9 thoughts on “Weekend Question Thread”

  1. Faye Edwards, my 10th-grade English teacher—the way I interact with and experience the world now can be traced to her influence.

  2. “Dr. A”, the person who became my grad school advisor after my previous one proved to be a mean, crazy alcoholic. And not just because he saved my ass from a bad situation but because he was smart and funny and dedicated to helping me, even if it meant the occasional butt-kicking I so richly deserved.
    [the mean crazy alcoholic one was fine to work with if you met with him before 11 am. After that the cloud of vodka fumes got pretty thick. I considered taking up smoking just to observe the ensuring fireball but it probably would have taken me out with it]
    [oh, yeah, and the next year when crazy alcoholic advisor was found dead in his house, I put his name back on my resume]

  3. William Redmond. My high school art teacher. Had him all four years. He was a talented artist in his own right but could see talent in his students and he made us stretch our abilities. We were able to learn any technique we wanted so in those years I did drawing, painting, sculpture, etching, ingraving, wood cuts, jewelry making with silver and gold, even beginning lapidary. It was the one thing that made high school okay to me. Now, here I am at 60, making sterling chains and earrings and copper jewelry. Loved that man.

  5. Paul Mann, my 8th grade government teacher. He got me excited about American democracy and history, showed me that despite the complexity that it was worth paying attention to. (Americans get off easy – this is nothing like European history & politics, although you wouldn’t know it from most people.) He was willing to let me sample teaching when I was at a point where I despised what I was doing for living. He unfortunately died of an undetected brain aneurysm not long after he gave me some of the best advice of my life. He saw where No Child Left Behind was headed and what it was going to do to teachers who wanted to teach from something other than the approved text.

  7. Tie between a 10th grade math teacher (Dr. Voorhies) and Tony Kushner (the playwright). Doc was a teacher during the school year, Tony was at a summer program for “gifted and talented,” well, by Loosiana standards.

  8. I had three: Dorothy Comerford from first through third grades (no kindergarten in those days) at the one-room country school I attended. Then Gerner Anderson, my high school history and civics teacher who solidified my love of history and government. And then my freshman college English teacher (whose name escapes me at present), who somehow taught me the effective mechanics of writing.

  9. I am fortunate enough to be unable to point to one who stands above the rest. I have been blessed with good teachers at every point in my education, from kindergarten in 1966 to my master’s thesis advisor in December.

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