Sullivan, Luke Longstreet, 1954-

Luke Longstreet Sullivan was born on October 7, 1954 in Rochester, Minnesota, the fifth of six sons born to Charles Roger Sullivan, an orthopedist at the Mayo Clinic, and Myra Longstreet Sullivan, the only daughter of a Florida educator, ornithologist, and bibliophile. Sullivan's father died in a hotel on July 3, 1966 at the age of 44 while in Augusta, Georgia to interview for a faculty post at the Medical College of Georgia. The autopsy report assigned pneumonia as the cause of death; however, Sullivan attributed the primary cause to alcoholism, a disease to which Sullivan himself succumbed as a young adult and successfully learned to manage in his late thirties.

Prior to high school, Sullivan had used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. As a student at Mayo High School, Sullivan's cigarette and marijuana use became habitual. An active participant in extracurricular activities, Sullivan wrote feature articles and cartoons for the high school newspaper, played one of the leading roles in Tea House of the August Moon, and competed in freestyle and trampoline events as a member of the gymnastics team.

As a college student, Sullivan's drug use was not limited to marijuana, but was extended to include amphetamines, hallucinogens, cocaine, and tranquilizers. His freshman and sophomore years were spent on the campus of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, his junior year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his senior year was completed at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He graduated from St. Olaf College in 1976 with a B.A. in psychology.

Sullivan married his college girlfriend in November of 1976. After several argumentative years, Sullivan and his wife began a long separation in 1981 and were divorced in February, 1988.

In January, 1977 Sullivan was offered a position through the Project for Pride in Living as editor of a newspaper for the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, The Alley. In 1978 he began work as a typesetter for Dayton's Department Stores, took a second job as a keyliner for the Twin Cities Reader, and solicited freelance advertising work as well. These assignments led Sullivan to his first professional employment as a copywriter with the Minneapolis advertising firm of Bozell & Jacobs in 1979. In 1983 Sullivan moved to New York City and worked for Della Femina Travisano & Partners as a copywriter for one year before moving to Richmond, Virginia to write for The Martin Agency. In August, 1988 Sullivan was promoted to a vice presidency at The Martin Agency, but returned to live in Minneapolis in November, 1988 and was employed with Fallon McElligott in April, 1989. Throughout these agency moves, Sullivan maintained an active interest in freelance work, collaborating with friends in Richmond under the name "Drinking Buddies."

Sullivan has won numerous awards for his work in advertising competitions, most notably the One Show sponsored by the One Club for Art & Copy. He has lectured before students, presented at professional meetings, judged competitions, and published articles in trade journals.

Throughout part of his professional career, Sullivan continued to use tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. In 1982 Sullivan began to use cocaine and valium on a regular basis. At the time, he believed the drugs enhanced his work performance and that alcohol "took the edge off all the other drugs." By 1989 his dependency had increased to such a point that he spent over $16,000 for cocaine alone. In January, 1990 Sullivan entered a month-long, in-patient treatment program at St. Mary's Rehabilitation Center in Minneapolis and, with the exception of tobacco, has since remained free of chemical use.

Sullivan married again in March, 1991 and his first child was born in 1992.

From the guide to the Luke Longstreet Sullivan diaries and related papers., 1954-1995., (Minnesota Historical Society)