Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The human body at peace with itself ...


This is the poem  the Tony Press, Lindi's brother, read at the Celebration of Lindi's life both at the beginning and the end of his remembrance.

The human body at peace with itself
is more precious than the rarest gem.

Cherish your body.  It is there this time only.
The human body is won with difficulty.
It is easy to lose.

All worldly things are brief, like lightning in the sky.
This life you must know as the tiny splash of a rain drop,
a thing of beauty that disappears even as it comes into being.

Therefore, set your goal.
Make use of every day and night to achieve it.

Tsongkhapa
Tibet (1357–1419)

Monday, February 4, 2013

Memorial Ceremony: Professor Gelber's Remarks

In celebrating Lindi Press today [at her memorial], I have been thinking about how rich a life she lived, and the way each of us who knew her, encountered her in one or more of her guises, but would then catch surprised glimpses of others. We would realize there was so much more than the Lindi we caught as we intersected with her across the campus and off.

I first met Lindi when she was working on her thesis with Marsh McCall in the Master of Liberal Arts Program, which you have just heard about from Linda Paulson. I have tried to remember how I came to read her thesis—she was not my advisee or in my classes—but for some reason I did have the chance to read it, and I remember reading it with delight. It was also in that guise that she advised me about things Jane Austen as I was about to head off for a year in England in the late '90s. Lindi's love of learning and her interest in England remained highlights of her life as she contemplated going to study at York after her retirement.

Then there was the Lindi who lived and breathed theater. This was a Lindi I only got fleeting glimpses of, joining her for a night out together when she had an extra ticket and getting the benefit of her perspective on the play we saw. In fact, I last saw her in October, at a Lyric Theater presentation of Gilbert and Sullivan, where I ran into her by pleasant surprise. She was very much enjoying the performance, and as was so typical of her, finding pleasure in the experience—always ready to see what was good.

Most of my relationship with Lindi had to do with her work, supporting and staffing the big Faculty Senate committees and sub-committees. She was the indispensable right hand as I attended and chaired a number of them: Committee—Undergraduate Standards and Policy, Sub-committee—General Education Requirements, Sub-Committee—Exceptions to Academic Policy, Sub-Committee—ROTC. And I know she played the same role for other committees, like Committee—Graduate Studies, Committee—Review of Undergraduate Majors, [and Sub-committee—Academic Honors]. Or in the typical Stanford alphabet soup: C-USP, S-GERS, S-EAP, S-ROTC, C-GS, and C-RUM. She took over staffing these committees during a time of major transition. The learning curve was steep for us all. And Lindi ultimately became the voice of continuity, of historical memory, so important for supporting the various shifting committee chairs and membership.

From that vantage, I also got glimpses of Lindi's work in the Registrar's office, her relations with her co-workers. She was my SECRET go-to-person whenever I had questions about requirements, student advising, and the like. This was particularly important before the Advising Center took over handling the academic exceptions and petitions processing. She and I would consult about OUR students.

Personally, Lindi was always a treat to see. Even when she was dealing with some difficult health issues that made it hard for her to get around, she was not one to complain or be negative. In fact, I don't think I ever heard her say a negative thing. She was a cheerful voice, a helpful voice, a glad-to-see-you person.

Finally there was her courage and her sense of adventure. She took things on and wanted to embrace the more of life. Her devotion to her family, her concern for her father, love and pride for her daughters, her capacity for friendship—all of these were pieces glimpsed in passing in the course of our ordinary working days.

The retirement party brought many of these pieces together [as we have just heard from Linda Paulson]. We were lucky to be able to say thank you to her then, and now, all-too-soon, return to celebrate what she gave us in memory.

Professor Hester Gelber
Religious Studies

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Big Heart

I worked with Lindi in the Registrar's Office and the one thing that I  remember most is that Lindi had a "big heart." Even though I am not working at Stanford right now, Lindi was trying to help me get a job on campus. I would email Lindi and she would always take the time to send me an email and send me information about jobs that were available. She was a true friend and she is missed.

Sharer of passions

Lindi was a treasure. She regularly kept me abreast of events she thought I might like – a handbell concert, Scandinavian singers, a vampire-themed dance (!)  After learning that I was interested in Charles Dickens, she gave me her set of Dickens’ serialized novels, from Stanford’s Victorian Reading Project. She spoke glowingly of summer weeks spent at Stanford Sierra Camp. Other colleagues and I were thrilled to see her perform in a number of plays. And she made the most fantastic pumpkin bread with chocolate chips at Christmas time! Lindi generously shared her passions with others and her enthusiasm was infectious.

Sue Emory
Stanford Registrar’s Office

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Chorus

I was fortunate to see Lindi perform in the production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore, presented by the Stanford Savoyards. Every time she came on stage, she was glowing with enjoyment as she danced in the chorus. This will always be the image of Lindi that comes to mind when I think of her.  It was an honor to work with her and to tap into her incredible knowledge of Stanford. We will all miss her very much.

Celeste Fowles Nguyen
Office of the University Registrar

Friday, January 18, 2013

A Night at the Opera

One evening, Lindi and I were sitting in the balcony at the opera, well fed and feeling fine. Before the lights dimmed, I pulled out my opera glasses but she lacked a pair herself. We could’ve rented them downstairs but no matter. I took out a folded handkerchief and made a little platform on the end of my right knee. I set the glasses down squarely on the handkerchief. I don’t think we even looked at each other. The sharing of them was as perfectly timed and fluid as anything happening on the stage below. And each time she picked them up and set them down, her precision was a tiny whisper of loopiness.

Rowen Leigh

Thursday, January 17, 2013

A Kind Soul

Lindi was a kind soul. Her enthusiasm for life was contagious and she always made me and those around her smile. When my son was born, she took the time to make him a wonderful blanket that he still drags around the house today.  Lindi, you will be missed, but forever in my heart.

Tifany Ferguson
Office of the University Registrar

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Lindi, the Sports Fanatic

Lindi with the SF Giants 2010 World Series Championship trophy


I had the pleasure of getting to know Lindi through conversations in the morning and evening as I passed by her cube on the way in and out of work.  We would often chat about current or upcoming sporting events. She had a really strong passion for all Stanford sporting teams and for the SF Giants. She organized interested Registrar’s Office staff members on yearly trips to SF Giants games that were thoroughly enjoyed by all. I even got the chance to go with Lindi to the Stanford Alumni Center and get our pictures taken with the 2010 World Series Trophy. Lindi was a very kind hearted soul and I always appreciated her sincerity, kindness, and enthusiasm for life.

Reid Kallman
Stanford Registrar’s Office

Monday, January 14, 2013

Missing Lindi

It was one thing to imagine the Registrar's Office without Lindi, but it's much more difficult to imagine the world without her. The thing I most appreciated about Lindi was her love for the humanities -- and everything was expressed with that twinkle in her eye, which was etched upon her face. Technology was not one of the ways she and I connected. No ... technology was not Lindi's thing, it is my thing. But we definitely connected through reading and discussing things in the broader humanities that she cared about.

Lindi wanted to share her experiences with Elderhostel (the Road Scholar program), so she sent me a link. She wanted to travel so much more than she was able to, alas. I am so sorry that Lindi was unable also to pursue her desire to study and travel abroad. Lindi was always looking forward to the things she would do.

Someone we love never leaves us. So ... we must be content to remember and retain those qualities in Lindi that made her the beloved person she was at Stanford.

Tim Flood

Lindi and the MLA

You couldn't be an MLA student and not know Lindi. She was everywhere.

I brought a Shakespearean stage manager onto campus last spring to help those of us who were going into Larry Friedlander's summer MLA seminar read "Macbeth" in advance of the class. Worried about turnout for a six-hour indoor event on a sunny weekend, I threw it open to alumni. Lo and behold, up shows Lindi. She was a fine Lady Macbeth, Hecate, Ross, Banquo... In fact, we doubled so many of the parts that I think at one point she was talking to herself, switching accents back and forth with fluency. We were in awe.

She claimed that Friedlander had given her a B- in the same class and that she had to atone for her offense against taste. I don't believe it for a minute.

It's hard to believe that someone so energetic is suddenly gone. Go well, Lindi. You are missed.

Barbara Wilcox
MLA '14

Remembering Lindi

I am so sad to hear of Lindi's death. She and I crossed paths when I served on the C-GS. She was the archivist and wise-woman of the committee and as a then quite-new member of the Stanford community I often sought her out after meetings for explanations of arcane rules and perspective on policy (and personalities). She was always generous with her time and such a fan of Stanford. Whenever I saw her on campus thereafter I was buoyed by her smile, goodwill, and enthusiasm about whatever she was dealing with at the moment. The university is diminished by her passing.

Deborah

Deborah R. Hensler, Ph.D.
Judge John W. Ford Professor of Dispute Resolution and Associate Dean, Graduate Studies

The Stanford Insider

Lindi was the true Stanford insider. Yes, she knew policy and departmental history and curriculum rules and all of the minutiae associated with doing her job fantastically well. But the Lindi I will miss is Lindi the Queen of the Unwritten, the Master of the Obscure, the  Knower of the Arcane. When we’d meet in the evening for drinks at the Faculty Club, she’d regale me with stories about Stanford (always told in her own utterly unique style). Lindi knew everyone on campus, those who used to be on campus, and strange and curious details that have long been forgotten by everyone else. I continue to wonder at the compendium of fact, rumor, and anecdotal information that she was able to stockpile. Lindi used to talk about writing an insider’s guide to navigating Stanford – it would have been a bestseller. As I write this I can hear Lindi’s voice in my ear, “I bet you didn’t know that….”

Suzi Weersing
Associate Dean, Graduate and Undergraduate Studies
School of Humanities and Sciences

Friday, January 11, 2013

Lindi, the Mentor

It has been a difficult week, trying to grasp the reality of Lindi's passing. I still feel as if I can shoot her an email, and ask her about GERs or a question on Senate committees, and she will respond with the exact answer; with the perfect wit, and always full of encouragement to the new girl who had replaced her. At one point, when I was deciphering Stanford acronyms and swimming in course codes, she told me about the time when she first started. "I was afraid they would find me out!" she admitted, and then assuredly placed her hand on my shoulder, "You're doing a good job."
I know I have a hard act to follow.

Thank you for everything, Lindi.

Laura Remillard
Academic Committee Coordinator
Office of the University Registrar
Stanford University
482 Galvez Mall, Ste. 120
Stanford, CA 94305-6032

Font of information, laugh-instigator, colleague and friend

Through my nearly ten years at Stanford, Lindi mentored me through the intricacies that come with applying university policy and culture to everyday situations with grace, professionalism and humor. I had the opportunity to thank her in-person over the years, but this is a public thank you from me and on behalf of those of us in the biology department whom have benefited from her collegiality, circumspection, and willingness to brainstorm. Calling Lindi was always a treat; she always answered the phone in a manner that let me know she was prepared for whatever situation I was about to propose. She was the first person I called when the department was considering a name change several years ago; we had a good laugh about the former names of the biology department which I believe included the Department of Hygiene. But immediately following this, I could tell (over the phone) that she was rolling up her sleeves, putting on her thinking cap, and formulating steps, lists, concerns, etc. She helped me get through my fear of the situation, connected me with key colleagues on campus, and together, we did it; we survived a departmental name change without any hiccups. Just one of many examples of Lindi's impact. As a long-term tribute to Lindi, I plan to use the skills and knowledge gleaned from her to continue to put my best foot forward each day to support the teaching and research on campus.

Valerie Kiszka
administrative services manager in Classics (formerly student services manager in biology)

Always willing to help

HI
My deepest condolences to your family. I haven't seen Lindi is a very long
time (probably 15 years) but when I was working at Stanford and very
involved in Staffers Lindi was always there to help when asked.

Donnasue Jacobi

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Amy Blue Winners

This is a pic of the three Registrar Office Amy Blue Award winners with outgoing Registrar Roger Printup at his 2007 retirement party. The winners, from left to right, are Lindi Press (2003), the late Kristin Miscavage (2007), and Teresa Nishikawa (2001) who now works in the School of Medicine. Lindi was very proud of her award, and was very active in the work of selecting new recipients undertaken by past winners every year. There was a informative article at the time in the Stanford Report.

Lindi and 'Jane'

Lindi was a great help during our launch and promotion of askJane. Because of her dramatic talents, she was able to help prepare Caryn Huberman for her role as Jane Stanford, both in terms of her character and her costume. This photo is of Lindi and ‘Jane’ after Jane’s first speech at a Student Services Center event in 2009.  

Kelly Takahashi
Student Services Center

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

After the Bulletin Went to Press

Lindi was an impeccable proofreader and she worked for years on proofreading the Stanford Bulletin before it went to press. One of my favorite memories of her is when she would bring me a sheet of paper, red pencil in her hand, and point to an error, saying "You can't do this!" She always had a big smile when she found a typo, as if she had caught a thief and brought it to justice!

This photo is of Lindi, second from the right, and the rest of the Bulletin and scheduling crew in 2007 at our celebratory lunch after we went to press. Lindi had this photo mounted in her cubicle until the day that she retired.

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Stephen Arod Shirreffs, Ph.D.
Email: arod@stanford.edu

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