“
Teaching students to think is as much
a part of the SKS education of today
as it ever was. Reading, writing and
thinking are skills that are entwined,
related and synergistic.”
—
English Chair Jeremy Freeman
Our Common Ground
A TRADITION OF
WRITING CONTINUES
By Lynn Crevling ‘72
A
s an alumna who remained connected with our school for many years as class agent and a volunteer, it
seemed natural to come to work at SKS last May. In the newly created position of director of leadership
support, I reach out to our alumni and encourage them to connect, become involved with, and support SKS.
In my seven months at SKS, I have communicated with alumni about their SKS experience and I have
relayed the great news of the state of our school. It has been fun and rewarding to share SKS stories, ideas,
hopes, and vision together.
This topic for “Our Common Ground” evolved out of recent conversations with alumni. Some alumni
have wondered about the nature and content of the teaching at SKS. Others have commented on whether or
not they learned to write, and enjoyed writing, while here. These conversations became seeds of ideas for an
exploration of the teaching of writing at SKS.
I also came to know about alumni writers, and I discovered alumni or SKS staff reading books written by
SKS alumni. I began to ask alumni who they knew that had been published, and we sent out an email blast
asking for information about SKS
writers. I thought that others might
like to know about our alumni writers’
careers and work.
My identification of SKS writers
started with Burke Boyce, headmaster
from 1952-1956. Headmaster Boyce
was a Harvard graduate, magna cum
laude, with Honors in English. He lec-
tured at Radcliffe, conducted courses
in the Adult Education Division of
New York University, was a guest lec-
turer at Rollins College, and taught American and English literature at The Storm King School. Headmaster
Boyce was a well-known author. His first novel,
The Perilous Night
(1940),
a story of Orange County during
the American Revolution, became a best-seller. His second novel,
Miss Mallett
,
won the annual award of the
New Jersey High School Teachers Association. His third novel,
Cloak of Folly
,
was chosen by the Book League
of America and was also published in France and England. In addition, he wrote children’s books, many short
stories and articles, and two series of verse for the
New Yorker
magazine.
Burke Boyce was an inspiration for alumnus Richard deRosa ’61, a writer and teacher, who wrote about
him in a story called “The Teaching Life” in his book,
Hawthorn Hill Journal: Selected Essays
. “
Our first
headmaster, Burke Boyce, required that after Sunday dinner, a very formal occasion in those days, we gather
22
| on the mountain winter 2013-2014
