There have been many mentors who
have molded my life: broadcasters,
ministers, teachers, family, neighbors, friends. One teacher in particular gave me a repeated
lesson in practical match. This one was
the junior high math teacher at what was known “back in the day” as Memphis
State Training School, a lab school on the college campus for teaching college
students to be teachers. One in
particular, my junior high math teacher, did this:
Essie Bowles "tried" to
teach me math. She finally managed to teach me some when I cut her grass one
summer. I usually charged $1 per yard. She said she'd pay me 65 cents per hour
instead. So I did...and each time she'd time me, have me then sit at her
kitchen table, show me how many minutes I worked, and have me figure out how
much she owed. And it was always more than $1.
