~~~ABOUT
~~~~~~~~~~1. site ~~~~~2. school ~~~~~3. class~~~~~4. cloud tel:
{Chapters might at some point get shown as opening paragraphs only, each with clickable “READ MORE” option.}
1. SITE (e.g., HOW Organized, HOW TO USE)
Nothing’s written in stone. Use your imagination. Consider the site an experiment in progress. Got thoughts, ideas, suggestions &/or other contributions to pass along as submissions? Send them c/o bodlibrary2020@gmail.com. Given the volume of web junk that must be dumped, the COMMENT function via the Posts page is being disabled. (It was rarely used anyway.)
George Banziger moderates the NOW page. You can find his & some other contact info on the LINKS/CONTACTS page. Last I heard, indirectly, Phil Allen was no longer class agent or secretary. Apparently, CLASS NEWS is now accessible via an official school web-link. How well this functions remains to be seen. Being continually up-datable, news could seem fresher, but also less personal as part of the larger data-base.
That raises the question of whether there’s any point in maintaining this site at all? Keeping it’s easy enough, however, with hosting & domain fees donated. Keeping it up to date is another matter. And improving the text–priceless, but elusive (being time-consuming).
Note that the site’s initial aim was simply to be “better than nothing,” in the absence of any other plans for the class of ’60’s 60th, an unofficial individual initiative with low enough standard, at least before deducting for those who might have considered it “worse than nothing” (including the web-clumsy Yours Crudely some of the time).
On balance, technical issues aside, I enjoyed the learning, reflecting, opportunity to express, as well as contributions from comrades–which included emails from some who wanted no part in the project, saw no point in a “class” site, & never planned to revisit, reserving their limited attention for exchanging with long-term friends. Makes plenty of sense to me, though I also find possible values in a broader exchange.
Somewhere in-between the ephemeral email & more permanent web-site, comes a newsletter. Given digital delivery as “attachment,” there’s actually no distinction between email & digital newsletter file (pdf). Meanwhile, for a website to work at all, an email notice with link must be sent to the intended group–whenever something of note is uploaded or updated. The digital newsletter idea starts to seem far preferable, then, for a variety of reasons, starting with freshness. The fact that it tends to disappear from view shortly also seems an advantage. Bad notes, typos, & other glitches on the fly? No problem. Try again next time. Visits to the website, by contrast, can cry out for improvements, if not apologies.
The web-site can go on just sitting here in the cloud even so, for better &/or worse. Pages might still be added or adapted. If you‘d like to “moderate” one, send your proposal &/or page content c/o bodlibrary2020@gmail.com. Some website experience a plus, but not absolutely necessary, as the current bumbler may illustrate. (Trust you’ll cut me some slack for limited site-management abilities; this old dog learns new tricks as unreliably as he remembers old ones, yet learning remains part of the motive.)
Whether considered a publication or bulletin-board, the site’s value (if any) may depend on contents submitted; connections made, renewed, enhanced; reflections, realizations & growth provoked. Note that these are all INDIVIDUALLY experienced, even while some also depend on engaging with others . However distinctive we may’ve imagined ourselves to be as a class, the school was the far stronger influence. Relationships with INDIVIDUALS (faculty, staff, close friends…) transcend conceptual entities like class & school.
Views expressed on the site (if any) represent only those individuals offering them. The site as a whole represents no official entity or organized group, least of all the school or “class.” Being simply a diffuse group of networked associates who may share a sense of connection through & with the past, along with the school now as well as then. For most, the good will that characterized our relations with peers & mentors extends to the more abstract class & less abstract school. Those also serve who do not represent, but contribute, in other words.
[Contributions to the site are tax irrelevant, by the way, being of a different sort. Send material contributions to official entities, which this site isn’t. We may carry news of particular efforts or campaigns (e.g., the school’s “Hardship Fund” in response to the pandemic), but the site has no fund-raising function, agenda or status of its own.]
2. SCHOOL:
NMH speaks for itself–though we may add links from time to time to where it does so (e.g., https://www.nmhschool.org ), as well as to where others have spoken about it–in whatever light. Having no official status of our own potentially opens our discussion to more various perspectives.
The very idea of the school has various dimensions, e.g., campus, the physical place imbued with its natural life & human energies; the remembered experience, events, practices & attitudes recalled; & the institution itself, its mission, events, practices, attitudes now, & going forward.
Though extremely interesting, the school & its mission going forward are largely matters best followed elsewhere. Except in comparison to perspectives of yesteryear, or an occasional nostalgic lament for a mis-remembered past, today’s mission is mostly beyond this site’s scope–except to the degree particular class members choose to make it part of the discussion.
By not being an official vehicle of the school, our views are free to range, albeit with some common sense restraints. For one thing, presuming we all want the best, we’re hopefully not such “great morons” that we hog-headedly assume we always know exactly just what that really is. (The more knowledgeable tend to be most aware of how much more there is to learn.) Such observations obviously apply to school, country, or even life in general.
Some ambivalence probably comes with the territory, whether considering time, personal experience or the school–then &/or now. Anyone who believes the school was ever one thing only hasn’t been paying much attention. Nor was the place as culturally unified as the veneer of custom & fashion made it seem. Like its students & faculty, the school went (& goes) on changing–more or less always re-examining mission & identity.
As much as the old school offered, I suspect the current one shines all the brighter in many areas (arts, cultural diversity, & ecological awareness among them). Recent highlights have included not only the current Board of Trustees Chair being our own Tom Draper’s daughter, but a beautiful new Draper Riverhouse, showing the heart-warming relationship of people with place, closeness with river one expression.
A close look might show similar progress in many areas of current school life, including arts & sciences. We might find a few things that seem lost, too, like those connected with certain people, as well as some rites & practices. Still, from a distance at least, the old school doesn’t seem to be doing so badly, especially under the recent trying conditions. It seems to go on teaching essential values of humility, diversity, equality, engagement, effort, cooperation, opportunity, & striving for wholeness, all part of the school’s founding vision, if not always fully practiced.
The school has an academic mission, too, in a market of elite contemporary private schools–preparing students for success in college, elite professions (for those so inclined) & meaningful lives. Goals like inclusion, integrity & excellence go on evolving their expressions through the generations, in relation to the worlds being prepared for (a long way from our day already), the goals themselves are in no way contradictory, and may even require each other for each to advance.
3. CLASS:
Though for the most part a conceptual fiction, the idea of this shared identity may also have some meaning. (“Meaning is what makes a difference.” –Gregory Bateson) In our case, differences vary with individual experience, & go on through time. Our time together certainly involved countless shared experiences at every level, configuration & group size, activities that shaped our striving, growing & becoming in an especially formative period.
It’s amazing, of course, how much most grew during those years, as well as how much we kept on developing after, in that no-man’s land between within & without. Even in the old days, under the same haircut, & in mostly the same dress style & ‘codes,’ we contained a multitude of differences–physical, emotional, cultural, intellectual, aspirational…. Class members have also likely grown, then, along with the school, in our appreciation for such diversities, as for environmental, ecological values, the arts & sciences. In any case, none of us are quite who or what we were….
Nor are there simple formulas for the chemistry of personalities–how & why our affinities & frictions develop. In many, if not most, cases, these cut across conventional categories. Some we were close to had least in common with ourselves. Friendships seemed to have far less to do with thinking, looking, or believing alike than with the sense of good will, how we related in ways as simple as nuance of response & eye contact, the ability to draw a smile or provoke a laugh.
The idea of group, team, class, & school community as a whole re-affirms the focus on common ground, including core principles of respect, cooperation & good will. Of the various things that made the most difference to us–friends, campus, classes, activities, ideals, traditions, etc.–, particular individuals & experiences stand out. Not necessarily class-related per se, yet enabled by class-membership nevertheless.
It’s extraordinary, meanwhile, how many different people played important roles for us. A class survey many years ago that asked which teachers had had most impact produced a list that included just about all. plus some staff, with no one or two emerging as overwhelming consensus favorites over all. Equally extraordinary, many such friendships with mentors have proved lifelong. Some never lapsed, others were renewed at reunions, or wherever paths could be nudged to cross.
In any case, we come back to individuals, including the peculiar quirks of personal chemistry. It’s not all personal chemistry, however. There must also be a sound institutional framework (“the school”) & commitment to ideals (“the class”) to guide, encourage, & reinforce any sense of shared identity. I’m guessing that most of us almost always felt the school as a whole came before the class in significance.
The only times I recall doing battle as a class per se were our two rope pulls, both in a high & friendly spirit. I recall looking up to many upper class-men, and even considered some in ’59 friends. (I regret not having gotten to know more underclassmen better, however.)
In high school comedies (& horror films), the class is usually the arena for internal conflicts–played out between jocks & nerds; dominant cliques & the dissident ‘different’; nice guys & rats; &/or internal factions unified only (if at all) in battle with outsiders. Some frictions & irritations must go with the territory, along with our sympathetic vibrations, hopefully all the clearer through time.
One class-based memory is the cross-class passing (’59 to ’60) of the one-tined fork. Another is of Monadnock, one of our few class-centered adventures.
Bottom line: One might say that class comes down mostly to individuals but isn’t necessarily restricted, particularly where diversity is respected, of genetic & cultural legacy, interests, passions & ways of life….
4. CLOUD:
No, not that old one full of senior sm0ke. Today’s cloud uses digital smoke signals, and is world-wide, so
~~~~~CLOUD TELEGRAPH: Digital Grapevine ~~~~
is a working title for an occasional class-related e-newsletter (as unofficial as the website). Just one issue so far, partly inspired by seeing an issue of MH 59’s Chatter. Our 1st issue announced the website–& offered no schedule or commitment for more.
Anyone interested in either helping out with newsletter or website–or trying either of your own? (Yours Crudely’s decrepit condition makes back-up &/or alternatives all the more worthwhile.) If you need help or hosting, you can contact me at bodner2020@gmail.com. –Yours Crudely (Ricardo; Dick…)