You Should Be So Smart and Spry as Stan Cobb '03

At the age of 93, one of the four surviving members of the Class of 1903, Stanwood Cobb, maintains his active life as an educator, writer, and lecturer on the Baha'i faith.

He was introduced to Baha'i, which now has a world following of two million, in 1906 while a student at Harvard Divinity School. Stan taught for some years at Roberts College in Istanbul and then at St. Johns College and the U.S. Naval Academy until he founded the Progressive Education Association and the Chevy Chase Country Day School. He was also president of the Avalon Press. He retired as president of these organizations in 1960 and since then has concentrated on his writing and lecturing, most recently, "Around the country, Florida, Maine, Hawaii, Alaska, California, and even in the Wild West, Wyoming, Montana, and Manitoba in Canada."

Stan's books, ranging from poetry to philosophy, reflect his many years of study and travel and include such titles as The Wisdom ofWu Ming Fu, Islamic Contributions to Civilization, and Discovering the Genius Within You. His writings on Baha'i have been translated into several languages and are in use throughout the world. Although his Chevy Chase School no longer operates, he maintains his office and home there at 19 Grafton St.

In December he visited Milwaukee, eliciting this comment from local columnist Jack Roberts, "Cobb is 93 years old, author of 28 books and a much sought after lecturer on the Baha'i faith. He is also well known as a teacher and holds degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard. He is one sharp cookie. You should live so long and be so smart as Stanwood Cobb."