IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE AN OLD BEAR BLUSH

Tuesday evening Mary and I had supper

with Ross Fale, who was one of the students in my Creative Nonfiction class at Lakeland College, and with his fiancee, Kelly. Food at the Lake Street Cafe in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, was superb; our waiter was attentive; and the company was excellent. We couldn't have had a nicer visit.

Then yesterday about noon I came to read my e-mail and there's a notice that Ross has left a comment at my most recent post about the class. It's enough to make an old bear blush. Oh, my, yes it is good to hear that one's efforts bear fruit, I'll have to say that. And one wishes to be appreciated. It warmed me so, I just have to share Ross's note; this is what he had to say:

"The class was a wonderful experience. I've told this to Tom before, that at the start of the semester, many of us (students) were apprehensive about how the class would be run, but Tom took the reins and guided us in a way that encouraged us to become involved in seeing and writing.

"Not only was I fortunate enough to have Tom's class this semester, but also interviewed him for the campus paper and assisted him at the Great Lakes Writers Festival. It gave me the opportunity to get to know him well. Before meeting Tom, I wrote fiction and poetry. In Tom's interview, he told me 'Life's too short for fiction.'

"Judging by the pages of non-fiction I've created between the covers of 6 in. x 9 in. notebooks, I'd say that I have agreed. Almost everywhere, I can see important stories to tell, and I thank Tom for that. Before meeting him, I was able to see, I just didn't know what I was looking at. Tom helped me shape that. My one regret is that he won't be around to teach next semester.

"Talking with Tom after the semester ended, he made a joke about not having his Master's, and how he worried at the start of the semester about what would happen when people found out about it.

"Tom was a better instructor than many professors I've had during my four years in college. Like Lakeland Poet-in-Residence Karl Elder said, Tom has the excitement and drive of a professor fresh out of graduate school and the wisdom of a professor who has been teaching for years.

"Thanks Tom. See you around, here at the Middlewesterner and elsewhere, I'm sure."

Thank you, Ross. A good man must be humbled by such kind words.

Comments

[Anne]

How could my belief in the basic goodness of mankind be anything other than strengthened when i witness an individual of uncommon ability humbled by simple truth?

[Tom Montag]

Hi, Anne. Thank you, too, for your kind words. I hope you have a Healthy & Prosperous 2005.