Remembering a Pioneer
Alumni share their memories of the faculty member
who introduced them to the beauty of Africa
RICHARD HOLMES, a fixture on campus for 43 ticipant 1986. “His unconventional style and early on in the iconic artist’s career.
years, fell in love with Africa after his first visit eye for value continue to influence students Select works from Holmes’s private col-
in 1959. So much so that he returned every worldwide.” lection were shown at the Robert Lehman Art
summer, and eventually retired to Cape Town- Upon his retirement, a bulletin board out- Center.
South Africa, in 1991. side Holmes’s Brooks office held letters of com- Broadhead described Holmes as the
It was that affection for Africa that he mendation from President George H.W. Bush, “cool” faculty member who had the best
wanted to share with students when he Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Walter stereo system in the school, who would play
founded the African Exchange Program in Cronkite. A staunch Democratic supporter, favorites like “Ruby Tuesday” loudly from his
1986, to, in his words, “afford the opportunity Holmes was active in Whitney House room.
for students to live and to participate in an- local and national When Broadhead returned as a faculty
other culture and educational system; to be- politics. He was ap- member in 1975, he said he and Holmes “just
come residents of another country, and pointed a commis- connected.” Holmes became the godfather of
therefore to become more effective, meaning- sioner to the U.S. one of the Broadhead children.
ful and resourceful citizens of the larger world Commission for UN- “As our children grew, ‘Uncle Richard’ be-
community.” ESCO under Presi- came more and more of a fixture in our home.
The program and Holmes were celebrated dents Kennedy, Dinner menus were simple — in the winter he
during Alumni Weekend this year, when alums Johnson and Carter. liked spaghetti with much more sauce than
gathered to talk about their exchange memo- A memorial serv- spaghetti, and during the summer he pre-
ries, and to remember Holmes, who died on ice in the Ashburn ferred a ‘Brie’ or cookout. We only served
Assistant Headmaster
March 30, 2008, in Vero Beach, Florida.
Emeritus Richard F.
Chapel was held for Richard three main courses, rare hamburger,
During his time at Brooks, Holmes was
Holmes, 1924–2008
Holmes on June 15, salmon, or swordfish. We never varied the
also a wrestling coach, advisor to the school during which David menu and we never surprised him! While the
newspaper and dean of studies. Laughlin, Ray Broadhead ’70 and others talked charcoal was heating up, Richard loved to sit
A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, about his life. in a chair in the yard, reading the New York
and a graduate of Williams College, Holmes Laughlin spoke of his visits to Africa, and Times, sipping a glass of wine and sharing the
arrived at Brooks in 1948 after serving in the how he fell in love with the nature and the day’s events with me while I waited on him!
U.S. Navy. people there. He loved that peaceful ending to a day.
His plan to teach history for a year evolved “The gorillas of the Virunga Mountains “When he retired from Brooks, our home
into 43 years of service as a passionate teacher, mourn his passing. He was their champion became Richard’s stopping point when visiting
acting headmaster, and a dedicated assistant long before the area became chic to visit. On Brooks. Some visits were longer than others,
headmaster for 34 years. Holmes bears the sin- his first visit to the area, it was just him and his but we enjoyed his presence and he certainly
gular distinction of having served under three guide alongside Dian Fossey, who was early in enjoyed being a brother to Amy and Sarah.
of the four Brooks headmasters — Frank Ash- her studies of the mountain gorillas. He always “I went to visit Richard last November to
burn, H. Peter Aitken and Larry Becker. described a trek with the gorillas as ‘cool.’ Cool see him for what I feared would be the last
The Brooks Exchange Program now in- was a word that was always widely used in his time. My new wife, Leone, was with me, and I
cludes Botswana, Uganda, Hungary and Scot- lexicon.” could tell that Richard was very puzzled as to
land. The program was a groundbreaking When on vacations from Brooks, Holmes who we were. He never asked me a question
model mimicked by public and private schools loved to sunbathe and read at the beach, surf, about the girls, and he never mentioned my
alike, and continues to be at the core of the and visit with friends while summering in Rye, name.
“Brooks experience” today. New Hampshire, and wintering in Palm “On my third and final visit to see him
“Richard single-handedly pioneered Beach, Florida. He was as comfortable in a that weekend, he never opened his eyes, yet we
Brooks’s exchange programs in 1986,” said prep school setting as he was at avant-garde talked for a bit. After I said my good-byes and
John Barker ’87, former alumni board presi- happenings in New York. A close friend of started to sadly walk away, he said, ‘Thanks for
dent and Alliance High School exchange par- Andy Warhol, Holmes began collecting his art coming, Ray.’ That meant everything to me.”
Winter 2009 59
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