Palm Beach Nasty by Tom Turner ’66
Palm Beach Nasty by Tom Turner ’66 Permanent Press, April 2015 Burned-out, New York homicide cop Charlie Crawford goes south to steamy Palm Beach, Florida, but after six months of pink- and green-collar crime, he’s bored out of his mind. Palm Beach has plenty of glitz, glam and hedonism, but not one murder in the last ten years. One Halloween night, Crawford is first on the scene to find a 20-year-old male swinging from a stately banyan tree. This sets in motion colliding plots involving a billionaire with a thing for young girls, a...
read moreKQED Is Executing a Pivot: Anne Avis ’77
“Part of the value and the beauty of the public media system,” Anne Avis says, “is that it reaches 99 percent of the country through this network of independently run local stations.” Not only in hip, urban centers but in remote, rural areas, NPR stations air news that is intensely local, as well as regional, national and global.“We need all of that news,” Anne says, “to make real and important decisions about the people and issues that affect our lives. That’s why public media is so important to democracy.” Anne recently...
read moreDiscovery: A Personal Model, a Business Model Ashley Fouts ’94
Last December, Ashley Fouts moved away from a lab bench. That is, away from her own lab bench. At Genentech, she began a new job keeping track of a molecule and the teams working on it. As a project manager, she facilitates the myriad decisions that are necessary to turn breakthrough science at the bench into life-changing drugs for patients. Genentech’s business is discovery. Genentech wants to be “the leading biotechnology company, using human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize medicines to treat...
read moreIn Sight, Spring 2015
Beatnik Nanseera Wolff, Class IV, Robbins House. Photo by Michael Dwyer.
read moreRecraft a Company to Create a Lifestyle Brand: David Pun ’99
Everyone has a favorite pair of jeans. Whether it’s a worn pair that has seen better days or a designer pair that fits just right, jeans are a personal wardrobe staple. David Pun’s jeans are works of art. He is the enthusiastic chairman and CEO of Evisu, a Japanese lifestyle fashion brand best known for producing jeans with high-quality craftsmanship, vintage buttons and hand-painted details.Six years ago, David was working for a private equity firm and Evisu was one of the portfolio companies. According to David, Evisu was “grossly...
read moreHeaded for Mars, On Schedule
Ryan Sebastian ’06 and Harry O’Hanley ’06 of SpaceX are designing and executing breakthrough aeronautics. Ryan Sebastian and Harry O’Hanley, graduates in the Class of 2006 who were also Class IV roommates in Goodwin, are among the designers, engineers and fabrication specialists working on breakthrough aeronautics at the massive SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Ryan and Harry are immersed — for many intense hours every day — in the design and operations of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Reaching beyond what many...
read moreThe Power of a Posse: Lamont Gordon ’87
Growing up in Washington, D.C., son of a single father, Lamont Gordon ’87 attended seven different schools through eighth grade. Most of his family didn’t graduate from high school; no one had gone to college. When he discovered Milton through a summer enrichment program, boarding school was an unknown concept. Buoyed by an admission brochure and encouragement from his father, Lamont applied and earned a full scholarship. Move-in day was the first time he set foot on Milton’s campus. “Milton was a great opportunity for me, but it was...
read moreMentors: Honest Talk About Teaching
You won’t catch Lydia Thorp walking. If she runs she can get where she needs to be on campus, just barely. Lydia has taught Spanish at Milton since 2010, and she lives in Millet House. Twice each week she also attends classes taught by new Milton faculty members. She sits alongside students taking Spanish III with José Benítez-Meléndez; and she leans on the art tables with students in the Drawing course that Jenny Hughes teaches. Each week Lydia also meets with José and with Jenny separately, so they can talk about what she observed....
read moreEngineering Solutions for a Species in Peril
“Engineering is the future, and young people are primed to learn about it,” says Phoebe Ryles, Milton’s Lower School woodworking teacher. “To design and construct, children have to think through steps and decide what should come next. You just need the right project to launch 8-year-olds into this work.” Inspired by a program on cutting-edge engineering curriculum developed by the Museum of Science, Phoebe leveraged the Grade 3 Monarch butterfly unit. Phoebe charged her students with researching, designing, building and installing a...
read moreFaculty Facts: The Lives They Lead
Teacher: a person or thing that teaches something; especially: a person whose job is to teach students about certain subjects (Merriam-Webster) Does that include being house heads, class deans, coaches, advisors, coordinators and sponsors? Does it include weekend dorm duty, driving students to the airport or community service, directing plays, choreographing dance concerts, running music rehearsals, leading hikes, or chaperoning dances? College “Recs” Faculty each write, on average, six to twelve college recommendations per year....
read moreHall of Famer Coach Mac Reaches 200 Career Wins
by Liz Matson A perfect day for football. Cool and breezy with peeks of sun. The last game of the season against rival Nobles and Greenough. As always, Coach Kevin MacDonald, or“Coach Mac,” is the first to arrive at the Robert Saltonstall Gym — getting organized and filling water jugs. A man of habits and rituals, he calls himself “obsessive compulsive.” “I always sleep the night before, but before games, I’m very nervous,” says Coach Mac, who was inducted into the Massachusetts Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame...
read moreJustin Yoon ’15, a National Top Ranked Kicker
When Justin Yoon ’15 first arrived at Milton in Class IV, his athletic focus was hockey. This spring, he graduates as one of the top-ranked high school football kickers in the country and will bring his talent to Notre Dame. He will be the starting kicker for the Fighting Irish and a student in the Mendoza College of Business. From Nashville, Tennessee, Justin started playing football in eighth grade, after a middle school coach took notice of his soccer kicking skills. He pursued this kicking talent at summer football camps. His spot-on,...
read moreJohn P. Reardon ’56 Receives the Milton Medal
On January 23, 2015, the Milton Academy Board of Trustees awarded the Milton Medal to Jack Reardon, a longtime trustee and a wise and loyal supporter of his School. Head of School Todd Bland recalled the dinner meeting in 2008 that he and his wife, Nancy, shared with Jack Reardon and Brad Bloom — an evening that solidified Todd’s decision to serve as Milton’s head of school. He spoke about the supportive care and insight that Jack reliably and generously provided throughout Todd’s last six years. Similarly, Brad Bloom credited Jack...
read moreRandall L. Kennedy Shares His Thoughts on Race Relations in America
Milton’s 48th War Memorial speaker, Professor Randall L. Kennedy, told students, alumni and parents that despite “a chasm that separates the circumstances in which whites and blacks typically find themselves,” he is still an optimist about race relations in the United States. Professor Kennedy is the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, where he teaches in the fields of criminal law, contracts, and the regulation of race relations. In September, Professor Kennedy continued an important Milton tradition that brings to campus...
read moreAmong College Students and Professionals, Milton Seniors Win First Prize at MIT’s Hackathon
Neekon Vafa ’15 and Harry Kwon ’15 took their computer program-ming skills to a whole new level when they participated in — and placed first at — MIT’s Internet of Things Hackathon in October. A hackathon is an event in which computer programmers and software developers collaborate intensively on software projects. “The spirit of a hackathon isn’t competitive,” says Harry. “Everyone goes there to learn, even the most experienced programmers.” Most of the attendees are working professionals; Neekon and Harry were the...
read moreVolleyball Earns ISL Title in Record Season
With chanting fans packing the ACC, the atmosphere was electric as the girls’ volleyball team faced off against Nobles and Greenough in the final game of their regular season. The Mustangs blocked and spiked their way to a thrilling 3–0 victory. With only two losses to ISL teams this season, this win clinched the league championship title and earned the team a spot in the New England playoffs. “For that hour and a half, the girls were rock stars out there,” says Derek Palmore, varsity coach and Middle School faculty member. Last year...
read moreDr. Eyster Fuses Biology and Art as She “Looks Closely”
Linde Eyster enjoys looking closely at things — as a scientist, as a teacher, and as a photographer. For the past few years, she focused on the natural environment in her backyard garden, photographing a range of organisms with a macro lens. The result was a stunning, colorful collection that was on exhibition in Pieh Commons in October. “I wanted the photos to tell biological stories,” says Linde, who has taught a variety of life science courses at Milton since 1990. “So, you’re not just looking at a photo of two ants. You are...
read moreA Tricycle Rides Back to Milton
A new art installation hanging from the rafters in the Art and Media Center completes a circle that began with two inquisitive students in the late 1970s. David Rabkin ’79 and Justin Aborn ’79 were in their junior year when they built a large, recumbent tricycle called the “A-Rab.” “Both of us were fiddlers,” says David, who is now the Farinon Director for Current Science and Technology at the Museum of Science in Boston. “We liked building, and we were always taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. The idea of the...
read moreMaysoon Zayid
Maysoon Zayid — comedian, actress and activist — was the 2015 Margaret A. Johnson Speaker. Born with cerebral palsy, Ms. Zayid is a powerful advocate for the disabled. She told stories about growing up in New Jersey, where she was accepted for who she was. But as a theater major in college and a struggling actress pursuing a career, Ms. Zayid realized that disabled people were almost nonexistent in the entertainment industry. She has appeared on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” Comedy Central, PBS, CNN, HBO, MTV, ABC and...
read moreMichael A. McKenna
Mike McKenna, network manager of Milton’s Academy Technology Services department, delivered this year’s Veterans Day assembly speech to students as a proud and accomplished veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Growing up in Manville, Rhode Island — home to the country’s first World War I monument — he knew and admired many American veterans. Enlisting at age 19, Mr. McKenna spent ten years as a U.S. Marine. “The military can provide you with invaluable experiences: an education, leadership opportunities,...
read moreJunot Díaz
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Junot Díaz spoke with students not only as a creative writer, but also as a Dominican American immigrant and an activist. Hosted by Milton’s student Latino Association, Mr. Díaz answered questions from a packed room of students, on topics ranging from the writing process to the response to Ferguson, from gender equity to immigration. Mr. Díaz is the author of several books, including The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, for which he earned the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008. He is a creative writing...
read moreBlake Gilpin
This year’s Henry R. Heyburn ’39 Speaker in History, Professor Blake Gilpin, used his expertise on the 1850s abolitionist John Brown to illustrate how the narratives of history are created: by combining fact, perspective, and sometimes imagination. Dr. Gilpin, a professor of history at Tulane University, has spent a decade studying John Brown and the cultural phenomena surrounding the man and his legend. His book John Brown Still Lives!: America’s Long Reckoning with Violence, Equality, and Change was a finalist for Gilder Lehrman...
read moreAnand Giridharadas
Journalist Anand Giridharadas had an “almost American life” growing up. Born in Ohio, the son of Indian immigrants, he shared with students the story of what led him to live in India for six years. A New York Times columnist and the author of India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking, Mr. Giridharadas was this year’s Hong Kong Distinguished Lecturer. “The country I grew up with in my mind was giving way to a different India. It was a revolution from within . . . The changes had to do with people revolting against...
read moreDonald Johnson
Dr. Donald Johnson — English professor and poet in residence at East Tennessee State University — was last fall’s Bingham Visiting Reader. In honor of Veterans Day, Dr. Johnson began his reading with two poems about soldiers and war. The first, “The Sergeant,” was inspired by his father, a World War II veteran who later commanded a squad of the Honor Guard that traveled through West Virginia. The second poem he read, titled “Point Lookout, Maryland,” recalled the American Civil War. An avid sports fan and accomplished...
read moreDebby Irving
Activist and author Debby Irving talked with students about what she explained as an epidemic of “white silence.” Ms. Irving, this year’s Multiculturalism and Community Development Speaker, said that when it comes to racism in the United States, white people must be part of “cross-racial conversations” in order to make progress on racial divisions and injustices. A graduate of the Winsor School in Boston, Ms. Irving holds a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College and an M.B.A. from Simmons College. She is the author of Waking Up...
read moreJennifer Finney Boylan
What does it mean to be transgender? What is gender identity? This year’s Talbot Speaker, Professor Jennifer Finney Boylan, answered these questions for students and faculty, with charm, personal anecdotes, and compassionate advice. Professor Boylan is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer-in-Residence at Barnard College and the author of She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders. “The question is not how you go from being a man to a woman, or a woman to a man. The real question is: How do you live an authentic life? How do you be you, out in...
read moreComeback
by Jim Connolly, English faculty Jim Connolly of the English department, who has taught creative writing at Milton since 1983, has long been a poet and writer of fiction. The textbook devoted to teaching poetry that Jim developed is unique in including students’ writing and commentary. He has shared this text with many educators — individual practitioners eager to maximize their effectiveness in the discrete art of understanding teaching and teaching poetry. Jim’s poem, “Comeback,” is included in his recently published...
read more“Leave Room to Be Surprised”
by Todd B. Bland Every Wednesday morning, I look forward to sitting around the Harkness table with the 14 students in my section of Senior Transitions. This course is designed to help Class I students manage the complexities of senior year and the college admission process, and focus on how to make a smooth and healthy transition from high school to college. Senior Transitions is one of four courses in Milton’s Affective Education program that all students take over their Milton years. During this year, we focus explicitly on life questions:...
read moreThe Social Profit Handbook: The Essential Guide to Setting Goals, Assessing Outcomes, and Achieving Success for Mission-Driven Organizations by David Grant, former faculty
The Social Profit Handbook: The Essential Guide to Setting Goals, Assessing Outcomes, and Achieving Success for Mission-Driven Organizations by David Grant, former faculty Chelsea Green Publishing, Spring 2015 People working in non-profit organizations can and will lead us out of our world’s “mess,” David Grant believes, but to achieve that, they have to change the way they think about assessment — measuring their success. To begin with, David argues for a shift in vocabulary. We are familiar with organizations that create or...
read moreOut of Left Field by Liza Ketchum ’64
Out of Left Field by Liza Ketchum ’64 Untreed Reads, July 2014 The summer of 2004 is full of promise for Brandon McGinnis. He has a job, a spot on the varsity swim team, loving parents, and loyal friends. Brandon and his dad, ardent Red Sox fans, wonder: Could this be the year the Sox finally win the World Series? Then Brandon’s father dies suddenly. His will, signed just before his death, reveals a secret kept for 30 years. As shadows of the Vietnam War bleed into the escalating war in Iraq, Brandon sets out to solve the mystery his...
read moreThe Big Trip: A Family Gap Year by Martha McManamy ’75
The Big Trip: A Family Gap Year by Martha McManamy ’75 Lulu Publishing, July 2014 Taking a year off from the “rat race” is an idle dream for many, but the McManamy family — including their three teenagers — decided to make it happen. The Big Trip: A Family Gap Year tells how they put high school, college and work on hold while they learned Spanish in Spain and volunteered in Bolivia, Guatemala and Kenya. Choosing home stays and local transportation over hotels and rental cars, they undertook a deeply immersive journey...
read moreThe Season of Migration: A Novel by Nellie Hermann ’96
The Season of Migration: A Novel by Nellie Hermann ’96 Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January 2015 Vincent van Gogh is one of the most popular painters of all time, and yet we know very little about the difficult period in his youth when he and his brother, Theo, broke off all contact. In The Season of Migration, Nellie Hermann conjures a profoundly imaginative, original and heartbreaking vision of Van Gogh’s early years. In startlingly beautiful and powerful language, Hermann transforms our understanding of Van Gogh and the redemptive power...
read moreA Kinder, Gentler Place: An Appeal to My Contemporaries
By Martha Rose Shulman When I graduated from Milton Academy in 1968, I did not look back. I kept in touch with close friends and a few of my teachers, and I visited the school once, but I never went to a class reunion and I never donated. Nor did my sister (Class of 1967). I always appreciated the amazing education I got at Milton, especially because I didn’t go on to lead a conventional life, and I’ve always believed that my Milton education gave me the intellectual confidence to do that. But I do not have fond memories of my time...
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