Everyone who has spent any time around a college knows about “Homecoming.” It is celebrated at most educational institutions (high school and college) and is a time for current students to party and for alumni to return to campus, catch up with old friends, and reminisce about their younger days. In general, homecoming attendees are those whose school experiences were positive and whose career trajectories have been successful. You don’t generally revisit places you hated or seek out connections with people who you seem more successful than you.
This coming weekend is William & Mary’s homecoming celebration, and today’s newspaper features one of the college’s most well-known graduates (well, if you exempt people like Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Jen Psaki) – renowned actor Glenn Close, class of 1974. The storied performer cites her training and experience at the W&M theater department as having provided essential background for her later success. Howard Scammon, the long-time theater professor at the college, took a special interest in Close, encouraging her and attending her breakout New York performance in 1974, just five months after graduating from William & Mary at the age of 27.
When I read this article this morning, I realized the dates didn’t make sense. She was 27 when she graduated from college? What’s up with that? A quick Wikipedia search reminded me of parts of her background that I had forgotten about. From the age of 7 until she was 22, her family was part of “Moral Re-Armament,” which she describes as a cult that dictated every aspect of her life. She sang and toured for several years with Up With People before breaking away from the cult and enrolling at William and Mary.
She is actually almost exactly my age – she was born on March 19, 1947, just 11 days before me. Wikipedia sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole – her father’s middle name was Taliaferro, an old Virginia name. Her grandmother was a descendant of the Virginia Taliaferro family, and one of the buildings on campus was Taliaferro Hall.
Another side note – the white descendants of the Taliaferro family pronounce their surname as if it was spelled Tolliver. The black descendants – who are descended from the enslaved persons held by the Taliaferro family — pronounce the name as it’s spelled – Tal-i-a-fair-o. I found this out when one of my African-American students at Woodside High School let me know that when I called the roll on the first day of school. I had pronounced her name as “Tolliver,” and she corrected my pronunciation.
If you want to see Glenn Close over Homecoming weekend, you’ll have several opportunities. On Thursday, she’ll be the honored guest at the 4:00 p.m. dedication of the newly developed Arts Quarter on the campus. She will be the grand marshal of the 4:30 pm Homecoming parade, which proceeds up Richmond Road from Merchant’s Square to the Alumni House. On Saturday, she will sit down with college President Katherine A. Rose for a Presidential Conversation, part of the school’s ongoing series of discussions between Rowe and special guests on different topics.
Tim and I plan to attend the Homecoming Parade and other events on Friday. We have tickets for the Saturday football game (Go Tribe!), which begins at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon. I’ll be at the Tidewater Genealogical Society library in Newport News for most of the day, but I plan to meet Tim at the game in time for the second half. We’re going to try to go out to dinner both Friday and Saturday, but restaurants get really crowded on Homecoming Weekend so we may just eat at home one or both nights. We can go out to dinner in Williamsburg any time.
Yes! Terrific! Hope I'll see her. I'll be in the parade with LWV-WA members. Want to march for the vote?