天美影视

June 5, 2026 | By Jeremy Richter (A28)

If you鈥檝e ever visited the library at St. John鈥檚 Santa Fe during Summer Classics, then you might have seen program veteran David Feldstein examining a rare facsimile of the Haggadah, a foundational Jewish text read aloud during the Passover Seder.

Feldstein, an amateur bookbinder, repeats this ritual daily during Summer Classics. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 one of the most beautiful books of the twentieth century,鈥� he says of the Meem Library鈥檚 Haggadah, which was created in the 1980s by famed Jewish artist and calligrapher David Moss (SF68). After more than a decade, library staff entrusted聽Feldstein with a key to the glass display box, allowing him to turn the pages of the ornate book himself.

This year will mark Feldstein鈥檚 18th time attending Summer Classics. Since 2007, he has rarely missed a year of his seasonal pilgrimage to Santa Fe, and he has no shortage of stories to tell about the books he has read and the friendships he has made along the way.

A former social聽worker,聽Feldstein moved to San Francisco as a boy and earned a BA in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.聽He went on to run a mental health clinic in New York and to teach as an adjunct at the Hunter 天美影视 School of Social Work. At Hunter 天美影视,聽Feldstein ran a social policy workshop for adults earning their social work licenses.聽Often, these pupils already had years of experience in their field. "It became a class about how to be a student again," he says.

After retiring and moving back to California in 2000, Feldstein聽met聽his聽bookbinding mentor, Tom Conroy (SF76), an instructor at the San Francisco Center for the Book. From Conroy,聽he聽learned all about St. John鈥檚 天美影视, and in 2007, Feldstein attended Summer Classics for the first time, taking a class on the Qur鈥檃n with Santa Fe tutor Kenneth Wolfe (SF94).

"I felt ready, like I could answer anything,"聽Feldstein聽remembers thinking before the seminar. "So,聽I鈥檓聽sitting there waiting and聽[Wolfe]聽asks, 'What is faith?' I was hooked, and I鈥檝e been coming ever since."聽Since then, Feldstein has read and discussed numerous other works聽at Summer Classics, including fictional titles such as Leo Tolstoy鈥檚 War and Peace,聽Herman Melville鈥檚 Moby Dick, and Cormac McCarthy鈥檚 Blood Meridian.

During Feldstein鈥檚 first year at Summer Classics in 2007, he met Frank DeRango, a retired medical doctor who shared Feldstein's longtime interest in art. Feldstein told DeRango that, while he had never seen it in person in France, his favorite artwork was Matthias Gr眉newald's聽Isenheim altarpiece, the Northern Renaissance masterpiece depicting the suffering and crucifixion of Christ.聽

聽"[Frank] said he had seen it, and that it was worth the trip,鈥� Feldstein says. 鈥淎fter I came home, about two weeks later, a package arrived from him. It聽contained聽two very high-quality Xerox copies of Gr眉newald's work. So, Frank and I became friendly over the next 10 years."聽

"All of that conspired to bring me back, and to bring us together," Feldstein adds.聽"These are smart people [at Summer Classics], but they are always willing to share."聽

Feldstein also bonded with fellow Summer Classics participants聽Chip Drumwright and Mike McKetta, with whom he lived as roommates.聽"They both have a distinction in Summer Classics,"聽Feldstein jokes. "They take two courses per day, for all three weeks [of the program], which is an enormous compression of everything that's going on."聽

Drumwright is a recreational mountain climber who worked in international dental programs聽before retiring.聽His son went to St. John鈥檚 天美影视, and Drumwright has attended Summer Classics since the聽early聽1990s; he also leads a聽virtual聽monthly reading group, which Feldstein and聽McKetta聽have both joined. Drumwright loves a challenge, which once led him to sign up for a Summer Classics seminar on James Joyce鈥檚 legendarily difficult聽Finnegans Wake.聽鈥淎s Chip says, 鈥榃e almost got to Chapter Two,鈥欌�� Feldstein聽jokes.聽鈥淚n five days.聽It鈥檚聽just impenetrable.鈥�

McKetta, meanwhile,聽is a retired lawyer聽with a聽gift聽for mentally聽cataloguing聽information. 鈥淗e聽has聽appeared many times before the Texas Supreme Court,鈥� Feldstein says.聽鈥淗e won the case there that outlawed discrimination at the University of Texas.鈥澛燗t Summer Classics,聽McKetta鈥檚聽note-taking聽abilities have proven to be聽indispensable for conversations at hand.聽鈥淗e has this enormous ability, which聽I鈥檝e聽admired聽greatly over聽the years: If you ask him, 鈥榃here did this character say something in a聽book聽we鈥檝e read?鈥櫬爃e鈥檒l聽look it up. He knows where everything is,鈥� Feldstein says.

Feldstein, Drumwright, and McKetta have continually sought each other out at Summer Classics throughout the years, becoming close friends in the process. 鈥淭hey are definitely more intellectual, and maybe that's聽what attracted us to each other. The conversations are always聽wonderful,鈥澛燜eldstein聽says, referring to his two peers as聽鈥渢he most dedicated students I know.鈥�

Both literally and figuratively, Summer 2026聽promises聽to be one for the books: Feldstein,聽McKetta, and Drumwright have been roommates, but the trio has never taken a class together. "We鈥檙e going to have a class with all three of us this year," Feldstein says. "Two of us have been in many classes together, but never all three. This is very exciting."聽Once their time in Santa Fe is over,聽he聽will head to聽Drumwright鈥檚 home in Colorado on vacation.

Feldstein鈥攚ho, in retrospect, says he 鈥渨ould have liked to have been a Johnnie鈥濃�攖reasures not only the relationships he鈥檚 made through Summer Classics but the texts over which they were forged: 鈥淲hen I look at a great 鈥榗lassics list,鈥� people who publish the 100 best books you must read, I now have read many of them. There is something extraordinarily fascinating about both reading the book and understanding it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 finally reading all the books that I鈥檝e wanted to read and was afraid to read on my own.鈥�

There is one more reason this summer in Santa Fe will be different for Feldstein. 鈥淎t 91, my memory has begun to slip, and I鈥檓 not sure if this is my last or my next to last [Summer Classics],鈥� he says. Still, he will arrive in July like he always does: wearing his St. John鈥檚 天美影视 cap, heading for the Meem Library, and conversing with McKetta and Drumwright over a book. After 18 years, he may not have a diploma, but he does have his key to the glass box.

Learn more about Summer Classics and other lifelong learning programs at 天美影视.