Gloria Harrell knew I cheated my way through her advanced composition and creative writing class during my senior year at Unicoi County High School in 1984.
She didn性视界传媒檛 care then, and she didn性视界传媒檛 care when I saw her and confessed a few years after high school on one of my visits back to Erwin, Tennessee.
Mrs. Harrell, who died a few weeks ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, was one of my favorite and most influential teachers 性视界传媒 mostly because she didn性视界传媒檛 care.
Allow me to explain.
I graduated from high school in 1984, moved to Texas in 1985 and started my career as a sports writer in 1986.
Shortly after that, on one of my visits back to Tennessee, I ran into Mrs. Harrell. I figured since I was a few years out of high school, lived in a different state and was already a year into my chosen career, it wouldn性视界传媒檛 hurt to tell her the truth.
性视界传媒淚 hope you don性视界传媒檛 get mad at me,性视界传媒 I said. 性视界传媒淏ut each day when you assigned us to write a paper in your class, I actually wrote three papers. I did mine, and I also did the papers for two girls in the class, who in turn did my computer science programs for me.性视界传媒
Mrs. Harrell性视界传媒檚 response stunned me.
性视界传媒淚 knew what you were doing,性视界传媒 she said with a laugh. 性视界传媒淚 hope you haven性视界传媒檛 been feeling too guilty about it.性视界传媒
I hadn性视界传媒檛 lost a lot of sleep over it, but I was confused that Mrs. Harrell didn性视界传媒檛 seem angry at me and wondered why she didn性视界传媒檛 put a stop to it while it was happening.
So, I asked.
性视界传媒淚 didn性视界传媒檛 get mad, and I didn性视界传媒檛 mention it to you, because I knew those girls weren性视界传媒檛 going to be writers and you were,性视界传媒 she said. 性视界传媒淚 also knew you had some troubling things going on in your life outside school, and writing was a way to get those things off your mind for at least an hour a day.性视界传媒
I stumbled my way through a thank you, but to be honest, the entire conversation seemed a little strange the more I thought about it.
How did Mrs. Harrell know I was going to be a writer back in high school when I didn性视界传媒檛 know it? After a hip injury during spring practice my freshman season surely cost me a lucrative NFL career, my plan was to be a biology teacher and a football coach.
Plus, I never discussed my private life with anyone, especially teachers. They had enough problems dealing with students like me at school, so I would never have burdened them with anything that happened off campus.
But, when I look back at Mrs. Harrell性视界传媒檚 class, I realize the foundation was being built for what has turned into a nearly 40-year career writing about sports and writing columns for newspapers in East Texas.
I wrote three papers a day during a one-hour class. I sometimes write four or five stories a day for my newspaper, and most of them are on a strict deadline.
Those papers had to be creative (it was right there in the name of the class), and they had to be different enough to fool the teacher (I thought).
If I cover a game and my story doesn性视界传媒檛 keep the attention of the readers after the first paragraph, they aren性视界传媒檛 going to finish it and probably won性视界传媒檛 read the next story with my byline on it.
And, by writing about the same subject three different ways, I was preparing myself to cover a game where the outcome is in doubt until the end or changes several times in the final minutes.
Mrs. Harrell couldn性视界传媒檛 possibly have known I was going to make a career writing about sports, but she knew I had some writing talent and did everything she could to help me hone that talent.
So, I guess I was wrong to say she didn性视界传媒檛 care.
Mrs. Harrell, like all good teachers, cared deeply. She just cared differently.
And for that, I性视界传媒檓 forever grateful.
