Marcia Lewis, shown Wednesday in the Baptist House kitchen, traveled the world with her husband.
HEIDI WARREN
Contributing Writer
Marcia Lewis is a retired middle school teacher who has never stopped learning or guiding the next generations.
Relaxing at Brick Walk Cafe with a scoop of ice cream and a book, Lewis sits next to a large group of adolescents crowding around the neighboring table. The boys have gathered most of the other tables’ chairs. As the boys abandon it, Lewis can’t stop herself from kindly reminding them to restore order — which they promptly did.
“If you don’t speak up, people assume it is OK to keep doing what you are doing,” she said.
Avid travelers Lewis and her husband Bob, who died in 2013, discovered Chautauqua Institution as a permanent place to call home during the summers. More than three decades ago, Bob’s barbershop group had a Sunday afternoon performance in the Amphitheater. It was kismet. Bob quickly joined the Motet Choir. Marcia has spent the entire season, primarily staying in denominational houses, on grounds for the last 15 years.
Curiosity was the hallmark of Lewis’ youth. Books were her only gateway to meaningful connections or other people’s experiences.
“We had no car, no money, and we never went any place,” Lewis explains of her childhood in an inner-city district of Albany, New York. Only 3 years old when her father died, Lewis and her brother were raised by a single mother, who cared for her mother as well. “But I went many places in my books.”
Turning pages of the novel Last Days of Pompeii at 8 years old solidified her resolve to cross the oceans. Even then, Lewis knew it must be full immersion by actively participating in other societies.
“I was always fascinated by different places, culture, people and religion,” she said. “I decided as a young child I was meant for a life abroad.”
While still a teenager, she started traveling on a shoestring budget and house-swapping domestically. After graduating from Cornell University at age 21, she spent one year as a family and consumer science instructor. Then she moved to Athens, Greece, for another year while teaching at an international school. Lewis and a friend traveled extensively, including an 18-hour train ride to Egypt.
“It was probably not the safest place,” she said with a chuckle. However, Lewis was always met with kindness and remained unscathed on her adventures.
Living in an Athens YMCA only increased her desire to make deeper connections and get to know people on a one-to-one basis.
Ever a pragmatist, the Webster, New York, resident returned to teach for 32 more years to earn a pension. Lewis incorporated what she learned into her curriculum, especially the foods.
“I encouraged my students to get out and see the world,” she said.
She always traveled during summer and holiday breaks with friends or her husband.
Ultimately, she and Bob chose travel over having children of their own, knowing they couldn’t afford both. However, educating youth and adults alike about the acceptance of other cultures remains her goal 25 years after her official retirement.
They also circumnavigated the globe twice on cruise boats. In 2007, Lewis took a teacher friend’s class stuffed penguin on a 2.5-month cruise. She emailed pictures and lessons back to the third graders about their experiences. Other times, the couple would live in other cities like Prague or Paris for months.
While staying in the City of Light, she called up the famous culinary institute Le Cordon Bleu to ask about a tour. The secretary who answered the phone gave it herself. Once on campus, she asked about
taking a class.
“‘You don’t speak French! You’re not a student!’ my husband cautioned,” she said.
In fact, the couple did take several evening classes — translators included — where a meal was also
prepared and served.
At age 56, she also managed to audit a graduate-level class on Old Testament prophets at a Rochester-area divinity school.
“It never hurts to ask…What do you have to lose?” Lewis advised. “Just talk to people.”
The best advice she can give beyond traditional sightseeing is to find a local, international Christian church.
“They are usually non-denominational and geared for English speakers,” the lifelong Lutheran explained, like embassy staff. “They were our community to point us in the right directions.”
Locally, even if no one will accompany her, Lewis attends events held at various religious venues. Some of her favorites have been celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, or Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. She made friends at a mosque, and subsequently, they came to Christmas dinner.
Her recreation center offers free continuous learning classes, called “Daytime Education At Recreation.” Lewis calls it her mini-Chautauqua. She is currently learning how to drum.
“If you’re 50 and over, you don’t have to just play cards or Bingo,” she said.
Lewis has taken and taught classes. Most recently, she led one about the Institution. Two of her recent students just spent Week Four as first-time patrons, and 20 more are visiting on Aug. 2.
Lewis reads 108 books per year on average, and is afraid that as a society we don’t do enough reading. Theo of Golden, a novel by Allen Levi, is her current all-time favorite. Levi is a former attorney-turned-musician and storyteller from Columbus, Georgia.
“How do we know what to say? Worried people will think strange things about us if we speak the wrong words,” she said. “So what … Put yourself out there. It’s a big world out there.”
Heidi Greene Warren is a longtime Chautauquan who, in a former life, was a writer for The Virginian-Pilot, based in Norfolk, Virginia. Send suggestions of interesting Chautauquans to feature in a story to:
HeyHeidiGW@gmail.com.
