Nicholas Scheetz - Arnold Lunn archivist

Nicholas Scheetz, 63, who was instrumental in bringing to the United States the papers of Sir Arnold Lunn, died October 29 at his home in Newport, Rhode Island. 

Scheetz was for two decades the Manuscripts Librarian of Special Collections at Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library in Washington, DC. He was personally responsible for helping the university to secure important books and collections. Lunn was a powerful apologist for the Catholic Church after his religious conversion in 1932, although he is best known to skiers as the inventor of the modern timed slalom race, and a major force for the inclusion alpine competition in the FIS World Championships and Olympics, as well as the author of dozens of books about skiing and climbing.

The Lunn archives, acquired by Georgetown in 1986, consist of  some 30 feet of papers—original manuscripts, diaries, books, and correspondence. They include letters to and from friends, such as his Muerren skiing companion William F. Buckley Jr.; the climber Geoffrey Winthrop Young; the ardent skier Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón, Infante of Spain; and the authors Evelyn Waugh and H. G. Wells. The cause of death was complications of ALS.