Professor Sarah Jennings Vinke Was Former Chair ( 3 Yrs) Of The English Department''' At Montana State College, Now Montana State University. … Author Robert Pirsig, Tells Us =>

Later in ZMM Author Robert Pirsig, Tells Us That Sarah Said The Following To Phaedrus: =>

(Quotes from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM).)

Above, Author Robert Pirsig Tells Us That The Idea Of “Quality” Comes Entirely From Sarah.
…And thus => Any search for the origins of Pirsig's Quality. must of course start with Sarah Vinke, who was one of Pirsig's colleagues at Montana State College when he was there 1959-61.

This Page Is Dedicated To Sarah Winnifred Jennings Vinke, Who In ZMM, Is Known Only As “Sarah.”

HISTORY & EXPLANATION: By Henry Gurr ZMMQ SiteMaster.
…Starting with my ZMM Route Research Trip, June 2002, I searched for persons who had known, or had knowledge about, Robert Pirsig. Eventually my research led to a particularly fruitful source, Mrs Shirley Luhrsen, a long-time Montana resident. Mrs Luhrsen, not only was familiar with MSU, and briefly had met Robert Pirsig when he was an Instructor (Low Rank Professor) there, she had been a student of, mentored by, and worked closely with, Professor Sarah Vinke. And through Shirley, I began to know, almost as a friend, MSC's “Mrs” Professor Sarah Vinke. And so will you!!

Please read on: You will see what I mean! This page, in one way or another, comes from Mrs Shirley Luhrsen, and is also dedicated to her as well as Sarah Vinke.

Not only did I ask Mrs Luhrsen's help finding information concerning events or persons in ZMM, I asked her to ask all her friends for the same help. Mrs, Luhrsen, being a long time member of the Bozeman Chapter of the American Association of University Women, asked for ZMM information help at their monthly meetings: This brought forth a very interesting letter by Sarah Vinke, to Mrs. Ed (Stella) Ammaker. Both were like Shirley Luhrsen long time members of AAUP. Written in Sarah's own characteristic hand writing, the letters were: huge, unlike her hand writing when she was a professor. (Thanks to Dennis Gary for this observation =>) Sarah in her later years, like Shirley Luhrsen, was going blind: And these large letters helped her see what she is writing?
…There are many places in her letter which are hard to read because of a) Her writing 'Curls-Up-Along-Edge” at right of the page. b) Non-standard formation of her alphabet shapes (some with an added small wiggle). c) Strike-thru's for corrections/change of wording. d) And overwrite (corrections) on top of several (or all) of the letters of a word. Of these only her strike-thru's are preserved, in this typed version. Also preserved are each individual line as she wrote it, and general spacing of the sentences of her writing on her page. This letter was composed, single sided, on sheets of 5.5 x 7.5 inch correspondence note paper, and mailed in a 5.5 x 4 inch envelope. As you read Mrs Vinke's letter, you will agree that it is precious and priceless!! Which is probably why this letter has survived all these years; “to tell the story”!
…By Henry Gurr 18 June, 2010.

Letters To & From Bozeman: Concerning Persons (or Events) of The English Department, Montana State College**, 1945 to 1969. On this WebPage, Are Letters And Information Concerning Professor Sarah Vinke, One Of The Major Persons In ZMM.

Below you will see Research Results Concerning book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM), and specifically discoveries concerning “Sarah”, who alone was at the Origin of Robert Pirsig's ideas re "Quality", which he later, in Lila, he called "Metaphysics of Quality" (MOQ) as opposed to the then existing & totally inadequate "Subject Object Metaphysics" (SOM).
** Now Montana State University.

SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr:
…This WebPage you are reading now, has a very large amount of information about Montana State College, it’s Processors, and most especially Professor Sarah Vinke.
However => Please be aware that you can learn even MUCH MORE, in The Sarah Vinke Biography (Published Book), AND The Sarah Vinke Biography Resource Page (WebPage).

A Very Interesting Letter Written by Professor Sarah Vinke, to Mrs. Ed (Stella) Ammaker, Found With the Help Of Mrs. Shirley Luhrsen, a Long Time Bozeman, MT Resident.

A Unique View Into the Personality of Sarah Vinke, As Well As the News of the Year 1969.

4/18/69

Dear Stella

To be writing 1968 Xmas letters
At May-Day time make me think of the
dusky brother who maintained that
he "didn't have no debts no mo',
because the interest done et' up the principel"

Today the Hank Nixon has
Met the Pres with a message of
restraint about the Korean downing
of the U.S. Intelligence plane And a
message of the opposite about the ABM
and an admission that he rejected a

[new page]

famous scientist because he disagreed on the ABM!

Of course you know when I
sent my money (all I can now do
is send money) last year: To Nora,
Grnening of Alaska, M'Cartrhy, LePrvy
Collins of Florida, Humphrey --- my stden [incomplete]
in the '40's in M.S.C. called my Apt,
in the Evergreen by the old title of
Oxford: Home of Lost Causes.

One can only hope for a
resurrection of Common Sense, [this]

[new page]

it seems to be a Scarce Commodity. At
least Nixon (whom Reinhold Niebuhr
calls an acute politician) knows
that the root of all the this youth
unrest is the Viet Nam War ---

Were I of draft age, I would
not serve in the Viet Nam War -- like
Steve, [your son] I'd face it (I hope) and take
What the Draft Board has to offer (It
is getting a Judicial treatment
now) for this is not a war for justice
nor anything moral and our Pride
as a nation that cannot admit a

[new page]

mistake cannot make the waste of
human lives, ours and the Vietnamese,
any thing but revolting. You should
be humble in the presence of the
Great Spirit of your Steve --- the
Very Best that America has produced.
Like you I feel that his influence will
be sourly [sorely?] needed in the future.
But my heart aches for you
in your fearful anxieties.
It is wonderful I have a

[new page]

letter from you with an account
of these young lives (your
"Hostages to the Future") and their
interests. What demands on your
Love and Intelligence and
Restraint ---- and how blessed
they are to be your children
instead of the children of So many
parents [,] as bewildered as their
offspring,

One of the best analysis I've
seen of the American dilemma was

[new page]

in a Report by the President of Cornell
Perkins. He said the older generation
have two concerns :

The college people have two concerns:

[here long centered horizontal line for paragraph and idea separation]

It is idle to tell you more that I
had a Vicious Virus from Dec - 6
to March1. I feared for the future
of the THING ---- that has me in it's
clutches ---- but I'm still ambulatory

[new page]

And now for two books that
friends have sent that have
given me Some new perspectives.
First: The American Challenge by
Servan -- Schreiber ---- hard common
sense economics [,] that has won
the respect of Europe & America. [here uncertain decode of handwriting]
No doubt you've thrilled to it by
now. The other is by Andrei
Sakharov (father of the Russian
H bomb) Progress, Co,–existence,
and Intellectual Freedom ---- a

[new page]

book which seems impossible from
Russia --- so simple, so full of the
great spirit of "Riders of the –
World" ------- so astonishing in it's
revelation of the similarity of
Russian problems to our own -----
even the problem of pollution (it's
Lake Bakel & the Caspian Sea).
Maybe there is yet fish to survive .

And now I shall end on
A note that will Astound

[new page]

you. Somehow all these years,
I have missed what I consider
one of the Great Ideas of our
times: Reinhold Niebuhr symbol
belief that the Doctrine of
Original Sin is only a
symbol of the perpetual
universal self interest in all
human beings.

[Envelope shows Sarah Vinke's rubber stamp return address, circle style post mark, and two postage stamps, and handwritten to address, all in standard locations as follows. (Eventually a photo of this envelope will be displayed here, when I figure out how to do it. ]

====================================================================================

====================================================================================

[The following note, written at angle at bottom of the envelope, was by Shirley Luhrsen, to explain history of how this letter was found => ]
…A letter to Stella Ammaker from Sarah after she had moved to Florida to be in a nursing home near her sister 1960's found last week and read at AAUW 10/4/04 Saturday Xmas brunch --- Shirley .
[Then, In an enclosed Christmas Card note, Mrs. Luhrsen added the following: Steve was Stella Amacker's son who served a consih [conscientious] objector and worked in a snarnt [sanitarium? unclear?] in the U.S. in California during the Viet Nam War --- [sic] ]

New Topic: In Response To My Many Research Questions By Telephone, Shirley Luhrsen Took On The Task Of Writing What She Knew Of Her Beloved Friend And Mentor, Sarah Vinke.

…Because Shirley was at the time going blind (quite demoralizing for her), and other mix-ups, she ended writing the following three letters, Labeled A), B), & C).
…These three letters, all on the same subject, of course ended up having duplicate content. But because each makes sense in its own way, I decided not to change this.
…In April 2004, Shirley said she was 83, so we accept her sharp well tuned memory, and excuse a lapse or two. As is true of Mrs. Luhrsen's phone conversations, her words below tend to make big jumps to new topics, and she tends to talk about herself.
… Despite this, through it all, we gain an much greater understanding, and appreciation of, how great Professor Sarah Vinke actually was!! Also we get a glimpse into the “ways” of Post WW II Montana State College.

A) Mrs. Luhrsen's FIRST Of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”: Hand Written, Post mark 8/9/04.

[SIDE NOTES By Henry Gurr:: These below words were in her own hand writing, now huge because she was nearly blind then, and the large letters help her to see what she was doing. She writes on both sides of three sheets of 8 x 11 decorated note paper: The front side has colored flowers and leaf design in each of the four corners, & the back side plane white. I have typed capital letters (and lower case), as Mrs. Luhrsen wrote it.
…On her hand written copy, some words are capitalized mid sentence, or are capitalized at the start of a new line, like poetry. I have duplicated this below.
…As a former English Teacher, this is a mode/mood Shirley may have adopted, for this kind of writing. This does not appear in her other writing/letters. Related to this => In fact Mrs. Luhrsen mentions Sarah in connection with poetry and Shakespeare below.
…I have shown her medium dash as [– ] and longer dash as [ ---.], and a heavy dot as [ lg dot ]. I have duplicated editing changes as they appear on the letter, and have preserved her period marks (or absence) as they appear in her letter.
…My editing additions in [brackets], add needed information and come from my many phone conversations with Luhrsen, from 2004 to approximately 2013.
…Mrs. Luhrsen's additions concerning Beauty (Quality), are both because 1) this is evidently a true characteristic of Sara Vinke, and 2) Because of all my phone calls (& letters) with my repeated questionings about the extent to which Sarah used / focused on the word “Quality”. In this questioning, I was trying to determine when and how Sarah used the Quality, since Robert Pirsig In ZMM, emphasized this word in his ZMM Chapter 15.
…Concerning the style and content of Mrs. Luhrsen’s letter => Several weeks I had sent to her 3 pages of selected ZMM passages, with specific extensive respective annotated questions, which I hoped she would answer. These passages included !) The “Three Sarah Statements” where Sarah Vinke repeatedly asks Phaedrus about “Quality”, and nearby ZMM passages having descriptions re the problems & limitations of teaching back then at MSC.
…These three pages, with my cover letter 3/6/04, were in very large font size ( ~ 18) to help Shirley to see the words. (Copies of these pages & letter are available on request.)
…Although not stated => I believe Mrs. Luhrsen, as she was writing the below, was specifically trying to answer my letters’s questions. However she evidently forgot my questions concerning word “Quality”, and shifted instead to the word “Beauty” when thinking about Sarah Vinke.
.
A Few Details, To help You, As You Read Mrs. Luhrsen's Letter Below, by Henry Gurr:
…Judith Gap and Boxelder are names of towns (and High Schools) where Mrs. Luhrsen lived with her husband Robert William Luhrsen , following his career I believe.
…Shirley mentions her “Tony Lama Boots”, which are a certain design of Cowboy Boots. But when Mrs. Luhrsen describes her own “Tony Lama Boots”, she repeatedly says they were everywhere a Robins-Egg Blue Coloring, With No Decoration.
…However, Cowboy Boots are more typically with added decorations, and are seldom all one color.
…Even today Google can easily find great photos of Tony Lama Cowboy Boots. And although we were unable to find the style mentioned by Mrs. Luhrsen, we did find a nice photo of a Tony Lama Boot, of the decorated variety, with much turquoise blue!!
Click Here, And You Will See These Are Close Enough To All Robin's-Egg Blue, To Be Able To Visualize What Shirley’s Looked Like.

And you will also see, that as Mrs. Luhrsen writes, she encounters memories of her Grandfather's and Father's book collections, and her own, …. Whereupon, she suddenly becomes reminded of the fact, she at age ~87 is failing!! Both health & vision!
…And she soon, sadly, will have to give up all her beloved books … and everything else!!!
…These thoughts, turn her mind to her imminent health & vision losses, and corresponding life disrupting adjustments, which apparently very much on her mind thru these days.

Never the less, she struggles onward …...... to live

After she finished her letter, probably ready to put into envelope, she regains her normally bright & positive attitude, and then sparkle-ly writes in a blank area at the bottom of the first page:
….“Back to Deer Creek tomorrow”

Deer Creek Was Shirley Luhrsen’s Mountain Cabin & Property She Loved So Much!.
…There is an excellent WebSite showing photos of the Deer Creek Cabins etc: Click Here To View => Montana Cabins Renta, Which Has A “History” Link In Menu At Left.

Mrs. Luhrsen, In Our Phone Conversations, Often Mentions Sarah Vinke's Beautiful Apartment Having “A Lovely Blue Oriental Rug”.
…Below in Mrs Luhrsen's letter “On The Topic Of “Value”, she uses this rug example, among others, as an occasion to emphasize Sarah's love of beauty.

…This is a fact that (in Shirley’s mind AND in your mind dear reader) the topic of “Value”, should be connected up to Robert Pirsig's “Quality”, as expressed in his books: “ZMM” & “Lila”.
…Mrs Luhrsen is emphasizing that this “Quality - Value - Beauty Connection” is clearly a major component of Sarah Vinke. I see accumulating evidence, that this Quality - Value - Beauty Component, purposefully permeates Sarah Vinke's life, despite the fact that she seems seldom to actually use or think the word “Quality” or equivalent: This fact is contrary to my long time assumption (based on Mr. Pirsig's several sentences re Sarah in ZMM), that Sarah would regularly use and/or think the word “Quality” or equivalent:

As Mrs. Luhrsen is thinking and writing re Sarah below, you will see explicitly emerge and stated, this very “connection” between Sarah’s life emphasis of beauty, and that which is also clearly Mr. Pirsig's Quality!! END SIDE NOTES ]

… Mrs. Luhrsen's FIRST Of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”: Hand Written, starts below =>

[Post mark 8/9/04.]

Dear Henry

Values are the things for which you care the most ---

Sarah cared for beauty of love [lg dot]
She loved Louis so much she Cherished "love'. --- Caring for beauty

And truth --- Caring --- giving what she
Cared forall her energy [3 big dots] putting into action enthusiasm for love,
Shakespeare's ideas through his plays And poems ---

[new page]

A student of mine in [my] Judith Gap 13 years English -- library -- art -- teaching -- told a student at Box Elder (my last two years – library ) – journalism) that I taught Shakespeare and wore blue boots (Robin's-Egg Tony Lama Boots)

[here long centered horizontal line for paragraph and idea separation, for emphasis.]

Sarah left her huge collection of books to be passed on to me when Dr. Rumley [Then English Dept Chair MSC] had no more use or room for them --- eventually I turned them over to AAUM [for their annual book sale] (we both belonged to the Bozeman one [AAUW Chapter].in the 40's --- I belong here now.

Value is to care for something and keep it in the best condition [that] one can ---
I think [new thought] --- I love books -- music -- the outdoors,

[new page]

Sarah surrounded herself with beauty --- a lovely oriental rug --- I grew up in what is now a Historic home' in Owatonua, MN ----- Wilton Oriental rugs, Ionic Columns of a large front porch. --- Maple trees on its leeward, prints of famous paintings --- [namely] The Roman Coliseum, Blue Boy, Aurora Opening the Gates of Heaven [Dawn]– lovely furniture (My grandfather had a furniture store I played in) --- loved the feel of golden oak wood --- looking at picture catalog --- .

[new page]

[Here Shirley here suddenly remembers the art of her 6th Grade to 12th Grade.]

Carnegie art teacher from U of Minnesota from [my] 6th Grade to 12th.
[I practically] Lived in the Watonia Public Library with Carnegie Art and Music Collection through [my] high school years --= my mother was a librarian --------

My grandfather & great grand father collected books ---

And I have also --

Losing vision now, I shall [plan to stop reading books and] begin the "talking books" program [Provided for the blind by the Library of Congress] in Instead. I'll still be part of AAUW Calling Committee --- go to meetings ----- our aim now to get more women educated here --------

Do you see how Pirsig
…Cared for his motorcycle?

Cordially –

Shirley

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr: Although Mrs. Luhrsen, in her ramble seen above, may have forgotten (from my letter’s questions about “Quality” or "Value" what her topic should be), we can see that she nevertheless, mindfully keeps an overall sense, that never leaves the topic of Value.
…And in her closing words, with thoughts of Pirsig's Caring, she now remembers her topic explicitly. => Correspondingly, as you will see below, Mrs. Luhrsen, adds a very large & boldly triple underlined PS !! Thus suggesting "NOW I WILL GET THIS WRITING TO THE POINT, ONCE AND FOR ALL”!!
…The net result is rather close to the full sense of ZMM.
…Mrs. Luhrsen’s Letter then continues below => ]

PS Perhaps Value is giving your All to
trying to understand

I'm much into [Isaac] Asimov's literature ----
Have you read “I Robot” ------ Susan Calvin ----- that is Zen –-

SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr: This above is the end of Shirley’s page 5. Now, in Mrs. Luhrsen's next two & final pages we see further expansion of => What she has been saying above, about Value & Quality: AND we should realize that => This is rather close to what Robert Pirsig says about these topics in ZMM overall.
…Below in Shirley’s writing about Value, her thinking jumps to “Asimov's” “I Robot”, a book which she is currently reading. I interpret that she also sees in this book, what she is trying to say about Value & Quality, in her words above.
… The fact she is reading Asimov’s “I Robot” book, and name Susan Calvin, happens to be also mentioned in Shirley’s articles “Letters From Deer Creek”, which she wrote on 5 Aug 04 and 2 Dec 04.

… These '' “Letters From Deer Creek”, Are Shirley’s Weekly “Column” Written For Her Local Newspaper “Lone Peak Lookout”. I suspect she has written this weekly column, for 16 to 18 years!
…And Shirley’s Obituary says "The Letters from Deer Creek" was the longest running newspaper column in the United States.”
…Although this might seem amazing, we should remember A) “Eleanor Roosevelt wrote "My Day," a national syndicated newspaper column, from 31 December 1935 until 26 September 1962” = 27 years. … And can’t be true since B) :The longest serving newspaper columnist is Sid Hartman (USA) who has written for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, since 11 September 1945, for a total of 74.3 years, as verified on the 28 January 2020.”
…END SIDE NOTE;

Keats said it ----

Matter piles up – forms rocks and diamonds under pressure [3 big dots] to become copper, iron, zinc, plutonium ----

Protoplasmic matter --- skin – bones,

strength to rise and go on --- eventually ---
I try to tune it to wake up and live ---

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr: Here Mrs. Luhrsen is at the bottom of her paper, and is at the end of her strength. So she stops here without an ending. As you read these ending words, you probably felt sad, as I did in this work of editing these letters.
…But … we know this is not the end for either Shirly or ourselves!!
…After all (as noted above) she sparkle-ly wrote as her letter went to post: “Back to Deer Creek tomorrow”!! So we should be looking for the continuation, of her writing (below), and her life, and our own.
…By HSG 23 June 2010.]

B) Mrs. Luhrsen's SECOND Of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”: In Crisis And Joy, Sarah Was There To Help; She Was Wise. (First typed letter.)

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr:
…In continuing response to my many telephone research questions, below is Shirley Luhrsen's SECOND letter. Here, despite the fact that she is going blind, she effectively uses a manual typewriter to formally type-up what she knows of her dear friend, and mentor, and professor.
…Surprisingly, there are no strike-throughs on her letter and relatively few error correction changes such as “back space & type-over” to correct spelling. I have preserved her period marks (or absence) as they appear in her letter. My editing additions in [brackets], come from my many phone conversations with Mrs Luhrsen, from 2004 to approximately 2013.
…The Essay Title for her essay = “Sarah Vinke” (and this is also the Title for First Section “1946--April”) are Shirley's own, as evidenced by their relative placement and spaces on her typed version. These appear below in my bold. Also, I have tried to duplicate the spacing if these titles and other parts of Mrs. Luhrsen's letter, with similar spacing to her's.
… However Mrs Luhrsen's First Section Title idea = “1946—April”, was not continued for the remainder of her letter. (Remember she is nearly blind, and couldn't see her failure to complete what was started.) But Section Titles seemed a good idea, so I supplied the remainder of these Paragraph Titles, marked in [brackets].
…Somehow Shirley failed to mail this SECOND version in May 04, so in mid September 04 she created ANOTHER typed version, which appears as her THIRD letter at C) below. Between these two letters, you will see lots of overlap in information, but also interesting new revelations, plus needed details and dates, in one letter that do not appear in the other.
… Mrs. Luhrsen's SECOND Of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”: Typewriter Written, starts below => ]

Sunday morning [May 2004]

Dear Henry

Professor Sarah Vinke Was A Wonderful Part of My Life At Montana College, Bozeman.

1946--April.

[Graduate From MSC Spring 1947 and Start Teaching Fall 1947]

[Spring 1949: Sarah Vinke Sabbatical & Trip to Europe, and Shirley Luhrsen with Husband Leave Bozeman]

[September] 1960.

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr:: In one of Mrs Luhrsen's phone conversations to me, she stated that Pirsig assisted Sarah onto (and off) a cot to rest between classes. In another conversation, Mrs Luhrsen said that “Sarah was very limited in walking due to Parkinson's.” Mrs Luhrsen happened to mention Sarah's Parkinson's several times over the phone. So we may conclude that the cot assistance and Sarah's walking with a cane are also likely on account of Parkinson Disease , and perhaps the added effects of being just weak from old age . Pirsig in ZMM, stated that Sarah “came trotting” by”, perhaps a nice way to describe Sarah's gate due to the effect of the Parkinson Disease on her: Especially since Mrs Luhrsen said several times, when hearing how Pirsig described Sarah, that “Sarah did not “trot”. Or perhaps Pirsig is taking “artistic license”, and says in “nicely”. ‘came trotting” rather than the “ugly truth” “Parkinson’s clumsy walking with a cane”.
…Since Shirley encountered Sarah while walking with a cane, onto the MSC campus, and going to Mantana Hall, it is very likely Sarah was coming from her http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/SarahVinkeWasHere/GoogStVu_DuplexHome_598Sb521W_ArthurSt_BozemanMT_BestAngle?full=1 }White Duplex Home, at 521 West Arthur Street, Bozeman MT, just a bit over three blocks directly East of Montana State University’s Montana Hall.
…As already mentioned in a previous photo Concerning Clark Apartments, Sarah had her, US Mail Address made up into a rubber-stamp device, meant that she considered both the her address there to be ~ long term. Similar to Clark Apartments, a second rubber-stamp-address shows 521 West Arthur Street, just a bit over three blocks directly East of MSU’s Montana Hall.
…It would seem probable that Sarah, would choose this address (actually at the very edge of MSU Campus), since in her later years she was getting older, and had difficulty walking. Putting together all know facts about Sarah’s living quarters, it is most logical that Sarah lived here. ]

[ADDED COMMENT by Dennis Gary =>) “If Shirley is correct that Sarah developed Parkinson's Disease, this too could explain her [Sarah's] handwriting and her attempts to control it. I have witnessed another person with it and how he would be close to normal at times and almost incapacitated at others, sometimes within minutes, medicine being only a partial solution and having its own side effects.
…As her student, I remember being in Sarah's office when her hand would tremble so much she could not light a cigarette, would just give up with a shrug then trying again later. ”
…To this Henry Gurr replies: “Dennis: Good points!! Thank you!! And this gave me another insight: In ZMM Pirsig said Sarah "Came trotting by ... " Since Mrs Luhrsen indignently said “Sarah NOT trot: Mr. Pirsig’s word “trot”, may have been his nice way to describe the “clunk-clunk” type of steps she was making, because of the Parkinsons, with it's attendant complications, forcing her to use a cane, to clumsily walk. ]

[?1975 - 1980?]

P. S. I thought I'd better write this letter while I prepare something more focused on Dr. Sarah --- less on me.

…END of Mrs. Luhrsen's SECOND Of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”:

C) Mrs. Luhrsen's THIRD of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”: 'In Crisis and Joy, Sarah was there to help; She Was Wise. (Second typed letter.)

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr: Shirley Luhrsen's above mentioned “May 2004” letter, according to her added note, was misplaced until it was finally discovered and mailed with a 26 June 2004 postmark.
…Somehow Shirley had failed to remember, that she had mailed-off her SECOND letter back in May 2004, so she here below, tries AGAIN, her THIRD letter .... to tell us what she knows of her beloved Sarah Vinke. Surprisingly, there again are no strike-throughs on her letter and relatively few error correction changes such as “back space & type-over” to correct spelling. I have preserved her period marks (or absence) as they appear in her letter. My editing additions in [brackets], come from my many phone conversations with Luhrsen, from 2004 to approximately 2013.
…Compared to her SECOND letter above, you will see lots of duplicate overlap in information, but also interesting new revelations, plus needed details and dates. This is her SECOND formal effort to do a type-up (as opposed to hand writing), and tell us what she knows of her beloved Professor Sarah Vinke.
… Mrs. Luhrsen's THIRD Of Three “Sarah Vinke Letters”: Typewriter Written, starts below => ]]

1822 West Beall, Apt B
Bozeman, MT 59715
9/13/04

Dear Dr. Henry Gurr

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr: Above we see Mrs. Luhrsen sadly becomes aware of her failing abilities. From my numerous phone conversations, I know that her loss of vision, has really & increasingly been difficult for her to take, and I suspect, causing depression. But below, she regains her composure, and with joyful thoughts, comes back “full strength”!! …Below Shirley mentions her “short column weekly” This has been uninterrupted for some 16 to 18 years! ]

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr:: This is a very short biography, about one page, which is in the MSU Archives. This copy from Shirley (the first I knew about it). did get to me. To See This Short Biography, Click Here: And AFTER This Page Comes Up. Scroll down to VlNKE, SARAH JENNINGS 1894 – 1978, ]

Doing this work [has been exceedingly difficult, and thus] has meant more to me than you can realize . . . I can't read this copy . . . and I've had to move my typewriter to the kitchen table.

Let me know if your book turns out. I'll be around for twenty more years. [Shirley somehow thinks that all my work & questions about Robert Pirsig & his ZMM, will be published in book format, rather than posted to the Internet as WebPages, such as you are reading now .]

Cordially, Shirley L. Luhrsen

[Just above her typed name as above, “Shirley" added in pen ink a special fancy figure => This was done with correct spatial placement, along with a flourish to right, and a circle swing under, to the left ... signifying … "It is great to be finally done!!!" ]

[SIDE NOTE By Henry Gurr:: This is the END of Mrs. Shirley Luhrsen's THIRD and final letter, in her efforts to tell us about her beloved friend and mentor, Sarah Vinke. HSG needs to clarify what years Sarah entertained at at her apartment & what type of functions, people, etc were at various Vinke parties Shirley mentions.

…These Sarah Vinke letters (originals, along with other related information, documents, photos, and books) which I happened to have collected, will be eventually placed in the MSU Archives.
…By Henry Gurr 23 June, 2010.]

THE BIRTH OF A NEW “FACT” & “THE KEY” To Finding Shirley Luhrsen! This KEY Came From English Professor Gary F. Wegner:!! By Henry Gurr, June, 2010.

How This WebPage Came To Be, With More Details & Particulars Concerning The Twists & Turns, Of ZMM Research.

I started my active ZMM Research Into the Persons and Personalities, --- Events and Places --- Of ZMM Book, in the Winter of 2002. Back then my Google Search Page Efforts, averaged perhaps 20 hours a month, tapering down to several hours a months more recently. Of course there have been many wonderful discoveries, and lots of interesting reading!

But ONE Discovery --- A SINGLE Internet Sentence --- For Me A New Fact ---
…Stands Out Among All The Rest --- In Terms Of Total Discovered Information Of ZMM Book & Related Historical Information!! Also Total Resulting ZMMQ Webpage Content, Both In Quantity AND Quality!! (See Italics Sentence Below.)

Here Is The Story:
…Gary Wegner, was an English Professor in ?Madison, Wisconsin? when the ZMM book came out. On his WebPages he said: . "Pirsig's journey begins in St. Paul, Minnesota on Monday, July 8 of 1968 and ends in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 24. … Ten years later, in the summer on 1978, four years after the publication of Pirsig's novel, my wife and I retraced part of his [Pirsig's] journey.” On one of his WebPage Photos, Gary said that he and his wife Barbara: "In 1978 went to the [MSU] Library to research Pirsig's tenure at Montana State University. We met a former English teacher named Shirley Luhrsen who knew Pirsig when he taught there in the early 60's From the library window, Shirley pointed out the rear of the Montana Hall building where Pirsig taught English." [Italics by HSG for emphasis.]

As You See From the Above (and My Story Below), This Single Sentence, Naming Shirley Luhrsen. Was Indeed, One of Robert Pirsig's “DISCOVERY OF A NEW FACCT”!! To Quote From ZMM:
… “The birth of a new fact is always a wonderful thing to experience. It’s dualistically called a "discovery" because of the presumption that it has an existence independent of anyone’s awareness of it. When it comes along, it always has, at first, a low value. Then, depending on the value-looseness of the observer and the potential quality of the fact, its value increases, either slowly or rapidly, or the value wanes and the fact disappears. .... the track of Quality preselects what data we’re going to be conscious of, and it makes this selection in such a way as to best harmonize what we are with what we are becoming.“

Several Months Passed Before I Was Able To '”Give It A Go On Google” :
...But with this Shirley Luhrsen “New Fact”, I quickly found Mrs Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek” which was her weekly column on “The Lone Peak Look Out”. This is her local newspaper, from a Montana mountain town called Big Sky, located South of Bozeman MT.
….THEN! AHA!! …. A phone number!! And not only did Shirley Luhrsen answer, and listen carefully about the purpose of my ZMM Research, she readily agreed to help!!
…And since that first phone call, on Feb 13, 2004, six years of fruitful friendship have developed!! As you saw above, all that Shirley writing & research started with that Google discovery of a “tiny crack in a door” --- A Single Sentence --- A New “Fact”, that Mrs. Luhrsen knew of Robert Pirsig!! This “tiny crack in the door”, eventually opens into two whole new worlds!! …. The world of Sarah Vinke, as well as the world of Shirley Luhrsen!!

AN EARLIER BIRTH OF A NEW “FACT” & “THE KEY” To Just How Gary Wegner (With All His Wonderful & Extensive Help), Just Happen To Be Found! =>.The KEY Came When => Gary F. Wegner Happened To Discover (~2004- 2005 ), Henry Gurr’s Posted Photos Prompted Wegner To Post His OWN Photos, And Then Announced In An Email Sent To Henry Gurr.

The Full Story How Gary Wegner’s Photo Documentary WebPage Came To Be, With More Details & Particulars Concerning The Twists & Turns, Of ZMM Research.

…By Henry Gurr, November, 21, 2023.
I started my active ZMM Research Into the Persons and Personalities, --- Events and Places --- Of ZMM Book, in the Winter of 2002.
…And when I retired from teaching in June gf 2002, giving me time to follow the Roads & Towns outlined in the ZMM Book Travel Narrative. I had long thought that I ought to do this.
…So … As a research project in Summer 2002, I traveled the ZMM Route and did my best to find (and photograph) the actual physical places described on each page, by the Narrator.
…My own "ZMM Trip" started at the University of Chicago 9 June 2002. I arrived in Minneapolis late on the same day. The following the entire ZMM Route, I arrived at the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge mid afternoon 8 July 2002, 30 days later. I took a total of 1901 photographs.
…By March 2005 my ZMMQuality.Org WebSite, was beginning to look good, and by this time, most of my 2002 ZMM Route Research Photos, were newly posted.
…Some time in 2004 or 2005, English Professor Gary Wegner happened to discover my Posted ZMM Route Research Photos. This prompted him to post his OWN photos, and then announced these in an Email sent to me.
******
Below Is What Gary Wegner Said About His Posted Photos.
…”Robert Pirsig, took in the summer of 1968, accompanied by his son, Chris, and his neighbors, John and Sylvia Sutherland. Pirsig's journey begins in St. Paul, Minnesota on Monday, July 8 of 1968 and ends in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 24. “
….”Ten years later, in the summer of 1978, four years after the publication of Pirsig's novel, my wife and I retraced part of his journey. We left Spring Green, Wisconsin on a Saturday, July 29, 1978.
…Click Here For Archive.org 23 Oct 2007 Version Of Professor Wegner’s Travelog Maps, Narrative, & Photos Of Robert Pirsig’s ZMM Route 1968..
NOTE1: AFTER the above Blue Link comes up, you will see that this Version of Prof Wegner’s Travelogue, has been Archived 26 times from 02 Jan 07, to 02 June 09.
NOTE2: One early version of Professor Wegner’s “Travelog”, still partly comes up on Archive.org. AFTER the above Blue Link comes up, you will see that this Version of Prof Wegner’s Travelogue, has been Archived 4times from 27 Mar 10 to 02 July 10. These are listed, BUT These Versions Do Not Work.
… AFTER this page comes up, at top, you can click on the Day1, Day2, Day3, etc, to read Prof Wegner’s Travelog text. And, you may click on the Orange Words, to see his photos.
******

Click Here For FIRST Of FIVE Of Gary Wegner’s 1978 Photos Of MSU’s Montana Hall. This is where Shirley Luhrsen said Robert Pirsig once taught English 1959-1961.
….Mr. Wegner’s Photos are practically the only photos we have of A Third Floor Classroom, prior to extensive conversion of Montana Hall to Administrative Offices. Thus his photo(s) are very important.
…After the First of the above mentioned Five Photos cones up, you will see a link to a 23 Oct 2007 Version Of Professor Wegner’s Travelog Maps, Narrative, & Photos Of Robert Pirsig’s ZMM Route 1968. AFTER this page comes up, you can click on the Red Markers, to see photos and discussion for Robert Pirsig’s 1968 ZMM Trip. Click On [7/13/68], for Bozeman. And AFTER this page comes up => Click on Green (Montana Hall), to see Prof Wegner’s 7 Photos Of Montana Hall.
******

Additional Information & Resources Related To Shirley Luhrsen.

Newspaper Article: “Need Home for Large Mural Wall Hanging:” “The tapestry was created in 1984 as a memorial to Bozeman resident Shirley Luhrsen's mother, Donna Markley. .... ”

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_dba2140c-355a-11df-9507-001cc4c002e0.html

Luhrsen (Luehrsen) Family Members [A Genealogy Table Going Back To 1880. ]

I believe this is the Family Tree of Shirley Luhrsen, and her late husband, Robert William Luhrsen . It seems up-to-date, showing Mrs Luhrsen's children, grands and great grands
http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~carlam/infor/Luhrsen.html
The Internet Server http://www.homepage.montana.edu/ says Montana State University.

In Celebration of Our Past 1989 – 2004 Index [Of Articles & Books)

From Bozeman Public Library]
http://76.162.205.6/media/downloads/In%20Celebration%20of%20Our%20Past.pdf

How Can We Read Shirley Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek”? Perhaps On Paper at a Library, And On The Internet, But Only With A Special Partly Manual Search Technique.

Mrs Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek” are her weekly column in “The Lone Peak LookOut”, a local newspaper from the Montana mountain town called Big Sky, located South of Bozeman MT.
…Although, back in 2004, Google was able to find these Letters, and even Mrs Luhrsen's name: These Google found at htp://lonepeaklookout.com/ However, this is no longer true. In fact Google doesn't seem to be able to find any Shirley Luhrsen related topic, at htt://lonepeaklookout.com/. Try as I may, their archive search, can not find “Luhrsen” or “Deer Creek”..
…Thus, It seems with Google & normal internet WebPages that we can not find Shirley Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek”, on this WebSite.
…Thus, to see Mrs. Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek” you might find the Big Sky, MT Public Library has a collection, all the way back to Look Out's 1982 beginning.
…If you have additional information, please contact me.

“The Internet Archive Wayback Machine“ normally is a way to access old materials, that are no longer available as UpToDate WebPages. And indeed lonepeaklookout.com/ according to Archive.com has been “Saved 16,214 times between September 19, 2000 and October 27, 2023. AND clicking around, everything seems to work normally. However, with my normal search methods, I can not find any leads to either Shirley. Luhrsen or her '' “Letters From Deer Creek”.
…But since the blue link above showed a huge listing of available Lone Peak Look Out pages, I persisted, and started to Bring-Up, in turn each of these Pages. After Bringing-Up about 200 of these, I found my first Shirley Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek”, AND in this link are letters columnists Oh Ho!! A Key Search Term!!
…Now, despite the fact that This Arghive.org Page, gives a huge list at right just above the list is a Search Box that can “filter”] and put in this box columnists And then you will get this page. Which lists 43 Hits, among which have the following Shirly Luhrsen’s '' “Letters From Deer Creek”.
http://www.lonepeaklookout.com/articles/2004/01/23/news/lookout_columnists/acol05.prt
http://www.lonepeaklookout.com/articles/2004/01/23/news/lookout_columnists/acol05.txt
http://www.lonepeaklookout.com/articles/2003/10/10/news/lookout_columnists/col03.prt
http://www.lonepeaklookout.com/articles/2003/11/26/news/lookout_columnists/zcol04.txt

…Of course, this is only tiny fraction of what Shirly had written, but how can we easily find more?.
…Well, looking above see date 2004/0123 OH HO that is clue to how to find more.
…However, I can spend no more time on this quest.

If You Have Additional Information Concerning => Mrs. Luhrsen's “Letters From Deer Creek”, please contact Henry Gurr, HenryG__USCA.edu.

Also, If you have questions or more information is needed, please do not hesitate to write by email.

Sincerely
Henry Gurr
Professor of Physics Emeritus
University of South Carolina Aiken.

The Following Testimonial Tells Of Holding Power Of Big Sky, MT’s Weekly Newspaper => “The Lone Peak Lookout”. And Read Below, To Learn How Shirley Luhrsen’s Is Part Ot This Holding Power!

Three Decades Of Covering Big Sky, By Jolene Keller, Lone Peak Lookout Jan 11, 2012

The man who started it all.
…Kevin Kelleher, who founded the Lone Peak Lookout 30 years ago, poses in front of the Toyota sporting the newspaper’s logo. The Lone Peak Lookout, like that Toyota, is still running strong.

Thirty years may have passed, but Lone Peak Lookout founder Kevin Kelleher still proudly displays in his home and garage old photographs, newspapers and memorabilia from the early years of the Lookout. He still drives his 1983 copper colored Toyota Tercel emblazoned with the Lone Peak Lookout logo, the station wagon he and his wife Jennifer used to deliver papers. And he's still more than happy to sit down and discuss his days at the Lookout.

After finishing up his journalism degree at the University of Idaho, 29-year-old Kelleher spent some time whitewater kayaking in Idaho, an activity he still enjoys to this day. In May 1982 he realized it was high time to put his degree to use, and he and Jennifer made their way to Big Sky. The couple purchased the then defunct newspaper, the Big Sky View. Within the month they had written and designed the first issue of Lone Peak Lookout, working from a small cabin in the Gallatin Canyon north of Big Sky.

"The early years were tough," said Kelleher. "In the recession of 1982 I bought the Toyota wagon at 15 percent interest so we could sell ads door to door from Bozeman to West Yellowstone."

And not all businesses were receptive to newcomers. In one instance Kelleher recalled stopping by one restaurant in West Yellowstone to sell an ad, only to be denied. He pressed the issue a little further, and the restaurant owner explained that he had been unsatisfied by the last Big Sky paper that had failed to uphold their advertising contract. Eventually Kelleher took the hint when the owner threw coffee at him and told him to get out.

"That fired me up to the point that I was not going to fail on this thing," Kelleher said, noting that eventually he was able to successfully win the disgruntled restaurant owner over.

In the end, the businesses of West Yellowstone were the ones that kept the Lookout running during the winter season.

Kelleher said the first big story the Lookout covered was the infamous "Mountain Man Murders" that took place in the Jack Creek area in 1984. He said he was first on the scene snapping photos of the helicopter that brought in the body of Alan Goldstein, the man who was killed while attempting to save Kari Swenson, a 23-year-old international biathlon star who was kidnapped by a father and son who had been living in the wilderness.

While the "Mountain Man" stories received national recognition, Kelleher's vision for what the Lookout should cover was a bit more locally based.

"I was convinced that a successful weekly had to be environmentally conscious, had to focus on recreation, and use local names. And it had to be free," Kelleher told The Blade, a Toledo newspaper that interviewed Ohio native Kelleher in October 1995.

And Kelleher stayed true to those goals, writing 18 years of weekly editorials called "Outlooks" that often cut to the core of local issues.

Other early writers for the Lookout included Shirley Luhrsen's weekly column, "Letters from Deer Creek," popular with locals and out-of-towners alike. Kelleher said he was often told that Luhrsen's whimsical writings brought the feeling of Montana to whoever read them, wherever they might be at the time.

Then there was Dick Barton's "Reflections from the Beaver Pond," the environmental column.

The local environment was also at the core of various investigative articles and editorials, including ones that focused on the less-than-functional early Big Sky sewer ponds that spurred the creation of the Big Sky Sewer and Water District.

"We didn't back away from controversial stories that would affect advertising or readership," Kelleher said. "We covered things like misdeeds of the Owners' Association, the gondola derailment and avalanches."

There were also editorials supporting the Big Sky Resort Tax District in 1992, and the hot-topic issue of whether or not to allow commercial trucking through the Canyon. Kelleher was part of the formation of the Canyon Citizens for a Safer Highway group that worked from 1986 to 1988 to eventually ban placarded hazardous materials from being transported on the 22-mile stretch of highway through Yellowstone National Park and subsequently the rest of the Canyon.

Dozens of stories and editorials focused on the Canyon trucking issue were published in the Lookout during that time, and Kelleher's environmental standpoint that shipping hazardous materials near the Gallatin River was a disaster waiting to happen was what eventually swayed the federal government to ban the placarded trucks.

"I still view that as we won a major battle but didn't win the war," Kelleher said.

In 1992 the Lookout went from being a seasonal weekly to the 52-week-a-year publication we know it as today. That same year it became Montana's first full color weekly publication, a milestone in the industry.

In the years to follow the Lookout added an intern program that brought in students from around the country to take part in all facets of running a weekly paper, from writing to printing and mailing.

"That was very rewarding to me," said Kelleher.

But Kelleher's most rewarding moment in his newspaper career was being awarded the coveted Montana Newspaper Association's Outstanding Weekly Newspaper in Montana in 1995.

"That was really the epitome of success of a weekly newspaper in Montana," Kelleher said. "It was a great honor that tied all of our efforts in helping our community grow, and I think a weekly paper is a big part of that."

In 1998, after 16 years of writing, designing and publishing, Kelleher quietly decided to sell the Lookout to Pioneer Publishing who also owned the Bozeman Chronicle. He said it was a tough decision, but the right one. At the time he was battling cancer with chemotherapy and decided it was time for a change of pace.

"I felt I had taken the Lookout as far as I could take it," he said.

So at age 45 Kelleher said goodbye to the Lookout, but not to his community. He's still active in local organizations and strives to get in his 100 days of skiing every winter and kayaking in the summer. And after attending so many Big Sky public meetings and events over the past decades, he's currently working on a book detailing the events of the 1980s and 1990s in Big Sky, a time of growth and transition.

So now, three decades since the Kellehers successfully created Big Sky's only weekly paper, the Lookout continues to strive to cover what matters most to the community, week after week.

Additional Reading Related to the Above Letters

1) The Sarah Vinke Of My Student Days, by Dennis Gary.
http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/SarahVinkeMemories1

2) Short article, “BOOKS I’VE ENJOYED” by Sarah Jennings Vinke, with added commentary by Dennis Gary and Henry Gurr. This was originally published, 1960, in the Montana Library Association Journal.
http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/SarahVinkeBookEnjoy

3) COMMENTARY RE SARAH VINKE’S “BOOKS I’VE ENJOYED”.
Our Email Conversations As Well As Information Re Viewing On Internet
by Dennis Gary, BS. Montana State College, 1960 AND Henry Gurr, ZMMQ WebSite Master
http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/SarahVinkeBkEnjoyDiscuss#MoreThanGreekClassical

4) Pirsig Memory “The Divine Sarah”
http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/SarahVinkeTheDivine

5) Vinke>Pirsig>Origins “Quality” & MOQ
http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/QualityVinkePirsig

6) Additional links for your further study & research, are listed at left, in The Main Menu, where it says "Research:1950’s Montana State U English Dept".

7) Click Here To See A Photo Of Shirley Luhrsen, At Her Knitting, And Read Her Obituary. After this comes up, you will read that

Edited by David M. 4 July 2013. RevHSG18-23Nov23.

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