Lawrence M Fields

During my days at Shaker, I was told that people thought I was smart. Somehow I must have given off those vibes. If I was so smart, why were Cs and worse the rule on my report cards. I needed to bribe Miss Shirk with tutoring revenues to pass Latin! All that said, I am thoroughly enjoying reading all the comments that everybody are writing on their experiences. I wish I had a 'do-over.'

Gary D Hermann

Jim Krause is right.  Mr. Burnett ordained that you were never to use the passive voice. I think that was the #1 rule.  He also said that we should not start a sentence with the word "it".   Not always easy rules to follow, but overall good ideas.

Joseph G Blake

Mead

I presume you may have known Jack Webster who like you was a "service kid" and came to Shaker in high school. At the reunion we talked about his fitst impression of the school way back when. 

Yes I was in the last session of Mr Burnett's English class 11/22/63. I heard  that JFK had been shot and died during the previous class. That was the college guidance class we had once a week with Mr Grigsby. When we went to the next class the halls were totally silent as we made our ways to the last class, I recall Mr Burnett saying something very stoical ( he was from Inidana and a Republican and his father was a close friend of Charles Halleck, the GOP House Leader). Some recall going to the gym and being dismissed early. 

I readily admit that Shaker formed me in a lot of ways. I knew how to use a knife and fork at 5. To this day I still eat pizza with a knife and fork. But you have to realize I came along late in the game and my siblings were much older. So you dont get much time to be a child. In any event, I knew by the time I was a senior in college  I needed to get the silver spoon yanked. So rather than go to law school in 1968, I went to Marine OCS, went to Viet Nam and then back to Washington and true to Shaker form married the daugher of a Marine general who was Harvard '39. He was drafted out of law school in 1940 and went to Marine OCS and spnt 32 years in the Marines and 10 in combat. 

 I got the silver spoon yanked thoroughly just as Mr Burnett taught me to write reasonably well.I am grateful for both.

Semper Fi and Hail Red Raiders.

Alan L Farkas

This exchange on Mr. Burnett is great -- so many great stories! Of course, I'm sure I just violated one of his rules, no dashes. Another of his rules is never to use (almost split the infinitive there) constructions like "there are" or "it is." Whenever I'm tempted to use these, I think of Mr. Burnett. I, too, was one of his dinner guests, and in addition to being a great teacher, he was quite a fine cook.

Speaking of great English teachers, what about Earl Seidman? Among his many contributions to my life was introducing me to the Sunday New York Times. For my entire adult life, I have begun nearly every day reading the NYT. He also advised me on the speech I gave when I ran for Student Council president He started by having me read Aristotle's Rhetoric. So great was his influence that I applied to his alma mater, Oberlin, and I came close to going there. I kept in touch with him for a while. Last I knew, he was in administration at University of Massachusetts. Any word on him would be much appreciated (oops another rule violation -- the dreaded passive tense).

Ronald G Simon

Hello everyone. Looks like you all had a wonderful time at Lomond. I think it is time for the Malvern graduates to step up and talk about their memories. Does anybody remember Miss Brooks, 6th grade? Not sure, but I don't think I learned anything from her. (Just kidding).

Ken LaVetter

I was glad to see that Alan brought up Mr. Seidman.  He was my most influential teacher at Shaker, and immediatey popped into my mind when Gary shared his "plate" short story story.  Actually, Mr. Seidman has been in my thoughts throughout my career, from my first job as a beginning copywriter to stints as a Creative Director at Leo Burnett, J.Walter Thompson and Interpublic to today as Creative Director - account man, new business guy, chief cook & bottle washer - at LaVetter & Friends Advertising.  He really opened my eyes the first day of class with the following exercise.  To paraphrase him, "There are over 250 ways to say the word "say".  Now we're going to go around the class and everyone has to come up with one of them.  "Shout","laugh" "whisper", "whimper", etc. we answered. "Remember", he said when we finished, "every word is its own entity, has its own value and conveys its own unique thought and feeling."  That exercise may not have been the Red Sea parting, but it was certainly an integral part of the foundation of my career.  I wish he knew that and how impactful he was to me and others.

Alaina Weisman (Zachary)

Yes, Ronald Simon! Time for Malverners to step up!  I had Miss Frost for kindergarden. it's hard to remember a lot about those early years.  I DO remember MRs. Hamm for music and Viola Wyke, our art teacher.  I suppose that's because those were my interests. But an interesting "hit" from Malvern came to me when I moved here to Santa Fe almost 9 years ago.  The art here (and it is everywhere) includes a lot of Frieda Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera.  Rivera's art started to look so familiar to me and then it hit me that we had a mural of his work at Malvern.  AND Viola Wyke would take trips out here to the south west.  REmember that she wore broomstick skirts? It was a big AHA and added to my knowledge that we Shakerites, starting at Malvern had a great and privileged education.

Thanks for starting that conversation!

Uh-oh, memories are surfacing.  Mrs. EDris Hanscomb for English both third and maybe sixth grade. And my mother once had a fancy lunch including chicken croquettes in puff pastry (not found in a typical Jewish home) to have our principal and two teachers as luncheon guests. Can you recall our principal's name?  My mother always said she thought Malvern will like a private school. 

John S Bennett

Mrs. Hanscomb best teacher ever.

How about Mrs. Norman?

Ronald G Simon

Alaina, you are so right. We didn't appreciate it, at the time, but it certainly was like a private school. Miss Bermiester was 1st grade, and Heindel for 5th grade. Can't remember the principal either. Wasn't there a Miss Norman, 4th grade, I think she was very pretty. I would say hot but those words weren't used back then.

Michael A Liff

Wow, Alan, thanks for bringing up Mr. Seidman.  11th grade English, and very influential in my life.  He suggested Oberlin to me as well and that's when I began looking at smaller schools in Ohio.  Much to his chagrin, and my happiness, I chose Kenyon College in Gambier.  All men at the time, 805 total enrollment, just a little bit larger than our Shaker senior class.  Seidman was also a basketball player, and fan of the game, and helped push me in that direction as well.  I think of him often.  It would be great if somebody could track him down.

Alaina Weisman (Zachary)

John Bennett! I am so glad you brought up Mrs. Norman.  I think she was the first to introduce sex appeal to Malvern.  Wasn't she a bit of a blonde babe?  And by the way, John, I remember your glasses and that you wrote really well and were one of the more interesting guys at Malvern.

Was Mrs. Norman 2nd or 4th grade?

Margery Lynn Perlberg (Rapport)

I too remember Mr. Seidman as being a very innovative teacher.  I didn't know that he went to Oberlin, but that isn't a surprise.  My son went there.  It's a different sort of school, but a very good one, I think. 

Christine Adler (Phillips)

I've enjoyed reading all the memories of English teachers and now I have to chime in! I had both Mr. Burnett and Mr. Seidman for English and learned a lot from both -- but different things. I agree that Mr. Burnett was SUCH a stickler for format (remember all those red marks on our papers, even for things like exactly measured margins!). He really made us pay attention. But I must say that Earl Seidman was one of the very most influential teachers in my lifetime. He opened our eyes to the much larger world of reading, writing, and, through the NY Times, the world in general. I think he was only 24 or so when he returned to Shaker to teach and take care of his aged father. Joyce Newman and I (close friends since Fernway) lived very close to the Seidman house and Earl had attended Shaker with Joyce's oldest sister. We thought Earl Seidman was very cool, considering that he smoked a pipe and wore sport coats with elbow patches! But way beyond that, he really focused us on deep thinking, wide reading, and then how to discuss these weighty matters, verbally and in writing. 

Earl Seidman now goes by Irv Seidman (actually his given name) and is retired from U.of Mass., but still living in Amherst, Mass. Just before I retired from 38 years in education, as a teacher and then administrator, I wrote him a thank you letter, for the inspiration and direction he had provided all those years before. He wrote back, saying that those years teaching at Shaker were some of the most informative and fun years in his career. It seems that the connection and appreciation went both ways! 

David Lee Rosen

Great young English teacher at Byron who left during the year when she showed pregnant. Anyone remember her name?

Lesley Dormen

What a wonderful description of the intriguing Earl Seidman, Chris Adler. What was the question he posted prominently above the blackboard?  Well, it was definitely about asking why, however it went. I remember him as well from working on the literary magazine he oversaw, Semanteme.  And 24!  Wow.  Was anyone ever 24? Nice to hear about his life beyond Shaker, too. And yours. Thanks for this.

Joseph G Blake

Chris Adler's comments top well a long series of exchanges recently and previoulsy about Engish teachers at Shaker. Its notable that we are so grateful for their influence. That may well be unique. I wanted to ask about Mr Randall. I never had him but he taught AP English. I recall several friends way back then and it was always postive. Anyone care to say something.

In re Mr Burnett, he collected the OLd Aves pattern made by Roayl Crown Derby.I wa great taken with it when I saw it. My parents had a large collection of china and I decided to get them a few pieces of the pattern. Ultimatley in Hong Kong I bought the basic pieces of a tea service which I gave them when I came back from Vietnam and serivce in Asia. Manyyears later it came back to me and I gave a few years ago to my daughter who likes tea and was born in the UK when we lived there circa 1980.

Arthur Charles Scott

I wasn't in Seidman's class, but knew him from Semanteme.  He was a sharp guy and definitely Mr Cool Prof.  He seemed best suited to teaching at a New England college, and I am not surprised that's how he wound up.  I didn't know he was a local lad, and thanks, Christine, for the informative post that explains what he was doing teaching at our high school back then. 

On the subject of favorite teachers, anyone else remember Mr (Robert) Wheeler?  He taught history, was very good at it, and he got me interested in H.L. Mencken.  I did a big paper on Mencken, my high school Magnum Opus for sure, and started collecting Mencken editions, which now fill a couple of shelves, along with some Mencken letters framed on the wall.  I visited him [Mr Wheeler] at his home once, he and his wife and new baby were living in the carriage house of one of those big mansions on or near South Park.  He must have moved on, because he's not listed on the faculty in the '64 Gristmill.  There's a Robert A. Wheeler listed as an Emeritus Professor at Cleveland State, who has collaborated on histories of Cleveland and the Western Reserve.  Could be him, I suppose.

Howard Reid Bell

At the risk of being an English snob, I couldn't tell whether you visited Mr Wheeler or H L Mencken himself. I'm sure it was the former, but your grammer made it difficult to know for your sure. But thanks for sharing 

Joseph G Blake

Before I get slammed for my faiure to check for typos and spelling as often as I should, let me apologize for grammar and other mistakes. I pray that Mr Burnett is not looking down or up as the case may be and adding me to his list of Pariahs. 

T Stenson White, Jr

I remember Bob Wheeler quite well. He was a wonderful history teacher who pushed us to think, think and think. I am reminded of the old reporter's adage of "who, what, where, when and why". Mr. Wheeler was really big on "why". I believe he left Shaker after our Junior year to take a position at Hawken or Hathaway Brown. If I remember correctly, we lost a number of fine teachers to the local private schools during the mid 60's.....including one of my favorites, Jim Bristol.

Lesley Dormen

Not to pile on (she says, piling on), I had the same grammatical disorientation, Howard Bell.  I think I must have known Earl Seidman only from Semanteme.. Who were the other senior English teachers? I know I had Dorothy Buehler for American Lit in 11th grade. She had something of Miss Jean Brodie in her, whether or not she was in her prime. Though who could tell at that age. She wore capes. I think I had a,crush on her.

Arthur Charles Scott

Mrs Mae Brown was another of the English teachers.  I think I had Burnett as Jr and Brown as Sr - or maybe vice versa.  Mrs Brown (a window, I believe) was a fine teacher, but didn't have the commanding presence - whether innate or put on - that Burnett did.  She had some vague connection to my family, my father knew her late husband or something like that, and she kept a kind eye on me.  No special favors, though.

Sorry about that confusing sentence in the Wheeler post.  Since Mencken died while we were in elementary school (1956), had no offspring, and never lived anywhere but in the Mencken family home on Hollins Street in Baltimore (which I toured years ago), I didn't see that there might be confusion.  I've fixed it.

Joseph G Blake

Speaking of teachers who left for a private school in the 60s, my home room teacher was Mr Brezinski (sp). He had a Kojak "haircut" and wore beautifully tailored "tweed" jackets and a bow tie. He was a Latin teacher. 

He always called students "Doctor." 
Mr Burnett also left a few years after we graduated. He returned to Boswell Indiana. The school was changing and the spirit of the 60s was not for him. Mr Rupp retired with our graduation as well. The old order changeth. 

James Reese

James R Krause

I believe he refought the Civil War in class.