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Prologue: Roberta J. Park, polymathic and polymorphic pioneer: A personal appreciation

An academic who has made a speciality of finding unknown elements in her chosen field is Professor Roberta J. Park. It was ‘chance’ (the relevance of this term will become apparent in due course) that allowed me to witness this appreciatively at first hand. What follows in this Prologue is a personal reflection on a relationship characterized by rewarding collaboration and lasting friendship – and which complements the professional evaluation of Patricia Vertinsky in the Epilogue. In the mid-1980s, following the publication of Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School and at a time when I was involved in associated research into Victorian and Edwardian Oxford and Cambridge – the relevance of this will be made clear shortly – I was privileged to be invited to the University of California, Berkeley by Professor Roberta Park who was at that time chair of the department of physical education and who generously asked me to join the department as a visiting professor. I accepted with pleasure. It was the beginning of a fruitful professional relationship that has lasted to the present and which deepened into strong friendship. My Oxbridge research ensured that I was also invited to join the world-renowned Center for Studies in Higher Education there as an Associate Member. Professor Park was also an Associate Member.