李博士走了
木愉
几个星期前，妻子到佛罗里达去出差，目的地正好是李博士现在居住的城市，于是，她就跟李博士联系，计划去看看他。李博士说他摔了一跤，正在医院。电话中，听他中气十足，以为他不日就会回到家里修养，慢慢就会又好起来。不想，就在前几天，却传来了他溘然长逝的消息。
李博士的大名叫李华伟，在美国的华人图书馆界是个响当当的人物。他在俄亥俄大学图书馆长任上做了二十来年，成果斐然，把该图书馆从一个名不见经传的小图书馆提升到北美前七十名。该大学图书馆在他的任内，在馆藏和使用手段自动化上完成了一个大跃进。上世纪末退休后，该校专门以他的名字命名，建立了一个信息中心。本来以为他就此安度晚年。不料，美国国会图书馆找到他，要他担当国会图书馆亚洲部主管。他本来就老当益壮，再加上高技术泡沫引起股市严重缩水，导致他的退休基金萎缩，于是他东移华盛顿，在那里又干了八年，这才彻底退休，选择了温暖的佛罗里达安居下来。
我跟他一共见过三次面。第一次，是去俄亥俄大学去访问他。第二次，是他顺道来访问我们。第三次，则是到佛罗里达去看退休日子中的他。
每次见到李博士，我都会由衷地认为他就是异国华人中做人的典范。他总是保持着东方人传统的谦恭，微笑总是挂在他慈祥的脸上。在老人院里跟他一路走去，见到路人，他总是友好地打个招呼，问声：「How are you?」。我想，他在事业上的成功不仅有专业上的厚度，而且还有他特别的亲和力。东方人在西方的圈子里，往往免不了矜持，矜持在他人的眼里往往被诠释为一种漠然和疏离。李博士的过人之处就在于不卑不亢，温良恭俭让，以恭敬来包装自信。这样的人在西方不成功，只能是意外。
事业上如此火红，家业也没有耽误。他从台湾来美国求学时，在匹兹堡大学，跟同学玛丽相识相爱，两个来自不同种族的灵魂从此合为一处，共度漫漫人生。玛丽放弃了自己的教师生涯，甘做家庭主妇，为他养育了六个子女。65年过去，他和玛丽的后代枝繁叶茂，已经拥有了四代三十来口人。
一般而言，跟西人联姻的中国人，可能有更明显的西化倾向，但李博士却不同。他的朋友多半是华人，跟华人说话，从来不夹带英文。即使有玛丽在场，他也跟我们讲中文。我问玛丽：「我们用中文聊天，你听得懂吗？」她说：「一点也不懂，我都习惯了。」她的确习惯了，一进入他们家里，东方文化就扑面而来。墙上挂的字画、书架上桌子上的各种小摆设几乎都是纯粹东方的，只有玛丽的高鼻深目才是西方的。
东方文化不仅在用来烘托李博士的家居环境，而且也渗透到他的精神世界。饭桌上，他说，有很多证据表明，华人可能比哥伦布更早发现美国。哥伦布用来航海的地图可能就是根据华人的地图制作的。玛雅人的基因跟华人的接近。玛丽连连摇头，表示异议。李博士也不提高嗓门，继续他的论证。玛丽气不过，一边娇声叫停道：「华伟」，一边止不住用手作势打了他一下。即使有几十年相濡以沫的恩爱，中西对峙其实还是存在于李博士和玛丽之间。李博士热爱故土和故国文化的心就这样柔软而坚实。
在李博士家人发的讣告里，知道李博士是平和地离开这个世界的。九十年的人生，如李博士一样的拥有，成功的事业、相爱的夫妇和硕果累累的家庭，不就是完美的人生吗！
诗曰：
华人伟男闯北美
谦恭自信尊姓李
黑发碧眼人丁旺
事业成就可载史
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.
