{"id":1263,"date":"2009-05-11T16:27:30","date_gmt":"2009-05-11T21:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2014-09-23T08:36:14","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T13:36:14","slug":"liblenhoff051109","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/liblenhoff051109\/","title":{"rendered":"California Retirees Make Oxford Home, Become Known for Their Acts of Kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"skb?1027-cpr-lenhoffs.jpg\"<\/p>\n
\nHoward and Sylvia Lenhoff.<\/b> UM photo by Kevin Bain\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

OXFORD,
\nMiss. – When California retirees Howard and Sylvia Lenhoff moved to
\nOxford seven years ago, they immediately began to immerse themselves in
\ntheir new environment, making connections not only for their own
\nenjoyment but also looking for ways to make a difference in the lives
\nof others.<\/p>\n

One of the first places they began visiting was the
\nUniversity of Mississippi, especially the J.D. Williams Library. It
\nseemed natural, because the Lenhoffs come from an academic environment,
\nwere engaged in research in the history of experimental biology and are
\nbook aficionados. They spent the majority of their careers at the
\nUniversity of California at Irvine, where Howard is a professor
\nemeritus of biology and Sylvia served as director of relations with
\nschools and colleges.<\/p>\n

Over the years, they had acquired an
\nimpressive collection of books, much of which they brought with them
\nwhen they moved. “It’s fairly normal that, when a professor dies, the
\nspouse is often left with classics in a chosen field and opts to sell
\nthem to book dealers,” Howard said.<\/p>\n

Not so for the Lenhoffs, who
\nalready are known from Oxford to the Mississippi Delta for their
\ncharitable activities. They began donating rare and valuable books from
\ntheir collection to the Williams Library.<\/p>\n


“I feel that these books belong to universities, so they’ll be available to everyone,” Howard said. “Ole Miss has done much to make us feel at home. We feel lucky to be here.”<\/p>\n

Dean Julia Rholes said, “The Lenhoffs are the epitome of what good neighbors should be. By donating valuable rare titles, they are enriching the library for future users. They are setting an example we hope others will follow. A library cannot have enough supporters like them.”<\/p>\n

Typical of the kinds of books the Lenhoffs have collected is a recent donation to the library: a rare, magnificent six-volume set of James Bruce’s Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile: in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1772 and 1773, published in 1790-91 in Dublin.<\/p>\n

It’s the couple’s nature to make unusual choices, whether it’s in the books they own or have written, as well as other paths they have chosen in life.<\/p>\n

“Almost everything that we do – whether scholarly study, donations, charitable work, writing – is in areas that have yet to capture mainstream interest,” Howard said.<\/p>\n

As for charitable efforts, his volunteer work has reached miles away from Oxford to Quitman County, where he found a need that apparently didn’t interest others who might have helped. Almost single-handedly, the Lenhoffs are providing every impoverished school-age child in Quitman and three adjoining Delta counties with clothing, books and backpacks to help ensure they are able to attend school.<\/p>\n

Even Howard’s chosen areas of study and research were on a subject less studied. After receiving his degree in biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University, he spent his professional career researching a variety of fields ranging from the transfer of electrons, the simple freshwater hydra and the history of science to medical technology, music cognition and marine biology.<\/p>\n

His publishing efforts have included more than 200 scientific papers and 13 books. Sylvia Lenhoff has co-authored a dozen of those papers, and translated one of those books. They have donated copies of their books to the library, including the very special title “The Strangest Song: One Father’s Quest to Help His Daughter Find Her Voice (Prometheus Books, 2006). It’s the story about their daughter, Gloria, whose unusual musical gifts are related to her having Williams syndrome. With her parents’ special guidance, Gloria has been able to live a happy and productive life focused on music.<\/p>\n

Soon after the Lenhoffs relocated to Oxford, their love for books and for writing led them to attend a discussion on the work of Barry Hannah, UM writer-in-residence. They eventually enrolled in one of Hannah’s classes, then became hooked on all things Hannah and have even funded a creative writing scholarship in honor of Hannah and his wife. They own and cherish first editions of Hannah’s books, as well as a few rare items of Hannah’s, such as his high school yearbook. That book, as well as other items not already in the library’s Barry Hannah collection, will also eventually be donated.<\/p>\n

Hannah’s writing instruction has inspired and helped Howard with writing two nonacademic volumes for a general audience: one on the rescue of the black Jews of Ethiopia, and the book on his daughter Gloria.<\/p>\n

Surveying the many books in their home yet to be donated, Howard pointed to a 1744 French classic, which Sylvia translated into English, and said: There are only 60 copies of this volume left in the world. That is why we’re giving our remaining copy to the library. It’s nice to know it will be in a library where it will be cared for and will be available to research scholars.”<\/p>\n

The Lenhoffs exchanged smiles, and Howard jokingly said, “And for us, we get more space in our home to buy more books.”<\/p>\n

For more information about the J.D. Williams Library, visit http:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/general?library\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Howard and Sylvia Lenhoff. UM photo by Kevin Bain OXFORD, Miss. – When California retirees Howard and Sylvia Lenhoff moved to Oxford seven years ago, they immediately began to immerse themselves in their new environment, making connections not only for their own enjoyment but also looking for ways to make a difference in the livesRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia Retirees Make Oxford Home, Become Known for Their Acts of Kindness - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California Retirees Make Oxford Home, Become Known for Their Acts of Kindness - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Howard and Sylvia Lenhoff. UM photo by Kevin Bain OXFORD, Miss. – When California retirees Howard and Sylvia Lenhoff moved to Oxford seven years ago, they immediately began to immerse themselves in their new environment, making connections not only for their own enjoyment but also looking for ways to make a difference in the livesRead the story …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T13:36:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/0509\/skb?1027-cpr-lenhoffs.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/0509\/skb?1027-cpr-lenhoffs.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/\",\"name\":\"California Retirees Make Oxford Home, Become Known for Their Acts of Kindness - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T13:36:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liblenhoff051109\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8e7562bf6d779d771ad8ce4cecd7ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42140,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions\/42140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}