The Magazine of Marlboro College . Summer–Fall 2005

Potash HillThe Magazine of Marlboro College . Summer–Fall 2005

M A R L B O R O P O R T R A I T S B Y A A R O N M O R G A N S T E I N ’ 0 5

Potash HillThe Magazine of Marlboro Col lege

LI B E R A L ART S

Humanities

Believing it in: Robert Frost, Walter Hendricks

and the creation of Marlboro College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Social Sciences

Notes from the life of a Peace Corps volunteer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Science

Einstein outside the box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Arts

Fiction by Forrest Gardner ’04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Marlboro portraits by Aaron Morganstein ’05 . . . . 28

Perspective

Offering a vocation of the imagination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

ON & OF F T H E HI L L

The Brelsfords retire, Off-the-hill experiences, Felicity Ratté

named new dean of faculty, Linda Rice ’81 moves on,

Chris Lovell at home on Potash Hill, Worthy of Note,

Commencement 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

AL U M N I NE W S

Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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Marlboro College Miss ion StatementThe goal of Marlboro College is to teach students to think clearly and to learn independently through engagement in a

structured program of liberal studies. Students are expected to develop a command of concise and correct English and to

strive for academic excellence informed by intellectual and artistic creativity; they are encouraged to acquire a passion

for learning, discerning judgment and a global perspective. The college promotes independence by requiring students to

participate in the planning of their own programs of study and to act responsibly within a self-governing community.

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ED I T O R: Kevin Kennedy

ART ED I T O R: Dianna Noyes ’80

AL U M N I ED I T O R: Teresa Storti

F I C T I O N & PO E T RY ED I T O R: Laura Stevenson

STA F F WR I T E R S: Meghan Chapman ’06, Emily Rucker ’08, Amialya Elder ’06 and Elena Sharnoff

STA F F PH O T O G R A P H E R S: Aaron Morganstein ’05 and Thomas Hudson ’07

Potash Hill is pleased to consider submissions of fiction, poetry and nonfiction for publication. Potash Hill

also welcomes letters to the editor, and reserves the right to edit for length those it publishes.

Address fiction and poetry submissions to Fiction and Poetry Editor at the address below.

Address nonfiction submissions, letters and queries to Editor at the contact information below.

Potash Hill, Marlboro College, P.O. Box A, Marlboro, VT 05344

[email protected]

A pdf of each recent issue of Potash Hill can be downloaded from

Marlboro College’s Web site at www.marlboro.edu/news.

WO O D WA R D DE S I G N

Front cover: Hayley by Aaron Morganstein ’05.

Back cover: Jim Levinson and Nicholas Barber at commencement by Jared Benedict.

ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 6, 1946, FIVE MONTHS BEFORE MARLBORO COLLEGE

WOULD BE INCORPORATED, WALTER HENDRICKS DROVE WITH HIS OLDEST SON,

GEOFFREY, TO THE TOWN OF RIPTON IN THE CENTRAL GREEN MOUNTAINS.

His purpose was twofold: to tell Robert Frost his plans for beginning a new liberal arts college,

and to ask the poet’s approval for the venture about to be undertaken. Many things had led to

this day. Hendricks’ educational experience as an undergraduate at Amherst; his attachment

to, and respect for, the land and people of rural northern New England; his ongoing fascina-

tion with utopian experiments and utopian ideals; and his time as a teacher and administrator

at Biarritz American University were all important.

Yet each of these experiences was in some way exemplified, informed or validated by the

man he would always claim was his greatest teacher. If education at Amherst College, hill

farming in New Hampshire and Vermont, an abiding interest in utopias, and the experience

at Biarritz constituted Marlboro’s earliest roots—so far as they were bequeathed to the col-

lege by Walter Hendricks—each of them turned round the great taproot that was Robert

Frost. Accordingly, seeking Frost’s assent was for the future founding president a fitting and

necessary tribute to the source, and receiving the hoped-for affirmation would be a blessing

no one but Frost could bestow.

By the summer of 1946, Walter Hendricks had known Frost for 29 years, their relationship

having begun as student and teacher at Amherst College during the First World War. While

Hendricks had relished most everything about his undergraduate days there, the apotheosis

of the school’s excellence, in his experience, came in the person of Frost—a gifted teacher

who took a keen interest in any student willing to work hard. Following his 1917 graduation,

Hendricks became a flying instructor in the Aviation Sector of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Like most aviators of the First World War, he came close to being killed many times, yet in a

few short months trained over a hundred men to fly. He wrote to Frost frequently during this

time, and the content of those letters indicates how often he looked to his former teacher for

advice on the course he should take in life.

In the summer of 1917, Hendricks closed one letter to him saying, “Just as soon as peace

is declared, I will board a train and see you in Amherst, in Franconia, or wherever you may

be.” Discharged in February of 1919, Walter Hendricks would be living temporarily with the

Frost family in Franconia within a month. In another three years, he would purchase his own

farm near the Frost place, thereby securing a permanent mooring in New England. From the

fall of 1922 on, he made his professional life in Chicago, earning advanced degrees and rising

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H U M A N I T I E S

BELIEVING IT IN:

Robert Frost, Walter Hendricks and the creation of Marlboro College

D a n T o o m e y ’ 7 9

through the academic ranks over the next

two decades, but returned to Franconia each

summer, from the late 1920s on with his wife

and growing family. In the early ’30s he sold

the Franconia property and moved his sum-

mer residence to Marlboro.

If from 1922 to 1946, Chicago to Walter

Hendricks meant birthplace, responsibility,

the practical world where one could earn a

living, the hills and mountains of northern

New England remained a place of the imagi-

nation and spirit. The tug and pull between

the two locales would last over two decades,

but New England would prevail in the end.

A considerable part of Robert Frost’s life

was devoted to teaching, and not surprisingly,

his most pronounced and enduring influence

on the thinking of Walter Hendricks was in

the realm of education. As Robert Newdick,

Frost’s first official biographer tells us, “Frost

was born of teachers and grew up in an

atmosphere which was surcharged with the

problems of teaching.” Frost’s parents met

while both were teaching at a private school

in Pennsylvania. After withdrawing from

Dartmouth in 1893, he taught in a school

alongside his mother, and later in her place.

In the years following he taught night school

and public high school. From 1906 to 1910

he taught at Pinkerton Academy and, despite

working so hard that he brought himself to

near physical exhaustion, reorganized the

school’s English program and had his teach-

ing talents brought to the attention of the

state superintendent. He taught at Plymouth

State Normal School for a full year. In 1917

he was granted a temporary position at

Amherst College that would grow into a rela-

tionship lasting, off and on, until his death.

By 1921 Frost’s increasing reputation allowed

him to dictate the terms of his contracts, and

his subsequent arrangements at Amherst,

the University of Michigan, Harvard, and

Dartmouth were to become a model for the

artist-in-residence, each tailored to suit his

own approaches to instruction as well as

his artistic needs as a poet.

From the 1920s onward, Robert Frost’s

views on education reflected his wider

philosophy—the primary intellectual influ-

ences of which were the writings of Ralph

Waldo Emerson, Henri Bergson, and William

James. The ideas he plumbed in these writers

frequently served to articulate his instincts and

not infrequently proved congruent with his

life experiences. The instinctual and innate

were given expression or, as Frost said in

“The Axe-Helve,” “the lines of a good helve /

were native to the grain before the knife /

expressed them.” The same might be said of

Frost’s influence on Walter Hendricks. For

while the two perhaps did not agree on all

details, many of Hendricks’ own ideas about

education were continually affirmed and

shaped through discussions with the poet,

at Amherst and later in Franconia where

the two had “talked late into the night about

‘this business of learning.’”

One area where Walter Hendricks clearly

differed with Frost was in regard to the idea

of utopian societies. Hendricks taught a

course at the Illinois Institute of Technology

called “The Literature of Planned Societies,”

a survey of the outstanding works of utopian

literature, and later would do so at Marlboro

as well. Geoffrey Hendricks tells us that

“Nineteenth-century American utopian

experiments were something that fascinated

him.” He was, in fact, so captivated with the

idea of utopias that upon purchasing his

Marlboro property in 1932, according to

author and former Frost assistant Wade Van

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Dore, he “thought that he might someday be

able to buy the second farm and then found a

school or colony on the Brook Farm order.”

By contrast, Frost held the very idea

of societal experiments to be pure poison,

offending his deeply held beliefs about indi-

vidual freedom. He once stated unequivocally:

“[t]he opposite of civilization is not barbarism

but Utopia. … There [at Brook Farm] you had

exhibited all the tyranny of the commune.”

Yet, at least as early as 1915, he harbored

dreams for the creation of a writer’s colony or

school. Wilfred Davison, the first director of

the Bread Loaf School of English, recorded

Frost’s vision for that educational experiment

in 1923 when it was already four years old:

[Frost’s] idea was that we should have

there a Pastoral Academy, where free-

dom should abound. He would have

no formal restraint, but he would feel

free to send students home at any time

when they failed to take advantage of

their opportunities. He would have

very few formal lectures and recita-

tions. For these he would substitute

conferences and discussions. … He

would assign ten students to every

teacher [Marlboro would begin its first

semester with a ratio of 8 to 1.] and

ask each teacher to form his estimate

of them through informal association

in walks, talks, and from those general

observations by which we form esti-

mates of people in ordinary life.”

Newdick has written that Frost was

“unalterably opposed to formal instruction …

consistently stressing, in both precept and

practice, the merits of informal teaching.”

While “informal teaching” would certainly be

central to the college that Walter Hendricks

envisioned, he wanted informality to extend

beyond pedagogy, insisting on no faculty

ranks or titles, no fraternities, no academic

departments, and little more dividing student

Flora and Walter

Hendricks on Potash

Hill circa 1946.

M a r l b o r o C o l l e g e

a r c h i v e s

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from teacher than age and experience. There

would be nothing to create divisions or exclude,

nothing that would “compete with [the college

community] as a living unit in whose life all

members will share.” In addition, he wanted

no barriers between the college and its envi-

rons, desiring to forge as many social and

educational links between the college, the

town of Marlboro, and the surrounding com-

munities as was possible. Two Frost poems

come immediately to mind with regard to the

Hendricks ideal for a college: “Mending Wall,”

with its questioning the purpose of divisions

and boundaries; and “Departmental,” the

satire on the myopic and hierarchical

inflexibility of bureaucratic thinking. Walter

Hendricks’ vision for Marlboro College might

well have been regarded as academic utopia,

but if it could be summed up in a word, the

word would perhaps be wholeness—a whole-

ness that created educated citizens.

�

On that August day when Walter and

Geoffrey Hendricks turned off of Vermont

Route 125 in Ripton and drove up the nar-

row gravel road to the Homer Noble farm,

where Frost had been spending his summers

since 1939, they were met by Frost’s secretary

Kay Morrison. After a long talk, they were

directed to go up to the secluded cabin where

Frost spent most of his time, and there caught

sight of him emerging from the woods. Frost

greeted his visitors, and the three talked

through the afternoon. Later in the day, the

poet and his two guests walked back down

to the farmhouse where Frost traditionally

ate his evening meal with the Morrisons.

Over cheese and apple pie early that

evening, Walter Hendricks said he made

this simple announcement:

“I’m starting a new college.”

“It took [Frost] a moment to realize

what I had said,” Hendricks tells us. “His

eyes flashed, and he began to chuckle. ‘I’ll be

darned!’ he drawled and then, as if still not

sure, ‘And you’re quitting your job?’”

Hendricks answered in the affirmative.

Well into middle age and with a growing

family, he would be giving up the security

and comfort of a tenured administrative post

at a Midwestern university to start a small

independent college on a Vermont hillside.

Frost then continued his line of questioning:

“And you’re going to start without a million

dollars?” Hendricks had to answer yes to this

as well, and Frost’s response no doubt pleased

him: “That’s the way a college ought to be

started.” Geoffrey Hendricks remembers how

“Frost was tickled with the idea, liked the

adventure of Walter giving up his job, risking

everything to start a college on a ‘shoestring’

just because a fire of an idea was burning

there inside him.” Striking out anew with

little more than a dream was how Frost had

led much of his life, taking calculated risks

again and again. He admired anyone having

the courage to do the same. Hendricks and

Frost talked at some length about the kind of

school Marlboro would be. Then at long last

came the question Hendricks had been wait-

ing for, no doubt with some apprehension:

“And now what do you want of me?” Frost’s

query was predictably guarded, and Hendricks’

reply appropriately judicious. He said that he

wanted Frost’s approval of the decision he was

making and, contingent upon that approval,

agree to become a trustee.

Walter Hendricks breathed easily as Robert

Frost happily approved the idea for the new

college, and on that day became the first person

asked who would become a trustee of Marlboro.

The poet then digressed as the Hendrickses

listened, talking about how he would have liked

to have turned a property of his own in north-

ern Vermont into a school. Then, with obvious

satisfaction, he turned to Hendricks and said:

“Now you’ve gone and done it for me,

Walter.”

Frost stated once a simple truth about

teaching and learning: “You never can tell

what you have said or done until you see it

reflected in other people’s minds.” Likely on

this early August evening he saw a good deal

of what he had said and done reflected in the

mind of this former student. In that the

school was being brought into existence in a

way that reflected the risks Frost had taken in

his own life, and in that so much of Walter

Hendricks’ vision for Marlboro was grounded

in Frost’s ideas or else congruent with them,

Hendricks had done it for him.

�

Among Walter Hendricks’ notions for

Marlboro was bringing distinguished visitors

to the campus and allowing them to mix

informally with students. He called them

“Visiting Associates in Teaching” and their

names were listed in the back of the college’s

early catalogs. Marlboro’s earliest publication

explains they would be “a group of men and

women distinguished in one or another of the

arts, in business, industry, education, religion,

or government, who will reside for brief inter-

vals at the college, live among the students,

talk with them informally, and join in their

classroom discussions.” This was the fullest

manifestation of Frost’s “education by pres-

ence” idea. The most noteworthy individual

among Marlboro’s early visiting teachers

would, appropriately, be Frost himself.

By the late 1940s Frost had won four

Pulitzer Prizes and had been given more than

20 honorary degrees. He was a national figure

in great demand everywhere, drawing audi-

ences of thousands to hear him say his poems,

Walter Hendricks

circa 1946.

C o u r t e s y o f

H i l d a m a r i e

H e n d r i c k s

Robert Frost in 1945.

P h o t o b y

H o w a r d G . S c h m i t t

C o u r t e s y o f

D a r t m o u t h C o l l e g e

L i b r a r y

Geoffrey Hendricks once wrote about his

father, “As I was growing up material things

always took second place to ideas; one should

try to realize one’s dreams whether they were

projects in education, writing, publishing, art

or something else. Somehow a way of bring-

ing them into existence would be found.” The

act of creation assumes risk, and the sort of

risk-taking Frost was thinking about is predi-

cated, quite simply, upon belief—a thing can

be made to happen only by first believing that

it can happen. Frost’s landmark essay

“Education by Poetry,” a meditation on the

subject of learning that maintains all ideas

and their manifestations are analogue or

metaphor, concludes with a consideration of

the nature of belief. In the summer of 1961,

three decades after “Education by Poetry” was

written, Frost still held to the ideas he had

presented in that essay and in the poem

“Kitty Hawk.” During an interview at the

Ripton cabin, he stated:

The Founding Fathers didn’t believe in

the future . . . they believed it in.

You’re always believing ahead of your

evidence. What was the evidence I

could write a poem? I just believed

it. … The most creative thing in us is

to believe a thing in, in love, in all else.

You believe yourself into existence. You

believe your marriage into existence,

you believe in each other, you believe

that it’s worthwhile going on. …”

Believing a thing into existence, in

Frost’s view, was the making of metaphor, a

coupling of the spirit to the material in what

he called “the final unity.” Marlboro College’s

conception was for him an exquisite example.

�

Robert Frost was at Marlboro frequently in its

early years; many associated with the college

in that time recall his presence. On June 10,

1950, at Marlboro’s third graduation, he

received from the college an Honorary

Left: Robert Frost’s

cabin in Ripton, Vermont.

P h o t o b y

B e r n a r d M . C a n n o n

C o u r t e s y o f

D a r t m o u t h

C o l l e g e L i b r a r y

Above: Homer-Noble

Farm in Ripton, Vermont.

C o u r t e s y o f

D a r t m o u t h

C o l l e g e L i b r a r y

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thriving on that kind of attention even as it

exhausted him. So it might seem odd that he

would be attracted to Marlboro. But Marlboro

was a different kind of place offering a differ-

ent kind of audience. Stating once, “I can stay

with a student all night if I can get where he

lives, among his realities,” Frost would do just

that on Potash Hill. On one of his many visits

to the college in its early years, he befriended

David Herzbrun ’49 and his two roommates,

all of whom lived in a two-room suite compos-

ing the first floor of the ell off the rear of

Mather House. Frost was invited to stay

overnight in the guest room these students had

made from the first of their two rooms, and he

readily accepted. By then in his mid-70s, he

found their company enough to his liking that

he ultimately settled in for a full week, “staying

up late to talk about poetry and literature

and life.” Frost’s physician of those years once

commented how “astonishingly fit [he was] for

a man his age, always ready to go on long walks,

eager to stay up late. There was never any sign

of his wanting to go to bed.” It seemed that

what vitalized his mind vitalized his body.

One of these late nights in Mather House,

David Herzbrun read a poem in which he men-

tioned that he had kissed the ground. A skeptical

Frost asked if he’d ever actually done that, and

Herzbrun admitted he hadn’t. Frost said that

he had “better take it out of the poem, then.”

Frost’s simple point was the importance of telling

the truth, and it was advice that lasted a life-

time, influencing all the professional writing

David Herzbrun ever did. More than anything

else in his teaching, Frost desired what all

committed teachers wish for—influence that

will last long after student and teacher say

good-bye. With at least one Marlboro student

in the early years, it had worked magnificently.

�

In a talk he gave before an Amherst College

Alumni luncheon in June of 1948, Frost hon-

ored Marlboro’s “shoestring” beginning. He

opened the speech recounting the college’s

first commencement, which had taken place

a week before. With Walter Hendricks being

installed as president and Hugh Mulligan

being given the college’s first degree, it had

been both inauguration and graduation, a dual

purpose reflecting “traditional Vermont econ-

omy,” as Amherst President Charles Cole

humorously put it that day. At the Amherst

luncheon, Frost stated, “The chief event of the

occasion for me was the history of the founding

of Amherst College as told by Charlie Cole,

and the analogy he drew between the shoe-

string start of this new college on a mountain

in Vermont and the shoe-string start of

Amherst College a hundred and so many years

ago.” While the “shoe-string start” was a sort

of ideal of Frost’s, both democratic and char-

acteristically American, it pointed toward a

grander notion carrying distant echoes from

his readings in Emerson, Bergson and William

James that was at the heart of much of his

thinking: Forming something out of nothing,

making an immaterial idea substantive, the

very act of creation itself, is the central pur-

pose of our existence. He stated once “[t]he

whole, the great enterprise of life, of the

world, the great enterprise of our race, is our

penetration into matter, deeper and deeper;

carrying the spirit deeper into matter.” The

idea is perhaps most famously represented in

these lines from the late poem “Kitty Hawk”:

But God’s own descent

Into flesh was meant

As a demonstration

That the supreme merit

Lay in risking spirit

In substantiation.

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Doctorate of Letters, his twenty-second

honorary degree. The silken green-and-gold

academic hood that accompanied the degree

that afternoon joined a growing collection

taking up increasing space in Frost’s clothes

closet. Eventually a friend suggested a practi-

cal use for all this cloth: he offered to have

the hoods—there were 27 by then—sewn

into a patchwork quilt. The quilt was made,

and then presented to Frost at a special

reception at Dartmouth in the spring of 1955.

President John Sloan Dickey recalled years

later Frost remarking playfully that Sunday

afternoon how “eager he was to go to sleep

that night under such a weight of honor.”

While Walter Hendricks would leave

Marlboro in the early winter of 1951, by then

much of what he had wanted the school to

be, it had become. And just as the colors

green and gold were five years later sewn into

a quilt Robert Frost would cherish for the rest

of his life, so the legacy of his thought had by

then already become an elemental and lasting

part of the fabric of Marlboro College.

Dan Toomey teaches

writing and English at

Landmark College.


Of garrapatas, modismos and confianza:

Notes from the life of a Peace Corps volunteer

H e a t h e r - J e a n M a c N e i l ’ 0 2

Heather-Jean MacNeil joined the Peace Corps last year and in November was placed in

the village of El Boquerón in Honduras’ Olancho province. Below are excerpts from her

regular e-mails to family and friends, which offer insights into the day-to-day life of a

Peace Corp volunteer. For more extensive excerpts of her e-mails home,

visit Marlboro College’s Web site: marlboro.edu.

�NOTES: Page 4: Robert Newdick, “Robert Frost and the American College,” The Journal of Higher Education,

Vol. 70, No. 5, 1939, 554. Page 4: Walter Hendricks interview with Raymond Bried, “Mark Hopkins, a Log

Hut, and Me . . .” Yankee (November 1972), 98. Page 4: Wade Van Dore, The Life of the Hired Man: Robert

Frost and Wade Van Dore (Dayton, Ohio: Wayne State University, 1986), 207. Page 5: Frost interview with

Reginald L. Cook, collected as “Deeds that count are liberties taken with the conventions,” in Interviews

with Robert Frost, 146. Page 5: Lawrance Thompson, Robert Frost: The Years of Triumph, 1915–1938

(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970), 260–261. Page 5: Newdick, 557. Page 6: Walter Hendricks

and the trustees of Marlboro College, Marlboro College: A New College in Southern Vermont, p. 6.

Page 6: Hendricks’ announcement, “I’m starting a new college” and all subsequent quoted dialogue from

August 6, 1946 were taken from Hendricks’ essay “Marlboro College,” Amherst Graduates’ Quarterly,

Vol. XXXVII, May 1948, No. 3, 182–183. The diction and temper of the responses are all classic Frost; as

such I believe the quotes are credible. Page 7: Arthur Whittemore was the college’s first trustee; Frost was

the first person formally asked to become a trustee. Page 7: Frost’s idea for “education by presence” is given

good treatment in Newdick, 558, as well as in Peter J. Stanlis’ “Robert Frost’s Philosophy of Education: the

Poet as Teacher,” Roads Not Taken:Rereading Robert Frost. Ed. Earl J. Wilcox and Jonathan Barron.

(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000) 83–85. Page 8: Newdick, 557. Page 8: David Herzbrun ’51,

“The Birth of Marly and the Marlboro Citizen,” Potash Hill, Spring 1997, 32. Herzbrun’s statements

were expanded by daughter Andra Horton ’73, October 29 and November 3, 2004. Page 8: Jay Parini,

Robert Frost: A Life, (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1999), 419. Parini quotes Jack Hagstrom,

Frost’s doctor at that time. Page 8: Robert Frost, “Speaking of Loyalty,” Robert Frost: Collected Poems,

Prose, & Plays, ed. Richard Poirier and Mark Richardson. (New York: Library of America, 1995), 796.

Page 8: Robert Frost: A Living Voice, ed. Reginald L. Cook. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press,

1974), 131. Page 9: Frost interview with Mark Harris, collected as “I’m modestly satisfied. I’ve gotten my

truth of feeling in,” in Interviews with Robert Frost, 271. Page 9: Robert Frost, “Education by Poetry,” Robert

Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays, 723. Page 10: Frost’s quilt is today in the Milne Special Collections

and Archives of the Library of the University of New Hampshire. The list of colleges and universities, the

degrees, and the dates conferred appear in the quilt’s top right hand corner. Marlboro is the 22nd listed.

Page 10: Jay Parini, Robert Frost: A Life, 395.

From: “Heather-Jean MacNeil” <[email protected]>

Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 16:39:40 +0000

Subject: Life as a volunteer: comical and devastating

Time continues to creep along and it is hard to believe that we have landed ourselves in

December. I found some Christmas lights, little blinking stars, that I have hung over my door.

They’ve turned out to be quite useful actually, for when neighborhood children come to visit,

they have taken to staring at the lights, rather than just blankly staring at me.

I met with my director over a week ago in the main office in Tegucigalpa to inform him that

the community partner he assigned me to is an irresponsible, macho nightmare that I cannot pos-

sibly work with, and I feel lost and somewhat hopeless about my assignment. He was endearing

and apologetic, saying all the right things to prevent me from throwing in the towel. He knew

that this would be a challenging site, that he put me there for a reason, and true there is no

organization in the community, but endless and potential work possibilities.

It is true—El Boquerón is beautiful, and the area and the watershed are being rapidly contam-

inated and destroyed. Besides, I like the community. I have taken a step back from José, and the truth

is I don’t have to work with him, but he is the only person in the community who really knows

the area, the forest, and my main contact to CODEFOR, the somewhat useless Protected Areas

Management branch of the government. The NGO that once existed for preserving the area hasn’t

done a thing in years; the other NGO that I was assigned to has completely abandoned its projects

involving health and the environment. The other men that were listed as contacts and resources in

Boquerón can usually be found lying in their hammocks drinking guaro (Honduran moonshine),

tired from a long afternoon working in the fields.

I managed to hike up into the mountains and visit some of the other communities that are

closer to the “nuclear zone” (the highest point of the protected area, usually with the most bio-

logical diversity) of the park. It is coffee-harvest time, and everyone is working hard under the

treacherous sun. People flood to the mountains at this time, picking, drying, de-pulping, roasting,

grinding, and, well … drinking the freshest coffee in the world. I sometimes like to joke that the

reason why I came here was for the coffee … it is that good.

I spent a few hours in a temporary town inhabited only during harvest time. To my disgust,

they were de-pulping their coffee (with a manual hand crank machine) directly into the riverbed

that feeds the watershed of Boquerón and several neighboring towns. The pulp is highly toxic and

harbors dangerous bacteria. The situation is beyond complicated, because these people don’t

live in the region year-round, so they couldn’t care less about the situation, but the people in

Boquerón are the ones who suffer from the contamination. We need to form a committee to

meet with the people from these communities to solve the issue of the pulp. With who, how

and when are all very unclear. The community is focused on fixing its water system right now,

so the subject of contamination is on the back burner for the time being. There hasn’t been

water in houses for months. I have actually mastered carrying water on my head.

The community is divided into two groups: the really poor families, who don’t have any land,

and who have very primitive diets of sometimes only beans and tortillas. The other community families

have milpas—fields where corn is planted—and at least one relative from the States who wires home

money for items such as televisions (so they can watch novelas—“soap operas”—all day long).

Well, I suppose that’s all for now. With faith, love, and peace, Florecita

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Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 22:52:17 +0000

Subject: slow life of the campo

Hello, everyone.

I have been in my site for one week. I have a small room to call my own. Starting around

five a.m., the tiny community of Boquerón slowly comes alive. I hear the repetitive pounding of

aged and cracked hands shaping tortillas, an activity that is done for several hours each morn-

ing. From my bedside I hear the chickens sing up toward the heavens. I can hear the broom

made of dried weeds swiping away at the earth, creating small piles of fallen leaf litter to

be gobbled up by the hens. As I creep out of bed and blindly make my way to the latrine,

I can hear the splattering of fresh milk into tin buckets. After splashing cold water on my

face I climb over the broken-down wire fence to assist with the process.

I am living on a small farm owned by a well-respected family of the community. Cho Cha,

my new little abuelita (“granny”) welcomes anyone and everyone into her home, and

quickly her heart. When I first arrived at the house, I was a bit horrified by the reality of my

new living situation. Cho Cha’s house is the hub of activity, and there are always people

coming and going. The tiny little room which I will call my own for the next two years was

a despicable mess, a family of spiders the size of my fist being its only inhabitants. I have

cleaned it up, however, and spent this past weekend painting it bright orange and blue. The com-

munity has absolutely no water, which makes even the simplest of tasks quite difficult. There is a

nearby river, from which we have to haul water either by horse, mule, or on top of our heads.

(I have yet to master this skill.) They are fixing the water system, but it is unclear when people will

have water in their pilas (concrete water storage tanks) again. I am meeting with the person in

charge of the Junta de Agua (“water council”) next week to find out the details of the situation.

My counterpart—or my community partner—is somewhat of a nightmare. I am not sure what

I expected, but he is a typical Olancho man: a full-blooded machista. Good old José. He means

well, and he knows the forest and is excited to work with me … but he has yet to follow through

on any of our meetings or scheduled work times. I have to rely on him, however, to take me to

the other communities that I plan to work with, which lie further inside the protected area. He

has potential, though. I have a feeling that my relationship to José may be the most difficult

aspect of my experience here, and I am proceeding with a great amount of patience and caution

… it has only been a week. We held a community meeting where I had the opportunity to intro-

duce myself and meet several families of Boquerón. People seem excited to have me, but are

quite busy with the corn and coffee harvests that occur from now until Christmastime.

But although Boquerón and José are not what I thought, here I am, and here I will stay.

There are several community personalities that I have already fallen in love with, and I am truly

enjoying the slow pace, the simplicity and the tough life of the campo. I came here to live with

the people, and I am doing just that. It is a slow start, and the next few weeks will be full of

meetings and social visits as I complete the gaining-confianza (“trust”) phase of being a Peace

Corps volunteer. This week I am planning to visit the communities up in the mountains, to enjoy

some of the natural beauty that the monument has to offer.

Enjoy your commodities, fresh water from the tap, cool autumn air and, well, each other.

en paz, Florecita


Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 2:15 PM

Subject: 2005 insect bites

Happy 2005, everyone.

Being a volunteer here is not only an offering of my time, but also a sacrifice of my body,

which is covered in bites from the myriad insects that plague Olancho. Returning from a three-day

trip into the mountains with the local coffee farmers, there are small insect bites covering my

entire body. My discomfort has been due to what Hondurans call garrapatas, or little microscopic

ticks that bury into your skin and suck your blood. But I will admit that the incessant scratching

seems like a small price to pay for the experience of Agua Buena, the small temporary coffee village

located in the nuclear zone, smack in the middle of primary forest of the monument. The trip was

a real bonding experience for José, his wife, Margarita, and me. They hosted me in their small

adobe hut for the three days, where I slept on hard wooden slabs next to them, waking around

4 a.m. to grind the maize, make tortillas and desayuno—“breakfast”—before we headed to the

forest to harvest. Harvesting was quite an experience, the forest giving new meaning to the word

peaceful. Swinging from the branches to get high-up clumps of coffee berries, listening to the

birds, straining to hear the cries of the far-off monkeys.

In the afternoons, I hiked around the monument, enjoying the gigantic tropical trees, the orchids

and the drapery of vines, epiphytes and bromeliads. The climate of the cloud forest is a refreshing

break from the heat, and at night the temperature dropped well below 50 degrees F. I plan

to make this trip weekly over the duration of the next few months (despite the arduous four-

hour hike to get there), gaining the trust of the farmers, trying to get them to use worms to

compost their coffee pulp. I am investigating what it will require for them to become certified

organic as well, but this is a long process that will take extensive organization and funds.

I have also met with the director of CODEFOR several times to draft plans to try and imple-

ment ecotourism in the monument, with the hope of organizing community members to

create a small nonprofit to raise funds. The attempt to manifest these ideas into reality will

be interesting, and I am sure, very slow. Which brings me to my next realization.

Honduras seems to operate on a completely different sense of time. Meetings always

start at least two hours late, and sometimes not at all. I feel like I am swimming against a

strong current to get anything done, and no two people tell me the same thing about

anything. I am learning to cultivate such patience and ease with just accepting things as

they happen, with the foresight that here in Honduras things do not occur when they

should or when I need them to. It’s as if Hondurans are playing a joke on reality, their

way of gaining control of the chaotic life and struggles of the campo. They do what they

please, when they please. Even if this means lying in a hammock strumming guitar strings

for hours on end, serenading the chickens that sleep in the trees. When I left home, two

years seemed like eternity. However, now I understand why Hondurans say that two years is a

very short period of time to be here. It will most likely take me that long to accomplish anything.

I also realized over the holidays that the three things that Hondurans love most are: soccer,

politics and dancing. With several other friends I ventured to Siguatepeque to visit the host family

that I had during training. On Christmas Eve we ate natamales (traditional food of corn, rice and


Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 17:39:37 +0000

Subject: Only God knows

Hello, all.

It has been both a challenge and a joy to learn the Spanish language. Honduran Spanish is

full of modismos, or slang words and expressions, that are most likely spoken only here. Arriving in

the campo was like starting from scratch with my language skills due to the mountain of modismos

that I have to learn. My Spanish has changed a bit in the past month, as I pick up more on the

accents and expressions used by the people of my community. Their favorite expression is “Si Dios

quiere”—“God-willing”—and “Solamente Dios sabe”—“only God knows.”

These are the responses that I get to simple questions about when it will rain, or if my colleagues

are sure that they can make it to a meeting, or if there will be food to eat the next day. It is frus-

trating, and being the gringa that I am, I would of course like to hear a definite yes, or a no. My

beliefs about God aside, I want the people in my community to take more responsibility for their

actions, for what will or won’t happen. However, they really live through their faith.

One of the poorest countries in Latin America, Honduras has been devastated by natural

disasters and corrupt governments, and has very few services to offer its citizens, especially the

majority of the people living in the mountains, trying to grow corn and beans in poor rocky soil

on steep slopes. There are no jobs, no sources of income, and natural resources are being depleted

rapidly. Hondurans put their lives in the hands of God and in each other, because frankly there is

nothing or no one else to turn to. I have to admire their spirit, their

ability to live day by day, with hope. They

may show up to my meetings hours late, and

sometimes not at all. But they always greet

me with a smile, or a joke, or a warm tortilla.

Now when I hear the magic words: “Si Dios

quiere” I can only smile. There is wisdom in

these words … yes, God-willing.

Florecita

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usually a meat) and talked politics. After much heated conversation and rompopo (an alcoholic

version of eggnog), we went to a Christmas party, where we were serenaded by mariachis. We

danced and ate and danced some more. Hondurans celebrate through the night on Christmas Eve

and spend Christmas day sleeping and visiting family. This is exactly what we did … we danced

our souls away and spent a very low-key Christmas Day eating, sleeping and playing soccer.

On the 26th we headed to a nearby lake to celebrate my birthday. I celebrated New Year’s

back at Boquerón, where the entire community gathered to dance and celebrate. The Honduran

custom is to again dance the night away and to leave your doors open to let out the bad

spirits of 2004 and welcome in the good spirits of 2005. For the first time, I felt like a part of

El Boquerón … people were calling for me from the streets and I was tossed around from dance

partner to dance partner all night. Even Cho Cha grabbed me to dance when the clock struck

midnight. It was amazing to see everyone letting loose and enjoying each other.

So the New Year has been a stark contrast from last month. I tore up my Site Change Request

Form. After visiting the cloud forests of the monument, I can’t imagine leaving El Boquerón. I

have been quite busy and I finally feel like I am working. I made it through the dreaded first few

months at my site, and projects are on their way. Oh, and I am still scratching. (Did I mention that?)

Health, joy and peace in the New Year, Florecita


Einstein Outside the BoxT r a v i s N o r s e n

There is no single feature that draws students to Marlboro College, but surely one of the

widely recognized attractions of the place is its isolation: it is peaceful, rustic, and well-insulated from

an increasingly complicated world. The isolation, however, has an intellectual aspect as well:

at Marlboro, one is unlikely to be told, “That’s just not the way people do things.” Instead, students

are encouraged to do things their own way, to piece together some part of the intellectual land-

scape according to their own design. Evidently, this vision of an individually constructed program

of study attracts a certain kind of student. It is also what attracted me to join the Marlboro faculty.

In high school, I got interested in physics by reading popular books by the likes of Stephen

Hawking. These gave the impression that physics was in the business of unraveling great mysteries

about nature. Yet later, as a college physics major, I found my courses and textbooks focused

exclusively on nuts and bolts; the great mysteries had disappeared behind a torrent of equations.

Yes, it’s important to learn how to solve Schrödinger’s equation, but was there really no time left

for a discussion of the meaning of the solutions? The sense of wonder and deep discovery that

had attracted me to physics in the first place was not only missing, but it seemed to be positively

and deliberately excluded. Trying to figure out what the formulas mean—in other words, asking

how the world could actually be as described by the quantum mechanical equations—was, I was

told, philosophy, not physics. So I became a philosophy double major.

I remained primarily interested in physics; but I was interested in it in a way that seemed

different from my classmates and teachers. There was a constant pressure to work on problems

that involved calculating something (like the next decimal place on some obscure quantum

mechanical prediction), and what felt to me like a stifling pressure not to think about what it all

meant. I was sufficiently skilled at the calculations to make it through graduate school without

much trouble, but my heart and mind were always somewhere else: the history and philosophy

(or “foundations”) of physics. And that is how I ended up at Marlboro College teaching physics.

After many years of playing by someone else’s rules, it was an opportunity for me to start from

scratch and create a physics program according to my own vision.

I would like to share one successful episode in this ongoing project. It has to do with a fascinat-

ing thought experiment that I have recently helped to make visible, both in the physics community

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at large and in the classroom at Marlboro. The thought experiment delivers a simple but penetrating

criticism of the orthodox way of thinking about the implications of quantum mechanics. It was

originated not by me, but by another person who was dissatisfied with the way others had landscaped

the quantum world—by quantum theory’s original and most famous dissident: Albert Einstein.

This is an especially opportune time to revisit Einstein’s criticisms of the quantum

theory, for 2005 is the centennial of Einstein’s Miraculous Year. In 1905, Einstein, a previously

unknown amateur physicist, published three brilliant and revolutionary papers. One, probably

the best known outside of physics, presented Einstein’s theory of special relativity; according

to this theory, no physical influence can travel faster than the speed of light. A second paper

demonstrated a quantitative link between the incessant jiggling of small particles known as

Brownian motion and the atomic theory of matter, thus opening for the first time the possibility

of a direct experimental proof of the reality of atoms.

The third paper focused on a new equation put forward several years earlier by Max

Planck to describe the light emitted by hot objects (such as the red glow of the coals in a fire).

Experiments had demonstrated an exact match between Planck’s formula and the data, but this

mere correlation left Einstein unsatisfied: he wanted to know what was happening physically:

what the equation meant about the nature of light. What Einstein showed in the paper was that

light is not, in fact, the pure (electromagnetic) wave that physicists had believed it to be since

the 1860s. Rather, light had, in addition to its wavelike properties, a grainy or particle-like

aspect. In a word, what Einstein’s third 1905 paper introduced was the quantum.

Despite being quantum theory’s intellectual grandfather, however, Einstein was never quite

satisfied with it. The strange, seemingly paradoxical wave-particle duality that formed the central

pillar of the quantum theory was to be inflated (by Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and others in

subsequent decades) into a kind of mystical religion that struck Einstein, ever the cool-headed

realist, as unwarranted and downright irrational.

Bohr and Heisenberg argued that the quantum theory had revealed profound truths about

the world and man’s place in it. For example, the classical picture of a deterministic physical

world had been overthrown, it was claimed, in favor of a quantum world that was inherently

probabilistic—the deepest laws governing nature were laws of mere chance. Bohr and

Heisenberg also stressed the participatory nature of the quantum realm: whereas classically we

think of the world as existing “out there,” independent of us, and revealed to us through obser-

vation, according to quantum theory the world out there exists in a strange state of limbo until

it is forced, during the observation process, to “jump” into a state with familiar and definite

properties. As one contemporary physicist has quipped, according to the quantum theory, “No

phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon.” In short, according

to this interpretation of quantum mechanics, observation creates reality.

This viewpoint, dubbed the “Copenhagen interpretation” after the home of its main originator,

Neils Bohr, has become conventional wisdom in physics and beyond. Physicists pay regular lip

service to it, and it hides just below the surface in all the standard textbooks. Yet its radical

implications seem to make most professional physicists a bit uncomfortable, and they seem

relieved to dismiss the whole thing as “philosophy” and get on with more serious matters. The

physics community’s solution to the problem of confronting and assessing the meaning and

implications of the quantum theory is, Don’t. Shut up and calculate.

Einstein may have been a master at calculation, but he was hardly willing to

shut up. Perhaps seeing that the ideas espoused by Bohr and Heisenberg were more influenced

by 19th-century German philosophy than they were by results of physics experiments, Einstein

completely rejected the Copenhagen approach to quantum theory. In the 1920s and ’30s

Einstein leveled a series of pointed attacks on the developing quantum orthodoxy; his goal was

to show that all the radical-seeming philosophy that Bohr had allegedly extracted from the

quantum formulas could be avoided in a completely ordinary and straightforward way—namely,

by regarding the quantum mechanical description of reality as incomplete.

Consider the familiar act of flipping a coin: we believe that the motion of the coin is

governed by the immutable deterministic laws of Newtonian mechanics, yet our ignorance of

the precise details of the throw make it impossible, in practice, to predict for any given throw

whether the coin will come up heads or tails. Likewise, if there are more facts out there in the

quantum world than are contained in the quantum mechanical description, the unpredictability

of quantum events could be blamed on these unknown, hidden details, rather than on a break-

down of the causal structure of reality.

Similarly for the allegedly creative role of the observer. If the quantum mechanical description

of reality is complete, the interaction of the observer must affect the thing observed; otherwise

there is no way to understand how something that lacked definite properties (according to the

quantum description) before the observation, could be observed to possess them. But if those

definite properties lie just outside of the scope of the quantum description, if they are like the

unknown but perfectly real details about the motion of the coin, there would be no need to

postulate such an influence. The change that occurs upon measurement could be seen as merely

a change in our knowledge.

If you flip a coin but don’t yet look at the outcome, you might say there is a 50 percent

chance for heads. If you (erroneously) believed that this probabilistic statement was a complete

description of the state of the coin after the flip but before the observation, you’d have to con-

clude (after you look and see that, in fact, it did come up heads) that your observation affected

the system observed: the 50 percent has become 100 percent! The obvious way around this strange

view of the behavior of coins is to regard the probabilistic description as incomplete: there is some

fact of the matter about the state of the coin, even before observation. The probabilities simply

then be understood as simply describing the probabilities for the particle to, in fact, be in (and

hence, when looked for, be found in) either of the two boxes. The genius of the argument, how-

ever, lies in the crucial act of carrying each of the two half-boxes to a location distant from the

other before permitting any observer to look for the particle.

Why does this separation between the boxes help? Suppose one of the boxes is carried to

Boston and the other to Seattle. And suppose an observer in Boston opens his box and finds that

the particle is indeed inside. Well, he can immediately infer that a second observer in Seattle will

not find the particle in that box—there is, after all, only the one particle, and it has already been

localized with certainty in the Boston box. Thus, the instant the Bostonian looks in his box and

finds the particle, the probability of its being found in the Seattle box changes instantaneously

from 50 percent to zero.

But, Einstein continues, how can this be according to the orthodox Copenhagen interpreta-

tion? According to that viewpoint, the quantum description of the particle before either box is

opened is complete—it describes an irreducible potentiality for the particle to localize at a given

point when an observation is made. So before the boxes are opened there is a 50 percent proba-

bility of this sort for the particle to be found in the Seattle box. But, says Einstein, according to the

idea of locality, nothing about the state of the Seattle box can be affected by anything happening

in Boston—until at least enough time has passed for a signal traveling at the speed of light to

inform the Seattle box of the perturbation in Boston.

We are thus faced with several options regarding the boxes scenario. One possibility is that,

for well-separated boxes that are opened simultaneously, we don’t necessarily find the particle in

one and only one place—the irreducible potentiality for particle localization is realized independently

in the two boxes (as it would have to be if, in accord with the locality principle, observing one

box doesn’t immediately affect the contents of the other, distant box). That is, perhaps sometimes

we find two particles, one in each box. However, experiments have been done to test this possi-

bility, and it doesn’t pan out; the particle is always found in one box or the other exclusively.

A second possibility is that the opening and observation of the box in Boston affects the

state of the box in Seattle—in effect, the particle, upon materializing in Boston, would have to

send a message to the other part of its quantum wave, in Seattle, instructing that wave not to

yield up the particle when examined. But this would mean a violation of the locality principle,

according to which there should be no such causal interaction between the two distant systems.

The third possibility—the only one, according to Einstein, consistent with both experiment

and the locality principle—is that the quantum mechanical description is incomplete. There is

(says Einstein, contra Copenhagen) some fact of the matter about the location of the particle,

even before any observation takes place. And thus the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum

theory—with its shocking claims regarding the overthrow of causality and the nonexistence of

an objective, observer-independent reality—is not merely in conflict with Einstein’s philosophi-

cal sensibilities, but is, in fact, in conflict with a fundamental principle of relativity theory.

Those of us who are sympathetic to Einstein’s argument feel that the Copenhagen camp

obfuscated the issue and never adequately addressed this conflict. But through the decades,

a small group of quantum dissidents has kept the debate alive. This group included Louis

After graduating with a

double major in physics

and philosophy from

Harvey Mudd College,

Travis Norsen received

his Ph.D. in physics

at the University of

Washington. His disser-

tation focused on phase

transitions that may

occur in the high-density

nuclear matter inside

neutron stars. He teaches

physics at Marlboro.

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sum up our ignorance of this actual state of affairs. When we look, the real state is revealed to us,

and the probabilities we assign to the various outcomes change, but this is a change inside our heads,

not a change in the world out there. There is no mystical “participatory” aspect to observation.

Einstein strongly believed that the quantum world worked the same way as the coin, and

that it had been misinterpreted by Bohr. Unfortunately, however, the debates between them on

this issue didn’t lead to any definite resolution. Einstein felt that Bohr never really understood

or addressed his concerns, while Bohr and his followers believed that Einstein’s naïve and out-

moded objections had been refuted absolutely. The debate about the completeness of quantum

mechanics remains, to this day, a central point of disagreement among those (few) physicists

interested in foundational questions.

Several years ago now, while doing some reading on these historical debates (much

to the frustration of my then-thesis advisor, who thought I should be calculating something!),

I stumbled across a version of one of Einstein’s objections to the quantum theory that seemed

particularly simple and powerful. Since I hadn’t heard of this argument before, I dug deeper and

traced the fascinating history of the argument from its origins in Einstein’s comments at a con-

ference in 1927, through Louis de Broglie and Werner Heisenberg, and up to its relation to a

crucial contemporary result in the foundations of quantum physics called Bell’s Theorem.

Two things make this argument of Einstein’s powerful. The first is that it isn’t a mere expres-

sion of discomfort with the quantum completeness doctrine; rather, the argument demonstrates

an outright conflict between the idea of completeness and another important physical principle

called “locality.” Locality is essentially the idea, urged by Einstein’s earlier 1905 relativity theory,

that cause and effect must be sufficiently separated in time that a signal traveling at the speed of

light could propagate from the first event to the second.

The second thing that makes the argument powerful is its incredible simplicity:

Consider, says Einstein, a subatomic particle confined to a box. Now, like the perennial

magic trick in which the box containing the magician’s assistant is dramatically split in half, let

us insert a partition to divide the box into two parts that are subsequently separated and carried

to distant locations. According to standard quantum theory, the particle is represented by a

mathematical wave that gets split evenly between the two half-boxes. And according to the

Copenhagen view that Einstein found so repugnant, this wave represents a kind of irreducible

potentiality for the particle to be localized in a definite place if/when an observer opens the

boxes and looks for the particle. But prior to such an observation, the particle is in the mysterious

state of quantum superposition—not in one box or the other exclusively, but somehow in both

and in neither at the same time.

The obvious, common-sense sort of interpretation that Einstein favored as an alternative to

the Copenhagen view was that, in fact, the particle went one way or the other when the boxes

were pulled apart (presumably like the lady in the magician’s trick). The quantum wave could

OMEWHERE IN A ROTTING SWAMP on

the shoulder of the Lowell Mountain ridge-

line, water bubbles up through a hole in the black

dirt, smelling like mold and sulfur. The water

trickles along under the shade of beeches and

maples and merges with a hundred other unknown

streams, until they assemble themselves into a

river. If a man wearing a Vermont Fish and

Wildlife Department uniform were standing in

these woods, he could point toward some junction

of streams or some tiny beaver pond and declare,

“This is the official source of the Wild Branch

River!” But no such witness exists, and the water

goes on oozing through swamps and under eyeless

maples that cast nothing but shadows upon it.

By the time the Wild Branch reaches the

village of Wenlock, it is wide, and stony. In April

the water surges through the river channel, and

the Wild Branch fills to its bank with muddy

rapids. If you listen, you can hear large objects

tumbling along through the river in springtime,

making low thumps when they strike bottom.

Most are boulders, but some are abandoned cars,

dislodged from a salvage yard on the north end

of the village. When the water recedes again in

the summer, you can walk the stretch that runs

through the south end of the village and find

bumpers, transmissions, radiators, and steering

columns protruding from the blue clay and gravel

that line the riverbed.

In Wenlock, nobody casts dry flies, and “sport

fishing” doesn’t exist. “Sports” is something you

watch on the TV, while holding a Michelob Light

in your hand. “Fishing” is something you do with

a pole, a hook, a monofilament line, and a night

crawler—preferably after waters are high from a

recent rain, so the trout can’t see you coming. The

Branch receives its yearly allotment of trout from

the Fish and Wildlife Department stocking truck

every April, and on the days following the truck’s

arrival, village fishermen cast to the river and

remove all the trout worth keeping, one by one,

until by the end of summer, nothing but dace and

suckers remain—fish that scour the river bottom

for their food and bare flesh that tastes like the

mud that they inevitably swallow in the process.FURTHER READING:

David Albert,

“Bohm’s Alternative

to Quantum Theory,”

Scientific American,

270(5), May 1994,

32–39.

Mara Beller, “Quantum

Dialogue,” University

of Chicago Press, 2001.

Edmund Bolles,

“Einstein Defiant,”

Joseph Henry Press,

2004.

Travis Norsen,

“Einstein’s Boxes,”

American Journal

of Physics, 73(2),

Feb. 2005, 164–76.

Also online at:

www.arxiv.org/abs/

quant-ph/0404016


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de Broglie, Erwin Schrödinger, David Bohm, and, perhaps most important, John Bell, whose cel-

ebrated theorem has recently seized the conflict between quantum theory and relativity out of

the clutch of philosophy and back into (or at least nearer) the realm of “acceptable” physics.

During the 2003–04 school year, I wrote a paper on this thought experiment—

“Einstein’s Boxes”—that was recently published in the American Journal of Physics. The paper

has already generated some interesting discussion and controversy in the physics community—

or at least that part of it that permits itself to worry about foundational questions. That same

year, I gave a well-received talk at Marlboro about Bell’s Theorem and its implications for the

interpretation of quantum mechanics. I also had the spectacular opportunity to travel to Germany

for a conference on the foundations of quantum theory; it was my first chance to actually meet

in person and discuss the interpretation of quantum physics with a number of like-minded

quantum dissidents.

But the highlight of the year was a course I created and taught called “Quantum Physics:

Concepts and Controversies.” The course was not part of the standard physics track, but was

instead a largely nonmathematical survey of quantum mechanics with a special emphasis on the

Bohr–Einstein debates and the several possible ways of interpreting the theory. I believe the

course was enjoyed by the students who took it—at least, their papers demonstrated that they

had learned and understood a tremendous amount. But for me the course had, in addition, a

very personal meaning. I had finally found the opportunity to create a course that emphasized

history and philosophy—meaning—over calculation. In short, I had finally participated in the

kind of course I always felt was missing throughout my own education.

I consider myself primarily a teacher and not a researcher. Indeed, one of the things that

drew me to Marlboro was the opportunity it afforded to do something other than the kind of

research I had been all but forced to do during graduate school. Yet I must confess a very deep

sense of pride at having begun a fledgling research program that is entirely consistent with my

own vision of what such a thing should look like. And it is especially gratifying that the results

can be simultaneously appreciated by other experts in the field and by undergraduate non-physics

majors at Marlboro.

I like to believe that Einstein would have been pleased. But even without engaging in

speculation, I think I can safely report that, in this anniversary year and beyond, Einstein’s

dissident spirit remains alive at Marlboro College.

The Last Trout in the Wild Branch River

F i c t i o n b y F o r r e s t G a r d n e r ’ 0 4

S

My feet froze to the ground.

Joanne towered over that little car. “Well,

do y’wanna find ’im or NOT?” she hollered.

I nodded that I did, and Joanne described

where Ray’s bedroom was, then continued speaking.

“I don’t know. If he ain’t there, he might be

out back diggin’ worms somewhere. I’ve gotta go

read the meters—” She paused and pointed at the

twin silver lightning bolts of the Lamoille Electric

company logo on her shirt. “—so don’t you keep

snoopin’ round in there if you can’t find ’im.” With

that, Joanne dived into the Plymouth, and I stepped

into the house. After a few seconds, I heard a car

door slam and then the grumble of an engine.

I answered her last remark telepathically.

Don’t worry, I thought.

The Starks’ house was dark. Tiny dust parti-

cles shimmered as they sank through the light

thrown from the high-set windows. The living

room floor was covered with litter—magazines,

plastic shopping bags, and empty TV dinner boxes.

A stack of dirty dishes stood by a dingy brown easy

chair, turned to face a dingy brown television.

Among the litter on the floor I noticed a bright

red school binder. The binder had a picture of a

rainbow printed on its front cover and scrawled

under the rainbow in large, childish, Magic Marker

letters, was its owner’s name: Barbara Stark.

Barbara, Ray’s older sister, had left home as

soon as she turned 18, as had his brother, Dave,

who’d joined the Army. His father left when Ray

was only five, after finding a prettier wife than

Joanne. Ray would undoubtedly be gone too, in

another couple of years, leaving only Joanne to

sit alone in her easy chair, with nothing left to

yell at but the TV.

I wandered down a dark hallway to Ray’s

bedroom. I called his name and then tried the

doorknob, but it was locked.

When I left the house and walked out to the

backyard, I noticed that Ray’s bedroom window

was open. I found a pitchfork driven into a muddy

patch of ground and supposed that was where he

dug worms. Clearly he was not attached to the

pitchfork. Someone whispered above me.

“Hey!” said the raspy voice. “Look up.”

I craned my neck up toward the sky, seeing

only clouds.

“Turn around. To the left a little.”

My eyes finally fixed on a pair of legs in

green camouflage pants dangling from a limb

about halfway up an old pine tree. Ray waved to

me from his hideout and then started to make his

way downward. He dangled by his arms from the last

branch and dropped, landing solidly on both feet.

“That’s how they do things in the Army,” he

said. “You’ve got to be quiet and you can’t let any-

one see you. I could’ve shot you from up there.”

I looked up at him, not knowing what exactly

I should say. “Let’s get some worms,” I suggested.

Ray took up his post at the pitchfork, turning

over the swampy ground, while I scanned it for

bait. After an hour we collected only about a dozen

tiny shriveled-looking worms, but concluded that

the amount of time we spent digging should not

surpass the amount of time spent fishing. We

headed for the Wild Branch.

We walked the paved road to the end of the

village, a mile-long trip that had its various delays.

Ray stepped quickly, in a regular one-two rhythm,

looking straight ahead. He carried his fishing pole

so that the top rested against his shoulder. I lagged

behind him, at intervals half-running in order to

keep up with him. When we reached the store he

said, “Wait out here,” and ducked inside. After a

few minutes, he came back out with a Slim Jim

and a Mountain Dew.

The last house in town sat on a steep bank

that dropped down to the river, and it was where

Edgar Williams lived. Ray quickened his pace as

we approached Edgar’s. I stared straight ahead and

stiffened my muscles in an effort to appear as awk-

ward and mechanical as possible. The hope was

that Edgar, with his blurred vision, would mistake

me for a tractor or slow-moving truck and not find

it necessary to make conversation. It didn’t work.

“You throw the little fuckers back! You hear

me?” Edgar sang from his front porch. An elaborate

earthen sculpture—half turkey, half human—

he had been eroding into his rocking chair for

decades. Proportionally, Edgar had spent 43 years

of his life working, 17 fishing, 11 cursing passersby

from his rocking chair, and yet another 10 sitting

in the same chair staring out at the road and say-

ing nothing at all. He had grown into a branch of

AR

TS


So when Ray Stark spent his summer afternoons

fishing the Wild Branch, all the authorities on the

matter generally agreed that he was fishing the wrong

river, at the wrong time, in the wrong manner.

Ray was a common sight, wading up the river

wearing a grimy white undershirt, a worn baseball

cap to hide his tight curly hair, and camouflage

pants rolled up to the knee. In his left hand he

held a fishing pole, and his determined stare fol-

lowed the monofilament line that ran through the

rod guides into the river. I hadn’t fished since my

grandfather had become too ill to take me anymore,

and the sight of Ray stalking up the river always

stirred my interest.

One day, as I stared out the window of my

parents’ Chevette toward the Wild Branch, my

mother made a suggestion: “Why don’t you ask Ray

if you can go along fishing with him sometime?”

My opportunity came sooner than I expected.

We pulled up to the gas pump at the Wenlock

Country Store, and there was Ray leaning against

the ice box and staring down the road as if he

were watching something diminish—a car growing

gradually smaller as it rolled toward the end of the

village. His face was still, except for the tops of his

cheeks, which bounced up and down while he

chewed something. When he noticed that I was

walking toward him, he thrust a small plastic

package into his pocket.

“Ray?”

He didn’t look at me. “Yeah?”

“You mind if I come along fishing with you

sometime?”

Ray smiled and swallowed the rest of whatever

he was chewing on. He glanced toward me. “How

about tomorrow? Show up at my house around

quarter to nine, and we’ll go dig some worms. Just

walk in. Joanne should be gone by then.”

I S T O O D AT T H E STA R K S’ F R O N T D O O R,clutching the dusty fishing pole I’d borrowed from

my grandfather. When my grandfather was a young

man, the Starks’ home had been a one-room school-

house, and he’d sent my mother to class there.

Her teacher, Mrs. Butts, was a cruel old country

matriarch, and there weren’t many children who

made it all the way to eighth grade without ruler

welts on their arms. When the Starks moved in,

they painted the old schoolhouse siding shit-brown

and added a one-car garage to its side. They replaced

the tall side-by-side windows with tiny square ones.

I’d heard people say that not much had changed

after the Starks moved in and that, if you stopped

and listened at the right times, you could hear the

sounds of the old schoolhouse echoing inside—

wood hitting flesh, children whimpering. But

rumors are rumors, and by the age of 11, I’d

already learned to regard most with skepticism.

Once, when my father was away for a week work-

ing at a carpentry job in Hartford, I’d heard that

he’d been sleeping around town, that my mother

had found him out and hit him over the head with

a chair, and that, in his rage, he closed all of our

family bank accounts and took off for Florida.

Still, as I stood looking at the sad little brown

house with its tiny windows, my imagination

raced. What did go on in there? Maybe Mrs. Butts

was still inside, for all I knew, her corpse still pre-

siding over her last class—the children, all grown

men and women now, sealed inside squirming at

their desks, collecting dust in the eternal last

second before summer break. I blinked and

reached for the doorknob.

As I laid my fingers on the knob, the garage

door rumbled open and someone hollered at me in

a voice that sounded like a dull steel blade scream-

ing through hardwood, “You’re prob’ly lookin’ for

Junior, I guess?”

My spine stretched out and stiffened. Joanne,

Ray’s mother, stood towering over a Plymouth

hatchback, wearing a blue Lamoille Electric Co.

uniform. Her face overheated and seized—lips

pressed together and stone jowls immobile, waiting

for my response.

“Yup,” I coughed.

“Well, I don’t know what the hell happened

to him. He weren’t around last night for supper,

and I haven’t seen ’im this mornin’ any either.”

Joanne’s voice ascended from its quietest

conversational setting—push lawnmower—

to its loudest—portable sawmill—as she shrieked,

“JUN-IOR! SOMEONE’S HERE FOR YOU!”

“I don’t know where he is,” she continued,

“Maybe he’s in his room, I guess.”

Since graduating from

Marlboro College a year

and a half ago, Forrest

Gardner has been vari-

ously employed as a

newspaper ad composer,

house painter, land sur-

veyor’s assistant, seed

packet labeler and proof

reader. He reports that

after eating a lot of

pizza one night, he

decided to quit his most

recent job and move

back in with his parents,

but plans to move to

Burlington, VT soon to

seek his fortune (again).


I got fed up with pulling and developed a new

unsnagging approach: throwing rocks toward the

end of my line and swearing at it as loudly and

gratuitously as an 11-year-old knew how.

“God-damn-friggin’-snag-god-damn-it!”

Ray left his seat and walked over to help me.

“Sometimes,” he said, bending over to pick up my

pole, “you have to just pull on the line as hard as

you can. Either it’ll come out, or it won’t.”

He swung the tip of the rod down to his ankles

and pulled back on it with both hands. The line

quivered for a moment, chiming discordantly as it

rubbed against the top rod guide. When the song

reached its highest pitch, the line snapped and leapt

back toward us, but soon slowed and sank, hookless,

back to the river’s surface. About where my hook had

been snagged I noticed something bob up to the top

of the river—a white oval, about four inches long.

When I saw three pairs of white-lined fins grasping at

the air, I knew that I was looking at the belly of a

brook trout. So did Ray. Before I could point the

trout out to him, he was already wading out to get it.

I splashed into the river after him, forgetting

about staying dry. Water slurped over the edge of

my rubber boots, and my steps became heavy and

clumsy. Ray was inches away from the trout. As he

reached toward its speckled body, the trout rolled

and dived toward the bottom of the river. His

clenched hands came back up filled with water.

He held them still, squinting at the river’s surface.

“There it is!” he shouted.

We took off slog-running downstream, chasing

after the last trout in the Wild Branch River. When

the trout swam into the tangle of roots beneath an

overhanging bank, Ray prodded at it with a stick

until it darted out and continued downstream.

The trout kept rolling over, exposing its white

belly and tempting him to grasp at it again. Each

time though, it righted itself and dived to the

riverbed. We were soaked. My wet cotton T-shirt

clung to me as if it were a new layer of cloth skin

pressed out of my pores. The sounds of splashing

water replaced my thoughts of catching the trout,

and my mind filled up with them until I couldn’t

hear—or think of—anything else. My feet slurped

in their boots. Water droplets cascaded away from

my toes and crashed back into the river. I kept

course by watching the heels of Ray’s boots and

following them every new direction they turned.

Ray’s attention remained fixed on the trout. He

squinted downstream, looking for its floating belly

and the ripples it made as it struggled, trying to swim.

Ray halted.

I stopped behind him.

The frenzy of thrashing water faded until I

could hear only the lazy gurgle of the Wild Branch,

determined in the summer heat to keep plodding

toward its mouth.

The trout hung belly-up against a downed ash

tree, caught in an eddy and turning in slow circles.

A lead sinker attached to a strand of fishing line

hung from its gaping mouth. The trout pumped its

gills hard, and a faint cloud of blood leached from

its throat, staining the surrounding water. As the

water diluted the blood and pulled it downstream,

the brilliance of the red cloud faded until the

blood became indistinguishable from the water. I

imagined the single blood molecules floating down

into larger and larger rivers and on into the ocean,

evaporating, and then falling back to earth with

the rain, bound, from now on, to the water cycle.

Were blood-tainted raindrops any heavier than the

clean ones? Would I know the difference?

“Do you want that trout?” Ray asked.

I stared at it and shook my head.

He reached down and plucked the trout from

the river. He stuck his thumb in its mouth and

pulled its head back until its nose touched its

spine. The trout stiffened its tail and quivered for a

moment, and I heard a quiet crack—the sound of

tearing cartilage. Ray’s face tightened at the sound.

Afterwards the fish’s tail hung loose.

I felt wet now. My soaked T-shirt felt stagnant

against my skin.

“I think I’m done fishing for today,” I said.

“So am I.”

“You wanna head back and dry up?”

“Yeah. Let’s head.”

Ray pushed a piece of fishing line through the

fish’s gills and tied it to one of his back belt loops.

I marched home behind him, watching the dead

fish flop against the back of his camouflage thigh

in time with his step and hearing nothing but our

feet splashing in the dying river.

AR

TS


the Wenlock establishment—a sputtering, quaking

land formation whom nobody dared to disagree

with, for fear of having to listen to the results.

Edgar raised his withered neck to scowl at us

for a while and evaluate the impact of his warning.

The longer we stayed silent, the more furiously he

rocked, leaning back and catapulting more words

in our general direction.

“Goddamnit! I know you, Raymond Stark!

You’re no different than anyone else— You’re

gonna catch all the trout that’s left in that river

and skin ’em and cook ’em, and there ain’t gonna

be a goddamn thing left but dace for me. You

throw the little fuckers back! Don’t you fish that

river out.”

Ray halted and welded his gaze to the bob-

bing rag doll before him. He took a swig of his

Mountain Dew.

“You pay for that soda, kid?” Edgar snarled.

Ray snapped 90 degrees to the right and

strode away up the road.

I had to run to catch up with him again.

AS I F O L L OW E D RAY, scrambling down the

riprap rocks toward the river below, it was hard to

understand exactly what old Edgar was so worried

about. By August, the waters of spring had receded

and the Wild Branch had shriveled to almost

nothing. The riverbed below us held more stones

than water. I now realize that, in order even to

consider fishing that river at any time of the year,

you’d either have to be naïve or desperate. I fell

in the first category; Ray, the second.

“Why don’t you take that hole up there?” Ray

said, nodding toward a soggy patch of gravel a few

yards upstream. He already had a worm out of the

tin that hung from his belt and was slipping the

point of a barbed size 6 fishhook into it. I watched

the worm, loose and warm as it squirmed in his

hand—rigid and convulsing as he pushed metal

up the length of its body.

We walked up the river through the village,

casting the worms into any hole that looked deeper

than our ankles and feeling for tugs at our fishing

lines. The tugs always came from dace, swarming

around the worms and nibbling at them—

disassembling our carefully gathered bait while we

cursed them from above the clear summer water.

We worked our way upstream like that all

morning, watching vigilantly for the brook trout

that were our preferred prey and seeing nothing

but the dream of them—shadows that darted out

from dead trees and discarded tires and vanished as

soon as you attached a name to them. “Look, over

there!” Ray kept saying. “That’s a brookie, ain’t

it?” But by the time I’d turned to where he was

pointing, he’d always changed his mind, declaring

the thing “just a dace” and leaving me to consider

the possibility that he was wrong, while I scurried

back and forth along the riverbank, haunted by

the ghosts of his “brookies.”

Ray sat down to fish from the hood of a ’76

Nova. The hood stuck out from the bottom of a

tall blue clay bank by the riverside. He hooked his

line on two fingers and felt for the faintest tug.

On his hood Ray became a dace-catching

machine, sliding the tiny brown-yellow fish from

the sluggish water, swinging them on the end of

the line, smacking them against a large rock to his

side and repeating the motion until each stunned

dace fell from the hook back into the water. I

watched the little parade of fish bodies float down-

stream. Their gaping mouths stiffened into looks

of permanent surprise, the dace no longer resisted

the pull of the current. They rode bound to the

river’s fluid motion, doing whatever the water

did—swirling around rocks and popping up from

under downed trees—creeping along and shrinking

and then becoming invisible through the thick

blue August air.

I turned and heaved my line into the next

fishing hole, and almost instantly I had a snag. I

waded into the hole up to the edges of my black

rubber boots and started yanking at the snag from

every angle that I could reach without getting my

feet wet. The pole arched with the tension of the

line. I swung it wildly to the left, then to the right,

then above and then a little behind the snag,

making the line sing with every new movement.

My hook wouldn’t budge. Over my grumbling, I

heard the cold thwack of fish meat against stone,

followed by Ray’s quiet chuckle.

“Calm down over there,” he called.


AR

TS


Aaron Morganstein

graduated in May with

a Plan of Concentration

that examined the

relationship between

communications systems

and social behavior.

One of his projects was

a series of portraits of

Marlboro community

members, from

which these images

were selected.


M a r l b o r o P o r t r a i t s b y A a r o n M o r g a n s t e i n ’ 0 5

IN N OVAT I O N I S A T O U C H S T O N E O F AM E R I C A N I D E N T I T Y. We trust in our

creative powers; we define ourselves as explorers. We have built intercontinental railroads and

ocean-linking canals, sent men to the moon and built the microchip. If we are confronted by

disease, we expect to find the cure. If we need a solution to a problem, we invent it.

Part of our confidence is based in our democratic traditions. Our freedom of expression is

enshrined in the First Amendment. Our amalgam of many peoples broadened the reach of our

imaginations. Perhaps because we are a “nation of nations,” in Walt Whitman’s phrase, we are

also a nation of creators. The Library of Congress reports that in 2003, Americans registered over

530,000 copyrights for music, art, manuscripts and software. The U.S. Patent Office received

more than 365,000 applications for patents.

Looking from our past to the future, we must ask some pressing questions: Is our faith in our

creativity substantiated? Is it a talent that only some possess, or is it a set of perceptions and skills

that can be taught? Are we recognizing and supporting creativity in our schools and society? Or

are we slowly starving it by not nurturing our young people’s creative capacities, by not rewarding

exploration and innovation as a result of scarce support for the arts and scientific research? What

is the role of colleges and universities in answering these questions and assuring the next genera-

tion of American innovators?

Recognizing the public benefits of higher education and the arts, the American Assembly

of Columbia University convened a 2004 conference called The Creative Campus; worthwhile

recommendations emerged for integrating innovative programs in the performing arts at colleges

and universities.

After that conference, Steven Tepper, who served with me on its advisory group,

published an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education acknowledging that “creativity

abounds on campuses,” but perhaps “in spite of our policies.” Noting that we live in a

“scorecard society,” Tepper proposed a Creativity Index to measure what he identified as

the five elements that encourage the process: collaboration, cross-cultural experiences,

interdisciplinary exchange, time and resources, and a climate that tolerates failure.

My view is that the “creative campus” must be thought of at a more profound

level than as a place that supports the arts. My concern is that higher education

talks about creativity but is not willing to face how its very institutional structures

and measurements often work against the conditions in which creativity flourishes.

The order needed to define course sequences, confer credits and fulfill majors at

many institutions may not respond well to challenges from students or faculty

who want to range across disciplines, award credit for independent and creative work, or define

their concentrations of study differently.

In his 1952 introduction to The Creative Process, Brewster Ghiselin observed that “every cre-

ative act overpasses the established order in some way” and “is likely at first to appear eccentric.” In

an educational system that prizes high retention and completion rates, what room is there for eccen-

tricity? It is possible that institutions have become so consumed with quantifying success that they

will discourage hard-to-measure qualities like “unquenchable curiosity” and “fierce determination,”

the vital elements Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi identified in Creativity, his study of innovative individuals.

For Ghiselin, the inventor is “drawn by the unrealized towards realization. His job is, as

Wordsworth says, ‘the widening the sphere of human sensibility … the introduction of a new

element into the intellectual universe.’” What is required of the choreographer making a dance

or the scientist conducting an experiment is an openness of mind, an acute attention, and a

“surrender” to the “widest and freest ranging of the mind.” However, to complete this process,

Ghiselin reminds us, “what is needed is control and direction.”

The institution that would foster creativity is called upon to do many things: to provide access to a

broad range of knowledge that contains the seeds of its own expansion; to encourage the flow of curiosity

across disciplines; to give the creator the discipline and craft to make the barely glimpsed idea visible.

Institutions should not be so consumed with measurements that they do not allow for the

unstructured time necessary for discovery and experimentation—to link previously unrelated

elements, recognize emerging patterns, and take risks—all so essential to creativity. In addition

to developing new measures of creativity, colleges should also pay more attention to qualitative

assessment, such as portfolios, poster sessions, presentations and performances.

The myth of the lonely creator must yield to the understanding that creativity is a group

activity, informed by past ideas, expressions and even failures. It thrives on collaboration. Without

collaborators or witnesses, creativity never emerges to do its influential work. Again, college plays

a key role for such discoverers. Csikszentmihalyi says, “This is the period when they found their

voice. … College provided soul mates and teachers who were able to appreciate their uniqueness.”

To support this process, we faculty and administrators must see creativity as a value and

steep ourselves in its theory and tools. We must not only teach students how to think, but also

how to think about thinking. We must be wise enough to know when to reward the creative per-

ception and also know when to challenge it; when to urge more freedom of thought and when to

demand more discipline. We must develop a pedagogy of creativity.

Stimulated by Richard L. Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class, college leaders readily

talk about preparing students for the creative economy as knowledge workers. However, colleges

and universities, responding to students’ anxieties about finding jobs after graduation, run the risk

of narrowing their students’ exploration of knowledge and training for existing conditions. There is

room for creativity even in this goal. Reassuring an anxious parent about a liberal arts education,

one Marlboro College graduate said recently: “We don’t get jobs, we create jobs.”

The vocation we prepare liberal arts students for is one of the imagination. In addition to

supplying the newest scientific and artistic breakthroughs, encouraging creativity will cultivate

students’ abilities to engage in the kind of thoughtful, compassionate and problem-solving

democratic process on which our nation thrives.

Ellen McCulloch-Lovell is

president of Marlboro.

She formerly served as

president of the Center

for Arts and Culture,

and as deputy assistant

to President Clinton and

advisor to the First Lady

on the millennium,

where she spearheaded

historic preservation,

educational, cultural and

environmental programs.

A version of this article

first appeared in the

Summer 2005 issue of

Connection: The Journal

of the New England

Board of Higher

Education.

P h o t o b y A a r o n

M o r g a n s t e i n ’ 0 5

PE

RS

PE

CT

IV

E


Offering a vocation of the imagination

E l l e n M c C u l l o c h - L o v e l l


ON

&

O

FF

T

HE

H

IL

L

Opposite: Marcea MacInnis gets a hug following commencement.

P h o t o b y S a r a h L a v i g n e ’ 9 8

S U M M E R – F A L L 2 0 0 5 . Potash Hill 33

After four decades of inspiring the campus, the Brelsfords retire

It was Tom Ragle who first contacted them. It was 1964; the year Martin Luther King Jr. received

the Nobel Peace Prize and the Beatles debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was also the year that

Edmund and Veronica Brelsford made plans to move to California to pursue their doctoral degrees.

Having each earned an M.A. in French, the couple knew their hearts were in languages and lit-

erature. What they didn’t know was that they would be continuing their education at Marlboro

College, not Berkeley.

“There came a time when we needed someone to teach just the languages,” recalls Tom

Ragle, president of Marlboro from 1958 to 1981. In previous years, the responsibility for teaching

foreign languages had fallen on the shoulders of the college’s multilingual faculty members: a lit-

erature professor taught French, the theater professor taught Spanish, the librarian’s wife pitched

in and taught Egyptian hieroglyphics. “But the classes were becoming so large,” Tom says, “that

in the summer of ’64, we decided that we needed to hire a full-time French and Spanish

teacher.”

Once the school began to advertise the position, the Brelsfords received a letter

from Tom Ragle. “He wanted to know if I would come down and chat,” says Edmund,

who was then teaching at a local high school. Edmund decided to visit, and was

interviewed by legendary professor and faculty dean Roland Boyden. He decided to

try teaching at Marlboro for a year, and the following semester, Veronica came on

as a professor of French and German.

Now—after countless classes, contributions, hours and adventures—the Brelsfords

are retiring, after 41 years at Marlboro College, having given a living definition to

the word passion and infused four decades of students with their insatiable zeal for

learning and life.

Elliot Gertel ’73 was one of those students. “Both of them had a very disciplined

and caring approach to teaching that truly brought out the best in their students

while inspiring independent and critical thinking,” says Elliot, who teaches linguistics

and has incorporated the Brelsfords’ philosophy of teaching a foreign language

in that foreign language into his own practices. Even while

educating first-year language students, Edmund maintains,

it is possible to convey much without using English. If

clarification is necessary, says Elliot, then he will say a

phrase “initially in the foreign language, then in English,

and then again in the foreign language so that they’ve

heard it twice.” Edmund adds that this teaching method

is effective because it not only requires the continuous

improvement of a student’s skills, but because it also

generates the sensation of being transported into another

O N & O F F T H E H I L L

says Edmund, who agreed to learn the language with the students by collecting the appropriate

materials and “digging in.” Another year, a student planning to carry out his World Studies Program

internship in Burma approached Edmund about studying Burmese. Edmund agreed, but couldn’t find

any study materials on the language. “The student found some Grade B Burmese films on the Web,”

says Edmund, “and we were able to isolate sound bites from the movies and use them to work on the

language until more conventional materials could be found. By the end of his internship he was the

interpreter for the teaching lama in a monastery in Burma. He’d reached that degree of proficiency.”

Skye Allen ’02 also went to Edmund and asked him to teach Russian. “He jumped right in

and was like, ‘Sure! Let’s do Russian!’ He was just sort of game for anything,” says Allen, who

completed her Plan on the Russian author Feodor Dostoevsky, and is currently doing graduate

studies at the University of Chicago. Skye took classes with both of the Brelsfords and says that

the couple’s “willingness to do anything and to find a way to make it happen” was one of the

main reasons she stayed at Marlboro.

The Brelsfords’ innate disposition to learn new things has been the key to effectively teach-

ing four decades of students. “Part of that comes from having kids,” explains Veronica, who is

mother to five children, four of whom attended Marlboro. “You learn with them; you grow with

them,” she adds. Edmund agrees. “A very pleasurable part of teaching has been having our own

children in class—and more recently having my granddaughter in Spanish class.”

Veronica has employed her approach of learning and growing with her children to her

teaching philosophy. “Interests shift from year to year” she says; “there was a

time in ’89, after the Berlin wall came down, when there was a huge surge of

interest to learn German and see what was going on over there firsthand.

Then, for a while, students wanted French, and now languages from Latin

America are very big. They change, so we change.”

Edmund attributes this trait to the very nature of the college. “One of the

beauties of this place is that its faculty members have always been free to

pursue interests that students share with us,” says Edmund, “there’s nobody

standing over your shoulder telling you, ‘Oh, we don’t do that at Marlboro.’

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culture. “I still recall how Edmund could describe a trip to Corsica so vividly in French,” says

Elliot, “that it made me feel as if I had been along for the ride.”

The Brelsfords have always strived to present a fusion of language and culture to their

students—a desire that has often manifested itself in the form of music. “Songs serve a greater

purpose than just being fun to sing,” says Edmund, who teaches his Spanish students “La

Bamba” because the lyrics include a tricky preposition. “Through these songs, students learn

something about the language as well as an aspect of the culture.” The Brelsfords

also host regular parties to further celebrate the music and literature associated

with the various languages they teach. This past fall, 41 students—well over 10

percent of the student body—joined them at their home for an evening of interna-

tional food, poetry and song.

From the very beginning of their careers at Marlboro, Edmund has found

incorporating music into the classroom to be a vital teaching tool. Tom Ragle

fondly remembers seeing Edmund in action during the young professor’s first

semester on campus. “One day, I was taking a distinguished visitor through the

college,” says Tom, “and, as we walked through Dalrymple, there was Edmund—

cross-legged on a desk—playing a guitar, and singing French songs in the middle

of the floor with his class, because their textbooks hadn’t come yet and there was no

other way for them to learn French!” Tom goes on to say that “the distinguished

visitor was so fascinated by this that he kept going back and looking because he

thought that it was all so wonderful.”

This was not the last time that Edmund Brelsford’s approach to teaching would attract

attention. In 1968, he staged a torch-illuminated raft concert on the fire pond. Garby Leon ’69

was there. “The idea was that we were going to give a concert on a barge in the fire pond while

in various states of undress,” says Leon, who played harpsichord for the occasion. “It was defi-

nitely the craziest thing I ever saw sanctioned by a Marlboro faculty member.”

“It’s funny the way that stories get embroidered over the years,” says Veronica, who remembers

the concert—part of the annual Spring Rites celebration—for the beautiful music, the plethora

of flowers and torchlight, and especially for the tiny, candle-bearing prayer boats released in

memory of those who had died in Vietnam.

All agree that one of the reasons the Brelsfords have been so capable of sustaining their energy,

as well as their enthusiasm for teaching, is their desire to learn. When the Brelsfords first came to

Marlboro, they were fluent in five foreign languages. Since being here, however, they have taught

over 35 languages. “It’s a very simple approach,” explains Edmund, “I learn with the students.”

Both he and Veronica have sacrificed many hours of their personal time so that, at Marlboro,

students have been able to work on nearly any language they needed. “Quite often we would

have a student who wanted to learn Medieval French or Norwegian or something else, so the

Brelsfords would sit down over the summer and learn it,” says Tom. “Part of it is just not being

afraid to stick your neck out,” says Veronica. “Having already learned several foreign languages,

I know what to look for, what to listen for.”

Because of their willingness to learn, the couple has taken on some very obscure and inter-

esting languages. One year, a group of six students asked Edmund if he would be willing to teach

them Ancient Sumerian. “I remember having to ask myself whether or not I was really fearless,”


expected a lot from her students but had a quality which made the learning process extremely

comfortable.” Rebecca Augur ’99 had a similar experience. “What I remember most about

Veronica’s teaching is her enthusiasm; she never failed to make her course materials seem fresh,”

says Rebecca, who worked with Veronica on her Plan of Concentration. “She was engaged and

interested in my project every step of the way, and her energy motivated me.” Rebecca credits

Veronica’s “insightful questions” and knowledge of French literature for the eventual content

and quality of her own writings in French. “I feel fortunate to have been influenced by

Veronica’s joie de vivre,” she says, “and am certain that she will be missed.”

The Brelsfords have anchored a languages program that taught 50 languages over the past

10 years. Central to that accomplishment, says Edmund, has been “the contributions of talented

and versatile colleagues and adjuncts as well as the use of an increasingly sophisticated language

lab.” Edmund built the first language lab himself in 1965, with $120 from Tom Ragle for reel-to-reel

tape decks and headphones; he remembers using vinyl record albums with his first Chinese language

student in 1968. The lab leapt into the 20th century in 1995, when the federal government

awarded Marlboro a $1.7 million grant to upgrade campus technologies. For the language lab,

this meant computers, Internet access and language-learning software. “Dozens of languages

are served by the lab,” Edmund says. “It is especially helpful for less frequently taught

languages, which tend to have one student.”

In addition to his efforts in the classroom and language

lab, Edmund proudly recalls his committee efforts, such as

the time in 1974 when he and then-Dean of Faculty Corky

Kramer each independently chose Bob Engel’s application

from a pile of 300 for the open biology position. He describes

his work in 1978 with Tom Ragle and administrators from

the School for International Training that helped lay the

groundwork for what would become the World Studies

Program. He and Corky teamed up again to help create the

Committee on Faculty, Edmund recalls. “Its primary function

would be to help us be the best teachers we possibly could.”

The Brelsfords will be missed, but the couple will not

fully retire for a number of years. Edmund plans to continue

as an adjunct professor to continue working with his current Plan students, and Veronica, who

officially retired last year, is already currently working as an adjunct. “After doing something for

most of your adult life, quitting cold turkey is not a good thing,” she says, adding that she is look-

ing forward to traveling and spending more time with her family now that Edmund is retiring.

“The first year I taught here,” Veronica recalls, “I walked into my class, and one of the

women said, ‘Oh, you’re the teacher? I’m going to love this place, you can’t tell the students

from the teachers!’ And then about four or five years ago, I was doing a tutorial with a young

woman and she said, ‘You know, in a way, you remind me of my grandmother.’ And that’s when

you know that you’ve been teaching for a very long time.”

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It’s Marlboro’s highly flexible curriculum that encourages people to pursue things which may not

necessarily be a current part of the curriculum.”

The Brelsfords’ eagerness to help students has occasionally led them in some unexpected

directions. “You never know who’s going to come walking in your door in September,” says

Veronica, whose native language is German and who earned her M.A. in French literature.

Oftentimes this eagerness has led to activities outside the classroom. Years ago, because of

their large family—their children as well as their students—the Brelsfords purchased a yellow

1954 school bus. “One year, about 15 French students wanted to go up to Montreal,” recalls

Edmund, “so I said, ‘Okay, pack your sleeping bags!’ and into the school bus we went.”

Both Brelsfords are athletic: they ski and cycle, and have won many awards doing so. Before

the college had an outdoor program, Edmund headed up the college Outing Club. “We bought four

aluminum canoes,” says Edmund, who removed the seats from his school bus to make room for nec-

essary equipment, “and we would load in the canoes and take students up to the Townshend Dam,

let them start down the river, and I would meet them in Brattleboro with the bus.”

Music also counts itself among Edmund’s strengths. He sings and plays the lute, baroque flute,

recorder and classical guitar. Edmund has found himself called upon to use his musical abilities to

help students in their time of greatest need: their Plan performances. Garby Leon was one of those

students. “I went to the biggest risk taker I knew on campus, and I asked Edmund if he would get

up on stage and improvise a concert with me,” says Garby, who studied piano at Marlboro and

went on to earn a doctorate in music from Harvard University. “The whole thing was kind of a

hoot because we didn’t know what the hell we were doing, but with great seriousness and intensity—

as if he were about to play a concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic—Edmund kept a deadpan

straight face and gave the moment a kind of respectability.” Garby was not surprised that Edmund

agreed to the concert, saying, “Edmund would have jumped off of a bridge if he thought that he

could have some fun doing it.”

John Knapp ’76 also called upon Edmund’s talents when it came time for his Plan performance.

“I had to put on a little show, and Edmund very graciously agreed to put together the musical side

of the evening,” says Knapp, who was then studying a combination of foreign language and early

Italian theater. “He got his recorder players together, taught the musicians the music, and even took

one of the parts in the play.”

John also had classes with Edmund. “He works hard and plays hard at everything he does

and always brings passion and fun into what he’s doing,” he says. “Passion, is the word; no mat-

ter what the language, I think that passion is probably one of the first words that Edmund ever

learns.” Knapp has often thought of his former teacher over the years and has used Edmund’s

example as a reference point in his own life. “His longevity, his desire to continue to learn new

things—even in middle and later life—have always struck me as a great model,” says Knapp,

who recently began studying medicine at Columbia University after working as a ballroom

dancer and choreographer for 15 years. “We’re all, hopefully, going to live for a long time, and

you’ll find that you are probably going to end up doing more than one thing in life, and

Edmund has always seemed to know that.”

John was a student of Veronica’s as well. “I remember her French class as being absolutely

delightful,” says Knapp. “She was always a very comforting and encouraging teacher who


outside of Santiago. I participated in workshops, helped design a breast cancer awareness campaign

and designed the organization’s bulletin. My work for both of these organizations, and my daily

life living in Chile, changed the way I see the world and my education. I now know exactly what

aspects of women’s health and NGOs that interest me the most. And, like my fellow travelers,

I now have experiences and faces to go along with my research. —Meghan Chapman ’06

Some two dozen Marlboro students spent spring break traveling to parts

north, south and way south to escape their books, encounter new cultures

and lend a hand. Outdoor Program Director Randy Knaggs ’94 headed a trip

to Belize’s beaches, rain forests and remote villages (above) while half a hemisphere north, dean of students

staffer Megan Littlehales ’82 led students on the college’s third expedition to the Cree village of Ouje-Bougoumou

in central Quebec (right). Halfway between, student life advisor Jodi Clark ’95, Jenn Karstad ’97 and six students

trekked back to South Carolina to work with Habitat for Humanity.

Felicity Ratté named new dean of faculty When Marlboro art

historian Felicity Ratté was asked to consider becoming Marlboro’s dean of faculty, she was

both hesitant and intrigued. “I really like teaching, so it was difficult to think of giving it up,”

she says, but adds, “I am eager to promote our mission and our success in living up to it.”

The dean of faculty serves as Marlboro’s chief academic officer, overseeing the curriculum,

academic policy, faculty hiring and review, and student academic standing. “Felicity brings

tremendous energy as well as a thoughtful and creative approach to the position,” says Jim Tober,

current dean of faculty. “She has a college-wide perspective that acknowledges challenges and

opportunities across the curriculum.”

Felicity plans to begin her tenure by meeting with each faculty member. “I see the position as

the advocate of the faculty, someone who encourages and promotes what the faculty does,” she

explains. “I will develop my work out of that consciousness about faculty priorities.”

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Off-the-hill experiences Every semester a group of Marlboro College students

lives, works and learns far from “the hill.” Last semester I was a part of this group—a group that

traded textbooks for hands-on experiences. Each of our journeys was more than just a sight-seeing

expedition. Through Marlboro’s World Studies Program, we each found an internship in a for-

eign country that pertained to our field and spent between six and eight months working, living

and experiencing the life and culture of that place.

Cristin Nicole—Puerto Rico and Venezuela “I was shocked by what I was able to accom-

plish; I didn’t expect to do anything like this,” Cristin Nicole explains of her internship, divided

between Puerto Rico and Venezuela. As a group leader for Global Works in Puerto Rico, Cris

and her team helped build houses and do other community building projects; “we worked side

by side with the locals. It was very humbling to work with and be directed by the people in the

community that you are helping.” After eight weeks, Cris began work in the abandoned chil-

dren’s unit of the Hospital Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz in Mérida, Venezuela. “They threw me in

and didn’t tell me what to do or what they needed. But I slowly realized the kids didn’t have

anyone to play with them, so I began to read and play games with them. I also helped teach the

younger kids how to walk.”

Franklin Crump—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Although he spent six months in Rio de Janeiro,

Franklin Crump went to the beach only twice. Instead his time was spent at his internship for

the Theater of the Oppressed, a group working to empower people through theater. Its work

focuses on a variety of people, including the poor living in the favelas (shantytowns) surround-

ing the city and those involved with the Landless Workers movement. As an intern at the the-

ater, Franklin helped with workshops, rehearsals and even tutored people in English. “I was able

to meet and work with Agosto Boal, who began the Theater of the Oppressed and inspired my

work in this area,” says Franklin.

Rachael Johnson—Beijing, China Through her job at the Foreign Language Teaching and

Research Press in Beijing, Rachael Johnson traveled around China. “My main job was to go on

promotional tours for different dictionaries that they were publishing,” she says. “I went to sev-

eral different cities in central China and gave presentations at the biggest bookstores in the

city.” Working for the English Language Publishing House division of the company, Rachael was

the spokesperson for the dictionaries, and helped with editing and translation of promotional

material. Through her internship, Rachael changed the focus of her Plan of Concentration,

“When I went to China, my Plan was going to be focused on media and commercialization, but

after my trip, I decided that I was more interested in looking at the relationship between con-

sumerism, class and gender.”

Meghan Chapman—Santiago de Chile Through my internships at two nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs) in Santiago de Chile, I experienced two very different sides of NGOs

and their work in women’s health. At the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health

Network, I worked as editorial assistant for The Women’s Health Journal and assisted in editing

four publications. At the NGO Educación Popular en Salud (Popular Education for Health),

I had the incredible opportunity to work directly with the women living in the shantytowns


Chris Lovell at home on Potash Hill One would expect the spouse of a

college president to keep a low profile outside formal receptions and trustee dinners. However,

Chris Lovell—an Ivy League escapee turned ski instructor turned Goddard grad turned award-

winning education researcher—has made a practice of defying expectations.

“I’m in absolute heaven to be five minutes away from lectures in Apple Tree and concerts

in Persons. And meeting the terrific, terrific students!” says Chris, after moving onto campus

18 months ago with his wife, Marlboro President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell.

On sabbatical from Old Dominion University, the professor of educational leadership and

counseling could often be seen in attendance at Marlboro lectures, performances and Town

Meetings, when he wasn’t gliding along the college’s cross country ski trails. “If I had any doubts

about coming to Marlboro,” he says, “they evaporated when I saw that Randy Knaggs had laid

the start of the cross-country ski trail across our front lawn.”

A fan of progressive education since he read A.S. Neill’s Summerhill as a teenager, Chris

took a break from his own undergraduate studies after “oppressive college experiences” at

Hamilton and Columbia. He moved to Vermont’s Mad River Valley and worked at the

Sugarbush Resort, spending a year as a self-described ski bum. A conversation with a friend

called his attention to Goddard College’s alternative education model and rekindled his

interest in higher education. “Goddard lit a fire under me,” Chris recalls.

His studies at Goddard began a career in education that included teaching at

a tiny alternative elementary school in Plainfield, Vermont, earning master’s and

doctoral degrees at the University of Vermont and American University, and stints

as admissions director at Goddard and associate dean of admissions at Norwich

University. A professor since 1990, Chris has taught at American University,

Vermont College and, since 1993, Old Dominion.

In addition to teaching and supervising the research of graduate and under-

graduate students, Chris created and ran a series of continuing education workshops

for hundreds of counselors in eastern Virginia and developed and managed a televised

instruction program for more than 40 sites in Virginia and beyond. Among his

published works, his article on empathic-cognitive development in counseling

students was included in the prestigious Jean Piaget Archives.

A theme in Chris’ work has been the importance to both learning and human

development of empathy. “Counselors and teachers who are empathic get measurably

better results,” he says. “If I can connect with you not only about what you think

but about how you think, that’s tonic for cognitive development.”

Chris has found such connections everywhere at Marlboro. “I’ve audited a few classes and

they’re like graduate seminars,” he says. “There is a well-established correlation between the amount

of quality time students spend with faculty members and the progress they make in the intellectual

domain. By that standard, I would guess that Marlboro has an edge over most other colleges. And

I’m just itching to win a few research dollars to test that hypothesis!” —Kevin Kennedy

Chris Lovell, followed

by his daughter-in-law

Kristi Lovell, in last

winter’s Wendell Cup

ski race.

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Originally drawn to Marlboro by its emphasis on academic freedom and openness

to the continual exploration of new areas, Felicity has taught art history at Marlboro

for eight years, and has also served as director of World Studies for two years. Her

scholarly work focuses on the art and architecture of medieval Italy; a book by Felicity

on the subject is forthcoming from McFarland and Company.

Jim Tober served as dean of faculty since 2003 and was named acting co-

president in the months immediately preceding the arrival of Ellen McCulloch-

Lovell. “I greatly value Jim’s good judgment, excellent analytic abilities, decency

and true kindness,” says Ellen. “He has contributed so much to Marlboro, and I

learned a lot from him during my first year.”

The economics and environmental policy professor says he is eager to get back to

the classroom. “I’m looking forward to teaching, working with students, preparing new

courses and pursuing scholarly work.” —Elena Sharnoff

Linda Rice ’81 ends nearly two decades as campus health care provider In her nearly two decades as the medical

presence on Marlboro’s campus, Linda Rice ’81 patched, poked, prodded and inspired genera-

tions of Marlboro students with her expertise, sense of humor and love of the college. Linda

enrolled at Marlboro in 1978 to pursue her bachelor’s degree as part of a college program giving

free housing and tuition to nurses in exchange for their tending the medical needs of fellow stu-

dents. When Marlboro ended the program in 1986, Linda returned as the college’s first staff nurse.

In 1992 she took a break to earn her master’s degree, returning in 1994 to the campus

health center as a family nurse practitioner who raised the quality of medical services offered

students to an important new level. Since 1999, she has served on the Vermont Nursing Board,

overseeing the quality of nursing care offered around the state, and was recently named to an

advisory panel of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

Linda left the college in December to continue her career at Retreat Healthcare in Brattleboro.

Anne Marie “Re” Gorham ’93 has taken on Linda’s role as director of health services at Marlboro’s

Total Health Center. Re attended Marlboro for two years, ultimately earning her bachelor’s degree

from Barnard and her master’s at the Yale University School of Nursing. She most recently

worked in the Naval Ambulatory Care Center in Groton, Connecticut. —Kevin Kennedy

Felicity Ratté.

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“Against Disaster,” an original

musical composition by

Marlboro music professor Stan

Charkey, premiered in Paris in

March. The work, commissioned

by the French five-voice a capella

vocal ensemble Les Oreades,

included text written by the

poet Theodore Roethke.

Although Stan, who has taught

at Marlboro since 1977, is

known on the hill as a teacher

of music, he is recognized in the

larger world as a distinguished

composer and many-times-

recorded player of early music,

particularly lute music. To his

students, Stan emphasizes the

important correlation between

musicianship and craft, fre-

quently relating the process of

composition to “problem solv-

ing.” Rather than considering

himself an artist in the romantic

sense, he describes himself as an

“occasional composer,” referring

to his propensity to write music

largely for specific occasions

and preexisting ensembles.

In March, Marlboro ceramics

professor Michael Boylen (above)

conducted a weeklong series of

lectures at the Toluca School

of Ceramics and Porcelain in

Toluca, Mexico. The major

theme of these seminars was

environmental lead pollution

and alternatives to lead oxide in

the composition of low-temper-

ature ceramic glazes. For several

years, Michael has endeavored

to help educate Latin American

potters about the dangers of

using lead in traditional

Spanish-style ceramics. His pre-

sentations were viewed by an

audience composed of students

from the Toluca school, local

potters, representatives of the

U.S.-based organization Aids to

Artisans and representatives

from Barro Sin Plomo (“Clay

Without Lead”), a Mexican non-

governmental organization.

While in Mexico, Michael caught

up with former student Jennifer

Musi ’03, who is studying

ceramics at the Toluca School.

During his yearlong reign as the

latest editor-in-chief of the stu-

dent-run newspaper, the citizen,

Matt Lynch ’06 has made consis-

tency of publication his top

objective. For the first time in

recent memory, a new issue of

the citizen has been available

every two weeks—quite an

accomplishment for any stu-

dent, let alone a senior working

on his Plan of Concentration in

religion, philosophy and writ-

ing. At the same time, many felt

that the quality of the citizen’s

content rose along with its

quantity. Whether the newspa-

per was covering a national

election or the mysterious dis-

appearance of the peacocks on

campus, in the words of senior

Zarah Thompson-Jacobs, the cit-

izen “presented information

about large- and small-scale

issues in humorous and mean-

ingful ways.” Scheduled to

graduate in the fall of 2005,

Matt Lynch will be giving up his

30-hours-a-week responsibility

as editor, but will continue to

contribute as a writer.

On Monday nights last spring,

the Whittemore Theater was

filled with crowds who came to

hear the ideas of such luminar-

ies as MacArthur “genius grant”

choreographer Liz Lerman

(above), hunger-in-America

expert Dr. Janet Poppendieck,

and biomedical scientist and

former University of Vermont

President Dr. Judith Ramaley. In

the words of professor Luis

Batlle, Marlboro College’s first

year of its Monday Night

Lecture Series kicked off with

“very good lectures” and “a lot

of variety.” The series was made

possible by an anonymous gift

from a friend of Marlboro, in

addition to the Thomas

Thompson Lecture Fund and the

Lucius Littauer Lecture Fund.

The 2005–06 Monday Night

Lecture Series will include a

dozen lectures on the theme

“creativity.” All lectures are

free and open to the public.

For more information, call

Public Affairs Officer Elena

Sharnoff at (802) 251-7644

or visit the college Web site

at marlboro.edu.

Every week, a migration of

Marlboro community mem-

bers arrives at the Geraldine

and Luis Batlle residence

from all over the Northeast.

“We’ve had people come reg-

ularly from Amherst, from the

north shore of Boston and from

Albany, New York,” Tim Little

explains. The group of Marlboro

students, trustees, faculty and

students assembles around two

tables in the Batlle’s living

room. They will stay until mid-

night, eating dessert, socializing

and, most important, playing

bridge. Bridge playing at

Marlboro is nothing new. When

Tim Little was a student at

Marlboro in 1965, he remem-

bers a large group of people

playing bridge together in

Halfway House. He also remem-

bers the first time he saw Luis

Batlle, the host of the current

bridge night, playing. “I was

working in the admissions

building, and Luis was always

playing bridge outside my win-

dow,” Tim recalls. “He sat at a

picnic table with four others; he

was always wearing a straw hat

and usually shouting, ‘You idiot!’

to the other players.”

—Amialya Bellerose Elder ’06

and Meghan Chapman ’06


Mary White, (above) library

director at Marlboro College for

the past five years, was named

2005 Librarian of the Year by

the Association of College and

Research Libraries (ACRL) New

England Chapter. The award and

cash prize exist to recognize an

outstanding member of the

ACRL/NEC who demonstrates

professional commitment, service

and accomplishment in the areas

of leadership or innovation.

Mary, a resourceful and active

member of the Marlboro

College community, has in her

position of library director revived

the librarians coalition within

the Association of Vermont

Independent Colleges (AVIC) in

order to seek consortium grant

awards and cooperative pur-

chasing of electronic resources,

managed the new $2.8 million

“Aron” addition to the library

that has doubled the building’s

size, and has increased the service

desk hours from 40 hours a week

to 70 without hiring additional

staff. Mary’s attempts to make

the library more user-friendly

and personable have also clearly

worked, and in the past five

years reference questions have

increased over 200 percent.

Leave it to a Marlboro professor

to make math cool. Joseph

Mazur, who taught math at

Marlboro for more than 30

years, was recently selected as

one of two finalists for the 2005

PEN/Martha Albrand Award for

First Nonfiction for his book

Euclid in the Rainforest

(excerpted in the Winter–Spring

2005 issue of Potash Hill). The

PEN Literary Awards is one of

the most comprehensive literary

award programs in the United

States. Published in 2004 by Pi

Press, Euclid consists of an eclec-

tic assortment of personal

essays about math and logic;

the work is set in locations as

diverse as the islands of the

Aegean, the jungles of South

America, the streets of New

York and the Marlboro class-

room. Euclid hit bookstores last

fall to mainstream and academ-

ic acclaim and was even listed

on Amazon.com as one of the

“newest and coolest products

our customers are buying.”

During his first meeting with

Marlboro Dean of Faculty Jim

Tober, Fulbright Scholar

Salehuddin Ahmed (above)

asked what sort of courses he

should teach that semester. In

response, Jim asked him, “Well,

what are you good at?” This

was Salehuddin’s first introduc-

tion to Marlboro’s unique

approach to teaching liberal

arts. Ahmed, a Bangladesh

citizen, holds a doctorate in

economics from the University

of Kharkov, Ukraine. Since 1979,

Ahmed has worked in a variety

of roles for the Bangladesh

Rural Assistance Committee

(BRAC) including treasurer and

deputy executive director.

During his yearlong fellowship

at Marlboro and School of

International Training (SIT),

Salehuddin studied the way

that American liberal arts col-

leges operate in the hopes of

fusing the best of both the

British and American education-

al philosophies in BRAC’s latest

venture: the establishment of a

new university in Bangladesh.

Salehuddin has also taught

Marlboro students what he knew

best: policy advocacy, economics

and nongovernment organiza-

tions from an insider’s point

of view.

Although he never attended

the college, Munson Hicks

(below) has had the opportunity

to observe Marlboro’s develop-

ment from its earliest years. He

is the son of the late forestry

professor Halsey Hicks, who

started his long tenure in 1949,

when the college consisted of

50 students and 13 teachers.

Munson recalls that he and his

sister, Linda, were “dragged to

every college event and party,”

and as a young man he spent

summers working on a forestry

crew with his father. Even

though he opted to go to his

father’s alma mater, Haverford

College, Munson always stayed

connected to Marlboro, even

spending a summer in the 1970s

with the Marlboro College

Guild Theatre. Now a profes-

sional actor and director of

some note, Munson served as

an adjunct theater professor

last spring while Paul Nelsen

was on sabbatical.

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From the honorary doctor of humane letters citation for Nicholas Barber, longtime friend of Marlboro: Your friendship

with Marlboro College began in 1963, when

upon obtaining a Double First in Greats from

Wadham College, Oxford, you accepted our

invitation to travel to the United States as

the first classics fellow at this small liberal

arts college that was younger even than you.

During that year, you taught Greek and Latin languages, and Greek and Roman civilization. You

also distinguished yourself as a skilled orator in the Marlboro community, by all reports played a

mean game of soccer and sparked campus life from your tiny room atop Hendricks House.

From the honorary doctor of letters citation for Robert Pinsky, poet: You champion the individual as the

cornerstone of democracy, putting forth poetry as a means of individual

expression in an age of mass conformity. As this country’s poet laureate you

created and promoted the Favorite Poem Project, in which thousands of

Americans each chose, read and chronicled a favorite poem, thus collec-

tively celebrating their individuality. For several years you read poems—

your own and those of others—on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, reaching

millions with the message that poetry today is more relevant than ever.

From Robert Pinsky’s commencement address: What do

human beings desire? I think more than pleasure, more than power, more

than any other gratification I submit to you that what we desire is difficulty. … In a way what

this place is dedicated to is the pursuit of finding a worthy difficulty. The hypnotic videogame,

golf, these are stages, stages towards something like playing Bach. If we look through the list of

Plans of Concentration, the word “exploration” and the word “study” are part of the vocabulary.

It is not only what we desire, it’s what we admire and value. It’s what makes a hero. Heroes are

not people who solve problems. Joan of Arc dies of torture by religious fanatics and political

enemies. The first thing we learn, the first sentence about Odysseus, the most intelligent and

most interesting of the heroes, is that he failed to bring all of his men home. But he did study

the manners of people in many different places. We admire Abraham Lincoln for his agons, his

contests, and the way he performed in them not because he solved a problem but because of the

way he engaged it. Jackie Robinson did not end racism in this country. He engaged the difficulties

of his sport and he engaged on behalf of all of us of the entire community a worthy difficulty. For

that reason we consider him a hero.

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Commencement 2005A LIGHT RAIN DID NOTHING TO DAMPEN THE SPIRITS of 71 graduates who gathered with

family, friends and Marlboro community members to celebrate the college’s 58th commencement.

Commencement speaker Robert Pinsky, a three-time U.S. poet laureate, offered a wish to graduates

“that they find beautiful, absorbing, worthy difficulties that they engage and pass on to others as the faculty

has passed them on to them at this wonderful place.” Marlboro President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell

offered insights from her first year on campus, and senior speaker David Zimmer reflected on the

tragedies and achievements experienced by his class over the past four years. Honorary degrees were

conferred on Robert Pinsky and on Nicholas Barber, Marlboro’s first classics fellow and, more recently,

a director of Huron University in London during its partnership with Marlboro.

From President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell’s address: Originality takes risks.

You did. And here you are wearing mortarboards—well most of you are! Each one of you is a

confirmation of what we do here. We still trust and teach the liberal arts, in the wide and free

exploration of human experience. To the dismay of some, we are still a strong contrast to career

education. But I say we do teach a vocation. It is the vocation of the imagination. I believe you

will imagine the world into being a better planet for us all—every species—to live together.

From David Zimmer’s senior address:At Marlboro, we have learned the value of

self-reflection. And today we find that we have become self-reflective individuals in a country

that favors the expediency of action taken without thought to action taken with thoughtful

deliberation. It is therefore our burden—yours and mine—to attend to our communities with

the skills and qualities we have developed at Marlboro over four years.

The platform party:

Senior speaker David

Zimmer, President

Ellen McCulloch-Lovell,

commencement speaker

Robert Pinsky, benedic-

tion speaker Jim Levinson,

Board of Trustees Chair

Bart Goodwin, honorary

degree recipient

Nicholas Barber, Dean

of Faculty Jim Tober.

P h o t o b y S a r a h

L a v i g n e ’ 9 8


Above left: Marlboro’s

first Classics Fellow

Nicholas Barber with

President Ellen

McCulloch-Lovell.

P h o t o b y

T h o m a s H u d s o n ’ 0 7

Poet Robert Pinsky

with President Ellen

McCulloch-Lovell.

P h o t o b y

J a r e d B e n e d i c t

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The Sally and Valerio Montanari Theatre

Prize is awarded annually to a graduating

senior who has made the greatest overall

contribution to the pursuit of excellence in

theater production. Sarah Seagrave.

The Robert H. MacArthur Prize was

established in 1973 in memory of Robert

MacArthur, Class of 1951, and recently

rededicated to Robert and also to John and

to John and Robert’s parents, John and Olive

MacArthur, who founded the science program

at Marlboro College. The contest for the prize

is in the form of a question or challenge

offered to the entire student community. This

year’s theme was “Grace.” The prize is shared

by Bennett Carpenter, for a literary essay, and

Eric Strom, for an electronic music composition.

Roland W. Boyden Prize is given by the

humanities faculty to a student who has

demonstrated excellence in the humanities.

Roland Boyden was a founding faculty mem-

ber of the college, acting president, dean of

the college, and trustee. Anna Patton and

Jason Moreau.

The Freshman/Sophomore Essay Prize, given

annually for the best essay written for

a Marlboro course. This year the English

Committee gave awards in two categories—

analytical and personal. The best analytical

essay: Emily Rucker, “No Pressing Urgency:

Nodding Disease in Southern Sudan”—honorable

mention: Bennett Carpenter, “T. S. Eliot and the

Voice of Modernism.” Best personal essay: Erin

Calabria, “Breathing”—honorable mention:

Max Henderson, “Homecoming”.

The Audrey Alley Gorton Award, given in

memory of Audrey Gorton, Marlboro alumna

and member of the faculty for 33 years, to the

student who best reflects the Gorton qualities

of: passion for reading, an independence

of critical judgment, fastidious attention

to matters of style, and a gift for intelligent

conversation. Saari Koponen-Robotham.

The Helen W. Clark Prize, awarded by the

visual arts faculty for the best Plan of Concen-

tration in the studio arts. Lakshmi Luthra.

The Dr. Loren C. Bronsen Award for Excel-

lence in Classics, established by the family of

Loren Bronsen, Class of 1973, to encourage

undergraduate work in classics. Sean Mullin.

The Buck Turner Prize, awarded to a student

who demonstrates excellence in the natural

sciences, who uses interdisciplinary approaches

and who places his or her work in the context

of larger questions. Ashley Bies.

The Hilly van Loon Prize, established by

the Class of 2000 in honor of Hilly van Loon,

Marlboro Class of 1962 and staff member

for 23 years, is given to the senior who best

reflects Hilly’s wisdom, compassion, commu-

nity involvement, quiet dedication to the

spirit of Marlboro College, joy in writing

and celebration of life. Michelle Wruck and

Lisa Sprute.

The Religion, Literature and

Philosophy Prize, presented to

a student whose intellectual

excellence and breadth of learning

best embody the great traditions of

classical humanism. Jacob Turino.

The William Davisson Prize, created this year

by the selectboard and named in honor of

Will Davisson, who served as a faculty mem-

ber for 18 years and as a trustee for 22 years, is

awarded to one or more students for extraor-

dinary contributions to the Marlboro commu-

nity. David Zimmer.

Sarah Seagrave.

P h o t o b y D i a n n a N o y e s ’ 8 0

Max Henderson.

P h o t o b y E m i l y F o s t e r ’ 0 8

Lakshmi Luthra.


Michelle Wruck.


Lisa Sprute.


Ashley Bies.


Academic Prizes

Ashley Crump BiesBachelor of Science BIOLOGY/Ecology and Conservation BiologyPLAN: A broad examination of the ecology of natural systems and the impact of humanactions on these systems. PROJECT: Ecological field research on thepileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) in the context of a literature review.Sponsors: Robert E. Engel, Jennifer Ramstetter Outside Evaluator: Todd Fuller, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Abigail Bolduc Bachelor of Science BIOCHEMISTRYPLAN: A study in virology with a focus on cancer and gene therapy.PROJECT: The treatment of cancer with aden-oviruses as vehicle of delivery for anti-tumor genes.Sponsor: Todd Smith Outside Evaluator: Anthony Poteete, Universityof Massachusetts Medical School

Koren Nicolette BoydBachelor of Arts POLITICAL SCIENCE/Political TheoryPLAN: A critical exploration of society, property and U.S. government policy.PROJECT: A paper on property’s effect onhuman motivation, social interaction and government function.Sponsor: Meg MottOutside Evaluator: Alec Ewald, Union College

Joshua Patrick Burns Bachelor of Arts THEATER/Variety ArtsPLAN: An exploration of practices and issues in the Variety Arts through performance, writing and photography.PROJECT: A burlesque-style multimedia performance, Grotesque Desire.Sponsor: Paul D. NelsenOutside Evaluator: Eric Bass, Sandglass Theater

Lyndsay Marie Bushey Bachelor of Arts PAINTING & HISTORY/Asian StudiesPLAN: A series of landscape paintings that reflectmy relationship to the landscape, as well as ahistorical exploration of China’s Song Dynasty.PROJECT: A series of landscape paintingexploring my relationship to the natural world.Sponsors: Seth Harter, Cathy OsmanOutside Evaluator: Professor Budge Hyde,Greenfield Community College

Sean Michael Carey Bachelor of Arts POLITICAL SCIENCE/Political TheoryPLAN: An inquiry into politics of difference, withan emphasis on exclusion and hopes for dialogue.PROJECT: A personal narrative searching political theory for the means to acknowledgeoppositional voices.Sponsors: Seth Harter, Lynette Rummel, Meg MottOutside Evaluator: Amy Angell, Union Institute and University

Jennifer Beth CarlinoBachelor of Arts LANGUAGES/Spanish/Literature/FeminismPLAN: Literary studies from original sources,including 17th-century Spanish and Spanish-American literature and a selection of feminist writers.PROJECT: A paper examining La Respuesta of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.Sponsor: Edmund M. BrelsfordOutside Evaluator: Lourdes Ramirez-Crusellas,Keene State College

Albert CarvajalBachelor of Arts VISUAL ARTSPLAN: An investigation of ancient Mayathought and culture through interpretive drawing and historical research.PROJECT: A series of original drawings inresponse to ancient Maya culture; specifically to the relationship of religion and nature as seenas evidence shown in their artifacts and docu-mented scriptures.Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, Cathy Osman,Carol HendricksonOutside Evaluator: Brian D. Cohen, Bridge Press

Celena L. Colgate Bachelor of Arts AMERICAN STUDIESPLAN: The Plan explores different ways ofunderstanding and representing the past, including narratives, autobiography, and fiction.PROJECT: A paper examining the teaching ofhigh school history, focusing on struggles overcurriculum and incorporating fieldwork atBrattleboro Union High School.Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, Gloria BiamonteOutside Evaluator: Anthony Gengarelly,Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Jude Elliot Harold Coulter-Pultz Bachelor of Arts HISTORY/Asian Studies & VISUAL ARTSPLAN: A study of the phenomenal global influ-ences of contemporary Japanese culture, specificallyas seen in Japanese and American comics.PROJECT: A paper examining contemporaryJapan as a cultural superpower.Sponsors: Seth Harter, Timothy J. SegarOutside Evaluator: Makoto Saito, University ofMassachusetts, Amherst

Naomi Sharon CraigBachelor of Arts LITERATURE & LANGUAGES/JapanesePLAN: Exploring and understanding Japanesefantasy manga and the differences in expecta-tions between the Japanese audience and theAmerican audience, focusing on presentationand language and culture differences.PROJECT: Fire, an original fantasy manga witha fictional culture and an attempt to emulateShounen-style manga presentation.Sponsors: Laura C. Stevenson, Edmund M.Brelsford, Timothy J. SegarOutside Evaluator: Makoto Saito, University ofMassachusetts, Amherst

Elizabeth Esco Crain Bachelor of Arts SOCIOLOGY/Women’s Studies and SculpturePLAN: A study of women in America focusingon changing gender roles related to mothering,social activism and their bodies.PROJECT: Case studies of a political activistand a priest: redefining women’s political andoccupational roles.Sponsors: Gerald E. Levy, Meg Mott, Timothy J.SegarOutside Evaluator: Amy Angell, VermontCollege of Union Institute and University

Nathan Lance Daker Bachelor of Arts VISUAL ARTSPLAN: An exploration of visual images thatcollaborate with the written word to help convey meaning, message and emotion.PROJECT: A body of original artworks illustrat-ing poetry by Jalaluddin Rumi, from the bookThe Essential Rumi.Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, Cathy Osman Outside Evaluator: Brian D. Cohen, Bridge Press

Sean Dixon Gumm Bachelor of Arts HISTORYPLAN: A study of warfare in North America inthe 18th century, with a view to illuminatingthe influence of European styles of war on thedevelopment of the American military.PROJECT: A series of essays on 18th-centurywarfare in North America.Sponsor: Timothy F. LittleOutside Evaluator: Gregory T. Knouff, Keene State College

John Stephen Dunham Bachelor of Arts HISTORY/Asian StudiesPLAN: A study of aspects of Japan’s inter-action with China, Korea, and Vietnam in the 20th century.PROJECT: A section of written work examiningsome effects of Japanese Imperialism.Sponsor: Seth Harter Outside Evaluator: John Dower, MIT

Jonathan ElsensohnBachelor of Arts RELIGION & POLITICALSCIENCE/Political TheoryPLAN: A comparative study of conceptions ofthe self in religion and politics.PROJECT: A paper examining Daoist physicalpractices with supporting papers about individ-ual choice and Hindu asceticism.Sponsors: Amer Latif, Meg MottOutside Evaluator: William Waldron,Middlebury College

David Unger Frye Bachelor of Arts MUSICPLAN: A study of musical composition with a focuson the dramatic function of music in musical theater.PROJECT: An original musical adaptation ofTennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.Sponsors: Stanley Charkey, Paul D. NelsenOutside Evaluator: Ronald Perera, Smith College

Rachel Marie Gardam Bachelor of Arts PHOTOGRAPHY/SociologyPLAN: To gain an understanding from a socio-logical standpoint of the factors contributing topeople leading religiously oriented lives. Toexpand my photographic skills by documentinginteractions between people in religious settings.PROJECT: A photographic exploration ofchurches and congregations.Sponsors: John Willis, Gerald Levy Outside Evaluator: Amy Angell, VermontCollege of Union Institute and University

James Shay Garren Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE & PHILOSOPHYPLAN: A study on literature and philosophy, witha focus on Dostoevsky, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.PROJECT: A paper examining Dostoevsky’sethical considerations in Crime and Punishment.Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, Neal O. WeinerOutside Evaluator: Laslo Dienes, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Sonya Miriam German Bachelor of Arts VISUAL ARTS & ANTHROPOLOGYPLAN: A focus on documentary photographyand questions of “truth,” interpretation andethics in fieldwork.PROJECT: An exhibit of documentary photog-raphy exploring the relationship between thephotographer and her mother.Sponsors: John Willis, Carol E. HendricksonOutside Evaluator: Virginia Beahan, DartmouthCollege

Christopher Paul Grenier Bachelor of Arts PHILOSOPHY & PSYCHOLOGYPLAN: A comparative study of philosophy and psy-chology based on the moral philosophy of ImmanuelKant and the psychology of Sigmund Freud.PROJECT: One long paper divided into foursections. The first and second sections are sum-maries of Kant’s and Freud’s respective works.The third and fourth sections of the paper com-pare and contrast the ideas of these thinkers.Sponsors: Neal O. Weiner, Thomas L. TolenoOutside Evaluator: Jed Donelan, Franklin Pierce

College

Katherine E. Gypson Bachelor of Arts WRITING & HISTORYPLAN: An examination of American foreign policy and its aftermath in Afghanistan.PROJECT: Three portraits of Afghan refugees living in Albany, New York.Sponsors: Laura C. Stevenson, Timothy F. LittleOutside Evaluator: F. D. Reeve, MFA Program,New England College

Elizabeth Nicole HallettBachelor of Arts DANCE/Cultural HistoryPLAN: A study of the elements of dance and their narrative powers using hula as anexample of a narrative dance form expressingHawaiian history and identity.PROJECT: Choreographing a performance of narrative pieces, including a hula. Teaching a course on how to dance stories.Sponsors: Dana Holby, Dana P. HowellOutside Evaluator: Tarin Chaplin, Author

Ernest Helmut Holder IBachelor of ArtsVISUAL ARTS/Graphic Design on the InternetPLAN: An exploration of graphic design usingcomputers as the primary tool of design and pro-duction with a focus on design for the Internet.PROJECT: Paper on the current design styles onthe Internet. Translation of paper into Japanese.Sponsor: Timothy J. SegarOutside Evaluator: Yuan Pan,

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2005 Graduates and their Plans of Concentration

Jen Carlino and Sean Carey.

P h o t o b y J a r e d B e n e d i c t

Alex Millard.


Christopher Lewis Bachelor of Arts FILM/VIDEO STUDIES/Sociology/FrenchPLAN: A study of alienation and cynicismwithin contemporary American society asexpressed through recent trends in film comedy.PROJECT: An original feature-length screenplay.Sponsors: Gerald E. Levy, Jay Craven, Laura D’Angelo Outside Evaluator: C. J. Churchill, Thomas Aquinas College

Guadalupe V. Linares Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE/WritingPLAN: A plan in American literature with afocus on William Faulkner, and supporting workon Gabriel García Marquez.PROJECT: A two-part analysis of memory andselfhood: a paper about memory and race inFaulkner’s Light in August and a personal narra-tive inspired by Light in August.Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, John Sheehy, Gloria Biamonte Outside Evaluator: Margo Culley, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Gail Margaret LookBachelor of Arts VISUAL ARTS/Painting &BIOLOGY/Wildlife BiologyPLAN: An exploration of the coexistencebetween man and the natural world throughlandscape painting and wildlife biology. PROJECT: Exhibition of paintings capturing the changing rural landscape, supported by aresearch project of fisher populations.Sponsor: Cathy OsmanOutside Evaluator: Gary Niswonger, Smith College

Lakshmi Mireille LuthraBachelor of Arts PHILOSOPHY/Aesthetics & PHOTOGRAPHYPLAN: An investigation of the role of art in thepresent age, especially the ability, or inability, ofart to express truth.PROJECT: A paper on the aesthetics ofHeidegger, looking at how he understands art inrelationship to technology and Being, and a pho-tography project, which aims to connect the taskof photographing with the experience of illnessand the physical space and history of Brattleboro.Sponsors: John Willis, Neal O. WeinerOutside Evaluator: Thomas Wartenberg, MountHolyoke College

Marcea MacInnis Bachelor of Arts VISUAL ARTS & RELIGIONPLAN: A study in visual arts and religion thatinvestigates the development of the individualand his/her role in society, with a focus onHindu culture.PROJECT: An exhibition of artwork and apaper focusing on the development of personalperspective in Hinduism.Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, Amer LatifOutside Evaluator: Olivia Wilson, IndependentArtist

Susanna Joy McClintock Bachelor of Arts HISTORY/Ancient & WRITING/Historical FictionPLAN: An extended examination of ancientMesopotamian history and historical fiction.PROJECT: A paper in ancient Near Eastern history and an original work of children’s fictionset in ancient Mesopotamia.Sponsors: Timothy F. Little, Laura C. StevensonOutside Evaluator: Gina DeAngelis, ColonialWilliamsburg Foundation

Alexander Benjamin MillardBachelor of Arts THEATERPLAN: A study examining the role of the actor, director and designer in both theory andpractice, with supporting work in dramatic liter-ature and theater history.PROJECT: Participation in two productions, oneas a performer and one as a director and designer.Sponsor: Paul D. Nelsen Outside Evaluator: Edward Isser, College of the Holy Cross

Jason Michael Moreau Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE &LANGUAGES/FrenchPLAN: An examination of the idea of “cul-tural revival” in modern literature, focusingon what is meant by this troublesome termin three different literary contexts using rad-ical strategies undertaken to bring it aboutand/or critique it: James Joyce’s Ireland,Hubert Aquin’s Quebec and Occitan France.PROJECT: Two papers on the phenomenonof cultural revival in two separate, butmutually informative, modern contextsfocusing on James Joyce’s Ulysses and on the work of Quebec writer Hubert Aquin,the latter of which is executed in French.Sponsors: Laura D’Angelo, Heather ClarkOutside Evaluator: Maud Alpi, DartmouthCollege

Aaron Talan Morganstein Bachelor of Arts SOCIOLOGY & PHOTOGRAPHYPLAN: The relationship between communicationssystems and social behavior.PROJECT: A series of sociological essays dis-cussing various stages in the development ofhuman communications systems.Sponsors: Gerald E. Levy, John WillisOutside Evaluator: C. J. Churchill, Thomas Aquinas College

Sean Patrick Mullin Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE & CLASSICSPLAN: A study of tragedy in the works ofAeschylus, Euripides and Shakespeare.PROJECT: An analysis of Euripides’ Orestes andShakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida that workstoward an understanding of tragedy as a genre.Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle,Elizabeth LucasOutside Evaluator: Richard Short, Harvard University

Cristin Nicole Bachelor of Arts in International Studies LANGUAGE/Spanish/Religion/PhotographyPLAN: To acquire mastery of the Spanish language in order to explore Indo-Hispano-Afro-American culture and to use the mediumof photography to record this exploration.PROJECT: A study of the history, practices and beliefs of the religion of Santeria.Internship: Mérida, VenezuelaSponsor: Edmund M. BrelsfordOutside Evaluator: Patricia Gonzales, Smith College


Keene State College

Haley Dane HoughtonBachelor of Arts BIOLOGY/Conservation Biology & LANGUAGES/FrenchPLAN: An exploration of conservation biology through three papers (one in French)and two internships.PROJECT: Two integrated papers reflectinginternship experience: The first explores issuesinvolved with captive animals in zoologicalparks; the second examines forest fragmenta-tions and primate populations in Madagascar.Sponsors: Robert E. Engel, Laura D’Angelo,Gloria BiamonteOutside Evaluator: Joyce Poszyk,

Wesleyan University

Justin P. Hughes Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE/WritingPLAN: An exploration of issues of faith, lan-guage and time in 20th-century literature.PROJECT: A series of papers exploring issues of faith, language and time in the work of T. S. Eliot, Cormac McCarthy and other modern and postmodern literature.Sponsor: John SheehyOutside Evaluator: Randall Knoper, Universityof Massachusetts, Amherst

Charles Edward Israel Bachelor of Arts HISTORY/Asian StudiesPLAN: Study of the foundational texts of philo-sophical Daoism and their historical context.PROJECT: A study of recurrent concepts inLaozi and Zhuangzi and the reflections of theLate Zhou political climate in these texts.Sponsor: Seth HarterOutside Evaluator: David Hinton,

Poet and Translator

Trevor R. Johann Bachelor of Arts FILM/Cultural HistoryPLAN: Film studies from a cultural perspective.PROJECT: A paper on influences of Italianneo-realism on contemporary film.Sponsors: Jay Craven, Dana P. HowellOutside Evaluator: Steve Bissette, Comic Book Artist and Film Critic

Gary W. Johnson Jr. Bachelor of Science COMPUTER SCIENCE/GeoinformaticsPLAN: A broad study of computer science withan emphasis on geographic information systems,Linux and open source software.PROJECT: A Web application and associatedtools that use open source GIS software andhandheld GPS receivers to create digital maps.Sponsors: Jim Mahoney, Robert E. EngelOutside Evaluator: Sterling Blake, Moondog Software

Christopher Marley Lennon JonesBachelor of Arts POLITICAL SCIENCE & WRITINGPLAN: A scientific and subjective study of the languages used in and around an OjibweLanguage Immersion School, focusing on thepolitical action inherent in the school’s goal ofcreating young and fluent Ojibwe speakers.PROJECT: A series of essays, which create mystory of personally and academically engaging withthe indigenous language revitalization movement.Sponsors: Meg Mott, John Sheehy Outside Evaluator: Peter D’Errico, University ofMassachusetts, Amherst

Jesse S. Keane Bachelor of Arts RELIGION & LITERATURE/FrenchPLAN: A study in religion, literature andFrench. A study of Dostoevsky, the Book of Joband the character of Jesus in the four Gospelsand will be how each work tries to come toterms with the idea of a monotheistic god andthe problem of human suffering.PROJECT: An analysis of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, Laura D’Angelo, Amer LatifOutside Evaluator: William Waldron,Middlebury College

Mary T. Kelley Bachelor of Arts HISTORY & LITERATURE/Irish StudiesPLAN: An analysis of nationalism in the historyand literature of 20th-century Ireland.PROJECT: A series of papers on Irish historyand literature.Sponsors: Timothy F. Little, Heather ClarkOutside Evaluator: Paul Cullity, Keene State College

Saari Lahja Koponen-RobothamBachelor of Arts WRITING & THEATERPLAN: Studies of the hero in contemporaryfantasy and Shakespeare.PROJECT: A full-length fantasy novel.Sponsors: Laura C. Stevenson, Paul D. NelsenOutside Evaluator: Theodora Goss, Boston University

Alex Frank Lehman Bachelor of Arts THEATER & LITERATUREPLAN: An examination of methods for expressingexperiences and philosophical viewpoints intheatrical language, assisted by research exploringthe drama and directorial approaches to per-formance surrounding the World Wars and the literature of Albert Camus.PROJECT: Directing and designing a theatricalproduction of Albert Camus’ Caligula.Sponsors: Holly Derr, Geraldine Pittman deBatlle, Paul D. NelsenOutside Evaluator: David Dalton, Quinnopolis,NY

George T. Leoniak Bachelor of Arts BIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGYPLAN: A study of biology and psychology empha-sizing fieldwork and natural history as a way tostudy nature and as a vehicle for education.PROJECT: A field study of the red fox with an emphasis on habitat preferences and homerange size.Sponsors: Robert E. Engel, Thomas L. TolenoOutside Evaluator: Rosalind Yanishevsky,Research Biologist

Noah Emmanuel Levinson Bachelor of Arts in International Studies DEVELOPMENT STUDIESPLAN: A historical analysis of public health in India.PROJECT: Essay: Did the 19th-century BhoreCommittee report adequately anticipate thepublic health concerns facing India today?Internship: Kolkata, IndiaSponsors: Seth Harter, Carol E. HendricksonOutside Evaluator: Salehuddin Ahmed,Bangladesh Rural Assistance Committee


Lorraine Scripture and Tim Little.


Aaron Morganstein.

P h o t o b y J a r e d B e n e d i c t

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Somerset Lee StevensBachelor of Arts AMERICAN STUDIESPLAN: An exploration of gender and family inU.S. history and culture with an emphasis oncontemporary motherhood.PROJECT: An analysis of contemporary mediarepresentations of motherhood.Sponsor: Kathryn E. RatcliffOutside Evaluator: Lise Shapiro Sanders,Hampshire College

Thalia G. Stolper Bachelor of Arts BIOLOGY/Ecology &PSYCHOLOGY/EducationPLAN: A study of ecology with a focus on globalclimate change and an original study in psychologyon the rehabilitation of at-risk youth populations.PROJECT: A paper investigating biological effectsof climate change on extreme environments.Sponsors: Jennifer Ramstetter, Thomas L. TolenoOutside Evaluator: Hector Galbraith, GalbraithEnvironmental Sciences

Jesse Ewan Wagner Bachelor of Arts ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES/Ecology and PolicyPLAN: A cross-disciplinary study focusing onecology and economic policy implications forthe development of renewable energy systems.PROJECT: A case study of wind power focusingon environmental impacts.Sponsors: Jennifer Ramstetter, James A. Tober Outside Evaluator: Alex Wilson, Building Green, Inc.

Mary Helen Welch Bachelor of Arts BIOLOGY & CERAMICSPLAN: An investigation of the behavioral ecology of marine mammals with an emphasison the Northern resident population of Orcinusorca and an exploration of marine-based formsin ceramics.PROJECT: A paper exploring locomotory energetics and social organization of theNorthern resident population of Orcinus orca.Sponsors: Robert E. Engel, Michael BoylenOutside Evaluator: Kate Sardi, The WhaleCenter of New England

Bailey Rebecca WhitesideBachelor of Arts AMERICAN STUDIESPLAN: An exploration of the ways in whichpopular music has reflected and shaped societyin the 20th century in the United States.PROJECT: A series of papers addressing jazz,folk and rock and roll between the years 1930and 1960.Sponsor: Kathryn E. Ratcliff Outside Evaluator: Mark Greenberg,Independent Scholar

Hannah F. Wilson Bachelor of Arts in International Studies DEVELOPMENT STUDIES/Cultural HistoryPLAN: A study in development and culturalhistory focusing on post-conflict Sri Lanka.PROJECT: Two papers: (1) An examination ofmechanisms to advance post-conflict justice andreconciliation with a focus on Sri Lanka and thetruth commission model. (2) An exploration ofculture-specific responses to violence and traumain Sri Lanka with an emphasis on ritual and collective narratives.Internship: Colombo, Sri LankaSponsors: Lynette Rummel, Dana P. Howell Outside Evaluator: John Ungerleider, School forInternational Training

Michelle Kathleen Wruck Bachelor of Arts POLITICAL SCIENCE/Political TheoryPLAN: Understanding humanism as a tool and a framework for social change.PROJECT: A study of the use of humanism inthe dissident movements in Czechoslovakia.Sponsors: Meg Mott, Dana P. HowellOutside Evaluator: Jed Donelan, Franklin Pierce College

Jonathan Holden Wyckoff Bachelor of Arts FILM/VIDEO STUDIESPLAN: A study of art with a focus on experimental and documentary film usingsculptural elements as a device.PROJECT: A series of video projects devotedto the transformation of found materials inaddition to a research paper investigatingthe history of outsider artists, particularlythose using found materials.Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, Jay Craven Outside Evaluator: Theodore Lyman,University of Vermont

Colin Zeidenstein-WilsonBachelor of Arts SCULPTUREPLAN: A study of sculpture focusing onnonstatic forms both in studio productionand in art historical assessment.PROJECT: A body of original sculpture workand a paper on other artists working in themode of nonstatic art.Sponsor: Timothy J. Segar Outside Evaluator: Joseph Smith, Mount Holyoke College

David Brennan Zimmer Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE & POLITICAL SCIENCEPLAN: An examination of critical ethical andspiritual questions in law and literature, with a focus on confession in both spiritual and secular contexts.PROJECT: Two papers: First, an examination of confession in Dostoevsky’s The BrothersKaramazov, with a focus on faith, forgivenessand eternal memory; and second, a considera-tion of spiritual, secular and legal confession inSaint Augustine, Dostoevsky and Foucault.Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, Meg MottOutside Evaluator: Donald Sheehan, DartmouthCollege

Emma Rachel Zurer Bachelor of Arts POLITICAL SCIENCE & DANCEPLAN: An exploration of race in America usingdance and Emerson’s philosophy of social reform.PROJECT: Dance performance.Sponsors: Dana Holby, Meg MottOutside Evaluator: Anna Bean, Williams College


Anna Meryl Patton Bachelor of Arts MUSIC/Ethnomusicology/LiteraturePLAN: An exploration of how poetry andmusic are translated and adapted from one cul-ture into another through research, fieldwork,and the examination of my own practice ofbringing these artistic materials and practicesfrom one context to another.PROJECT: Two papers examining how artisticmaterial is translated from one cultural contextinto another in the fields of music and poetry.Sponsors: Stanley Charkey, Heather Clark Outside Evaluator: Rebecca Miller, HampshireCollege

Caitlyn Anne PaxsonBachelor of Arts WRITING/Creative Writing & CULTURAL HISTORYPLAN: The study of transformational figures in folklore and fiction.PROJECT: An original novel based on transfor-mation themes in European folklore and history,entitled In the Likeness of Beasts.Sponsors: Laura C. Stevenson, Dana P. Howell Outside Evaluator: Theodora Goss, Boston University

Terence Jude Purtell Bachelor of Arts PHILOSOPHY/MusicPLAN: An investigation of the correlationsbetween music and affect.PROJECT: A paper that reviews classical andcontemporary literature on the correlationsbetween music and affect, and that also exploressome original ideas on this topic.Sponsors: Neal O. Weiner, Stanley CharkeyOutside Evaluator: Tom Wartenberg, Mount Holyoke College

Linda Ivy Roberts Bachelor of Arts FILM/VIDEO STUDIES/Cultural HistoryPLAN: A study of the influences of folklore andritual on film narrative including developmentof screenwriting technique.PROJECT: A paper examining the influences offolk and fairy tales on narrative film. Also, a shortscreenplay applying fairy tale content and ideology.Sponsors: Jay Craven, Dana P. Howell Outside Evaluator: Lawrence Benaquist, KeeneState College

Otis Johnson RogersBachelor of Arts MUSICPLAN: A study of music theory and historywith an emphasis on jazz and jazz bass.PROJECT: A paper about the history of jazzbass with a focus on Charles Mingus. Also, aperformance of jazz music emphasizing the roleof the bass in the ensemble.Sponsor: Stanley CharkeyOutside Evaluator: Eugene Uman, Director, Vermont Jazz Center

Lucas Evan RountreeBachelor of Arts DANCEPLAN: An exploration of dance in Greektragedy with a focus on visual aesthetics.PROJECT: A modern ballet interpretation of Greek tragedies.Sponsor: Dana Holby Outside Evaluator: William Seigh, Keene State College

Leora Rachel Sapon-ShevinBachelor of Arts POLITICAL SCIENCE & WRITINGPLAN: An exploration of citizenship, politicalorganization and identity through the use ofcreative nonfiction and political theory with an emphasis on Chile.PROJECT: Reflections on Chilean and North American identity.Sponsors: Meg Mott, John SheehyOutside Evaluator: Christine A. Kearney, St. Anselm College

Anthony ScheinBachelor of Arts AMERICAN STUDIES & POLITICAL SCIENCEPLAN: A study of citizenship and democracy in theU.S. from the constitutional period to the present.PROJECT: A paper in two parts. The first exam-ines the effects of public policy on citizenshipand civic life in the postwar era. The secondtraces the changes in public space in this periodand considers the implications of those changes.Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, Meg MottOutside Evaluator: Scott McLean, Quinnipiac University

Lorraine Erica ScriptureBachelor of Arts HISTORY/Creative WritingPLAN: The historical and cultural situation in5th- and 6th-century Britain as a basis for thegrowth of the Arthurian LegendsPROJECT: A novel and two academic papers.Sponsors: Laura C. Stevenson, Timothy F. Little Outside Evaluator: Gina DeAngelis, ColonialWilliamsburg Foundation

Sarah Kate SeagraveBachelor of Arts THEATERPLAN: Developing a skill set in dramaturgy and acting theory and practice with an empha-sis on gender.PROJECT: Performances in various theaterprojects, including Time of Your Life, Caligulaand Macbeth.Sponsors: Holly Derr, Paul D. NelsenOutside Evaluator: Edward Isser, College of the Holy Cross

Curtis Robert Singleton Bachelor of Arts LITERATURE/Creative WritingPLAN: An examination of Dante’s Inferno,William Shakespeare’s history plays and theshort fiction of Raymond Carver focusing onhow these works address the limits of languageand the struggle for authorial voice.PROJECT: A selection of original short storieswhich explore authorial voice in narrative and dialogue.Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, Brian Mooney Outside Evaluator: Joanne Hayes, Greenfield Community College

Ian Erik Smith-HeistersBachelor of Arts COMPUTER SCIENCE &DANCE/Performance and Computer MediaPLAN: A study of the intersection of informa-tion technology and dance with emphasis onexperimentation with the audience/performerrelationship and how informal human/computerinterfaces can facilitate such experimentation.PROJECT: A three-part dance performanceexploring one theme with varying amounts oftechnology. The first emphasizes choreographicand stylistic composition, the second uses per-formance and interactive technologies and thethird uses only interactive technologies.Sponsors: Jim Mahoney, Dana Holby Outside Evaluators: Kristin Horrigan,Providence College and Larry Polansky,Dartmouth College

Lisa Anne Sprute Bachelor of Science BIOCHEMISTRY/Neuroscience & PSYCHOLOGY/CognitionPLAN: To gain a foundation in biochemistryand cognitive science in which to examinebasic processes of learning and memory.PROJECT: Original lab research on learningand memory: Does yotiao modulate NMDA-dependent CREB phosphorylation?Sponsors: Todd Smith, Thomas L. TolenoOutside Evaluator: Jane Couperus, HampshireCollege


Mary Welch, Anthony Schein

and Pam Burke.


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’51CHARLES STAPLES and his wife, Joan,had another busy year of traveling (Italy,Switzerland, Austria, Hawaii and backEast) and volunteering (including theBarak Obama and John Kerry campaigns).“Our trip East last summer was an exten-sive circuit of almost 4,000 miles in 7weeks. We saw various friends and family,and attended a variety of music festivals,including Marlboro. Such a pleasure tomeet Ellen McCulloch-Lovell—mayMarlboro prosper!” Charles also notes that they keep in touch with BOBSTAINTON ’54, GEORGERICHARDS ’53, HANK SMITH ’52and TOM DOWNS ’49.

’53“Saddened by HOWIE WHITTUM ’55’sdeath,” writes BRUCE BOHRMANN.“My wife and I went to his funeral andinterment. It was in a truly NormanRockwell setting—a little white countrychurch and then a short walk across acountry lane to the cemetery. He was avital part of some of my fondest collegememories. I think of him every day.”

’64JEREMIAH BURNHAM “just finishedproducing a CD for the Sonoton MusicLibrary called American Folk Revival.Still working for NBC at AccessHollywood. Love to hear from anyone.”

’66 ROBERT DEWOLFE retired inDecember 2004 and is “helping out part-time in another parish between frequenttrips to Thailand and beyond. Best to all.”

’67JAYNE TAYLOR TARASKI has “retired from ‘work’ to be able to travel to Brooklyn to take care of my grandsonJasper every week, and to share in his joyand watch him grow up.”

’68MARK KLIMO “just finished master’sdegree in TESOL at Temple Universityunder federal monies received from my

auto plant shutdown in 2003—fundedunder the Trade Adjustment Act/TradeReadjustment Act.”

’69JOHN ATCHLEY reports that his twochildren are at Bates College. “I tried toget them interested in Marlboro. Older sondoing junior year at Oxford after being inIndia and Tibet for first half of the year.”

’71DAPHNE CROCKER writes, “had a lovely Thanksgiving with KATE WIN-SHIP ’72 in her Belfast, Maine, home.We had a great time! I’m keeping busy

with volunteer work, teaching opera classesfor Downeast Senior College, my summerjob as postmistress of the Hancock Pointpost office, and just enjoying being aMaine-iac!”

CHRISTOPHER WAINHOUSEappeared in A. R. Gurney’s play LoveLetters in Brattleboro this past spring. The play, directed by Marlboro sociol-ogy professor Jerry Levy, is based on a50-year correspondence between twocharacters, Melissa (Christopher) andAndrew (Michael Fox Kennedy), and wasproduced by Acting on Impulse at theHooker-Dunham Theater.

A L U M N I N E W S

Opposite: Jon Friedman ’88 climbs the Hendricks House chimney

as Morgan Taylor looks on. P h o t o : M a r l b o r o C o l l e g e a r c h i v e s

S U M M E R – F A L L 2 0 0 5 . Potash Hill 55

John Henderson ’52

John Henderson has retired from a teaching career that included work as a school

principal and a Harvard Graduate School of Education professor. But he continues

to make an impact on high school education and environmental awareness around

Cape Ann, Massachusetts, with Project Link, a nonprofit organization he founded

15 years ago.

“I started a nonprofit when I was working in the public schools so I could pursue

projects for bringing about change somewhat outside the restrictions of public

education,” says John. For four years, Project Link has coordinated a water-quality

sampling project in the Annisquam, Essex and Castle Neck rivers, where local high

school students and teachers collect data and collaborate with the state Division

of Fisheries and university biologists to understand environmental factors affecting

the rivers.

Project Link recently added a new

aspect to the water quality

study—“we decided to measure

the currents and tides of these

rivers, which has never been

done,” John says. Combined with

water-quality data, river current

charts will help the state regulate

and protect fishing, clamming and

swimming. “The overall goal,”

says John, “is for the students to

take on responsibility for their

own environment, to get them

out there doing something they

can see the benefit from.”

—Tristan Roberts ’00

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’72JUDY ASBURY exhibited her landscapepaintings at Pueblo of Jemez Museum ofHistory and Culture in Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, last fall.

COLIN COCHRAN writes, “I spendthree weeks each spring in the JemezMountains of New Mexico at an artists’retreat—I get to visit with JUDYASBURY and her family out there. Stillliving in New York City with my partnerof 32 years, the dancer Paul Langland. I am represented in New York City by the John Davis Gallery and in Chatham,New York, by Weber Fine Art.”

DENA DAVIS spent spring semester2005 in London on a faculty exchange.

BARBARA HONTHUMB and RICKCLARE ’75 write that they have newjobs—Barbara still with Brigham andWomen’s Hospital, Rick as head of technical services at Framingham StateCollege Library.

DEBORAH WETHERBY HASLUNDwrites, “Happily married, house on thehill, new career as a Realtor. I have beenthe church organist at the West Dover(Vermont) Congregational Church for 8years and continue singing when I can! Ienjoy reading updates from my classmates.”

’73MARC SILBER, whose silhouette photo-graph of children jumping over dunesappeared on the cover of the winter 1999issue of Potash Hill, is a photographer,consultant and Dianetics and Scientologycounselor living on the San Franciscopeninsula. “My interest in photographybegan when I was in grade school and grewas a means of telling visual stories,” hewrites. “As the etymology of photographyis ‘light writing,’ I find this means of writ-ing to be my favorite form of expression.After Marlboro, I studied photography atthe San Francisco Art Institute. I thenwent on to study the works of L. RonHubbard, educator, writer and artist whoexpanded my view of art, and life, tremen-dously. After these many years of teaching,

counseling and consulting, I have returnedto my early love of photography. My Web site is www.silberstudios.com.” Helives with his wife, Jan, their children,Lance and Lindsay, and Whitney, theirgolden retriever.

KATE WAGNER (aka PEEDIEPARKS) wrote in March, “It’s now been26 months since our wonderful Matthewwas born. Keeping up with a joyful toddleris the most fun I’ve ever had. We’re broke,of course.”

’75“So glad to see that Marlboro is thriving,”writes TERENCE WOODS. “It’s the bestthere is!”

MARGOT LACEY writes, “I enjoyed the cover of the recent Marlboro Record.The cider press is very similar to the onewe used at our house, and now used by mynephews. It was always a great weekendwhen the cider press got put into opera-tion. Most of all, the photo reminds me of how much my father loved Marlboro—and why. I only wish that he were here tosee the photo. But where are all the yellowjackets that always swarm around a ciderpress?” Margot also reports that she hasrecently started flute lessons again, 30years after her senior recital at Marlboro.“It is both daunting and fun to be practic-ing diligently again!”

STEHEN MURPHY writes from Florida,“Like everyone else in this red state, I havefound my religion: Texas Hold ’Em. Lookfor me on the World Poker Tour on a TVnear you soon. Remember—TV video adds on 20 pounds.”

CHIP WOODS also writes from Florida,“After 37 years of ski coaching and manag-ing nonprofits, we decided to try living inthe tropics … big switch from Colorado,but we’re enjoying the boating and don’tmiss our Sorels, or our socks, for that mat-ter. Hello to GEORGE WEIR ’71 andNICK PECK ’71.”

’76MARY COUGHLAN continues “toenjoy life in the D.C. area. Looking for

a job after my full-time mom years. Artsmanagement/communication/nonprofit;willing to use my development, law andteaching skills. Kelsey, 16, and Chloe, 11,are fantastique. On a sad note, PETERZORN ’75 and I are divorcing.”

PETER MALLARY was unanimouslyelected chairman of the VermontDemocratic party in December, andbecame a member of the Marlboro CollegeBoard of Trustees in February.

OSMAN MORAD writes, “Nazi and Ihave relocated to Dhaka, Bangladesh.After 26 years in the Arabian Gulf, this isa big change, both culturally and environ-mentally. However, we are now settled andstarting to appreciate the diversity of thiscountry. If there are Marlboro travelers tothis part of the world, please let us know.”

’78STEVE VAN INGEN and his wife,Michelle, live in Houston with their threecats. “Working on a Web site project,art2match.com, which should be up soon.”

’79TOM DURKIN was sworn in as aVermont Environmental Court judge inJanuary at the Windham Superior Court inNewfane. One of two judges on the court,Tom will travel widely across Vermont,hearing cases on land use, permit reform,Act 250 zoning appeals and other issues.The position is a lifetime appointmentsubject to reconfirmation by the Vermontsenate every six years. Governor JimDouglas conducted the swearing in, withTom’s father acting as master of cere-monies. Marlboro College communitymembers attending the event were MARKMANLEY ’80, HOLLY WATERBURYMANLEY ’82, TUCKER BARRETT’78, PIET VAN LOON ’63, DIANNANOYES ’80, SARA COFFEY ’90,DAVE SNYDER ’93, Jim and FeliciaTober, Gerry Levy, Ellen McCulloch-Lovell and Glenn Wilson.

JAY DAVIS’s poem “Knives, or the Wayto a Man’s Heart” was read on GarrisonKeillor’s Writer’s Almanac radio show on

National Public Radio on May 22, 2005.The poem is from Jay’s chapbook Whispers,Cries & Tantrums, published by Moon Pie Press.

’81GWEN FELDMAN HAALAND “wonthree poetry awards last year in WindhamArea Poetry Project’s annual contest. I still sell antique postage stamps over theInternet as part of a lifelong interest. Myhusband, Roald, still enjoys teaching andwas awarded two grants he wrote in 2004.Hard to believe that it was 28 years agowhen we first began dating, and we arestill happy! Jamieson, even at 13, stillenjoys scouting, and Shannon, 9, is per-forming in The Nutcracker Suite for thethird time. The four of us went to Alaska inAugust 2004, traveling from New York toSeattle by train and then cruising to Alaska,where my mother-in-law lives—it was aneducational and enjoyable experience.”

HARRY HUSSEY “got married to TamiKander out at NEIL BAKALAR ’80 andNANCY DOYLE ’85’s place in New YorkState. TONY SAVOIE was best manalong with Neil. Tami’s an occupationaltherapist, and I write software for a finan-cial firm (yes, The Man …). Currentlyplaying Middle Eastern music on the oud.”

TRICIA LOWREY LIPPERT “had agreat solo show at the Dutot Museum inDelaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, inJuly 2004. I continue to paint wildlife andpet portraits, work at the animal hospitaland take care of all my cats and dogs.”

’82LAURIE SARGENT ERNEY writes,“Anyone in the Park City-Salt Lake Cityarea? Give us a call. Planning a trip backEast this summer. Still teaching specialeducation, working with autistic children.White-water rafting, camping and missingthe beauty of New England.”

DAVID SKEELE is “still working atSlippery Rock University, teaching actingand directing shows and trying to get thenew playwriting program off the ground.Every once in a while I talk to JOHN

RUBLE ’86 and ANDREW CLARKE’84, and one of these days I really want to get to a reunion!”

’83DOUG NOYES is “in the process of start-ing a free woodworking program on theisland of Tobago, with the support of (butnot much help from) the local governmentthere. The idea is to teach much-neededcarpentry and cabinetry skills to a popula-tion that has almost no technical trainingeducation opportunities. Most of the high-paying construction jobs are given to ‘offislanders,’ leaving the sand shoveling andbrush clearing jobs for locals. Thanks toPresident Jimmy Carter, a number ofportable power tools were donated to theprogram by the DeWalt power tool company.Anyone who would like to help with toolor material acquisition is welcome! Also, Ifinished building the Marjie B., a 13-foottraditionally built sailboat, last May. It took14 months of very occasional work. I spentevery available hour sailing last summerand fall, though considering the amount of rain we got last year, I spent more timebailing than sailing.”

XENIA WILLIAMS is working forWashington County Mental Health,“assisting psychiatrically disabledVermonters to get back on their feet.When I can spare time from cherishing my cats, I work sporadically in mentalhealth advocacy, trying to convince theVermont legislature and bureaucrats toestablish a trauma-informed system.”

’84KATHRYN BURK MALENY is “happily occupied raising my darling children Clair Siobhan, age 12, andChristopher, age 10, working as a grantwriter for a community service programand writing (yikes!) a novel from time totime. Hello to all. The world is crazierbeyond Marlboro!”

DAN MORRISON is in his final year ofthe master of divinity program atPrinceton Theological Seminary.“Hello to all from New York,”

writes FOSTER REEVE. “I have two daughters, ages 10 and 6, and a wonderful wife. I am keeping very busyrunning a traditional architectural plastering company—the Web site is fraplaster.com.”

’85ROBIN BOUGHTON writes,

“Although I still miss Vermont after

10 years living in Florida, my husband,

Rick Owen, and I have adapted by

adjusting our ‘clos.’ units (thank you,

John Hayes and Bob Engel’s desert biology

class). Our house is still intact after four

hurricanes; we spent two weeks without

power and two on a state response team

coordinating distribution of ice, water,

food, generators, etc. Dozens of trees fell

in our neighborhood, miraculously none

on the house. I’m enjoying my new job

as coordinator of avian conservation for

the state’s fish and wildlife agency. The

best part is translocating red-cockaded

woodpeckers around the state.”

“I woke up one day and decided I

needed to pretend to be a grown-up,”

writes DOUGLAS HANCHI, “get mar-

ried, maybe reproduce or do other earthly

damage and settle down into a quiet,

comfortable existence in the shadow of

Pike’s Peak because famous people have

said it humbles you.… I married a soulful

hillbilly from western North Carolina who

I met on the Internet who thought I was

interesting (now she says strange) and

inherited a 6-year-old who is taking on my

oddities at a pace for which he shall never

be forgiven. I have reached the middle of

life and find it rather round, soft and diffi-

cult to support. Ah-men, I say. Amen.”

“Hello from New York City,” writes MON-

ICA MACLEAN LYMAN. “Big changes

in my life: I am back in school—nursing

school! I am loving it and very excited

about the career change. Check out my

blog at [email protected] or e-mail

me at [email protected]. I always

enjoy hearing from old friends.”

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BARBARA MALCOLM “left the southern California sun for new love inJersey City, New Jersey. It’s nice to returnEast and reconnect with old friends.HEIDI HOWARD ’84 came for dinnerlast week! I’d love to hear from PETECHANDLER, SCOTT HARTL ’86 andRACHEL MENDEZ—where are you all?”

’86DAVID DEACON is “still sloggingthrough grad school, hoping to finish byChristmas. After working on the disserta-tion for a number of years, I still love whatI’m working on. Right now, however, I’mburied in blue books. I play a lot of old-time and Irish music, so I’m content.”

EVE DES JARDINS is “attendingAntioch New England Graduate School,getting a master’s in dance and movementtherapy. My Plan of Concentration was inmovement analysis … grateful for theexperience now, 20 years later!”

RICHARD STROHL is “living with mywife, Nancy, in a log home near the wildand scenic South Fork of the Yuba Riverin the historic gold rush country of north-ern California. Skiing, mountain bikingand Lake Tahoe are an hour away. Nancyis a practicing small animal veterinarianand just completed her Ph.D. in veterinaryepidemiology. I’m running my own mas-sage therapy practice three days a week.No kids, just pets. In fact, I still have thecat I brought back from Marlboro in thesummer of ’86. Moksha spent six weekswith me road-tripping across the U.S.A.and is now 19 years old. She’s in prettygood shape for an old girl, but quite deaf—the old vacuum cleaner no longer terrorizesher. Peace, y’all.”

’88ANDREW KOSCIESZA is “working onmy dissertation (still) but very happy to beup for tenure next year. Hi, Stan and Luis!”

KATHRYN WRIGHT APENES is “backin Portland, Oregon, with my husband,Mikal, and my sons, Jake and Nicolai, age6. The boys entered first grade. Life is fun.I’m working full-time as an art director forHallock Modey advertising.”

’89CHRISTINA SCHERP CROSBYwrites, “Time is flying. Our girls, Kiana andMaia, turned 7 and 5 in December! Andafter 15 years, I successfully completed myfirst semester back in school. Staying reallybusy, but would love to hear from all weknow. Peace to all.”

’90SARA COFFEY writes, “In September we (DAVE SNYDER ’93 and I) returnedto Marlboro after nearly 15 years in NewYork City. It feels like we have comehome. It’s been fun reconnecting with fac-ulty and friends who have settled in thearea. Our kids—Isadora, age 4, and Daniel,age 2—are diggin’ it too. From the tappingof maple sugar trees to collecting frog eggsfrom our field—it’s been a wonderfulchange for us. I hope to return to workingin the dance field in a year or so. In themeantime, I’m enjoying the kids and doinga bit of volunteer work. Dave will be mov-ing his recording studio up from New YorkCity to Guilford and hopes to be open forbusiness soon. Hope to hear from collegefriends—drop us an e-mail [email protected]!”

’91CAROL ORTLIP is “working on a newbook about adopting my partner, Gemma’s,niece—Loving Emma is the title—andstarting a new public school program forautistic children. Hearing great thingsabout Marlboro!”

ADAM SHEPARD has opened his ownrestaurant, Taku (Japanese for “house” and “table,” and “to cook”) at 116 SmithStreet, Brooklyn (between Dean andPacific Streets). The food is Adam’s interpretation of Japanese comfort food: noodles, yakitori, hand rolls, salads, seafood.They are serving dinner in the diningroom and in the garden and plan to addlunch and delivery very soon. Taku can bereached at (718) 488-6269 for reservationsand hours of service. Prior to opening Taku,Adam cooked at Bond Street, Union Pacificand the French Laundry.

’92“Believe it or not, Elizabeth Lickei andJennifer Crane are still friends after sharinga dorm room that first year at Marlboro,now 20 years ago!” writes Jennifer. “I’meven God Mom to Ruben, Liz’s son.”

ZAZ BRELSFORD writes, “I’m loving myjob as a labor and delivery nurse but amready for more, so have started a master’sprogram with the goal of becoming a certi-fied nurse midwife and women’s healthcare nurse practitioner.”

“We had a busy year,” writes KELLYMCVEIGH. “BRUCE BURLEIGH ’91and I divorced last year. We are still shar-ing the joy and challenges of raising ourtwo daughters (Sophia, 13, and Olivia,10). Bruce is still working as a successfulcomputer network specialist. I remarried in August; we have four girls between theages of 9 and 13. I’m still working at WCUas an instructional technology specialistand am finally starting grad classes atWidener—I hope to get my master’s degreein education in the next two years. It’shard to believe that in just a few years wewill be sending Sophia off to college—I feel like we just left Marlboro!”

JENNIFER CRANE WILLIAMSONhas assumed the post of executive directorof Golden Care Workforce Institute, a SanDiego nonprofit founded in 2003.

’93“Hi, everyone!” writes PAMELA WITTE COLEMAN. “The girls and I have moved into a small apartment inMarietta. Melissa is now 4, and Sarah is 2.I’ve also started a new business calledPhoenix Research and Designs—come and visit at www.phoenixrd.com!”

RE GORHAM is back at Marlboro, this time as the college’s medical director.She replaces LINDA WEAVER RICE’81, who is now working at theBrattleboro Retreat.

BEN MONTAGUE writes, “I am enjoy-ing my new position as assistant professorof photography at Wright State University

in Ohio. Hello to John Willis! My wife,JENN FARRINGTON ’94, is designinghandbags and taking care of our kids, Ava,age 4, and Caleb, age 3.

’94GINA DeANGELIS writes, “still writing, trying to decide between anMFA in screenwriting or a Ph.D. in history—or both!”

TIMALYNE FRAZIER writes, “Chloejust turned 1 in January, and Phoebe is 4 and a half. They light up my life. I amalso enjoying my time here as a student life advisor.”

“Life in Hillsboro is groovy … mostly,”writes HEIDI WELCH, “and single life istreating me well. Had a wonderful time atthe record-breaking Patriots game withSTEFANIE CRENSHAW and get anoccasional message from JODI CLARK ’95and JEN KARSTAD ’97. Would love tohear from others and see how it goes!”

’95“All is well in Somerville,” write CAROLYN and ED ROSS ’96. We continue to homeschool our daughters and work on a multitude of projects. If anyfriends are in the area, please give us a call.”

GREG SARACINO got engaged lastAugust “to a girl who is so much moreamazing than the woman of my dreams(who was pretty amazing).” They plan toget married this May in Tennessee and willlive in Connecticut. “I’m still a para-medic,” he writes, “but I’m trying to be acop. Looks like I have a really good shot of getting into the police academy. Myfiancée is a pharmacy student at UConn. I hope everyone is doing well—I’d love to hear from old friends. E-mail me [email protected].”

’96J. BRIAN DOUGHERTY and his partner, John, recently bought a house in Georgetown, “a funky neighborhood inSeattle. We have lots of space and arenearly settled in. Please feel free to contactus if you need a place to slumber in Seattle.”

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Christopher Mir ’92 and Karen Dow ’92

A lot has happened since Christopher Mir and Karen Dow shared studio space at

Marlboro College in the early 1990s. Chris earned his master of fine arts degree at

Boston University and Karen hers at Yale University, they settled in southeastern

Connecticut, developed careers in teaching art and painting, and had two kids: Evan,

4, and Ruby, 1. And beginning in June, they are again sharing studio space, newly

built at their home in Hamden.

“Sharing space at Marlboro bonded us, but we haven’t really shared a workspace

and watched each other evolve in quite a while,” says Karen, who recently presented

a solo show at New York’s Bellwether Gallery, and is in a summer show at the CUE

Art Foundation for recipients of Joan Mitchell Foundation grants, which Karen won

in 1998. She will have time to work on her geometric abstract paintings this winter

at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts—the only long-term

residency in the country designed for emerging artists.

Chris’ first major solo show came last year, at the RARE Gallery in New York, which

describes his paintings as presenting “dream-like environments occupied by an

assortment of flora, fauna and people.” “Seven of nine paintings sold,” Chris says;

“it was a huge success and blew my mind.” Chris had switched from painting in

acrylics to oils, and while he was worried about the risk of changing his style, his

painting was noted by New York Times critic Ken Johnson, and RARE has offered

him a 2006 solo show, and nominated him to the attention-grabbing Whitney

Biennial exhibit at New York’s Whitney Museum. —Tristan Roberts ’00

time. Seeing the moon and some auroraaustralis on my lunch break is something I never thought I would experience. I amcurrently working as the Winter FoodServices Supervisor until my 14-monthcontract is up in October. My boyfriendand I will be traveling through NewZealand and Fiji on our way home, only toreturn south for another Antarctic winterin 2006. We might be crazy, but it’s fun!Hope all is well with all of you—maybe I’ll see you around Christmas. I can bereached at [email protected].”

ADAM HAMMICK is in Japan, and hasbeen keeping very busy. “As editor-in-chiefof Brix, the Japanese journal of art andsocial theory, after having dialogues withMichael Bronski, I published essays byBarbara Summerhawk, Christian Sauvaire,and Bronski himself, and with the supportof the Japanese government, the magazinewas able to organize a nationwide confer-ence to petition for the granting of asylumto foreigners fleeing religious persecution. I had been concentrating on again publish-ing my shodo (Japanese calligraphy) whenCultural Survival approached me abouttranslating for the Ainu Oral HistoryPreservation Project, which became myintroduction to the indigenous peoples ofJapan. This project will form the bulk ofthe Tokyo Ainu People’s Cultural Festival,and more importantly, the outcomes ofthis research will be used to create educa-tional materials targeted toward publicschool students in grades 4 through 6.Because I found this work so fulfilling, Iaccepted Survival International’s challeng-ing invitation to apply my theoreticalknowledge and practical experience in publiceducation toward encouraging the govern-ments of South Africa, Namibia, and particularly Botswana to acknowledge thepreexistence of indigenous land ownershipsystems and the consequent necessity ofrecognizing native title. While continuingto translate for architectural firms, scholars of archaeology and the TokyoMetropolitan Government, I currentlyinterpret for the Foundation for theResearch and Promotion of Ainu Cultureas well as indigenous organizations inOkinawa and Taiwan.”

’01AUGUST WOERNER asks, “FRED!How do I contact you?”

COLIN GASAMIS is “doing social development research at the University ofWashington, and I live about 10 minutesfrom ERIN BARNARD ’03.”

’02MELANIE GOTTLIEB, her husband,GARY GOTTLIEB ’97, and daughterMiranda welcomed Kyla Cassady to thefamily on October 30, 2004.

KATE HOLLANDER writes, “Hellofrom Ithaca, New York! JOHN COAK-LEY and I moved here almost two yearsago, and we’re enjoying ourselves for themost part (at least on sunny days …).We’re maple sugaring again this year, greatfun. The big news is that in February I quitmy office job and went freelance: I do editorial work (mss review, proofreading,etc.). It’s wonderful! I love working athome, and it gives me lots of time to write.You can find my poems and other writingin The Mind’s Eye, Open City, PoetLore and forthcoming from The MarlboroReview. A shout out to MARSHALLPAHL: Where are you? I’ve been trying to reply to your e-mail for a year, but it justbounces from your address. Please write!”

JACQUELYN PILLSBURY SONIATand her husband, Nick, have a daughter,Trinity, who was born last fall. They areliving in Louisiana.

NIKKI SOUTH began the M.B.A.program at the University of SouthernMaine in January. “The intention is topursue marketing—though I’ve learnedthat one never knows where a degree will take you! The state of Maine, likeVermont, is a wonderful place to live anda horrible place to make money. I’malmost sure it’s worth the sacrifice.”

’03WILL ALLENSWORTH is living in New York City and working with developmentally disabled teenagers.SHURA BARYSHNIKOV and BRUCE BRYAN ’02 have a “beautiful new daughter, Ilse SahlmanBryan, born at home on March 2, 2005.Adah is thrilled to be a big sister!Everyone is doing great.”

MIKE BEDARD wrote in December,“VERONICA had a baby girl, AntoniaPaz, in September. Now we are off to Chilefor the holidays!”

ALLISON GAMMONS is “settling into life here in Portland, Maine, and loving grad school!” Allison is attendingthe American and New England Studiesmaster’s program at the University ofSouthern Maine.

“My big news is that I’m finally comingback to Vermont,” writes ANDREAHENY. I’m planning to settle down inBurlington this fall, keep on writing andapply for an M.A. in education so I canteach high school English. I’m excited!”

JESS MCCLOSKEY has a new Web site:www.papertreasure.net. “It’s filled with allthe crafty things I make. Hope all is well!”ALEXIS ST. JAMES writes, “SinceMarlboro, I have enrolled in and graduatedfrom a fast-track teacher training programcalled MINT (Massachusetts Institute forNew Teachers). I am currently in my sec-ond year of teaching special education atRandolph High School and am living inBoston with fellow Marlboro grad MARYKELLEY ’05.


ROBIN GAY “would like to say hello toTom Toleno and everyone else at the col-lege. I am still in New York City, finishingmy Ph.D. in clinical psychology, workingon my dissertation. I am also teaching cognitive psychology at the New School.I’d love to hear from any fellow alumniwho care to write. My e-mail is [email protected].”

“In L.A., and the cube has been spun,”writes GIDEON STOCEK. “Making theworld better one video game at a time.”

’97ALEXANDER GREENFIELD “bookedseveral new writing assignments since thelast update. Wrote an ad for the Coca-Cola Cinema Project called ‘InvisibleFriend,’ which should be annoying movie-goers before their films start in May 2005.Wrote a horror movie called Chosen forproducer Lou Arkoff set for production in March 2005 and am currently writingMidnight Movie for producer-director Sean Hood.”

JENNY KARSTAD writes, “Beginning in March 2005, I am working at theBrattleboro Retreat as a substance abuseclinician, helping people who come in fordetox from and treatment of addictions of all kinds. It’s challenging work, but I’m loving it!”

ELIZA LAWRENCE MILEY has adaughter, Alexandria Josephine, born onMarch 16. “Deciding to be a mother has so far been my favorite career choice,” she writes.

BRAD MORITH writes, “Hello. I finishedup my Plan in music in the spring of 2004.This summer, I am beginning graduateschool at Springfield College, pursuing a master’s degree in education and ateacher’s license. I am looking to become a history teacher at the high school level. I am super psyched about this. I wisheveryone well.”

’98VANESSA DILLMAN is working atCazenovia College as director of the

first-year program, and is working on amaster’s degree in higher education admin-istration at Syracuse University. “I finishthis summer, and will be job-searching inhigher education, hoping to relocate toOregon, so everyone keep a lookout forme! I’m also adjunct professor in theaterstudies at Cazenovia and just finisheddirecting a production of Fahrenheit 451.We recently hosted alumni AARONRAJEEV KAHN and BARBARAWHITNEY ’97 in a fantastic new production from the Laboratory forEnthusiastic Collaboration—check themout in a city near you! TIM LITTLE ’65,I miss talking with you, and I hope thatyou are doing well. I also send fond wishesto Luis Batlle and Geraldine Pittman.”

LINDA MOSS is “currently living inBoston attending the Masters of Libraryand Information Science program atSimmons College. I’m hoping to go on to a Ph.D. program in information scienceat a research-oriented institution when I finish here.”

’99WAYLAND COLE and SARAH NORMANDIN “still absolutely love living on Lake Champlain in Burlington. I am having a fantastic year teaching highschool English and Sarah is having a blastworking for a local company that designswomen’s outerwear.”

“2004 was a whirlwind year in the Quin-Easter household,” writes KATEQUIN-EASTER. “We fostered and lost a 16-year-old son. The best thing to comeout of bad is that we have our bathroomback! I continue to build and sustain community-based activism here inPortland, Maine, and the Northeast, serving as the co-chair for AddVerbProductions Arts and Education’s Board of Directors; continuing to serve on thegrant-making committee for the MaineWomen’s Fund New Girls Network; volun-teering as the resource librarian for theCreative Resource Center, a local art studio; and furthering the ‘Time is theGreat Equalizer’ cause for the East EndTime Exchange, a branch of the NewEngland Time Bank. I also attend, when

I can, the alternative worship services atAllen Avenue Unitarian Universalistchurch, which ALLISON GAMMONS’04 helps to plan. We eat dinner withCAROL HAMMOND ’96 and EDLUTJENS ’95 often and see DEBBRUCE as much as we can. We learnedto snowshoe and became bike commuters.I’d love to hear from others interested inwomen’s involvement in public life orthose who are also involved in the TimeBanking movement. E-mail me [email protected].

KRISTIN MISELIS is “happily finishingup my third year of medical school withplans to move to New York City for theyear and get my M.P.H. before completingmy M.D. I hope to make it up to Vermontfor a visit this summer. I hope all is wellwith all my Marlboro friends. Please visitin Philly or New York any [email protected].”

JOSH RENZEMA graduated from Ohio State last spring with an M.B.A. and is living in Sweden, where he works in the logistics department of CadburySchweppes.

’00SARA BURT writes, “I never returned to Marlboro from my semester abroad inChina with SIT in 1997. I love Marlboro,but China is too exciting! I co-founded anEnglish school in Beijing with a Chinesepartner whom I married in 1999, and myson was born in the same year. I’m singleagain, and after spending some time inMinnesota, I have returned to Beijing withmy son, Clay. Now I am recruiting Englishteachers to teach in China and Chineseexchange students to study abroad andorganizing an international summer campin China. I welcome any former or currentMarlboro student or faculty to contact meif they are ever in China! I love to showpeople around Beijing—it’s a fascinatingplace! My e-mail is [email protected] love to hear from people.”

“I’m still cooking at the bottom of theworld!” writes ANGIE BURTON.“Winter at McMurdo is an interesting


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Katie Hollander ’02.


ESTHER WAKEFIED SCHEURINGwrites, “DOUG SCHEURING ’04 and I were married by KRISTIN OLSSONlast October. The three of us are livingtogether in Portland, Maine. The GoodReverend Olsson is off to New York Cityin May, and Doug and I are going first toEurope and then … somewhere else—we don’t know yet.”

’04CHOYA ADKISON-STEVENS writes,“Tim and I are both working hard to savefor around-the-world adventures beginningthis fall. I work with homeless kids at ashelter. It’s good to be back home, but we miss everyone there, too. Come visitEugene, (Oregon)!”

ALAINA HAMMOND writes, “On May10, 2005, Awkward Girl Gets Huggedmade its New York debut in NoHo.Richard Platzman ’05 produced, AndrewHood ’06 did lighting design and JessicaHanna ’06 was in charge of costumes.Onstage, the three of them gave hilariousperformances. I wrote the play, directedand did general bitch work. I have afreakin’ B.A. and I’m still a freakin’ PA.”

“I write this from Austin, Texas,” says LIZTHEIS in March, “where I am taking partin the South by Southwest film festival. Itraveled here with Harbinger Productions,an independent media group that I becameassociated with during my Plan work atMarlboro. Their film, Dreams of Sparrows,has its world premiere here. The film is adocumentary shot by an Iraqi director,Hayder Moussa Daffar, showing the con-flicting opinions of post-occupation Iraq.Daffar is traveling with us, in an old RV

that has broken down several times in ourjourney. He has immersed himself inAmerican culture quite well, has seen hisfirst Wal-Mart Superstore, has eaten hisfirst pile of nachos, but fears daily what is happening at home. While here, I am also promoting some of my personalprojects. I now have a Web site(http://www.ejtheis.com) that has clips of my Plan film, as well as new experimen-tal projects that I call VHS remixes, usingfound footage to create montage pieces. In addition, I have started work on a newdocumentary. It follows my friend MikeStock and me around our hometown ofMilford, Connecticut, as we investigatesome of the manifestations of mass con-sumer values in a city that prides itself on being a small New England town. You can read more about the film (andwatch teasers) at http://www.milford-america.com. Please check out my projects,and feel free to e-mail me with feedback [email protected]. I wish everyonewell and would love to hear from you.”

’05PAUL GRENIER, who finished up atMarlboro last fall, is attending UnionTheological Seminary in New York City. “I had no idea they were so big! I justapplied there because they had a lateapplication deadline,” he told bookstoremanager BECKY BARTLETT ’79 on a visit to campus in December.

FORMER FACULTY, STAFF, TRUSTEES

Former trustee TOM MATHEWS’book Our Fathers’ War: Growing up inthe Shadow of the Greatest Generation,was published by Broadway Books in May2005.


Donald Worcester Land ’69

Don Land, 67, died at his West

Virginia home in July 2005 after

a long battle with cancer. Born in

Durham, North Carolina, in 1938,

Don attended Claremont Men’s

College (now Claremont McKenna

College) before transferring to

Marlboro, where he studied forestry

with Halsey Hicks. After graduating

in 1969, Don held a variety of jobs,

ranging from farmhand to research

and development engineer. For most

of his professional life, however, Don

worked in the emergency medical field

as a paramedic, emergency medical

technician, cave rescuer and in other

positions. At the time of his death,

Don worked as an emergency room

technician at Alexandria Hospital in

Alexandria, Virginia, and operated a

business sharpening tools and repair-

ing small engines. Don was a frequent

visitor to campus and donated many

books to Marlboro’s library. He is

survived by his mother, Rose Veselak,

sister, Anna Lands, stepsister,

Mary Johnstone and stepbrother,

Chisolm McAvoy.

William Cyr, Jr. ’77

Bill Cyr, 51, died unexpectedly at

home in Lowell, Massachusetts, in

June 2005. Bill graduated from the

Stowe School in Vermont and studied

modern European history at Marlboro,

where he did Plan work in Soviet

foreign policy with Roland Boyden.

After Marlboro, he lived in Lowell

and worked most recently at Montec

Plastics. His real love was art and

architecture, particularly early

American folk arts and antiques.

He was involved in the historical

preservation of Lowell, and worked to

preserve old mill buildings to be used

as artists’ lofts. He also enjoyed travel-

ing and his two dogs, Miss B. and

Moxie. “He was such a vibrant, kind,

intelligent, witty and generous man,”

wrote Will Chapman’75. “He will

be missed by all who knew him.”

Bill is survived by his stepmother

and three brothers.

Christopher Boeth ’85Christopher Boeth, 42, died in June

2005 on Cape Cod of complications

from injuries sustained in a car acci-

dent in 1983. Chris attended Trinity

School, the Darrow School and Vassar

College before coming to Marlboro in

1982. After the car accident, he lived

in various rehabilitation centers until

his death. While at Marlboro, he stud-

ied poetry and Greek, and was editor

of the citizen, the college newspaper.

He had learned of Marlboro from

then-president Rod Gander, who had

been a friend and colleague of Chris’

father at Newsweek magazine. “When

I think of Chris, the word that comes

to mind is exuberance,” says Rod. “A

promising writer and avid sports fan

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IN MEMORIAM


and athlete, he embraced all life had

to offer. To have all this vitality cut

short made his tragic accident all the

more poignant.” Chris’ mother,

Margaret Boeth, a longtime friend

and former trustee of the college,

established the Christopher Boeth

Scholarship in 1993. The scholarship,

awarded annually to a junior or senior

studying literature or writing, recognizes

the student’s gift for and appreciation

of the usage of language. Chris is

survived by his mother; he was

predeceased by his father, Richard

Boeth. Gifts in Chris’ memory may be

made to the Christopher Boeth

Scholarship Fund at Marlboro College.

Gerald Tell, former trustee

Former college trustee Gerald Tell

died in May 2005 at the age of 78. He

joined the board of trustees in 1987

and served in a number of capacities,

most notably on the buildings and

development committees, before

leaving the board in 2001.

Former president Paul LeBlanc

says of him, “In his relatively quiet

and determined way, Jerry consistently

fostered new ideas and directions,

working to build consensus and carry-

ing ideas through.”

Jerry was born in Boston in 1926

and served in the Navy during World

War II. He graduated from Harvard

College in 1948 and received an

M.B.A from Columbia University

School of Business in 1951. He made

a career in finances, working for

Continental Copper and Steel, Lazard

Freres and First Washington Group

before becoming president of both

First Capital Investments and CTF,

Inc., in Washington, D.C. Jerry and

his wife, Bernice, began visiting

Vermont when their son Matt Tell ’81

was a student at the college. Soon

after Matt’s graduation, they became

part-time residents of Marlboro and

regular attendees of the Marlboro

Music Festival. He also enjoyed play-

ing bridge and tennis and traveling.

Besides his wife and son, Jerry

is survived by his mother, Katherine

Titlebaum; sons Sidney and Clifford;

daughter, Carol; brothers Alan

Titlebaum and Richard Titlebaum, and

daughter-in-law, Lucy Simpson Tell ’82.

“I learned that Soul Caliber Two

is my favorite—and only—video game.”

Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, from the president’s

address at commencement 2005

P h o t o b y S a u r a v R a n a ’ 0 6

Parting Shot

Return to Table of Contents

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