Alumni News
12/30/11
Steven Gregory DS'07 passed away on December 21, 2011. After leaving Deep Springs, Steven attended Bard College, from which he graduated last year. At the time of his death he was living at home in Churchville, Pennsylvania, preparing to pursue graduate work in English as preparation for a teaching career.
Deep Springs was represented at Steven's December 28th memorial service by President David Neidorf, Toby Altman DS'06, Brian Judge, Nate Sibinga, and Charles Pletcher (all DS'07), and Steve Carmody DS'08. His fellow students recalled Steven's love of poetry and working with animals, and his habit, when working as feedman, of singing to the fresh eggs from the henhouse as he washed them.
11/15/11
Norton Dodge, DS'43 CB'46 TA'46, passed away on November 5, 2011. Dodge was emeritus professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of Maryland and the University of Maryland. Deep Springers knew him as a classmate, teacher, and host on Cremona, his 1,000-acre Maryland farm and vineyard. The world knew Dodge best as a collector of dissident art from the Soviet Union, who accumulated one of the largest collections of "unofficial" Soviet art in the world.
Dodge was born on June 15, 1927, in Oklahoma City. He completed two years of high school at the Southern Arizona School, where he was at the top of his class, the secretary of the governing council, and a member of the Boys' Roping Association (he won second place in roping at two Tucson rodeos). He entered Deep Springs after his sophomore year in high school, at the age of sixteen, bringing his own saddle with him. Dodge intended to study engineering and art (he listed "collecting commercial art" as one of his hobbies). His interest in art had been piqued when his father-then dean of the graduate school at the University of Oklahoma-set up a campus art studio for Native Americans.
At Deep Springs, Dodge served as student body president, student trustee, and a "tough labor commissioner," as Bob Gatje DS'44 recalls. In a publication by Saint Mary's College of Maryland, Dodge recalls learning an important lesson about gregarious animals and politics at Deep Springs. He recalls "driving a hundred head herd of cattle one time, with a certain cow who thought its calf was left behind and kept turning back to find it. I kept having to retrieve this stubborn cow so it would rejoin the herd and find its calf, but it kept turning back. Exasperated, I thought if I'd had a pistol I'd have liked to shoot it. I then recognized that I was thinking like a dictator - like Hitler or Stalin who brooked no dissent from their citizens. I learned a lesson from this event about the fragility of democratic ideals, a lesson which increased my respect later for Soviet dissidents and encouraged my efforts to help them."
Director Simon Whitney DS'19 encouraged Dodge's interest in economics at Deep Springs. After graduating, Dodge matriculated at Cornell, living at the Telluride House and joining the Telluride Association. After completing an MA in the Russian Regional Studies Program at Harvard, Dodge began work on a PhD in Economics. In 1955, he accompanied his father on a trip to the USSR, where he assisted with his father's research on Russian education. He and his father gave four interviews about their experience, which appeared in U.S. News and World Report in 1955. "Stalin had died, but the Soviet Union wasn't very open and the interviews with Norton and his father, if not a sensation, achieved some renown as a view that not many Americans had," recalls Bill Allen DS'42.
On that trip Dodge was also researching Soviet tractors for his doctorate, "Trends in Labor Productivity in the Soviet Tractor industry: A Case Study in Industrial Development." After finishing his PhD, Dodge turned his focus to the status of women in the Soviet Union. According to John McPhee's 1994 book on Dodge, The Ransom of Russian Art, Dodge "suspected that this was one sociopolitical area in which the American situation might benefit from the Soviet example." McPhee quotes Dodge as saying, "I felt that in many ways women were discriminated against in the United States in a rather shameful fashion. Many areas that were closed to American women by tradition or convention had been opened up in the Soviet Union." While women were still expected to do the bulk of housework in Russia-and were de facto excluded from the highest ranks of most professions-a variety of career paths were open to them that were still effectively closed in the US.
During research trips to Russia for his book Women in the Soviet Economy: Their Role in Economic, Scientific, and Technical Development, Dodge began to get acquainted with Russian dissident art, aided in part by Julian "Pete" MacDonald DS'43, his classmate from Deep Springs, then the Junior Economics Officer in the American embassy in Moscow. In spite of the relative cultural thaw that followed Stalin's death in 1953, art in the USSR remained heavily regulated, and art that was abstract or that challenged "socialist realism" in any number of ways was forbidden. However, Dodge managed to make contact with a network of dissident artists, who, often supported by spouses or day jobs, made "unofficial art" in relative secrecy. Over the next thirty years or so, Dodge collected 10,000 works of art from artists across the Soviet Union. He used funds gained through early investments with Benjamin Graham and his disciple, Warren Buffett, to acquire pieces from hundreds of artists and help support emigre artists and their families. Dodge is lovingly remembered as a somewhat bumbling, absent-minded figure. He spoke mediocre Russian, and recalls using a 1914 Baedeker and a flashlight to navigate cities throughout Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, and Soviet Central Asia. Dodge carried some art out of the USSR in his suitcase; diplomatic contacts helped him carry out some larger art among their personal effects.
Dodge largely stopped traveling to the Soviet Union after Evgeny Rukhin, a close contact and a leading dissident artist, was killed in a fire in his studio in 1976. Dodge-and other dissident artists-suspected that the KGB had set the fire as a warning to other artists. Dodge continued to acquire paintings remotely, through his contacts in the USSR, and amassed most of his collection through a network of contacts after he stopped visiting the USSR, eventually collecting 22,000 works,and organizing over 50 displays of Soviet dissident art. He and his wife, Nancy, donated the entire collection to the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, where it is now on permanent display as the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Soviet Nonconformist Art.
"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Norton singlehandedly saved contemporary Russian art from total oblivion," says art critic Victor Tupitsyn in The Ransom of Russian Art. Dodge felt that "it would be tragic if these artists were to die without their work being seen outside Russia. The courage of these people...they worked often in isolation with no audience other than their wives and families and a small circle of friends. They risked harassment and interrogation. Also I thought, if anything is going to happen to change the system for the better it had to be through greater freedom of expression. These people were sticking their necks out. They were risking everything."
Dodge was professor of economics, first at the University of Maryland, and later at St. Mary's College of Maryland, where he also served as a Trustee. Dodge lived on Cremona with his wife Nancy, where he hosted many Deep Springers, and three Telluride Association Summer Programs on the economics of the environment. Preservation of the environment was a longstanding concern for Dodge, and he worked in the last decade of his life to ensure that Cremona would be preserved for future generations. In the fall of 1986 and again in the fall of 1988, Dodge returned to Deep Springs to teach. In a publication from St. Mary's, he reflects: "I wondered what it would be like to return after 42 years. The mountains and the ranch were the same. The students were still very academically talented, but not so well-rounded with experience in high school student government or other leadership opportunities. However, I taught some of the best students of my career during those months at Deep Springs."
Norton Dodge is survived by his wife, Nancy Ruyle Dodge; his sister, Alice Dodge Wallace; his nephew, William D. Wallace; and his niece, Margaret Wallace. A private memorial service will be held in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to The Cremona Foundation, 41000 Cremona Road, Mechanicsville, MD 20659.
10/30/11
We learned recently that Hugh O. Nash DS'41 passed away on September 15, 2011 in Lancaster, California. He was 88 years old. Hugh Nash was born March 4, 1923, and spent his early years at Yenching University in China, where his parents were teachers; his first language was Chinese. Nash attended Westtown School, a Quaker school in Pennsylvania, where he was a successful athlete, the editor of the school newspaper, and worked chopping wood for the school. Hugh came to Deep Springs in 1941 intending to be a mechanical engineer; he followed in the footsteps of Fred Balderston DS'40, who had matriculated Deep Springs from Westtown the year before.
While a student here, Hugh's father Vernon Nash, an eminent Quaker thinker and prominent in the World Federalist Movement, taught a course on post-war world planning, and his mother Mary Rooker Nash taught a course on psychology. Nash's classmate, Erik Pell DS'41, recalls a respected student who tended to keep to himself. "His opinion was always respected, though he was more quiet and reserved than the rest of us." Pell recalled deep admiration on Nash's part for his father and the ideals his father worked for. After Deep Springs, Hugh joined the army, studying Japanese at Cornell as part of his training. When World War II ended, he returned to Cornell to finish his degree, where he lived in the Telluride House and became a member of the Telluride Association. After graduating, Nash worked until 1964 as a writer and editor at World Government News, Inside Carrier, and Time Inc.'s Architectural Forum.
However, New York City didn't suit Nash, and in 1964, he left his writing career to move west and join the burgeoning environmental movement. He spent much of his life working as an editor and aide to renowned environmentalist David Brower, first at the Sierra Club, and later at Friends of the Earth. Nash edited the Sierra Club Bulletin and the magazine for Friends of the Earth, Not Man Apart. He also edited several books published by Friends of the Earth, including "Progress As If Survival Mattered: A Handbook for a Conserver Society." In the forward to that book, Brower wrote: "when you have reached the edge of an abyss, the only progressive move is to turn around, and step forward." This summarized Nash's attitude towards environmental problems. In addition to his work editing publications for environmental groups, he testified before Congressional subcommittees to prevent the damming of the Colorado River. He also fought against placing a nuclear power plant on the San Andreas fault.
In 1986, Nash built an off-the-grid solar-powered home near Mt. Shasta in California, where he lived until three years ago, hiking with his dogs, reading, writing, and enjoying the wilderness he so loved. According to his niece Eve, Nash spoke about Deep Springs often. In a letter he wrote while working at Friends of the Earth and after becoming a caretaker for a nature preserve in Napa Valley, Nash credited Deep Springs with making him a "firm believer in the mind-clearing power of alternating between academic and physical endeavor."
5/23/11
Jon "Dewey" DeWeese DS07 took a break recently from his duties as Deep Springs Cook and BH Manager to vacation in Oaxaca, Mexico. Specifically, he stayed at the bed and breakfast hotel owned and operated by Paul Cleaver DS54 in Puerto Escondido. Dewey reports that the Hotel Tabachin is a warm, friendly and lovely place to refresh. Paul invites all Deep Springers to visit - contact him ahead of time at tabachinpaul@gmail.com for alumni rates!
5/20/11
Nathan Deuel DS97 is currently working as a freelance reporter in the Middle East. He recently posted on The Awl from Beirut, Lebanon following the death of Osama bin Laden. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Slate and The Village Voice, among others. Nathan's wife Kelly McEvers is the Bagdhad correspondent for National Public Radio.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music is currently producing Si Cuba!, a celebration of Cuban arts and culture in New York City. The festival is the brainchild of BAM producer Nicholas Schwartz-Hall DS80. Nick has served as line producer at the venerable Brooklyn performing arts institution for four years. The festival includes performances by over 200 individuals from Cuba, including The National Ballet of Cuba, multiple dance companies and musicians, film screenings, art exhibits and lectures. BAM is partnering with several other venues across New York City to present the festival from March through June. You can find more information at the festival site.The year of preparation for the events included working with the US State Department to clear travel for the many artists.
The historic public library of Nyack, New York, in the Lower Hudson River Valley was recently rededicated after a multi-million dollar renovation. The project was spearheaded by Roger Seiler DS59 who serves as president of the Nyack library board of trustees. An article in the LoHud.com Journal relates the story of the renovation.
4/04/11
Serving the cultural side of life, David Wax DS00 continues to find an audience with his band The David Wax Museum. With their combination of Mexican & American folk music, the band has been touring heavily through the northeast and midwest this past year. Most recently, they had a very successful show at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. TIME Magazine identified them as one of the top ten acts at SXSW, the premier festival of live music in North America.
Vern Penner DS57 embarks on his third lecture tour for National Geographic / Linblad Expeditions aboard the NG Explorer. The ship departs Dakar, Senegal April 9 and will stop at multiple locations along the northwest African coast, including Gambia, Western Sahara, Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands, where Vern was United States Ambassador 1986-1990. As a component of the two-week cultural voyage, Vern will lecture on the political history of the region. You can learn more about the expedition here.
3/15/11
David Werdegar DS'47 is currently the President and CEO of a non-profit, community-based organization in San Francisco: The Institute on Aging. The IOA provides a variety of health care and supportive services to help older adults continue to live independently in the community; there are associated health professional educational activities and health services research endeavors. David notes: We are about to open a new, model facility in San Francisco that combines our health care and social services with affordable senior housing.
Andrew Zipser DS'66 completed "six arduous months" of training at the Prince William County Fire Academy in Virginia and has graduated as a Firefighter I/II. Andy suspects he is the first great grandfather to do so. He will serve as a volunteer first responder and EMT officer with the county. Andy is also the editor of the Guild Reporter the official periodical of the Newspaper Guild in North America, an organization whose dwindling membership he bemoans.
A recent update from Yale University, courtesy of Charlie Munford DS'00: I am currently in the second year of a two-year Masters at the Yale Forestry School. I am doing a masters project studying the effects of sheep grazing on native flora in New England. I have a flock of sheep that I trailered up here from Mississippi, and I am keeping them at a nature preserve nearby. I am planning to go back down South, maybe to Louisiana, after graduation, to work in forestry and agriculture in some capacity.
David Cole DS'45 and his wife Betty Slade have retired from their work in international development. They concentrate on pursuits closer to their home base on the south coast of Massachusetts. Particular endeavors dear to them are the Massachusetts chapter of the Audobon Society and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, where David helped organize a conference on why New Bedford became the center of the whaling industry in the 19th Century. They invite fellow alumni and friends to look them up if traveling to Cape Cod.