Old school ties

New York

I read in the New York Times that one of the four persons who apparently operated the escort service that undid Eliot Spitzer, the ex-governor of the state of New York, was one Cecil Suwal, 23, ‘a graduate of an élite New Jersey prep school’. Bad news travels fast and I was informed of the fact that Cecil — a girl, incidentally — and I had attended the same élite institution, Blair Academy, from more than one old friend. Mind you, we were 45 years apart, and when I went to Blair the place was not co-ed. I have the fondest memories of Blair. It took me in after I had been thrown out of Lawrenceville school for being recalcitrant, and I ended up captain of sports and won some other honours, which seemed very important at the time.

Blair was and is the country’s greatest wrestling school. We have not lost a contest in something like 25 years, despite the fact we compete above our league, mostly against universities or other élite wrestling academies. One day that I clearly remember is 5 March 1953, the day Stalin croaked. We were wrestling against a military school, and my opponent at 141 pounds turned out to be not only an albino, but also blind. I quickly took him down and began trying to pin him. He was not strong and seemed to be confused. So I let up a bit. Prep-school wrestling matches are comprised of three periods of two minutes. In the first period both wrestlers start from the standing position; then one starts on top, and in the final one he starts from the bottom. Actually, it is the same format as Olympic wrestling, just lasting a shorter time.