Rob Farnham’s West Coast Trip

Rob visited several classmates on a trip to the West Coast April 16^th to 21^st, 2018. Here’s his report:

Andy Fleming: You are traveling abroad and hear through a neighbor’s loose communication that the Santa Rosa fires are close and then receive a further message that your house is now an ash heap. This is miscommunication in the Internet world, he thought. He and his wife went into denial. But, his house did burn down (the Tubbs fire alone took down 2800 homes and burned 34,000 acres) and they returned to wrestle with insurance and living with their children for 30 days before relocating to an apartment in downtown Santa Rosa. They intend to rebuild on the same site.

Upon graduation, Andy applied in North Adams for a conscientious objector designation after receiving a dreaded number, #154. When the draft board later stated no number over #150 would be so drafted he moved to Chicago and drifted until an assignment to the National Health Board in San Francisco was offered. Studying various disease-related issues in the hot bed of a drug culture at the time, Andy later decided to attend a program teaching machinist skills. He does not philosophize as to the why, except the challenge and satisfaction of working with one’s hands and mind simultaneously clearly spoke to him at the time. He parlayed that education into the high precision machine shop at Hewlett Packard. Precision measurements of the parts for computer manufacture led him to work developing the calibration devices necessary to measure the micron tolerances so associated.

What the Williams education gave was clarity of expression and the ability to write in simple, declarative sentences what the engineers were producing while explaining the technical foundation the work was based on. Most could not do this.

Gary Barth: “ I wrote my senior paper for the Williams in India program on Emptiness.

Years later in a private meeting with the Dalai Lama, I asked him, ‘if I can’t find a Tibetan teacher who speaks English, what do you think about studying with one of the California based Zen Masters?’ His prescient answer, given with a chuckle: ‘I think the Tibetan emptiness is bigger.’

Truly amazing answer: truthful and a Zen koan back to me: how could something without dimension have inferior dimension?”

Gary has continued over the years as a participant in programs abroad to reduce blindness through pro-bono cataract surgery and corneal transplant operations. His eye surgery practice in Santa Rosa includes 7 surgeons and he serves on the Board of the Seva Foundation for the prevention of blindness.

He reminisces about his Long Island high school where he played lacrosse for Renzi Lamb, the now retired coach of Williams lacrosse. He states when he found out Williams was looking for a new coach he called Renzi about the opening.
Like so many classmates, he found intellectual stimulation in those “under the radar” discussions or meetings, the importance often not recognized till later in life. He found a pocket of individuals through the Religion Department (Prof. Eusden) that would gather to discuss moral issues or subject matter pertinent to the day. Some students and some faculty members from other disciplines. He views these moments as quintessential Williams and impactful later in life. The sharing of ideas with mental space enough for various world views and questions one needs to unravel on his own.

Wynne Carvill: Currently serves on the Alameda County Superior Court in CA a position held since 2003. He, too, participated in the Williams in India program and remembers Scott Miller, Bill Loomis, Dale Riehl ’72 and Steve Kendrick ’72.

What was seminal in his development was the manner Prof. Gaudino conducted his classes. Gaudino did not judge nor indicate his own conclusions, but attempted to penetrate other’s viewpoints and the respective influences on the thought process. What was the foundation of the thinking: family, culture, geography or experiential factors? Out of this exposure developed a blend of listening to one another and attempting to give credence to viewpoints distinctly different than one’s own.

For two years now he will head the Administration of the ACSC dealing with human resources, budgets, etc. “Someone has to do it”, was the refrain of his professional brethren. And, “Don’t get into arguments with the LA County system regarding budgets, because they always win.”

He notes distinctions in character in what comes before the courts from different municipalities, even those with contiguous borders. With understanding, he expresses the complex interface of economic, cultural and police management issues that give rise to the court proceedings.

Bruce Irvine: For a man who later in life suffered significant heart issues and is now under chemotherapy for lung cancer, Bruce has a quiet strength without victimhood entering his philosophic outlook. Directly after graduation he returned to CA (a Los Angeles high school experience) and tended bar. He then managed a racket ball facility for five years before joining a California bank within its retail division. The retail experience led him to a position in the commercial banking network of the same bank where he served as a relationship manager for 20+ years.

He remembers his Williams experience with a thought without chronicling the detail: “I believe I was too young to enter Williams at age 17.” Prodded slightly for further insight, he considered momentarily before stating, “My high school was pretty restrictive. Too much freedom at Williams.”

He asked about Mike Caruso and said Mike was his roommate. He would very much like to see him again.

Jane Gardner: One of the 7 females graduating with our Class. She spent two years at the College and was part of the “Gaudino” nexus with Wynne Carvill, Bill Loomis and Metzger. She remembers Clay Hunt and Samuels of the English Department fondly and received a Watson Fellowship, which she utilized to study Dante in Italy with the same mentor Clay Hunt studied with during his formative years. This was a one-year course of study, but she found this a “lonely experience”.

A career in advertising recently morphed into a partnership using a skill set honed in her previous profession, but unrelated. One project this partnership structured along with other foundations is the “Big Lift”, a reading program in San Mateo County in CA for children in the third grade and lower. A holistic approach with interfaces with family, etc. to imbue the children with an interest and desire to read and learn. Third grade and lower is the key according to research and studies she was instrumental in.

Not sure her insights into the experience of being female at the College are meaningful, she notes, “the experience was the experience”. Although in another discussion she mentioned the visceral experience of the “ferment of the late sixties”.

Frank Murray: One of 11 children from Dallas. The mother of a friend who attended Harvard suggested he look at Williams. He ordered course catalogs from Williams, Amherst, Princeton and Notre Dame (his Mom’s choice). “ND was too big”, so he read all the catalogs and could tell, “Williams was the place for me with its emphasis on teaching”.

Frank has spent 30+ years teaching at St. Mary’s College in Maraga, CA, a Christian Brothers affiliated enterprise (the French derivative). The curriculum utilizes the Great Books as mandatory for of all students for a portion of their education. The history of this arm of the Christian Brothers included the education of the poor and 1/3 of St. Mary’s student body is Pell eligible and ½ is comprised of ethnic minorities.

Frank returned to Dallas after graduation and applied to the Dallas Draft Board for conscientious objector status. Four Board members were WW II veterans with little sympathy for a CO. Rubber stamping, No, was an efficient way to work through the files. A family friend, a veteran himself, indicated he “despised” what Frank was doing, but would write a letter verifying Frank’s honesty and integrity. This was the only item the Board read in his file and concluded he should be given the CO status. The two-year commitment included an experience at a pre-trial holding facility within the prison system.

Frank was recruited to teach at his Dallas high school, which he did, until he decided he did not want to be another, “Mr. Chips”, so he completed a Masters degree in English Literature at Stanford.

An application to St. Mary’s was accepted and 30+ years of teaching crosses other disciplines besides English Lit. One is the theater. He mentions occasions when David Strathairn is in San Francisco performing of taking several theater students into town to meet Strathairn at the Café Mason just outside one of the performing arts venues there. Discussions regarding the art form from a practitioner are a lot like Mark Hopkins sitting on one end of the log.

John Barkan: John is another classmate with two professions under his belt including the earlier one spent in the advertising world. He then pursued his teaching credentials and recently finished a 20+ year career in education in San Francisco.

John is originally from San Francisco and met wife, Joan, at Skidmore. As a lifer in San Francisco he remains living in the first house purchased over 40 years ago and recently renovated portions of the structure, to which he states, “never again”.

Travelling and grand kids are now his focus.

Ned Palmer: Ned now lives on Bainbridge Island in WA, the home of the Bloedel Reserve (worth a visit for the gardens). His wife, Susan, spent two semesters from Mt. Holyoke at the College.

Ned tells of acquiring his pilot’s license at North Adams just before graduation and remembers Rick Beinecke also taking lessons there at the time. Like all rookies he had a harrowing story of a flight to Milwaukee through stormy weather. I wondered if such buffeting was valuable in his career in banking (NYC?).

Ned spends some time in Hawaii each winter and indicated he visited with Jim Tam there recently. He also returned to the College in 2012 to attend the Charlie Waigi ’72 Bicentennial Medal ceremony. Waigi is currently working in Kenya and Ned is involved with a group spearheaded by Waigi.

Camille Townsend: Camille is a Smith grad and attended the College for two semesters. Born and raised in PA she headed the development department for 30+ years for a private elementary school with 600 students.

Williams was an opportunity to change her environment and dislodge herself from whatever rut seems to haunt all of us on occasion during a College career. She was a geology and art history major so the curriculum at Williams was robust enough. Character traits allowing change to enter her life are now on display as she moved to Seattle three years ago to be near her daughter and granddaughter. With another potential move to Durango, CO in the near future the vagaries of life are settling around her with new equanimity.

Asked what the Williams exchange experience was like, she indicated there were few issues of real friction. The occasional bathroom facility mix-up, the lack of swimming time for women in the pool (men swim nude, “supposedly”), but negative friction from gender bias was largely absent from her experience. She thought the Administration (Nancy McIntire) did an admirable job in transitioning for female students.

In answer to, what motivates you now?, she states, “I have not figured that out yet. Possibly some volunteer work within the art world. A gallery or other.”

Jim Stearns: A law degree from Georgetown University had a curious and somewhat Byzantine relationship to Jim’s pathway. After moving to Rochester and a job reviewing contracts for software, he was counseled to learn more about the technology he was reviewing. This is understandable given items such as vocabulary, technical nuance and product differentiation. So he took math courses and computer science (old Fortran) and “got hooked”.

At this time in his career owning a computer store appeared to offer entrance into the future and with a partner he opened one. “This was a good idea, but ten other individuals in the same location had the same idea and the business did not work out”.

Joining Hewlett Packard, however, where he served for over 20 years in several divisions did. When he was assigned to a division of HP in Columbus, Ohio he finished a Masters in computer science at Ohio State. He also served HP in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, CO.

Now with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Seattle, Jim is working on a project to move the data gathering for commercial fisheries from paper to the digital age. Counts within any catch including volumes, sizes and species and are cumbersomely created. Ask Jim about the software and technology.

David Albert: A discussion with David leads to many roads on a path less travelled, but few statements can spark an intrigue more than, “Good things happened to me when I had no money”. From a blue-collar family and a Queens, NY location, he attended a magnet school in Manhattan. The family was gifted musically and Professor Shainman influenced his choice of Williams.

His time at Williams included some friction with classmates whose families were considered wealthy, but his exposure to their parents became an influence for future pursuits. Conversations with those parents included acts of philanthropy with non-profit organizations and travel to foreign countries. These became a touchstone.

He notes one of those “under the radar moments” when listening to the Williams Radio program one night where they played a musical piece using a veena. He did not know the instrument, but researched it (Indian), found it of some fascination and now acknowledges it as the germination of his interest in the country.

During his two-year study at Oxford under a Carol Wilson Fellowship, he bemoaned the lack of funds to travel extensively to other near and distant countries. He did, however, find an overland route to travel to Tehran, Iran to meet up with an Iranian student class of ’73 that David believes was a “trial” for Shah Pahlavi’s son to attend the College. He followed Oxford with a degree from the Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago.

He concluded these academic peregrinations by being a founding member of New Society Publishers, a non-profit publisher of books as tools to help build a new society. His writings on home schooling, which he and partner, Ellen, accomplished with their two children, are considered definitive works on the subject and published by the enterprise. I left his house with five to read.

In 2006 David was discussing water projects in under-developed countries with a friend and in 2009 they raised the funding to start a non-profit organization, Friendly Water of the World, which utilizes bio-sand filters, a low-cost technology. He is the current chairman. When asked what country they should initiate a program he said, “Burundi because it’s the second poorest country in the world”.