fred kolo

During a recent conversation, Fred and I discovered that we shared a mutual dislike for tech.

Fred recalled his time as a student at Dartmouth College in the early 1960’s:

“Interesting that as a student in the "cradle" of the computer, as Dartmouth was known, I don't remember ever using one in any of my classwork. But then I was a drama major, one of the first in the College’s brand-new major.  I didn't even use a computer then on simple text.  I was very interested in architecture and construction, and I spent hours on weekends trespassing into the new unfinished buildings (There was almost no security on the weekends, and one could find a way in.) These were my "workshops", and eventually I was drawn into the new Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts at Dartmouth and became one of the earliest drama majors at Dartmouth. Considerably later I spent most of a few years as a faculty member teaching set design to a second generation of Dartmouth drama majors. It was George Schoenhut, the sole designer in that era, who was looking over his shop and office-to-be when he called out to me "What are you doing here?"  The moment I talked about my different interests in the building itself he probably realized he had a potential enrollee in the as a brand new drama major.  After the opening of the Center, I would see him late at night painting backdrops on the new mechanized paint frame.  I volunteered to help him and that led into my being the first to declare a major in drama.

 

Sometime later when I had begun to make a living with that skill I thought of those long days and longer nights and wondered if I had made a good choice or not.  A question I suppose I never really answered.”

Fred Kolo

June 2025

After graduation, Fred had a successful career in the creative positions on stage and screen business, as a musician, and as the author of a book of poetry, Heart Beats: Songs Without Music.  -- Dan