Brian W. Lerich – 50th Reunion Essay

Brian W. Lerich

1612 San Diego St

The Villages, FL 32159

bwlerich@aya.yale.edu

352-459-1927

Education: Yale University, BA 1969; Duke University, MF, 1977

Career: Economic research and consulting, government service, forestry education and consulting

Avocations: Environmental stewardship, animal rights and protection

College: Berkeley

“Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

—Robert Frost

Fresh out of Yale, with a degree in Economics, I returned to the home of my upbringing in New York. I acquired and fell in love with a beautiful Newfoundland puppy, who was to be my good companion for the next 14 years. However, one morning, I hugged my beautiful Newfoundland goodbye, put on a business suit, and took the train into Manhattan to work for an economic consulting firm.

Soon I realized this was not where my heart was. I recalled hikes in the woods, drives in the country, and weeks spent on a Vermont dairy farm. Determined to follow my passion, I packed Newfoundland and gear into my trusty VW Bug, and hit the road for northern Vermont.

True to my Yale ideals, I found work with an anti-poverty agency. The goal was to turn around the fate of a now depressed former mill town. I enjoyed living in a small town near the farms, lakes, and mountains of the Vermont landscape, but close to the city of Burlington.

After about a year and a half, I had to abandon this life choice. The sudden and unexpected passing of my father required that I return home to New York. The business which he had built, needed help to survive. Still, I was lured by the call of a life closer to nature. While working in the business, I followed my love of learning and earned credits in the sciences, equivalent to another bachelor’s degree.

The business now on its feet, I once again packed up my older, but still trusty, Newfoundland, and gear. This time we headed south to Duke University to earn a master’s degree at the Nicholas School of the Environment.

There began my first experience of living a country life. I can still recall the beauty and serenity of my little home outside of Durham, miles down a dirt road and up a long driveway, surrounded by the Southern hardwood forest, teeming with life.

Now fresh out of Duke, with a master’s in forestry, I once more turned north to the forests of Northern New England, first to Maine, then to Vermont. I found fulfillment in educating landowners, through work with the Maine Audubon Society, then later students.

I was always able to find places to live with great beauty and serenity. My first was a chalet on a lake in Maine, which I insulated and finished for year-round living. The next was a log cabin on 20 acres overlooking a beaver pond and distant mountains. True to the late 1970’s, I used only wood stoves to heat these places.

Later I purchased and renovated a historic 19th century home in a small Vermont town. My final northern home sat on 10 acres high above Lake Champlain. It had an extensive system of trails and spectacular views of mountains and water. I could see Vermont, New York, and Canada, sometimes all the way to Montreal.

I found and acquired a magnificent parcel of forest in the northern foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. For more than a decade, I enjoyed managing this 180-acre parcel, selectively harvesting and improving the timber, before placing it in a charitable remainder trust with Yale as beneficiary.

For someone who did not pursue material gain as life’s primary goal, I can reflect back on a life well spent with nature and dogs. These were values that grew out of my experience at Yale of the late 1960’s.