Celebrating Independent Authors
In honor of the Academy Awards this past Sunday, we have a treat for you. Mr. Pish, the traveling terrier, official mascot for Indies Unlimited, and spokesdog for outdoor learning and literacy, has paid homage to the nominated movies in his own, indubitable fashion.
Even though these films represent the cream of the crop this year, Mr. Pish sees how things could be just a little bit better.
Now I know none of you have ever heard of Norman Coulter. He’s not a famous author, Indie or otherwise. He was my seventh grade teacher. That school had only two rooms so Mr. Coulter taught grades five through eight. And that year I spent in his class was his first year teaching.
A little background may be in order. Picture a rural farming community of mostly “Old Order Mennonites” or close to that. There are so many orders no one can keep them straight. Suffice it to say that none of the ones whose children attended that school valued education. It was a bad influence that lured their children away from their way of life. And understand that in the entire school, my sister and I, one other girl and three children from another family were the only non-Mennonites. (Being ‘other’ could lead me into a whole new direction, but not today.) Not an auspicious environment for an inexperienced young idealist fresh out of university with the goal of ‘educating’ children. Continue reading “Thank You Norman Coulter”