Dianne Hartley Guiniven
John and Dianne Hartley Guiniven, with grandson, Henry Price
I was so excited when I heard from John Hoffman a few weeks ago. Mark Goldman, bless him, had given John my info. Mark is married to one of my dearest friends. Funny how connections are made and re-made. My life has been as eventful as everyone else's, I guess. What's surprising to me is how far-flung we all are.
I think I was one of the youngest people to graduate in our class—still 15 at the time. I was also very shy and young for my age, which made me a bit of a misfit, I think. Fortunately I was a competitive figure skater and spent almost all my free time at the arena. I even skated before school (7:00–8:00 am) in my tunic and black tights. The only sport I went out for was track as my parents wouldn't let me spring skate as well as summer skate. I competed in broad jump and relay for the class behind us—the age thing again.
Like many others, I owe a lot to Mr. Logan who yanked me along to passing level in Latin and geometry. I think my favourite teachers were Mrs. Peacock for English (she was encouraging) and Mr. Scammell who was my homeroom teacher in grade 11. I really enjoyed N.A.L. with him. At the 25th reunion, Ron and David Rayside, Kathy Tweedie and I made a pilgrimage to room 218 where we had all been writing a geometry exam when someone came in to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot.
Jamie Morrison was kind enough to take me to the grad dance and my mother made me a beautiful dress for the occasion. I'd still wear it now! I loved being in the glee club and in the chorus of The Mikado. It's extraordinary to me now to realize that Alison Clark accompanied all the choirs at MRHS. How great was that?
I went to McGill and Macdonald College and became a teacher with the PSBGM and then the South Shore school board until I had my first child. I was married to another teacher for 16 years and then was single for some time. In my mid-forties I married again and, since my husband John Guiniven is American and had a major corporate career down here, I moved here rather than have him move to Canada. He retired from corporate life a little while after we got married—a bit of "been there, done that" syndrome—and took his PhD into the university teaching world. He promised to show me America when we got married, but I didn't expect it to be one university at a time! We have lived in Bethesda MD, Lincoln NE, Columbia SC, Syracuse NY, Elon NC, and now the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. John is teaching at James Madison University and promises me it is the last one before he retires for real. It's been quite a ride.
My favourite job was in the '80s when I worked for Alliance Quebec during its heyday. I traveled all over the province setting up volunteer chapters and doing leadership training. I got to write briefs on access issues in health and social services to be presented to the National Assembly and did lots of grant writing. It was great fun and I developed a wonderful network of friends and contacts. After that I spent a couple of years in Ottawa as a policy analyst for the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages when Victor Goldbloom was the commish. Along the way I went back to school and got a masters in educational psychology, just because I wanted to.
I'm not working any more. I use some of my community organizing skills helping the local animal welfare network lobby for mandatory spay/neuter legislation in the city and county. I go to North Carolina regularly to see my daughter and her husband and my grandson—the most wonderful baby in the world!!
Children:
Lindsay Allison, my son, graduated from McGill (BA), Queen's(MA) and Oxford (MSc). He also attended university in Osaka. He is an economist with the Ontario government and lives, needless to say, in Toronto.
Lindsay Allison
Meredith Allison, my daughter, is a graduate of Queen's and the University of Victoria where she received her PhD in psychology. Her husband, John Price, is also a U. Vic grad in clinical psychology. They live in North Carolina with their son Henry (the greatest baby in the world, you remember). Meredith is a professor at Elon University and John is a clinical psychologist with the state. He works in Raleigh.
Dianne and daughter, Meredith Allison Price
Meredith, Dianne, Henry and Grandmother Price
I would love to hear from any and all of you who remember me. Just looking through the material on the website made me realize that I remember a lot of my classmates and an amazing amount about many of you!
All the best—
Dianne Hartley