Castro ’97 Gives to ‘Future Jesuit’
The Future Library Project Will Provide for Jesuit – in the 22nd Century
Al Castro ’97 had a desire to give
to Jesuit High School. But what? What
should he give?
As a member of the school’s Foundation,
Al Castro ’97 with the artistic representation of his gift to Jesuit, the Future Library
Project, which will serve as a sort of time capsule until 2114
JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • WINTER 2017-18 33
Inc., Castro already was connected
to and invested in Jesuit. But he wanted
to do something else, something more.
He just wasn’t sure how, or what.
A voracious reader along with his
wife, Catherine, one day Castro was
reading about one of his favorite
authors, David Mitchell.
Mitchell, it turns out, was engaged
with something called the Future
Library Project. Castro was captivated.
“I saw this, and I was like, “Woah,’”
Castro said.
The Future Library Project was
founded in Norway in 2014 by artist
Katie Paterson with the planting of
1,000 Norwegian Spruce trees in Nordmarka,
a forested area north of Oslo.
At www.futurelibrary.no a narrator
explains the premise, as birds chirp
and the wind whistles and echos in a
deep forest.
“A forest in Norway is growing. In
100 years, it will become an anthology
of books. Every year, a writer is
contributing a text that will be held
in trust, unpublished, until the year
2114. The text will be printed on paper
made from the trees, only to be read a
century from now.”
Mitchell had been the second author
chosen to contribute, after Margaret
Atwood. Every year, another author is
selected.
Who will read these treasured works
in a hundred years? One thousand
certifi cates entitling the holder to the
full anthology, in 2114, have been sold
at a handful of select artist galleries,
including the James Cohan Gallery in
New York City.
By purchasing a certifi cate, supporters
receive framed artwork representative
of the project. It is an image of the
inside of a tree, with 100 rings, one
for each year of the project.
Castro, whose son, Sebastian, was
born the year the project was launched
in 2014, jumped at the opportunity to
get one.
“I thought ‘This makes great sense,
and is very coincidental,’” said Castro,
who lives in Pittsburgh and works
for Taceda Pharmaceutical in audit
analytics. “This will grow along with
my son – though it will probably be
for his kids.”
Castro also bought one for Jesuit.
He was told it was the last one, and it’s
unclear if more will be made available.
So, sometime in about 100 years, the
president of Jesuit High School and/
or perhaps other representatives of
the school will travel to Oslo, Norway
to retrieve their 100-book anthology
of original, never-before-seen works,
from many of the best authors of the
century, printed on Norwegian Spruce
planted 100 years earlier.
“As I was looking at these authors,
I thought, ‘Most schools don’t have the
history Jesuit does,’” Castro said. “This
school’s been here for more than 100
years. It’s an institution that stands the
test of time and will be here in 100
years. It made sense to give this as a
gift to Jesuit.”
Ninety-six years from now, students
at Jesuit will be the very fi rst to read
some of the 21st century’s greatest
writers.
“Imagine if someone had given this
gift in 1919, so it would be opened at
Jesuit next year,” Castro said. “Stories
written by Hemingway, Faulkner,
stories people have never read before,
Jesuit students and teachers would be
among the fi rst people to read these
stories.
“This could be Jesuit freshman
summer reading in 2114. That’s
amazing, incredible.”
/www.futurelibrary.no