0v1e-/

reach. I was told that I'd be teachins writins.

This sounded pretty goocl to ne. It night be
interestinc, and I night lind some kid who was
very talented. Then I would b ns hin atons,
nurt ure t hc t al ont , and, . rt t hc cnd of t he
movie, when he was winning the Nobel Prize
for Literature, he would say,
"l
wrnt to thank
Frank Gannon, who first taught ne how to
write." Then they'd show ne, a really old guy
in a hospital bed warching him accept the No-
bel Prize on television. He'd say some little
dumb rhing that the kid used to say when he
was first learnins how to be great from me.
Somerhing from the rine when he was rebel-
lious and I was ousry-but-Lovable . . . Then they
would play
'triumphant"
mtrsic.
I boughr a herringbone jacket. I couldn't
find one with those leather elbow patches. I
tried at Men's Wearhouse. Tire sales guy rold
me rhey didn't nake them anynore, but the
guy looked like the sergeant in Gomer P)le and
probably dldn't travel in acadenic circles, so I
doubt that he knew.
But the coat was very tweedy. I put it on and
looked at myself in the rnirror. I used Robin
Villians in Cood W,llHnnnng as my goal and I
I thought I would be reaching some kind of
nonfiction crertive.writing thing .rt the cot-
lege. I was told that not enough studcnts wcrc
interesred. The littlc collegc was hard up for
money, and snall clases, such as my proposed
"English
393, Nonficrion Writing," were not
Instead, I rvound up teaching a class called
Ensl i sh 99, a prof i rabl e course. Enel i sh 99
was t like most ofdre other courses at the coL-
lege. It didnt
"counf'
as a couse for dre bach-
ENGLISH 99
Literacy among the ruins
By Frank Gannon
ecent l y, a snal l col l ese asked ne t o elor's degree. It was held in a college clasroon,
but taking it didnt give you any credits toward
a degree. English 99 was a pasfail couree for
students who, according to the collcgc, werc
going to be
"overly
challenged" by the intro-
ductory English course, Engtish 101. Enslish
101 : t t he coLl ege was not rhe i nt el l ect ual
equivrlent of boot canp, but many of thc stu-
dents at the colLege werent ready for fiat kind
of hurdle. The clas net for onc hour thrcc
times a week. After a student passed English
99, he or she would be theoretically prepared
to take the 6rst college Englisb course.
The adminisFarion ar the college didnt like
to draw artention to English 99 because the
coLrne didn't
"work."
Most of those who rook
English 99 never seemed to get anywhere close
to graduating, md a lot ofthen, dscouraged by
the rigor of English 99, wouldn't ever take an-
orher college course for dre resr of fieir lives.
The truth of the matter was rhat English 99
was there so that the college could get sone
money from these Lids before rhey tlunked out
or quir The college rvas shockngly expemive.
Its main appeal was that it almosr never reject.
ed anyone who applied.
This whole thing was pretty cloudy {ron a
moral perspcctivc, but thAt wasn\ a big facb.
for rne, a penon of cloudy moraluy. Comparcd
with, say, the Soprmos, I was still semi'moral,
son ol At least I told nyselfthat.
For me the troublesone moraL inplications
were setled by two deciding facrors: A) I could
always say, in rhe immortrl words of
Joseph
Cocbbcls,
"Hey,
I just work hcrc."
l-
Bl l)ental.
T
'l. Lked the lrfe oi,: profts"r I spenr nruch of
rny days reading the books I never got around
Franl Gannon ii thd audor,,tYo, Poc and VaDna Karcnina. He 6 cerentr dr uort d a book about lrebnn
for
\varur Book. Hn arrich
'Rd.
Patroli A Sasa dpt.dred in rh. sel]Enfu' 1 996 nsle o/ Ha{els Magaznre.
'
proftatJL ln ing tog.th.r of
ron pcsist and evolve thai hign
er indiYidlalnm shich thc ccn'
re5 olcnlturc procq drcre nu{
comc a lofiie. rcspcd lor thc sov
{.ign hndansod th* sccks to
kmv nsef.nd then orld about iti
th.t seeh5 tr ireedod aor oxrdn-
snrn and sclf derelopmenq thnt
wi l l l meandhneandLbor i ni s
o*nvrt, nntannolcd llikc bt
old md rcv Sucn souls doredne
have in\pned and gxldcd\rdrlds,
mdilNebc not Nhollr be* h.hed
br our nhi ncgol d, t nev shxl l
agnn. IIc(in thc longingof black
nrn nusthave rerpe.t, thr ri.h
and hifer depth oa thcir .xperi-
.n.., thc unlJoln trcmlrcs of
rhci.innerlite, iho $r,ngc rend-
inlr ofmturc thct ha\c scen, nul
givc thc wond nes poi,tsofriew
rnd n*e rhen Lring, livnrg, and
doi.g prcious to all hunan hc-d'
And rr thcns.l' cs in thcsc the
ds that hr thctr suls, dre .hmcc
to soa. in ihc dim l,luc dr abovc
rh rnok is to thcjrfinc.lpirns
boo. md guerdo! ror what thel
l oseoner dhbvbci ngbl ack.
I shvithShakesp.arc edhc
vin.csnot A.ros drc colorline
I novc a.n in arn$ith Bllar
dd Drnas, where sniling mn
rn{l vol..nhg women
elide
in
silded
h h. Fnm outthc.a' cs
.fovcnnB $at sving bc61t.n th.
srmng linb.d cdrtl .rd drc nrc
.ry ofihc r.E, I qnnnon rituilc
.nd Atr.li0s rnd rvhxt soul Ivil!,
.nd theycome rll grr.nr{sly$nh
no scorn nor cond.sc.nsion. So,
rvc{l YidrTruth, I d{rll above rhe
veil. Is ihis rho lia.],Or grudgc
rs, O knighlly Amelica? is thk
thc lifc vou iorg to change
jnto
thc drI 1cd hidcolsne$ oiGcor-
gi27 r\Jelon so rtiid ]e$ peering
a.on dris nish Pisgah, Lctwcc.
Phllisri' re and Amrlckir.,N. si8ht
'Of
ttx 1 idh i hg af Btd.k t\Itt,"
Th. SouhofBl..klolk
(,.)o9)
'
+1<- - =
|
/ / <
r , r r vhcn I r vr s r snr Jt nt , r nJ r t r vr : pl casr t t
pu( i n! . n mI
f Rr f esn) r
. o. t uDLc xnJ u; r l kni g
r f ur r nl on di e canf l s.
A ' t r Jer t
qr r r l l
sr t uc end sar ' .
" D1.
Car '
non. " I " u' l J l i r e i 1l i l o\ ! - ke) , r cr dcn, i c
\ ' r r . I si $i r r eal l l a
" . l L, cr r r "
or anl r hl l g; I
$r i
l ud
i t r uq! : uc \ r i t c, . I l ur r he sr ul l eDr s
LliLh'r knoq dut The-r rsurcrl thrt 1. llke rll
t he ot her pr r t r sr r . , hr Ll a Ph. l ) .
I sr s r pscuJo' pr of r ss, , . l ) f .
( j i onon. "
Thr t sounJcd st r augc br L gooLl . I ' Ll al i ml s
, vl e. I t hr r sht of gcnr g r p1c
Oi crrusc, I rvas an urp.ot,tr. ll,,r s. *is ihe
class I tru.eht I sx\
f(\ins
rs r profcssor rnri
Ensl i sh 99 $15
r , ) sl . r
Ns: r col l cgc f ur Lsc.
ThcLc wcrc tlurc rlelinirc tr'tls oi sndents
i n t l i t chss: Boi e( l ' l . . t i ns
si
s, j l cks, i n! | ,
f i i '
I c! r ,
r no1 . r l c! ( t v: B( \ ni i n r ci ul r . . ! . A
ucr l t hl r LLunnus, ' l Lhc col l eee hr Ll esnbl i shc( l
r
qLr nt
t <, r di c vi ct i s of t l r e Nar i n D, \ nr a.
Thc yrunr: Btxrians rt tlrc collcr:c scLc drcrc
L.ccuuic ,'1 tht gnnt. lt enal.lcJ thcm to enr,nl
u t hc coi l r gc, r r ke cor ses, r n. l , h, , pcf ul l i ,
sr . n r ncs l l t c nr Amcr i cr .
Mar r l r f r hese B, r sni an
l oung f copl e
heJ
| ccn col l et e nu. l enr s i D t l i . i r D. t i \ c c( { nr r r T
hcf r r c t l , c r r r l , r J shr ncLcJ di cu Lr cs. Nos
t bJt r l r c\ ser e i n Aner i cr i i \ t r s n, , Lni ger i $-
l r , r t r nt
t hat r l i . t ! r c i c Sc r h" , ) r
( l L( , i r s ( , 1
Clhrlniin- or l\4usluDs. Th.-v \c.e n,trf llo iu
|q,|lc
helnunig over nr Alrcrlcr.
A L, t of r l i c B, ' +ur kr . l s ucr c cr t Lcncl r '
bright. Sruc of tLrcor hr,l lrten pre-niecl anJ
pre-lar sndents l.cforc thc ti,rlic Nir, hur bc'
.i,,se nrsr .f tlicsc lkl. \crc fust lcrning En'
glisli, tlicl r'crc n|llrral cinJi.lii.s lor Engl,sh
99
So r hc r t uat i , n r l sct . Tul hur l l c r chi cl t s,
i hr
" l l , r , ! . - , , i ' 11, c - WoLl d
Tnr c k r nr l t hc
' ' Sr upr l l t _v. , f - t he- Wor l l
Tmck, " r vcr c r h, r r t t , ,
nr n nr , , c| c| , nhd. I $r s di . r c t o \ ' ! l ch. l J
ths luJ ,r*rlvcd mumnce, dre pohcc ud the
i r { nxncc. . mf i n) i r or l t l hl r c, nt cr r , , gr t cJ
I l , i . . \ s i r s! s, I j u\ r ur t . l i cd.
( l
l r r r c Ji sgr Li sed t he r l cnt r t i cs of bot h t he
col l er e r nJ r l r *uJcnt r i i ncar r r s t hr t
q' i 11,
I
r hi nk, bcc( r nc ol . vub i o Ll i c. r i def . )
Ihere rrs no
'scanng
ch.rt" l. English 99,
s( ) i nt . . e couLl si r i nl ayi r c( nr t hc ni n, but ,
li,r srrrc rcrson, thc classcs rkrrs stgregateJ
fien$elrcs. Thc glr,fs rll sat tL,gcthcr, irhrcl,,
I r l l l ghr . r nr l cr l r nc. l r hci r st i r LN r i sr r cci ai c
rr(n,D.
Th. En.rLish 99 clrssirn was laLge, en.1
r heLe r vr s enough r r m t o est r l . l i sh r r r t , *
blfttr a'nc ofcrll]ri Jc\k\ drrrDd crch grrt+r.
;\riLn, tnc rrlrcc gups scre:
L The DoLcrlJ-rnking
(iids
2 Thcl , , cks
l. TLrc ltclrgccs
Ai t cr t l i c f , ' . t Jr 1 of cl ass,
blr vnrt mining foi the
blscn mendnd$hitel A hundrcd
md fifty)m ago ou hsk woul.l
havc s.cncd casier
' fhen
Dr.
J.hnson
blddly Nstred us rnar
edKftion w6 rcdill solery 6' dre
cmbellnnments olliac, fd rvas
uselc$ 6r onhturyRmin.'l o<lay
{r havc climlEd to neigha sherc
we lvould ol)en atlcdt th. outci
coufts oakno{'lcdAc tD rl1, dGplav
i8ftsmsto any, and rld the
aew io* hoo its my$cry ofT.uth
is rdealed, not wholly bI bifth ol
thc accidcna ofthc $oct mr-
hct,butatlcan irpa(rco(li' rg
to dcatnc$ md.ifi, ralent rnrl
Ttu t&den.y n h.rc, born of
sl$cry and qlickened ro rencstd
lifc by thc c.ary inpeddnd.athc
day, to rcgardhuma. bcings ds
mong thc natcriil rcsouce! oa
a lu.l to l,e ddin.d with rn eye
single io tub@ dnidcn !. R{c?ai
udices,\' hi.h
(cep
brown atd
blackmen in then' places,"ve arc
.oming to regard ar usetul allie!
qith
luch d thcory, no n.ttc.n6v
much thol n,r dul drc ambniot
trnd sicken the hcls ot$rugglj.g
human beings. And .bovc .I, vc
dailv hcd that .. rdlcaion that
crcorraecs as!i' a!ion, that ses
thc loitici of idc.h and 5rel6 as
m end.1ntu Md .hect( r.the.
than bread Ninning, n thc pnvi-
legc olwhne men and thc dangcr
and delusior ofblack. . .
{Nlo sccure civilizatn,n."n
be Luilt i, the South ! nh rhc Nc'
g.o as m l8no.dq tudrurc

Pro
lctariat,Suppore vc s.cL to rcn-
edy thk l)y nalinS thdn lxl,or.rs
and nothing nor.: th.y arc n.t
nnns, they iulc u$cd ofihe Trce
oa]-itc. . . . [C]an dnl sdnc man
imrginc that t!.y $ill Lighdy l.l
.ride rhrir y.rning ind con-
tc.tedly bccomc hevers olrcod
anddr awer sof wat r ?. . .
rlbove Dur modcr. $dalism,
ma out 6ftne turdrip ofrhc n.ss.
r , 1 . . i , . 1 , r , r r i . , , !
f l i . . f , L l r r , . l r \ . f , r , l , , r r l r ( t i d r { r r Rr i n . r n l l n r L r , , L r ! ! !
\ . \ 1{ l r LLl . LL, L, r r . L r . ^n, 1. , , , \ N. l l LLJU, f ! . . r i . n
l r l L \ L l l L . l r r
changcd clesks, so rhe sense of rhree disrinct
groups was eniphasized. This rvas, of course, a
rvriting'cxercise class, so dre content of thc
rvriting s'ns not as imporrani as rhe form. The
idea was to get rhe students good cnough ar
wriring Englsh that they could have
; ; 1
a ch. nct r n Enul Fh LOl
T
- a hc 6r . t 11a1. L nr ed r o expl , r o * nr r ns En-
gLish to the cl:rss. I tolcl rhem rhat wriring rv.rs
more like playnU
soLf
or rhe piano rhan ir was
lile othcr courses. Writng u'asn'r r.allp sub-
j ecr
t o be st ucl i cd. Thar i s, r vr i r i ng Engl i sb
prose was morc tr skiLL rhan a bodr of acqutred
knowledge, like, say, history, or psychology, or
bi ol ogy. l t r vas nn act i vi t y mor e t han some'
thnrs thar can bc studied. You don'r learn n,
you leam ho*, to do n.
I Lrsed a lot of metaphors to get across rhis gen-
errl idea.It wb lLke jusslins. Like ridinsa bic,,'cle.
Keep doug u and one d.ry ycu rvake up and you
cal do ii. lf you dont quit,
)'ou
will
ser
ri. lt is L&e
goll lt is like tennis. lt is likc thc lula hoop. h is
like
lumping
rope. Literjding a bicrrLe.
It rvas very difiicult to come ur $'ith some-
thing they had all done. Thc three group+rhe
Lrored.lookug
slrh,
rhejocks, and the retugees
rvere like rhree sepatate countrics. Therwere all
trying to ger ro dre same gener.rL place. Bur they
$'crc startins ftom places a llrillion miles apari.
The writins ofrhe three
eroups
ivrs ve.y, lery
distinct, very particular. The wriring ofthe
borccl-looking girls could neler be nistakeD
Ior the s'ririns ofdrejocks o. thc writinsof
fie refugees. Except lor thc fact that fiey
$ere Nrittcn in English, the writings ofthc
dree gfoups wcre DRASTICALLY dilierent.
Because we wer e j usr concer ncd wi t h
writing in gcncral, I fourd ii besr io let rhc
students
prite
nbour anyihhg rhey wanr-
ed. Despite that fact, hower,er, the stu-
dents ilrote in'clas esay after nr-class en
say on the ranc subjecrs.
The bored.lookins girLs ahvays rvrote
about t hr ee t opi cs. Topi c one can be cal Lcd
.LIFE
1S HARD":
ft is lcry hill to hdvc a rclario.shF with i
sur
because h is harJ tu mccr a
e(ry
rhartou Lke. When
yo! nreet thn rhev neler turn our ro lt the wa1-
1ou
{anr theo to be. Like rhis
eu1
I Nenr out rrth h*
Nnncr. I drouchr he was sweer but I tound our drar
hr Lied allrhc rime. Right ro nir face.IncrcJiblc.
Topic tilo ilas
"l
CAN'T DO ANYTHINC":
I ahays s.v I'm goins m do rmethng aILl
then I neleido it. Likc rhn moi,rnrs. I sa thrr I
was
eoins
to nath clAs bur I wdrr ro rhe
Jifir
Mart and I bolchr . slushv an.l i dmnk ir r rlre
car lvith ny girlfricnd Mandr and it Nas had ro
go to ndrh clas becaur u's !) borins. I didnt go
^' ) <>- . 3
( ' ) | ' "
so I iidnt get nry n,rkeup rc$. So non lh be.
lrind I h.re drat. I hNe tu.fpll mlscll
Topic rkee s,as
"l
AM TIRED":
Toda) ny Rbmnare {oke ne ur antl I lmkcd
at thc alatu clock rnd lw,s like I im so litel I
ju$ dr.\' {,r. cloih.s on and I JiJn\ crcn
fur
on nuch ndkeup and ihen I {as likc l'm ! lare
anvsi y. nd I
t l sr
r , enr h! . k t u sl ccr . l havc r .
nop donrg rhis. 1r is r$y {icssful tccrusc nrJoy\
rouns Fcrson
hrs drlss .nd
Fc$
pre$urc and vct
is cxpcct!,1n, g. nJcollc.!c.
Thc jocks also had rhree n,bjccts. One was
..I
HAVE FUN":
Lm veek mJ ftiends rnd I drolc J.wn i. rhe
bcach inJ gor a rooni.In dre dnvtinc {c jus hlne
our ar rlrc
ann
and ar nisht we woullgo out mJ gct
$mc bccr lnd go to
flaces.
We
sot
thcLc rLorn;
ni nc, nd i t Nr st | cr r vemr r r But hyt en t hcLcr ver e
a lur ofrnls and \rc allncrstrls. h Nasjust kick brck
an,l hvc sort fun. AmlNc had a
s..d
inne.ln the
moni|e we got a bite &, t,r,nd rhcnjusrhunsour
h! drc
Nol
rnd causht$tu rays and drank acou-
F[
Ln bcc$. One afrentrn s! s cnt r) dris mall drer
harc ncr dr.rc.I bousht so,ne rlu$. h N.s
srcai
But ficn nc hal ro
so
back ro collcl+ rlranr
The jocks' topic
rwo was
"l
NEEI) FREEDOM"'
Whr is ir th,r rhe Jri.knr asc is Nfenr!{)ncl
Thar issostuFid bcc^usea pdur knows rvlut hc\
Jo,ns nnJ rLhr sluLld hc hivc ro wair untilnme,
very
ry2i.)emncnt
degenerates sbm trusted to tbe rulert
of th e pe 0p le a lone. Tb e peop I e tb ems e ht e s t h er efore
dre its onl! safe deplsitoies. And to rnder even tbem sdfe,
tbeir minds must be improved to a cenain degree.
_
THOMAS
JEFFERSON
(I78I)
bodt savs i t t . l l r i ehr . And u
j u$
m* es
l ou
N^nr
to {lrink norc dnJ ilFu can be rn th .rm! whcn
rou
ar cishtcen rhd itd.csnt make sense. You crn
get krlled br thc sanc c.ul|r
rou
cant L1flnk in.
It Jocsn' t.lo anl good anJ oeryone kno\s it\ $r-
piil.InEurope I hcd ir isn\ likc rhai. Whyca.\ it
be like dht o Aneiicar Don\ gct mc Nrons Yor
slbull Jrink s.nsiuy. Like Nhen \Lc dtuk wc alNars
hrvc a dcsignarcd Jriver.
Three was
"WHAT
I CAN LIO GOOD"I
I srdrred plarnu bdseball {hcn I nas ciehr wirlr
T' hall whcn I sd tl\clrc orrtcam h.d Non rhe re-
gnm. l
qas
ihe pircher fu thrt
s,mr.nd
I h^!c al-
wrrs hal a
s.od
in. Wben I sas in high s.hoolNc
weie second in rhc $rre ,nd I won .vcrv
srmc
I
pirchd cxccFt onc thnr I gor hurt in. One
rcar
wc
won our dn' ision and it {as aNesome. I was like
about rhc best player on thar tean. When I got to
collcge I rvar ncrvous hecause I didlt luvc con[.
dcn( abour playins on rh6 level but my dad said jct
relax and do the bestyoucmand dre tint day I hn
rhe ball rcalsood so nos l feel bener about every.
rhins and l'm ieallr lookilg foward to this yeai.
The refugees lud only one theme,
"LIFE':
When I was ren the Mr came in and people lost
Ii!*. We only have water on some days. P.orie
sa!' shooiins and wai came closer.l was in:, build-
hc an,l a bonb went off and my friend was killed.
I had io leale counfty wirhour fanily. lt changes
cverythins. But rai kepl getins closer until we
mmt leave. i mlked by peopie dad in steet. Cetnit
and antlseib leave because nothine is left.
In Sarajcvo soldie$ sdy that they wiLl brinc a
dream ofnaking thinss faii. People I live with call
Melncd in Bijeljina. ReLatives allkilled. U.N. has
blue helmers take care of snall problenx. MiLoevic
and Karadzic do nor do wharlheysaid. Canthelp.
Now I lne inAnErica andso rocoLLeee here.l am
qing ro leam Enslish. Difficuh Firsrnicht
qas
in
Brooklrn. Very sc,ry at night.
yleyond tbe pouer of diffusing old vtealtb,
LD
kducationl
bas tbe prerogatiae of creati.ng neu). It
is a thousand tines more lucratioe thdnfraud; and adds
a tbousand
fold
more to a nationJ resources than the most
su c c e s.tfu I c onq u e st s.
-
HORACE MANN
(1849)
Sornetunes the refugees rvrilc things fiat, if
writtcn by one of the other groups, would
set
me to write
"nice
detail" in the ma.gin. Many
rnnes dre only thing I could ever rhink of to
writc was
"good."
Sonetimcs I would look at
the sord after I wrotc it And cross it out be-
cause ir seemed like a stupid thing ro write. So
I {ould jusr ctrcle things and correct sentences
ALlnan lived next door has hand blown in sar.
I correcred it.
A.lnan, Nho livcd ncxr Lloor, had his hand
blown off in rhc war.
Then I crosscrl out my conecred sentence
Sometnnes alter readhg a few retugee paper I feLt
, h
'
i r " " adof , ea. h, ns t ng Ll - l r a. r nl eamr ng
English.
Our class was at eigh!-thirty in the moming
Somerines I would gct there afew mnrutes late
4I] HARIFIT' S ]Vl AGAZINE/ SEPTENIBER ]OO!
+t 1
There would be srudents waiting outside tbe
room.l unlocked thedoorto Let the studenrs in.
Then I said,
"l
need coffee." I'd excuse myself
and go downstairs to get coffee. When I got back,
I saw a student paper on my deskl
Sone people so hungry ther ert rcc. Thcy put
ftee in boil w.ter to nake sofi Eee. Since Lregan
rationine
eiee!
com is bci dins. But aimt and
an force have nice ncals. Here eveitrhins good.
Sone of rhe Refugee Group's papers were
Mrsisterhad liiend. Shcsaid thit soldiers rook
her off the sncct and hurt and then let hergo. Thcn
slre cties ncver would cone out ofroon. Pc.plc say
forger. That is hard for her. She stay in rcom.
I r enember ci r cl i ng r he ver h and
writing,
"agreementl"
At the end of every scnester I would have to
gn'e grades to thc students. The only trvo grades
were"Pas" and
"Fail."
l passed and failed a lot of
boredlooktrg girls and a lot ofjocks. Mostly they
pased. You could take English 99 more than
once, and a lot of srLrdenrs rook ir two and even
rhree tines.I neverfailed a retusee. I knew that
Enghsh 101 would be hard for many ofthen,
but I thought that I nighr be teaching En-
slish
99 asain, and I srill wouLdnt be.rble to
"conecC'
:nything.
After a few weeks of Enslish 99, I des.
perately vanted it to end. lt had a bad ef-
fect on me. I staned ro dread Mondays,
\Tednesdays, and Fridays. The dean\ sec-
retary calLed me one day. It rvas risht a{ter
class, and 1 was thlnking abour an essay I
had
jusr read. The essay was about Saraje'
vo, about hidins.
I had
j usr f i ni shed r cadi ng an essay
abour how guys can be so thoughtless that
ir's nor even funny. Before that I had read an
essay about people who wear designer clorhes
and how they are so snotty. Before that I read
what happens whcn a bo,nb goes off in thc
middle of the night in your apaitment builcling
The dean wanted to see Ine. I was very hap'
Thedean, apolite baldingman inhislate tor-
ties, |old me, hapleasant voice, thar the collcge
was trying to
"getleancr."
He wassorry, aDd this
had nothing todo widr my work, but he s'as go-
ing ro have ro cut me loose. I said that I appre-
ciated everlthins the college had done for rnc. He
said rhar I was
"on
the rop of our lisf if they
ever hired more professors. We shook hands.
I was going to walk back trp to n) oflce. I
remenbered what I was doing when I left. I
sriLl had a lot more essays ro read, but I rvenr
outside and rvalked hone trying nor to thn* in
9-
o