Class News

Mac Deford ’64 and Jay Lavely ’65 reunite with Beirut teachers

February 4, 2020

International College, Beirut, Lebanon

Tony Lavely, ’64 Class Secretary, reported:

Mac Deford

On the weekend of February 1-2, Mac Deford ’64 and my brother, Jay Lavely ’65, reunited in NYC with other alumni teachers from International College, a high school in Beirut, Lebanon. Mac is on their Board of Trustees.

Following their respective graduations, Mac and Jay taught at International College for a year. In his year, Jay was joined by our late classmate, George Odell.

Since 1999, Mac has been the President of a prestigious forum called the Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations. This 150-member forum was organized in 1983 by a group of area residents with a special interest in the United States role in international affairs.

Mac has also served as Executive Director of Penobscot Marine Museum (2002-2006), as board treasurer for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and as a board member of International College (1998-2006). He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of Nieman Fellows at Harvard University (since 2006), New England Association of Schools and Colleges (since 2004), board chair of Penobscot (language) School in Rockland, and a board member of the prestigious foreign policy organization called the Camden Conference (since 2001).

Mac Deford emailed:

For some reason, it was all Princeton guys in those days. I was the first Yalie in 1964-65. Somehow, I heard about the program and asked the then head of IC (who had actually gone to Yale) if I could join the program. He was happy to include me and then started adding other Yalies. Beirut in the early 1960s was fantastic!

Jay Lavely ’65 emailed:

George Odell

Yes, I sure did know George Odell in Beirut in 1965-66. He was a great guy, and we had more adventures traveling together than you could fit into an encyclopedia. It was George who was my motorcycle traveling buddy from Frankfurt, Germany down through Austria and Switzerland and Italy. Then, we went by boat over to Greece. After that, we went by boat to Istanbul, Turkey, and then we motorcycled along the entire eastern and southern coast of Turkey. George had a motorcycle mishap on the southeast coast of Turkey, so I had to do the remainder of the trip solo while George had his motorcycle engine rebuilt in southern Turkey. George was a few days late getting to Beirut, but it all worked out.

Jay Lavely

That incredible adventure was just during the summer of 1965 before we even started our jobs as teaching fellows at International College with the whole new adventure of living and teaching at IC on the beautiful coastal side of Beirut. George Odell and I were great friends and he was an incredible guy.

The reunion of the International College Teaching Fellows officially starts Friday night, January 31st, at the Princeton Club with cocktails, dinner, and a presentation by the IC President. I assume it will be a brief report about the dire situation in Lebanon, the significant threat posed to Americans and all American institutions, including IC and American University of Beirut, but with heavy push on fundraising for IC student scholarships. On Saturday, we will dine at Ilili, one of the best Lebanese restaurants in NYC. Their authentic food and wine will bring back many memories from 54 years ago.