The Headmasters Papers (9 page)

(2)     I am very sorry if anything I wrote or said over the phone gave you the impression that Charles did “nothing good” here. By saying his experience wasn't “entirely happy,” I meant only that. I am glad that you and he feel there was so much that was positive in his career at Wells.

(3)    I made no mention of reapplication for a later term or for a post-graduate year, because I don't think either course would be desirable, for Charles or for Wells. For Charles to return at some later point in the year after a stop-gap phase at another school would suggest our policy for upper formers who break major rules is to “rusticate” them temporarily. This is not our policy. We rarely take post-graduate students, and when we do, they are generally promising scholars who are either chronologically or physically young and who want another year's preparation and maturity before college. I don't think Charles needs such a year, here or elsewhere.

(4)     I did not “humiliate” Charles and the other boys involved before the whole student body. I did state briefly what had happened and that Charles was involved. The boys admitted as much to the Student Court, to the Faculty Discipline Committee, and to their friends. Not to have announced to the assembled school what had happened would without question have given rise to speculation and rumor which would have been far more hurtful than the truth.

(5)     I did not say, nor did I mean to imply, that I wanted “nothing further to do with” you or with Charles. I suggested that you deal with Mrs. Pearse directly only with respect to Charles' transcript. Mrs. Pearse serves as our registrar, and dealing directly with her saves a step, especially when I am out of town.

You mention that you are considering litigation. Of course this disappoints me, but you have every right to do it. It is hard for me to see the point of it. Charles not only had the “due process” of Wells School, he had it at its most deliberate and most caring. I for one would be pleased to stand by our treatment of Charles in court.

Respectfully,

John O. Greeve

19 October

Mr. William G. Truax
President, Fiduciary Trust Company
New Haven, Connecticut

Dear Bill,

I have this morning received a letter from a mother who says she might be interested in suing us in order to restore the dignity of her sixth-form son who was recently dismissed for purchasing LSD from another boy in Hallowell. My experience of such mothers and such letters is that the ominous hints rarely come to writs. Nevertheless, you might want to bounce her letter off Seymour to see what, as counsel, he makes of it. Just in case it comes to something, I am preparing a file of disciplinary memos, housemaster's notes, my address to the school, and all correspondence on the matter. I will make myself available to Seymour at his convenience, should he want more information.

Best,

John

21 October

R
EMARKS
T
O
T
HE
S
CHOOL

Since you are subjected, from time to time, to warnings, reprisals, and corporate criticism from this stage, I thought it would be nice—and also appropriate—this morning to praise you. What in particular I would like to praise is your exceptionally courteous reception of Mr. Ambioto yesterday in long assembly.

I will concede that his observations were a little specialized. Perhaps some general points might have been made before he plunged into the intricacies of East African partisan politics. His accent, too, made stretches of the talk hard to follow. The length of the talk was not, however, Mr. Ambioto's fault. He asked me how long he should speak, and I told him until he heard the carillon. Mrs. Pearse, however, was called away from her desk late yesterday morning, and the awaited signal never sounded. Thus Mr. Ambioto unwittingly gave us the longest continuous address ever delivered in Perry Chapel—perhaps the longest in the history of Wells. Entirely my fault, of course.

Anyway, from my perspective gazing out into all your faces, you looked a perfect sea of attentiveness and restraint. There was talk afterwards of growling stomachs, but none of this reached the pulpit.

So, three cheers for you, perhaps one or two for Mr. Ambioto, and none for Greeve. I suppose one should simply expect exquisite manners from Wells boys and say nothing about it, but I can't help it. You were easy to be proud of yesterday. My compliments and my apologies for the discomfort.

22 October

Mrs. Benjamin Rogen
46 Clubside Road
Newton, Massachusetts

Dear Mrs. Rogen,

Thank you for your letter expressing concern about Dan's situation in geometry.

I am glad you did not hesitate to write; dispel any notion about being considered a “Jewish mother”; I wish I knew how to 
create
 a Jewish-mother syndrome among our parent body.

With respect to geometry, I can only assure you that I am paying close attention, and will continue to pay close attention, to Mrs. Armbruster's mathematics sections. As it happens, she is not a “new teacher,” but she is new to a boy's-school setting, and there has been a hiatus of several years since she last taught. I can assure you, on the basis of having seen her at work, that she is a well-prepared and competent geometry teacher. Geometry, however, involves a different mode of thought from algebra; it is not really an extension of algebraic thinking. It is not at all uncommon for a boy who, like Dan, has done well in algebra, to meet his match in geometry. It will come, I think, when Dan gets used to the structure of proofs. Battling Mrs. Armbruster, however diverting, is not going to help much.

About her alleged handling of discipline, I have only two things to say. One is that I have never heard (or, when I was in school, given) an uncolored account of an adversely experienced disciplinary decision. I do not doubt that Dan felt the tide of wrath and prejudice that he reported, but I am not sure that such things as he reported to you were actually uttered. Secondly, school's greatest contribution to an adolescent's personal development is certainly the variety of approaches to pedagogy and discipline that it offers. In the final analysis, Mrs. A. may not be for Dan, but I don't think I would want to save him from the battle. Our best experiences at school are not always our most pleasant ones. One more thing: the reported “chaos” of the geometry classroom cannot possibly be as reported. Phelps building is acoustically awful, and all of us would hear it!

I'm glad you got in touch. I will continue to monitor both Mrs. Armbruster's and Dan's progress in geometry with interest.

My good wishes,

John O. Greeve

23 October

MEMO to Florence Armbruster
Mathematics

Florence,

Let's confer.

J.O.G.

23 October

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Greeve
14 Bingham Drive
Tarrytown, New York

Dear Val and Frank,

Scheduling arrangements for the nurses 
(five
 of them) are now complete—a process much more demanding than hiring a faculty for the entire school—and Meg is home, relatively comfortable and relaxed in her own room. The maples are now practically bare, and the morning light from the big window in the bay nearly whitens the room. This is so obviously right I kick myself that we had it any other way. Dietrich and the clinic people, for their part, could not have been kinder or more obliging.

I honestly think this will give Meg more time—and better time. I was certain she had improved when, as I padded in quietly yesterday morning with coffee to join her for a chat, she perused me at some length in silence, then said, “You know, John, you look really awful. Are you well?”

Actually, I am quite well, although surprisingly trim. I am now belt hitches to the good of where I was on Labor Day. Do you think I should write this up and market it: How to Lose Fifteen Pounds without Dieting, through Stress, Overwork, and Dejection? A jog or two around the track to raise some color in my greenish, pallid cheeks, and I could get almost vain.

I am glad Hugh is heading down to Tarrytown for Thanksgiving. Don't expect any company from him, however. If the standard pattern holds, he should come to you with a suitcase full of term exams to grade, grade reports to write, and advisor letters to compose. Give him my best, will you? I saw Ted Phillips at a Headmasters' Conference in Boston last week, and he confirms that Hugh is off to a marvelous start: careful, yet enthusiastic; high spirited with kids, yet very “adult.” Have no doubt that as long as Hugh stays in schools, he will travel on the fast track.

Meg joins me in sending love.

John

25 October

R
EMARKS
T
O
T
HE
S
CHOOL

First, let me thank you for saving me this important spot in your rally. I'm not sure I can rival captains Ted Frank and Carl Maslow for passion nor Coaches Shire and Kreble for determination, but I can serve you in two capacities: as an historian and as a prophet.

The historian in me insists that in order to make sense of these final contests with Haverhill, we must take a longer view than of just this season. For this season has revealed a very plucky, very young, rather unlucky Wells football team which has won only two games, while suffering six defeats. Two of those defeats were by less than a touchdown, and four games in all were lost during the last quarter of play. In contrast, Haverhill, my sources tell me, is riding the crest of the Seven Schools wave. They are undefeated. They have played only one close game this season, and they are, according to an inside source who cannot be named for reasons of his personal safety, complacent in the extreme about Saturday afternoon. In other words, we have got them where we want them. History would bear this out. In the forty-six years we have met Haverhill School in football, we have beaten them thirty-one times. They have returned the favor thirteen times, and there have been two ties. Of those forty-six contests, only twenty were played when Wells had a losing school record. Of those twenty games, Wells won thirteen, lost five, and tied two. This bears out an old and almost forgotten Wells School proverb which goes something like, “A strong Haverhill squad does not a Wells defeat insure.” Words to that effect.

But as all you Western Studies scholars know, history is not the only source of knowledge. There is also direct revelation. Here too I have had access to well-placed sources. Last night I was unable to sleep and was nodding off fitfully at dawn when I detected a lightening on the horizon. Too early for the sun, I told myself, and sat bolt upright. Suddenly the room was aglow with light, and everywhere about me I heard the whooshing and flapping of invisible wings. Then lo, dark and quiet were restored, and all was as it had been, with the exception of a rectilineal luminescence glowing faintly on my pillowcase. This was a sealed envelope which I picked up gingerly and which I will share with you this afternoon.

Please bear with me . . .

It seems to be a card, a blank card . . . no, there are some figures here . . . it says . . . it says . . . Haverhill 20, Wells 26. Extraordinary.

One more thing, boys, before we head out to fulfill this prophecy. It's trite—but still important—to remind you that how we do it is what matters, not what the scoreboard says. Many of you recall that this year's football season got off to a sour start at St. I.'s. That was a game I would like to forget, and my regret has nothing to do with the football. What I wish for all of us Saturday, players especially, is the indescribable elation that comes from pouring out best effort and energy. Anger, verbal abuse, and cheap shots have no part in this.

Finally, to our soccer and cross-country teams, already heard from, you need no prophecy from me to see your way to victory. What marvelous seasons you have both put behind you already.

The prospect of three fine wins on Saturday quite overwhelms me. I do believe I might be so undone by it that a full free day might be required for me to recover. The faculty and I hate to waste that good instructional time, but we shall just have to see what transpires.

Let's all of us, players and spectators alike, have a glorious weekend at Haverhill.

26 October

MEMO to Coaches
Kreble, Shire, Tomasek
Athletic Department

Just a note to wish you well at Haverhill and to thank you for your good, long efforts in conducting your teams through exceptionally classy seasons. It is easy to be proud of athletics at Wells this year.

One caution: not-so-veiled rumors are already rife among the players about the “traditional” post-season “bash.” We have got to squash this. Let's find a minute to talk to the teams, preferably before the games, and drive home the point that we don't want to lose anybody at this point in the year to discipline or injury or something worse. I'll have a word with dormitory faculty on the subject, too.

Onward!

J.O.G.

26 October

Mr. Jake Levin
R.D. 3
Petersfield, New Hampshire

Dear Jake,

I am undone, feather-headed, and flattered. Unless you are a consummate con, you seem to be positively genuine in liking my “cancer” lines. I do not believe there is a precedent for this in our literary correspondence. Now that I think about it, the cancer piece is probably the only poetry I have ever shown you which is not in appreciation of something. What is it in me, do you suppose, that is unable to bring “energy and power” (your words) to appreciation, but able to find it for fatigue and fear? If you know, don't tell me. It must be horrible.