Applefield '78 is Frank in France

However, the native of Elizabeth, N.J. bears no ill will towards the institution with which he credits the start of his literary activities. “You don’t come to understand the real value of having studied at a place like Amherst until well after you’re gone and you realize how privileged those days were,” said Applefield. “College is a time when you have the opportunity to devote a lot of energy to your own mind, which becomes more difficult as you head out into a world of commerce and practicali

Generalizations reflect some truth about Amherst

I say “they” instead of “we” when referring to the objects of Wilkinson’s wrath-which I suppose must include me-to avoid setting up the kind of adversarial language that inevitably leads to blame and defensiveness. I say it as well because, from way over here in Paris with its huge, ghettoized public universities, the whole us-versus-them of the comparatively better off American schools looks pretty moot anyway. But perhaps I also say it to distance myself from Amherst, to create a separation f

Alum Puts Medieval Into Modern Journalism

What do you do with a major in European studies and a yen for the medieval? If you’re as lucky as Cullen Murphy ’74, the answer is simple: put it into a comic strip story line. Surprisingly, the “Prince Valiant” writer, who also enjoys an active journalistic life as managing editor and regular contributor at The Atlantic Monthly, did not seek out the comic strip. “It’s a fluke,” he explained. “[My concentration in medieval studies] was just something I did. I wasn’t doing it for the strip.” N