On Campus
Winter 2003

We 'Shall Not Look Upon His Like Again' Rex McGuinn (1951-2002)

On the morning of Sunday, October 27, Rockefeller Hall, the soaring central atrium of the Academy Library, was filled to overflowing for a special Quaker meeting service-filled with students and teachers, with staff and alumni/ae; filled with words and with emotion; but most of all filled with the spirit of the remarkable man being commemorated: English instructor Dr. Rex McGuinn.

McGuinn-who, together with his wife, English instructor Margaret McGuinn, joined the Exeter faculty in 1987-had died unexpectedly while jogging on September 28, just a few weeks after the start of school. He was 51 years old.

The outpouring of accolades that followed his loss made clear the special place McGuinn held in the hearts and minds of his students and colleagues-whether they knew him as a Shakespeare scholar and founder of the Academy's Shakespeare Conference, as a dorm head or JV basketball coach, as a published poet, or simply as an innately compassionate man who went out of his way to draw the school community closer. Said Principal Ty Tingley '48, '64, '01 (Hon.), P'99: "While Rex's love of his subject was one of the hallmarks of his time at Exeter, it was equaled by his consummate interest in his students. And to Rex, all Exeter students were his students."

"Rex was exemplary at welcoming people," his longtime colleague English instructor Peter Greer '58; '81 (Hon.) said at the October 27 memorial service. He was also exemplary at welcoming new ideas, and always, new books. Greer assumed the teaching of one of McGuinn's courses this fall, only to discover that he was unfamiliar with two of the titles McGuinn had assigned. Said Greer: "I wanted to honor Rex by teaching those books. And I knew I would learn something. "

In an article in The Exonian, one of his former students also spoke to McGuinn's ability to connect, both emotionally and intellectually. "He was unique in that you felt comfortable in his presence the moment you met him," wrote Mason Williams '02, now a freshman at Princeton. "As the term progressed, what struck me even more was his absolute passion for his work. Class discussions were never boring"-McGuinn was known to climb on top of his Harkness table to declaim Shakespeare-"if only because he cared so much about the books he taught and the students in his classes. He also turned me into a writer, because as a teacher he gave me freedom. He encouraged me to do what I wanted; sometimes he guided me back from the abyss, and sometimes he urged me to keep going."

In 1998, Abigail Henderson '99 and Simone Robertson '99 received similar encouragement during the term McGuinn oversaw the Academy's program in Stratford, England. Speaking at the memorial service, they recounted how McGuinn urged them to take a weekend off to visit the home of the Brontë sisters-even though this meant driving a stick-shift car on the wrong side of the narrow English roads. How many other teachers, Henderson asked with a laugh, would have had the necessary faith, both in the students' driving skills and in the importance of this particular pilgrimage?

Another former student, Alessandro Nivola '90-an acclaimed film and stage actor whose credits include Kenneth Branagh's film version of Love's Labour's Lost-credited McGuinn with awakening his interest in Shakespeare. "His passion was infectious," Nivola told The Boston Globe, which carried a lengthy obituary of McGuinn. "He was always concerned that the plays not seem distant from our everyday lives. Like Branagh, he treated them as if they were alive: bawdy, funny and energetic."

Making Shakespeare come alive to students was the reason McGuinn founded the Academy's Shakespeare Conference in 2001. For the past two summers, the conference brought several dozen high school teachers to the Exeter campus to study a single play in depth and to learn how to use performance to increase their students' appreciation of Shakespeare. Among the instructors McGuinn recruited for the conference was H.R. Coursen, an emeritus professor of English at Bowdoin, who had the opportunity to observe McGuinn work with both adults and young people. "To be a good teacher," Coursen told the Globe, "you have to believe that the people in front of you have something to give, and you have to know how to get that out of each student. And with each student it's different. Rex had that gift."

But McGuinn's gifts were not just as a teacher. He was also an accomplished writer, both of academic papers and of poetry, and his poems appeared in such publications as Commonweal and Kansas Quarterly, as well as in his 1992 collection Landing in Minneapolis (St. Andrews Press). At Exeter, he served as adviser to the student group People Interested in Poetry and as an informal adviser to many of the Academy's writers. "Rex was incredibly generous with other poets," said Kristin Fogdall, director of communications for alumni/ae affairs and development, at the memorial service. His own poetry, she noted, is infused with his keen appreciation of the natural world: "His lines move like water, and they have a strength and a profile like the hills he loved." During November and December, the Academy Library presented How the Ink Feels, an exhibition of letterpress broadsides by such poets Stanley Kunitz, Gary Snyder, Rita Dove and Howard Nemerov, in McGuinn's memory.

A native of North Carolina, McGuinn received his B.A. from St. Andrews Presbyterian College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. The McGuinns returned often to North Carolina, most recently during the summer of 2002 for an extended visit with his family. (Two weeks later, they traveled to Minnesota, where they joined 37 members of Margaret's family to celebrate her mother's 76th birthday.) And it was in Hendersonville, NC, the town where he was born, that his funeral services were held on October 3. In addition to his wife, Margaret, he is also survived by his mother and stepfather, Hilda and Charles Horne; by his brothers, Michael and Philip; and his sister, Patricia.

McGuinn is also survived by his considerable legacy as a teacher and as a human being. As Principal Emerita Kendra Stearns O'Donnell '31, '47, 63, '91, '97 (Hon.), who came to Exeter the same year as the McGuinns, remarked at the memorial service, "Rex lives on in every student's heart, and his values live on in what this community has become."

'Protecting the Majesty':
Marine Conservationist John R. Twiss '56 Receives Phillips Award

As executive director of the Marine Mammal Commission, John R. Twiss '56 (second from left) helped save such endangered creatures as the Hawaiian monk seal, the West Indian manatee, the North Atlantic right whale and the California sea otter. Joining him at the October 15 assembly were (left to right): his daughter Alison, son John, wife Mary and daughter Emily.

"I faintly heard a humpback whale singing. To better hear the sound, I dropped over the side with a snorkel and facemask to listen underwater. A few minutes later, a humpback calf swam silently by about 10 feet away; on the other side of the calf was a cow, and a bull was right next to her. No one can have such an experience and not be moved by the majesty of the animals and the need to protect both them and their habitat."

This is how John R. Twiss '56 describes the encounter that would lead him to dedicate much of his life to such environmental causes as the Ocean Conservancy, the Student Conservation Association, the Island School and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute. For his work Twiss was given the John Phillips Award during an assembly on October 15, 2002.

The John Phillips Award recognizes and honors an Exonian whose life and contributions to the welfare of community, country and humanity exemplify the nobility of character and the usefulness to society that John Phillips sought to promote in establishing the Academy.

In presenting the award, Kimberly Welch '72, president of the General Alumni/ae Association, told Twiss, "Serving as the executive director of the Marine Mammal Commission from its inception in 1974 until your retirement in 2000, you made this organization into one of the most active, respected and efficiently run agencies of the United States government."

Twiss has devoted the majority of his professional and personal life to uniting policy and science in the formulation of sound conservation laws. As a young man from New York City, he came to the Academy and was mentored by English instructor Bob Bates. From Bates, Twiss has said, he learned a life lesson that would remain a guiding principle in his later work: the importance of doing something because you think it is worth doing, not because you'll get paid for it. After graduating from Yale, he took his first job with the U.S. government as junior support staffer for various agencies conducting Arctic and Antarctic research. It was during this period that his passion for marine conservation first began to take shape.

By the time he was in his mid-20s, he had become the National Science Foundation representative in Antarctica, in charge of approximately 180 scientific personnel. In 1974 he became the executive director of a newly established government agency whose work would change the course of national and international marine conservation. Known as the Marine Mammal Commission, this independent advisory body was created as a result of the passage of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which contained the then-revolutionary provision that marine mammals be viewed and managed within the context of the ecosystems they inhabit. His efforts have helped save the Hawaiian monk seal, the West Indian manatee, the North Atlantic right whale and the California sea otter, to name just a few.

Trustee Report

The Academy trustees held their fall meeting in Exeter on October 24-26, 2002. As is traditional, the new trustees-David Beim '58, Jenny Young du Pont '78, Dan Freudenberger '63 and Robert Ho '73-spent the Wednesday before the meetings familiarizing themselves with the Academy of today.

Jim Rogers '63, the new president of the trustees, said in his opening remarks that the fall meeting would focus on information sharing, program review and analysis and would inform decisions to be made in future meetings.

Each of the trustees' standing committees met and discussed a variety of topics. The Education and Appointments Committee heard from admissions, college counseling, the summer school and the dean of faculty. Members of the Curriculum Review Committee engaged the trustees in a session on the culture of the school, and the trustees had dinner Thursday night with all the faculty and students involved in the review.

The Buildings and Grounds Committee reviewed the many projects completed this past summer and the trustees toured a number of them. It was reported that high-pressure water testing recently revealed that work on the library has not been successful in stopping all the leaks. While the amount of leakage has been significantly reduced, this additional work will likely delay the completion of the project until the spring.

The Alumni/ae Affairs and Development Committee reviewed the progress of fund-raising efforts to implement the Academy Master Plan. Progress to date has been good and modestly ahead of schedule. Despite this good start, all are understandably concerned about the impact of the turbulent economy on fund-raising prospects.

The Housing Task Force reviewed the progress of the Integrated Housing Plan and toured Dean of Students Ethan Shapiro's house in O'Neil Court. They reported that we have been able to move much more quickly with the housing plan, which addresses the upgrade and acquisition of faculty apartments and houses, than originally forecast.

Trustee Rick Smith '66 established what many hope will be a new tradition: he gave the Thursday morning meditation in Grainger Auditorium.

Phillips Church Reopens

The New Year marks a new beginning for 103-year-old Phillips Church, which reopens in January following seven months of extensive renovation overseen by the facilities management department, and preceded by several years of research and reflection by the Phillips Church Committee. "The renovation recognizes the multiple and complex responsibilities of this ministry," says the committee's chair, Peter Greer '58; '81 (Hon.), the Bates-Russell Distinguished Faculty Professor. "We've tried to make the church a place that welcomes those of a traditional faith, as well as those who are unorthodox or searching. In addition, we want it to be a place that encourages interfaith dialogue." The nave now has cathedral-style chairs that can be moved for smaller worship groups, and a striking new stained glass window installed above the main entrance that manages, through an exquisite combination of color, light and movement, to suggest, even embody, spiritual exaltation. "I wanted," says the window's designer, Michelle Honig-Szwarc, "every viewer to feel that they were being embraced by the light, regardless of their faith."

Cum Laude Society

Seventeen seniors were inducted into the Cum Laude Society on November 3. The honorees, selected on the basis of scholarship, represent the top 5 percent of the senior class: (front row, left to right) Hoai-Luu Nguyen, Missoula, MT; Emily Stork, Medina, WA; Ashok Kumar, Rapid City, SD; Venus Choi, Hong Kong; Alexandra Leon Guerrero, Piti, GU; Catherine Snell, Deux Montagnes, Canada; (second row) Ann Riley, Potomac, MD; Christina Chick, Newmarket, NH; Ann Preis, Los Angeles, CA; Edward Baird, Atlanta, GA; Tyler Goodspeed, Exeter, NH; Diana Davis, Madbury, NH; Julijs Liepins, Boxford, MA; Jonathan Pines, Berkeley, CA; Geoffrey Tang, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Xiao Liu, New Hope, PA; Xuan Qin, Sarasota, FL.

'Nil Novi Sub Sole': There's Nothering New Under the Sun

You could call it a classic: Written in 1914 by PEA instructors George Rogers (above) and John Kirtland (below) and used by several generations of students, An Introduction to Latin has just been reintroduced into the Academy's Latin curriculum.

According to historical accounts, John C. Kirtland (who taught at the Academy from 1897 to 1939) and George B. Rogers (who taught from 1895 until 1936) were an early version of the odd couple. In The Story of Phillips Exeter, Myron R. Williams notes that Kirtland was "considered by many to be an archconservative, sure to evoke rules and precedents long since forgotten," while Rogers was "generally regarded as a liberal interested in theories and new ideas."

Yet the two shared a devotion to teaching and a love of Latin that led them to collaborate in 1914 on An Introduction to Latin, a text that became the mainstay of the school's introductory Latin classes for several decades. In fact, this slim red volume, which had been consigned to the used book heap in favor of more colorful modern tomes, has recently made a surprise reappearance in the Academy's Latin curriculum. Paul Langford, the George Shattuck Morison Professor of Latin and chair of the department of classical languages, terms its reintroduction the return of "an old friend."

K&R, as it is fondly called, has held a warm spot in Latin teachers' hearts over the years. David Thomas, the Morison Professor Emeritus and past chair of the department who retired in 1996 after teaching at the Academy for 40 years, calls K&R "the best text ever written for beginning Latin students." David Coffin, the Cilley Professor Emeritus and also a past chair of the department, calls it "an amazing little book. The text doesn't have any frills, like pictures or chariot races, but it is filled with 170 pages of everything you could possibly need to teach a first year of Latin. It is very condensed and accurate."

According to these experts, the text is a bare-bones approach to learning Latin grammar and preparing students to begin the study of Latin literature, specifically the writings of Caesar. Its very simplicity seemed to render it obsolete next to newer, more lavishly illustrated textbooks. The book is printed entirely in black and white, and a photograph of a classical bust or a Roman coin only occasionally interrupts the text. That very minimalism, combined with a clear and concise approach to learning beginning Latin, has now contributed to its resurrection as a tool for Latin transition classes.

Students who may have had some Latin before entering the Academy but who are not ready to begin the second-year sequence are, says Langford, the perfect candidates for K&R. After studying K&R for two fast-paced terms this fall and winter, these Latin scholars will then join their second-year classmates in the spring term to read the works of Caesar.

Although first used in 1914, the book survived the advent of the Harkness Table in 1931 and was used for decades afterwards. In fact, both Kirtland and Rogers were, with Principal Lewis Perry, moving forces behind instituting the new way of teaching. But perhaps the book's greatest survival story came during WWII. In 1942, the Macmillan Company, the book's publishers, wrote the authors to say that "under instructions of the War Production Board and in the interests of conserving metal we are obliged to destroy obsolete printing plates. . . . Type metal is now being used as the core of bullets." According to Langford, proving that the book had been printed in the previous four years saved the plates.

K&R was last printed by the Academy in 1977, with one concession to the times: a map of the ancient world on the inside cover page is in color.

The Exeter Summer School has been offering academic and athletic programs to students since its founding in 1919. But never in its 83-year history has crew been an athletic option for students. That changes this summer.

"For a long time, there's been wishful conversation about creating a summer crew program," says Doug Rogers, director of the summer school and the Cowles Professor of Humanities. "There are plenty of wonderful crew camps, but very few places where students can engage in a strong academic program and learn about rowing."

Crew will be offered to upper school students as a five-week athletic option. "There are good reasons," says Rogers, "for approaching this new program with great care and planning. Shells are expansive and fragile, and the river is quirky and twisty. We've taken care to make sure that our coaches are folks who know our equipment and have rowed on the Squamscott River." Former Exeter assistant coach Kelly Harris, now a coach at Vassar, will serve as the crew program director. Jeff Geary, PEA boatman and boathouse manager, will keep the shells in good repair and oversee use of Saltonstall Boathouse.

Students will row four days per week for 90 minutes per day. Because the Squamscott is a tidal river, practice times will vary; most sessions will be scheduled between 1 and 5:30 p.m. There will be occasional early morning and early evening rows. A total of six shells will be used: at least two will be dedicated to experienced rowers; the remaining four will serve both novice and experienced rowers and coxswains. Crew is open to both girls and boys.

In creating this new crew program, Rogers sees the summer school serving two important goals: "We want to give experienced crew athletes an opportunity to continue to work at their sport, and we want to create an exciting physical education option for students who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn about rowing." For more information, go to http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/9389.aspx

'Striking a Blow In Favor of Civilization'

"Be careful what you get interested in at Exeter," newspaper publisher Jim Ottaway Jr. '55 told students at assembly on November 11. "It could change your life." Ottaway knows whereof he speaks: his two passions while at Exeter-classical languages, which he studied with Latin instructor Ernie Gillespie, and The Exonian-became his life's avocation and his life's work, respectively. Ottaway also took seriously Gillespie's injunction to his students to "strike some shrewd blows in favor of civilization": he is active with Human Rights Watch USA and Human Rights Watch China, with the U.S. office of Doctors Without Borders and is president of the World Press Freedom Committee. This past year, he struck one more such blow here at Exeter, endowing a substantial new scholarship fund that will enable the Academy to move closer towards its goal of needs-blind admissions. "The diversity of people, ideas and culture that you encounter at Exeter builds tolerance of other people and their differences," he told the students. "The importance of tolerance, based on an understanding of the good in people of other ethnic backgrounds, was never more critical to peace in the world."

Earlier this year, American School & University magazine cited the Phelps Science Center in its 12th annual Educational Interiors Competition. Designed by Centerbrook Architects, the Phelps building took top honors in the K-12 category, in a contest judged by a panel of educators and architects from around the world. The citation commended the Phelps Science Center-which opened in September 2001 and features classroom-labs that facilitate both hands-on investigation and Harkness discussion-for its "innovative arrangement of spaces both inside and outside the classroom. Flexible classroom arrangements facilitate a variety of learning opportunities. An outstanding project-a model for others to emulate."

"There are three things most people don't like doing: math, running and taking the bus," says Gwynneth (Hardesty) Coogan '83, who returned to Exeter this fall to teach mathematics and coach. "But these are three things that I enjoy."

We'll give her the benefit of the doubt on the bus riding, but in terms of math and running, Coogan does both with great distinction. An elite runner who won two NCAA Division III track titles in college, she went on to run the 10,000 meters in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and almost qualify for the team again in 1996, this time in the marathon. She has several marathon titles to her credit, including the Twin Cities Marathon in 1995 and the Houston Marathon in 1998. Along the way, she also managed to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Colorado. She has made it a life's practice to test the limits of her mind and body, to try new things and learn new skills.

Coogan's latest challenge is returning to Exeter after a 20-year absence, a turn of fate that even she finds surprising. "I'm the last person I would have expected to come back to teach at Exeter," says Coogan, who had been teaching at the college level and never expected to do otherwise. "I have never worn my Exeter education like a badge of honor or even gone to my reunions. But I have always believed that Exeter offers the best secondary education you can get in the United States. It's more of a pure academic environment than you get at a college. Even though it's not what I was preparing for, after I did a full job search, teaching at Exeter was my most compelling option."

Prior to coming back this fall, Coogan did postdoctoral research and taught at the University of Wisconsin; before that, she spent a year teaching at Hood College in Maryland. All the while, she was also running-and raising a family. She and her husband, Mark, a professional marathon runner and himself a former Olympian, have three young children.

Interestingly, Coogan didn't run while at Exeter-although cross-country coach (and math instructor) Rick Parris tried to recruit her-nor was she a math whiz; these interests didn't blossom until college. A two-year student at Exeter who transferred from the George School in her native Pennsylvania, Coogan played three varsity sports each year (lacrosse and field hockey both years, swimming her upper winter and squash her senior winter) and was a member of ESSO. In the classroom, she says, "No one would have pegged me as a 'math person,' except maybe my art history teacher, judging me by my writing. I loved my math classes, but I enjoyed all my other classes too."

At Smith College, where she earned a B.A. in mathematics, Coogan tried her hand at a number of new activities. "I saw college as a wonderful opportunity to try as many things as I could," she says. She took violin lessons, joined a literary group and tried running. Running stuck. "I loved being outside. I loved learning to push myself," she says. She was also fast, securing NCAA Division III records in the 3,000 meters in 1985 and 1986.

Knowing that she would someday go back to school for an advanced degree, Coogan took some time off after Smith to work at a high tech firm in Cambridge, MA. She was uncertain how or even if running was going to fit into her life. "After I graduated, I said to myself, 'Running is either going to happen or it's not, but I'm not going to sit around and wait for it,' " she says. Eventually, it did happen, and in 1988, still working full time, she began running with the Nike Boston team alongside a few runners who were training for the Olympic trials. "I had no conception of Olympic training," says Coogan. "But over the course of the next three years, I decided I wanted to give it a try."

Of the whole Olympic experience, Coogan is proud, but pragmatic. "It wasn't the best experience of my life. I got distracted and overwhelmed and didn't run a good race," she says. "I didn't do what I went over there to do, which was run one of the best races of my life." Of greater interest were the lessons learned from the experience-what personal attributes helped or hindered her performance-and how this knowledge could be applied to the "more humanitarian" areas of her life.

Which brings us back to Exeter. While she is still getting acclimated to the rhythms and responsibilities of boarding school life, Coogan is enjoying the energy and enthusiasm of her students. She is looking forward to honing her Harkness teaching skills, coaching indoor track this winter and getting back into competitive running. "I took a lot away from Exeter, and I truly believe in the fundamental skills I learned here, and the love of learning," she says. "Exeter gave me a standard to strive for."

For the first time in the 83-year history of the Exeter Summer School, students can study rowing along with reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic.

The Exeter Summer School has been offering academic and athletic programs to students since its founding in 1919. But never in its 83-year history has crew been an athletic option for students. That changes this summer.

"For a long time, there's been wishful conversation about creating a summer crew program," says Doug Rogers, director of the summer school and the Cowles Professor of Humanities. "There are plenty of wonderful crew camps, but very few places where students can engage in a strong academic program and learn about rowing."

Crew will be offered to upper school students as a five-week athletic option. "There are good reasons," says Rogers, "for approaching this new program with great care and planning. Shells are expansive and fragile, and the river is quirky and twisty. We've taken care to make sure that our coaches are folks who know our equipment and have rowed on the Squamscott River." Former Exeter assistant coach Kelly Harris, now a coach at Vassar, will serve as the crew program director. Jeff Geary, PEA boatman and boathouse manager, will keep the shells in good repair and oversee use of Saltonstall Boathouse.

Students will row four days per week for 90 minutes per day. Because the Squamscott is a tidal river, practice times will vary; most sessions will be scheduled between 1 and 5:30 p.m. There will be occasional early morning and early evening rows. A total of six shells will be used: at least two will be dedicated to experienced rowers; the remaining four will serve both novice and experienced rowers and coxswains. Crew is open to both girls and boys.

In creating this new crew program, Rogers sees the summer school serving two important goals: "We want to give experienced crew athletes an opportunity to continue to work at their sport, and we want to create an exciting physical education option for students who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn about rowing." For more information, go to http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/9389.aspx.

"I'm not one of those people who thinks poetry is therapeutic," Cornelius Eady told the rapt audience that gathered on November 6 to hear him open this year's Lamont Poetry Series. "I don't think that's what we get from poetry." In Eady's able hands, poetry is just about everything else: ecstatic and melancholy, redemptive and damning, playful and profoundly serious. His seventh and most recent collection of poems-Brutal Imagination, a finalist for the 2001 National Book Award-is all those things and more. In it, Eady gives life to a character first imagined, brutally, by Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who in 1994 drowned her two young sons and then told authorities they had been abducted by a black assailant. "Susan Smith has invented me because / Nobody else in town will do what / She needs me to do," Eady writes. "I mean: jump in an idling car / And drive off with two sad and / Frightened kids in the back. . . . Who are you, mister? / One of the boys asks / From the eternal backseat / And here is the one good thing: / If I am alive, then so, briefly, are they."

Ascending the marble stairs of the Class of 1945 Library and walking out into its grand central atrium is a continually breathtaking experience. "Even after all these years, that's still one of the great pleasures of my day," says Jackie Thomas, James H. Ottaway Jr. '55 Professor and Academy Librarian, who has been walking up those very stairs since the day the building first opened in 1971. "I'm surprised and delighted each time I get to that top step and walk out into Rockefeller Hall. It's awe-inspiring."

Thomas is not alone in her admiration. Designed by the late Louis Kahn, considered one of the foremost architects of the late-20th century, the Class of 1945 Library has attracted praise from around the world. In 1997, the building was honored with the prestigious 25-Year Award, presented annually by the American Institute of Architects to a structure "whose impact has stood the test of a quarter-century of time." This distinction has also led to a new book, Structures of Our Time: 31 Buildings That Changed Modern Life (McGraw-Hill, 2002), and a touring exhibition based on the book. Fittingly enough, this exhibition will be on view in the library's Rockefeller Hall through February 16.

Officially, there were no classes held on Saturday, October 12; many students spent the morning taking SATs instead. But at 10 a.m., English instructor Harvard Knowles opened the door to his Phillips Hall classroom to hold a very special class in memory of one of his former students: Eric "Rick" Thorpe '85, one of three Exonians who died on September 11, 2001. Joining Knowles for the class were members of Rick's family-including his parents, Raymond and Marilyn Thorpe, and his sister, Susan Burghouwt, and her family-along with a number of his classmates who had joined together to buy a Harkness table in Rick's honor. Seated around the handsome new table, the group discussed the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, as well a two poems, and celebrated Rick's memory with the following tribute written by Knowles, which now hangs in his classroom.

Eric R. Thorpe '85 (April 17 1966 - September 11, 2001)

Rick had a booming voice, a big heart, a big spirit. He could fill a room with his energy, and with his broad smile and quick wit could turn up the edge of seriousness to reveal the humor beneath. He was light-hearted and good-humored; wherever he went he brought laughter with him. Though casual and laughter-filled, his demeanor could not and did not obscure the seriousness that was the other side of his gift for humor. He loved people and his commitment to them was complete. The homeless woman whom he passed on his way to work and chatted with soon became "Mary," and he shared with her, as she did with him, the pleasures and frustrations of his day. His voice would lift and his eyes brighten as he described his delight in teaching a toddler, on the T-ball team he once coached, how to hit the ball off the T in a single swing. While at Lafayette College, he helped run a soup kitchen and took seriously the responsibility he accepted in becoming a Big Brother. He had a deep commitment to family, and to his hosts of friends he was generous, kind, and forever loyal.

Rick carried his public success and achievements with such easy gracefulness that one could almost overlook the attitudes that created them. As a powerful athlete and a leader on the field, he was committed to competition as the heart of the game and to fair play as its soul. He was successful in business and beginning to emerge as a leader there as well. With no need to boast, he was much too comfortable with who he was to want to impress. His success set the standard, and he strove to stand equal to it.

Rick is too-soon gone, so when he comes back to us in our mind's eye, he will be forever what he was the last time we saw him. Caught in the high sunlight of early manhood, he strides forward with broad shoulders and a big smile, radiant with optimism that no matter what comes, he's ready to take it on. "In short measures life may perfect be."

But of course we will miss him. Always we will miss him. -Harvard V. Knowles '77 (Hon.) Lamont Professor of English

Letters to the Editor

A Message From the Thorpe Family

Our family has been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support received since the tragic and untimely death of our son, Eric "Rick" Thorpe, on September 11, 2001. We recently had the privilege of attending the dedication of a Harkness table in Rick's memory and taking part in our first Harkness discussion.

It was an uplifting experience to share with Rick's fellow classmates our interpretations of a preassigned book and two poems. We marveled at the depth of their comments, surely the result of a fine Exeter education. And there are no finer moderators than English professor Harvard V. Knowles.

Your gift, the magnificent oak table, sits proudly in Mr. Knowles' classroom. He was instrumental in planning for the events of October 12, assisted by a hardworking core of volunteers who helped with the fund-raising. Our family wishes we could thank each of you personally; please know that we are indebted to all of you for your generosity and kindness. Even in Rick's death, his light has shone again. Because of the loss of our dear son, husband and brother, Rick's classmates came together to honor him, grieve for him, reminisce and get reconnected. We would like to think that future generations of students will also feel a bit of Rick's presence as they gather around the new table.

      Raymond and Marilyn Thorpe Linda and Alexis Thorpe Susan T. and Arthur Burghouwt Mystic, CT

Saluting Kathy Saltonstall

I've noticed over the years that The Exeter Bulletin keeps getting better and better, but perhaps no other recent item has meant quite as much to me as did the photo that included Kathy Saltonstall (fall 2002 issue, page 7). Let me explain.

Exactly 70 years ago this semester, I was an upper middler, one of four new students living on the third floor of Veazey House under the watchful care of Bill and Kathy Saltonstall, also new that year, who lived two floors below.

By remarkable coincidence, your issue with that picture arrived only days after I had rediscovered and begun to reread a goodness-knows-how-long-forgotten five-year diary, one of those with a lock and key and a mere four lines of space for each day. The entry for Saturday, January 14, 1933 reads in toto as follows: "Basketball team beat Tufts at Tufts, 37-17. Hockey team beat Dummer 6-0. Joe Johnson got his head cut in class hockey. Baby girl born to Saltonstalls at 10:30 p.m." The next day's entry adds that "Baby is named Josephine."

I'll bet Kathy still remembers the night of January 14, 1933!

I kept that diary faithfully for 18 months. The last entries are the week before commencement in 1934. Kathy and Bill's names appear and reappear frequently. They were active, caring and accessible house parents and, along with my roommates, a couple of other friends, and possibly Darcy Curwen and Boob Hatch, they are folks who some 70 years later mean Exeter to me.

      Dave Malcolm '34 San Diego, CA

Let Us Now Praise Phillips Church

I read with particular interest the article in the fall issue on campus improvements. The writer gave proper credit to architect Louis Kahn for the extraordinary library, but why didn't she do the same for Phillips Church? As it neither grew out of the ground by itself from an American "Gothic" seed nor fell from the sky in a late 1890s rain shower, let's hear it, please, for Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue!

Aside from perhaps being the more creative partner of a once-famous team, Cram has also the interest of being a local man, born in Hampton Falls to the Unitarian minister William Augustine Cram, a graduate of PEA, while Ralph himself graduated from Exeter High School.

      Richard H. Finnegan '55 New York, NY

Editor's note: By all means, let's hear it for Messrs. Cram and Goodhue! You can read more about the church-its design, its history and its just completed renovation-in our spring 2003 issue.

An Addition to the Anthology

The article in the summer 2002 issue on the new senior elective Baseball: The American Narrative mentions that much of the assigned reading comes from Baseball: A Literary Anthology. The only alumnus mentioned as having an entry in the Anthology is George Plimpton '44.

There is actually another alumnus whose work appears in the book, although his name doesn't appear. My father, Richard Bissell '32, was asked in the spring of 1955 by the producers of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees to join the production team as a "script doctor." A year earlier my father had completed coauthoring (with George Abbott) the script of The Pajama Game, which had been based on his 1953 best-selling novel 7 1¼2 Cents (a fictional account of our family's shirt and pajama factory in Dubuque, IA). Flush from that success, the same production team was working a year later to adapt Douglass Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant into Damn Yankees. Six weeks before it opened, my father belatedly joined the team to add some more humor to the script. In return he was given a share in the copyright along with the two other writers (Abbott and Wallop), but on the understanding that he would never be listed in the show's program as one of the authors.

The text of Act One, Scene I of the show is on page 269 of the Anthology.

Incredibly, our family (including my brother Nathaniel '62) continues to receive copyright royalties today whenever the show is staged. As co-owners of the copyright, we even received a stack of complimentary copies of the Anthology!

      Thomas St.G. Bissell '60 Midland Park, NJ

Exoniana: Do You Remember?

Can you identify this mystery photo from the Academy Archives? What student activity pictured in this 1947 photo continues to the present day? Any memories that you care to share from any era are most welcome. The first person who sends (via U.S. mail only) the correct answer will win a prize. Answers and/or reminiscences will be published in the spring issue. Mail to Exoniana, c/o The Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Academy, Communications Office, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833. Answer to the last issue: Exonians raced to the finish to identify the Thompson Cage-one of many gifts to the Academy from Colonel William Boyce Thompson, class of 1890. David Hudson, director of athletics, offers these updated details: "Today, we still use the cage for a number of classes, sports and activities. In bad weather, the cage is used daily for indoor practice for spring and fall sports teams, as well as for practices and home meets and for the ninth-grade physical education program. For indoor hitting practice, the baseball team has a batting tunnel set up in the cage. Members of the Academy community use the suspended running track to run and walk." And The Winners Are: Joseph Merriam '41 of Brookline, MA, received an Exeter fleece vest. "It is, of course, the Exeter cage, built in 1928, set up with netting so that batting practice may take place, and with hurdles on the dirt floor. At my last visit the nets weren't there, but the dirt was, along with the odor, nostalgic enough to a member of the class of '41 (and essentially unchanged)." Ogden Bigelow JR. '46 of Old Saybrook, CT received a warm vest too. "I remember-not much else-the place as 'pre-1946.' It was the cage and was set up, as shown, for indoor spring track, baseball and lacrosse. "More importantly, it reminds me of a requirement that we all had to undergo pregraduation. You were weighed in at arrival on campus. You were weighed out before you left. In my case, I grew 11 inches during my senior year, and went from short and fat to tall. When it came time to weigh out, I tipped the scales at 205 pounds. Five pounds overweight-that was not to be. "So I took a year's supply of everything from my locker that should have been thrown out, put it all on and, looking like a stuffed pig, said I'd be back to try the scales again after I ran to work off the extra pounds. It took at least an hour and a half, maybe longer, but I achieved my next-to-last objective while at the Academy, to graduate officially under 200 pounds. Let the record show I weighed out at 198 1¼2." Back Then I believe it must be the interior of the baseball cage, built about 1930, when I was a senior. Harry M. Hoffheimer '30 Cincinnati, OH Rye, NY Track Major The picture brought back fond memories. I majored in track my four years at the Academy. As a prep before the cage was built, I remember vividly in the cold winter going out of the Thompson gym for a quick workout on the three-lap to a quarter-mile board track with raised turns. The cage was a welcome addition. The board track above the cinder track was used in preparation for the BAA relay against Andover. I ran this mile relay and beat Andover both times. Thanks for the memories. Allan F. Blackman '31 Kansas City, MO One big thrill I spent many happy hours here in the winters of 1936-37 and 1937-38. I was a baseball nut and the cage gave me a chance to play ball all winter long. It was here that I got one of the big thrills of my two years at Exeter. One day with a practice game going on, I was signaled to steal second base. I slid without sliding pads and could barely walk back to the bench. Sim Murch, the wonderful old baseball coach, asked me why I didn't have my sliding pads on. I told him I didn't have sliding pads, and he answered that I was going to be on the Academy baseball squad come spring and I should go to the equipment room and get the pads. Raspberry or no raspberry, I floated through air on my way back to Peabody. Sim Murch turned out to be like a father to me. He made my already happy Exeter experience even better. In later years I was privileged to sponsor a scholarship in Sim's name. Proctor H. Page Jr. '38 Shelburne, VT Winter Track Meets I recall seeing many winter track meets there in the days when Ralph Lovshin coached both winter and spring track. My roommate was on his teams. Colonel Beverly C. Snow Jr. '40 Fripp Island, SC Running Laps The net is hung so the baseball team, or anyone for that matter, may take batting practice. The net protects persons running around the upper track. Track teams also practiced and held meets in the Thompson Cage. Ran a few laps in there myself during my tenure at Exeter from 1938 to 1941. Stuart G. Hall '41 Hingham, MA Heads up I ran the 1,000 yards in the winter. I don't remember the nets, though! What were they for-to protect runners like me from pigeon droppings? Russell Hunter Ph.D. '43 Beverly Hills, CA Flying High I remember that if the weather was poor for too long in the spring, the baseball team would practice in the cage-thus the netting under the skylights. There was also an occasional weekend competition among some guys who made very light model airplanes, with wings of very thin balsa frames and a film for an airfoil. They had a rubber band-powered propeller that went quite slowly (I guess since it was large) and barely kept the plane in flight. The competition was to see whose plane stayed in the air the longest, and I remember many of the good ones bouncing off the netting, recovering and going back up to hit it again. Peter W. Franck '47 Hockessin, DE Off Track The cage was home (in my days at Exeter) to winter track, and was also used for early baseball practice in the spring. I ran cross country, the mile and the 1,000 yards, but I was not at all ready to do The Run. On a stupid bet, I ran 15 miles (160 laps) in the cage on an "off" weekend in March 1950. My friends carried me to the trainer's room, where Mr. Hyde treated me with a salve he swore was "made from the urine of a pregnant mare mule." It was as effective as impregnating a mule. My legs were knotted up so badly I could barely walk. Coach Ralph Lovshin was not amused the next weekend when I was entered in the mile at the Interscholastics at Bowdoin. The meet officials waved me off the track as the other runners were about to lap me for the third time. I suspect I still hold the 15-mile record in the cage. Wayne L. Tyson '51 Stamford, CT Anticipation I spent many winter afternoons as a member of the JV indoor track team, under the stern tutelage of Grill manager and JV track coach Bucky Bruce. I can remember how tense I would get in my last class on Wednesday morning, anticipating my 600-yard race that afternoon. We figured that the 600 was where they put those runners who had neither enough speed for the sprints nor enough endurance for the distance runs. Burt Bryan '61 Boston, MA Ode to Coach Lovshin My introduction to the Thompson Cage came from Coach Ralph Lovshin. The year was 1981, and I was a 17-year-old postgraduate senior from Quincy, MA, who had come to Exeter to play football and track and field. Coach Lovshin led me from his office in the old gym, through a tunnel and onto the wooden track that ran along a second level of the cage. As we stood at the railing looking down at this huge, dirt-covered floor, I turned and said eloquently, "It's dirt." He smiled and replied, "It's success!" We made our way down one of the steel spiral staircases that connected the top wooden track with a dirt track below. The dirt was hard packed like solid clay, and the lanes for the track were placed with precision by the topnotch buildings and grounds crew, using chalk like you would see on a baseball field. Coach Lovshin then led me across this mammoth expanse to an area on the opposite side of the cage and began to instruct me on the finer points of proper training for the shot put and discus. He would, during the course of that year, spend countless hours with me in the cage, preparing me not only to compete, but also, and more importantly, to appreciate the little things in life that make us who we are. Today I have a beautiful wife, Lori, and a 15-year-old daughter, Jessica, and although I've had a fairly successful career with the NFL, in track and field, at Walt Disney and now as an actor and stunt performer in the film and TV industry, I have found the greatest pleasure in being with my family. That's especially true when I help coach my daughter in the discus and shot put events at her high school. Sometimes when it's raining and the throwing areas look like mud baths, the kids will say, "It's too muddy or dirty." I fondly flashback to 1981 and reply, "It's success!" Thank you for bringing back so many wonderful memories of Exeter and my mentor, Coach Lovshin! Brian J. Donahue '81 Albertson, NY Little footsteps When I was a child growing up in Exeter in the 1950s, my friends and I would sneak in to the cage when the doors were unlocked and go upstairs and chase each other on the wooden track. Then we would go downstairs and swing on the ropes hanging down from the ceiling to the dirt floor. We thought this was great! Helen Gage (Staff) Madbury, NH Thank you for taking time to share your memories. -Alice Ann Gray

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