The past is a foreign country

Scholarly interaction in the United States is a bit different than it is here in Iceland. More camraderie, less competition, at least for tenured faculty. For graduate students, it is the opposite. Or anyhow, to put it simply, scholars in the US like to network. Thus it did not seem at all unusual to me to invite a woman I had never met before to spend the night at my house. She's a fellow scholar and we have mutual acquaintances. 

But I was thinking this morning if in a way I was also paying it forward for something David Lowenthal did for me. A few years ago, just after passing my exams, I was at a conference at Cal. During coffee afterwards, I saw an older man sort of standing by himself, and since I am unfortunately not at all shy, I went right up to him and struck up a conversation. Turned out it was David Lowenthal, and I had recently 'read' his book (well, read the intro and looked through the rest). We talked for just a bit, long enough for me to mention my PhD topic, and then he said he had to go, but asked me if I'd like to come to dinner at his house that night. "Huh? Dude, I just met you. What kind of creepy old man are you?" is what I thought but did not say. Instead I was like, "Ah, well, I had planned to have drinks with a friend. Can I bring her along?" (this was a small fib, but I could talk my girlfriend into coming along if pushed came to shove.) He said of course, and handed me a card with his address. 

I walked away a bit in a daze. That was too weird. Figured perhaps he was inviting lots of people over. So I mentioned it to two of the professors in my department, and then one said to me, "Oh, he's famous for that. Does it all the time. You should definitely go." Right, OK, now I would look like a wimp if I did not go to the house of one of the most lauded faculty members on campus. Begged Amanda to go with me. She was game of course. 

Their house was one of the beautiful houses up in the Berkeley hills, and I was, actually, a bit nervous upon arrival. We get let into the living room, and his wife is there, a lovely petite lady with nuts and cheese on a tray. In the living room is another historian, from University of Oregon if I recall correctly, and Amanda knew one of his books. He said he was staying there, did so regularly. OK, so David had this all worked out. His wife was used to this. They always had interesting house guests and then invited interesting people to have dinner with them also. That is how they lived their lives. 

The conversation flowed well, and by the end of the evening, I was relaxed. And very drunk.