John Tarbell

Autobiography of John Tarbell
(April, 2002)

I have lived in Manhattan since 1967, after graduating from Bowdoin and spending eight months in the Air National Guard in Texas (saw Darrell there!). Love the intensity and the variety, but seek relief by spending our weekends rehabilitating on the East End of Long Island in a village of 900. My wife Anne, a third generation New Yorker, and I have a 7 year-old daughter, Liza (Elizabeth). We spend most of our time with one another, delighting in Liza's childhood. She's blonde, sweet and smart, and some think she has a lot of my 'reserved' personality. Oh well.

At Bowdoin, Ray Bird, Cy Hoover and I were all Betas together and I continued soccer (with Cy and Ray), indoor track (with Ray), and switched to lacrosse in the spring (lost to Stan Healy/Wesleyan). After a false start at Young & Rubicam Advertising, I settled in to a 25-year finance career in New York, starting at Citibank for eight years -this was my favorite professional experience, under Walter Wriston. In 1970 I married; the union ended amicably in divorce in 1977 with no progeny.

I then focused on rugby for 20 seasons with Old Blue RFC and Columbia B School's teams, and hit the disco scene, including ultimately Studio 54, Steve Rubell and the whole bit. During this time I moved on to First Boston and ultimately Chemical Bank, which I left in after 15 years in 1994. Anne and I met at the Bank in 1987, and have been running in Central Park in the mornings ever since; we were married in 1990. She works full time as a head of IR and Corporate Communications for Triac, Corp. (just sold Snapple).

After a stint in corporate finance at AIG, and a time in a private equity partnership with an ex-client group, I have chosen a second career in executive recruiting and love the change. I don't miss the consolidations on Wall Street, the internal politics or the scale of the firms I left, but did love the travel, the deals and the client interactions.

Hobbies currently include family, daily running, Tae Kwon Do and photography (wish I had been in the Camera Club!).

Look forward to seeing you all!