Fords in Four:
Dayton Lummis '54
Author
1. What pieces of the American life do you feel are slipping away?
We are losing the American middle class and a sense of equality. There is also a continuing loss of our natural environment to shopping malls and sprawl. I consider the current addiction to devices and social media as the “dumbing down” of American society.
2. Recount your favorite travel experience.
The trip I took in the summer of 1956 with my classmate Jim Hughes to Mexico, a country we knew next to nothing about, where we traveled by small plane, boat, and mostly buses ranging from primitive to luxury. My first contact with another culture and people was very eye- and mind-opening. Also, my two-month European trip in summer 1958 with classmates Bill Farrell and Bear Kinkead comes to mind; in Berlin we foolishly ventured into the Soviet zone but got out.
3. What U.S. sights should every American see?
The Statue of Liberty from a vessel entering the harbor at dawn; the Golden Gate Bridge, symbolic of the distant orient; Yellowstone National Park, the nation’s first; and, of course, the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. And the Manhattan skyline - there is nothing like it in the world!
4. Note a memorable Haverford experience or faculty member.
The faculty at Haverford in 1954 was an exceptional group of talented men who dedicated their professional lives to educating young men, smoothing out their rough edges, and opening their minds and eyes to the many possibilities that life affords.
I was named “most unpredictable” in the Class of 1954. Whether or not that has proven to be accurate remains a matter of the judgement of others. I remain fiercely loyal to Haverford, with its many changes for the better since my day, and I am very grateful for the emphatic nudge I got from the School on the twisting and often unknown path of life. I consider Haverford a “beacon of light” in our darkening educational syndrome.
