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For the last 26 years, Senior Advancement Officer Jim Pattison has spent nearly every weekday waking up at 3:30 a.m. at his home in Goleta nad driving nearly 200 miles roundtrip to his office at the Harvard-Westlake Middle School. In this episode, Jim tells us why. It began with growing up with parents who encouraged Jim to “figure things out” through hard work and perseverance, and continued with degrees from Georgetown and Notre Dame that Jim had to finance himself. Finally, it’s been driven by a belief in the nobility of facilitating philanthropy in schools like Harvard-Westlake. On the eve of his retirement after a quarter century of service, Jim also tells stories that shed light on who he is personally: the heartwarming story of how Jim met his wife, Kappy; as well as the story of Arlene Director Schnitzer ’47—an alumna who faced crippling antisemitism on the Westlake campus in the 1940s, but who ultimately made a major legacy gift to that same campus seven decades later, thanks to Jim’s empathy and care. In addition to his parents, Jim references Tom Hurt of Management Recruiters (Chicago), Nyle Kardatzke of Brookfield Academy, and Tom Hudnut and Michael Segal ’75 of Harvard-Westlake as profound life mentors.

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In 2023, the Writers Guild of America awarded its highest honor for television writing achievement, the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award, to veteran TV writer, creator, and showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser. For more than three decades, Yvette has been telling stories via television—most recently showrunning Hulu’s “Unprisoned,” starring Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo. But back in 1993, Yvette made history as the first Black woman to create her own primetime network television show—Living Single. In this episode, Yvette tells her own story—from growing up in various parts of Los Angeles before attending Santa Monica High School and then Stanford. In addition to speaking about the influence of great educators at both schools, Yvette describes her approach to leading writers’ rooms, collaborating with show creators, and why she and other writers are currently on strike. Yvette references Paul Kerry of Santa Monica High School and Ronald Rebholz of Stanford University as profound educational influences.