Michael E. Sullivan
PORTSMOUTH -- When beloved librarian Michael Sullivan, author of the "Escapade Johnson" series of children's books, chess player, juggler, teacher, origami guru and more died, it was sudden and sent shock waves throughout the many communities he served.
Sullivan was passionate about his work, particularly when it involved children.
Sean Sullivan, Michael's brother, said he was one of eight siblings, four boys and four girls.
"He knew how to teach and communicate with children in a way few of us do," Sean Sullivan said. "When we had family gatherings, Michael was the pied piper of children. They would gravitate to him and he would play games with them. He'd play chess, juggle, do origami with them and tell them stories. He was very loved by the children in our family, by all of us."
Sullivan died suddenly Dec. 10 at age 52. He was the library director at Weare Public Library. Before that, he was director at the Kingston Public Library, the Weeks Public Library in Greenland and the Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham.
Scott Campbell, former director of the Newington Public Library and now director of Plaistow's library, expressed shock and sadness at the death of Sullivan, who he said was a friend and mentor in the world of libraries.
Seacoast Area Library Association on its Facebook page stated: "Michael was well known and loved by library patrons all over the Seacoast. ... The entire New Hampshire library community is mourning his sudden loss."
Although he had no children of his own, everyone who knew him said he had a special way with kids. "More important than doing all this with the kids, was his passion to teach them how to do it themselves," is one statement in his obituary. "It was always a given that at any family get-together Mike was sure to be at a table, surrounded by the kids, playing chess with one while teaching three others, and making origami with the rest. He never showed up without his chess board and his little plastic container of paper squares."
His obituary also stated "Mike was one of the smartest people I know and although he was a very private person, Mike always wanted to share his knowledge and talents. Mike was such a talented writer that he could take "war stories" that he heard around the family table (an unfortunate side effect of a family of cops and EMTs) and turn them into children's books (in which the characters were named after his nieces and nephews.)"
Dotty Spoerl, one of Michael's sisters and her daughter Erin shared their thoughts.
"The family has been reading all the comments and posts that we can find on Facebook. The number of people he touched and the depth of feelings for him is both overwhelming and heartwarming," Spoerl said.
"Michael worked with his niece Erin when she was a sophomore in high school," she added. "She was assigned a project to pick a new skill she would like to learn and find a mentor to teach her. Erin decided first she would like to work with Michael on something/anything and then decided she wanted to explore writing a novel. Her first thoughts were to learn to juggle but the logistics of living in two different states learning a skill she had had no success with before, seemed daunting."
Spoerl said Michael quickly agreed to work with Erin and they began.
"Michael laid out steps for developing ideas and organizing them, reviewing her work step by step and giving feedback and encouragement," Spoerl said. "Erin worked initially on index cards, explaining to him this is how she would organize her thoughts and that she would then bring the cards to school to do her writing. Within days, a laptop arrived for her in the mail. It came directly from the store with no indication of who had sent it. It didn't take us long to figure out that is must have come from Michael. His reply to her asking if it did come from him was, "well you can't write a whole book on index cards, can you?"
Erin finished her book and Michael drove three hours to spend the afternoon with her and her class as they displayed their projects.
"While Erin was surprised that he made the long trip, I think this is just one example of his dedication to the young and their development," Spoerl said. "What we saw as him going way out of his way to be involved, the time, laptop and traveling, to him was no big deal."
Jeanne Sullivan wrote about "her brother Mike."
"There is so much that came to mind when I got the call that he had died," she said. "What I realized as I started to hear people from his work talk about him was that how he impacted his family was repeated everywhere he went.
"My daughter was given a book by her uncle Mike when she was 9 years old, the complete tales of Beatrix Potter. He always seems to give the most treasured gifts. My daughter still has this book (she is now 34). She also recalled how she learned chess from him, how she played cribbage with him over and over and many other great memories. As a mother I always knew that my brother Mike would be a great academic influence encouraging her to always learn. I am now am reading all these stories about how he is still doing all these things for so many other children I can't help but be so very proud of the man he became and continued to be."
Denise Grimse, director of the Weeks Public Library, said staff in Greenland are in shock and saddened.
"He left here in 2006," Grimse said. "He was here five years. He was much loved by the children in Greenland for his origami and chess classes. He also ran enrichment programs at the school. He was a Renaissance man bringing his giant chess pieces to the Hussey Race Summer Celebration on the green and then running the race. He made several changes at the library that increased circulation and program attendance.
"He created the library's first website, gathered historical information for the site from local historian Paul Hughes, started the BookBytes email newsletter, coordinated news from different community groups, purchased books by popular authors, and expanded programs for children and adults."
Michael's family is working to establish a memorial fund to honor him and continue his work with engaging children in reading and exploring life. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Michael's memory to one of the many organizations he was involved with: Nichols Memorial Library, 35 Plymouth St., Center Harbor, NH 03226-1339, Weare Public Library, 10 Paige Memorial Lane, Weare, NH 03281, or Weare NH Lions Club, PO Box 153, Weare, NH 03281.
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Sullivan was passionate about his work, particularly when it involved children.
Sean Sullivan, Michael's brother, said he was one of eight siblings, four boys and four girls.
"He knew how to teach and communicate with children in a way few of us do," Sean Sullivan said. "When we had family gatherings, Michael was the pied piper of children. They would gravitate to him and he would play games with them. He'd play chess, juggle, do origami with them and tell them stories. He was very loved by the children in our family, by all of us."
Sullivan died suddenly Dec. 10 at age 52. He was the library director at Weare Public Library. Before that, he was director at the Kingston Public Library, the Weeks Public Library in Greenland and the Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham.
Scott Campbell, former director of the Newington Public Library and now director of Plaistow's library, expressed shock and sadness at the death of Sullivan, who he said was a friend and mentor in the world of libraries.
Seacoast Area Library Association on its Facebook page stated: "Michael was well known and loved by library patrons all over the Seacoast. ... The entire New Hampshire library community is mourning his sudden loss."
Although he had no children of his own, everyone who knew him said he had a special way with kids. "More important than doing all this with the kids, was his passion to teach them how to do it themselves," is one statement in his obituary. "It was always a given that at any family get-together Mike was sure to be at a table, surrounded by the kids, playing chess with one while teaching three others, and making origami with the rest. He never showed up without his chess board and his little plastic container of paper squares."
His obituary also stated "Mike was one of the smartest people I know and although he was a very private person, Mike always wanted to share his knowledge and talents. Mike was such a talented writer that he could take "war stories" that he heard around the family table (an unfortunate side effect of a family of cops and EMTs) and turn them into children's books (in which the characters were named after his nieces and nephews.)"
Dotty Spoerl, one of Michael's sisters and her daughter Erin shared their thoughts.
"The family has been reading all the comments and posts that we can find on Facebook. The number of people he touched and the depth of feelings for him is both overwhelming and heartwarming," Spoerl said.
"Michael worked with his niece Erin when she was a sophomore in high school," she added. "She was assigned a project to pick a new skill she would like to learn and find a mentor to teach her. Erin decided first she would like to work with Michael on something/anything and then decided she wanted to explore writing a novel. Her first thoughts were to learn to juggle but the logistics of living in two different states learning a skill she had had no success with before, seemed daunting."
Spoerl said Michael quickly agreed to work with Erin and they began.
"Michael laid out steps for developing ideas and organizing them, reviewing her work step by step and giving feedback and encouragement," Spoerl said. "Erin worked initially on index cards, explaining to him this is how she would organize her thoughts and that she would then bring the cards to school to do her writing. Within days, a laptop arrived for her in the mail. It came directly from the store with no indication of who had sent it. It didn't take us long to figure out that is must have come from Michael. His reply to her asking if it did come from him was, "well you can't write a whole book on index cards, can you?"
Erin finished her book and Michael drove three hours to spend the afternoon with her and her class as they displayed their projects.
"While Erin was surprised that he made the long trip, I think this is just one example of his dedication to the young and their development," Spoerl said. "What we saw as him going way out of his way to be involved, the time, laptop and traveling, to him was no big deal."
Jeanne Sullivan wrote about "her brother Mike."
"There is so much that came to mind when I got the call that he had died," she said. "What I realized as I started to hear people from his work talk about him was that how he impacted his family was repeated everywhere he went.
"My daughter was given a book by her uncle Mike when she was 9 years old, the complete tales of Beatrix Potter. He always seems to give the most treasured gifts. My daughter still has this book (she is now 34). She also recalled how she learned chess from him, how she played cribbage with him over and over and many other great memories. As a mother I always knew that my brother Mike would be a great academic influence encouraging her to always learn. I am now am reading all these stories about how he is still doing all these things for so many other children I can't help but be so very proud of the man he became and continued to be."
Denise Grimse, director of the Weeks Public Library, said staff in Greenland are in shock and saddened.
"He left here in 2006," Grimse said. "He was here five years. He was much loved by the children in Greenland for his origami and chess classes. He also ran enrichment programs at the school. He was a Renaissance man bringing his giant chess pieces to the Hussey Race Summer Celebration on the green and then running the race. He made several changes at the library that increased circulation and program attendance.
"He created the library's first website, gathered historical information for the site from local historian Paul Hughes, started the BookBytes email newsletter, coordinated news from different community groups, purchased books by popular authors, and expanded programs for children and adults."
Michael's family is working to establish a memorial fund to honor him and continue his work with engaging children in reading and exploring life. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Michael's memory to one of the many organizations he was involved with: Nichols Memorial Library, 35 Plymouth St., Center Harbor, NH 03226-1339, Weare Public Library, 10 Paige Memorial Lane, Weare, NH 03281, or Weare NH Lions Club, PO Box 153, Weare, NH 03281.
