Reflection #67 (Only 1009 to go): Just do it!

Despite the fact that Saint Ignatius College Prep is a Jesuit institution, I have been lax in writing about the many outstanding Jesuits with whom I have worked.  That said, it’s past time to tell of one who inspired me, not only as a teacher, but as a person.

 Recently, I have been looking into the topic of Ignatians who are writers/authors, and it’s proving to be an impressive list.   Probably the most widely read author to have graced Saint Ignatius’ hallowed halls is Father Mark Link, S.J.   Father Link has written or edited more than 20 (some sources say as many as 60) books which have sold over 10 million copies.  During Advent and Lent, I would often read an entree from one of Father’s books at the beginning of each class.  In the interest of full disclosure, Father Link is not an Ignatius graduate, but he is the product of a Jesuit education, and he did teach theology here from 1963 to 1981. 

What excited Fr. Link, and was the main point of emphasis of his work, was discovering God’s presence in the world.  Father Link’s body of work…writing books, traveling the world giving retreats and workshops, and even scripting TV shows and videos…speaks for it self, but what intrigued me about him was his approach to life.  I am an unapologetic eclectic who tries to gather the modes and methods of those who are successful, and, within the limits of my own strengths and weaknesses, apply them in my life.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.  The trick is recognizing what those special modes and methods are.

In Father Link’s case, I observed three characteristics.  First of all, he kept things simple.  Secondly, he lived by the maxim, “There’s nothing to it, but to do it”. When he saw a need, he acted on it, not second guessing himself or leaving the task for someone else .  The third element could best be described by the title of one of his more popular books: He is the Still Point of the Turning World.  Of course Father Link was referring to God, but I saw in Father the balance and tranquility that seemed to allow him to implement those first two qualities.  Given a situation that needed to be dealt with, he saw the simple solution and acted on it.

Case in point: When the popular cross country coach, Carmen Pintozzi died suddenly, Father sensed the loss of spirit that Carm’s athletes were experiencing.  He decided that what they needed was a “pep rally”, so he convinced the athletic director (me) to climb to the top of the north wall of the gym and create a stick-figure of a cross country runner, the height of the wall, out of athletic tape.  Then we had a pep rally. 

Yet, another example of the simplicity of his approach was demonstrated at the end of a school assembly in the gym.  When the boys were being dismissed, they simply stayed seated and started to chant, “Hell, no!  We won’t go” to the frustration and confusion of the master-of-ceremony.  At that moment, Father Link walked up to a few boys in the first row, and calmly called them by name and told them to leave.  Faced with that direct and personal command by Fr. Link, those boys got up and left.  When the rest of the students saw that their “solidarity” had been broken, they all exited.

On top of all he has done, Father Link was as nice and kind a person as I have ever known.  It is my loss that the only time that I have seen him since 1982 was to congratulate him for having received the Dei Gloriam Award from St. Ignatius.

God bless you, Father Link.

Reflection #66 (Only 1010 to go): The passing of a Great Lady (Pt. I)

    The light in the worlds of her family, friends and Ignatius colleagues flickered and dimmed a bit when we heard, on the morning of July 27^th, of the passing of Joan Terracina.  This occurred exactly three weeks to the day after her 96^th birthday.  

     Joan had been the secretary/receptionist in the school’s Treasurer’s Office for 50 years, running from 1939 until her retirement in 1989.  She was the “conduit” that stabilized the transition through countless treasurers…mostly Jesuits…who sat at the helm of that very important office.  To many generations of students and faculty, she was known only as the short, Italian-looking lady who worked in the Treasurer’s Office, behind a door so sturdy that it could have easily passed for a submarine bulkhead.

    Joan grew up around Taylor St. near Ignatius, and in December of 1939, the President of St. Ignatius High School (It’s official name at that time), Rev. Nicholas Mann, S.J., hired a 21 year old Miss Joan Terracina to work in the Treasurer’s Office until things “got caught up”.  For fifty years, Joan labored, helping to “catch things up”.  Just before Joan started to work, her family moved to the Austin area and, for 50 years, she would commute, or depend on getting a ride from a fellow employee to and from St. Ignatius.

     On December 10^th of 1989, Joan T. Terracina was awarded the most prestigious award the St. Ignatius College Prep bestows on it deems worthy.  On that date, at the annual Christmas Benefit in Orchestra Hall, for her years of outstanding service to the school and community, Fr. Donald Rowe, S.J., presented the Dei Gloriam Award to her.  (There is a two-page spread in the 1990 yearbook capturing that event.)

     Notice that I said, “…and community”.   At Joan’s funeral Mass, Fr. John Mulvihill spoke of Joan’s years of service in the Legion of Mary, an organization of Catholic Laity who were commit to prayer and 2 hours a week in the service of the parish.  This work includes visitations, religious education, visiting the sick and homebound, and anything else that the pastor deems necessary to members in need in that parish.

     In her parish, St. John Bosco, Joan was actively involved for 54 years singing in the choir, Altar and Rosary, working parish fund-raisers, as well as the Legion of Mary.*   She was never married, so her top two “passions”, in no particular order, were her faith and her family, with her love of St. Ignatius a close third. 

     After her retirement, I lost track of Joan for 23 years.  Two years ago, John Chandler called me to let me know Joan was at a retirement facility, and he said he’d appreciate my getting in touch with her.  That rekindled a friendship that was as rewarding to me as it seemed to be to her.  Even at 94 years old, though physically frail, her mind was still as sharp as ever.  Every other week, I’d visit her and we’d share memories of the “old” days.  She would regale me with stories of her working for the Jesuits…always complimentary I assure you.

     The closing line in the article in the yearbook says, “It is a fitting that this award (the Dei Gloriam Award) goes to a woman who is a living example expression of the Jesuit ideal.”  I couldn’t have said it better.  God bless you, Joan.  Rest in peace, dear lady.*

*Many thanks to Sister Ann Vincent, one of Joan’s many loving cousins, for sharing many of the details of Joan’s life with me.

      

Reflection #65 (Only 1011 to go): Varia

Recently I had a chance to visit with Dr. Kristine Mackey, the parent of three Ignatius alumnae.   During our conversation, Kris was reminiscing about a group of the Ignatius faculty members who she thought of as pillars of this excellent staff.   Coincidentally, that was about the same time that I had read Maureen Lonergan’s response to a question I had posed to her.  Maureen was named Educator-of-the-Year this year, so I asked her what she thought was her secret.  What set her apart from others.

I have been on a quest to determine what special qualities those who are considered “iconic” might possess.   Maureen gave me a wonderful response, one that could be a whole article by itself, so I’ve tried to take the most salient points to present here.  She said, “My goal every year is to get students excited about something in science.  I want students to talk about science at the dinner table.  I want them to show their little sister their design for an animal behavior lab or ask their friends if they have heard of the crazy parasite that can live under your skin.  I want students to ask questions, bring in extra articles or ideas, and engage fully in science as a process.  I am still learning how to be a better teacher, and it's a daily challenge to figure out how to best reach and motivate students.“ 

Every time I ask another outstanding teacher his or her secret, it seems that I get a different answer.  I’m convinced that there is no finite set of qualities that each top individual possesses.  For every quality that I think of as necessary, I can think of some members of that group who don’t have that quality, but a host of different ones.

Of course Dr. Mackey’s list iconic teachers, which spans from the mid-90’s, would be somewhat different from mine which goes back to the early 60’s, or Frank Raispis’ which goes back to the early ‘40’s.  Frank’s list would include Father Grant, after whom the Educator-of-the-Year is named, and Dr. Ralph Mailiard, after whom the athletic field is named, along with too many others to list here.  It should also be mentioned that being named Educator-of-the-Year doesn’t, in itself, doesn’t automatically make one an “icon”.  After all, the award wasn’t in existence until the early ‘70’s, when Raispis was the first awardee.   

Switching gears to “news-letter” mode, as the school year ended, there were several changes at 1076.  From my vantage point, most dramatically, Anne Baker, the secretary to the Principal for many years, retired.  As I understand it, Anne stayed on one year longer than she had intended to help the new principal, Ms. Latka, settle in to her position.

Additionally, Jim Prunty, who had been Athletic Director for 14 years left and has been replaced by Paul Ickes.  Best wishes to both Jim and Paul. 

Finally, Don Hoffman, who has been the school’s archivist for several years, is giving up the reins to Dr. Ray Heisler, a long-time member of the classics department.

Reflection #64 (Only 1012 to go): Closing the Book on Another Year

           As the 2013-14 school year came to an end, I trundled on down to 1076  for the end of the year Mass.  I’ve been retired for 10 years now, but the warm and joyful feelings of that event still wash over me.  If you haven’t visited St. Ignatius lately, the music during Mass by both orchestra and chorus is worth the trip.   

            One difference, since my years in the early ‘60’s, is the special awards given to students of each class in recognition of their achievements.  Each of the awards is named after a person of significance to the school.  The Freshman-of-the-Year award is named after Fr. Florian Zimecki, S.J., a long-time Latin teacher. The Sophomore-of-the-Year is named for Ronald Jemiola, a student who was tragically killed while crossing Roosevelt Road on the last day of finals in 1962.  The Junior-of-the-Year award is named for Carmen Pintozzi, an alumnus and beloved history teacher and coach.

This year:     the Zimecki Award was earned by Mary Lynn Dekold.

                   the Jemiola Award went to Michael Levesque

                   and the Pintozzi Award went to Michael Adegoke.

         Congratulations to these students and all of those students who were nominated by the faculty.  There were many awards given to seniors at graduation…too many to list here…recognizing their outstanding achievements in the various academic disciplines, but two are unique because they are determined by the vote of the seniors.  They are the Ignatian-of-the-Year and the Educator-of-the-Year.  The 2014 Ignatian-of-the-Year was Jana Michaela Bruska.

         The Raymond T. Grant, SJ. Educator-of-the-Year Award went to Maureen Lonergan, a 2004 graduate of Ignatius and a science teacher.  I don’t think that I have ever met Maureen, but I emailed her to ask what was her secret to success.

I was going to finish this “Reminiscence” by quoting Maureen and describing what I have learned in my search to find what makes some teachers stand above the rest, but that will have to wait until next time.  I will tell you that Maureen credits several others for having given her the template to follow, but, since I tried copying the style of others early in my career, I know that’s there is more to it than that.

Reflection #63 (Only 1013 to go):  A Pleasant Surprise

While it is probably true that my knowledge of Saint Ignatius’ history is above average, based on my 53 year involvement, still my total experience is like a single thread in the tapestry of the entire history of the school, both in length and breadth.   I’m always interested in broadening  my knowledge, so I was very happy to receive an email from an Ignatius alumnus from the class of 1960.

                  In “Reminiscence #35”, I had invited the readers to help me complete a list of some Ignatius graduates who had made a name for themselves in theater or journalism.  Eric James, ’60, responded to tell me about his career.  For those of you from, or around, the class of ’60, Eric’s name when he was at Ignatius was Harry F. James.  Here, in Eric’s own words, is his story*:

                  “In 1959 St Ignatius entered the Chicago Theater Festival of one act plays. I had the lead role, playing a drug addict in Hatful of Rain. The play earned me a scholarship to Loyola.  At Loyola, I was an English major, because Iggy taught me to go for a heavyweight and not lightweight education. I then was recruited with a scholarship to the Goodman Theater at the Art Institute. By that time I was self supporting as a professional actor, performing in Chicago theaters with countless heavy weight stars. I never got my college degree because the William Morris Agency signed me and I moved to New York, where I appeared in a number of Broadway productions, including Boys in the Band, in which I had the lead role

            By this time I was married to Delia Sheen, a niece of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. While I was appearing on the road in my play in LA, Delia informed me the movers were on their way. In LA I did shows like Colombo, Name of the Game, and some others, including a soap opera with Dana Andrews, called Bright Promise, which Dana and I relabeled as Dimwit Hope. We both were fired for having a poor attitude, then NBC cancelled the program.

When my two sons were born I vacated my 16 years in show business, and traded for a 35 year career in international real estate brokerage. For a decade I was a weekly columnist for California's Daily "Law" Journal. Everyone thought I was a lawyer. I was just a smart, good actor.”

Most recently Eric has been busy writing a series of books about the history of the James Family which included Jesse and Frank James.  The first volume of the series earned the prestigious Milton F. Perry Award last year.  This award, which is named after the founder of the Harry S. Truman Library, recognizes his ground breaking historical research and reporting.

Eric ended his email by saying, “Not a bad resume for a disadvantaged kid from the projects of Bridgeport, I say. I don't believe it would have been half as successful had I not received my classical education at Ignatius, and especially for the experimental history course I was selected for in my junior year, which, together with my forensics training, truly taught me critical thinking and communication. I am forever grateful.

            I monitor Ignatius via Facebook and am thrilled by everything I see. I am so envious.  I would like to re-enroll for the new experience. St. Ignatius College Prep is a world class treasure.” 

*There’s more to it, but that’ll suffice for now.

VISIT Stray Leaves - Official Web Site for the family of Frank & Jesse James

www.ericjames.org

READ Jesse James Soul Liberty, by Eric F. James - Authorized Biographical History of the Jesse James family

Winner of the Milton F. Perry Award 2013

http://jessejamessoulliberty.ericjames.org/