Teacher's Teacher

 

I didn't just decide to return to the classroom this year... it's been a two year process, actually. January 2013, I registered at the University of Kentucky in order to acquire the six post-grad credits I needed in order to renew my teaching certification, as I did not want it to lapse. Then, I served two long-term sub positions beginning November 2014 until May 2015. Here it is... August 2015, and I'm lucky enough to be back in the classroom full time with a renewed certification and optimism as well.

The courses required could either be education classes or English classes, so I chose to pursue Fiction Writing in line with my "other" career as professional writer. I had published several poems and essays in various journals and anthologies and even published two books of poetry, but I was new to the world of fiction writing. So, that is what lead me to my teacher: Gurney Norman.

Gurney was poet laureate of Kentucky, has written several books novels and has served as a professor for thirty years. For the good old Wikipedia reference, please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurney_Norman

to check his university bio/contact info: https://english.as.uky.edu/users/gnorman

What these sites won't tell you is the kind, generous and brilliant professor Gurney is. Not one teacher in undergrad or graduate school ever took the time and patience with my studies as Gurney has. He is the ultimate story-teller teacher, spinning tales of his own childhood spent with his grandparents in the Appalachian Mountains and his young adult life in Palo Alto, California with those weird kids who played in a band called The Warlocks and those two boys, Hewitt and Packard who hung around. He encouraged us to write the ordinary little stories we use in conversation because the details in those stories are the jewels for fiction.

Gurney honors me by reading my work. He still does. We have stayed in communication via emails and visits to discuss our work. I am privileged enough to be asked to write a study guide of sorts for his novel Divine Right's Trip. The process of writing that work was a delight. I was able to put on my "teacher glasses" to explore a critical analysis of the novel in question format. Now, what's interesting about this experience is that I did not read that novel before I signed up to study with Gurney. Instead, my friend recommended it to me once I had launched in class. Talk about the strange alchemy of the universe... it is a novel that spoke directly to my heart and lead me on a journey into my own counter-culture experiences traveling with the Grateful Dead and Phish. It's also a novel full of purposeful symbolism and a true work of literature.

What I love most about Gurney is that for all of his accomplishments, what he says he is most proud about his life is his role of teacher. That is such inspiration for me. He is the ultimate teacher's teacher. And I could not be more proud to call myself his student.