For those who remember and might wonder about the fate of Allen, it is sadly clear to me that he died in mid-1962,in any case around the time we all completed our time at Los Altos High School - I don't actually recall if he walked in our graduation ceremony.
Allen was an intelligent and super-sensitive soul and a good person, who entered our lives as a result of the generousity of an elderly, very well-meaning Los Altos couple, the Bermans, who, when visiting in Neuchatel, Switzerland around 1960, offered Allen's parents a young-life adventure for their son in the United States. His host family would pay his air fare; He would live with them, enroll in our high school, experience the world (Neuchatel was, and may remain, a culturally insular, French-speaking enclave, compared to which, the U.S. may have seemed like an alien planet) and grow in maturity and independence, etc., etc. - i.e., much as any of our parents certainly wished for us to do.
Close friends and I learned a month or two following our graduation, that Allen had been mentally unstable, perhaps even during the time he lived among us - a condition that none of us evidently were aware of. He committed suicide upon returning home to his family in Neuchatel.
In retrospect, for decades have wanted to write something about him, wishing that I/(we all) had known him just a little better then, not that anyone among us necessarly were mature or skilled enough to assist him.
Thank you, John, for remembering Allen, whom I had forgotten. We lived up the hill from the Breymans with whom Allen had lived during his U.S. stay. Allen couldn't have picked a better family as we knew them quite well. I remember the shock we all had when we learned of Allen's death. I remember the telephone call his parents made to the Breymans, trying to discover if Gene or Helen knew of any reason Allen might take his life. As pseudo-grandparents, they were wonderful, but they knew of nothing that would have driven Allen to take this terrible step. Thank you, John, for remembering and writing about Allen. As I remember him, I remember a kind, generous person who created shock among those of us who knew him. What a kind and wonderful soul he was who shared his time with us.
So sad to hear about this. Don't remember ever meeting Allen... wish I had. Heart-breaking for his Neuchatel parents, his "parents" here and all who knew him. Thanks for sharing, John. Ginni
John Hughes-Caley
For those who remember and might wonder about the fate of Allen, it is sadly clear to me that he died in mid-1962,in any case around the time we all completed our time at Los Altos High School - I don't actually recall if he walked in our graduation ceremony.
Allen was an intelligent and super-sensitive soul and a good person, who entered our lives as a result of the generousity of an elderly, very well-meaning Los Altos couple, the Bermans, who, when visiting in Neuchatel, Switzerland around 1960, offered Allen's parents a young-life adventure for their son in the United States. His host family would pay his air fare; He would live with them, enroll in our high school, experience the world (Neuchatel was, and may remain, a culturally insular, French-speaking enclave, compared to which, the U.S. may have seemed like an alien planet) and grow in maturity and independence, etc., etc. - i.e., much as any of our parents certainly wished for us to do.
Close friends and I learned a month or two following our graduation, that Allen had been mentally unstable, perhaps even during the time he lived among us - a condition that none of us evidently were aware of. He committed suicide upon returning home to his family in Neuchatel.
In retrospect, for decades have wanted to write something about him, wishing that I/(we all) had known him just a little better then, not that anyone among us necessarly were mature or skilled enough to assist him.
Francie Mecia (Krauel)
Thank you, John, for remembering Allen, whom I had forgotten. We lived up the hill from the Breymans with whom Allen had lived during his U.S. stay. Allen couldn't have picked a better family as we knew them quite well. I remember the shock we all had when we learned of Allen's death. I remember the telephone call his parents made to the Breymans, trying to discover if Gene or Helen knew of any reason Allen might take his life. As pseudo-grandparents, they were wonderful, but they knew of nothing that would have driven Allen to take this terrible step. Thank you, John, for remembering and writing about Allen. As I remember him, I remember a kind, generous person who created shock among those of us who knew him. What a kind and wonderful soul he was who shared his time with us.
Virginia Small (Chambers)
So sad to hear about this. Don't remember ever meeting Allen... wish I had. Heart-breaking for his Neuchatel parents, his "parents" here and all who knew him. Thanks for sharing, John. Ginni