Finding Faculty Favorites
Media provided by Alejandro Izurieta ‘25
As students, we all like to share the new music we listen to and the latest TV shows we watch. But what creates someone’s “taste” in the media we encounter as kids, teens, and adults?
We took a deep dive: spotlighting faculty with unique tastes. We asked Woody Loverude, Peggy Chan, and Daron Forbes some pressing questions about their tastes.
What was the first album you ever listened to? How did it make you feel? How do you think it informed your taste today, positively or negatively?
Mr. Loverude’s first love was the album “Dookie” by Green Day. Its “post-punk” and energetic feel is what attracted him to the album. Mr. Loverude said that it “felt dangerous and wrong,” as there were a lot of swear words and screaming, and, after all, a 10 or 11-year-old kid should not be listening to that sort of music. That same attraction for rambunctious music when he was young developed more as he grew up, and he now listens to similar pop like Olivia Rodrigo and Black Country, New Road.
Ms. Chan, a native New Yorker, told us about her exploration of hip-hop and R&B as a 90s kid. As she grew up, she started to branch into everything, from rock to house music to mainstream pop. Now, she has taken a dip into Chinese culture, listening to varying Chinese music like Imperial Dynasty and Land of the Silver Moon.
To Daron, Bob Marley’s Exodus is an album that both entertains and enlightens. Similarly, the appeal of R&B, soul, and what he refers to as “light music” provides an ongoing beat to life’s highs and lows. “Take it for what it’s worth,” he says, claiming that music is at once deeply personal and universally accessible. It’s not entertainment, per se; it’s survival, staying alive.
As teachers, we know you love books. Favorite first book? Do you teach books that you like? Books that you don’t?
When we think of literature teachers, it’s easy to assume they must love books, especially the ones they teach. But that’s not always the case. Mr. Loverude’s earliest memory of reading? King Arthur’s fables. Why? “No reason,” he says with a laugh. “If I’m bored, you guys are bored, too.” One of the classes that Mason and I both had the pleasure of taking was his experimental Speculative Fiction class, where he used some of his favorite books: Borne by Jeff VanderMeer and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, or, in his Queer Literature class, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Mr. Loverude hinted at using more of his favorites for future classes. His students in coming years will be able to experience literature as picked by him, the fan, which he believes leads to a better learning experience overall.
If music is an emotional guide to Daron, then newspapers serve as his intellectual nourishment. “It opens your eyes,” he described, citing his attentiveness to his career in security and life as a vigilant person. The newspaper, then, is a fitting medium that conveys Daron’s sense of currency, knowledge, and presence. He is not really into literature, but his love of words extends, perhaps, beyond that.
At a young age, Ms. Chan enjoyed reading literature to have an escape from reality. She was never interested in “reading about depressing things,” but instead was interested in anything fictional. The Harry Potter series was a favorite. Ms. Chan mentioned that in her deep dive into Chinese culture, she also explored Chinese literature. She specifically mentioned Wesley Chu’s duology, Art of Prophecy, and Art of Destiny, as well as James Clavell’s Shogun.
Same question, but for movies. What is your favorite piece of cinema or TV show you watched as a kid? How did it change as a teen? As an adult? Do you implement stuff you like into your curriculum as an English teacher?
To Mr. Loverude, some movies are just timeless: E.T., for example, the 1982 Blockbuster by Steven Spielberg, is a movie he still loves as an adult. Doesn’t everybody? But he also says that the same can’t be said for a movie like Braveheart. As for some more current pictures, he likes Quentin Tarantino’s direction in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. To a student of story, Mr. Loverude appreciates when setting, content, and character all come together. Oh, but he’s “pleading the Fifth” on Megalopolis.
From childhood to adulthood, Daron has always loved movies. His exposure to some ideas and thoughts came through Sesame Street, but as time passed, his taste for films started to gravitate toward romantic films, action movies, and realistic dramas. One film that made a lasting impression on him is Imitation of Life (1959). “That movie reaches the tear ducts,” he admits. And if it can move Daron, imagine the impact it could have on the rest of us. Despite his appreciation for thought-provoking films, he still gravitates toward romantic comedies. “Sometimes you need them,” he says.
Ms. Chan’s love for fiction crosses over from literature to movies as well. A big fan of the Lord of the Rings series, Ms. Chan even named her cats after hobbits: Mary and Pippin! Since reading the Harry Potter series, she has also developed a love for movie adaptations. When she has the time, she enjoys watching sitcoms like Community.
As someone who moved to New York from a different place, how did that culture shock inform the choices you made of clothes to wear, shows to see, and people to interact with?
After moving to New York for graduate school, Mr. Loverude was immediately hanging out with the stars. Mr. Loverude met the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, an American actor starring in flicks like Capote (2005) and Doubt (2008), in a coffee shop in the West Village. The transition from the Midwest to New York was a huge change for Mr. Loverude. He described the nightlife in the city as out of this world, telling us that the “parties…were unlike anything else.” He told us about his journey to New York, rejecting his initial acceptance from NYU but later changing his mind. He described New York as “faster” than the Midwest with more hustle and bustle.
Stepping out of the tropical climate of the Caribbean and into the seasonal climate of New York City was a radical shift for Daron. That shift impacted not just his daily routine but also how he presented himself to the world. “The suits are an expression of me,” he explained, noting that clothing is more than material and that his desire to dress with style is not about impressing anyone, it’s about feeling good about himself and expressing who he is. With a job that involves interacting with people 90% of the time, Daron has developed a deep appreciation for the diverse interactions that he has encountered. Every conversation, every interaction, and every experience shapes the way he sees the world. To him, taste is relative. He believes that what you enjoy is something you always will return to.
Ms. Chan, originally from New York, was driven by a curiosity to experience life beyond her hometown. Moving away from the city to Virginia was an intentional step, one that was not so much about specific interests but more about expanding her horizons. This experience made her more open-minded, tearing down assumptions she had made about other parts of the country. It also helped her recognize, as she says, the “New York bubble,” realizing that her initial arrogance about the city’s uniqueness was not as real as it seemed.
Teachers at Grace hail from far and wide, but their tastes are united through nostalgia and a sense of the old combining with the new. Whether it is moving to new places, experiencing new cultures, or being generally aware of the things that make a person “themselves,” each of these Grace faculty members has interesting stories about how they came to love the things they love. Until next time.
Ronan Kenyon ‘25, one of the authors, is a staff writer for The Grace Gazette. Mason Zelenko ‘25, the other author, is a Deputy Editor for The Grace Gazette.