Colorado College Bulletin

BARENT SPRINGSTED, SCRIPOPHILIAC

Name, age, rank, and social security… no, some other significant number: Barent Springsted III, 59, global citizen at large. My most significant number is 17 -- the number of my Peace Corps group when I first went to Thailand, which was the best decision I ever made. 

Vocation, avocation: My title is secretary to the board of directors of two closed-end capital investment funds — the Vietnam Frontier Fund and the Siam Investment Fund. I’m a traffic cop, keeping the directors, shareholders, brokerage houses and stock exchanges informed about what the funds are doing. But my real love in life is scripophilia, the collection of paper such as stocks and bonds issued in Asia and regarding American railroads, as well as collecting coins and bank notes from Southeast Asia, China and Russia. 

Provocation, vacation, revocation: My pet peeve is foreigners who visit Thailand for a month and think they have the whole thing figured out. My favorite vacation? A five-day cruise down the Yangtze River in China. And the thing I’d change about my CC past if I could? I’d try a little harder at everything I did. 

I knew I’d found my destiny when: I got an A in Chinese history (after barely passing most of my CC courses). Asia was on my dance card from then on. After a great Peace Corps experience working on malaria eradication in Thailand, I lived in Hong Kong, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Eventually I returned to Thailand, where I’ve lived since 1985. Theirs is a remarkably diverse society, much more so than the casual observer might detect. I understand the people, their language, their religion, and what they appreciate in life, and I share my life with a wonderful Thai woman. 

What I’d like to say now to one of my professors: Dr. Pickle, you were right when you so kindly advised me that I really needed to read the material before coming to class. And to the Tutt library staff, thanks for not waking me up when I napped in the stacks.

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