Reconnecting with a Friend: Deja Vu
While attending the University of Florida as an undergraduate in the late ‘60s, I met a professor with whom I had something in common—the United States Navy. I had recently returned from two years active duty as a quartermaster on the destroyer, USS Forrest Sherman, and was continuing my education on the G.I. Bill.
Having navigated across the Atlantic and throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, I was very interested in taking geography courses. The first was physical geography. It was taught by Dr. Lou Paganini, a new professor at 48. His previous career was as a navy harbor pilot, having served 24 years before retiring then going on to college to earn his Ph.D. in geography.
Lou Paganini at 86
His lectures were interwoven with relevant stories from his travels. The tales always brought geography to life; made it exciting; and made me want to learn more. As a result, I minored in geography and forged a friendship with Lou.
Years went by, and there would be an occasional card or phone call, but eventually we lost contact.
In 2005, I was visiting Florida with my family and we drove to Gainesville to show my sons the university. While at the Ramada Inn watching “20-20,” there was an episode about how easy it is using the Internet to find someone you haven’t seen for decades. My wife said, “Why don’t you see if you can find Lou.” I figured he must be in his mid-eighties and if he was still around, he’d probably be in Gainesville. Before logging on, I simply reached for the hotel-room phone book. There he was, “Louis A. Paganini,” living in the NW section of Gainesville, where I remembered his home.
I dialed his number. He picked up. “Hello?”
“Lou?”
“Yep.”
“John Ellsworth. . . , from the 60s.”
“Hey, John, how ya doin’?” There was instant recognition. “Where are you?”
“In Gainesville with my family and dog. Can we come say hello?”
“Absolutely!” He gave me directions and off we went—we were there in less than an hour.
While visiting, I noticed a photo on his wall of eight dugout canoes, or piraguas. He said he took the photo while living with an indigenous people in Panama, while researching his dissertation. Here’s the photo:
Piraguas of Panama, 1968
I exclaimed that I had a modern-day version of a similar photo—one of eight dinghies tied to a floating dock in my hometown of Northport, NY. I showed him the photo on my website using his computer.
The compositions of our photos were almost identical. We couldn’t believe it until he told me that he showed this photo in one of his slide shows while teaching physical geography. We concluded that the form of the image resided in my senses all those years, for I composed my shot in a parallel manner. Here’s my photo:
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do
After staying in Sanibel Island for a week, we returned through Gainesville and Lou gave me the transparency of the shot. Eventually I scanned it and sent him “Deja vu”–his photo and mine under a single frame. I also have a copy in my house.
I have since returned to Gainesville twice and hope to go in the near future. The photo of Lou above, was taken about two years ago on my last visit. He turned 90 in March and is alert and healthy.
I had physical geography with Lou Paganini in the late 1970s — I took the course simply because I didn’t know what else to take and I liked the violin music of Niccolo Paganini. As you may know, they are distantly related — and there is a STRONG family resemblance. He was a riot and I am glad to know he is well. I wound up majoring in geography.