Back to the Future: Skip Flanagan Part I

A few years ago, Henry "Skip" Flanagan re-joined the Avon faculty after a 26 year absence durning which he served as headmaster of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. Skip first interviewed for a job in admissions while he was still a graduate student at the University of Michigan. He did not get the admissions job, but he was so taken with the place that he let George Trautman know he was willing to do anything to get his foot in the door.  Soon he was moving his family into Pelican dorm and preparing to teach English and French, coach football and lacrosse, and - as the contract used to say - "other duties as assigned." This was in 1972, and the Flanagans would be at Avon until the spring of 1982.

Skip Flanagan

In Skip's second year at Avon, John Green, the dean of students, left to become headmaster at Rectory School in Pomfret, CT, and George asked Skip to step in as dean. (Actually it was John Green who blazed the "dean at Avon - headmaster somewhere else - return to Avon" trail; he spent several years back on campus after retiring as a headmaster.) In those days, dean of students really meant director of college counseling, and Skip has great memories of that work. This was long before the personal computer, so Skip would dictate the boys' college recommendations to Frieda Mason, wife of Brad Mason, who typed as he spoke. They would complete the recommendations for a class of 60-70 seniors during a ten day period in the early fall! Skip particularly remembers the help of Marie Delnicki, who joined the office early in his tenure as dean and who serves as registrar to this day. Marie is one of those multi-talented people who simply make things work.

When I pointed out to Skip that he and then dean of faculty Henry Pennell have now been replaced by about half a dozen people each (there are currently five administrators focused entirely on the academic program, four people - including Skip - are involved in college counseling, and three people are largely focused on residential/student life), he replied that the 70s were a simpler time in schools.  For example, he recounted simply piling the applicants to Williams College into a van and driving them to Williamstown, where they would be interviewed by the director of admissions, who would then call Skip the next day to discuss the candidates and make his decisions. That is NOT how college admissions works today!

Among the other names Skip remembers fondly from that period were Bill Kron, "the conscience of all things academic," Brad Mason, Frank Leavitt, Courtney Bird, Seth Mendell, "the consummate storyteller," and especially Sid Clark.

Skip's wife Brit Flanagan developed a good friendship with Sid (good judge of character, Brit; she also befriended Wilbur Durfee); Skip remembers returning from dorm duty at night to find Sid playing the piano (Sid's life before Avon included a stint as a professional musician). Interestingly, Skip used the term "gruff facade" to describe both Sid Clark and George Trautman. In Sid's case, he nonetheless became Skip's mentor in the English department and a lifelong friend to both Skip and Brit. In George's case, Skip says behind the gruff facade lay "a lot of caring and a big heart for those who served the school well..." Agreed.

Enough for now. Look for more from our interview in Back to the Future, Part II.

Lunch in Gettysburg

Ben Custer '10 and I are just back from a trip to Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary of the famous battle there. Beyond thwarting a rebel invasion and preserving democracy, our agenda included lunch with Fred Michel '77 at an Irish Pub in town. It was great fun to meet Fred and hear some of his stories of the Trautman era. We also, frankly, spent a great deal of time talking about the Civil War and about the history of Frederick, Maryland, where Fred lives.

With Ben Custer '10, and Fred Michel '77

I would have more to say about our conversation, but my memory has been obscured by being killed four times in as many days (yes, we spent four days reenacting a three day battle; these things take time), wearing heavy blue wool in the heat of midsummer, and so on. One aspect of the lunch I will not soon forget is Fred's generosity. He had planned to pay for lunch, but our waiter announced that Ben's and my meals had been paid for by the gentlemen at the next table. They had been at the battle that morning or the day before, and they wanted to thank us (as representatives of the reenacting community) for making it possible for them to get a sense of what had happened 150 years earlier. Fred, not to be outdone, gave the folks his card and generously offered to show them around the various points of interest in nearby Frederick. Having spoken with Fred, I know a) that there is a great deal to see in Frederick, Maryland, and b) that Fred's knowledge and enthusiasm for the area make him an ideal tour guide; I do hope the good folks took him up on the offer. In any event, it was a nice display of community/generosity on Fred's part.