In no specific order

One of many stories:Johnny & I visited Bip when she was in Peru, our first stop on our way to a trip to Machu Picchu which she planned for us. We had a big night on the town, downing Pisco Sours like lemonade. Bip had a temperamental Volkswagen that would start only after many magical maneuvers that only she could employ. On this particular night the Bug was especially difficult so BIPLA instructed Johnny & I to get behind the car & push. Johnny & I were decked out in our whitest of white pants with colorful shirts looking exactly like ugly Americans. We complied with Bip & pushed with all our might at which time I was laughing & pushing so hard that I peepeed in those lily white pants. Simultaneously, Johnny screamed out, “Fuck these little Peruvian children, if they want to learn how to speak English, let them come to the United States”. I swear BIPLA, me & even Johnny could not remember the rest of the story of that fateful night. I do recall a terrific headache on that train ride to Cusco. Sometime it’s beneficial to not remember.

My name is Luke and I am a former student of your mother's in the Masters of Liberal Arts program at St. Edwards in the early oughts. Carol taught a Peace with Justice seminar that I was very excited to take part in (this was maybe the Fall of '03). We talked about a load of issues including wage slavery, gun ownership, women's issues, and the Middle East. This last topic stuck with me and although I had in mind a different topic for my end of semester project, your mother encouraged me to stick with researching justice issues in the Middle East, particularly the Occupation of Palestine which I had explored to a limited extent as an undergraduate at Texas.

I did as she advised, but it was only the beginning. In the summer of 2004 your mother put me in touch with the Holy Land Trust, an activist organization in Bethlehem. I traveled to Palestine to work with them and spent what was the first of many summers studying, working, and performing solidarity work with Palestinians within the Occupied West Bank. This initial trip provided me some background in Arabic, as well, which led to my acceptance in a second Masters program at the University of Texas, this time in Middle Eastern Studies specifically. There, I worked with the authors of the seminal text used in the instruction of Arabic as a Second Language and achieved near fluency in Arabic (and took another couple of trips to the Middle East during that time as well). The final stone in the path that was first laid out to me by your mother was my acceptance to a PhD program in Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge University, a lifelong dream being the son of an English mother and having spent a great deal of time in England and in Cambridgeshire during my childhood.

I met my wife, Katy, at King's College Cambridge (my member college) and we were married in the King's Chapel. Our son was born in Cambridge and was baptized in the King's Chapel as well (an honor reserved for King's members with small children that is performed maybe once or twice a year). In 2014 I moved with my small family (myself, Katy, son Callan and daughter Teagan) to Pittsburgh where I write you now to become a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. I still have connections there but also teach Arabic and Politics at other local universities, too, Duquesne and Chatham.

Carol meant a great deal to me as a young scholar; she means a great deal to me now. I know she won't remember me if you mention me to her, but it is enough for me to know that you know that I owe her my livelihood and my professional identity. I don't know if I will ever see her again before he work in this life has come to an end, but I know I will never forget her and the impact she has had on me. Indeed, I am only me because of her, and I will be forever grateful.

Thank you,
Luke

I remember when Carol....

I remember when Carol....

I remember when Carol....

I remember when Carol....