Book: About the House, By Jenny Slate ’00
About the House By Jenny Slate ’00 Jenny Slate, acclaimed comedienne and actress, joined her writer-poet father Ron Slate to create About the House—a collection of essays revolving around their family home in the Town of Milton. The rooms and corners of a rambling Colonial built in 1898, and purchased by the Slates in 1980, set the stage for Ron and Jenny, in alternating chapters, to share memories attached to the spaces, weaving an intimate and compelling family memoir. Jenny and Ron chose Concord Free Press as their publisher, an enterprise founded by Stona and Ann Fitch. The press...
Read MoreArt: Timekeeper, by Sarah Sze ’87
Timekeeper Sarah Sze ’87 Sarah Sze’s latest work, Timekeeper, is an experiential piece whose projections chase one another around the walls of the Foster Gallery at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum. Video footage that includes digital clocks, running cheetahs, splashing liquids, and buildings being demolished is projected from dozens of whirring devices situated on a structure created from an unexpected and inspired collection of objects and elements. Timekeeper addresses how we measure time, countering actual clocks with more capricious measures. One reviewer writes, “Timekeeper...
Read MoreFilm: 72 Hours: A Brooklyn Love Story? By Raafi Rivero ’95
72 Hours: A Brooklyn Love Story? Raafi Rivero ’95 Based on a short film by Bilal Ndongo, Raafi Rivero’s 72 Hours: A Brooklyn Love Story? follows 18-year-old Caesar Winslow, a restless, ambitious and charismatic Brooklynite facing the decision to leave his neighborhood for a full scholarship at a prestigious university. Told over the three days before he’s scheduled to leave, the film chronicles events and choices that unravel his confidence and force him to question everything: His girlfriend breaks up with him and the “woman of his dreams” won’t give him the time of day. His...
Read MoreBook: The Crisis of Classical Music in America, by Robert Freeman ’53
The Crisis of Classical Music in America: Lessons from a Life in the Education of Musicians Robert Freeman ’53 The Crisis of Classical Music in America discusses solutions for the many American classically trained musicians who face diminishing opportunities for full-time employment. An experienced observer, Robert Freeman asserts that schools training future instrumentalists, composers, conductors, and singers need to equip students with the communication and analytical skills to succeed in the rapidly changing music scene. His book offers a range of reforms for advanced music...
Read MoreEmbedded. In the Lives and deepest hopes of the Arab Spring protesters, Robert Worth’s stories illuminate an inaccessible world, Robert Worth ’83
Looking professorial in a soft blue shirt and unstructured corduroy sport jacket, Robert Worth speaks quietly and intensely. Robert’s book, A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to Isis, was published in April 2016 to significant acclaim. He is both erudite and unpretentious, answering questions with patience. Imagining Robert perched in the back of a pickup truck among exuberant Libyans who are shooting into the air and hurtling at top speed across a “debris-strewn” desert is a stretch. Likewise, you must work to configure the scene of Robert sitting...
Read MoreLove Plying the Sky. Already a pilot in Class I, Nancy Harkness Love founded the World War II Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, Nancy Harkness Love ’31
by Mary McCutcheon ’65 Imagine enjoying a beautiful autumn afternoon on the Quad. Suddenly your tranquility is shattered by an airplane descending perilously low over the chapel and rattling off the top of one of the crenellations. This happened one Sunday in the fall of 1930. The usual suspects were the daredevil Fuller brothers, both of whom had pilot’s licenses. But, to the astonishment of the administration, the culprit proved to be a girl! It was the demure and pretty senior, Nancy Harkness. I remember my Class I year at Milton. It was 1965 and I, too, was captivated by flying. On...
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