Alumni Spotlight
Ed Weston ’70: “The world has much to offer. Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone.”
Ed Weston ’70, shown here with his sister Katherine Kennedy at the 200th Anniversary Gala in 2022.
After his 1970 graduation from English High, Roxbury native Ed Weston earned a BA at Dartmouth College. He had jobs with The Flatley Company as the Assistant to the Marketing Director, then as Executive Assistant to the Principal of the Cambridge Montessori School. In 1977 he joined the staff of the President of UMass, first as the assistant to the VP of Business Affairs and later as the Business Manager for the Office of the President.
In 1981 he moved to the Washington, DC/Virginia area, first to help a friend start an art gallery and as working as Office Services Manager for the American Geophysical Union. In 1984, he began a 10-year tenure holding key posts with Time-Life. But, he says, “The most fun job I ever had was as a Travel Counselor for AAA” where he trained other travel agents, designed travel programs, and escorted groups all over the world, “to places a kid from Dorchester could only dream of.”
Ed retired to Los Angeles in 2015, but when the President of Dean College in Franklin, Mass., called to recruit him to serve as Executive Director of Events & Executive Functions, he couldn’t refuse. But once that gig was over, he returned to LA. Here are excerpts from our recent interview:
EHSA: You held a variety of jobs, often requiring different skills/training. Did your EHS experience help to prepare you for a career, or with being able to adapt so well?
Ed Weston: At EHS I learned to “work well with others.” The diversity of the student body helped prepare me to work with many different kinds of people. And, as editor of the school paper in our senior year, I found myself quite accidentally helping ease some of the tension brewing between the administration and the Black Student Union. By deciding to publish the BSU “manifesto,” the newsletter helped stave off a planned student protest.
Kevin O’Malley, left, and John Creedon, right, were important English High teachers for Ed Weston.
EHSA: Were there certain teachers or courses that stand out as helping to prepare you for life, work, etc.?
Ed Weston: While I value the guidance I received from many of my teachers, there are two that immediately come to mind. Kevin O’Malley who, as the Newsletter advisor, gave us a sense of responsibility for what we published but never tried to censor what we wrote. The other would be John Creedon, even though, ironically, I was never in any of his classes. Mr. Creedon always seemed to treat students as adults and respect them as individuals.
EHSA: Can you offer advice for today’s EHS students?
Ed in the 1970 EHS Yearbook
Ed Weston: Don’t be afraid to take chances and seek out opportunities to learn in and out of the classroom. Take opportunities to travel and absorb what other cultures have to offer.
EHSA: Any other observations now that you’ve been out in the real world for 5+ decades?
Be curious. The world has much to offer. Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone.
Ed Weston: Any info you wish to share about your family, siblings, etc?
My older sister, Katherine Kennedy, was a member of the Boston Globe reporting team that received the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the court ordered busing in Boston. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground at Boston University and is now Chief of Staff to the President of Dean College in Franklin, MA. Our late brother retired as Lieutenant and second in command of the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department.
