Al Varady '88 (BardCorps)
Files
Interviewee Role
Alumni/ae/x
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Class Year
1988
Academic Program
Literature; Written Arts
Class Year
1988
Interviewer
Marna MacGregor '14
Description
Al Varady, originally from southern Connecticut, enrolled at Bard after dropping out of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He recalls the “Grateful Dead” types and the conversation with Admissions Director Karen Wilcox that enticed him to come to Bard; living during freshman year in one of the rickety Ravine Houses; the time that one of the Ravine House porches collapsed; classes in the religion and literature departments; and the long-lasting bonds he made at Bard, particularly with Father Shafer ‘37, a religion professor. He describes his experiences coming back to Bard and visiting 25 years later, noting that “there’s probably someone very much like me, an updated version, and I’m the same version of somebody else from 20 years ago.” He also describes the bond between Bard students, both current and former, that distinguishes it from other universities.
At the time of the interview, Al was working on his second novel, with plans to write his next book about a brother and sister that he met at Bard.
Keywords
The Bedbugs Bite; Bard; Connecticut; Greenwich High School; Wake Forest University; Hampshire College; Grateful Dead; Karen Wilcox; Ravine Houses; Oliver Stone; Irish; Blarney Stone; Socrates; Shakespeare; T. S. Eliot; Wallace Stevens; Elizabeth Stambler; Thomas “Tom” Smiley ‘89; L&T; San Francisco, CA; Tod Kershaw; North Carolina; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Joy Division; Father [Frederick Q.] Shafer ‘37; Minutemen; Seattle, WA; Kline Commons; We Jam Econo; Hopson; Seymour; Victoria, Canada; the Army; the Marines; Terence Dewsnap
Location
BardCorps Trailer, Main Campus
Interview Date
5-25-2013
Interview Duration
14:02
Recommended Citation
Varady '88, Al, "Al Varady '88 (BardCorps)" (2014). BardCorps -- All Oral Histories. 56.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/oral_hist/56
Significant Quote
“It’s like, once you see someone from Bard … you get it. I get it. You know... it’s that kind of bond, that I don’t think you get from other places, or in the same way, or as strong.”