Reflecting on the past today, I was struck, as I so often am, by the importance, in our creative community, of lifting one another up. And I thought about people who have done that for me in my own life. Unfortunately, my own dad was not a very laudable person — a brilliant man who nonetheless was dishonest and narcissistic…a con man who was constantly in trouble with the law, and, to my personal sadness, had very little interest in me as either his son, or simply as a person with dreams and aspirations.
But one man who did express a wonderful and lasting interest, was my eighth grade English teacher, a man named Don Cannon. That final year of Junior High was my last in public school…my father, again in trouble with the law, basically took my whole family into hiding off the grid. But Mr. Cannon had come into my life at exactly the right time, and encouraged me like no other in my love of writing.
That year, 1971, I was thirteen, and somewhat astonishingly, was writing a novel. When Mr. Cannon learned this he asked to read what I’d written, and afterward came to me and said he didn’t want me to follow the normal English curriculum…he wanted me to use my time in his class to write the book. I was amazed, and I can still remember how my heart soared. By not following school rules, Mr. Cannon was also putting himself into potential trouble with his school superiors, who were, to be blunt, both strict and narrow minded.
But he didn’t care about that…his priority as a teacher was to nurture, support and encourage. He did exactly that, reading my work as the weeks of that school year passed, offering thoughtful feedback that helped me grow in my chosen craft, with clear caring and excitement that strengthened my young ego.
I have never forgotten him. I did indeed write my first novel in his classroom…and though I didn’t take a single official test or follow a single element of the curriculum, he nominated me for Outstanding English Student of 1971…an honor I won, just before my school days came to such a strange end.
I returned years later as a published author in the 1980’s and found him still teaching English (and acting as soccer coach too…his players adored him) and told him how much I owed to him for his caring, insight and enthusiasm. He just smiled, said he was proud of me, and that he never had a single doubt that I was meant to live a life filled with the joys of writing.
Thanks Mr. Cannon. I try, to this day, to pay forward the gifts you gave me.
Doc Talos 