Alex Achimore ’71: The Quad Queen

Spring 1969. One of the first 17 women to attend Trinity used to sit under an elm tree a few feet inboard of the pavement of the Long Walk to read and talk with friends who stopped by—she had a lot. Her real name was Starr, but we, at least the particular circle I was in along with Kit Briggs ’69, Bill O’Reilly ’71, Russ Kelly ’71, and Chuck Shouse ’71, also called her ‘the Quad Queen.’ It was Saturday afternoon of a big weekend, The Byrds were playing in the field house that night, and as usual I didn’t have a date. I didn’t think she would be dateless, too, but I nervously sat with her for a bit and finally asked her to go the concert with me. So began a five-year romance and many decades of friendship until her death 10 years ago.