Meher Baba's Life & Travels
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.
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.
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).
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.
