Teacher Man

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt


One Fall Sunday, my mother was in town (New York) and we ventured down to a Book Festival in Bryant Park, right behind the 42nd Street Library. Being that my mother is and was a big fan of Frank McCourt, we made sure to sit in on the panel discussion he was a part of as soon as we got there. I hadn't read any of his books, but as soon as he opened his mouth, I immediately wanted to read everything he'd ever written. He was hilarious, insightful, kind, and inspiring. When I spoke to him during the autograph session, I gushed a bit and he cast off praise with his Irish wit. When I learned of his death last week, I felt like a friend had died and I have a feeling anyone who has ever read his books or seen him speak felt the same way. He was accessible. He made himself accessible.

At any rate, Teacher Man was his final work of autobiography and although not as shocking as Angela's Ashes, it's just as moving. His advice to a new teacher at the end of the book, "Find what you love and do it," is so simple, yet so true. And what struck me the most about the story wasn't even the multitude of ways he reached so many different types of students at so many diverse schools in New York City. It was that he was fired--twice. That he did not finish his PhD. And yet, he succeeded. He kept high spirits and continued reaching children. I've never been a high school teacher, but I'm still inspired. Thanks, Mr. McCourt. Or, as the kids called him quite often, "Teacher Man."