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Headmaster's Thoughts: March 2022
I want to tell you a story about my life. Sorry to be self-absorbed, but maybe you can learn a general lesson from my particular circumstance. Back in 1969, I was a very young and, surprisingly, successful barrister. I was in the right Chambers (what you might call a sort of partnership) at the right time, and I had been chosen as the Junior (what you might call “second chair” ) to defend Charles Kray in the Kray case, which turned out to be the longest criminal murder trial in English history. In the middle of that trial, on October 6th 1968 to be precise, I married Jayme.
So why am I telling you this boastful circumstance. Because during that trial, I realized that I did not want to defend (or prosecute) criminals any more. I saw that being a criminal trial lawyer brought out the angry side of my nature. That I would cross-examine with a controlled menace and, far worse, that this passion to destroy the victim of my questions, was leaching over to my personal life. I was becoming a person of tension.
So I discussed the whole thing with Jayme. We made plans, and then went to see my mentor at the bar. Dan Hollis had been my pupil master. It’s tough to explain to an American audience what that means, but imagine becoming a barrister as joining a Guild, and your pupil master is someone you become apprenticed to. Dan had waited an extra year to become a Queen’s Counsel, so that he could take me on as a pupil (because QC’s do not have pupils). By the time I went to see him during the Kray case, he was the Head of the Chambers, and a real supporter. It was because of him that I had been offered a tenancy at the Chambers. I went to Dan and told him that I was going to leave the bar and go to America and start a school. I know that Dan genuinely thought at that point that I was having a mental breakdown. He thought I had lost it. He tried to convince me to stay by telling me that he knew that our Chambers had a plan for me, which was to become a QC at a young age and then a Judge at the Old Bailey, the place where the Kray trial was taking place. Judges routinely get knighthoods, so I could expect to be Sir Ronald, and Jayme would be Lady Jayme. I thanked him and told him that the only problem with this great plan was that I was not onboard.
So we came to New York and started a school. All right, I have told you the story, so what is the point? I think it is that if you feel that what you are doing is not for you–no matter whether you are successful or not–find something that makes you feel good. I have spent 53 years of my life fortunate in making a decision at 25 that seemed absurd, to others at the time, and yet sprang from an inner feeling that all was not well in my world and my future was not what I wanted it to be.
I should also add that I have always enjoyed running a school. Through ups and downs, I have always rejoiced in my interaction with that special group of people who are teachers, and the students who constitute the energy of the school. I do not miss interacting with criminals.
Simple story. Sorry if it is too much about me, but I thought I would share it.
Ronald P. Stewart
Headmaster
York Prep
