Tribute to Nick Lindsay

Vol. 12, No. 2

Guest Edited by Ervin Beck

In this issue:

  • 0 read more A Tribute to Nick Lindsay

    A Tribute to Nick Lindsay

    by Ervin Beck

    Nick Lindsay arrived at Goshen College in an almost accidental way. In the spring of 1969 the Lecture-Music program found itself with a small surplus and, as was sometimes the custom, decided to sponsor a bonus program late in the spring. Nick Lindsay was the choice. He had been recommended by Helen Clay, a Goshen friend of the college whose son was studying at Indiana University Bloomington, had attended a performance by Nick and thought he would be a good “fit” for Goshen College.

    Nick was the son of Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931), prominent American performance poet, and was a performance …

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    Meditation for Memorial Service

    by Nick Lindsay, Jr.

    The time my father liked to talk about most in recent years has been the time he worked building commercial fishing boats on Edisto Island in the 1970s and 80's. I was a teenager then and I believed I knew him best at that time. He taught me to sail. Working or playing, our lives usually related to the ocean. On the water things are simpler than on land. He was joyful on the water.

    As he died, my sister Nancy was reading to him from The Odyssey. On the water he would use the words of Homer to talk …

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    Letter from DuBose Lindsay (1997) to Ann Hostetler

    by DuBose Lindsay

    DuBose’s letter came out of a lively correspondence with Nick that began back in August 1997. I was still living in Wisconsin and in the early stages of researching poetry by Mennonite writers. In preparation for the upcoming Mennonite/s Writing Conference to be held at Goshen College that October, I had asked Nick whether, in addition to sending me some samples of his poetry, he might consider submitting an essay on the topic of what it was like to teach poetry at a Mennonite institution of higher learning. He responded positively to the challenge, but the generous packet of poems …

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    Letter from Nick Lindsay (2018) to Ervin Beck

    by Nick Lindsay

    Following the death of Nick’s wife DuBose in 2018, he and I exchanged a series of about six letters. I had suggested that he write his autobiography, or at least prepare a chronology of his life and work. I expected something linear, but he included in his letters bits and bobs of his life experience, usually in anecdotes with clear moral or spiritual meanings. The letters were always written in his non-cursive handwriting and were sprinkled with drawings, quotations from songs and, always, with upbeat comments.—Ervin Beck

    3 Slash Court
    Statesboro, GA
    30458
    Wed., Aug. 1, 2018

    Dear Ervin, …

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    Tributes by Students and Colleagues

    by Tribute Authors Lindsay

    Skip Barnett, Wilbur Birky, Todd Davis, Julia Friesen, Lauren Friesen, Jeff Gundy, Dennis Huffman, Bob Johnson, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Harley King, Jessica Lapp, John Leigh, Susan Fisher Miller, Lenae Nofziger, Jeffrey S. Peachey, Sofia Samatar, Mark Sawin, David Waltner-Toews, Shari Miller Wagner, Don Yost, Dawn Zehr. Click on page numbers below, or "show as all" for access.

    by Skip Barnett (Faculty 1988-2018)

    Emeritus Professor of English and ESL, Goshen College
    Goshen, Indiana

    A Visit from Saint Nick

    Quiet snows flutter
    Mercury crouches
    A slanting sun spares us no hours
    The last tinseled trees lie low on the curb . . …

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    Chronology for the Life and Work of Nicholas Lindsay

    by Lindsay Family

    The chronology below was constructed at the request of Ervin Beck for this issue. No chronology of Papa’s life existed prior to this. The nine remaining Lindsay siblings searched for press and correspondence relating to Papa’s work as an artist and historian. His careers in building and the trades were included because his work there was central to his personae as an artist. We used documents to create a factual framework for this chronology We believe this chronology to be largely accurate. Our parents were grateful for the community they found through Goshen College. In the year or two prior …