David Forrest Click – 50th Reunion Essay

David Forrest Click

19216 Pine Tree Drive

Jupiter, FL 33469

dfc1947@gmail.com

561-747-7077

Spouse(s): Lani (1974)

Child(ren): Ken (1980); Adam (1983)

Education: Yale Law School, JD 1973; Yale Graduare School, M.A. Economics 1974

Career: Taught law for ten years, Western New England, Indiana University, Bloomington, University of Maryland; began practice in 1984 with Jupiter, Florida branch of firm now known as Nixon, Peabody; started own firm in 1986, Board Certified in Wills, Trusts & Estates

Avocations: Art, dance and theater; model railroading

College: Calhoun (Hopper)

Before World War I Florida was the southern frontier. My father’s parents moved to Fisheating Creek and the family began homesteading land. The 1928 hurricane killed 2,000 people living near Lake Okeechobee. While the family lost everything, they survived and started over.

I grew up in Clewiston. It was Norman Rockwell’s America. In 1958 we moved to Palm Beach, which is quite different, but I found the history and the people interesting. The county had 100,000 people in 1947; now it has 1.4 million, and Florida is the most populous state east of the Mississippi.

Henry Becton, ’37S, was an old friend of my father, and the Bectons influenced my choice of first Deerfield and then Yale. As Bart Giamatti wrote, there were an extraordinary series of changes in our time, in who came to Yale, in where we came from, in what we chose to do here, in what we were compelled to do, and in what we did afterward. I liked the old Yale, but I liked the new Yale even better.

I learned as much if not more from my classmates as from the faculty. I didn’t know yet what I wanted to do, but I was committed to the value of a liberal education. My first major was psychology, then English, and finally philosophy. At Yale I developed the confidence that I could master anything if I put my mind to it.

I was not sure I liked law school initially. Lou Popp dropped out, saying it hurt his writing style. I was inspired by Guido Calabresi, ’53,’58L, in law and economics. With no math and no economics in college, I was accepted by the graduate school in economics and received a masters with my law degree.

Lani and I met at a happy hour in HGS. She was a playwriting student at Yale Drama School, and invited me to her opening at the Yale Rep. We ended up sitting together. In 1974 we were married in Dwight Chapel.

Initially we went into teaching. I spent three years at Western New England School of Law, a visiting year at Indiana University at Bloomington (where Tom Gerety was also a visitor), and then six years at the University of Maryland.

In 1984 we decided it was time to return to Florida with our two young sons. We bought our dream home on the wild and scenic Loxahatchee River. I started with the Jupiter branch of a New York law firm. After two years I left to start my own practice, becoming board certified in wills, trusts & estates. I also oversaw the legacy farm near Clewiston. After that was sold, I became an investment advisor as well as a lawyer.

Lani formed Clicking In to hold forums on thought leadership and the exchange of ideas. She also started Palm Beach Purses, which features the purses she designs.

Our son, Ken, Vanderbilt ’02, got an MBA from Duke, and works for Boat US in Alexandria, Virginia. Adam, Yale ’05, is a global account executive for Google in Singapore.

I like being my own boss, so I can devote time to family and nonprofit activities as needed. Since 1987 I have been president of the Yale Club of the Palm Beaches, and Lani has been an officer. We have over 1,200 alumni on our mailing list now, including several classmates.

At 70 I have to think about when to retire. It would be easier from both a financial and time management perspective if we knew how long we were going to live. The Scripps Research Institute here believes we could eventually live to 150 in good health. I have some big projects in mind that will take time and mental acuity. We recently added a library to our house to accommodate all of our books (many still unread). And I have some writing I would like to do.