John Avlon ’91 Kicks Off Seminar Day 2016
What Happens When Centrists Are Marginalized? “If you’re tempted to disengage from politics as a result of this surrealist campaign, don’t,” students heard from John Avlon ’91, editor in chief of The Daily Beast and a CNN political analyst. Ceding political debate to “hyper-partisans” is partly to blame for the highly polarized state of Congress and political campaigns right now, he explained. John launched Seminar Day 2016 as the Sally Bowles ’56 Keynote Speaker. John has long advocated for the power and importance of political centrism, a level of discourse that has before...
Read MoreMilton Sailors Set Their Bar and Meet It
From the shore, sailing looks effortless. Handsome boats glide across the water. Milton sailors, however, testify to the mental and physical challenges. “I describe sailing as trying to do sit-ups while going through little hills and playing chess—all with one arm tied behind your back,” says Peter Baron ’17. Sailing team coach Patrick Broome says, “Sailing is intellectual. On the water, you need to figure out where the wind is coming from, what the tide is doing, where your team is, what the other team is doing, and where you need to be. As for the physical demands, a non-athlete...
Read MoreFrom Fifty to One: We’ll Take It a Day at a Time
After 42 years at Milton—24 of those years living in Robbins House—lots of adjustments loom ahead. One of these adjustments may not occur to most people as they think about retiring: Erica and I are going from living our everyday lives with at least fifty people to living with just one person: to living with each other. Fifty personal styles and fifty voices; fifty sets of needs and fifty senses of humor, or lack thereof; fifty cases of fatigue and fifty levels of energy; fifty fans of brownies and fifty pairs of willing ears. We’ve never had trouble coming up with things to talk about,...
Read MoreMark Hilgendorf
Mark Hilgendorf History and Social Sciences Department Member of the Faculty, 1982–2016 Of Mark Hilgendorf, one history department colleague said, “He is a master at inviting our connection with each other around the table,” of encouraging “a radical sense of shared humanity.” I’ll begin there, as perhaps there’s no higher praise for a career educator. For Mark, though, such connection was, from the beginning, the goal. He arrived at Milton 34 years ago, in 1982, with his wife, Cindy, and their two, very young children in tow, fresh out of a doctoral program in...
Read MoreErica Banderob
Erica Banderob Math Department and Robbins House Head Member of the Faculty, 1978–2016 Ricky came to work at Milton in 1978. John Banderob was working here already, and as former faculty member Donald Duncan recalls, “Ricky got the job, and it didn’t take very long before John realized that a treasure was teaching across the street.” However, Ricky is much more than the other half of the indomitable Banderob team. She stands up for what is just and fair, often looking at a situation from the student perspective. In fact, it is hard to imagine the School without Ricky here to ask...
Read MoreDoug Fricke
Doug Fricke English Department Member of the Faculty, 1987–2016 Stroll. Amble. Meander. Stride. When we think of Doug, he is always walking with steady purpose—never haste—seeking out two things: good company and new experiences. Young and old alike marvel at his 500-mile walks across Spain’s Camino de Santiago, but with postal regularity Doug takes to the hallways between classes, always popping in to his colleagues’ rooms, a story, a recipe, a follow-up comment on the tip of his tongue. Just the other day, he walked to Cambridge to join former students for dinner, a trip he has...
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