Photo, 1981
Arnim H. Meyburg was born in 1939 in Bremerhaven (then still “Wesermünde”) as the only child of Auguste and Friedel Meyburg. His childhood in Bremerhaven is shaped by the post-war years. He remains in the port city until his Abitur at Humboldt Gymnasium. Starting in 1960, he studies English and Romance languages at the University of Hamburg and transfers to the Free University of Berlin in 1962. There, he receives an opportunity to travel to America for an academic year. With the help of a scholarship and an assistantship, he finances his stay at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In August 1965, he departs from Bremerhaven to the USA aboard the MS Berlin. Later, he is also offered the chance to pursue a doctorate there. His professional career continues at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, starting in 1969, where he works for forty years as a professor receiving awards for his research and teaching. In 1967, Arnim Meyburg meets and falls in love with Lee Stollerman. The beginning of their relationship is marked by uncertainties: Lee is Jewish, and the couple does not know how Lee’s parents will react to the news that their daughter has fallen in love with a student from Germany. However, their worries turn out to be unfounded, as Arnim is warmly welcomed into the family, and they marry later that same year. In 1980, their daughter Jennifer, called Jenny, is born. Jenny is also the one sitting between the Halloween pumpkins, playfully smiling at the camera.
