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Store founder James Lundy hails from Indiana, moving to western Pennsylvania with his family at the age of 12. At 18, after graduating high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps, serving as a helicopter avionics technician.
After the Marines, James began an extensive college education, first receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Communication from Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, PA and a Master of Arts in Communication from Miami University in Oxford, OH. In 1992, James earned his Ph.D. in Communication from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.
In 1993, James’ daughter, Gracie, was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He taught college for eleven years in Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Louisiana, before moving to Massachusetts to be closer to Gracie.
In October 2010, James’ world changed forever; Gracie was killed in a tragic motor vehicle accident. Gracie would have been a senior at Arlington High School this year. In honor of Gracie’s creative talents, James has started a scholarship entitled “Write With Grace.” The store is filled with pictures in tribute to his loving memory of his beautiful young daughter.
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Write With Grace
The Write With Grace Scholarship will be awarded to an Arlington High School senior in memory of Grace Christine James.
On the morning of Sunday, October 17th, Gracie and 15 other girls and school staff were en route to a full day excursion in Arches Natural Park when the staff driver of their SUV lost control and the vehicle rolled over outside of Sevier, Utah. Found in a coma by rescue personnel, Gracie never regained consciousness. She died quietly on the evening of October 20th in the trauma unit of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, in the loving embrace of her parents.
Gracie was an unusually creative, intuitive, affectionate and sensitive young woman with a shy smile, beautiful eyes and a deep, feeling soul. She was an accomplished figure skater, an avid reader and a budding artist. But her main passion was writing. A brilliant and imaginative writer of both short and longer fiction and poetry, she aspired to a career in professional writing. Gracie’s gifts for caring, compassion and emotional connection touched everyone she met as shown by the outpouring of grief and support expressed by her peers. The day after her death, grieving students at Arlington High School wore green, symbolizing peace and honoring her memory.
When she was only 15 Gracie wrote, “I used to think I knew what love was, I’ve realized that love is the most complex sensation in the world, partly because it’s a mix of everything there is to feel. Finding a definition for it could take take a lifetime, and in the end it’s still only a theory.” I love Gracie. Always.
Gracie loved Arlington. As my way to honor Gracie and give back to the Arlington community, I intend to give 10% of the profits from Jeans Dirt Cheap to the Write With Grace Scholarship.
