David Hollister Bundy – 50th Reunion Essay

David Hollister Bundy

1319 Matterhorn Way

Anchorage, AK 99508

dhb@alaska.net

(907) 248-8431

Spouse(s): Jean Bundy (1969, 49 years as of 2018)

Child(ren): Jennifer Bundy-Cobb (1970) Nicholas Bundy (1973) Elliott Bundy (1981) Oliver Bundy (1984) Madeleine Bundy (1991)

Grandchild(ren): Averyl Cobb (2003) Tess Maxwell-Bundy (2006) Kai Maxwell-Bundy (2008) Spencer Bundy (2012) Finn Bundy (2013) Penelope Bundy (2015)

Education: Harvard Law School JD 1972

Career: Business and bankruptcy law in Alaska since passing the bar in 1972. Solo practitioner since 2002

Avocations: home remodeling; travel, family and grandchildren

College: Davenport

My first memories of Yale (other than my Christmas stocking which was white felt with a blue “Y”) come from reading the Alumni Magazine when I was about nine or ten. I know I was that age because there was an article from a member of the crew which won the gold medal at Melbourne in 1956. The letters section had contributions from indignant “old blues” complaining that Yale had become far too liberal for them and they would not be contributing to the Alumni Fund in the future. And this was in the 1950s! Most of the letters were signed by graduates with wasp-ish names from the classes of ’06 or thereabouts, which made them the ages we are now. They hung out at the Yale Club in Manhattan or on their golf courses and lamented the decline of the old values. When we were undergraduates these complaints were redoubled, even though Yale was a very moderate place compared to some colleges during the Vietnam era.

How many of us feel about Yale the way those old Elis did in my childhood? Not many, I’ll bet. By the time we started as freshmen Yale had progressed considerably in half a century, although it was still a haven for sons of alumni and prep school graduates, like me. The changes since we left are considerably greater than those faced by the old Elis of my childhood. Political science and economics exposed me to many viewpoints on how society has developed and ought to function, although the curriculum had a definite bias toward Keynesian economics and a relaxed form of social democracy as the preferable paths to social betterment. I must have absorbed the message, as that still describes how I believe society should be managed, as opposed to the Hobbesian approach which seems to be in favor with the current administration, even if they wouldn’t recognize that term.

Has the Yale label had a big impact on my life? Not really. Having been a lawyer in Alaska since 1972, I’ve been more defined as a Harvard Law graduate. Yale might have stayed more of an influence had I stuck with the family tradition of East Coast suburban life but in this corner of the country, a lot of folks are skeptical of Ivy Leaguers. Yale was good preparation for law school, although any of a couple of dozen colleges would have done as well. I do get a kick out of the occasional football and crew victories over the Crimson team-that-shall-not-be-named.

On the personal side, I’m still married to Jean, my college sweetheart. Since we moved to Alaska she has acquired four art degrees (two from Chicago schools) including a PhD. None of our five children followed me to Yale, though all went to “good” schools (at considerable expense compared to the cost of Yale in the sixties) and have done well since. They are, by any measure, our proudest achievements.