School Story:
[From 50th Reunion Yearbook...]
Retired dentist, self-employed
BA Brandeis Univ. 1961; DDS N.Y.U. 1965
Wife Adrienne; Children Lenny, Julie; Grandchildren Matthew and Emily
My wife's been after me for months to reply to the yearbook entry. It's not my thing. I'm not big on reminiscing, reflecting, ruminating. But forced to sit down (by a sweet but sometimes dictatorial wife whom I met at Brandeis), memories start groggily inching along on foggy brain circuitry and suddenly I become mindful of some formative events from my Mount Hermon days.
***Bible I - Rev. Jud Stent - first term grade: C. Rev. Stent is assigned to my table. He pulls me aside after lunch and says, "You should be ashamed, a Jewish boy getting a C on the Old Testament." What an impact! I hardly missed an answer the 2nd semester. No one had ever pointedly demanded a better effort from me.
***Same teacher, Sophomore English. The assignment: write a poem. In class, he reads some good examples. I think Lee Charbonneau's and Shorey Chapman's stood out. Then he reads what he calls a well-meaning but poor example (no name, fortunately). Yes, it was mine. Right there, I wrote off Poet as a possible career choice!
*** Sophomore farm work was certainly a Hermon highlight. In what order would you rank the following jobs? Pig feeding detail, pig killing detail, chicken killing detail, cow manure shoveling, and coal car shoveling. My preference would be cow sh-t shoveling, which would indicate the level of loathing I had to the other endeavors.
On a more positive note, my soccer experience was very rewarding. My level of conditioning at that time had helped me as a 30-something to remember what it was like to be in shape and to pursue a good level of fitness. I maintained my interest in the game by helping to form a youth soccer league in my community and being a coach for many years. I'll never forget the skill of Harald Jensen, the finest scholastic player I ever saw.
I enjoyed my 37 year inner-city dental career (except for a bad back which has curtailed my tennis and running activities). Some limited golf with 600 mg of ibuprofen is my only athletic outlet.
I retired in 2005 and moved from Connecticut to Jupiter, Florida. We are happy with our choice and look forward to many visits with our 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Florida Atlantic University is nearby, housing a new Lifelong Learning Society which offers courses that we are taking full advantage of.
I never had much time or interest in working the soil up North but have dug in pretty heavily down here. I love walking around the yard every day checking the results of my horticultural efforts. No hurricanes this year (so far) so no major clean-up and restoration projects that Hurricane Wilma necessitated.
Having considerable time to devote to studying world events, I am dismayed by much of what I see, as I'm sure many of you are. We lived through hot war, nuclear threat, hot war, cold war, and now hot war, nuclear threat, and terrorism. I never imagined the world would be in its worst turmoil at this stage of my life. I am trying to stay informed and use my little influence in a positive way.
Well, those are my rambling thoughts. My four years at Mount Hermon provided the opportunity to develop an independence which was invaluable during my next eight years of study. The academic challenge was never greater than my senior year with trig, analytic geometry, physics, Honors English etc. I was well prepared for the next stage.
