Faculty of the Week: Lundy Smith
English Instructor Lundy Smith. Courtesy of the Phillips Exeter Communications Department
By Kaylee Chen, Otto Do, Lina Huang and Hansi Zhu
"It's like a combination of Cirque du Soleil and hostage negotiations," English Instructor and Raymond W. Ellis Distinguished Professor Lundy Smith noted of an unplanned babysitting expedition. After Smith’s close friend, Headmaster of Greenhills School Peter Fayroian, had a family emergency during his tenure as Principal of Northfield Mount Herman, Smith was the first person he called.
“My kids adore him, and not just because ‘Uncle Lundy gives the best presents ever,’ but because even at their young age, they know he will—to bludgeon this metaphor to death—dive under a boulder for them,” Fayroian said.
In his roles as a teacher, swim coach, music connoisseur and friend, Smith has made a lasting impact on all those in his life. On a warm, spring day in 1994, Smith went to visit Fayroian in California, joining a group of students for a day hike in the Ventana Wilderness. “We had to navigate a wild river crossing that required a leap onto a van-sized boulder, underneath which the river disappeared into an underwater chute. The boulder damned the river creating a whirlpool of logs and debris before firing the water out downriver a dozen yards or so,” Fayroian said.
“My German Shepherd couldn't navigate the boulder leap, but he still went for a stick that fell into the river; most unfortunately, he paddled downriver toward the stick and the whirlpool. Moments later, he disappeared beneath the boulder,” Fayroian recalled. “My first instinct was to run toward the other side of the boulder to see if he would shoot out below; Mr. Smith's instinct was to jump in and dive beneath the water. After way-too-much time without seeing either of them, Mr. Smith surfaced amidst the swirling logs and debris with the scruff of a 110-pound black German Shepherd in one hand, his other arm grabbing for anything to keep them both afloat”
“No hyperbole here: Mr. Smith risked his life for my dog, who was wedged beneath a boulder in a torrent of water. Mr. Smith was able to do that not just because he was a collegiate and competitive swimmer; he did it because he has a boulder-sized heart and the courage to do what's right, and he will always dive in for us,” Fayroian said.
Smith extends his kind heart to youth and animals alike. “I actually met Mr. Smith when I was a kid—maybe 5 or 6. My parents worked at St. Andrew’s, a boarding school in Middletown, [Delaware], and my mother taught with Mr. Smith in the English Department!” English Instructor Tyler Caldwell said. “He coached swimming, and I remember him opening up the pool for the faculty children late on a summer evening so that we could swim at night.”
Director of Global Initiatives Eimer Page has had a similar experience of Smith’s kindness. “He fed [my young son’s] interest in wooden trains and childrens’ literature. He would literally offer you the shirt off his back if you needed it, and he is always reading, seeking new ways to engage students, and nurturing his connections with friends and colleagues,” she said. Once, Smith gave her sons his entire collection of Disney movies.
As a colleague, Smith has also gone above and beyond. “He seems to know someone in every boarding school in the U.S. and helped me so much with my transition to living and working here,” Page added. “I’ll never forget when he put his head in my classroom door as I underwent my first departmental review, reminding me that ‘we need you more than you need us.’ It put my mind at ease and gave me the confidence to enter the intimidating review process with a sense that the school was a welcoming place that wanted me to find a home here.”
Outside of the classroom, many will find Smith at the Roger Nekton Championship Pool, where he coaches the Girls’ Varsity Swim Team. According to senior Maddie Machado, “At Interschols last year, our medley relay team broke an important record, and he cried. When I saw him, I knew how he was, and continues to be, in leading the team to success.”
His swimmers noted that they can lean on him in and out of athletics. “Lundy Smith is real. He is honest. He will tell you like it is because he cares… I always knew if I was going through something difficult in my life, he would be there for uncensored guidance and advice. I am grateful to have had Lundy as a coach, teacher and role model during my time at Exeter,” senioror Wynter Sands said.
Students past and present praised the wisdom and expansive knowledge Smith demonstrates as an instructor. Senior Lucy Gilchrist highlighted Smith’s jovial presence at the table. “He approaches teaching with lightheartedness and sincerity. In upper year, personal essays can seem rather daunting. You're being asked to share an often personal essay, and then also to reflect on it,” she said. “With narratives prep and lower year, you can tell a story and let the reader make their opinions. Personal essays require honesty with yourself. Mr. Smith was a great teacher to have during this learning curve because he really wants to get to know his students.”
Besides being a source of guidance, Smith also infuses class with his sense of humor. Gilchrist shared that, during class, Smith once asked a few students who were breaking the dress code to wear collared shirts to class. “He got so fed up that he sent the boys back to their dorm to change. They were gone for almost twenty minutes. Just as class was about to end, they came back, dressed to the nines in suit coats and ties. Mr. Smith cracked up with the rest of the class and told them to not bother about the dress code,” she said.
Smith accredited much of his progress as a writer to his high school experience of literature. “I had a series of very good English teachers at my public high school,” Smith said. “The teachers gave me books to read that were off of the district’s approved curriculum. My 11th and 12th grade teacher introduced me to William Faulkner, and I was hooked.”
However, Smith’s passion for literature began in his formative years. “I was a voracious reader as a child. I’d often pick up books that my parents were reading so I sometimes read things that weren’t age appropriate for me, but I figured if my parents liked the book, I would too,” he recalled. “In sixth grade I raised my teacher’s eyebrows when I did a book report on Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter. I was a precocious kid. I also read Papillon by Henri Charrière around the same time. I loved telling all of my classmates how prisoners hid their contraband from the guards.”
Outside of the Harkness discussions, Smith lends his knowledge and time to all who are curious. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about politics or just life in general, and it’s become clear to me that he has a worldview that’s inclusive of all the people around him and inclusive of all the identities around him, which I think a lot of teachers either hold back, don’t have or don’t want to share with their students in the way that Mr. Smith does,” senior Janalie Cobb said.
Nearing a twenty year tenure, Smith has truly experienced the highs and lows of Exeter. “I think the event that has shaped my appreciation of Exeter most was 9/11. It was my first year at the school and it was new student move-in day. I was dorm head of Gould House. I have vivid memories of standing in my tiny living room watching the towers fall with the group of new parents,” he said. “In the following weeks, I was impressed and deeply touched by how the community rallied and took care of one another. We’re now facing an equally trying situation, and I’m seeing Exeter at its best once again. In the face of events that are out of control, it is so important to be humble and kind to one another.”