DECEMBER 2015: David and Christie are closing on their house in RI soon and have bought a home in the hills west of Bradford, VT.
February 2007:David and Christine at the reunion, along with Brandt, Eric, and Mike. The Pratts have completed their move from Westchester to Rhode Island.
Subj: Re: Meeting House
Date: 12/22/2004 8:22:59 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: DPratt@saatchiny.com (David Pratt)
To: RTilden@aol.com
Hi and Merry Merry:
Yes, transitioning to Rhode Island (94 Main St, Wickford, RI 02825; 401 294 0170) House in Purchase will prolly go on the market in May.
Susy is a contract research associate in Phoenix (CRAs supervise MDs doing contract research for drug companies) Fletcher is in first year at Oberlin and wants to convert his car to run on biodiesel.
Christine retires at the end of the school year. Pammy (his sister)is still hanging on in a nursing home in Santa Fe, and Jennifer (his youngest sister) is recently retired from the labs and is traveling.
March, 2004:
Dave called me the day after Christmas with a holiday "hello". He said that he had a great Christmas, probably the best ever. Both kids were home, Suzy from California with a "serious boyfriend" and Fletcher from his "gap year" studies in England.
The other highpoint of his year was this fall when he taught 7th grade science at Horace Mann School in the City. It was something that he wanted to do, and he "made the opportunity happen". He did a lot of hands-on stuff, I would guess that he was a sort of cross between Mort Smith and Mr. Wizard.
He lamented that too many kids today don't have the chance to "get their hands dirty"... to stimulate their imaginations by building things and taking things apart. Personally I agree, and would go so far as to consider any parent neglectful for not having at least one old car on blocks for each male child to tinker with...
Speaking of Dave, "hands on", and Chemistry, I have a distinct recollection that he sort of blew up the lab one day... the front of his coat was ruined by the acid that went flying??? Was it him, someone else, or my failing recollection? He says it wasn't him, and it would be out of character for him to deny something like that!
February 2, 2003:
I spoke with Dave recently, and he told me that his retirement plans are shaping up. He and Christie have purchased a Federal style "fixer- upper" house that is just off Narragansett Bay in Wickford RI. It is at the edge of town on a double lot, has five fireplaces, and has not suffered from too many alterations over the years. It needs work now, but the house is historically intact in that the floor plan and much of the interior trim have not been "modernized".
He anticipates that it will be a summer and vacation spot for a few years during a slow renovation and equally slow disassociation from regular employment in New York City. He will retire there.
His daughter Suzy now works in a DNA lab in the Los Angeles area. His son Fletcher was accepted at Oberlin and then negotiated a year's delay so that he could attend an enrichment program in Norway.
Dave said we are all invited to his place (either one, as applicable) but be prepared to work if you come to Rhode Island.
November 29, 2001.
Dave sent me three pictures the other day:
Dave's wife Christie took this picture as Dave was passing through Rye NY on day 3 of the 1999 Boston to New York AIDS ride.
This is about three miles from his house, and she was standing on the curb waiting for him as he came through.
These pictures are the Truth, taken in Long Island Sound in August 2000. She is 30'6"X 9'9"X 5' and displaces 11,000 lb. Dave had it built in Brooklin ME
of cold molded vacuum bagged wood set in epoxy. A few years ago he refinished a dingy that was varnished on the inside, and by the end of the project he had made a significant decision: The next boat
would be named the Truth , as in the plain and unvarnished...
Subj: Greetings
Date: 12/27/2000 8:08:56 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: DPRATT@saatchiny.com (David Pratt)
To: classmates@bobtilden.com
Thank you, Bob, for taking that first step back across the burning bridge. We are fine, better than fine. Susy is a senior at Boston University, a Biology/Ecology major, she has no more idea what she wants to do after graduation than I did. Fletcher is a sophomore at Hackley School and will be spending the spring semester at the Island School on Eluthera, Bahamas (where was this program when we were in HS?). Christine is the Chair of Home Products at FIT. I am the Medical/Scientific/Technical Director for Saatchi & Saatchi Rowland. We do medical advertising and my role is pretty much to translate science into English, preferably in words even an agency Chairman can understand.
Best wishes to all,
David
November 2000
The last time I Saw Dave was the spring of 1998. He lives right at the edge of Westchester Airport, and I had to make a run-in flight on a new airplane engine. It was the first "summer" day of the new spring season, and we spent lots of time on the back porch. As sort of an extra treat, his sister Pam was there visiting.
Dave has been in pharmaceutical sales for most all of his career. He said though, that his age and position in the company now allows him the option of just standing lookout on the corner, rather than doing the actual selling. Just as ever, if you need a different and irreverent twist on a simple subject, call Dave.
I spoke with him last October and he talked of a custom sail(?)boat that he was having built in Maine. He should send a picture and the full story.