Monday, August 08, 2005

Quote about Attackers of Good Teaching - Memory Book -

Memory Book, Author: Howard Engel, Oliver W. (AFT) Sacks
December 2005, ISBN: 0786717173 Pub Group West
From pp. 176-177
"“There’s a man, part of a supervisory group that has been trying to create a uniformity in the teaching of science subjects. At first, it was to set high standards of professionalism, but it became more of a second set of campus police. He gave students from Southeast Asia a hard time, and set the RCMP on a grad student from Iraq. He hated the way Steve was friendly with his students, had coffee with them on campus, and went with them to a pub after classes. Steve was a popular teacher, and there were those who resented his easygoing manner with his students.”

“Who was this vigilante?”

“Yes, that is the right name for him and his like. They despise the very best that a teacher can give. If Dr Samson wasn’t so well liked and well respected, they would have even tried to topple him. They distrust anybody who makes learning fun. They stopped one teacher from taking a class outside.”

“Who are these people?”

“The worst of the lot is Nesbitt. GeorgeW. Nesbitt. He singled out Steve and gave him a hard time, starting long before his decline.”

“Okay. Now, besides you, who are his allies and friends?”

“For the last few years at least, his mentor has been Parker Samson. He’s the head of the biochemistry department.”

“Steve’s wife mentioned him. I tried to get him, but he’s a busy man.”

“Parker’s a lot like Steve. They are older and younger versions of one another. Parker helped Steve get this appointment at the university He was on the board that interviewed Steve and a few other candidates. Like Steve, he’s down-to-earth. Gets along with the undergrads.” "



Synopsis
Left for dead in a dumpster, Ontario PI Benny Cooperman emerges from an eight-week coma to discover several impairments in his memory--including how he ended up in the dumpster--and that while he can still write, he can no longer read. Aided by his girlfriend, Benny struggles to remember, and then solve, the case that led to his assault. The 11th in a series, this installment's particularly personal quality comes from the fact that its author, Howard Engel, wrote this book after suffering a stroke that also robbed him of the ability to read. An afterword by popular neurologist Oliver Sacks explains the disability, known as alexia sine agraphia, in more detail.

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