My Web Site - Tributes

Welcome!

Tributes

Visiting with Sid Fleischman
Linebaugh Library, Murfreesboro, TN
October 2003

I'm so lucky to know Sid Fleischman!

He came to Murfreesboro in October, so of course I had to go and see him. Tracy Barrett, Cheryl Zach and I traveled to the 'Boro to hear Sid speak, watch a few magic tricks and go out for dinner and drinks.

My new favorite memoir: THE ABRACADABRA KID by Sid Fleischman

Chromium Blitz Hardtimes
See my Links Page for more info or click on the album cover above.

Check out the artistry of Chromium Blitz!

I want to give Scott Clarke, Ricardo Galvan and Jack Browning (my brother!), and their new CD, Hardtimes, a plug here. (Hey, if you can't depend on your family to be your fans, who can you depend on?!)

Chromium Blitz

This is a clip of a review on cdstreet.com (indie+emerging!). Read the full review at cdstreet.com.

"HARDTIMES HAS DEFINITIVE EPIC ALBUM QUALITY! by ROBERT, EDITOR, "THE ROCK" MAGAZINE	Rating: 10
Now here's one HOT band! These guys know how to rock! The writing is incredible,the music hits hard and stays in the groove, yet each song is very melodic and presents its own identity."

Ricardo Galvan, Scott Clarke and Jack Browning
Check out the review by Robert, Editor of THE ROCK, at cdstreet.com

Literary Magazine with Mrs. Driscoll 1977-1978

I'm the one behind Mrs. Driscoll (she's sitting on far right edge of front row) with the LONG hair! The second from the right, I think. Those were the days . . .

Mrs. Driscoll's Opus

Like young Miss Lang in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus, I, too, struggled for years to play the clarinet. I come from a long line of musicians and believed for some time that if I applied myself, my own musical talent—albeit hidden—would surely blossom. By high school, I had the sneaking suspicion that music was not my forte but I joined the band anyway, if only to have a social life.

Ms. Jo Ann Hood, now the Director of Bands at Overton High School, had the misfortune of listening to my efforts for three years, and for this she has my profound thanks and apologies. She was and continues to be a wonderful teacher and an inspiration to her students. But while I maintain my love of music and thrill to the sound of a marching band, I must confess that I was secretly relieved when my clarinet was stolen the last week of my senior year. I quickly abandoned my musical aspirations for the pen. For this, I have Mrs. Mary Driscoll to thank.

As an assignment for a Seminar in Composition class I completed a few years ago under the direction of Dr. Larry Mapp at Middle Tennessee State University, I was asked to interview any English teacher that had influenced me to consider education as a career. I knew immediately that I had to talk with Mrs. Mary Driscoll, under whom I had the honor to complete my advanced placement studies in English as a senior at Bellevue High School. Though Mrs. Driscoll is now retired, I found her to be as vibrant and enthusiastic as she was in the classroom almost twenty years ago.

Mrs. Driscoll is a born educator. When I arrived at her home to conduct the interview, she had set up her breakfast nook in a fashion that was more than vaguely reminiscent of a classroom. On each side of the small table was a chair, a notepad and a pen. Mrs. Driscoll was quick to get to the business at hand. She appeared to be genuinely excited to talk about her teaching career and her enthusiasm was infectious.

Mrs. Driscoll continues to exhibit many qualities that I would like to emulate as a teacher. She is an exceptional person with a genuine love for the young adults that have been in her charge. Mrs. Driscoll was one of the few teachers in my high school that ever looked beyond my good grades and saw the dangerous level of boredom that I was experiencing in my classes. She challenged me by refusing to let me slide through her class on the strength of my previous academic achievements. Without discouraging me, Mrs. Driscoll forced me to realize that while I had some talent as writer, I was a very undisciplined person—an attribute that she regarded as unacceptable for someone planning to attend college. Mrs. Driscoll taught me that the true student is self-motivated.

Mrs. Driscoll worked long and hard with me, on her own time, patiently showing me the error of my ways and forcing me to write, rewrite, edit and write yet again each and every paper that she assigned to the class. While many teachers would have let me continue on my way, making an "A" because I was glib and knew my grammar, Mrs. Driscoll pushed me to go beyond mere skill into what was, at times, true artistry. She labored over me even as I labored over my papers, giving me the kind of attention that is not always possible for a teacher with 120 students to give.

The type of dedication that Mrs. Driscoll exhibited in her efforts to reform me and broaden my horizons, along with her exemplary character, are surely elements which contributed to her success as a teacher. For this reason, I was surprised when she remarked that the one way that she would have most liked to improve as a teacher would have been to have conscientiously taken more time, on an individual basis, with truly needy students. Mrs. Driscoll need not worry. Though I was an Honor Roll student, I was a truly needy individual. The attention she lavished on me—at a time in my life when I could have easily floundered—probably prevented me from dropping out of the advanced placement program.

I have often recalled the many times that she would stop in mid-sentence, stare around the classroom, and then embark on a personal talk which would always begin with "Now, young people . . . ." This was our clarion call. It was meant to wake us up out of our occasional apathy. Whatever came after "now, young people" was sure to be important. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Mrs. Driscoll did not have to jolt her advanced placement students very often. Even at 7:00 A.M., the painfully early hour at which we were expected to be in her classroom, we were an alert and enthusiastic group.

Because Mrs. Driscoll so loved to teach and learn, and demonstrated this with every word she uttered, her students were inspired to go beyond their self-imposed boundaries and give just a little bit more. This is testimony in itself to the skill with which she wore the mantle of her role as teacher. With Mrs. Mary Driscoll as a role model, I hope to someday inspire in my own students the same feeling of self-worth with regard to their academic pursuits that she inspired in me.