—————————————————————— The
Past . . . —————————————————————— |
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Name: Ted Duvall Occupation: Documentary Producer Email address: TEDuvall@aol.com |
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(no picture provided.) |
——————————————————— 1978 Reunion Questionnaire ——————————————————— |
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1) The important people in my life (spouses, partners, children) are... | |||
My wife Ann. She is actually the most important person in the world. She and I have three children, Rachel, Natalie, and Donovan. |
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2) I went to Westtown because… | |||
The high school I was attending as a ninth grader had regular fights along racial lines, occasional riots, easy access to drugs and a rather casual attitude toward student safety. My friend, Charlie Homet, was attending Westtown at the time and told me how great it was. I joined him there in 10th grade. He was not asked back... and I made it by the skin of my teeth in later years (see below). |
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3) My occupation is a Documentary Producer and Westtown prepared me for it by … | |||
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4) My life’s greatest moments and challenges (to date) would be … | |||
The greatest challenges
have been professional and, as a direct result, financial. I have been
laid off at least four times and endured long stretches of unemployment.
After a decade of ups and downs, things have calmed down. I credit many
things for the change but Quakerism was key. I am sure many of my teachers
would be slack-jawed to learn that, after trying to evade Meeting For
Worship for three years at Westtown, I am now a Quaker and attend Meeting
For Worship regularly. I believe Tom Woodward might define that as ironic. |
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5) Westtown’s most inspirational faculty, classmate, friend (multiple choices accepted) would have to be … | |||
As for friends, I
don't have many friends from my class and the few I did, I let time, distance,
and apathy keep me from maintaining those relationships. I went to Lynchburg
College with several 78ers and we would hang out every once in a while
but that was a long time ago. My friendship base at Westtown was drawn
largely from the the class of 79. I am still in touch with some of those
guys. |
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6) The most memorable time I broke the rules would be when I … | |||
I broke an unwritten rule about dating a Dean's daughter. Lynn Morris and I dated for quite a while. Lesson to young men reading this... don't date a Dean's daughter. The Dean won't like you if you do that. Then there was the time in my junior year when I stole a soccer ball from an opposing team. Mind you I had six at home! I got nailed with hourbook on a weekend I was supposed to go home to celebrate sister Lili's birthday. Ouch. I raked leaves in Coulter's yard for the first six hours of that Saturday... a long and lonely weekend for me. |
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7) Was there a point in your life when you recognized any benefit from your time at Westtown? | |||
It took me 19 years to go back to campus. I had quite the chip on my shoulder about Westtown. I used to deride it as a prep school... arguing it didn't prepare me to well. It was only after several of life's challenges (mentioned above) that I realized that my lack of maturity was the missing piece of the puzzle. Now I regularly see the benefits of Westtown in ways large and small. I don't regret but I am aware I could have conducted myself a helluva a lot better. |
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8) Do you plan to attend the 25th year reunion in May? | |||
I will attend with my wife and 3 children. |
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