Inspiration/Aspiration

Mr. Bookout was my high school English teacher, Mr. Halford my Creative Writing teacher. I remember them both as being aging hippies but, more importantly , inspirational. Mr. Halford, in particular , always let me know that he was very much impressed with what I attempted to do in his class and that every attempt was a serious one. Mr. Bookout was less verbal but when I wrote to him a considerable time after graduation (a matter of years, actually) , he made me realize just how much of an impression I had made on him. I continued to correspond with him for some time after that. His letters, his faith in my ability to pursue this crazy thing called writing has never ceased to amaze me. It is for this reason I strive to be the person he always believed I was...and am. To have such a supportive , inspirational teacher is rare. So is an intelligent, inspirational movie about such a teacher. “Finding Forrester “ comes to mind. It certainly inspired me as an aspiring writer. And it reminded me of how privileged I was to have known such a person, myself. Well, not to that extent, perhaps, but just to have had a teacher who had that much faith in me, to have that teacher give me the courage to think “outside the box” and not to be afraid to be the uncommon person I am…
…Indescribeable.