Peter Arango

A Fine Old School Peter Arango

Ripped from the headlines, A Fine Old School carries the reader behind the scenes as one of America's most prestigious boarding schools is racked by sexual scandal and plagued by an enduring climate of privilege and entitlement. Many of the nation's first families are graduates of St. Thomas School and are protective of the school's reputation and influence. The school's seniors led by a small group of powerful personalities, the Top Ten, enforce traditions of hazing and abuse that have become part of the fabric of the school. Despite the intensive competition for a place at St. Thomas, queen bees, old money, and protected athletes create a dark playpen in which their power goes unquestioned. As the Head of School observes as secrets are revealed, "This is alchemy in reverse; we've taken gold and turned it into dirt."Once a school for boys, attitudes and practices borrowed from British boarding schools have remained in place. A brilliant teacher of Latin and Greek has terrorized students for generations, culling a few from the herd and grooming them for membership in a private club, ostensibly an intellectual salon, in actuality the scene of his sexual predation. With the advent of coeducation, male teachers occasionally coach girls athletic teams. A popular coach has abused girls on his teams for decades, shaming them into silence until recent revelations open a floodgate of testimony. The school's attorney responds to the tidal wave of allegations by hiring his former son-in-law, experienced in training special operations for the US Navy and a skilled interrogator, as a consultant as the school begins an investigation into the several public scandals. Ted Helman peels back the layers of self-satisfaction and presumption that shield the old school from recognizing its true character despite the best efforts of the Old Boy establishment to keep him in his place. He also has to face his own demons in understanding how his marriage fell apart.