Editor's Note: This is the first of a multi-part series profiling essential members of the College community who make Dartmouth operate smoothly every day.
Food Court manager Larry James may be a familiar face to just about every student at Dartmouth, but it turns out he's more of an enigma than anyone could guess.
Famous for his friendly inquisitiveness and country-fried-chicken Mondays, James also has some incredible stories to tell. In his travels to over 60 countries, James has acquired a wealth of experiences -- and he's eager to share his stories with any students willing to listen.
James typically greets all Dartmouth students by name as they pass through the Food Court line. Although he may not know a student's name without reading his or her Dartmouth ID, James swears he knows the face.
"Honestly, I don't know a lot of the students, but I do know their faces and can tell when there are strangers here," he said.
Although Dartmouth is just one of the many colleges James has worked for, he said he feels a special affinity for Dartmouth students.
"I really, really enjoy the job here," James said. "I love the students."
Along with his ritual greeting -- "Hello friend, where are you from?" -- Larry has also become famous for his annual special events, which include dinner themes for Halloween, Mardi Gras and April in Paris.
"I love doing them because the students like them, but also the crew gets into it," James said.
James came to Dartmouth six years ago after a 20-year stint at Clark College in Debuke, Iowa. After leaving Clark and traveling around Europe and Asia for a year, he came to the Northeast to be close to his mother, a 91-year-old Massachusetts native.
James now visits his mother two to three times a week at a nursing home outside of Boston. Although she suffers from short-term memory loss, James said that "she enjoys the old days -- looking at pictures and sharing holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas that we always used to do as a family."
James noted that he was a traveller from the moment he could walk. As a child, he recalled he often wandered away from home. His parents would find him hours later, puttering about the railroad station or catching crayfish at a small nearby brook.
"A couple of times the police had to find me, but they would buy me ice cream," James said.
His childhood adventures were just the start of a lifelong passion for travel. As a student at the University of Colorado's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, James admits he spent much of his time reading about foreign countries and dreaming about visiting them.
His first opportunity came when he saw a cheap advertisement to go to London for the weekend. James has not stopped traveling since.
After college, James landed a job as a cook on research ships for the University of Rhode Island -- an experience he regards as the "most fun time" in his life. He held the position for five summers over the course of 10 years, visiting Africa, Portugal, Bermuda and a variety of other destinations.
As the ship cook, he was the "middle-man between the scientists and the crew," a position that enabled him to learn about science and bond with "the regular guys."
One summer, James's ship almost sank in the Grand Banks off Canada. After a sleepless night, the Coast Guard finally arrived and transported the crew to the dry docks of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Although no longer riding aboard sinking ships, James continues to live a life of adventure. Since his days at sea, he has taken a major trip every year. At the end of August, he is set to travel to the island of Cyprus, a spot he has wanted to visit since reading about the fighting between the Turks and Greeks.
Next July, James will retire from his position at Food Court, completing another chapter in his already robust life story. Although still unsure of what he will encounter next, James said he has a few goals in mind.
"My quest is to do as many of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as I can," James said.
He does maintain one prerequisite, though, for whatever he ends up doing -- "I absolutely have to be with people."
To anyone who's chatted with James in Food Court, this hardly comes as a surprise.
