Leslie Reinhardt

An extension! Thank goodness. This was far harder than a college
paper.

I’m writing this from Louisiana, where it’s beautiful, steamy, and over
90. I’ve been working as a book editor for a former mentor, who after
26 years has become a good friend. She’s one of the few people that
still makes me laugh til I’m weak. I’m editing (and trying to summon
my rusty college Latin, which, mirabile dictu, has withered to a few
tags. Sunt lacrimae rerum!) and walk through steamy picturesque
Natchitoches (famous from Steel Magnolias) in the evening.

After June 1983, I went to grad school at Princeton in art history, and
worked in DC at the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery, where I
found my intellectual niche in the 18th century. I wrote my PhD on
dress in British and American images of women, which was a fun
combination of art, costume, and conflicted (i.e. repressive!)18c ideas
about female appearance and morality. I’ve greatly enjoyed publishing
and teaching, but part-time adjunct positions being what they are, I’m
now jobhunting and contemplating new directions.

Family is still a big part of my life. My mother died from breast
cancer in 1998, but I was granted a wonderful last year with her in
Oregon. My dad moved to the DC area, and it’s been great to be able to
see him more frequently. He gets me to a lot of theater, and I’m amazed
at his grace and sense of humor despite debilitating Parkinson’s. He’s
even let me take over his finances, which is something of a joke in
itself. Being an aunt has been an absolute delight: like they say, all
the fun and no responsibility (Eddie 10, Diana Leslie 15). One update
to my perfunctory entry in the class report: still married, but
separating.

Great pleasures of the last few years: gardening above all, probably a
latent gene surfacing from my midwestern ancestors. The perfect
combination of physical labor, aesthetics, and intellect. I knew middle
age had hit when I found myself getting truly excited about mulch
deliveries. Still attending Episcopalian church, albeit more
sporadically than in college. My favorite is the 8 am Rite I service:
minimal socializing and the old language I love. Lovely cat Ava, who
finds or creates drama for every day, even if it’s just a rousing game
of Mouse Under the Blanket.

Some random snapshot highlights of the last 25 years:
Taking Ed and Diana to Chincoteague. They get me to run on the beach,
swim in the motel pool, and kindly indulge my walking and birdwatching.
At age 15, my niece still confides in me! On the other hand, the
THINGS my niece age 15 confides in me...
Seeing the sunrise from the top of Mount Sinai, and eating fresh-caught
fish on a Nile island with my felucca guy and his elderly father in
Aswan. There’s an up side to American military misadventures: tourists
disappear from Egypt!
Seeing Faulkner’s southern mansion in Oxford and Elvis’s birthplace in
Tupelo in the same day. It’s a great country.
Taking my dad to Princeton commencement, and wearing the doctoral robes
that my grandmother made for him.

I certainly didn’t think I’d be so “in transition” 25 years down the
road, but I find that middle age has its rewards. Life is still good.
To all of you who wrote for the report, thanks for your generosity.
See you soon!