Love in the Stacks: Libraries contribute to Miami Merger tradition

Larry Bishop '81 and Cindy Oppenheimer Bishop '81
Submitted by Cindy

On Jan. 30, 1979, I went on my first date with a cute guy, Larry, who I met in Scott Hall. After our date, Larry walked me back into King Library so I could study. We looked at each other, and Larry kissed me goodbye. I could barely study that night, thinking about that cute guy who just kissed me! We went out the next night, and the next night... three-and-a-half years later, on Aug. 14, 1982, we got married at Kumler Chapel. Thirty-four years and two children later, I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. And it all started when that boy kissed me in King Library on a cold winter's night.

Glendon '55 and Jane Winiker Drake '55
Submitted by Jane

I worked alone in the reserved books room where fines were based on how many minutes an individual was charged for returning a book late. My boyfriend at the time always seemed to return books late. I told him once that I thought he married me because I could destroy any fine slips. I am not going to tell you if I did or didn't because – well, just because. We were married the day after finals in 1955, took a two-day honeymoon, and returned for graduation. We were a Miami Merger for 47 years until he died in 2001.

Joel '60 and Cindy DiVincenzo Botker '62
Submitted by Cindy

Unbeknownst to me, my now husband Joel ’60, actually stalked me while I was a Miami freshman working in the periodical department of Alumni Library. Joel later told me he first laid eyes on me in a small study room off the library rotunda where he was also studying. He was a senior and, for whatever reason, was impressed because I was so short that my feet did not reach the floor as I was sitting on the couch. Joel is 6-foot-2, and I am 5-foot! I have no idea how long this "stalking" went on, but he told me once he was walking behind me down Slant Walk and could not find the nerve to catch up and introduce himself! Well, he finally found out who I was from the Recensio and called me for a coffee date. We married in 1963 and our Miami legacy, Venetia Blaise, graduated in 1988.

Morris '64 and Sharon Carp Levy '64
Submitted by Sharon

Some of my happiest memories are of study dates with my boyfriend, now husband, sitting in the "little room" on the first floor of Alumni Library with those huge windows – open in the Spring with lovely breezes or looking out at the falling snow in the winter. We were married on Sept. 5, 1964.

David '64 and Susan Kerr Lee '64
Submitted by David

I met a really cute coed in chem lab during my freshman year. She had the other rotation from mine and the same desk but never got done in the allotted time, so she came in during my lab and was in my way. Sophomore year we both took bacteriology, and I was seated behind her. We began dating after a couple of weeks, and I ultimately asked her to marry me. The only way I could see her, other than on a date, was in the library, as she studied all the time. They would not allow talking in the library, so I too learned to study and improved my grades because of it. We married the day before graduation in Sesquicentennial Chapel and were married for 44 years until her death in 2009. I still remember fondly the times I spent studying and staring at her in the Library. Best times of my life.

James '52 and Billie Baldauf Maynard '53
Submitted by Billie

My first official date with my husband, James, was a Sunday night study date in the old Alumni Library, which is now Alumni Hall. We usually studied there every Sunday night, and it became, for us, a social gathering place with friends, rather than the Res. We were married on Dec. 27, 1953 and just celebrated our 63rd wedding anniversary!

Joseph '90 and Karen Dowell Turner '90
Submitted by Karen

I used to study on the second floor of King Library, always in the same area. One day, a boy called my dorm to ask me to a "grab a date" party his fraternity was having. This was before cell phones. My roommate told him I wasn't home but knew exactly where I would be at the library and told him. He came to King Library and asked me out. We were married in October 1992 and just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary!

Don and Jamie Peters Aubry ’83
Submitted by Jamie

In the early eighties, my boyfriend (now husband), Don, and I would meet up at the library. Without cell phones, we had no idea where the other was. We would put notes in the card catalog detailing our location under our respective names, Peters or Aubry. I loved opening those drawers and finding those notes!