The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

Jack Lundin saw the potential in everybody.

Through his writing, his infectious positivity and his sometimes subtle acts of support, his friends said he made those around him believe in themselves. His presence alone could bring people together, they said.

“He just cared so much about other people’s happiness,” said Victoria Berman, a freshman and one of Lundin’s friends at SU. “Being around him, everybody was just a better person for it.”

Lundin was a freshman from Tuckahoe, New York studying magazine, news and digital journalism at Syracuse University. He died unexpectedly on Oct. 15. The Syracuse Police Department’s investigation into his death, which the department did not deem to be suspicious, remains open.

Lundin’s friends and former teachers described him as a creative, insightful writer and a selfless person that brightened the lives of those around him.

During the first night freshman Adam Ritzcovan spent with Lundin at SU, the two stayed up until four in the morning talking and getting to know each other. He and Lundin spent much of the semester in Ritzcovan’s room with their mutual friends, watching movies and discussing their plans for the future.

“He was the first person that I really thought believed in me, besides my family,” Ritzcovan said. “It was just a life-changing experience to have somebody like that in my life. You could always go and talk to that person and feel better because they’re more sure in you than you are in yourself.”

Lundin dreamed of one day writing television scripts, his friends said. Max Scribner, a freshman at SU, said he could seemingly pull stories out of thin air.

“He was just such a creative writer,” Scribner said. “He would just have these insane details he would go to on the spot.”

Before coming to SU, Lundin attended Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, New York. Lundin had a unique, authentic voice that made his writing pieces stand out in class, said Kevin Gilligan, who taught Lundin’s 9th grade honors English class and his 12th grade writing seminar class.

He wouldn’t let people’s expectations of him hold him down, Gilligan said.

“He made going to class fun for me every day,” he said. “I am unashamed to say I loved who he was, and I am so sad to think his voice is now silenced forever.”

Lundin worked for Fordham Prep’s literary magazine during his senior year of high school. He worked as both an editor and contributor and often wrote satire pieces.

Reading one of Lundin’s pieces was the first time writing has ever brought him to tears, Ritzcovan said.

“The detail and the imagery you could see — every word you were reading, you had an image in your head of what was being represented, and it was always what was meant to be represented,” Ritzcovan said. “He never misled in his writing, never.”

Patricia Lee, Lundin’s English teacher and the moderator of Fordham Prep’s literary magazine said he was humble and gracious about commenting on other students’ writing and made others feel comfortable and welcome.

Lundin wrote in a variety of genres but had a love for comedy, said Andrew Amell, Lundin’s roommate.

He was also passionate about movies. He often stayed up with Ritzcovan and their friends watching and discussing different films.

Lundin had a unique perspective on films and often analyzed them beyond just the stories they told, Ritzcovan said. He thought about the movie’s characters and how they developed, as well as the directors’ writing styles.

“It was very interesting, I’ve never heard somebody talk about movies like that before,” Ritzcovan said. “It gave me a whole appreciation for it.”

Lundin’s friends said he was a supportive person who sought to uplift and include everybody around him. He was great at giving advice and could talk for hours about his and other peoples’ goals, Berman said.

He quietly “controlled the room,” Scribner said.

“He was unique, he was one of a kind,” he said. “He just had this way of being a leader by not being a leader.”

Scribner recalled an instance when he had spilled his drink in the middle of a crowded dining hall, and while he stood paralyzed by embarrassment, Lundin immediately set to work helping to clean it up. That day was only the second that he and Lundin had known each other, Scribner said.

Lundin’s teachers also said he was friendly and joyful, and he had an effervescent energy that impacted everyone in the classroom.

“He was like a ray of sunshine — he was the kind of kid everybody likes, very happy-go-lucky, and he really just got along with everyone,” said Patricia Simeone, who was Lundin’s Italian teacher for two years and was in charge of his mentor group at Fordham.

Simeone knew Lundin would be accepted into SU because of his determination. His passion for writing and for journalism drove him to succeed, said Arianne Dempsey, who taught Lundin’s Advanced Placement statistics course during his senior year of high school.

“I know how driven he was to study journalism, and it was one of the first things he told me when we met,” Dempsey said.

During Lundin’s freshman year of high school, Gilligan said he had some difficulties in class. But by his senior year, he was able to direct his energy toward his writing, Gilligan said.

“What he taught me was the student you see, who appears before you in freshman year, is not going to be the person who walks out the door in senior year,” Gilligan said. “The potential of my students is unknown, and Jack taught me just how much growth can take place in four years.”

Lundin was driven and wanted to do something important with his life, Ritzcovan said. His spirit and energy spread to everyone he met, he said.

“He had an innate motivation to be something, and that was infectious,” Ritzcovan said. “He didn’t necessarily know what he was going to be, but he had a motivation to be something, be somebody.”

Published on November 10, 2020 at 12:59 am

Contact Maggie: [email protected] | @maggie_hickss