Since I did the worst last week, I decided to do the best this week. This was a hard decision. But I decided to start with my favorite subject, English.I'm lumping things together, mostly I am talking about two teachers I adored in high school. Mr. Anstet, and Mr. Wilkinson.
Mr. Anstet was my favorite teacher by far. Funny, witty, crazy. I remember he would toss erasers at you from across the room if you weren't paying attention, or were talking too much. I remember running after and grabbing an eraser he had just hurled at me, and hitting him back. It was hilarious. He also would bring nerf guns, disc guns, anything he could shoot at us. He also introduced me to some great literature, JD Salinger, Ken Kesey, William Golding, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, just to name a few.
Now Mr. Wilkinson was also a cool teacher. He was the creative writing teacher. I wrote my first short story in his class, and had this great feeling of accomplishment. It was in his class that I began writing poetry, and songs as well. I loved taking my emotions and putting them down on paper. I owe a lot to Mr. Wilkinson.
I had English classes in college I also loved, women's lit, african american lit, poetry, nature writing. John Muir, Norman MacClean, Robinson Jeffers, Mary Shelley, Arthur Miller, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Louise Erdrich, Margaret Atwood. I could go on and on. I loved it all, writing and literature giving me a high no drug could replicate.
Whenever anyone asks me if I had a favorite HS teacher I also answer, "Anstett". I liked his tough act, the literature we read, and having him scrare the crap out of daydreaming students by disc-gunning them, or slamming a bat down on their desks unexpectedly. Lots of fun all around. Never had Wilk for a class, but was in the musicals, so got to know and love him from that perspective. I can still see him standing down stage, arms across his chest, watching us rehearse.
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