“Time is precious. Make sure you spend it with the right people.” ~ Unknown
If nothing else good comes from this conference, tonight’s dinner made the whole trip worth it. I had dinner with three truly fabulous people I’ve known for a long time, but whom you’ve never met: Donald Ritchie, Michael Sesling, and Anne Campbell Ritchie. I’ve worked with Michael Sesling for 8.5 years but we’d never met in person until last night. He is utterly delightful in person every bit as much as he is on the phone. It’s been fun to watch him work the room. He heads a transcription company called Audio Transcription Center (ATC) in Boston. I share several close mutual friends with Don and Anne, so there was no chance of running out of things to talk about. Don literally wrote the book on oral history called Doing Oral History. He’s also retired from his position as Historian Emeritus of the United States Senate. Anne is no academic slouch, and she is just as sweet to me as can be. She was instrumental in growing the collections of the Nunn Center, before it was a center, which paralleled her work as the curator of Appalachian Collections at the University of Kentucky Libraries long before I came to work there. Mostly, though, I was extremely honoured to be invited to break bread with these three fine people. For me, it is more important than ever to spend time with people who are genuine and kind, people who value what I think and say as much as I value their thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect evening.
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