Friends and acquaintances then, talents now, so who’s next?

I had the privilege of growing up with a lot of talented people in New Rochelle, New York, where music, theater, and writing were treasured. Peter Kogan, with whom I walked to school until he escaped to do his senior year in Switzerland, became the timpanist of the Minnesota Symphony. Bob Kaplan, my best friend in high school, was a teacher and librarian who retired to devote himself to theater, both as a director and actor in Wading River on Long Island.

The epidemic is hard times for both, as they are perforce isolated and performing is constrained to Youtube, Zoom, and other remote technologies. So here is Peter pre-epidemic, but after he retired from the symphony to a renewed career in drumming and composing with his Monsterful Wonderband:

And here is Bob, in a first effort with actor friends to do some short-format comedy:

You’ve seen and heard other New Rochelle High School talents over the years: Andrea Mitchell is a regular on MSNBC, Mark Ginsberg became principal second violin with the New York Philharmonic, Andy Stone is an accomplished novelist, and Richie Roundtree was the original Shaft.

These are just the examples that come to mind. I had too little appreciation 60 years ago. They just seemed friends and acquaintances then. Now I realize it was a privilege to grow up among them.

That raises the question: who among the young people I know now–my students, interns, program associates, and growing band of great nieces and nephews–will find themselves creating and contributing good things over the next 50 years and more?