Champ Atlee: A Legacy of Poetry and Teaching

         Not many at Lawrenceville have seen the School through its ups, downs, and roundabouts—one individual who can undoubtedly claim this honor is Champ Atlee ’62 H ’74 ’75 ’79 ’83 ’84 ’06 P’ 92. Boasting an impressive collection of previous American Poetry Review’s “America’s Best Poetry” issues within his classroom in Woods Memorial Hall, Atlee has taught in the English Department for an astonishing 55 years. Atlee was the head coach of the Boys’ Varsity Baseball Team for several decades before retiring in 2016, granting him the role of a distinguished teacher, baseball player, and coach. Currently, he focuses on teaching two senior electives, West Of Everything and Legal Practice And Procedures, with Poetry Seminar and the IV Form English course, Advanced Poetry, on the horizon for the upcoming term. 

         When reflecting on his life as a poet, Atlee fondly recalls that his passion for the literary art form began in moments from his childhood spent with his mother and brother, specifically remembering the cherished collection of poems in “Brady’s Bend: And Other Ballads” by Martha Keller. The definitive start of his career, however, is a poem he wrote while a student at Lawrenceville, one that “for reasons unknown to [him],” his then-English teacher “really liked.” The affirmation from his mentor regarding a seemingly insignificant poem always “stayed in [his] head,” resurfacing in “notebooks with half-finished poems” during his 20’s. Towards the turn of Atlee’s career, he realized his wish to be more “well-versed on contemporary poets.” Diverging from a “fixation with professional baseball” and committing to an hour-long trek each week to New York, Atlee enrolled in a workshop at a YMCA tailored for those with a strong dedication to poetry. He recalls that this pivotal course was the true catalyst in his journey to “write poems seriously,” helping him publish numerous works in nationwide and local magazines, including “This Broken Shore,” an annual journal featuring New Jersey-based poets. 

         Balancing his career as a poet and a teacher, Atlee believes that the School has supported him both “practically” and “encouragingly.” He maintains that “teaching literature and particularly teaching poetry has kept issues alive in [his] mind.” In deference to the poetry courses he teaches in the Winter Term, Atlee claims the courses have been a “pleasant mix” for him to have “all the excuse in the world to read what [he loves] to read and then to talk about it with students.”

         Having been at Lawrenceville for decades, Atlee appreciates the many ways in which the School has remained consistent throughout the years—from “the engagement in the classroom” to the knowledge that he will “inquire from one day to the next.” He has recognized the “power of the conversation” around the Harkness table as something that has “carried” him throughout his teaching career. As Atlee puts it, “when the door closes at the beginning of the hour, it’s the same as it’s always been.” With his enduring passion for poetry and education, Atlee’s significant impact on the School reflects his legacy at Lawrenceville.