RE Log - Spring 2016

2 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRINg 2016 Sometimes I think I arrived to Ransom Everglades a couple of decades late. How I wish I could have experienced Dan Leslie Bowden – Mr. Bowden, to most of us – in the classroom. The quintessential schoolmaster, Mr. Bowden inspired, charmed and occasionally terrified students with his signature southern drawl and meticulous enunciation, his impromptu poetry reci- tations, his passion for words, his love of knowledge, his quest for meaning and utter disdain for foolishness. Mr. Bowden molded generations of graduates, shaping them into doers and thinkers and teaching them how to navigate the world. I recently heard Duke University President Dick Brodhead say, in a discussion about undergraduate education in the 21st century, that students still need navigators: adults who know them, give them advice, and help them over the humps. Even in this fast-changing era of technological expan- sion, online learning, specialization and global approaches to educations, we still need Dan Leslie Bowdens. We asked Jeff Lindsay ’70 , one of the school’s most talented writers and accomplished graduates, to try to capture the essence of this great educator as he celebrates his 60th year at Ransom Everglades. As you will see in “A Bowden Memory” beginning on page 4, Jeff has done so magnificently, illumi- nating one of the most influential figures in school history, a man who came to Ransom Everglades in 1955 and never left. I couldn’t agree more with alum Jaymie Meyer ’75 , who said simply: “He is a treasure.” Mr. Bowden is our treasure. In this issue of the Log, we also offer a profile of Janet Lustgarten ’78 , who credits Ransom Everglades with helping her navigate the male-dominated tech industry (page 22). She is now eager to provide the same guidance for others; Janet is generously funding an RE scholarship to help expand opportu- nities for students from lower-income families. Water polo star Ashleigh Johnson ’12 , profiled on page 14, benefited from RE’s financial aid as she traveled from the agricultural heart of South Florida to the cusp of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Her mother, Donna Johnson, who also sent daughter Chelsea ’14 to RE, said she feels “rich because of Ransom Everglades. I could not afford what the girls got – but I got it. I feel like I won the lottery.” From the Pagoda The quintessential schoolmaster and incomparable navigator Head of School Penny Townsend