Serendipity
September 30th, 2011
Mr. Javors Lucas, photograph copyright 2011 Michael A. Schwarz
There are many qualities that define a good journalist. Patience, tenacity, honesty, inquisitiveness, and a good sense of humor are all essential. One quality that I have always felt was vitally important is the ability to be open to the unexpected; serendipity.
My teen-aged child is constantly mortified and embarrassed by my insistence on striking up conversations with total strangers in her presence. Sometimes I am amazed at how many syllables the word “Dad” can have.
I love talking with people that I encounter in my daily routine. Flight attendants, waiters, waitresses, people in line, people behind the counter, and people in elevators, have all become unwitting victims of my incessant curiosity. If I am sitting next to you in a plane, indulge me for one minute while I figure out if you are interesting, then I will either leave you alone or pester you with questions until I sense you can stand it no more. I enjoy doing this because I am curious about people. You also never know when you will unearth a precious nugget of delicious knowledge or some amazing coincidence. I once discovered, from a perfect stranger in Massachusetts, that her parents and my parents lived two blocks away from each other in Florida.
I experienced a wonderful example of serendipity a couple of months on a photo shoot in Macon, Georgia. I was photographing a subject and needed to make some photos of her with her family. I was immediately struck by her father, who seemed to be in his eighties, but had an incredibly sharp intellect and wit. After the shoot was over, we struck up a conversation that was light and funny. But after a little prodding, (not much really) I discovered that the man was a WWII veteran and had been based in the Pacific. He told me many incredible stories about his life, each one more interesting and astonishing than the preceding story. As we were talking, his daughter, the subject of our original photo shoot, came over and I whispered to her “your father is amazing”. She looked at me and replied, “well he’s just told you more about himself than we’ve ever heard. One of these days we’re going to have to do a video of him.”
“Hello! I’ll do it”, I blurted out.
Within a few moments we all agreed that I would return to Macon sometime in the future to do the interview. I was incredibly excited about the opportunity. Without having started the conversation, the chance to do the video would not have come along.
Part 2
Fast forward a month. After a few phone calls, Mr. Javors Lucas, (the man referenced in Part 1 of this story) was curious and somewhat suspicious as to why I would want to drive all the way from Atlanta to Macon, but finally agreed that I could come to his home and interview him. I looked at my calendar and the only day I had available for weeks was going to be September 23, which also happened to be the one-year anniversary of my father’s passing. The date couldn’t have been more perfect.
Mr. Lucas, raised in Georgia and educated in Alabama, was a veteran of WWII. My father, a native of Poland, spent WWII trying to stay a few steps ahead of the Nazis, while most of his family perished. His running ended only after Germany surrendered to Allied forces. The symmetry was perfect. I felt I could honor the memory of my father and the service of Mr. Lucas by conducting the interview.
Mr. Lucas was gracious and spent 3 hours with us. He shared many fascinating stories, but the one that really caught my attention was his story about removing the “Whites only” and “Colored only” signs from the bathrooms of Warner Robins Air Force base. I hope to share a short clip of his interview here soon.
-Michael A. Schwarz