Lunch with Richard

Today I took a chance and made my way to the University of Sydney for a "cold call" on Professor Richard White, a fellow who has done research on national parks around the world and who graciously allowed me to piggyback on his work when I published my own comparison study of Yellowstone and Royal national parks a year or so back. Finding the campus was not difficult, but negotiating it was a challenge since it is so big. I finally figured out that Richard's office was in the oldest part of campus (fitting for a historian) and when I knocked on his door he was in! He greeted me as an old friend and insisted we go down to the nearby coffee bar for a chat. We were joined by his graduate student, Justine, who had actually read my article, so it was a real treat. We talked about the comparison of Australian and American academic life, and some observations we had both come to regarding people's perceptions of national parks. Richard liked my thesis that one must, according to Yellowstone's keepers, have the proper attitude to avoid contempt and he was particularly interested in my observations on American Civil War reenactors who have a similar attitude about those who visit battlefield parks. In all it was a great day, and I enjoyed my ferry ride to the city and back.