Page 8 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 2 Winter 2013

6
It’s All Greek to Me
I was sad to see that with the replacement
of the leaded windows in the Schoolhouse,
a little piece of the old Classics Depart-
ment at SPS was lost. In the corner class-
room closest to Moore on the second floor,
the lead between many of the window
panes had, over the years, been inscribed
with snippets of Greek. I should be able to
recall the details, but can’t – some were
random words, many were brief phrases
or sentences like (as Faulkner would say
here, “memory believes before knowing
remembers”) “in the beginning” or “rosy-
fingered Dawn.” Most, if not all, were there
when I first began teaching Latin and Greek
in that classroom (Bobby Lindsay ’73 was
in my first class, I recall); so they go back
to before the 1970s. Whether they were
the result of a bored teacher killing time
during the administration of a test, or some
creative student during a free period, I
have no idea. But they were probably one
of the few examples of graffiti in Greek.
Charles “Chip” Morgan, Faculty Emeritus
Alexandria, N.H.
December 18, 2012
We love hearing from you in response
to stories we have published in Alumni
Horae or in response to alumni matters.
As space permits, we will print your
letters. Please keep writing to: The Editor,
Alumni Horae, 325 Pleasant St., Concord,
NH 03301 or to alumni@sps.edu.
LETTERS
Immortal Photo
Peter Finger’s fantastic photo “A View
Across Library Pond” (Fall 2012 Alumni
Horae) is the finest picture of St. Paul’s
I have ever seen, and it should be im-
mortalized.
I also enjoyed the Sam von Trapp ’90
story in the same issue. Having started
the St. Paul’s ski team, taught skiing at
Stowe, visited the Trapp Family Lodge,
met his father Johannes, and recently
learned The Sound of Music is my three-
year-old granddaughter’s favorite music,
I appreciate his carrying on the tradition.
William G. Prime ’51
Warrenton, Va.
January 9, 2013
Von Trapps at SPS
I’m sure my contemporaries at SPS have
responded in volume to the omission in the
piece about Sam von Trapp ’90 (“Blessed
with the Sound of Music”) – namely that
the Trapp Family Singers performed at the
School shortly after they arrived in the
U.S., in 1941 or 1942. Baron von Trapp
didn’t sing, but appeared on stage.
Henry Ferguson ’45
Loudonville, N.Y.
January 21, 2013
Concert in the Old Gym
I have just re-read your extremely inter-
esting article on Sam von Trapp ’90 as it
brought back to me one of my fond mo-
ments as a student at SPS. When I was a
Fifth Former in the winter of 1943, the
Trapp Family Singers gave a delightful
concert in our old gymnasium, which
passed as an auditorium. As I recall,
Maria and her young group were simply
presented as having escaped from Nazi-
dominated Austria into Switzerland, and
then in turn into the U.S., and were now
on concert tour. We knew nothing of the
fantasy that would follow in that famous
movie The Sound of Music.
When the movie did come out some
20 years later, I was gullible enough
to believe it all at first and wished I
had known all of those fantastic back-
ground facts which they had sung for
us. Of course, the true story eventually
leaked out and many of us were disap-
pointed to learn how much of it had
been “Hollywoodized.”
I have known for some time of the ex-
istence of the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe,
but knew nothing of the grandson, Sam,
having graduated from the School.
Leverett Hubbard ’45
Scottsdale, Az.
January 30, 2013
The Trapp Family Singers
COURTESY TRAPP FAMILY LODGE
JANA F. BROWN