May  Lundquist

 

Mid 1950s -Sydney ; Cropped image. Image rendition by Anthony Zois.
Mid 1950s -Sydney ; Cropped image. Image rendition by Anthony Zois.

 

Born : 31st May 1913                    - Sweden

Died : 27th July  1978 ( 65 y.o. )   - Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Qld., Australia

 

SWEDISH - AUSTRALIAN

 

May first met Meher Baba in early August 1952 at the Charing Cross Hotel, London, England.

 

After May's mother's passing, she left her father and brothers in Sweden either before or  after WW2.

She arrived in Melbourne and soon came into contact with the local Sufi group who's local leader was Francis Brabazon.

In the late 1940s she moved to the property of Baron von Frankenburg who was head of the Australian Sufi order.  Francis too came and stayed there. May did home duties for the Baron and his wife.

 

Edited from the original by Anthony Zois
Edited from the original by Anthony Zois

 

1958 - Avatar's Abode visit by Meher Baba

 

When Baba came into that room (in the farmhouse) He pointed to the bunk and was told it was May's (May Lundquist). Then He pointed at the picture (she had) of Himself, and said how dear May was to Him and how much she loved Him... I do remember 100 percent clearly... the wonderful smile on Baba's face and His pleasure in May's love.

 

 

 Joanna Bruford

 

 

 

May met Meher Baba 4 times :

 

1.  1952 London, U.K. - Meher Baba stopped briefly here on his way to the U.S.A.

2.  1956 Sydney, Australia  - Meher Baba met all the followers and friends at Meher House        in Beacon Hill.

3.  1958 Avatar's Abode, Woombye, Queensland, Australia

4.  1962 Guruprasad, Poona, India

 

May also went to the Great Darshan in mid 1969.

She subsequently went many times to Amartithi at Meherabad, India.

 

 

Mid-1950s : Clockwise - May L., Clarice Adams,  Reg Paffle, Gladys & others during the construction at Meher House at Beacon Hill -  close up
Mid-1950s : Clockwise - May L., Clarice Adams, Reg Paffle, Gladys & others during the construction at Meher House at Beacon Hill - close up
Mid - 1950s : May & others during the construction at Meher House at Beacon Hill -  close up
Mid - 1950s : May & others during the construction at Meher House at Beacon Hill - close up
Mid - 1950s : May & others during the construction at Meher House at Beacon Hill - close up. Image rendition by Anthony Zois.
Mid - 1950s : May & others during the construction at Meher House at Beacon Hill - close up. Image rendition by Anthony Zois.
Mid- 1950s : May ( left ) with others at Meher House at Beacon Hill during its construction.
Mid- 1950s : May ( left ) with others at Meher House at Beacon Hill during its construction.
Francis and friends including May at Beacon Hill, Sydney, Australia.
Francis and friends including May at Beacon Hill, Sydney, Australia.
Mid 1950s at Beacon Hill, Sydney, Australia. May ( centre ), Clarice Adams ( right ) & ? ( left ). This is close up of the above picture.
Mid 1950s at Beacon Hill, Sydney, Australia. May ( centre ), Clarice Adams ( right ) & ? ( left ). This is close up of the above picture.
1973 Amartithi : Mostly the Australian Meher Baba group during the celebrations at Upper Meherabad. May is sitting behinf Francis Brabazon, centre-right. Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett
1973 Amartithi : Mostly the Australian Meher Baba group during the celebrations at Upper Meherabad. May is sitting behinf Francis Brabazon, centre-right. Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett
Cropped from a 1973 Amartithi gathering.
Cropped from a 1973 Amartithi gathering.

Raine Eastman-Gannett recalls that Meher Baba called May (Mae) her "My" joking about our Australian accent when saying her name.

 

Raine continues...

May was the push behind this parade float ( see video below ) with a team of support, she was the most active early women following Baba, she was Swedish by birth but lived in Australia, she was a typist for a leading Queensland professor of psychology at St. Lucia University, Brisbane and many of our free sheets of paper for singing & plays at Avatar's Abode had strange psychological studies on the back ;~)etc
May would come to India with us every year in our group pilgrimages back to India. May also paid for Baba's picture and sayings on the back of Brisbane buses.( see below )
May Lundquist once asked Francis Brabazon to put lyrics to her lovely Swedish Folk Songs from her youth, they are popular Baba songs now. I have the collection in a separate book I have made.
May had meetings at her apartment in Brisbane and would come the hundred miles up to Avatar's Abode to be part of the artistic and work weekends with us all.
May also copied and distributed much of the family letters and communications from India as she had access at the University to roneo
copying machine.
May Lundquist along with Lorna Rouse were the main typists for Francis' hand written poetry essay and books in Australia.
(I inherited her 1950s 'Zenanon' guitar and a lovely little carved wooden Balinese buddha ornament when she passed away).

May funded Meher Baba advertisements on Brisbane buses
May funded Meher Baba advertisements on Brisbane buses
 1973 Amartithi.  The Australian Meher Baba group singing at U.Meherabad during the celebrations.  May is on the far right wearing glasses. George McGahey sitting playing tabla is next to her.  Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett
1973 Amartithi. The Australian Meher Baba group singing at U.Meherabad during the celebrations. May is on the far right wearing glasses. George McGahey sitting playing tabla is next to her. Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett
Cropped image
Cropped image
May's Swedish Songs - 1st copy.  Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett.
May's Swedish Songs - 1st copy. Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett.
1976 : Raine Eastman-Gannett supplied the photo of her notes that shows that Francis Brabazon wrote this birthday song to be sung at May's birthday. After her birthday lunch, he instructed Raine to to leave the name blank so any name could be added.
1976 : Raine Eastman-Gannett supplied the photo of her notes that shows that Francis Brabazon wrote this birthday song to be sung at May's birthday. After her birthday lunch, he instructed Raine to to leave the name blank so any name could be added.

 

 

Click on the buttons below to visit their respective web pages.

Warana Festival Brisbane, Australia - 1968

May was one of many local Meher Baba followers that contributed to this float event.

 

The float carried large photographs of Baba, and we handed out many leaflets afterwards.

The Warana Festival started in 1961 and later evolved into the Brisbane Festival. Warana means "Blue Skies". The Grand Parade of Waruna floats down the city-streets was a major event and the festival was a celebration of Spring and the city's cultural activities. The theme of the Warana Festival was "entertainment for the people, by t...he people". In 1968 Bill Le Page, May Lundquist, Reg Paffle, John Bruford and the Brisbane Baba Group sponsored and entered a Avatar Meher Baba Float in the Warana grand parade. The ute was owned and driven by Reg Paffle, The turning device for the rotating Baba sign was designed and built by John Bruford and turned manually by persons in the ute. May Lundquist and the Brisbane Baba group took months to make the flowers.

 

AHMEDNAGAR 7 OCTOBER 1968

LE PAGE KALIANNA CRES BEACON HILL NSW

BELOVED BABA IS VERY HAPPY WITH YOU AND MAY AND ALL COWORKERS FOR PUTTING HIM ON BEAUTIFUL FLOAT AND TAKING HIM THROUGH BRISBANES STREETS HE SENDS LOVE TO YOU ALL AND SAYS YOU WILL DO GREATER THINGS YET LOVE FRANCIS

May wrote an article for the Indian publication Divya Vani for the Dec.1968 edition describing how the group in Queensland put together the float showing Meher Baba in the Warana Festival.

https://www.ambppct.org/Book_Files/DV3%204-6.pdf

 May in hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia during her lukemia sickness that eventually that took her life.  Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett
May in hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia during her lukemia sickness that eventually that took her life. Image courtesy of Raine Eastman-Gannett