A Sampling of Alumni Athletes
"To Play Just as Wholeheartedly as One Works"
The Putney Post, Spring 2008
On a winter day in 1938, Joan Hinton '39 found herself upside down, skis stuck between two large trees, the snow so deep that her poles
offered no help. she could not stand up. The previous day Joan and her Putney teammates surveyed the racecourse on Mt. Mansfield, opted for a "controlled fall" approach to one section, and attacked the steep route head on. That day, it worked. Putney's team performed well, and joined
the collegiate race the following day. Snow had moved in for the second race, obscuring visibility, and ultimately leading Joan off course, into
her tree-stuck predicament.
Hours later, after working one foot free and making her way down the mountain in the dark, Joan found herself alone, left behind by her team
and the race personnel. with no other choice, Joan says "I put my skis over my shoulder and walked down the road in the moonlight."
In 1939, Joan qualified for the U.S. Olympic team. World War II's outbreak abbreviated her competition at that level, but in the one race
against the Canadian team, Joan placed second overall, winning the slalom portion and taking second in the downhill.
Joan's story is one highlight of many. From the amusing to the sublime, in nearly 200 responses to our request for athletics stories (we apologize
that space prohibits listing them all), Putney alumni spin a good yarn.
Indeed, many alumni discovered new activities along the post-Putney path. Generally, people expressed gratitude for the exposure to skiing and the outdoors found at Putney, which whetted appetites for adventure, fresh air and the joys of movement. John Simon '60 astutely noted that "on reflection, I think it was Putney's emphasis that we all do vigorous outdoor exercise, which must have started with Mrs. Hinton, that allowed me to become an athlete on my own time, on my own terms, as my body matured. Putney encouraged me to keep plugging away and to try things, and I got not
only an interesting college athletic career, but a vigorous, healthy adult life." John further captures the unique Putney way in saying "I'm grateful to Johnny Caldwell '46, who was a great example of mens sana in corpore sanis ("sane mind in a sane body"), just as I am to Jeff Campbell, who gave crucial encouragement to my poetry."
And while Joan Hinton's situation was more adventure than many people seek, for other Putney alumni being caught between a rock and hard place is, quite literally, all part of the bigger journey.
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| Vanessa Compton '99 | Christopher Barnes '85 |
