A lifetime resident of Wayzata, Minnesota, Kent Adams is a proud member of the Blake class of 1981, parent to three Blake grads and former chair of Blake's Board of Trustees. After a short stint of high school teaching and coaching, inspired by several Blake educators, Kent pursued a career in investment banking. He is retiring this summer, and racquet sports, reading, board work and travel are on the horizon.
Q: What did you want to be when you were small?
A: A French Olympic hurdler à la Guy Drut, Olympic 110 M hurdles champion in 1976. Unfortunately, my relatively short stature (5'10") stood in the way of that dream. I couldn't even get over the hurdles in college!
Q: What are the three values you treasure most in a friendship?
A: As classmate Bill Sternberg recently eulogized our friend and classmate Joe Mannelly, these would include integrity, honor, decency and responsibility, and I would throw in a sense of humor and love of sports. Joe had all of these in spades.
Q: What is the best gift you have been given?
A: The gift of parenthood. Shoutout to Addie, Charlie and Olivia, who continue to inspire me every day by their life choices and make me proud of the young adults they have become and how they treat people. Thank you, Mandy, for bringing them into our lives and raising them to be sensitive, thoughtful, productive citizens.
Q: What's your favorite family tradition?
A: Making two of my mom’s Pillsbury award-winning cheesecakes every Thanksgiving and Christmas plus Christmas-New Year’s with extended family at places like Blackberry Farm, Big Timber, Montana, or Incline Village, LakeTahoe. Aside from yours truly dressing up as Santa Claus, it is a time to reconnect, make fun of my three brothers Steve, Mark and Scott, and enjoy the company of nieces and nephews.
Q: Is there anything you wish would come back into fashion?
A: Life without social media…and men’s clogs. Definitely not my Blake classmates' green khakis! I hope those never come back.
Q: If you could take one prop from any movie set, what would it be?
A: Ray Liotta’s hand gun that pistol whipped classmate Mark Jacobs in the 1990 film "Goodfellas." I could use that on Mark now and then…but then again, his losses at the monthly poker gathering of classmates make up for some of what he deserves for losing our Blake homecoming football game single-handedly.
Q: Who is your hero?
A: No question, my father Stephen Adams, Blake 1955. His kindness, his generosity, his philanthropy through being a benefactor of education, the arts and neuroscience research, his entrepreneurial acumen, his love of traditions and history, his role as a grandfather. His humility. Everyone looked up to him.
Q: What book has influenced you greatly? How?
A: All things written by Mark Twain, inspired by John Hatch’s Blake English class on the same topic in 1980. His authentic vernacular, his sharp wit and satire, his storytelling. Huge appreciation for life on the Mississippi, traveling abroad, life in the late 19th century in America. Also, a shoutout to class of ’81 classmate Doug Smith and his translation of Konstantin Paustovsky’s epic memoir, “The Story of a Life.” Read it and your life will change.
Q: Name five things that make you happy
A: 1. Family, our 3 grown children and hopefully grandkids in the near future
2. My favorite cousins—Ricky Adams ‘77, Kelly Adams ’84, Bryan Ridgway and Patricia Ridgway
3. Early morning tennis hits as the sun is rising
4. Coors Light, any season, any time of day
5. Thinking about a wonderful life without Donald Trump as president
Q: If you could live in a different country for a year, which country would you choose?
A: Greenland, to help keep Trump out. Otherwise, can’t beat Italy! History, art, culture, seaside towns, mountains and, of course, wine and pasta. There are so many cool places to go in Italy one would never become fatigued over the course of a year or longer.