Back in high school in the 70s, I had a long-haired subversive English teacher, never wore a tie, bell bottoms, etc. He was a great teacher, and I made sure to take one of his English classes in grades 10/11/12, including Shakespeare 1 and 2.

He had a unique, very Socratic teaching style, that required us to make choices, and then defend them, and more importantly, recognize when someone else’s idea is better, and put ego aside to embrace the better concept. After three years of that class, I could write, communicate, and debate effectively, far beyond my years.

Years later, I started listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio, and wondered why I wasn’t being seduced by his rhetoric, like so many of his listeners. I realized it was because I had good Critical Thinking Skills, and wasn’t buying his bullshit.

When I asked myself how I got those skills, I realized that it was entirely due to Mr. Clark, and I loved him all the more for it. He was teaching English and Shakespeare, but he had an ulterior motive, and used those subjects to actually teach Critical Thinking Skills, and give us the confidence to defend our positions. He knew what he was doing, but NOBODY else did, including the school system, whose curriculum he gleefully subverted.

I tried to look him up, but he had died a few years earlier. I wish I could have told him that I was on to him, and he gave me the most important educational gift of my life.

Thanks, Mr. Clark, you were the greatest teacher of my life, and the lives of many others.