This is a complex issue. Too much to write about in one sitting.
Anyone who knows Joe will admit he is not really cut out to run a school on a day-to-day basis over a long period of time. He seems to need crises to motivate him periodically, to shake things up and get his attention, or perhaps to focus the attention of the community on him. Often, in the old days, he would cancel classes and pull the whole school into the mansion area to sit on the steps in the main hall, so he could lead a school meeting about some kind of crisis. After starting the school in the late 60's, Joe ran the school for maybe 5 years or so before turning the headmaster position over to Ed Legg. Ed was educated as an undergrad at Harvard and as an attorney at the U of TX. He and his wife Ann, a Wellesley grad, both taught at Hyde.
Joe's new role after Ed became head was supposed to be "National Commitment." This included writing a book, which was organized around stories of teachers, students, and families, as
edited by Joe. His editor at Bantam was Toni Burbank. Joe called "book meetings" of a select group from the community. These were held in his office on the second floor of the mansion. Ed's office was across the hall. The two were separated by a space for secretaries. There was much back and forth between the two. This interaction became increasingly agitated over time. This was in the mid-to-late 1970's. Joe crafted himself as the "spritual leader" of Hyde, while Ed ran operations and lead the school on a more practical level.
Joe also spent a great deal of time playing golf during this time. He also performed in America's Spirit (begun in 1976 for the becentennial) on tour, sometimes traveling with an entire suitcase full of hard candy, which he liked to suck on. Joe participated in the Job Corps tour of America's Spirit, during which he dramatically called at least one Job Corps center director on the carpet for his attitude. The Job Corps tour was lead by Ed, who also had a flare for the dramatic and who was know to become angry in public, although not to the extent or with the loss of control of Joe. One can see how issues of power and influence might have arisen between Ed and Joe during this period.
To be continued...
I welcome others to chime in if you think I have gotten this wrong or skewed it too much one way or the other.
