原汁原味不轉帖
陽盛則四肢實，實則能登高也。
李博士走了
木愉
幾個星期前，妻子到佛羅裏達去出差，目的地正好是李博士現在居住的城市，於是，她就跟李博士聯係，計劃去看看他。李博士說他摔了一跤，正在醫院。電話中，聽他中氣十足，以為他不日就會回到家裏修養，慢慢就會又好起來。不想，就在前幾天，卻傳來了他溘然長逝的消息。
李博士的大名叫李華偉，在美國的華人圖書館界是個響當當的人物。他在俄亥俄大學圖書館長任上做了二十來年，成果斐然，把該圖書館從一個名不見經傳的小圖書館提升到北美前七十名。該大學圖書館在他的任內，在館藏和使用手段自動化上完成了一個大躍進。上世紀末退休後，該校專門以他的名字命名，建立了一個信息中心。本來以為他就此安度晚年。不料，美國國會圖書館找到他，要他擔當國會圖書館亞洲部主管。他本來就老當益壯，再加上高技術泡沫引起股市嚴重縮水，導致他的退休基金萎縮，於是他東移華盛頓，在那裏又幹了八年，這才徹底退休，選擇了溫暖的佛羅裏達安居下來。
我跟他一共見過三次麵。第一次，是去俄亥俄大學去訪問他。第二次，是他順道來訪問我們。第三次，則是到佛羅裏達去看退休日子中的他。
每次見到李博士，我都會由衷地認為他就是異國華人中做人的典範。他總是保持著東方人傳統的謙恭，微笑總是掛在他慈祥的臉上。在老人院裏跟他一路走去，見到路人，他總是友好地打個招呼，問聲：「How are you?」。我想，他在事業上的成功不僅有專業上的厚度，而且還有他特別的親和力。東方人在西方的圈子裏，往往免不了矜持，矜持在他人的眼裏往往被詮釋為一種漠然和疏離。李博士的過人之處就在於不卑不亢，溫良恭儉讓，以恭敬來包裝自信。這樣的人在西方不成功，隻能是意外。
事業上如此火紅，家業也沒有耽誤。他從台灣來美國求學時，在匹茲堡大學，跟同學瑪麗相識相愛，兩個來自不同種族的靈魂從此合為一處，共度漫漫人生。瑪麗放棄了自己的教師生涯，甘做家庭主婦，為他養育了六個子女。65年過去，他和瑪麗的後代枝繁葉茂，已經擁有了四代三十來口人。
一般而言，跟西人聯姻的中國人，可能有更明顯的西化傾向，但李博士卻不同。他的朋友多半是華人，跟華人說話，從來不夾帶英文。即使有瑪麗在場，他也跟我們講中文。我問瑪麗：「我們用中文聊天，你聽得懂嗎？」她說：「一點也不懂，我都習慣了。」她的確習慣了，一進入他們家裏，東方文化就撲麵而來。牆上掛的字畫、書架上桌子上的各種小擺設幾乎都是純粹東方的，隻有瑪麗的高鼻深目才是西方的。
東方文化不僅在用來烘托李博士的家居環境，而且也滲透到他的精神世界。飯桌上，他說，有很多證據表明，華人可能比哥倫布更早發現美國。哥倫布用來航海的地圖可能就是根據華人的地圖製作的。瑪雅人的基因跟華人的接近。瑪麗連連搖頭，表示異議。李博士也不提高嗓門，繼續他的論證。瑪麗氣不過，一邊嬌聲叫停道：「華偉」，一邊止不住用手作勢打了他一下。即使有幾十年相濡以沫的恩愛，中西對峙其實還是存在於李博士和瑪麗之間。李博士熱愛故土和故國文化的心就這樣柔軟而堅實。
在李博士家人發的訃告裏，知道李博士是平和地離開這個世界的。九十年的人生，如李博士一樣的擁有，成功的事業、相愛的夫婦和碩果累累的家庭，不就是完美的人生嗎！
詩曰：
華人偉男闖北美
謙恭自信尊姓李
黑發碧眼人丁旺
事業成就可載史
My wife recently went to Florida for a business trip, and her destination happened to be the city where Dr. Lee currently lives, so she contacted Dr. Lee and planned to visit him. Dr. Lee said that he had a fall and was in the hospital. He heard that he was full of energy on the phone and thought that he would go home to recuperate soon. Unexpectedly, not long after, the news of his sudden death came.
Dr. Lee's real name is Lee Hwa-Wei, and he is a well-known figure in the Chinese library community in the United States. He served as the dean of the Ohio University Library for more than twenty years and achieved remarkable results, raising the ranking of the library from an unknown small library to one of the top 70 libraries in North America. After his retirement at the end of the last century, the school established an information center named after him.
He originally thought he would spend his remaining years in peace, but unexpectedly, the U.S. Library of Congress approached him and asked him to serve as the director of the Asia Department of the Library of Congress. He was already old and healthy, and the high-tech bubble caused a severe decline in the stock market, which caused his retirement fund to shrink. So, he moved east to Washington, where he worked for another eight years before completely retiring and choosing to settle down in the warm Florida.
I met him three times in total. The first time was when I went to Ohio University to visit him; the second time was when he stopped by to visit us; and the third time was when I went to Florida to visit him in retirement.
Every time I see Dr. Lee, I sincerely believe that he is a model for foreign Chinese. He always maintained the traditional Eastern humility and always had a smile on his face. Walking with him in the nursing home, whenever he saw passers-by, he would always say hello in a friendly way and ask: "How are you?" "I think his career success is not only due to his depth, but also his special approachability.
Easterners are often reserved in Western social circles, and in the eyes of others, reserve is sometimes seen as a kind of indifference and alienation. What makes Dr. Lee outstanding is that he is neither humble nor arrogant, gentle, courteous and thrifty. He uses respect to package his confidence.
Dr. Lee is so prosperous in his career that his family business has not been delayed. When he came to the United States from Taiwan to study, he met and fell in love with his classmate Mary at the University of Pittsburgh. The two souls from different races became one and spent a long life together. Mary gave up her career as a teacher and became a housewife, raising six children for him. Sixty-five years later, he and Mary have more than thirty descendants.
Generally speaking, Chinese people who marry Westerners may have a more obvious tendency to Westernize, but Dr. Lee is different. Most of his friends are Chinese, and he never speaks in English when talking to Chinese people. Even when Mary is present, he speaks Chinese to us. I asked Mary: "We are chatting in Chinese, do you understand?" She said: "I don't understand at all, but I am used to it." She is indeed used to it. As soon as she entered their home, Eastern culture came to her face. The calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls, the various small furnishings on the bookshelves and on the table are almost all purely Eastern elements. Only Mary's high nose and deep eyes are Western.
Eastern culture is not only used to highlight Dr. Lee's home environment, but also penetrates his spiritual world. At the dinner table, he said that there was a lot of evidence that the Chinese might have discovered the United States earlier than Columbus, and that the maps Columbus used for navigation might have been based on Chinese maps. Dr. Lee also mentioned that the genes of the Mayans are close to those of the Chinese. Mary shook her head and expressed her dissent. Dr. Lee did not raise his voice and continued his argument. Mary was so angry that she called out softly: "Hwa-Wei" and couldn't help but hit him with her hands.
Even though they have been loving each other for decades, the confrontation between China and the West still exists between Dr. Lee and Mary. Dr. Lee’s love for his homeland and culture is so soft and solid.
From Dr. Lee's obituary, we know that he left this world peacefully. In his ninety years of life, he had a successful career, a loving wife, and a prosperous family just like Dr. Lee. This should be a perfect life.
挺有名氣的。