From Gerry: In 1941, my Mother was traveling in Southeast Asia. She was a young woman who lived in New Zealand, but she was visiting friends in Thailand. On her way back to New Zealand, she stopped off in Singapore and - by chance - met my Father. I guess they hit it off pretty quickly as they got married 2 weeks later - probably because everyone knew the Japanese were about to invade that part of the world. Shortly thereafter, the fear of the Japanese invasion became a reality and my parents figured that it was not the best of times to have a baby (me) in Singapore, but with just about everyone scrambling to get out of the country, the best they could do was to have her get onto a ship headed toward England. My father, who was an Englishman who had been educated in England at a School called "Dulwich College" joined the British Army in Singapore and he stayed while my Mother left. However, the ship's Captain ordered her off the ship when it reached Africa as they had no Dr. on board and she was about to deliver (me). At that point in time, my Father was "missing and presumed dead". So, my Mother found an ObGyn Dr. in Johannesberg and I was born there in May, 1942.
Eventually, my Mother made it to England with me but there was no further word about my father. But he did survive (he was a POW held at a POW camp in Borneo for about 5 years). Eventually, my parents tried to return to Singapore but that plan failed and the US looked like the best opportunity so they arrived here in about 1950.
In 1955, my Father attended a dinner in NYC which was supposed to be for Dulwich College alumni. Unbeknownst to my Father, his old Rugby teammate, Eric Wiseman, also attended the dinner. Mr. Wiseman had emigrated to Canada but had then accepted a teaching position at a smallish boys' boarding school - St. Mark's. Without a penny to his name, my Father decided that I needed to apply to St. Mark's and then it became Eric Wiseman's job to help get me in AND have St. Mark's pay for it - not just a percentage of the cost - the ENTIRE cost. So, that was my introduction to St. Mark's where I spent the next 5 years of my life. Those years then led to my entering Princeton where I still live. Bottom line is that it would be impossible - literally impossible - to overstate how important St. Mark's has been in my life for which I will be forever grateful.