Mean 2nd Grade Teacher Ms. Sharp who wouldn’t let me play with the ostrich puppet.

 

 

Howard Zinn, the author of the People’s History of the United States and how calm he was with his students.  No matter what kind of crazy baloney they shouted, he always kept his cool

 

I fell in love the summer of my junior year in high school–with reading.  I found a local pool that no-one ever used.  I had been depressed all summer.  Heartbroken.  Lonely.  I went to school in a different city so I had no local friends.  But as I sat by that isolated pool I met one of the best friends I would ever have.  Reading.  In fact, reading brought me many friends.  Tolstoy.  Becket.  Shakespeare.  Joseph Heller.  All of my friends kept me company all summer long.

 

I had something I could count on.