Pomfret School - Griffin Yearbook (Pomfret, CT)

Page 9 text:

ROBERT DENTLER Our third and tourth torm years, Wyatt Garfield was easily the most important member ot the faculty tor the class of l952. He was always around, being our English teacher both years, a math teacher, advisor, coach and the dorm master ot Low- er l. He was more than around. He was the master of diplomacy. Whenever there was a problem land there were plentyl, big brother Cartields door was always open, and, as he wrote on our papers we would discuss . Perhaps the most charming aspect ot his classes was his use of the escape hatch, He would never make an outright state- ment. lt would always be perhaps , Hit you will , or in this context , and, his favorite, this funny little word . He encouraged original thought at all times. For many of us, it was the first time we knew there xi such a thing as origi- nal thought. He was a handy man at a form picnic, and even handler when we were in trouble. But he was handiest of all, just when he was around, giving us his com- pany and his friendship. WYATT CARFIELD

Page 8 text:

DEDICATICDN Robert Dentler, collector of religions, books, newspaper clippings, neuroses, psy- choses, and teacher of English to the sixth form, has been a stimulating experience for many of us. ln the first place, he dif- fers in many ways from the people Pomfret boys are used to meeting. He comes from Chicago. He has a nasal Mid-west twang and is a strong advocate of his special brand of religion, of esthetics, of living. He encountered great hostility at first, and collected a nickname llvloosel be- cause he had a better mousetrap for every sort of mouse. He directed plays, advised the Pontefract, put last year's Griffin to- gether at the last minute, taught classes in Sacred Studies, journalism, English, and Social Psychology, coached the tennis team, and had his finger in miscellaneous pies around campus. The thing that made his presence so welcome, in spite of the hostility in the beginning, is his absolutely disarming sin- cerity and his colossal enthusiasm. Pom- fret boys had a hard time comprehending both of these commodities perhaps be- cause Pomfret boys have not seen much of them. But there they were. The class of i952 was lucky to be close to this dynamic personality long enough to realize that both his enthusiasm and his sincerity are genuine. After that, we were able to sit back and enjoy his collections of religions, books, newspaper clippings, neu- roses and psychoses. Some of us, under the impact of these collections, began collections of our own. Others continued their collections. Many of us left neuroses of our own in Dentler's collection. All of us, one way or another, have taken notice of Mr. Dentler and have grown in the experience.

Page 10 text:

FACULTY Thomas V, Eankg Wendell D. Mansfield David Cushman Twichell. Williams, A.B. Yale, M.A. Headmaster Lovat Fraser Cooper-Ellis. Harvard, A.B. English David C' Twlchell Albert Martin Nagy. Montclair State Teachers, A.B., M.A. Math Carl Preston Swinnerton. Harvard, A.B., Ed.M. Science Levings Hooker Somers. Yale, A.B. Math .tau V' john Peabody Downing. Cornell, A.B. Business Manager Robert Arnold Dentler, Northwestern, A.B., M.A. English Thomas Vernon Banks. Univ. Mississippi, A.B. Middlebury, M.A. French Wendell Doolittle Mansfield. Springfield College, B.P.E. New York Univ., M.A. Athletic Director David Lovell Francis. Williams, A.B. Univ. of Chicago, M.A. Lovat F. Cooper-Ellis l-alln Albert M. Nagy Carl P. Swinnerton Levings H. Somers john P. Downing Robert A. Dentler 6