Albert Benjamin Lester
September 26, 1960 - June 7, 1992
Albert B. Lester, of Westwood, Massachusetts, was a 31-year-old graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who had given up an excellent career as a software engineer to become a teacher of high school mathematics and science when he was killed on his bicycle by a drunk driver during a bicycling event in upstate New York.
A very caring person and highly intelligent, he had said he wanted to do something more socially meaningful with his life than his high-tech job could offer and that he wanted to be a part of the future by teaching. Albert had been an honor student at Westwood High School, where he excelled in mathematics, science, foreign languages and art history.
When he graduated from MIT in 1982, he had promised to visit his grandmother down South before starting to work. He kept his promise by going on his bicycle! That was the first of many long-distance bicycling trips, and over the next 10 years he bicycled more than 50,000 miles in this country and in Europe. He stayed at youth hostels and campgrounds and visited historic sites, nature centers, libraries, museums, state capitols and county courthouses. He had a really good time on his bike and enhanced his academic education with cultural enrichment and exciting stories he would have loved to have shared with his students!
Bicycling through France, Switzerland and Germany, he met people from all over the world in international hostels and grew in understanding the role of friendships in maintaining world peace. He noticed the effects of acid rain on the Black Forest and of pollution in the Rhine River and grew concerned for global environmental problems and the role of science in seeking solutions. He enjoyed international bicycling events and saw part of the Tour de France. He bicycled in the Boston-Montreal-Boston and Paris-Brest-Paris events and was a crew member in the Race Across America.
His travels led to his involvement with the AYH (Hostelling International).
A life member, he became a volunteer trip leader and touring director for the Greater Boston Council (Eastern New England Council) of AYH. As president (1987-1991) of the AYH Greater Boston Council, involving more than 10,000 members in a four-state area, Albert initiated youth outreach programs for culturally disadvantaged young people and supported activities for physically challenged youth. He promoted hostel development and envisioned a ring of hostels throughout New England, each a day's bicycling distance from another. He led in maintaining an alcohol-free environment in AYH hostels nation-wide and was nominated for the national board.
His aim of life was to learn, to teach, to serve, to enjoy.
Professionally, Albert was a computer software engineer with a weather, sports and travel information distribution firm. When he was 27, Albert was named an Outstanding Young Man of America for his "outstanding professional achievement, superior leadership ability and exceptional service to the community." His involvement with American Youth Hostels led to his decision to pursue a teaching career. He resigned from his high-tech job and applied to graduate schools to work toward a master's degree and teacher certification. In his application to Harvard Graduate School of Education, Albert wrote, "As a teacher, I would hope to help students by encouraging and inspiring them to live their lives to their fullest potential, both inside and outside the classroom."
He wrote, "The future of this country and of the world depends on the youth of today. It is they who will be the leaders of nations and the captains of industry of tomorrow." He also wrote, "I have learned from experience that travel is one of the greatest educational experiences in existence. During my bicycling trips . . . I met people from around the world, learned about traveling, about places I visited and about people who live there, and most importantly I learned about myself." He wrote, "I believe I have what it takes to be a good teacher and that by attending Harvard can fulfill that dream."
So, what happened to that dream, and to all that was and would have been Albert Lester?
Albert was bicycling in a 24-hour challenge in Fulton County, New York, June 6- 7, 1992, along with 70 other top cyclists from the eastern United States and Canada, testing his endurance for the Race Across America. He had bicyled 228 miles in 14 hours when a teenager, trying to drive home after drinking, crossed the center line into the opposite shoulder and hit Albert head-on. Albert was left dead in a ditch by a young person he would have loved to have helped.
With his death: Education lost a teacher; Recreation, a volunteer leader. We lost our son and brother, And the world lost a friend.
After his death, Albert was honored by Hostelling International-American Youth Hostels with the national Robert B. Johnson Award "for exemplifying the AYH ideals of Leadership, Friendship, and Understanding . . . ." And the Charles River Wheelmen, a Boston-based bicycling club, honored Albert with the Percy Anderson Award for "Continued Service to Bicycling." The club has placed a unique memorial bench on the Minuteman Bike Trail near Boston. The bronze marker there aptly describes Albert as "Son, Brother, Leader, Friend."
The Hostelling International Albert B. Lester Memorial Hostel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire is a special honor and significant tribute to Albert for it shares not only the spirit of hostelling but also the spirit of Albert and his hope for the future. Enjoy your stay at the Albert B. Lester Memorial Hostel!
. . . Bless this hostel, Oh Lord, we pray; Keep it safe by night and day. Bless the hostellers who come here to stay, And keep them safe along their way. Wherever you may go, Whatever fun you may find; May joy go with you, And peace stay behind!
Virginia B. Lester, Mother
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