Jonathan, Carol, Chris, Adrienne, and Steve Chaplin at the wedding of Adrienne and Chris on 7-7-07

STEVE CHAPLIN SUBMISSION FOR THE MEMORY BOOK

 In the fall of 1957 I hadn’t heard of Kenyon.  In fact my criteria for college selection were vague.  Fortunately my father sat down with me and spoke at length about the virtues of a small, liberal arts education.  Kenyon was high on his list.  I applied to Kenyon, was accepted and then set about reading about the college, The Kenyon Review and Paul Newman’s time there.  I heard on the radio in the spring, 1958 that Bob Harrison had been hired as the basketball coach.

I first set foot on campus during freshman orientation.  Probably because I was from the South (New Orleans) I was paired with a New York City student in Norton # 2.  Jim McBride left Kenyon after his sophomore year, attended NYU film school and went on to direct “Great Balls of Fire” (about Jerry Lee Lewis) and “Breathless.”

A History major, I especially enjoyed the classes of Professors Lanny Warner and Robert Baker.  Another member of the department, Charles Ray Ritcheson, taught British History.  In that course he returned my report on William Pitt the Elder with one sentence: “You would have profited from a closer reading of my book.”  Two decades later when I was a Foreign Service Officer stationed in Portugal I attended a meeting in London.  Ritcheson was a political appointee serving as the embassy’s Cultural Attaché.  We had a pleasant twenty minute conversation much of which was devoted to his recounting a recent call on the Queen Mother.  Sadly he recently passed away.

Upon graduation, as an Air Force ROTC cadet, I entered the USAF and was assigned for three years as a Public Information Officer to Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama.  We all recall how the civil rights movement and the national debate on Viet Nam severely tested our nation’s social fabric.  Centuries old entrenched opposition, mostly in the South, to African-American access to basic educational and work opportunities ignited violence and mayhem.  Montgomery is Alabama’s capitol and George Wallace was governor during my three-year tour.  As a student of history it was interesting and sad to witness the events of 1962-65 unfold including the violent Selma to Montgomery march.

After my Air Force duty I attended UCLA graduate school in American History with the idea of becoming a teacher.  I learned a great deal more about political and social history, saw Lew Alcindor lead the UCLA basketball team to a NCAA championship and realized that I was not an “original thinker,” thereby ruling out teaching.  I enjoyed time spent with Jeff and Liz White who were in the area.  Through a family friend I learned of the United States Information Agency (USIA), an independent foreign affairs agency whose best known programs were Fulbright scholarships and the Voice of America.  USIA’s mission was two-fold: a.) inform foreigners of the U.S. Administration- in-power’s policies and accomplishments and attempt, where possible, to obtain the host nation’s political and public support and b.) explain American history, institutions, society and culture to foreign audiences.  Edward R. Murrow had been the USIA director under President Kennedy.  I worked as a USIA intern, wrapped up my M.A., returned to USIA and then took the annual Foreign Service written exam followed several months later by the oral exam.

Before departing for my first assignment–Buenos Aires–I happily convinced Carol McCloskey, at the time a SEC lawyer, that the U.S. Government’s interests would be better served if she married and accompanied me to Argentina.  Buenos Aires was an exciting introduction to diplomatic life because of its rich culture and controversial history and the best steak I have ever had.

There followed two assignments in Mexico, a semester at George Washington University’s Sino-Soviet Studies Institute, Romanian language training and an assignment to Bucharest.  Working and living in a Communist country was both educational and frustrating.  Among other things I learned, “hope” and “confidence in institutions and fairly administered laws” are the glue which hold democratic societies together.  In totalitarian regimes the glue is comprised of “fear”, a ‘me first’ mentality” ,”conformity” and “cynicism”. ” Our first son Christopher had been born while we were in Washington.  Two years later his younger brother Jonathan arrived during our Bucharest tour.

A series of Washington assignments followed and then I learned my third language, Portuguese, for a Lisbon assignment.  This was our favorite country for work, tourism and the friendliness of the people.  In Portugal I handled the third of what eventually would be four presidential visits , which in my case involved assisting the White House press corps and local journalists.  I had worked on Richard Nixon’s visit to Mexico; Gerald Ford in Romania, Ronald Reagan’s Lisbon visit and the fourth was in Venezuela when Pres. George H.W. Bush came through.

I then had several important senior assignments in Washington, the two most important being directing USIA’s activities in Latin America and the Caribbean for two years and working on a six-member USIA steering group negotiating USIA’s consolidation with the Department of State effective October 1, 1999.  I retired on November 1, 1999.  The timing was coincidental.

For the past 11 years, under a contract with the State Department’s training division, I have taught a weekly course on Mexico for diplomats assigned there.  On balance my career provided more informative and enjoyable experiences than disappointments.  I learned a great deal about the host countries and more about our own from a different perspective.  I set up programs or arranged interviews for a diverse mixture of people ranging from cabinet officials to writers Alvin Toffler and James Baldwin, Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin, three astronauts , the American Ballet Theater,  Boston Symphony and jazz greats Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones among others.  I worked abroad with senior host country officials, journalists, writers, academics, artists and other generally interesting and pleasant people.

Carol retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs in 2010.  Christopher and his wife Adie live in Pasadena where Chris works for a general civil litigation law firm and Adie is a State of California social worker.  Jonathan, based in Denver, imports Argentine wines.  I seriously doubt that we can ever lure them back to the East Coast.  They have grown up to be solid citizens, good friends and fun to be with.