Mike Parker: Remembering my teacher, mentor, and friend
On January 26 I received an email from Professor Michael Aceto of East Carolina’s Department of English. He wrote to let me know that Dr. McKay Sundwall passed away on January 20. McKay’s wife Marilyn wanted me to know. Dr. Sundwall was one of my English professors at East Carolina. I first met him when I audited a class in Medieval Literature as I was preparing for my oral comprehensive exams for my Master’s degree.
Dr. Sundwall changed my life and my approach to teaching. After that first class, I took other classes with him. When I struggled to finish my Master’s degree because I could not come up with an idea for my thesis, he volunteered to be my thesis director. I still remember his advice:
“Pick a book you love and find something to write about.”
I started writing my thesis while I was taking an evening class with him. The course was “The Literary and Linguistic History of the English Language.” Before you say to yourself that class sounds boring, let me assure you that anything McKay Sundwall taught was intellectually stimulating and exciting.
Each week when I entered class, Dr. Sundwall would look at me, smile and ask:
“Do you have anything for me this week?” He was asking if I had finished another chapter of my thesis. His warmth and sense of expectation made me work even harder. I never wanted to enter his class without having “something for (him).” I wrote my entire thesis in one semester, even while I took his class, worked full-time, and was daddy to three little girls and a new baby boy.
Being in any class that McKay taught made me aspire to excellence. He thought so highly of my intellect and abilities that I never wanted to disappoint him. The three hours I spent with him each class period whizzed by. His presentations were engaging and thought provoking. His breadth of knowledge inspired awe within me.
He most often used the Socratic method in his teaching, asking open-ended questions. When a student answered one of his questions, he looked at the student with obvious delight and said: “That point was truly interesting” or similar words of encouragement.
His influence made me a better student, a better teacher, and a better person. His influence did not end with me. My daughter Rachel received her B.S. in English Education at ECU. She also experienced what I will call “The Magic of McKay.”
When my son Michael decided to major in English Education, I urged him time and again to take a class with McKay Sundwall. My exhortation seemed to fall on deaf ears. In exasperation, I said to Michael, “If you get a degree in English from this institution and never take a class with Dr. Sundwall, I am going to stamp ‘Cheap Imitation’ on your degree.”
He relented. He even talked his girlfriend Jimmi into taking the classes with him. After he took his first class with Dr. Sundwall, he built his schedule around McKay’s courses. Jimmi, a math major, even added an English minor. McKay Sundwall had such a profound influence on Michael and Jimmi that they gave their first son McKay as a middle name.
McKay died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Greenville on Wednesday, January 20. During the last few months of his life, he was bedridden because of a broken bone in his leg. For years, he had dealt with heart problems. His wife Marilyn attended to his every need. I spoke with her recently. She felt privileged to minister to him in the closing months of his life. She, too, had once been a student in his classes.
After McKay graduated from Michigan State University, he was awarded full scholarship to Harvard University. At Harvard, he earned his PhD in Philology. He moved to New York City, where he held his first teaching position at Columbia University. After seven years, he moved to Greenville, North Carolina, to join the English faculty at East Carolina. He was instrumental in creating the Great Books program, and he led Great Books discussions at Sheppard Memorial Library for many years.
His former students will always remember him for the breadth of his knowledge, his generosity as a listener, the wisdom of his observations, and his unmatched skill in leading readers through various genres of literature, from Shakespeare’s plays to the poetry of Virgil, Dante, Chaucer, and Milton.
I will always be grateful for his example. He taught me how to be a better teacher. I can only hope I have inspired some of my students in the same way as McKay Sundwall inspired me.
Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
