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Substance and Style
“I selected an extraordinary life, but I had help. Thank you.”
— LeGene Quesenberry
Meet Dr. LeGene Quesenberry, Esq.
BY GARY LINDSEY
AT THE AGE of 15, LeGene Quesenberry was living in Montana and bored with high school. Her parents allowed her to take the General Education Development (GED) Test and following that her college entrance exams. Successfully completing both, she packed, moved to Pullman, and began her education at Washington State University. Quesenberry came to WSU on the reputation of the veterinary medicine program but eventually became fascinated with law and politics and changed her major to English pre-law. Her interest in politics faded, but not her attraction to law. Following WSU, she started an import business with her sister while studying law at Gonzaga University in Spokane. In between importing pearls and cloisonné from the People’s Republic of China, she obtained her juris doctorate. The import business proved viable for more than a decade until globalization made it impossible to compete. Today, Quesenberry is a tenured professor of law at Clarion University in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and a thankful WSU alumna.
It was through the summer 2003 issue of AmericanStyle magazine that I became acquainted with Quesenberry. The article revealed her taste in art and featured photographs of the home she shares with her companion, artist Bruce Sykes. Additional details about her life were revealed through the e-mails we fired back and forth. It was Quesenberry’s unequivocal declaration about the impact of Washington State that caused me to want to know more. “The English course that sent us to the theater to see a play and my Shakespeare class, taught by Dr. Meldrum, gave me access to things that I may never have experienced otherwise. Now, we go to Broadway several times a year, and it is one of the great pleasures in life. The music-appreciation class enabled me to attend the Pittsburgh Symphony with confidence. We travel, fearlessly, to experience a different worldview, which again I owe to the diversity and intellectual atmosphere of Washington State University. I selected an extraordinary life, but I had help. Thank you.”
I knew a lot about Quesenberry by the time I dialed her number at 9:00 a.m. one September morning. Hearing her voice filled in a missing piece of the puzzle. I knew what she looked like from pictures in the magazine. “Hello?” It was a confident voice. Our conversation was quick and peppered with levity and laughter. I had placed the call for elaboration on some quotes from the AmericanStyle article and to find out if she might have something interesting to offer on the topic of fulfillment. From what I had read, her life seemed well examined, well rounded, and satisfying. As I suspected, passion and exploration are themes in her life, and success, as measured in income and status, isn’t on Quesenberry’s to-do list.
| ask. |
The magazine quoted you as saying, “We only have
about 60 years to do the things we want to do.” |
| LGQ |
Absolutely. You spend 25 years in high school and college, and then you have a really short period of time on the planet to really become who you are, to build your identity and enjoy life. |
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| ask. |
My favorite quote is, “It’s easier if you are in love.” |
| LGQ |
Life is just easier if you find love and joy in it. I’m not advocating anything like marriage or suggesting if you are single, it’s a lonely life. But if you love things—music, art, literature, and other people—it makes a difference in how you feel about yourself and what you can accomplish. Certainly being in love with Bruce has been, frankly, kind of a miracle. To find someone who shares your interests in a town this size is miraculous. |
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| ask. |
You’ve been very up front about acknowledging the role Washington State University played in waking your appreciation for the arts. |
| LGQ |
The courses that I took as part of general education requirements, that made me read literature and analyze and talk about literature, music, and art in the constructs of what makes us human, are the best classes I’ve ever had. Those are the classes that have truly enriched my life and have allowed me to have all these different opportunities. |
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| ask. |
There’s an interesting Albert Einstein quote at the bottom of your e-mail: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” |
| LGQ |
I’ve had my share of battles with people. To this day, there are people who think Picasso painted the way he did because he couldn’t paint. It’s a matter of experiences. The more you experience different people, cultures, and ideas, the more accepting you are of them. |
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| ask. |
What advice do you have for students? |
| LGQ |
Submerge yourself in education. This is one of the most important things you will do in your life. Working to buy things is much less important. Live without things. Do without to put your time and effort in your classes. Embrace everything. Try everything. Join organizations comprised of people with differing points of view. Take classes you might not like. Embrace all knowledge, different points of view, and different people. One of the things I’ve found talking to young people is students are very interested in pursuing an education to get a job, and they’ve kind of lost sight of getting an education because that’s what’s going to fulfill the rest of your life. That’s something I try to tell them. Your education is only the beginning of something else, and your job is something you do to live. It’s not your identity. |
THE QUESENBERRY FILE
Native state |
Montana |
Undergraduate degree |
WSU alumna, English (pre-law), 1980 |
Doctorate |
Juris Doctorate, Gonzaga University, 1984 |
Profession |
Professor of Finance, Clarion University, Clarion, Pennsylvania |
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