PSU Magazine Spring 1994

Lundqui t might be somewhat book– wormi h, translucent-looking, with glasse as thick as a bank tell er' window. He's not. Rather, he's a lithe and vigorous 55, runs in Centra l Park and competes annually in the New Yo rk Marathon. This divorced, but devoted fa ther of six lives in the h art of one of the world 's most crime- ridden cities, yet he's refreshingly optimistic about the benefit of li ving there. Living in midtown Manhattan isn't a dangerous as in other boroughs of the raw-boned city, according to Lundquist. "Sure, you have to be wary of what's around you... you have to deve lop street smarts," he advises. "But warding off a wayward tax i or bi cycle messenger may be the wor t of it, despite what you've seen on TV." When someone asks him how he escapes troubl e in such a city, he tells them about his work in Sy ria, during the tumultuous Middle Ea t conflicts of the 1970s and '80s. People wondered if his archeolog ica l team might actually be uncovering old civilizations by examining the craters left by recent enemy rocket . He laugh at the misconception. "Peopl e in th e U . . thought of the Middle East as generally dangerous and unfriendly, but th at wa n 't the case," Lundqui t ays. "I 'd go year in and year out with no trouble. In fact, we were welcomed th ere; it was a wonderful experience. New York C ity is similar. We're bomba rded by news about here, but fo r the mo t part we go through life untouched by it." Lundqui t fills his leisure time in much th e ame way he does his wo rking hour , pursuing the nuances of his own and other cultures. He is acti ve in the Mormon C hurch , which has six ward · in Manhattan: three Engli h peaking, two Hispanic, and one Ko rea n. Museums, concerts, lectures, and ga llery exhibits are favorites of his. He i a frequ ent visitor to th e Metropoli tan Museum, the Japan Society, the Newark Muse um of Art, and th e C hina In titute. "I fee l unified in the dispa rate strands in my life," Lundquist confe ses. It wa n't always o. "When I wa ge tting my Ph.D., I kept hea ring the PHOTO BY T IMOTI IY BUCKLEY refrain: 'You'll have a tough time finding a job. ' But that's why I got a Ma ter of Library Science, so I would always have another skill on which to rely." ln a letter to his children (fo ur of whom have worked in the same library), Lundquist told them to ge t a broad educa tion. "It's important to di ve rsify and have kill s that can be adapted to other fields," he advised. "Then, if one road is clo ed, you can ge t the re another way or do something else." Coming from Lundquist, that advice clearly applie to mo re than just a job earch . It is the trademark of a mode rn day Renaissance per on, who delights in applying broad knowledge to the fa r reaches of hi or her life. The re are riches to be discovered in th e art, literature, religion , architecture, and , in the temples of the wo rld . 0 (Timothy Buckley is a Salem-based freelance writer.) PRING 1994 17