Retired English teacher Jim Brewer ’50 was presented with the Theuner Award for service to the school at the recent commencement ceremonies of the Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
“In 1959 Jim Brewer came to interview for a job at Holderness because a friend had told him this was a school that was as ‘friendly as an old shoe,’” said Head of School Phil Peck.
“Jim got hired. He left us once, but came back. By the time he retired in 1995 he had served Holderness for 23 years—as an English teacher, department chair, director of development, director of college counseling, director of publications, assistant headmaster, and football coach.
“He founded both the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse programs, winning twelve league championships and twice being named Northern New England Coach-of-the-Year. He founded Holderness School Today, the school’s flagship publication. And he founded Senior Colloquium, a special program that has since broadened and matured into Senior Honors Thesis.
“Since his retirement, Jim has stayed involved with Holderness as a guest storyteller at each reunion and as our most valuable repository of collective memory.
“There are all these ways in which he has advanced the school’s mission, but perhaps none more profoundly than this—through his warmth, zeal, and love for his colleagues and students, he has helped Holderness remain as friendly as an old shoe.”
An alumnus of Deerfield Academy, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the University of Wisconsin Law School, and the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College, Mr. Brewer currently lives in the Taylor Community in Laconia, NH.
