Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/97177
Ronald Pen Class of 1969 | Fine Arts Department Chair, 1976-1981 Copy of a note written to Dick Dolezal August 6, 2012 Dear Dick, It is a hot late summer day as I sit at the computer wildly trying to overtake the work laying fallow as I indulged in the delights of a summer vacation. Preparing for courses as the fall semester will be born anew in several weeks. Several classmates at Latin School forwarded a note to me from Steve Marth about your new home and life at St. Joseph Village. And so I write now, though you are never far from my mind nor my heart. Your journey has been an epic tome, a sprawling wondrous novel spanning decades, encompassing generations of young scholars, bringing joy and enlightenment to many, many, many of us. And now you are in the denouement of this narrative. It is not quite the ending that any of us foresaw or one that you might have written for yourself. But it is hopefully a calm yet celebratory sunset on a remarkable career, a life lived in harmony with the world, a life that has made the world a brighter, better place for your presence. I wish I could visit you now, but Steve will have to be my proxy ��� and a fine one he is, a faithful friend. I hope the days pass sweetly in memory, in conversation with the many characters and authors you introduced us to as young English students at Latin School ��� Hester Prynne, Queequeg, Walden Pond and Esther Summerson. I still have a small mayonnaise jar filled with Walden Pond water in homage to the little Windex bottle of pond water that sat on your desk for many a year as the silly little gaggle of ���Transcendental Club��� members ��� Michelle Archambeault, Dulcie Corkill and I ��� took in Emerson and Thoreau under your masterful tutelage. And so, here I sit at the computer, lost in time and in reverie, back suddenly to 59 East Scott Street, remembering the many delights of discovery you engineered for all of us. As I remember, I am brimming over with gratitude for so much, and I just want to take this moment to thank you. You know how grateful I am, how appreciative we ALL are for so very much. Thank you, and much love to you, Dick. Fondly, Your former student, your former colleague, and your current devotee, Ron ���As I remember, I am brimming over with gratitude for so much, and I just want to take this moment to thank you.��� ��� Ronald Pen, Class of 1969 LATI N SCHOOL OF CHI CA GO 29