Half Time Venture - A Unique Opportunity in Cambridge - February 2 and 3, 2011

This past summer, I offered in this space a review of the remarkable book: "Half Time - Moving From Success to Significance" by Bob Buford.

Half Time Review

The overwhelming response to the Half Time book has led Bob Buford to launch the Half Time Institute in Dallas. Several times each year the Institute offers seminars to help individuals to begin their journeys from Success to Significance.

Through The Halftime Institute, you will find the freedom to:

• Dream about the next season of your life.
• Clarify your core abilities and passions.
• Create a workable plan for investing your time and talent in your area of passion.
• Design the ultimate context for your personal service.
• Network with peers who will provide accountability and encouragement during your journey.

We have an unusual opportunity coming up the first week in February, Wednesday February 2 and Thursday, February 3. The Half Time Institute will be offering their two-day Half Time Venture here in Cambridge, MA. I am pleased to be able to host the event at Cambridge Innovation Center, in joint partnership with Boston's Emmanuel Gospel Center and the New York City Leadership Center.

While the materials are presented from a clearly Christian perspective, one need not be a practicing Christian to benefit from the teaching.

Lloyd Reeb, author of From Success to Significance, will be our facilitator for this highly interactive program. I would ask that you prayerfully consider joining us and/or invite others who you think would be good candidates. Successful individuals aged 40-60 who are seriously seeking to align their gifts with their passion for serving a higher purpose are good candidates. This is a great way to explore some fresh ideas with other like-minded leaders.

Each paid registrant will receive the following books:

· From Success to Significance by Lloyd Reeb

· StrengthsFinder by Tom Rath

· Halftime by Bob Buford

Preparation: Each participant should pre-read Success to Significance and do the assessment in StrengthsFinder (no need to read the entire book). If you have the time, we also highly recommend reading Halftime. This preparation will ensure that you are ready to engage and make the most of our time together.

Cost: $600 per person.

If you would like to attend, please let us know as soon as possible. Space will be allocated on a first-come - first-served basis. To reserve your seat at this exciting workshop, please contact me ASAP at: achase47@gmail.com, and I will be glad to send you registration materials.

Comments from previous attendees:

“I highly recommend the Halftime experience to anyone who has a desire to make themselves more available for God and who is seeking the best way to serve Him. The pre-work, workshop, and follow up all helped me to get clearer about what brings me joy and honors God, and how to experience more of this joy in my walk with Him. Importantly, it also helped me see ways that I could serve God without experiencing joy – and how to avoid falling into that trap. Being surrounded by a room full of unique individuals and listening to their dreams and plans, as well as their failures and frustrations, really made it clear to me that it’s worth the extra effort to look for that profound joy that occurs when God aligns your gifts and passions with His plan and the world’s needs.

The program was well designed and the pacing and facilitation were great. The Halftime staff was absolutely top notch; and they have stayed in touch and ready to help as I seek to put my plans into action.”

Rick Teague

Axiom

“Bob Buford’s book (‘Halftime’) was used by God to speak to my heart about how to use my time, resources and talents during the phase of life normally thought of as ‘retirement’. Buford challenges believers to use the success of the ‘first half’ of life to live a life of significance in the ‘second half’. At the time I made the decision to actually try to do this, I attended one of Buford’s Halftime Institute sessions. The 2 days time investment was very worthwhile. The preparation we had to do for the sessions before we arrived assured that we were ready to engage. The size of the group was small enough for personalized learning. The work sessions helped crystallize some of my own thinking. And the interaction with others on a similar life journey provided for peer listening. A bonus was the opportunity to spend time with Bob Buford, whose own life is a model of what he has written about.

While the Halftime Institute session itself was excellent, the real value was the networking which occurred as a follow-up to the 2 day event. The HT Institute staff members were simply amazingly effective in connecting me with a whole array of leaders in various national and global Christian ministries. Through these connections, I was able to explore volunteer opportunities for service, as well as full time employment openings. Over the period of a couple of years, I volunteered with a couple of micro finance institutions, traveled to Rwanda on a trip sponsored by Halftime, joined the Board of Directors of the NYCLC, and was led by God to a leadership job at International Justice Mission (IJM). God guided me along the way, and He used the Halftime Institute as a significant tool for my journey. I strongly recommend Halftime Institute, if one is seriously interested in moving from success to significance.”

Gary R Veurink

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

International Justice Mission

If you will be traveling from outside the Boston area, we are making arrangements with the nearby Marriott hotel in Kendall Square to offer discounted room rates.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Al

An Absolute Must Read: "Drive - The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink

Some books for me are "game changers." All of Malcolm Gladwell's books fall into this category: "Tipping Point," "Blink" and "Outliers." Frans Johansson's "The Medici Effect" prompted me to organize two leadership gatherings: The White Rhino Intersection and Intersection 2.0. Daniel Pink's latest book, "Drive," belongs in this same category. I love what Gladwell said about Pink's book: "I spent as much time thinking about what this book means as I did reading it." Well said; I have had the same response.

To regular readers of The White Rhino Report, Pink is no stranger. I wrote effusively about his earlier book, "A Whole New Mind."

Review of "A Whole New Mind"

I recently offered a link to a TED talk that summarizes the most salient points of "Drive."

Drive Video

Having been thoroughly mesmerized and intrigued by the "Drive" video, I wondered if I needed to read the book. I am glad I chose to take that additional step. The video serves as an excellent appetizer and introductory tool, but the main nutrient's can be found in the book.

Pink's genius is his ability to take previously published research from a variety of fields, synthesize and coordinate the data and present the findings to a lay audience in a way that does not "dumb down" the content or the significance of the discoveries. He takes the "what," and turns it into a powerful "so what?".

In discussing what motivates individuals and teams in almost any setting, Pink describes two types of motivation: Type X (extrinsic) and Type I (intrinsic).

"Type I behavior is a renewable resource. Think of Type X behavior as coal, and Type I behavior as the sun. For most of recent history, coal has been the cheapest, easiest, most efficient resource. But coal has two downsides. First, it produces nasty things like air pollution and greenhouse gases. Second, it's finite; getting more of it becomes increasingly difficult and expensive each year. Type X behavior is similar. An emphasis on rewards and punishments spews its own externalities. And 'if-then' motivators always grow more expensive. But Type I behavior, which is built around intrinsic motivation, draws on resources that are easily replenished and inflict little damage. It is the motivational equivalent of clean energy: inexpensive, safe to use, and endlessly renewable." (Page 80)

He goes on to describe what lies at the heart of Type I behavior and the underlying motivations. He issues what amounts to a manifesto for change.

"Ultimately, Type I behavior depends upon three nutrients: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Type I behavior is self-directed. It is devoted to becoming better and better at something that matters. and it connects that quest for excellence to a larger purpose. Some might dismiss notions like these as gooey and idealistic, but the science says otherwise. The science confirms that this sort of behavior is essential to being human - and that now, in a rapidly changing economy, it is also critical for professional, personal, and organizational success of any kind. So we have a choice. We can cling to a view of human motivation that is grounded more in old habits than in modern science. Or we can listen to the research, drag our business and personal practices into the twenty-first century, and craft a new operating system to help ourselves, our companies, and our world work a little better. It won't be easy. It won't happen overnight. So let's get started." (Pages 80-81)

As the author continues to sketch out the components of what he calls Motivation 3.0 - a large quantum leap beyond the traditional Motivation 2.0 that fueled the Industrial Revolution - he describes four aspects of autonomy.

"And what a few future-looking businesses are discovering is that one of these essential features is autonomy - in particular, autonomy over four aspects of work: what people do, when they do it, how they do it, and whom they do it with. As Atlassian's experience shows, Type I behavior emerges when people have autonomy over the four T's: their task, their time, their technique, and their team." (Pages 93-94)

In discussing the importance of "Purpose" as a factor in motivation, Pink's work comes close to the themes of the book "Half Time - Moving from Success to Significance," by Bob Buford, which I reviewed in this space a few months ago:

Review of "Half Time"

These themes are also resonant with Rick Warren's best-seller, "The Purpose Driven Life."

The demographic time bomb that is my generation of Baby Boomers presents an interesting dilemma and opportunity occasioned by our anticipated increased longevity.

"Upon comprehending that they could have another twenty-five years, sixty-year-old boomers look back twenty-five years - to when they were thirty-five - and a sudden thought clonks them on the side of the head. 'Wow. That sure happened fast,' they say. 'Will the next twenty-five years race by like that? If so, when I am going to do something that matters? When am I going to live my best life? When am I going to make a difference in the world?'

Those questions, which swirl through conversations taking place at boomer kitchen tables around the world, may sound touch-feely. But they're now occurring at a rate that is unprecedented in human civilization. Consider: Boomers are the largest demographic cohort in most western countries, as well as in places like Japan, Australia and New Zealand. . . In America alone, one hundred boomers turn sixty every thirteen minutes. When the cold front of demographics meets the warm front of unrealized dreams, the result will be a thunderstorm of purpose the likes of which the world has never seen." (Pages 132-133)

In my observation, the impact is even more dramatic than that which Pink describes. In my role as a career coach, life coach, recruiter and mentor to many emerging leaders, men and women are beginning to ask the "purpose question" at increasingly younger ages. This bodes well for our future, and will force companies to address this issue if they hope to survive and to attract and to retain top talent.

The purpose dynamic has another aspect to it. In the absence of working for a higher purpose, Type X high achievers - the classic "Type A" personalities - work longer and longer hours to achieve material success and promotion. The result is burnout and dissatisfaction.

"One of the reasons for anxiety and depression in the high attainers in that they're not having good relationships. They're busy making money and attending to themselves, and that means that there's less room in their lives for love and attention and caring and empathy and the things that truly count." (Page 144)

In the title of this review, I call this book a "Must Read," yet the book is not for everyone. I recommend it to you only if you meet the following criteria:

• You are a life-long learner who is willing to learn new facts and to change your thinking and behavior in accordance with these new insights.
• You are in a position of leadership - in a company, in the military, in a family, in a school, in an organization - in which you need to and desire to create an environment of work and learning that maximizes autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
• You want to make a positive difference in the world and in the lives of those whom you influence.

If this is you, then order this book now, devour it, breath it, taste it, smell it, talk about it and live it. And then pass it on to the next generation of Type I leaders.

Enjoy the drive . . . and the journey!

Al

 

“Half Time – Moving from Success to Significance” by Bob Buford

Some books are nice to read; others are life-changing. Bob Buford’s seminal work, “Half Time,” is just such a life-altering book. It is significant to note that both Peter Drucker and Jim Collins took the time to craft Forewords to this classic, first published in 1994 and recently revised and updated.

Starting with the story of his own life and career as a successful media executive, Buford gently lays down the gauntlet and challenges the reader to assess how to move from a focus on success to a focus of significance during the second half of one’s working life. He issues a call to begin to think about the legacy we want to leave behind. The book - and Buford’s organization that stands in support of the book’s principles, www.halftime.org – likens a life of work to a football game. Half time is an opportunity to take a breath, assess the pros and cons of the first half, and make the necessary adjustment to have an even more effective and satisfying end of the game.

Buford’s own journey has been influences by many great thinkers and practitioners who have lived lives of significance. He quotes liberally from these mentors. I love this quotation from George Bernard Shaw:

“This is the true joy in life – the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I’ve got ahold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” (Pages 37-38)

Amen!

Buford offers some very concise and helpful questions that someone approaching “halftime” should be asking herself:

“Halftime is more than putting your feet up and meditating. It’s more than time away to think, pray, and play. A successful halftime needs some structure. Set an agenda that will help you ‘walk’ through the important issues. Such an agenda will indeed include time to pray and listen, to read the Scriptures, and to think. But it should also include some deliberate questions. The following list may help you get started:

• Am I missing anything in my life right now that’s important to me?
• What am I passionate about?
• Who am I?
• What do I value?
• What do I want to do in ten years? In twenty?
• What gifts has God given me that have been perfected over time?
• What gifts has he given me that I am unable to use?
• What would I be willing to die for?
• What is it about my job that makes me feel trapped?
• What realistic changes can I make in my employment?
• Would I be willing to take a less stressful (and lower-paying) job to be happier – to be closer to my true self?
• What steps do I need to take tomorrow to have a second half that is better than my first half?

(Pages 70-71)

Buford approaches these issues from the framework of his own Christian faith, yet the book and its principles are applicable to a reader of any faith or lack of faith.

Another wonderful Shavian quotation that spices up this book for me is the following:

“There are two sources of unhappiness in life. One is not getting what you want; the other is getting it.” (Page 83)

This quotation opens the chapter entitled “From Success to Significance.” Buford shares the stories of several individuals who have used halftime to take stock of their lives and of their careers. I found the vignettes to be challenging and inspiring. Bob Buford has had a close working relationship with Peter Ducker and Frances Hesselbein, both individuals who have excelled in using a long second half of life to make significant contribution in the fields of leadership in the service sector and in the business world as well as in the realm of mentoring military leaders. Buford serves on the Boards of two organizations that Drucker touched: Leader to Leader Institute, now headed by Ms. Hesselbein, and The Drucker Institute.

Near the end of the book, in a discussion about creating a mindset of lifelong learning, Buford makes an observation about team learning that I found to be very significant:

“Best selling author and MIT professor Peter Senge says: ‘Teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning units in modern organizations.’ God seems to have built a governor against arrogance into the design of human beings. We are as interdependent in learning as we are in other arenas. After I have thought about some problems by myself for awhile, I always find it necessary to enter a give-and-take dialogue with others. It’s a way to find the other pieces of the whole puzzle.” (Pages 146-147)

The keystone of this book and the halftime principles is the issue of asking the question about the kind of legacy we want to leave behind:

“Peter [Drucker] once said to me, ‘The beginning of adult life is when you ask the question, “What do I want to be remembered for?”’ Essentially, this is the question of halftime. It speaks of legacy more than accomplishments and gets at the heart of significance.” (Page 201)

I plan to order several dozen copies of this book to give away to friends, clients, and candidates who are at a place in their lives where this kind of reflection would be helpful. This is a book of significance about significance. Whether you are in the first half of your life, at halftime, or still playing in overtime, you will find value in this book. It comes with my strongest recommendation.

Enjoy!

Al

Review: “In the Company of Soldiers – A Chronicle of Combat” by Rick Atkinson

I can tell when an author has reached out and grabbed me by the throat when I become so engrossed in reading a book that I miss my stop on the subway! Last evening, while poring over the last few pages of “In the Company of Soldiers,” I just barely noticed that the doors of the Orange Line car were about to close at Downtown Crossing – my stop to transfer to the Red Line heading to my home in Quincy. Charles Dickens has the ability to pull me into his stories with that kind of rapt attention; so does Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Atkinson.

My friend, Kevin Kalkwarf, a West Point grad and Black Hawk pilot, suggested that I read “In the Company of Soldiers.” Thanks, Kevin, for the recommendation. In 2003, as the U.S. prepared for the invasion of Iraq, Washington Post journalist, Rick Atkinson, was embedded with the Army’s 101^st Airborne Division. Atkinson was personally assigned to shadow the 101^st Commanding General, David Petraeus. The resulting book paints for the reader one of the most vivid and insightful pictures yet of the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The writer not only was able to look over the shoulder of Petraeus as the 101^st traveled from Ft. Campbell Kentucky to Kuwait and then on to Baghdad, he was also able to peer into the general’s soul. As a result, I found that this book had a dual impact on me. At one level, Atkinson allowed me to grasp some sense of the hardship that our soldiers have endured in fighting in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. In reading some of the passages in this book, I could almost smell the pungent odors of Najaf and Karbala and almost choke on the ubiquitous sand and dust that insinuates itself into every crevice and orifice. At another level, I was glad for the intimate portrait of Petraeus, the man that many of us are counting on to lead us somehow out of the labyrinth that Iraq has become.

Atkinson’s writing is so good that I feel compelled to let him speak in his own words. Here he describes the scene at Camp New Jersey, a way station in Kuwait that the 101^st called home while awaiting orders to invade Iraq.

“Yet a desolate, edge-of-the-empire beauty obtained. As Dwyer and I walked, dawn spread over the eastern horizon in a molten brew of orange and indigo, silhouetting the wooden guard towers. Platoons ran wind sprints across the desert or jumped about in calisthenic exuberance. The cuffs of the troops’ desert boots were indelibly inked with their blood types, a legion of Os and As and A-positives. A soldier ambled past with a grenade launcher on his shoulder, singing in a sweet falsetto: ‘Sha-na-na-na, good-bye!’ I fancied that in its remote, martial spirit this encampment was of a piece with the Roman outposts, perhaps ancient Timgad in North Africa, built by the Third Legion in A.D. 100, where a traveler described the scuffing cadence of Trajan’s soldiers helmed in bronze, and ‘barbarians from the outer desert in paint and feathers flitting along the narrow byways.’” (Pages 79-80)

One of the aspects of this book that I found most compelling was Atkinson artistry in connecting the Iraq of the 21^st century to the Mesopotamia of biblical times and of ancient glories. The following passage is an excellent example of his giftedness in bridging these disparate worlds:

“Chickens scattered into the brush as Warlord 457 [Petraeus’ helicopter] and our two Kiowa bodyguards carefully threaded the telephone wires and touched down on a two-lane blacktop a few hundred yards from where the car bomb had detonated this morning. Objective Jenkins, as the Army called this place, occupied the western bank of the Euphrates, fourteen miles north of Najaf. The road continued another eight hundred yards, the crossed the last bridge spanning the river before a great south-flowing fork in the Euphrates. Beyond the bridge lay the town of Kifl. In this place the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, humorless and God-besotted, had preached to the Jews during their Babylonian captivity in the sixth century B.C., foretelling the restoration of Israel. The 3^rd ID [Infantry Division] recently had battled through Jenkins and into Kifl, and I spotted a couple dozen dead Iraqis in body bags stacked under the palms. Here, at least, the corpse traffic still thrived. . . . At 1:35 P.M., a convoy of five Humvees came down the road, trailed by a Bradley. [Lt. General William Scott] Wallace climbed out with Major General Buford C. Blount III, commander of the 3^rd Infantry Division. For half an hour they stood on the road with Petraeus and studied their maps. Blount was keen to plunge on toward Baghdad, but Wallace insisted that he wait until all three of the 3^rd ID infantry brigades were gathered above Najaf; only today was the 82^nd Airborne supplanting Blount’s 3^rd Brigade at Samawah, where Army intelligence estimated that five hundred entrenched diehards were coercing another fifteen hundred Iraqis to fight through executions and extortion.

I heard the dull crump of a mortar round detonate on our side of the Euphrates. A minute later Army 105mm howitzers barked in reply, dumping fifteen or twenty counterbattery rounds across the river.

Wallace drove off with his entourage. We reboarded the Blackhawk and angled east before swinging south. The lovely green ribbon of the Euphrates scrolled past Kifl, which lay badly smashed on the far bank. Ezekiel’s tomb stood somewhere in that desolation. ’There was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to bone.’ The prophet had written. ‘And the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.’” (Pages 197-199)

Atkinson shares a poignant litany that became an almost predictable exit line whenever Gen. Petraeus would end a conversation with the journalist. The commanding general would wonder out loud: “How does this end?” His thoughtful query becomes even more significant in light of his promotion and the fact that he now holds in his hands the reins for determining how the U.S. military on the ground in Iraq will extricate itself from the quagmire. He is a significant player in determining how it will end.

Atkinson saw the soldiers of the 101^st in all kinds of conditions and under the most extreme of circumstances. He eavesdropped on their decision-making, their laughter, their frustrations and their fears. On the day he flew back to Kuwait to return to the U.S., part of him felt as if he were abandoning comrades in arms. His respect for the leadership of Petraeus is heart-felt and well-earned. “His pragmatism and broad peacekeeping experience in Haiti and Bosnia had prepared him for the thankless work of a proconsul in the American imperium.” (Page 294)

The writer’s admiration for all the soldiers he had come to know comes through loud and clear in this valedictory: “The division’s soldiers had done well, demonstrating competence and professionalism. Capably led – the division’s brigade commanders and two assistant division commanders were uncommonly excellent – they took hardship in stride and refused to let bloodlust, cynicism, or other despoilers of good army cheat them of their battle honors. They were better than the cause they served, which would soon be tarnished by revelations that the casus belli – that Iraq posed an immanent, existential danger to America and its allies – was inflated and perhaps fraudulent. If the war’s predicate was phony, it cheapened the sacrifices of the dead and living alike. Yet such strategic nuances were beyond the province of soldiering, and I believed it vital not to conflate the warriors with the war.” (Page 294)

This fine book brings the non-combatant reader as close as possible to the rigors of the modern battlefield, and leaves one with a renewed sense of admiration for those who fight and serve. Atkinson has handled well the trust that was placed in him, and we are all enriched by his thoughtful response to the time he spent in the company of soldiers.

Al

A Very Different Take On West Point – Loyalty, Excellence, Sacrifice: A Salute To Maggie Dixon

This article comes from the a weekly West Pont e-mail newsletter, entitled “Gray Matter,” written by J. Phoenix, Esquire. I found the story so moving and compelling that I felt I needed to share it with readers of The White Rhino Report.

* * * *

She had spent only half a year of her young life coaching women'sbasketball at West Point, but it was a memorable six-and-a-half months. This assistant coach from DePaul came to the Academy as one of several candidates for head coach, and not the first choice at that. But she had a certain spark that induced Director of Intercollegiate Athletics KevinAnderson to take a chance on an animated young woman who had graduated from the University of San Diego in 1999 with hopes of playing in the Women's National Basketball Association but turned to coaching at the suggestion of her big brother Jaimie, now head coach of the Pittsburghmen's basketball team.

At a school noted for discipline, Maggie Dixon could be a disciplinarian on the court and off. She was the field general of the team that she inherited just weeks before the season began. But at a school not noted for nurturing, she also could be a big sister to her team, convincing them that if they could deal with Beast Barracks and the demands of the plebe system at West Point, they could do great things on the basketball court as well. Her quarters were always open to her team members, and she was there for them 24/7. To back her up, she chose a man twice her age, Dave Magarity, a former long-time men's head coach from nearby Marist. Together, this contrasting coaching duo eventually took the Army women's team to the top, but things did not start off that well.

Near the halfway mark of the season, Army had posted an unimpressive 5-7mark. Encouraging her team to hold their heads high and do their best, she went to the Cadet Mess Hall to speak to the Corps and encourage them to come to the games and cheer on her team. Most had other things on their mind than women's basketball. But as Maggie spurred the team on towards the 20-11 record that would win the Patriot League regular season title, the Corps began to listen to this dynamic young woman only a half dozen years their senior. By the time of the post-season Patriot League tournament, more cadets turned out to cheer, and when Army's women beat Holy Cross in the finals to win the tournament and a first-ever appearance in the NCAA post-season March Madness, the cadets hoisted her on their shoulders and carried her around the Christl Arena basketball court. At a later appearance in the Cadet Mess Hall, she received a standing ovation.

A loss to powerhouse Tennessee in the NCAA opening round did nothing to defuse the excitement. Army had a winning coach who turned an average program into a thing of beauty without having had time to unpack her bags or do any recruiting. Army now had another coach who could get the best out of a team by understanding, guts, and sheer leadership. Then, on 5 April 2006, Maggie Dixon collapsed at a friend's house at West Point and was evacuated to Westchester Medical Center. The prognosis was not good. Both her family and her team gathered to say their goodbyes, and Maggie died on 6 April without having regained consciousness.

The following day, a Memorial Service was held at the Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity at West Point. An autopsy revealed that Maggie died of an irregular heart beat caused by a previously undiagnosed enlarged heart.

On 11 April 2006, a funeral service was held at St. Charles Borremeo
Roman Catholic Church in California, with the women of Army's Patriot League Championship basketball team in attendance. Then, at the completion of the service, as Maggie's coffin was borne down the aisle,the team stood at attention in cadet uniform as their coach passed enroute back to the East Coast. Her parents had been childhood sweethearts in Throgs Neck, the Bronx, before moving to California in 1966. Now, after LTG Lennox offered a plot at the West Point Cemetery as an exception to policy, the family agreed that Maggie would make another cross-country trip back to New York. A burial service open to the public was held at 11 am on Good Friday, 14 April 2006. Again the women's basketball team stood at attention, along with Maggie's family and several hundred others wishing to pay their last respects. After Father Edson Wood completed the burial service, the team filed by, kissed the coffin, and said their final good byes.

As the mourners departed the historic cemetery where Scott, Thayer, Custer, Buford, Goethals, Michie, Bunker, Blaik and others rest in hallowed ground with younger graduates who gave their lives in more recent wars, rain began to fall. Maggie was home.

After her stunning first season as head coach, it was inevitable that Coach Dixon would be courted by other schools proffering more lucrative contracts than the Academy could hope to match. But Maggie had told the Superintendent that she would stay the course at West Point. And she did just that.

Well done, Maggie.

Be thou at peace.

Your humble servant, J. Phoenix, Esquire

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For those interested in subscribing to this free newsletter about current events and history of West Point, may sign up to receive all future issues directly at:http://www.aogusma.org/CONTACT/signup.htm.

Al Chase