I’m a retired teacher/professor living in southern Vermont. I’ve taught at various colleges and private high schools, most recently at Greenfield Community College in Massachusetts, where I taught Latin and Western Civilization, with occasional forays into English Literature and Elementary French. My bachelor’s degree is in Political Science and my Ph.D. is in Classics. As I grow older, though, I find myself returning to theater, an old and trusted friend. I have not found anything that works more powerfully on my emotions while also demanding my intellectual attention.
During the pandemic, I reconnected via Zoom with theater friends across the country. I am deeply grateful for our regular conversations as we ask one another after watching a play online “What do you remember?” I am also grateful to Paul Nelsen, who led theater groups to London and used this question as a way to bypass our judgments long enough to let the power of a play work on us.
I also reconnected via Zoom during the pandemic with two of my former language colleagues. As professionals, we teach Latin, French and Spanish. As amateurs, we look at paintings together. For over two years, we have been meeting online to discuss works of art that interest us, each of us bringing one work to present to the others. I am deeply grateful to these friends, who continue to educate me.
I write as an amateur. I can’t claim expertise in theater or art, but I write about what I love so that I may continue to learn. Since my retirement, I’ve missed teaching and the learning that goes with it. If others find value in what I write, that gives me more joy.