| April 29, 2012 By Cindy Cantrell Boston Globe During the three decades in which the late S. Lawrence Whipple contributed essays about local history to community groups and the Lexington Minuteman newspaper, his friends repeatedly urged him to compile the collection into a book. Whipple wasn’t able to take on the project before his death at age 88 |  Sam Doran, an 18-year-old high school senior, works on a typewriter formerly… (Brian Feulner for the Boston…) |
in 2010, but his love of his hometown lives on in the new book “Lexington Through the Years,’’ edited by 18-year-old S. Levi “Sam’’ Doran.
Doran, a high school senior who painstakingly assembled the collection, said it bothered him when Whipple dismissed references to himself as a “scholarly’’ historian, insisting that only those with published books to their name deserve such a title. With this bound volume spanning the first 300 years of town history, Doran believes Whipple should now be indisputably viewed as an accomplished scholar who gave “due focus to preservation of the past, documentation of the present, and planning for the future.’’
Susan Bennett, executive director of the Lexington Historical Society, acknowledges that many young people have a passion for history. What distinguishes Doran, she said, is the intensity and depth of his interest and knowledge, as well as his exceptional maturity in celebrating the life's work of his mentor.
“Sam really pulled this book together from A to Z, and every step of the way proved himself to be the equal of any adult,’’ she said, noting that she insisted over Sam's repeated objections that his name accompany Whipple's on the front cover.
The book's 39 essays, which date back to 1971, are written in the news style that Whipple perfected while working as an editor for WBZ NewsRadio during World War II. His work cites books and manuscripts, and also quotes from oral histories that Whipple recorded from dozens of elderly residents so their stories would not be lost to the ages.
Eight of the vintage photographs were taken by Whipple, including the cover shot of one of the town's last passenger trains pulling away from the East Lexington Depot.
Topics include early female aviator Peggy Kimball, holiday celebrations, the Colonial Pharmacy, tributes to citizens such as former Lexington Minuteman publisher Alan G. Adams, the eventual replacement of the railroad with the Minuteman Bikeway, and perhaps Whipple's greatest personal interest: the history of ice cream in town.
“Larry had quite a sweet tooth,’’ Doran recalled.
Jim Shaw, publisher of the Lexington-based Colonial Times, said Doran similarly demonstrated expertise and communication skills beyond his years while writing pro bono for the newspaper from ages 14 to 16. Shaw, who is also vice president of the Rotary Club of Lexington, arranged for Doran to be the featured speaker at the first-ever joint meeting of the Lexington and Concord rotary clubs April 9.
“There was no second choice,’’ Shaw said. “He is an extraordinary young man who has a gift for sharing the wealth of knowledge he has accumulated in his young life. Everybody wants to hear from Sam.’’
Colonial Times managing editor Laurie Atwater said she is pleased the newspaper provided an early platform through which Doran could showcase his considerable talents. His most popular series was a “then and now’’ column featuring photos illustrating changes at various sites in town. Determined to recapture the exact angle of one particular historic aerial view, he sought permission to gain access to the roof of the Lexington Savings Bank building in order to gain the perfect perspective.
“That's Sam. The kid doesn't miss a detail or a deadline,’’ said Atwater, recalling how Doran’s father, Guy, would sit in his car in the driveway of her home for an hour or two at a time while she and Sam combed through his “meticulously prepared’’ manuscripts.
“That was part of having Sam as a son,’’ said Guy Doran. “His interest was different than most kids.’’ He said he has long searched for old books and antiques rather than the latest electronics as presents for his son.
“The only credit Elaine [Sam’s mom] and I can take is doing our best to make opportunities available to him.’’
Sam was raised in an environment that nurtured respect for history.
In 1893, Sam's great-great-grandfather, Levi Doran, established a farming and greenhouse business that remained in the family (most recently as Doran's Greenhouses) through 2006.
His parents, who are lifetime members of the Lexington Historical Society, got him his very own lifetime membership when he was 3 or 4 years old. The family even lives in a historic home, built in 1786 by Lexington Minuteman Isaac Blodgett.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Doran says he has been interested in Lexington's storied past “for as long as I can remember.’’
Whipple was a similarly familiar presence in his life, a family friend who regularly had dinner and celebrated birthdays and holidays at their home.According to Elaine Doran, Whipple and her son’s shared love of Lexington bridged the generation gap. The owner of a framing business, Whipple was widely considered the town historian and was frequently sought by real estate developers for property history and advice on historically appropriate street names.
A 56-year member of the Lexington Historical Society, Whipple was also head of the Battle Green tour guides, active in gravestone preservation at the town's Old Burying Ground, and an accomplished photographer, watercolorist, tennis player, and cook who was known for his homemade blueberry muffins and meatloaf from his mother’s recipe.
Elaine Doran, who is collections manager at the Lexington Historical Society, said Whipple was pleased that her son loved local history as much as he did. She first recognized this passion in Sam when, at 5 years old, he excitedly showed her the museum he had fashioned in the family’s barn with horseshoes, pieces of china, and other carefully labeled relics dug up from the yard.
Sam Doran began visiting Lexington Historical Society buildings at a very young age. By seventh grade, he was volunteering as an archives assistant.
“I'd come home from work and mention that someone was looking for a photograph I've never seen and isn’t in the database, and Sam would tell me exactly where to find it,’’ Elaine Doran said. “And believe me, you name it, it's down there. It amazes me what he remembers.’’
Although Sam Doran said he thought for years that Whipple’s essays would make a great book, he began working on the project in earnest when he received a grant from the Dan H. Fenn/Lexington Minute Men Award in April 2010. That summer, Doran worked as a tour guide in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington in the mornings before descending into the building's basement in the afternoons to research the Lexington Historical Society archives for Whipple's essays.
Doran said he is privileged to now own Whipple's favorite 1940s Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter, on which Doran typed the preface so that every page of the book would have originally been typewritten.
While joking that he is “just waiting for some other essay to pop up that I didn't know about,’’ he believes Whipple would be pleased by the book, which he hopes will interest readers of all ages.
This past school year, Doran was captain of the cross-country team, a member of the Lexington Minute Men Company, and yearbook editor at Lexington Christian Academy, from which he will graduate on June 9.
While he is still debating his future college and major, he will gain valuable experience as an intern for state Representative Jay Kaufman this summer.
Kaufman said he intends to expose Doran to a wide range of opportunities. “It's a little unusual for a high school student to have an internship of this sort, but it's a little unusual for a high school student to be as focused and self-energized as Sam,’’ Kaufman said. “I'm expecting great things of him.’’
© 2012 NY Times Co.
Doran, a high school senior who painstakingly assembled the collection, said it bothered him when Whipple dismissed references to himself as a “scholarly’’ historian, insisting that only those with published books to their name deserve such a title. With this bound volume spanning the first 300 years of town history, Doran believes Whipple should now be indisputably viewed as an accomplished scholar who gave “due focus to preservation of the past, documentation of the present, and planning for the future.’’
Susan Bennett, executive director of the Lexington Historical Society, acknowledges that many young people have a passion for history. What distinguishes Doran, she said, is the intensity and depth of his interest and knowledge, as well as his exceptional maturity in celebrating the life's work of his mentor.
“Sam really pulled this book together from A to Z, and every step of the way proved himself to be the equal of any adult,’’ she said, noting that she insisted over Sam's repeated objections that his name accompany Whipple's on the front cover.
The book's 39 essays, which date back to 1971, are written in the news style that Whipple perfected while working as an editor for WBZ NewsRadio during World War II. His work cites books and manuscripts, and also quotes from oral histories that Whipple recorded from dozens of elderly residents so their stories would not be lost to the ages.
Eight of the vintage photographs were taken by Whipple, including the cover shot of one of the town's last passenger trains pulling away from the East Lexington Depot.
Topics include early female aviator Peggy Kimball, holiday celebrations, the Colonial Pharmacy, tributes to citizens such as former Lexington Minuteman publisher Alan G. Adams, the eventual replacement of the railroad with the Minuteman Bikeway, and perhaps Whipple's greatest personal interest: the history of ice cream in town.
“Larry had quite a sweet tooth,’’ Doran recalled.
Jim Shaw, publisher of the Lexington-based Colonial Times, said Doran similarly demonstrated expertise and communication skills beyond his years while writing pro bono for the newspaper from ages 14 to 16. Shaw, who is also vice president of the Rotary Club of Lexington, arranged for Doran to be the featured speaker at the first-ever joint meeting of the Lexington and Concord rotary clubs April 9.
“There was no second choice,’’ Shaw said. “He is an extraordinary young man who has a gift for sharing the wealth of knowledge he has accumulated in his young life. Everybody wants to hear from Sam.’’
Colonial Times managing editor Laurie Atwater said she is pleased the newspaper provided an early platform through which Doran could showcase his considerable talents. His most popular series was a “then and now’’ column featuring photos illustrating changes at various sites in town. Determined to recapture the exact angle of one particular historic aerial view, he sought permission to gain access to the roof of the Lexington Savings Bank building in order to gain the perfect perspective.
“That's Sam. The kid doesn't miss a detail or a deadline,’’ said Atwater, recalling how Doran’s father, Guy, would sit in his car in the driveway of her home for an hour or two at a time while she and Sam combed through his “meticulously prepared’’ manuscripts.
“That was part of having Sam as a son,’’ said Guy Doran. “His interest was different than most kids.’’ He said he has long searched for old books and antiques rather than the latest electronics as presents for his son.
“The only credit Elaine [Sam’s mom] and I can take is doing our best to make opportunities available to him.’’
Sam was raised in an environment that nurtured respect for history.
In 1893, Sam's great-great-grandfather, Levi Doran, established a farming and greenhouse business that remained in the family (most recently as Doran's Greenhouses) through 2006.
His parents, who are lifetime members of the Lexington Historical Society, got him his very own lifetime membership when he was 3 or 4 years old. The family even lives in a historic home, built in 1786 by Lexington Minuteman Isaac Blodgett.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Doran says he has been interested in Lexington's storied past “for as long as I can remember.’’
Whipple was a similarly familiar presence in his life, a family friend who regularly had dinner and celebrated birthdays and holidays at their home.According to Elaine Doran, Whipple and her son’s shared love of Lexington bridged the generation gap. The owner of a framing business, Whipple was widely considered the town historian and was frequently sought by real estate developers for property history and advice on historically appropriate street names.
A 56-year member of the Lexington Historical Society, Whipple was also head of the Battle Green tour guides, active in gravestone preservation at the town's Old Burying Ground, and an accomplished photographer, watercolorist, tennis player, and cook who was known for his homemade blueberry muffins and meatloaf from his mother’s recipe.
Elaine Doran, who is collections manager at the Lexington Historical Society, said Whipple was pleased that her son loved local history as much as he did. She first recognized this passion in Sam when, at 5 years old, he excitedly showed her the museum he had fashioned in the family’s barn with horseshoes, pieces of china, and other carefully labeled relics dug up from the yard.
Sam Doran began visiting Lexington Historical Society buildings at a very young age. By seventh grade, he was volunteering as an archives assistant.
“I'd come home from work and mention that someone was looking for a photograph I've never seen and isn’t in the database, and Sam would tell me exactly where to find it,’’ Elaine Doran said. “And believe me, you name it, it's down there. It amazes me what he remembers.’’
Although Sam Doran said he thought for years that Whipple’s essays would make a great book, he began working on the project in earnest when he received a grant from the Dan H. Fenn/Lexington Minute Men Award in April 2010. That summer, Doran worked as a tour guide in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington in the mornings before descending into the building's basement in the afternoons to research the Lexington Historical Society archives for Whipple's essays.
Doran said he is privileged to now own Whipple's favorite 1940s Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter, on which Doran typed the preface so that every page of the book would have originally been typewritten.
While joking that he is “just waiting for some other essay to pop up that I didn't know about,’’ he believes Whipple would be pleased by the book, which he hopes will interest readers of all ages.
This past school year, Doran was captain of the cross-country team, a member of the Lexington Minute Men Company, and yearbook editor at Lexington Christian Academy, from which he will graduate on June 9.
While he is still debating his future college and major, he will gain valuable experience as an intern for state Representative Jay Kaufman this summer.
Kaufman said he intends to expose Doran to a wide range of opportunities. “It's a little unusual for a high school student to have an internship of this sort, but it's a little unusual for a high school student to be as focused and self-energized as Sam,’’ Kaufman said. “I'm expecting great things of him.’’
© 2012 NY Times Co.
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