classnews - Bowdoin College

“We have a shared experience, a
custodial pride in Bowdoin. We’ve
traveled a long road together.”
one another evolves.
“The themes change over the years,” said Friedman, who
has attended every reunion. “At the beginning, it’s all about
kids, marriage, the careers. At the 45 th it’s, ‘Thank God the
kids are out of here. We sold the house; we’re downsizing.”
“You go to the 50 th reunion to prove you’re still alive,”
Prinn added.
The pigeonholing that bonds or separates people in their
youth—fraternities, sports, majors—melts away with the years,
said Joel Sherman. Meeting again as alumni gives them the
opportunity to redefine their old friendships often in deeper
and more meaningful terms.
“Reading the reunion yearbook, there are differences of
opinion, but all of them have an integrity and a sincerity,”
Smith said. “They have something that transcends all of that.
We have a shared experience, a custodial pride in Bowdoin.
We’ve traveled a long road together.”
That is most clearly the case with Charlie Prinn. Ask just
about anyone in the Class of ’61 what makes their class stand
out, and they will likely tell you it isn’t a “what” but a “who.”
“Charlie is the glue that holds our class together,” they like
to say. Their appreciation of him has grown stronger in the
years since graduation. Blessed with a brain like a Rolodex,
he is the go-to person for class information, even though he
gave up the job of class agent 20 years ago. He lost his eyesight
six years ago but still goes on most of those golf trips, though
he transferred the role of travel agent and cruise director to
Lyman Cousens, and on the golf course he relies on his friends
to set up his shots for him. Everyone seems to have a story
about how Prinn personally touched their lives.
“In 2005, my wife of 40 years was diagnosed with brain
cancer,” Haviland recalled. “She went through 10 months of
radiation and chemotherapy. That was after Charlie had lost his
sight, and he still called me to see how I was doing. He told
me, ‘I’m going to have a talk with God and ask him to move
Virginia ahead of me on the list.’ I’ll never forget that.”
On May 1, Prinn suffered a fall at his home that injured
“You go to the 50 th reunion
to prove you’re still alive.”
34 BOWDOIN SUMMER 2011
Top: Charlie Prinn (l) and
Lyman Cousens at their tenth
reunion, 1971; bottom: Lyman
Cousens (l) and Charlie Prinn
in Ireland, 1994.
his back and landed him in the hospital. Within 24 hours, the
news had gone viral among his classmates. Several visited him
in the hospital and delivered a gift from the class, including a
little polar bear. They were already working on a contingency
plan in case he couldn’t make it to the reunion.
“If he doesn’t come to reunion, reunion will come to him,
depending on his physical condition at the time,” Sherman said.
“My hope is he’ll be able to make it up, at least for a little while.
If anyone can beat the odds, it’ll be Charlie.” (Ed.: He made it!)
“It will be his spirit that will bring us all through it,” Humphrey
said. “I’m positive that in some way or another, he’ll be
able to make it.”
“Fifty years ago when he wrecked his knee, it was, ‘Buck up,
Charlie,’” Cousens said. “Now whatever happens to Charlie is
deeply upsetting.”
“Being an alumnus, having those friends, means the world
to me,” he said. “Any of us would say the same thing. We all
have friends who have stayed with us through thick and thin.”
Haviland believes there is something special about Bowdoin
that engenders loyalty to the school and lifelong friendship
among classmates, something intangible that makes it particularly
satisfying and rewarding to be a Bowdoin alumnus.
“All four of my kids went to interesting schools, but it’s not
the same for them,” Haviland said. “I tried to convince my
son to apply to Bowdoin, but he ended up going to Trinity
College instead. I told him, ‘Trinity is for four years. Bowdoin
is forever.’”