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Paul Butterfield U-High Assembly, February 13, 2008
Speaker: Vickie Kamberos, ’60
It's great to be back at U-High and to see so many familiar faces. As many of you know, I was a Lower School teacher and I retired almost eight years ago. This senior class is the last class I taught here.
U-Highers, I think you're very lucky that two of your classmates, Max Wagner and Kevin Brunke, are such blues enthusiasts and thought enough of Paul Butterfield's music that they wanted to share it with you at this assembly, which is particularly meaningful, since Paul, too, was one of us—A LABBIE.
I met Paul on the first day of our freshman year, and we remained friends until our last day as U-Highers when we walked down the aisle of Rockefeller Chapel as graduation partners. Through the years we had many classes together, and I'll never forget how he used to make me laugh; he had a wicked, devilish sense of humor.
I remember Paul being a creative, artistic, rebellious teenager who tested limits. I would say he presented a challenge to his teachers and, fortunately for him; there were those teachers savvy enough to recognize and nurture his talents who provided opportunities for him to mature and develop. I'm sure you've come across many of these yourselves.
He had a competitive drive and needed to do well. Paul was an outstanding athlete—a super track star (a hurdler), a member of the baseball team, and a goalie for the soccer team. At that time, many small, independent schools didn't have soccer teams, but U-High placed impressively in the All-State competition of either 1959 or 1960.
He was also a talented graphic artist who illustrated the Concepts literary magazine, the forerunner of today's Renaissance magazine.
As my friend and classmate Nina Helstein, who is here today, remembers, Paul LOVED to play music and he LIVED to play music. He would play wherever and whenever he could. He collected records of great Blues artists and taught himself to play from these records.
He often made music with other classmates, namely guitarist Tom Bailey who is Zena Sutherland's son. You remember the Zena Sutherland Book Award that many of you contributed to when in fifth grade. He also played with Peter Dames who went on to form the Chicago River Blues Band and later Peter Dames and the Chicago Flames. To my great sadness, Peter died a year ago this month, and you should know that a memorial fund has been set up in his name to benefit the Blues and Jazz curriculum in the high school.
What more can I say? I think Paul would be pleased and amused to see how his beloved Blues thrives in his school community today—almost 50 years after he graduated.
Thank you. You all make me proud to be a U-Higher!
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