’49 News

My wife, Carole, passed away in 2008. Our life together had been a joyous adventure; traveling the world, skiing the west and several alpine slopes, summering a few weeks at my “camp” on Penobscot Bay, Maine and mostly in Darien, CT where we regularly played tennis and sailed our 34 ft sloop, cruising often to Nantucket Island and twice to Maine. We founded a non-fiction Book Group, which still meets five times each year. We also enjoyed being in New York a few winter days each week.

Only about a year after Carole’s passing, our mutual friend Barbara, became my companion in New York, where we occupy much of each week; volunteer-tutoring English at the English Speaking Union to well-educated foreigners needing help with pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. We also sing in the Dalton Chorale and enjoy Manhattan’s cultural advantages. Last year we traveled to Tuscany with a SanFrancisco-based group of amateur and professional musicians; performing for each other and with the locals-finally performing at the Cortona Opera House, where about twenty of us sang in the chorus.

I am forever grateful to Ralph Oatley’s gleeclub guidance. Singing has become a vital part of my life with Barbara in Darien’s Congregational Church choir and New York’s Dalton Chorale. I was pleased our Deerfield classmates, Bob and Liz Rosenman and Bob Palmer attended our Dalton May 16th concert of Brahms Requiem in New York. Barbara and I had previously attended Bob Palmer’s exhilarating New Amsterdam Singers’ concert.

In Darien, CT I continue my volunteer work at Not-for-profit Darien Book Aid Plan, Inc, where I’ve volunteered the past fifteen years. Book Aid was founded in 1949 to replace the books destroyed in the war and to counter Soviet influence. We, at Book Aid, now send free books to Peace-Corps volunteers and school administrators in more than sixty countries; and now to an ever-growing list of needy schools, correctional institutions and community centers in our United States. We are funded by donations from the residents of Darien and surrounding communities. We operate with about forty volunteers and have no paid employees. I was kicked upstairs three years ago and find myself e-mailing with committee members an hour or two each day from wherever I happen to be.
A flood of grateful thank-you letters from grateful book-recipients around the world keep us volunteers ever-excited about the value of our work.

As you may deduce, I’m on a roll ! I’ve never been busier or happier!
Best wishes to all !

Rick Littlefield Class of 1949

Frequently Asked Questions

Upon graduating from Deerfield, alumni enter a diverse network of former Deerfield students. Deerfield alumni have ventured into almost every area of employment, and many are at the top of their respective fields. The advantages of this vast network are numerous and significant, as every member of the Deerfield family receives the following:

Alumni are also eligible for alumni awards, such as the Ashley Award, Heritage Award, and the Mimi Morsman Award.

There are no membership fees or dues for members of the Deerfield family, but Deerfield does ask for assistance in a few areas. First of all, in order for Deerfield to have the most up-to-date records possible, we encourage members to keep us apprised of their current contact info. Alumni are also urged to direct all concerns and suggestions regarding Deerfield’s operations through the Executive Committee, the governing body of the Alumni Association. The committee acts as the voice of the alumni body, and works closely with the school administration. In order to keep tuition affordable and the quality of a Deerfield education at its highest, the Academy depends upon the continuing support of alumni and their families. This support can take the form of annual or capital gifts, or time spent volunteering on behalf of Deerfield.

There are Deerfield Clubs in many major American cities. Please visit here for more information on specific clubs and their sponsored events. 

Of course! Be sure to read the latest issue of From Albany Road in your email’s in-box for current news of what is happening on campus. As we also send out periodic invitations, it’s always best to make sure we have your current physical address. And if you do plan on visiting campus, why not tell us ahead of time?

Contact the Office of Advancement

alumni@deerfield.edu
413-774-1474

7 Boyden Lane, PO Box 306
Deerfield, MA 01342