Cate Class of 1968: Geof's 1968 Writing & Perspective

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Geof's 1968 Writing & Perspective

1 comment:

Phil Irwin said...: Greetings! Compliments of Don Davis' historical files attached is a writing by Geof concerning what was going on both on and off campus in 1968. I wonder if you would be interested in adding your own reflections, memories, and perspectives about this time? Geof's article is posted in our blog. I will venture forth with some thoughts:

I realize that many of the articles I have sent around about MLK and the turbulence of the world in 1968 really were not on my radar or part of my every-day concerns when I was on the Mesa. I would read about the Tet Offensive, Watts riots, marches and protests in the LA Times every morning but these events did not consume much of my 'life concerns'.

Geof writes: "If we are in a time of true crises at least we have not lost our ability to enjoy life and to comprehend and value a form of living we may not agree with philosophically."

I was focussed on grades, sports, college choices, and the on-campus conflicts that centered around Fred Clark's autocratic actions and the resulting discord felt by both students and faculty. I also had a couple of adverse run-ins with Scott McLeod (if you have seen the movie Juno and recall the line: "I have been dealing with things way beyond my maturity level"....that was the feeling re: McLeod).

Courtney Carpenter attempted to bring out some broader world perspectives, but those were on what I would describe as philosophical (Camus, existentialism).

Geof writes: "There is hope (at Cate)....in the smiles on the faces and the willingness to share. Even more, there is future in the sincere attempts to understand each other and the world in which we live. The promise lies in the optimism of the human spirit. There is hope in the sun every morning."

Although I am not sure I awoke every morning with such a sense of hope, I do know that our class shared similar challenges and experiences in the years we were at Cate, recognizing we handled them differently based on our personas and our friendships. That is what made my four years remarkable as I look back.

I did come across my grades/markings and the faculty comments (remember the individual little 3x5 notes) - I have asked Selden Edwards if I were to bring them to our reunion whether he might reconsider his comments......!

Phil; April 20, 2008 at 12:41 PM

Billy Joel

Greetings!

I thought you might enjoy this pictorial journey as a 'warm-up' to our reunion in June. 1968 was one heck of a year in and of itself, as the recent History Channel special with Tom Brokaw depicted. This is a longer journey of time....hope you enjoy (you may need to paste the link....).

First- Cate Class of 1968 Updates

Missing in Action - if any of you know how to reach Michael Ladner or Matt Walton, let me know.

Confirmed - Don Davis will be hosting our Saturday night reunion dinner - June 7th -

Distinguished Alumni Citation this year goes to Billy Steinberg - see the latest Cate Bulletin for a neat write-up. in addition to the formal event, we can honor Billy in our myriad ways at the reunion.

Now for the entertainment -

As Ed Sullivan said, "enjoy the show":

Whether you are a Billy Joel fan or not, you probably remember his great
song "We Didn't Start the Fire." Here it is, set to pictures---very very
cool!
It's a flashback through the past half century.

Turn up volume, sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes! Thanks to Billy Joel and some guy from the University of Chicago with too much time to Google!

CLICK HERE:

http://home.uchicago.edu/~yli5/Flash/Fire.html

Billy Steinberg's 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award Text

You came to Cate to Cate as a new junior from Palm Springs bringing a deep interest in music, particularly the blues. You encouraged your classmates to listen to and collect blues albums as you did, and were greatly impacted by Mississippi Fred McDowell’s performance on the Mesa. As a student, you sang lead in the rock and roll band, Dirt, playing school dances attended by Marymount. One of your favorite perks of these performances was not having to wear a coat and tie to the dance.

Your talents went far beyond music at Cate. On the baseball field, you earned two varsity letters as a shortstop. You contributed poetry to the Cate Review, and believe that your best poetry was written during your years at Cate. Not surprisingly, the faculty awarded you the Robert Frost Poetry Medal your senior year (?). Perhaps most importantly, the friendships you developed at Cate were, and remain, very important to you. You always enjoyed the camaraderie of Cate Life.
You continued your education at Bard College at the encouragement of your mentor Alan Brilliant, founder of Unicorn Press, a poetry publisher in Santa Barbara whom you met while at Cate. As a literature major, you honed your craft and found you could bend poems into song lyrics. At Bard, you recognized that there existed a more receptive audience for songs than poems, and began to pursue your musical talents.
After college you returned to California to work for your father’s table grape company in the Coachella Valley, all the while writing songs. In the late 1970s you formed a band named Billy Thermal. After showcasing in Los Angeles clubs, the band was signed to a recording contract by legendary producer Richard Perry. During this period, other singers discovered your songs, including “How Do I Make You,” recorded by Linda Rondstadt. The song became a top ten hit on the US pop charts and launched you as a songwriter. Soon thereafter, Pat Benetar and Rick Nelson recorded covers of your compositions.

In 1981, you teamed with Tom Kelly and wrote five #1 hit songs over a five year period, becoming one of the most successful songwriting teams in the history of the music business. Your hits include: “Like A Virgin” for Madonna, “True Colors” for Cyndi Lauper, “Eternal Flame” for the Bangles, “Alone” for Heart, “So Emotional” for Whitney Houston and “I’ll Stand By You” for the Pretenders. In 1996, you received a Grammy for writing and producing the song “Falling Into You” for Celine Dion.

Never one to rest on your laurels, you are currently working with a new song-writing partner, 25-year-old Josh Alexander, with whom you scored your first big hit together writing and producing Jojo’s “Too Little Too Late” which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006.

In recognition of your creativity and achievements as a songwriter, the Cate School Alumni Association is proud to honor you, Billy Steinberg ’68, as its distinguished alumnus for 2007.

PDI - March Update on Attendees

Greetings!

On this day, March 13th, in 1968 Robert Kennedy told Lyndon Johnson that he would stay out of the presidential race if he could lead a committee that would chart a new course in Vietnam. Kennedy declared his candidacy two days later. Additionally about 5,0000 sheep were found dead in Skull Valley, Utah, downwind from the Dugway Proving Ground where the US was testing airborne biological weapons.

Schedule of events are getting firmed up:
1. Billy will receive the distinguished alumnus award during dinner on Friday night. The dinner will be on the lawn between School House and the Chapel.
2. The 1968 Softball Challenge Classic (as named by Grayson Bryant, head of alumni relations) starts at 3:30pm on Saturday.
3. Joining us for dinner at Don's house Saturday night will be Betty Woodworth, Janet Davis, and Sandy Sanderson. Don has invited but not heard back yet from Gaby Edwards.
4. Billy has kindly offered to host a breakfast at his house on Sunday morning.

At this point we have more classmates coming than attended our 35th (#18)!!

The following are the classmates (and spouses-partners) I understand are planning to attend:

Chris Blake
Don Davis
Billy Steinberg
Albert Elzas
Fred Fisher
Courtney Price and Ann Sheperdson
Carroll Joynes
Doug Dyer
Phil Irwin
Earl Maize
John Newnam
Michael Ladner
David Chan
Stu Anderson and Kim
Steve Gordon and Kathy
Dick Wheeler
Fred Bradley
Bob Marx
Geoff O'Gara and Berthenia Crocker
Hal Burroughs
Bill Noble

Not able to attend:
George Souza- in China
Bill Hammonds - wedding in Washington DC
John Coghlan- AIDS/HIV benefit bike ride from SF to LA in honor of Clark Henley and another friend
Neil Tennant

Haven't heard from:
Mark Davis
Duncan Agnew
Simon Gaskell
Scott Anderson
Bruce Whitcher
Chuck Lyde
George Kuhrts
Fred Hyde
Matt Walton

No contact information:
John Hauk
Ken Hurd
Loring Edwards
Ernie Villasenor

Please let me know if there are changes, either in attendance or if your spouse/partner will-will not be attending. Don needs to get an approximate count for dinner planning.

Near the end of March you will be receiving sign-up instructions directly from Cate. You will get driving directions to Don's and Billy's from me later on.

If any one could not guess, it is raining in Seattle!

Phil

Albert Elzas Reflections on RFK

Hello everyone, Just to keep the record straight, the RFK photo is one of several I took of him when he spoke in SB the week before he was assasinated. I am still overwhelmed when I think of how how our destinies changed in a single moment. I remember the evening he won the primaries. Several of us were in the Bothin commons room watching RFK at the Ambassador as he gave his last speech, which ended with "... and on to Chicagoi and let's win there." After he left the podium, a voice-over said to stay tuned for local elections, but the camera stayed on the crowd in the Ambassador ballroom. It looked llike someone was asleep at the swtich -- no announcer, just the people milling around and "dead air". Then, like a ripple in a still pond, an emotion traveled through the crowd, from right to left. People's expressions went from cheerful to shock, hands went up to mouths and faces, peoples spun around in horror and started crying, and we knew something was desperately wrong. I can't help but think that our world would be considerably different today had RFK lived to become President. I'd like to believe it would be a better place, a persistent thought despite all of life's lessons to the contrary.
Albert Elzas

Pdi Email March 2008

Greetings!

Forty years ago this month:

March 7 - the first Battle of Saigon begins
March 12 - LBJ beats McCarthy in New Hampshire primary
March 16 - My Lai massacre
March 16 - Robert Kennedy enters the presidential race
March 18 - Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back UScurrency
March 21 - Howard University students shout down the head of the Selective Service: "America is the
Black Man's battleground"
March 22 - 8 students occupy the Administrative Offices of Nanterre, launching France into a state of
revolution in the month of May
March 31 - LBJ announces he will not seek, nor accept, the nomination of his party for president

As the class of 1968 we experienced, in our own ways, these and other "upsets" and significant events; and being sheltered on the Mesa I can presume we also felt somewhat insulated from some of this, at least for a while.

One can wonder how each of us might have been different if we did not experience what we did even in just the year 1968 (note Tom Brokow's book and dvd on the year 1968). For many of us, seeing Robert Kennedy at the Santa Barbara Courthouse was a time of inspiration and hope. His murder a week or so later was an experience that to this day I find hard to put into words. On the Mesa I remember Fred Clark setting a direction that many of us opposed, be it what seemed to be his singular pursuit against drug use and other 'infractions', his dislike for certain faculty, and humorously his angst over the 'physical' nature of the exchange dances and the music/lyrics played by the Dirt.

Switching gears, after mentioning the Dirt, to the 'update' message of this email. If you have read the latest Cate Bulletin you know that Billy will be honored at Camp Cate/Reunion weekend June 6-8 as the Distinguished Alumnus for 2007. The writeup is attached. Billy is the second classmate to receive this honor; David Chan received this award for 2003. So WE get to celebrate with Billy, details to follow.

I have attached pictures from our 35th for those who want to remember 5 years ago. I believe the three fellows on the baseball field are Fred Fisher, Don Davis, and Geoff O'Gara. That is Don climbing the wall, odd angle granted, I can attest he was actually climbing up! That is Billy with the picture-perfect swing (I actually took the baseball pictures after rupturing my achilles, such dedication, right??).

Don is going to host our class dinner Saturday night at his place in Summerland. For preliminary planning purposes it would be great if you would let me know if you think you will attend (or not). Unless their plans change, I believe David Chan, Michael Ladner, Carroll Joynes, and Fred Bradley (who were not able to attend our 35th) will be coming. There were 18 classmates at the 35th and I hope everyone who was there will 'be there' at our 40th (except George Souza who I know will be in China).

I will end this email, and thanks to all of you who made it this far, with words from Robert Kennedy:

"FEW ARE WILLING TO BRAVE THE DISAPPROVAL OF THEIR FELLOWS, THE CENSURE OF THEIR COLLEAGUES, THE WRATH OF THEIR SOCIETY. MORAL COURAGE IS A RARER COMMODITY THAN BRAVERY IN BATTLE OR GREAT INTELLIGENCE. YET IT IS THE ONE ESSENTIAL, VITAL QUALITY FOR THOSE WHO SEEK TO CHANGE A WORLD THAT YIELDS MOST PAINFULLY TO CHANGE. AND I BELIEVE THAT IN THIS GENERATION THOSE WITH THE COURAGE TO ENTER THE MORAL CONFLICT WILL FIND THEMSELVES WITH
COMPANIONS IN EVERY CORNER OF THE GLOBE."
Phil

Cate Class of 1968

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Geof's 1968 Writing & Perspective

1 comment:

Friday Night Dinner

The First Look

down this pathway we went....

Guaranteed Sunshine on the Mesa

Getting Time to Suit Up!

Do you need directions to the Mesa?

put it right down the middle....

Get Warmed Up and Ready...

Selden Edwards' Novel

Gaby and Selden Edwards

Reunion circa 1978

Our 10th Reunion

35th Reunion

Blog Archive

Contributors

Mr. Rubin Soria

Mrs. Gunther

Mr. Grant

Miss Bennedict

Mr. Caldwell

Clark Henley compliments of John Coghlan

Mr. Redington

Mr. Maurette

Mrs. Edwards (Gaby)

Mr. Savage

Mrs. Savage

dinner at Cate c. 1960's

faculty hard at work.....

Mr. Mcleod

Mrs. Woodworth (aka Betty)

Mr. Duncan

Mr. Woodworth

Mr. Summers

Mr. Smith

Mr. Graham

Mr. Warren

Mr. Edwards

Mrs. Janet Davis

Mr. Boyer Davis

Mr. Hartzell

Courtney Carpenter

Miss J

Getting Ready for Our 40th......

Billy Joel

Billy Steinberg's 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award Text

PDI - March Update on Attendees

Albert Elzas Reflections on RFK

RFK at the Santa Barbara Courthouse

Pdi Email March 2008