Past Imperfect, Present Progressive

After 50 years of life, one of the unique pleasures in life includes being able to contrast and compare two points on our lifeline with a perspective that always reveals a noteworthy journey. This book enabled me to look at the life of a high school teacher, a favorite English teacher of mine, who had a rich, full personality and life beyond the high school classroom where he enriched my enjoyment of reading and writing.

This book contains a record of his life, and a marker in mine. The author's perspective was different from mine, but the backdrop of our lives was the same. Reading this book was like looking for the first time at the lives of your parents, or finding out the secret motivations of your heroes and understanding them show more completely because of the passage of time.

I thank Mr. Wood for recording his life for posterity, and encourage others to read this memoir of strength, courage, and inspiration. An American teacher's life on stage in northern California in the '60s could not help but be an exciting read. What you'll get in addition is something that is poetic, revealing and thought-provoking, too. If you knew him like his students did, you wouldn't be so surprised. show less