NPHS Reunion Interview: Beat Steiner, Class of 1969

Beat Steiner hiking in Denali National Park, Alaska, September 2014.

In 100 words or less, describe your career.  

From NPHS, I went to the University of Virginia (UVA) where I majored in religious studies. I went on to Regent College at the University of British Columbia for graduate work in Christian studies. I spent three years in Christian ministry to students, but ended up as a lawyer, as I had considered doing since my freshman year in high school. I wanted a profession that was respected. Oh well. I graduated from UVA Law School in 1980, spent three years on Wall Street and then moved to Boulder, CO (my wife’s home town). I have practiced real estate law in Denver and Boulder for nearly 38 years - most of it related to ski and other resorts. I am slowing my practice down and gravitating back to ministry.

Where have you lived since graduating?

 In sequence: Charlottesville, VA; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Charlottesville, VA; New York City; and Boulder, CO. 

What was your sense of community in your class/in the school at NPHS? 

Throughout my time in high school, I worked 20 hours per week at Opdyke’s and, really, that was my community. My sister, Gaby, worked there, and, if memory still serves me, the regular crew included Judy Stanislao and her sister and mother and now husband, John Mehltretter, along with Eileen Thompson, Anita Smith, Bruce Jones and John Benassu. Such a great group to work with and some fun memories too. Mr. Opdyke taught me a great deal and opened doors for me. I owe him a lot.

 What experiences in high school, positive or negative, helped to shape you as a person? 

The positives were many: I got a good education and was ready for the challenges of university when I graduated. I had many leadership opportunities, serving as class president; lt. governor, state secretary, and governor of New Jersey Key Clubs; and delegate to the Model United Nations.  I learned a great deal about leading and following (and getting out of the way), all of which have enhanced my professional and personal life.I also learned a lot about life and love and joy from the many really nice people in our class.

Do you have any regrets about your experiences during your high school years? 

I look back at the time in high school as often being lonely, and I felt somewhat out of step – perhaps because my family situation was not great, and, in a subtle way, as an immigrant who lost my first language and connection with the land of my childhood, I was neither truly American, nor truly Swiss. I also felt quite defeated about sports in high school – in the first instance because I thought of myself as skinny, weak, and uncoordinated. I learned as an adult that I was much better at athletics than I had any idea. It proved to be a life lesson about limiting myself, which I certainly did in this respect. 

Now, 50 years later, has your perspective on your high school years changed at all?  

I recall being grateful when I graduated from NPHS, and I am still grateful now. I see now that many things I may have missed out on in high school were the result of limitations in my head, not in reality. At the same time, I accomplished a lot, and NPHS set me on a course that allowed me to succeed in many ways.

What is your fondest memory of your years at NPHS?

One moment sticks out in my mind: One sunny afternoon in my senior year I had been excused to go speak at a Key Club event. My 1965 Chevy Impala convertible (that I bought with my own money – thanks to working at Opdyke’s) was parked out in front of the school. I felt so free – so cool - as I lowered the top on my car and drove off.

 What was the craziest or stupidest thing you did in high school?

Also in my senior year, I was doing a photo essay on Langston Hughes. To get real life photos depicting the subject matter of some of his poetry, I drove through Harlem taking pictures. One scene I captured was of three men on a street corner passing around a bottle of liquor. I got the shot and as I drove on that bottle came through the rear window of my car and shattered it. I think I ran every light between 112^thand 42^ndStreets. Clearly stupid (and, now I realize, insensitive and racist). I still have a couple of the pictures from that project.

What was your proudest accomplishment in high school?  

Being elected Governor of the New Jersey Clubs would have to be it. It allowed me to travel extensively and be inspired by volunteer community service being done by students all over the state.

Who was your favorite teacher? 

Miss O’Brien comes immediately to mind because, without her rigor, I would never have become the writer I am today. But I have to include Mr. Justus, because he was ridiculously funny and taught me German (my first link back to Switzerland).

What was your worst class? 

Calculus. My father was a chemist and a math whiz. His genes skipped right over me. I sometimes joke that I became a lawyer so I could use words not numbers. Typing comes in second. Little did I know, however, how useful that class would be, as I now spend most of most days typing (on a keyboard, mind you). 

What is your most powerful or haunting memory during your years at NPHS?

Robby Gardner’s death. Although he lived around the corner from me, I did not know Robby well. But I did see his sister, mother, and father regularly after the accident, and the sadness never left them. How could it?

How did growing up at a child of the 60s – and all the social baggage and impact that it may have entailed – impact you at the time and in your young adult years?

True confession here: I was quite conservative politically throughout high school and on into college. I truly thought that most of what was going on in the 60’s and early 70’s was reflective of the moral degradation of our society. I still think a lot of what happened in the 60’s was the moral degradation of society, but the music was awesome, the stripping out of hypocrisy and hypocritical institutions was welcome, the opening of people’s minds and hearts to matters deeper than the material world was enlivening, the civil rights movement was just and necessary, and the anti-war protests were spot on. As to the war protests, I have great remorse. How naive I was about our government. 

Beat (left), his sister Gaby (class of 1968) and his best friend Dale Simmons (class of 1966),
in front of the North Plainfield Baptist Church in 1974.