Boston College magazine

2018·4.1 MB·English

by  Boston College. Office of Communications

PROLOGUE
DEATH WATCH
T
he European 14th century featured, among other much as we’ve lived. If we’re Socrates, we die cogently and
devastations, a “great famine,” a “httle ice age,” content under Plato’s care; if we’re Ivan Ilyich, we die, as
most of the Hundred Years’ War, and the Black Tolstoy savagely noted, like a man whose “life had been most
Death, the worst plague known to history, which itself killed simple and most ordinary—and therefore most terrible.”
nearly one-in-three Europeans over a mere five or so years. So with my ever-harried mother, whose heartbreaking
The carnage had many consequences, and one was that final words, whispered to a granddaughter who’d accompa¬
the Church lost priests, and another was that Christians nied her on the long, last ambulance ride, were “I’m afraid.”
began to think of the final judgement as a close, personal So my unbridled father, whose last act on this earth was to
concern, rather than a collective eschatological worry. And momentarily rise in his hospital bed and throw a (blessedly
so the Council of Constance (1414-18) ordered up the Ars feeble) punch at a nearby doctor. So my boisterous friend
Moriendi, or Art of Dying, a catechetical manual suitable for Burt, saflrng off while regaling nurses (and only female
use by priests and lay people that brought efficiency to the nurses) with stories of his youthful exploits as a college
work of preparing the dying for salvation. varsity swimmer. And my friend Brian, a man of exuber¬
The initial edition of the Ars contained six chapters. ant devotions and affections, writing not long ago to tell
Four dispensed practical instruction to the dying—includ¬ me he had been diagnosed with “a whopping brain tumor”
ing the rather important if belated news that a good life was (no other kind would have suited Brian), and then, “But I
the best preparation for a good death—^while a fifth chapter had the best luckiest blessedest hfe ever. Mary married me
prescribed behavior for family and friends attending the and the kids arrived.”
deathbed, and a sixth listed prayers. It was a model that must Perhaps the most artful and instructive dying that I’ve
have proved very useful, because scores of copycat works witnessed was lived by my friend David some years back.
(e.g.. Craft and Knowledge for to Die Well and The Rules and Receiving his surprise terminal cancer diagnosis, he went
Exercises of Holy Dying) were published across Europe over home and set up on a sofa in his living room beneath a bank
the next 200 years. In Rome, the Jesuit and cardinal Robert of windows that looked out on a grand sugar maple and the
Bellarmine published the most popular Catholic ars of its woods behind. He took books from his shelves in various
time, titled De arte bene moriendi (1620), which some entre¬ rooms and set them on a coffee table near the sofa, serious
preneurial British publishers stripped of its Catholic flavor¬ stuff: Kierkegaard, Kant, Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Freud,
ings and republished in English. This edition, too, sold well. the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible. And he read and received
Times change, but an interest in how to die endures. visitors (and ate chocolate and sipped Jim Beam) most every
Today’s typical ars moriendi, however, is less likely to focus day for as long as he could. And each day he walked in his
on gaining eternal life than on finding an artful way out of drive, testing his strength, calculating the tether’s shorten¬
this one, a path between the Scylla of inadequate healthcare ing. And after a time, men came and put the sofa away,
and the Charybdis of over-medicalization. Atul Gawande’s replacing it with a hospital bed. And a nurse came each day
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (2014) to treat his pain. (She did well by him.) He died one after¬
is, by my lights, the most moving and wisest example of noon at the height of summer. The windows were open. He
the genre, because it treats matters of the spirit in addition seemed to be dozing. His wife was beside him, reading. His
to untangling—as best can be done—the tripwires hidden teenage son was asleep on a nearby cot. His last words were
within DNRs and the dangers of seeking counsel from to no one and everyone, and I’m certain he’d been consider¬
the best people at Mayo and Mass General and then MD ing them at least since the day the doctor told him there was
Anderson and Sloan Kettering. no hope, and maybe for years before that. He was that kind
of man, who studied his responsibilities as son, husband,
CAN THESE BOOKS-OR EARLIER BOOKS OR OTHER father, friend, invahd, and mortal and made every effort to
books—prepare us at the end? Can they make us wise in our honor them. He opened his eyes and whispered, “Life is a
reckoning with mortality? Perhaps. Deathbed conversions, miracle.” Then he died.
however—whether as a matter of religion or character—are Our story on how student nurses come to learn their sol¬
rare. As the old ars moriendi intimated, most of us die pretty emn duties begins on page 26. —ben birnbaum
Contents
BOSTON COLLEGE MAGAZINE VOL. 78 NO. I WINTER 20l8
2 Letters 45 End
Notes
4 Linden
From an interview with
Lane studio art instructor Mary
Sherman • A lesson from
A pair of actors return the 14th century
to Robsham, where it
all began • Learning to 50 Glass
write about the home¬
less • On January 10, Notes
crews installed trusswork
From “Jesuitland," pg. 18 for a new fieldhouse •
Welcome to the Catholic 80 Inquiring
‘Ministry Expo' • How
FEATURES the butterfly got its Minds
proboscis • Five Puerto
Rican undergraduates, Parental income and the
home for winter break, making of leaders
18 JESUITLAND tell what they saw
Six distinctive voices, from 1553 to • Bird's eye 81 Works
1969, drawn from Boston College's & Days
new Portal to the world's largest online
cache of Jesuit-related materials Assistant Olympic hockey
By Ben Birnbaum and Seth Meehan coach Sam Kim '07
26 THE VIGIL
Throughout the semester, senior nursing
students came to know ‘cancer patient'
Marybeth McManus. On the final day
of class, she had minutes to live
By Zachary Jason
Photography by Gary Wayne Gilbert
36 OPEN QUESTIONS
Unsolved challenges that drive faculty
research
Interviews by Thomas Cooper g GET THE FULL STORY, AT BCM ONLINE:
Photography by Lee Pellegrini U
.Q • Access the Portal to Jesuit Studies (pg. 18)
• Order Mary Sherman: What if You Could Hear
a Painting at a discount from the Boston College
ORNo ssT,H ES Jc, oSvTeLr':1 1F, roclmin ilceaflt , IJnislltiraunc tLora;w Alenr n'1e5 Z; IeRviochr,a rMd A'08, OJ Bookstore (pg. 46)
MS'11; Eileen Sullivan, assistant director of learning labo¬ u
ratories; Alie Contino '14, MS'18, simulation lab teaching also:
assistant; and Amy Gribaudo, AAA'15, assistant director of • READER'S list: Books by alumni, faculty, and staff
undergraduate programs, on December 6, 2017.
Photograph by Gary Wayne Gilbert
BOSTON COLLEGE LETTERS
MAGAZINE VOLUME 78 NUMBER 1 WINTER 2018
GOOD CHEMISTRY their independence and made themselves
Re “Powerdriver,” by Lydialyle Gibson vulnerable to government extortion (via
AKReTi tDhI AREkCeT OR (Fall 2017); Stafford Sheehan joined our Title IX legislation, for example).
lab as a freshman. His passion for renew¬ By emphasizing pluralism, multicultur-
PGHaOrTyO WGRaAyPnHeY G EiDlbITeOrtR able energy research was obvious from alism, and social justice, Cathohc universi¬
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER those early days. What is truly remarkable ties no longer have the courage and focus
Lee Pellegrini about Staffs achievements, at Boston to defend Cathohc doctrine and spiritual¬
UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER College and beyond, is the organic integra¬ ity and are instead fahing into the trap of
Peter Julian’16 tion of fundamental science and applied moral relativism. In this discouraging state
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT research. He sets an example for how stu¬ of affairs, the loss of federal funding and
Zachary Jason’ll dents can pursue their passions in areas of accreditation might be the best thing to
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR huge societal importance, such as sustain¬ happen to our “Cathohc” institutions. It
Seth Meehan, Ph.D.’U ability. I look forward to his next steps as might force them to start from the ground
WCOiNUTiRaImBUBToINleG WRITER an entrepreneur and an innovator. up and gain essential independence from a
Dunwei Wang corrupt system.
RSCaAv1 i OJaNiLnI,N ME iPlResO BDUeCnEsoRSn Boston College Luis Carvallo, MBA’99
Vienna, Virginia
Readers, please send address changes to: The writer is an associate professor of
Development Information Services chemistry. CLASS NOTES
Cadigan Alumni Center, 140 Commonwealth Ave. Re “At the Table,” by Zachary Jason
C(6h1e7s)t nSuSt2 H-3iU44,M0,FAa 0x2: 4(66177 ) 552-0077 LAND O' LAKES (Summer 2017); I took Mark O’Connor’s
bc.edu/bcm/address/ I was surprised that William Bole’s article course in the political and intehectual
Please send editorial correspondence to: on the 1967 Land O’ Lakes meeting history of modern Europe the fall term
Boston College Magazine (“Mission Statement,” Fall 2017) did not of my freshman year. I managed to fail
C14h0e sCtnoumt mHoUn1w,MeaAl t0h2 A4v6e7. make reference to Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Pope the first exam because I concentrated on
[email protected] John Paul IPs 1990 apostolic constitution one question and had no time to scribble
Boston College Magazine on Catholic universities. In it, the pope set a response to the others. Professor
is published quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer, out how Catholic colleges are to safeguard O’Connor saved me from disaster by
Fall) by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Church’s identity, including the norm kindly bidding me to buckle down on
t(h6e1 7O) f5fi5ce2 ^o8f U20n,iv Fearxs:i t(y6 C17o)m 5m52u-n2ic4a4t1io ns, that Catholics teaching in theological subsequent exams and to “grow up” as a
PISeSriNod 0ic8a8ls5 -p2o0s4ta9g e paid at Boston, MA, and ldoicscailp olrindeins arreyc e(ibvies hao mp)a, nad raetaupmp lfircoamtio tnh e tinh innok esrm aanldl p naortt jtuos ht iam “,r eI hswasihtcehr.e”d T mhayn ks
additional mailing offices. of Canon 812 of the revised canon law major from biology to history.
PBDooessvttoemlnoa Csptmoelrle:e ngSte e IMnndfao garadmzdiarneteiso sn c Soerrrevcictieosn s to purnodmeru tlhgea tmeda nind a1t9u8m3. t oIt mreaqkuei rcelse ater awchheerns uumO o’Cf eovnennotrs ttahuagt hstt ihlli scthoarlyle ansg ae sc otondtiany¬’ s
Cadigan Alumni Center, 140 Commonwealth Ave. they are departing from true Catholic historians. And he demanded students
Chestnut HiU, MA 02467 doctrine. grapple with the issues. As a family gene¬
Copyright 2018 Trustees of Boston College. Anthony Mangini ’68 alogist whose ancestors were among the
Printed in U.S.A. All pubhcations rights reserved. Waltham, Massachusetts founders of Hartford, Connecticut, I con¬
BCMis distributed free to alumni, faculty, staff, tinue to grapple with some tough histori¬
available by paid subscription at the rate of $20 The decisions made by the gang of 26 at cal facts, such as the New England slave
for four issues. Please send check payable to the Land O’ Lakes gathering had harmful trade in which my ancestors participated.
Boston College Magazine to: consequences that the participants might Thomas Alton ’80
SCuhbessctrniuptt iHoniUs,/ BMCAM 0, 2144607 C ommonwealth Ave. not have envisioned. By emancipating Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
themselves from the authority of the
Catholic Church to pursue total academic I had the distinct blessing of having Mark
freedom, their institutions started on a O’Connor not only for the sophomore
path of capimlation to the decaying morals seminar, but also as my senior thesis advi¬
eCmhaeisl:t nculat sHsinUo,t eMs@A b0c2.4e6d7u of our time. Simultaneously, by deciding sor. Mark’s impact upon me and other
phone: (617)552^700 to accept federal funds, they sacrificed alumni of “The Cohege of O’Connor,” as
WINTER 10l8
we like to caU it, is indelible. There’s not a of recollections from my own experience Program book-a-week summer read¬
book 1 read, an historical event 1 ponder, a in the then-new Honors Program before ing lists; 1 dip into them regularly. The
painting 1 admire, or a movie 1 watch that Professor O’Connor began teaching at enduring imprint of my Boston College
1 do not see more richly for having sat at Boston College, especially from my first- education was threefold: to be a life-long
Mark’s seminar table. year English course in 1959-60, which learning junkie, to have a career in service-
With Mark, we were not doing scholar¬ was taught by Leo Hines, with his grip¬ oriented cooperatives and international
ship for scholarship’s sake, but, instead, ping, raspy voice and remarkable histri¬ development assistance, and to oscillate
with an eye towards what those great texts onic repertoire. between the vita aaiva and the vita con-
meant for our lives. Mark taught us, in the By Thanksgiving we had romped templativa (including teaching at the post¬
words of Fr. Zosima from The Brothers through the Greek Bucolic poets, the graduate level) so that each could inform
Karamazov, that “much on earth is con¬ Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, the Purgatorio, and the other.
cealed from us, but in place of it we have Paradise Lost, while Leo declaimed on John Jordan ’63
been granted a secret, mysterious sense of themes such as metempsychosis and, yes. Toronto, Canada
our living bond with the other world, with The Golden Bough was on his menu. We
the higher heavenly world, and the roots then blitzed 10 plays of Shakespeare, and TRAVELS WITH FR. AAONAN
of our thoughts and feelings are not here concluded the year with an immersion Re “Remembering Fr. Monan—Life,
but in other worlds.” in earlier 17th-century prose and poetry, Legacy, and Spirit,” by Ben Birnbaum,
Christian Clark ’09 especially the metaphysicals, then much in James M. O’Toole, and Joseph M.
New York, New York vogue. For me, that course ignited the life O’Keefe, SJ (Spring 2017): During the
of the mind. $125 million Campaign for Boston College
Mark O’Connor took a chance on me 1 was a biology major. (It was the post- of the early 1990s, 1 occasionally traveled
in the fall of 2000 when 1 transferred to Sputnik era, in which American students with J. Donald Monan, SJ, to visit donors.
Boston College in my sophomore year and were pressed to pursue the sciences and On my first trip—to Atlanta—1 was
he accepted me into the Honors Program. engineering and C.P. Snow was alerting caught off guard when he offered to return
He said to me that he saw himself in me. us—in his 1959 The Two Cultures— to the rental car. At the end of another trip,
That comment speaks to what makes the growing divide between practitioners during which we had secured a few five-
Mark O’Connor such a wonderful human of the sciences and of the humanities.) and six-figure gifts. Father laughed and
being and phenomenal teacher—his Thanks to Leo 1 took as many English and said, “1 remember the days when a $1,000
humility. That humility is why he repre¬ history courses as my major would allow, gift would make us gasp.”
sents so perfectly the Jesuit, Catholic iden¬ and reveled in them. He was the only pro¬ Fr. Monan always hosted a Christmas
tity of Boston CoUege. fessor 1 encountered who was open to an lunch for the University support staff, and
John Mulcahy ’03,}D’07 occasional coffee in the Lyons cafeteria, at the end of the gathering he would sing
Annandale, Virginia and we remained in touch for years after “White Christmas” in his lovely tenor.
Boston College. Jane Carroll
The wonderful article on Professor Mark 1 still have the reading lists and notes Damariscotta, Maine
O’Connor’s course opened a floodgate from Leo Hines’s course and our Honors
The writer was director of major giftsfrom
1993-96.
SEATING PLAN
Re “Walk Off,” by Joseph Gravellese ’10
(Summer 2017): Reading about Shea
Field’s last game reminded me how stu¬
dents loved to sit on the wooded hillside
behind third base to watch games all
through the 1960s. My older brother,
Ralph Surette ’62, tipped me off about
this when my turn came to attend.
Stephen G. Surette ’69, M.Ed.’71
Arlington, Massachusetts
BCM welcomes letters from readers.
Letters may be edited for length and clarity,
and must be signed to be published. Our
fax number is [phone]; our email
Fans occupy the wooded hill adjacent to now-decommissioned Shea Field for a 1961 game. address is [email protected].
'INTER ZOl8
CONTENTS
6 The performers
A pair of actors return to
Robsham, where it all began
8 Voice lessons
Learning to write about the ^ A canary-yellow shipping container at USA Timothy P. Broglio '73 was the
homeless the top of the Higgins Stairs hosted some keynote speaker at the University’s 17th
Q two dozen conversations between annual Veterans Remembrance Ceremony.
10 Field of dreams tn groups of students and faculty from )f( In the NCAA rankings of athlete gradu¬
On January 10, crews installed 2 Boston College and Iraqi, Kurdish, and ation rates, Boston College placed sixth
trusswork for a new fieldhouse § Syrian refugees in camps in Berlin, Iraq, among the 129 Football Bowl Subdivision
^ and Jordan. Communicating via wall- schools. The top five were Notre Dame,
size video screens, participants in the Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, and
12 Guidance system Refugee Project cosponsored by the Boisi Vanderbilt. )f( City Connects, a Lynch
Welcome to the Catholic Center talked about education, migra¬ School program that provides compre¬
'Ministry Expo' tion, religion, music, literature, and soc¬ hensive support for at-need elementary
cer. )#( At the 2017 Globies, the Boston students, was recognized by the University
14 Untimely discovery Globe’s annual sports awards ceremony, of Pennsylvania’s Center for High-Impact
Kenzie Kent '18, who plays lacrosse and Philanthropy for its cost-effective results.
How the butterfly ice hockey, was named the year’s best col¬ )#( Kenneth Hackett ’68, H’06, former
got its proboscis lege athlete and also best female athlete. U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and
)f( The University’s Learning to Learn president of Catholic Relief Services, deliv¬
15 After the storm office was awarded a five-year, $1-15 mil¬ ered the keynote at the University’s annual
Five Puerto Rican under¬ lion grant from the U.S. Department Advancing Research and Scholarship
graduates, home for winter of Education in support of its Ronald E. Day, which focused on “research and the
McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement common good.” )JC Morrissey College
break, tell what they saw Program, which prepares first-generation, of Arts and Sciences dean Gregory
low-income, and underrepresented stu¬ Kalscheur, SJ, announced that the Class
17 Close-up dents to pursue postgraduate degrees. of 2021 will include the last cohort of the
Bird's eye )f( Theology professor Pheme Perkins, a college’s Honors Program, which cur¬
New Testament scholar, was named the rently enrolls 380 undergraduates and was
inauguralJoseph Professor of Catholic founded in 1958 as part of an effort—no
Spirituality; fellow theology professor M. longer required, Kalscheur said—to attract
Shawn Copeland received the Marianist superior students. In a similar move, Andy
Award from the University of Dayton in Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of
recognition of her contributions to the Management, announced that its honors
Catholic intellectual tradition. )f( Bucking program would also end with the Class
a decline at many U.S. colleges and uni¬ of 2021. )#C The University’s Supported
versities, the international enrollment— Employment Program, which provides
undergraduate and graduate—for 2017-18 jobs to adults with developmental dis¬
grew 9 percent (to 1,751) over the previous abilities, marked its 30th anniversary. SEP
year. Noteworthy factors included large employs 23 individuals in offices including
numbers from Asia, particularly China the Libraries, RexPlex, and Institutional
(793). )#( Archbishop of Military Services Research, Planning, and Assessment.
LOCAVORES —On January 18 in Corcoran Commons, blue-shirted Dining Services interns Abigaii McHugh '20 (ieft) and Juiia MacDonaid '20 serve
bite-sized sampies of "bang-bang cauiifiower" (with sriracha and sweet chili sauce) to (from left) sophomores Mary Smith, Sophia Fox, Alyssa Trejo,
and Connor Murphy. Last fall Dining Services received a three-year, $400,000 grant from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation to develop FRESH to Table,
introducing f-r-e-s-h menu items with Fairly traded. Regional, Equitable, Sustainable, and Healthy ingredients every Thursday (other new offerings this
semester: spinach and egg drop soup, maple cinnamon meringues, and mussels dijonnaise).
)J( Connell School professor Ann Burgess to one in six deaths worldwide. )J( Rafael ranked 18th among private universities
is the inspiration for the character of Luna has heen named associate dean and and 43rd among all U.S. colleges and uni¬
“Dr. Wendy Carr” in the Netflix drama director of the University’s Pre-Health versities, up from 20th and 47th last year.
Mindhunter. Burgess pioneered advances Programs, which advise some 2,000 )f( Allison Curseen, a Woodrow Wilson
in forensic nursing and has worked with students aiming for graduate programs fellow at Princeton, and Jonathan Howard,
the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit on in medicine, dentistry, and other health who holds a Ph.D. in Enghsh from Duke,
methodologies for profding violent crimi¬ professions. Luna joins Boston College have received appointments as assistant
nals. )f( Five players from the women’s after 11 years as a teacher, researcher, and professors in the English department
ice hockey team—Cayla Barnes ’21, Kali administrator at Harvard Medical School. and the African and African Diaspora
Flanagan ’19, Megan Keller ’19, Emily 'jK Assistant professor of physics Fazel Studies Program (which involves 21 fac¬
Pfalzer ’15, and Flaky Skarupa ’16—were Tafti led a team of scientists from Boston ulty from eight departments). Curseen’s
selected to join Team USA at the winter College and Harvard that created an oxide focus is 19th-century American litera¬
Olympics in South Korea. Brian Gionta of copper and iridium with a structure ture. Howard studies the role of nature
’01 will captain the men’s team. )f( that disrupts its own magnetic proper¬ in African diaspora literature. )J( Cadet
Vice Provost for Research and DeLuca ties, producing what is called quantum Mark Kindschuh ’19 was awarded the
Professor of Biology Thomas Chiles and spin liquid. This state of matter appears Army’s Medal of Heroism, the highest
School of Social Work dean Gautam essential for developing powerful quan¬ honor presented to members of ROTC,
Yadama were part of an international com¬ tum computers. Their work was reported for his life-saving efforts during the
mission, hacked hy British medical journal in the Journal of the American Chemical June 3, 2017, terrorist attack in London,
Lancet and Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Society. In KtpKtiger’s 2018 list of England, where Kindschuh was studying.
Medicine, that found pollution is linked "Best College Values," Boston College —Thomas Cooper
'INTER
The performers in the Bonn Studio meeting with theater
For both Wilderson and Flanagan, the
journey of an acting career began at Boston
By Christopher Amenta College. Flanagan, a political science
major, joined the comedy improv group
A pair of actors return to Robsham, My Mother’s Fleabag during her freshman
where it all began year, and “it changed my Ufe,” she said, to
O cheers from students wearing gray Fleabag
T-shirts in the front row. Wilderson signed
n a Thursday evening in November, was his friend and Emmy Award-winning up for the Dramatics Society during his
Wayne Wilderson ’89, a 2017 SAG actress Made Flanagan ’87. She deepened first year and acknowledged that, for him
Award-nominated actor, sat in a stuffed her voice and intoned into a hand mic, “It’s as a theater major, classes became “the
armchair on the stage of Robsham Theater a journey, people.” thing you had to go through during the day
and recounted his experience decades ago The two had returned to take part in to get here for rehearsal.”
in a theater department production of West the DeVoy Perspectives on Theater Series, The two became friends and began
Side Story. “I had three lines,” Wilderson an annual program aimed at conveying collaborating with other students, includ¬
told the assembled alumni, faculty, and the practical wisdom of performing arts ing actress Nancy Walls ’88—an alumna
students. professionals. (Past speakers include Tony- of Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show,
“Two were [spoken from] back stage: and Grammy-nominated Broadway actor and The Office—and Oscar-winning film¬
The first was, ‘Maruca.’ The second one Bryce Pinkham ’05 and the Obie Award¬ maker Tom McCarthy ’88. Together, said
was”—he paused for effect—‘“Maruca.”’ winning stage director Anne Bogart.) The Wilderson, they helped to “keep each
Seated in a matching chair beside him actors had already spent the afternoon other grounded.”
“You catered my graduation party,” Wilderson turned down an invitation to Both actors appeared (separately)
Flanagan remembered. stay (“I hadn’t spread my wings yet,” he on the medical dramas ER and Grey’s
“That’s when we got a little bit closer,” explained) and packed a U-Haul for Los Anatomy. On the latter, “I played a man
Wilderson deadpanned, “when I worked Angeles. Flanagan signed on with the Twin with an ovary,” Wilderson recounted;
Cities-based improv troupe Brave New over four episodes, Flanagan was a hospi¬
After her graduation, Flanagan moved Workshop, which toured, among other tal employee who variously drew blood,
to Georgetown, where she slept on a pull¬ places, “Nebraska in a van in the winter.” worked in the free clinic, and appeared in
out chair in her sister’s bedroom. She Between gigs, she worked as a casting the X-ray facility. “This tech had an active
applied to work in military intelligence at associate for an agency in Minneapolis. life,” she said.
the Department of Defense (where her In L.A., Wilderson secured a part in They began to work opposite famous
father had a long career), and accepted a the 1993 pilot episode of Frasier, but his actors—Flanagan with Jim Carrey (twice),
temporary position as an administrator scenes didn’t make the final cut. The work, John Stamos, and Mekhi Phifer; Wilderson
with the National Catholic Educational though, landed him a manager, who soon with Steve CareU and, to the Robsham
Association. Nights were spent perform¬ also signed Flanagan. She moved west audience’s expressed delight, Miley Cyrus.
ing improv with with actors pitted against and booked a role in the film Overnight They worked with animals: Flanagan as
one another in audience-judged skits. Delivery (1998), which, ironically, sent her Principal Perry in television’s 2012-16
Wilderson, still a student, got small roles back to Minnesota for shooting. Lab Rats (“I know those llamas got more
in a series of industrial films for the U.S. After four auditions, Wilderson got money than me”); Wilderson in Disney’s
Postal Service. One of these spoofed The a recurring part on Seinfeld in 1997-98 2009 film Space Buddies (pitched as “one
Late Show. “I was in a doo-wop group as Walter, Elaine’s coworker at the J. giant leap for dogkind”). They acted in
singing about stamps,” he said. “The guy Peterman Company. Importantly, he also indie shorts and children’s cartoons and
... playing the David Letterman part was played a bunch of grapes in a Fruit of the major motion pictures (Flanagan in Evan
Jon Stewart.” Loom advertising campaign that lasted Almighty and Teacher of the Year) and hit
With peers from Fleahag, Flanagan cre¬ 11 years (“I call my house the house that TV series (Wilderson with repeat roles in
ated the comedy troupe Every Mother’s underwear bought”). He found work in The Office, How to Get Away with Murder,
Nightmare in the spring of 1988 and invit¬ and Mom).
ed Wilderson to join. That summer, the And along the way, they achieved recog¬
group performed on the (literally) revolv¬ Flanagan, a political nition. Wilderson’s SAG Award nomina¬
ing stage of the Cape Cod Melody Tent. science major, joined the tion was for his part in the ensemble cast
“It was a cash husiness,” Wilderson said. of Veep. Flanagan’s 2006 Emmy was for
“Our bank was a plastic pumpkin.” comedy improv group My her lead voice work in the animated series
In the fall, Wilderson returned to the Mother's Fleabag during fakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks.
Heights for his senior year, and the others her freshman year, and "it After decades in the business, with
moved to Minneapolis, his hometown (it hundreds of credits to their names, both
was Wilderson’s idea). After graduating, changed my life," she said, actors now enjoy recurring parts—
Wilderson entered the summer program to cheers from students Wilderson as Principal Gibbons on the TV
at the Circle in the Square Theatre School wearing gray Fleabag show The Mick, Flanagan on the cartoon
in New York, and the group joined him in Naruto, where she voices a martial artist in
the city. “All eight of us slept in his one- T-shirts in the front row. training.
hedroom apartment,” said Flanagan. “And now,” Flanagan said, to applause
The program lasted seven weeks, in Robsham, “We’re up to date.”
and then they all returned together to the 2002 drama One Hour Photo starring Students stood in line at a microphone
Minnesota. Wilderson worked in a restau¬ Robin Williams. “You don’t see my face with questions. And very near the end, a
rant (“I was not a good waiter”), and began in this movie,” he said, “but the first voice young woman asked outright: “What’s
getting parts at the Guthrie Theater. For you hear is mine and the fingers on the the biggest piece of advice you would give
his role as the Ghost of Christmas Past in keyboard are mine.” to a young person trying to get into the
A Christmas Carol, he wore a costume he “Finger acting,” Flanagan said. industry?”
described as “Water Nymph meets Tina Flanagan auditioned for Gilmore Girls, Wilderson paused and leaned forward
Turner.” The audience threw pennies at but was never cast. She landed a part on and offered the short version of the long
the stage—“You’re acting your heart out,” a television drama called Citizen Baines answer he and Flanagan had been giving
he said, “and then, ping!” in 2001, which she thought would be her since the evening began: “Do as much
Flanagan, meanwhile, played Bilbo break, until, two episodes into filming, the as possible,” he said. Just keep, “Doing,
Baggins in a children’s theater production show’s lead quit. The next year she was doing, doing, doing, doing.” ■
of The Hobbit. “I had a dressing room, in the film Phone Booth with Colin Farrell
which was cool, and a phone.” and in three other movies that “you’ve Christopher Amenta is a writer in the
After two seasons at the Guthrie, never seen, and I’ve never seen.” Boston area.
WINTER 20i8 BCM 7
Voice lessons of them detoxing, others recently released
from years in prison. He publishes their
poems, prayers, rants, and reportage on
the city’s shelters, bridges, and alleyways
By Zachary Jason in the quarterly magazine the Pilgrim, dis¬
tributed to 350 subscribers and the con¬
Learning to write about the homeless gregants of the Episcopal cathedral.
L In class, which met on Wednesday
nights from 6:00 to 8:30 in sparsely fur¬
ast fall, a new course appeared on James Parker, the hrawny, animated, nished (desk-chairs and a blackboard)
the American Studies Program’s British-horn instructor, answered the first Gasson 307, Parker taught the mechanics
growing list of journalism offerings, question on day one: Students would be of profile writing and the social forces
“JOUR2244; Writing Outsider Lives.” The interviewing the homeless. The 2017-18 that create the “outsider.” Students dis¬
description, largely a series of questions, Institute for the Liberal Arts (ILA) jour¬ cussed Alexander Masters’s Stuart: A
read: “Voices from the margins—the social nalism fellow, Parker is the founder of Life Backwards (2005), about a homeless
margins, the psychological margins—have the Black Seed Writers Group, a literary anti-pedophiUa activist, and Stories from
a prophetic value. Where can we find such workshop for homeless men and women the Shadows: Reflections of a Street Doctor
voices? How can we faithfully listen to that meets weekly at the Cathedral Church (2015), by James O’Connell, M.D., who
them? And how useful are the conventions of St. Paul, across from Boston Common. visited the class in November to recount
of journalism when we attempt to record Since 2011, Parker, a contributing editor treating Boston’s homeless from the 1980s
their stories?” A dozen undergraduates and monthly columnist with the Atlantic, AIDs epidemic to the present. They read
signed up. One said, “It sounded mysteri¬ has mentored and edited an ever-changing philosophy (Rene Girard’s theory of the
ous, like a riddle.” cluster of some 30 such individuals—some scapegoat) and held conversations on