Thursday, September 9, 1999 Older Editions

Beloved AHS principal succumbs to cancer

By Rebecca Lipchitz

As students trotted through the drizzle to the doors of Andover High School Tuesday, they were greeted by teachers, administrators and school leaders.

The welcoming committee included Supt. of Schools Dr. Claudia Bach, Assistant Superintendent Marinel McGrath, Athletic Program Coordinator Dick Bourdelais, and Director Jim Hurley, Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski, Health Director Dave Nichols, art teacher Delores Dunning, social studies teacher Pam Bowdin, and many others.

Larry Robinson, who died Saturday after a year-long battle is shown with his wife, West Middle School Principal Vicki Simms, in a photo from this past summer.

There was also a new face: interim principal Bruce MacDonald.

And MacDonald was there because, in spite of those warm greetings and talk of summer vacations, the knowledge that someone was missing hung heavily in air.

Plastic cups had been arranged in the chain link fence off the tennis court, reading "We'll miss you" and "Hats off to Larry." Students painted "The Rock" to read "Mr. Robinson We LOVE U."

Those were all tributes to Principal Larry Robinson, who had hoped to greet students on opening day despite his failing health, but had died Saturday after a nearly year-long struggle with liver cancer. He was 47.

Being there

While Robinson began a 30-day leave of absence Aug. 22 to resume cancer treatment, he told staff at a meeting last week that he planned to greet students on the first day of school as he had every other day of the school year he was able to attend.

"He was fighting hard for that," says his wife, Vicki Simms, principal of the West Middle School.

Simms says Robinson died at home with his wife and mother by his side.

Dunning, who attended the staff meeting last week, says a few were close to tears when they saw him.

When Robinson was diagnosed with liver cancer last October, just a month into classes of his first year at the school, he decided to go public with his illness.

Student tribute -- Andover High students say farewell (below) to their late principal, Larry Robinson. As one AHS staff member noted, "It takes a lot for a kid to give up a hat."

"He was very much an open man," Simms says, who supported him in his efforts to keep the public informed and help him stay connected to the school while undergoing treatments.

Students and teachers praised him for his openness and approachability.

"If I wanted to bring a horse to school, he'd say 'OK.' He always said 'yes' to things," Dunning says.

While Dunning praises his support for new ideas, teacher Fred Polgreen says despite his open nature, Robinson was no "softie."

"You didn't always get what you wanted, but at least you could talk to him," Polgreen says.

Polgreen, who has taught history at Andover High for 37 years, says he was ready to retire last June, but decided to stay on another year, inspired by Robinson and the improvements he made.

During the year, he worked with staff to develop a schedule, raise graduation requirements from 15 credits to 26 plus a community service project, improve student counseling, and interdepartmental collaboration. He also began work on a mentoring program for new teachers.

While a letter from Andover Public Schools describes the changes Robinson made as "lasting improvements" to the school, students and teachers say it was his attitude that made the most difference.

"He turned the whole place around, just because of his attitude," says Polgreen, who has worked under many principals, "most of them good. But he (Robinson) was fabulous," Polgreen says.

Students agree that Robinson maintained his authority because students believed he truly cared about them, and was never "on a power trip," as one student says.

"He earned our respect. We appreciated him and what he was doing," says Jaclin Gallant, a senior.

Senior Tricia Griffin says students honored Robinson's rules "to keep kids in line" because they respected him.

Senior Pete Edgerly says Robinson was one of the only adults he encountered who really listened to him.

"When I came to him with my problem, he didn't say 'Grow up. It's all you.' He really listened to me and helped me out. You could actually have a conversation with him. No one could ever fill his shoes," Edgerly says.

A man of letters

One parent told the Townsman last June that parents looked forward to reading Robinson's letters because they were substantive. Senior Hilary Kiley says one such letter was waiting for students on Tuesday morning. And there was another.

Simms says after her husband passed away, her mother-in-law was cleaning out files from Robinson's laptop computer before returning it to the school. One of the files she found was a letter to his wife, written before his surgery last October, but never sent to her.

"It came at a time when I needed it most, wondering 'Where am I going to go from here?'" Simms says.

Constant energy

While Robinson was open with the public about his illness, he also maintained an energy level that rivaled some healthy people, colleagues say. His quick return to work after his first round of cancer treatments and energetic approach to presiding over AHS led many people, even those closest to him, to believe he had more time to fight the disease.

"His vigor was so phenomenal, we all thought he had more time," says Brenda O'Brien, assistant principal of the Bancroft School.

Robinson was known for being on his feet, constantly greeting students, visiting classrooms, and simply being present at the school.

School Committee chairman Eric Nadworny described Robinson's tenure at AHS as comet-like -- brightly shining, but too short-lived.

At an assembly of tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-graders just after homeroom period on the first day of school, interim Principal Bruce MacDonald was quick to note the darkness left where Robinson's light had been.

"I never knew someone could feel so lonely in a room of 1,000 people," MacDonald says, evoking a brief, low moan of despair from the crowd.

MacDonald said little, but that he has no plans to replace Robinson or try to fill his shoes, but simply to help Andover High School in its time of need.

In her address to students and staff at the high school Tuesday morning, Superintendent Bach asked students not to feel sad alone, but to talk about the loss with their friends, families and trusted adults.

She also asked students to take a cue from Robinson himself in dealing with the loss.

"Think how Larry would have looked at this day, the first day of a new school year. Think of how he was on the first day of school last year. Larry seemed to know only one speed -- full speed ahead," Bach said.

She even added her best impression of Robinson's distinctive "Gooood morning!"

She quoted from The Hero Within by C.S. Pearson, a passage that defines a "hero" as one who has attained a strong sense of self and is fearlessly open with their values and beliefs. She cited this quality in Robinson, and his fight against cancer, as the mark of a hero.

"He is my hero, and I suppose for many of you, he's your hero too," Bach said.