Autumn Years Summer 2024

Mark hired his brother and nephew with their master carpentry skills to build interior structures and ladders. Mark has breakfast at The Crystal Diner in Dumont every morning and recruited some help there, too, including a young dishwasher in his twenties whom Mark paid. After attending a local funeral, Mark hired a neighbor’s grandson, a high school student, to help out. He liked the work so much, he, in turn, recruited his friend. Mark’s parents are now deceased, and he never had a “traditional” family of his own. Mark’s family is a curated community of friends—former students, their parents and their children; class mates from England; world renowned jazz musicians; German Club members; dishwashers, servers and patrons from the diner; a twenty-four-year-old profes sional filmmaker and church members. Former students often invite him to wed dings and other milestone celebrations, and he is often the guest of honor at Northern Valley class reunions. He still plays at Bread Loaf graduations, too. And on Thursday nights, he goes to movie night at the home of his good friend, a retired doctor whose son is one of Mark’s former students who is a spine surgeon. This pipe organ restorer is a pied piper of sorts. In each chapter of his life, Mark makes new connections, adding to his collection of dear friends, his family. His respect for others and their ideas, posi tive outlook and welcoming smile seem to draw people to him. The political po lar opposites he joins for breakfast most days at the diner call to check on him if he misses a day. They also helped the man they call “The Teacher” haul organ parts into the church and attended the

Mark outside with his homeroom class at the site of the first homeroom trailer, 1980s.

maternal grandfather, a talented cobbler who made shoes for presidents, opera stars and known mobsters alike in the shop his family lived above on East 65th Street. And, once he finishes the organ, Mark plans to take organ lessons to learn the full capabilities of the instrument he has brought back to life. He had numerous opportunities to leave teaching over the years but had no interest in doing so and has no regrets. One offer came from a former student who asked Mark to be the piano player for the emerging group of puppeteers with whom he worked. That group became part of The Muppets. Mark’s professional accomplishments are many. He was honored as Teacher of the Year twice during his career, received a Fulbright Award to teach for a year at High Park College of Education in Der byshire, England, in the late 1970s and honored at the White House as a Dis tinguished American Educator. What he finds most enriching, however, is the personal fulfillment of lifelong learning. “When I’m learning and growing, I feel alive,” says Mark. “I haven’t lived the conventional life, and I’m quite happy. There has to be something good about that.” a

May 15, 2023, organ unveiling with pride and admiration for what Mark achieved. Thirty-one of the organ’s 36 ranks have been repaired, and Mark’s chapter as a historic pipe organ restorer will be coming to a close in October. Mark does have an informal list of things he would like to do some day, but it is by no means a checklist. Mark’s life chapters most of ten begin organically, influenced by what he is learning. He lives in a former historic church, but Mark finds he is rarely there. His German Club meets and sings on Tues day nights, he spends long weekends working on the pipe organ, has break fast at the diner most mornings and is a public speaker who presents about the history of handwriting and about jazz to groups throughout Bergen County. He enjoys letter carving, a skill he honed years ago after taking three courses with a British letter carver. He is the primary provider of his family’s history on ances try.com. He is teaching himself German using the Duolingo app, simply because he always wanted to learn and has logged more than 1,600 consecutive learning days on the app. Mark is considering writing a book about the family secrets surrounding his

SUMMER 2024 I AUTUMN YEARS 49