Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2010)
2010 Features 7 Pulitzer Prize winning graduate honored with LA art show E mily R eed Although they graduated 46 years apart, a mutual love of art has brought together two West Linn graduates. Alexis Jonnson, Class of 2001 is directing an art show featuring the work of David Kennerly, Class of 1965, who is a Pulitzer Prize winning photojoumalist. The gallery show dubbed, "If Only O.J. Had Called Me: A Forty Year Photographic Retrospective, 1966-2010" (named for the famous photograph that Kennerly took of O.J. Simpson, his family and President Ford) looks at many famous connections that Kennerly has made throughout his life. Kennerly's love of photography began at the age of 12 or 13 in Roseburg, Ore. His first photo was published was in the high school newspaper, the Orange R. His family relocated to West Linn during his junior year. "When I moved to West Linn it gave me a chance to reinvent myself," Kennerly said. "I had sold myself to the teacher as a better photographer than I really was." He was inspired by the photography teacher, Darrel Greenlee. He said that he learned a lo t in his class because it was his favorite subject. It wasn't long before Kennerly's claim of stellar photography was realized. He began working for The Oregonian right out of high school and later served as the White House photographer for President Gerald Ford from 1974-1978. He photographed many events that occurred in Washington D.C. including the terrifying day on Sept. 22,1975 that Sara Jane Moore attempted to a bumper car and smiling nonetheless!" Jonnson said. "There are also great entertainment photos, powerful images from David's time in Vietnam, for which he won a Pulitzer such as Sebastiano Salgado, John Paul Caponigro, Ansel Adams' landscapes, Alfred Steiglitz's images of Georgia O’Keefe's hands, Irving Penn's portraits..." Jonnson took over as the director of "Frank Picture Gallery" in Los Angeles last April. "I am a self proclaimed history nerd and one of the reasons I fell in love with art history was because it is a visual reference of society, so I was excited to work with a photographer who has such a great visual reference of historical moments. David has some amazing stories that go along with his photographs!" Since the beginning of January, the pair has worked together to produce the show, which runs Jan.31- April 3. "David is wonderful," Jonnson said. "He has great ideas, a depth of knowledge and is a real go-getter. We work well together." Photo by David Hume Kennerly Part of his Pulitzer Prize winning portfolio, David Hume Kennedy’s 1971 photo of Easter Sunday in Vietnam depicts religion and a tired soldier. Work from 1971 that included photos from Vietnam, Cambodia, India and the Ali-Frazier fight at Madison Square Garden was part of his Feature portfolio. assassinate Ford. "Tve had a lot of memorable ones, but the most recent and the most memorable would have to be the Obama Inauguration," Kennerly said. "It was a great night." The show looks back at all of the ground-breaking photos that have been produced by Kennerly over the last 40 years, some dating back to 1966 when he began, taking pictures in Portland. The pieces featured vary as widely as Kennerly's career. "It's a wonderful range of political photography, catching some heavy hitters in hilarious moments — like Dick Cheney driving Photo by David Hume Kennerly Former President Richard Nixon plays the piano at the opening of the new Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on March 16, 1974. He sat down at a piano and rapped out "Happy Birthday" for his wife, First Lady Pat Nixon, who turned 62 that day. . in 72, and some moments caught with the great Ansel Adams," Jonnson said. As for Jonnson, her love of photography began her freshman year." I wanted to learn about this art form so freshman year I took a photography class and ended up taking it all four years," she said. "I had always enjoyed classic black and white photography s Photo courtesy of Alexis Jonnson With his portrait of former President Bill Clinton in the background, David Hume Kennerly and Alexis Jonnson, WLHS graduates, collaborate on an art show showcasing Kennerly's photography. Jonnson is directing the show which runs Jan. 31- April 3 in Los Angeles. Life of excitement brings Hoss back to West Linn continued from page 6 "That was the only inter view I had, whereas now, to teach in West Linn you have to go through an extensive interview process," Hoss said. He returned to his alma mater as a social studies teacher in 1976. Even though he had been very involved in the school as a student, it was awkward for him to come back as a teacher. "W hen I came back to teach, the hardest thing for me to do was refer to my old teachers, like Mr. Gettel, by their first names. It was awkward for me," Hoss said. Hoss worked side-by- side with many staff mem bers who had taught him just nine years earlier. He taught U.S. History as well as a class called Modern Problems, which was a se mester senior social studies class. Although he enjoyed teaching both classes, he sometimes felt those general senior classes were hard to teach. "It's hard to hold their attention, especially in the spring," he said. While Hoss has always taught social studies classes, he took on the role of Dean of Students for three years, putting him in charge of dis cipline and attendance. The most memorable part of that job, according to Hoss, was when he would have to search a student's backpack or locker. If he found illegal substances, he would first have to admin ister the school consequences, then take the student to the resource officer. At that point, instead of being the one charg- Photo from Green and Gold Yearbook, 1966 ClarkHoss,socialstudies teachers, shows off his football skills as a high school junior. Hoss went on to play professional football for New England, Cleveland and Philadelphia before returning to West Linn to teach. ing the student, he became the student advocate. "I had to wear a lot of different hats," Hoss said. While he attests that it was an interesting change, Hoss noted that the job was very time consuming. Because he strongly iden tified with athletics, most of the teachers seemed to have forgotten how academ i cally involved he had been. "When I was hired, some of the attitude was, 'Oh, they hired another coach'," Hoss said. Hoss coached football from the time he began teaching until around 1980. He was the head JV coach and worked mostly with the Varsity offense. He coached track for a few years and was the head girls' basketball coach for five years. According to Hoss, one of his favorite activities was leadership, which he taught for nearly 20 years. "I think I did 18 or 19 May Days," Hoss laughed. Currently, Hoss teaches Crisis and U.S. History. His dedication to the school and his job is evident. Hoss said, simply, "I enjoy working with young people."
