The Cemetery at Bard

Spent the last 2 days at Bard College for my 40th reunion and the 09 commencement ceremonies. Commencement speaker was New York governor Patterson — his speech seemed to be directed more to a technological/scientific institution than to Bard, and his best line was a quote from Mario Cuomo. Come back, Mario & Son! For the rest, it was lovely, disconcerting, hilarious, sadsack, scary, etc. to meet up with people not seen for 20, 25 or even 40 years. Excellent stories were told that were as wide as they were tall. My best and quietest moment was a solitary walk around campus (I’ll spare you my ruminations on what a forty year connection with Bard means) that eventually led to the small cemetery behind the President’s House. I didn’t know, & was somewhat surprised that poet Anthony Hecht (who had left Bard by the time I got there in 1967) had returned to be buried in this little cemetery. But I had come to visit two graves I had known were there — those of Hannah Arendt and her husband Heinrich Blücher (whose Common Course as one of the highlights of my first year at Bard.) Here some snapshots:

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