Photographs by Lynn Sara Lawrence

*Library Lions Bookends (Photo: Julia Braulick)*

For decades before my first visit to the New York Public Library steps, I was enamoured of the Library Lions, those icons of literature that guard their entrance. These bookends, now in Julia and Andrew’s home, are ones I purchased forty years ago.

Yes, the lions’s dignified repose appeals to me. Even more, I respond to the names they acquired during the Great Depression: Patience and Fortitude–qualities I have been a long time in acquiring myself. In NYC, Patience looks to the south, toward the hallowed literary and artistic ground of Greenwich Village. Fortitude glances north, toward the glory of Central Park, an oasis of natural beauty with the incomparable Metropolitan Museum of Art in its center. One thing that I have learned is that to be any kind of an artist requires both virtues, and that one’s companions are essential in fostering them.

The New York Public Library’s website offers a wealth of history, fun facts, and whimsy surrounding this iconic pair, including reading lists for each, and a plethora of photographs of them bedecked with wreaths, wearing hats, and weathering time. There is even an invitation to send and/or create digital postcards with them at the center.

Here is a bit of swag I brought back for a friend, now a Northfield neighbor but for many years a resident of NYC.

Last September, I had an unforgettable first trip to New York City. Imagine it: taking a train from the country upstate, arriving at Grand Central Station to be met by an incredibly dear friend of the heart and the work, our first meeting in person! Then a few precious days of exploring at her side. Lynn knew that visiting the New York Library lions was high on my list. She led me there on foot, along a path I had never suspected exists: Library Way.

As we traveled from Park Avenue to Fifth Avenue along 41st Street, the marble facade of the New York Public Library’s flagship building gleams in the distance. Like a trail of fairytale bread crumbs, bronze plaques with literary gems gleam underfoot and led us on.

The full texts of all the plaques are available on the Library’s website. Each bronze is a unique artistic setting for a one-of-a-kind phrase. Below are a few images of my own favorites. (Who am I kidding? They are all my favorites!) And some images, too, of the rewarding journey’s end, appropriately at the base of more steps to climb.

Until tomorrow,

LESLIE

With Fortitude Close By *(Photograph by Lynn Sara Lawrence)*

*Monumental Patience (Photograph: Leslie Schultz)*

*Morning Light, New York City (Lynn Sara Lawrence)*

One of the joys of deep friendship is sharing. Another is becoming inspired by the experiences and insights of someone you trust and admire. Lynn Lawrence is that kind of friend to me. Her ways with words and images parallel her deep understanding of the human mind and the heart. Her zingy irreverance and spirit of adventure enliven my world with laughter and sane new ways to explore this crazy world we all inhabit. That our friendship grew out of an intersection of words and images sparked some years ago by National Poetry Month seems like a species of destiny.

Rarely does a day go by when we are not in touch by text, email, or phone, trading images and observations. I was so happy that today Lynn allowed me to share a few of her own photographs here. Each has influenced my own eye as a photographer. Lynn’s work helps me to look more closely at the world and to see more penetratingly what is before me.

*Doorway with Piano in Morning Light (Leslie Schultz)*

*Stripes and Striped Light & Shadow (Lynn Sara Lawrence)*

*Lightbulb at the Beauty Salon (Leslie Schultz)*

For instance, my photograph above was something I “saw” only after being mesmerized earlier in the day by Lynn’s study of wing chairs with the stripes of shadows.

My own image, above, was taken this morning after studying the lines and curves of Lynn’s recent photograph below.

*Parquet Floor, Louvered Light, Curved Chair (Lynn Sara Lawrence)*

This interior of Lynn’s also helped me see and capture this moment last week that daylight played upon my own floor.

*Shaker Basket in Afternoon Shadows (Leslie Schultz)*

My poem for today, “Practicing Interior Light,” was inspired by my frequent exchanges with Lynn of our quotidian observations.

Just so you know, Lynn’s eloquence is not limited to visual images. Her poetry and professional prose is similarly luminous. Take a look at this work she co-edited and co-authored, published by Columbia University Press, titled Narrative in Social Work Practice: The Power and Possibility of Story.

A picture truly can be worthy of a thousand words. Sometimes pictures painted by words, our sharings of our stories, can be similarly liberating, especially when accompanied by deep listening. Let’s celebrate the power of friendship to make our lives more deep and delicious!

Until tomorrow,

LESLIE

Winona Media

Poems & Stories From the Heart

Tag Archives: Photographs by Lynn Sara Lawrence

New York Library Lions & Context for Poem “Patience and Fortitude” (April 16, 2026)

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