Passing Through
by LewisI’ve been to some amazing places on this earth, some of them highly populated and some of them extraordinarily devoid of population. Some of those places have been startlingly beautiful, some of them have contained great works of art, and some of them have been sculpted into great works of art. I consider it a blessing to both see and appreciate all of that.
But the greatest joys of life — at least for me — involve people. So I was just a little sad this afternoon as I said goodbye (temporarily, but for a while) to Sterling Stuckey and his amazing wife, Harriette, who, in passing through the Bay Area for a season, came into my life and the life of PACC and made us all better for it.
Sterling is, in some circles, kind of a famous fellow, I suppose. He might say, with a wry smile, “Oh, I don’t know about that.” But he had stopped by the church today to give me a copy of the manuscript for his latest book, African Culture and Melville’s Art, a work that will be published this year by Oxford University Press, and anyone who can get a book like that published by a major house, let alone write it, has got something going for him.
The book’s subtitle is The Creative Process in “Benito Cereno” and “Moby-Dick.” Probably not what one would call “light reading,” but I’m looking very much forward to it.
Why? Not because the title itself interests me, although it does interest me very much, but because of Sterling.
By many of the world’s standards, one might not think that Sterling and I would have much in common. But he showed up one day at PACC, and in fairly short order we learned we had three important things in common: we love creativity and the artists who created; we love to think; and we love God.
As time went on we found out that we disagreed on a few things, too, and that enriched our friendship as much as our agreements. (See “love to think,” above.) But my point is this: my life is richer because Sterling and Harriette passed this way. I hope and expect to see them again, and look forward to it.
In the meantime, my goal is simply this: to enrich the lives of those I meet, even in places where I’m just passing through.
Tags: Benito Cereno, Harriette Stuckey, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Oxford University Press, Sterling Stuckey
July 21st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I’m sorry that our Sundays with Sterling are over, too. Thanks to his enthusiasm one Sunday in discussing the impactful life of Paul Robeson, and to Lewis’ technological help, I’ve got four of Paul’s pieces on my iTunes: a spine-chilling excerpt from Othello, and three of the most incredible bass renditions of Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Deep River, and Ol’ Man River.
Notice that intersection of people: Paul, Sterling (and Harriet!), Lewis, and me. Church is the sweet spot — some might say it’s more of a crucible — for bringing different people together who would otherwise not have the occasion to interact.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am
When I was a student at Harold Washington Collegeback in 1983, my sociology instructor, Timuel Black hooked me up with a job of being a companion to an “old Lady”. I wasn’t too sure about being a companion because I didn’t care for old people that much being 18 or 19yrs old. I was a writing student and an artist.
The job was being a companion to Elma Stuckey. Whenever we talked to each other it seemed as though she was my age. She liked to hear about what I was doing and I loved hearing about her civil rights days and she also had the original Jet magazine with Emmitt Till’s funeral.
It used to make me kind of sad that she was a double amputee and couldn’t get out. She lived in a nice little house in Pill Hill but there were steep steps to climb in the front and back which was dangerous for her. We kept in touch until she passed away in 1987 or 88. I visited her grave about a month or two ago and had a real nice conversation with her. I told her that I missed talking to her about different things. I wanted to contact her son, Sterling, about a story she said she was working on that I don’t think she ever finished. I wanted to finish the rest of her story because when she was telling me about it it sounded like it was really going to be good.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Thanks, R’Mel, for the nice post! I never got to meet Elma Stuckey, but I have certainly enjoyed her poetry.
What a blessing to have known her, and what a great lesson for all of to be willing to serve in a job that might not sound all that good at the beginning, but might hold something very special indeed!