Ann Walstrum Lindner - Thayer Lindner
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Ann Walstrum Lindner - Thayer Lindner |
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| Chicago, IL | |
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| [email protected] | ||
| The image that Thayer created to represent him
in this booklet screeches, "Once a nerd, always a nerd." He used a Nikon 200mm
micro lens to take a photo of Freud on a 50-schilling note that our daughter found while
studying in Austria. In addition to tinkering with the mechanisms of his many cameras, he
focuses on psyches. His affiliations range from Student Counseling and Resource Service
(at the University of Chicago) to the Institute for Clinical Social Work (a freestanding,
Ph.D.-granting entity). Ann’s life of the mind rarely keeps her more than an arm’s length away from a manuscript. When she isn’t crafting prose to, for example, profile one of the 72 Nobel laureates at U of C (the latest being a former boss), she’s editing books that have most recently included computer manuals and a walking tour of literary Chicago. But our coolness was hereditary — we got it from our children. As extroverted as we are introverted, their artistic and athletic accomplishments make them a breed apart. However, both used their academic genes to major in psychology (Kristin, Knox College, 1998; Andrew, U of C, 2002). Having earned an MSW from Wash U last year (see photo), Kristin organizes community gardens in St. Louis vacant lots through the Missouri Botanical Garden and then measures their effect on crime/grime. As you can also see from the photo, Ann’s parents have defied statistics by remaining healthy and together. They live in Grand Rapids, as does Ann’s brother Bill (on Andrew’s right). The fact that her brother John is a medical doctor in Allegan and Steven teaches college chemistry in Iowa is further evidence that the bookworm doesn’t live far from the tree of knowledge. What we are hoping to bequeath to our children, both by example and tuition, is the ability to balance work, affection, creation, and reflection. And, at the same time, our assignment is to learn from them how to combine the wisdom of nerdiness with the coolness of popularity, throwing in an ample helping of compassion for good measure. |