Harvey Lyon ’45: 'Going the Distance'
Exeter Bulletin, Spring 2005

Photo Caption: Harv Lyon ’45 will trade in his bike for a pair of running shoes this spring, running a half-marathon to raise funds for cancer research in memory of classmates who’ve died of the disease. (No photo credit given.)

Thirty years ago, Harvey Lyon ’45 made a fateful decision: to start riding a bike regularly. Since that time, Lyon, now 77, has biked across the United States and in 35 countries. He has also competed in short-distance triathlons, including a 1999 Leukemia Team-in-Training triathlon fund-raiser in memory of poet Jane Kenyon. Just 49 when she died of leukemia, Kenyon was the wife of Lyon’s lifelong friend, poet Donald Hall ’47.

As part of his work as the class of ’45 correspondent, Lyon reports on the deaths of his classmates. He was, he says, stunned when he discovered that almost half had died of leukemia or some other form of cancer. “I knew I had to do something,” he says, “so I decided to go out one more time.” This spring, the week before his 60th reunion, Lyon plans to take part in another Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team-in-Training race, this time a half-marathon in Indianapolis in honor of his Exeter classmates. “I’m a poor runner,” he says, “but I’m stubborn and this couldn’t be for a better cause.” Since the half-marathon is longer than any race he has previously run, Lyon even has a backup plan should he be unable to run: a 100-mile bike ride for leukemia at Lake Tahoe on June 5.

Seeking out new challenges is nothing new for Lyon; indeed, it was just such an attitude that characterized his Exeter experience, which he describes as “complex.” Initially, Lyon, who grew up in Worcester, MA, said he was not really interested in attending a prep school. But he was encouraged by his father and by a tour of Exeter he received from English instructor Darcy Curwen, whose love of the school inspired Lyon. “When I did attend,” he says, “I discovered the real value of an Exeter education, especially around the Harkness table. Teachers respected their students. Learning in the Harkness environment is a collaborative experience, and just wonderful pedagogy.”

Less wonderful, he says, were what he describes as the Academy’s sometimes exclusionary admissions policies. Lyon says he is much heartened when he returns to campus today. “Attending classes with today’s students, who are so alive and in tune with the world, is just great,” he says. “When it became a coeducational school, the Academy opened itself not only to women, but also to people of the world, and the school is a better place for it.” Lyon chuckles when he recalls just how much times have changed. “Today’s students might not believe it, but back then if we walked down the street in Exeter with a girl, except on a dance weekend, we could be expelled!”
Lyon spent his career first as an academic and later as a businessman, and he continues to work full time as president of HTL, Inc., a management consulting and business brokerage firm. He also remains an active alumnus: he has been a sustaining member of the Friends of the Academy Library since 1993, class correspondent since 2001 and a member of his 50th Reunion Committee. He still finds time to cross-train (biking, running and swimming) year round, and, in good weather, he bikes 35 miles each Saturday morning. Lyon also enjoys overseas bike trips with his wife, Lynn, and his stepson, nephew and friends. “Sometimes,” he says, “we get off the plane and just start riding, carrying our stuff in panniers on the bikes. We never have reservations, but always find a place to stay.”

In short, says Lyon, “new challenges are what keep me going. Even if I didn’t have to, I would still work because I learn from people of all ages. I love to ride, not only for my physical and mental well-being, but for the experience of exploring new places and taking life as it comes.” And, he adds, for the chance to raise funds for cancer research. “It makes a difference when you ride or run for someone else,” he says. “I can’t explain how or why, I only know it does.”

— Alice Ann Gray

For more information about Lyons’ upcoming race, visit http://www.active.com/donate/tntil/tntilhlyon.

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