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College of Arts and Sciences
Department of History
DeLand, Florida 32720-3756
(904) 822-7535
January 10, 1997
Dear Former Student and Contributors to the Wynn-Johnson Fund:
I never imagined when I promised a final newsletter for this January that I would be recovering from
major surgery for cancer of the bladder. This resulted in pushing forward my retirement date from May to
the end of this first semester, December 19%. Visitors to my bedside have been restricted, but even so, I
had visits from H. Graves Edmondson,'50,'70 M.B.A., my former apartment mate and retired Vice-
President for Finance of Stetson; George W. Hood, retired Director of Counseling; Eliot Palmer, former
Director of the Food Services at Stetson; Gareth Williams, Professor of Mathematics; and I had a
Christmas call from Dr. Matthew Erickson,'81, of the University of Georgia Medical School staff. After
transfer to Jacksonville's St. Luke's Hospital, I had a visit from Dr. Gregory Wynn,'81, who brought a plant
from the Wynn family. Perry Penland,'78,'80 J.D., a Jacksonville attorney came to the hospital for a long
visit. Enough of that.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF OLD DeLAND: This little city continues to be run quite efficiently. I am
not sure whether this is to the credit of Mayor David Rigsby, Stetson's manager of Campus Services, or
Wayne Sanborn, the City Manager. City fathers fought off attempts to subdivide the now vacant Fish
hospital property in order to reserve it for other purposes. Few cities have the opportunity to make plans
for such a large tract (more than 8 acres) not far from the center of town. A contract is being let to
demolish Fish hospital. One building planned for the vacated area is a County Justice Center Unrelated
to plans for the Fish property, Postmaster Joe Guthrie, who has "humanized" the local post office, is
speaking of moving much of the post office function downtown.
DOWN FACULTY ROW: The "grand old man" of the History Department, and perhaps Stetson as
well, Gilbert L. Lycan, now 86 years old, retired twenty-one years ago but has served as University
Historian since that time. Evidently thinking that his education at Yale and Berea had been a bit deficient,
Gilbert has immersed himself since retirement in Greek and Roman classics and reads widely. Not only
this, but he has written two book-length manuscripts, an autobiography, Mountaineers are Free, and an as
yet unpublished study, "Washington and Hamilton: An Extraordinary Partnership."
Harold J. Schultz served from 1959 as a professor and beginning in 1968 as Chairman of the
Department of History. Harold went on to greater glory (if you can call it that) by becoming President of
Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas in 1971. He was a great success as a fund raiser, and doctors who
were members of his board secured bis services as Development Officer for a large Kansas City hospital, St.
Luke's. He writes: "This week all the family is here—13 when all together in the same house [including his
mother-in-law and grandchildren] After 20 years at Bethel College—good years in so many ways—as
president, we came to Kansas City in 1991. I serve as CEO of the Saint Luke's Hospital Foundation which
runs the medical education and research program for the city's largest private teaching hospital
Currently I am heading up a $50 million campaign and have hit $41 million in two years."
[My wife, Carolyn,] is teaching English literature and composition in Baker University School of Graduate
and Professional Studies in Kansas City."
"My one way of keeping up professionally in English history is by continuing to write new editions of
my History of England, a Barnes and Noble textbook, now owned by Harper and Row."
(Ed. note). If you think I gave too much space to Harold, you should see the check that he sent to
supplement an earlier contribution to the Wynn-Johnson Fund. My wife, Betty, says I am very sentimental
about money.
Fred Messersmith, long-time chairman of the Department of Art (1959-1989), continues to work to
complete the valuable Charles X. Harris collection of portraits of American presidents that hangs on the
