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The Olive Tree |
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The Olive Tree |
| Recently, Assistant University Librarian Sam Garwood retired from his position at Fogler Library. The following article, written by friend and co-worker Frank Wihbey, is excerpted from the speech Whibey delivered at Garwood's retirement party. | |
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Sam Garwood became our Interim Director during the transition between the MacCampbell and the Albright administrations. In his 30 years at Fogler, he always tried to be fair in his dealings with staff and the campus community. I think this is part of his sense of personal mission, and he enjoys a high level of trust because of it. |
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| Sam always projects a sense of leadership and can be an imposing figure, but he is known for only pulling out all the stops when necessary. When the trucking company men hauled away the tractor trailer that stored our furniture, which barely had working wheels and brakes, he got them to bring it back in short order. Another time, people decided to install new sprinkler pipes smack in front of the government document shelves on floor 3B of the library. Sam told them it was not acceptable. They weren't smiling, but they removed, reassembled and reinstalled several of them to his specifications. | 
James MacCampbell, Sam Garwood, Eric Flower, Frances Hartgen, and Muriel Sanford at the ground breaking for the Library addition in 1974 |
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Sam is a man of many talents. He is acquainted with several languages and has cataloged a variety of foreign books. He can read Hebrew and has a working knowledge of several other languages. Knowing this, I once tried to share a bit of common ground and tried out one of the few Old Testament expressions I knew in original Hebrew. As I remember it, we were somewhere where lighting was being reinstalled and it was time to turn on the lights. So I said to him "Ya he uhr, waye he uhr!" which I thought was the third line of Genesis ("He said let there be light and there was light."). Well, it sure took the stuffing out of me when Sam asked, "What language is that?" He is also very keen on classical music. He sang in the University's Oratorio Society and has been a long-time member of his church choir. Many in the community will also remember him as an expert page-turner at Music Department recitals featuring his wife Lillian at the piano! Sam's retirement gives him the time to enjoy canoeing Maine's lakes and rivers and to practice his white water paddling. While his retirement is well-deserved, the staff and patrons of Fogler Library will certainly miss him. |
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