This week I found out about the death of my favorite high school English teacher, Miss Lois Body, at age 96. I’m sure that many of us have had teachers who have made a significant difference in our lives – Miss Body (pronounced bow dee) was one of those amazing people. I stayed in touch with her over the years visiting her whenever I’d return to Springfield and sent her copies of my GertrudeandAlice children’s stories which she seemed to enjoy.
I had Miss Body as the teacher of an Advanced Placement English class when I was a senior. The class had only five students some of whom I’ve stayed in touch with over the last forty-four years. One of them asked that we each write a tribute essay. Here is mine.