Prep '58 Blog - May 2026

Rich Campion

" As I was day-dreaming yesterday, I started seeing images of my life at The Prep all those years ago. I was especially remembering two of the Jesuits who taught me French, Mister Pugliesi SJ (spelling?) who taught me in Junior year, and Father Blaise Jascko SJ (spelling?), who taught me in Senior year. And they both were instrumental in my life.

Mister Pugliesi had done French studies at Université Laval in Quebec City, where I eventually received my MA in French, and did my PhD work, but did not complete my thesis. At Laval I met, wooed, and married Charlotte Fortin, and our daughter, Barbara, was born. I did not complete my doctoral thesis and taught English and translation in the Québec college system. I was also involved in weightlifting, and organized the first collegiate weightlifting championship in Québec. We eventually left to move to Ottawa, where I became the Technical Director of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation. There, I set up the national coaching system, and taught coaches. I eventually was elected to the International Weightlifting Federation, and was the speaker (competition director) at the Montréal, Los Angeles, and Atlanta Summer Olympic Games.

Father Blaise Jasko was a Jesuit teacher in Hungary when the USSR moved in and took over his country in 1956. He eventually had to leave Hungary, and he became a teacher at the Prep, where he was also the swimming coach. He spoke excellent French and taught me French in my Senior year at The Prep. He also gave me a French novel, Premier de cordée, which was the first French novel that I ever read. It was about mountain rescues in the Alps, and was thrilling. I went on to major in French at St. Peter’s College. After getting my BA, I served for two years in the US Army (Infantry) at Fort Knox, KY.

While interpreting at a conference in Toronto I visited Father Jasko where he was assigned to St. Elizabeth’s Parish. St. Elizabeth is the patron saint of Hungary. He remembered me and we had an enjoyable reunion.

A whole new, surprising, and wonderful life opened for me at The Prep."

RC

Here's the NYT front page from May 9, 1955. The Salk polio vaccine immunization project was held up in New York, pending further review.   Talks continue between US and Russia. It also was the Editor's birthday, back when he was still recognizing them.

Just in case your memory is as iffy as the Editor's, we found a site that lets you access the top news stories from back in the day. You can select the year and month, and the major news events for that period will be shown. Below are a few of the stories we found from 1955 from the thousands that are available. 

• February 24: Formation of the Central Treaty Organization.
• April 12: The Salk polio vaccine having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
• April 18: Death of Albert Einstein.
• May 14: Signing of the Warsaw Pact.
• August 18: First Sudanese Civil War begins.

You can see all the headlines and stories from the 50's right here!

We are still on the hunt for After '58 Bio's and we know there are dozens of 58'ers out there who read the Blog, but have yet to submit a Bio. Every one we get has an interesting tale to tell, and we hope you will add to our library.

And... remember those cookies!  Send yours in and we will get them right out to you! Take a look at the Bio's we have.

'After '58' got started in March, 2017, when we received this suggestion from Bill Kretzer to collect stories from the '58 gang about what they did after graduation. 

"I think there would be a bushel of interest in interviews with each & every ‘58 graduate. I for one, since I went away to college and never returned to NJ, didn’t keep in touch as much as I should have and would be curious to hear how everyone’s life turned out."

Bill sent in his Bio, and 8 years later, we are at 41. We hope every one of the '58 gang  will pick up on Bill's suggestion and send in their story in an email to Vince. 

It takes no more time to put your story together than it would to tell it to your grandkids, so how about it?  We will return the favor by sending a baker's dozen of Stephanie Grillo's famous Chocolate Chunk cookies. We've already shipped out over 500 of the best cookies you've ever tasted, and there's more where they came from.