof dogs who need homes. It is fun to ‘beautify’dogs and help them find great new homes. It keepsmy Photoshop skills top notch, too. We have awonderful all-volunteer team from across the U.S.We rescued, fostered, and placed more than 600Cavaliers last year, including more than 60 from asingle puppy mill.“Despite my advanced age, I enjoy power weightlifting and spin classes and am in the gym 5 or 6days a week. My big goal is to deadlift more thanmy weight, and I am getting close!“If there are fellow tweeters out there, contactme @Bewickwren. I mainly tweet about wildfireand other emergencies, participating in VirtualOperations Support Teams (VOSTs) for agenciesneeding social media help during disasters.“My husband, Charles Harrison PA ’67, just gothis first patent, for an animal mask oxygen-deliverysystem, so we have exciting times ahead marketingthe invention to vets, ranchers, etc.”And Maud Lavin is in love.Since I have some word allocation to spare, Inote that I do not have valid e-mail addresses for94 Andover | Spring 2015