Category Archives: School

The Goodenough School

Posted on November 30, 2010 by sputterpub

When I was 59 and paying half attention to a news clip about the failure of our schools, I heard an interviewee comment, in passing, that of course every parent wants the best possible education for his or her kid. … Continue reading →

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Skipping

Posted on November 22, 2010 by sputterpub

When I was 9 years old I skipped a grade. Which one, I’m always asked, and I don’t have a one-syllable answer. Part of third and part of fourth was the fact of the matter. Skipping a grade was then … Continue reading →

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Dorm

Posted on November 19, 2010 by sputterpub

   When I was 17 I came to Cal. My parents wouldn’t allow me to room with my best friend Ellen, owing to some escapades mentioned in Autodidacts (August 19). I selected the dormitory building closest to the campus and the … Continue reading →

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Science Fair

Posted on October 27, 2010 by sputterpub

When I was 13 I won a ribbon at the school science fair and moved on to the county competition. I have a few snapshot memories about the exhibits, but most of what I learned I got from my own … Continue reading →

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Wrong

Posted on October 25, 2010 by sputterpub

When I was 12 I was the wrongest I’ve ever been, and it was my father’s fault. I was in 8th grade, and we were still taking “new math.” It had been very new the year before, when we started … Continue reading →

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Winning

Posted on October 11, 2010 by sputterpub

     When I was 14 I tried out for the pom pom corps, and that turned out to be the first step in a series of surprises. I had no desire to march. But I was finishing junior high, looking … Continue reading →

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Gulliver’s Grades

Posted on September 17, 2010 by sputterpub

When I was 21, I examined misanthropy. Really. I compared Shakespeare’s Timon (of Athens) to the Old Man on the hill from Fielding’s Tom Jones to Swift’s Gulliver after his fourth voyage. I had to write a senior thesis to … Continue reading →

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School Camp

Posted on September 15, 2010 by sputterpub

     When I was 11, I went away to Camp Palomar for five days. Our whole sixth grade class went – it was a scheduled part of the curriculum back then (1961). We were bused one spring Monday morning from … Continue reading →

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Activism

Posted on September 8, 2010 by sputterpub

     When I was 17 I experienced my first disappointment about activism. I was a senior at Redwood High in Marin County. Rumor then had it that our building was designed by the San Quentin architect (impossible). But the school … Continue reading →

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Yellow

Posted on September 2, 2010 by sputterpub

When I was 10 or 11, I was a coward. It was a one-event wuss but I’ll never forget it. I was in sixth grade at the time. One of my classmates was a trashy girl named Edie May. There … Continue reading →

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