I'll deliver on that subject line, don't you worry. (Thanks to my personal trainer for helping me think of it.)
Last month my wife and I took a very enjoyable trip to Madrid and Seville. Spain is grossly underrated and overlooked as a European vacation destination. This was
my fourth trip there, and probably my favorite one of all.
I had brushed up a bit on my Spanish before leaving, using a program called Rocket Languages that I like very much. (I'm also using it to learn Italian now.) But the foundation of my knowledge came from my high school teacher.
I remember him telling me that I could skip the second year of Spanish because it would be a waste of my time. Just bring the textbook home and study it over the summer, he said.
I remember glancing at it during the last week of the summer, and heading into third-year Spanish without a problem. (What the heck were they
spending an entire year on in Spanish II?)
Anyway, I had so much success speaking in Spain that I wanted to contact that teacher and thank him for what he had done for me. But he has a fairly common name, and I wasn't sure I could track him down. Or, to be blunt, whether he was even still alive.
Well, he is in fact very much alive, at age 79. Earlier this week we had a great conversation, in both languages, and when I bring my daughters to Boston in late May, we're going to have lunch with him.
There's another teacher I also wish I could contact, but in this case I have had far less luck: Margaret Hannum, who taught 11th-grade English at North Andover High School in
Massachusetts.
She was the best teacher I ever had. Not in the sense that she was funny or entertaining. But she helped me hone the skill that has made my career possible.
I remember the first paper I wrote for her. I got a C. Say what? Doesn't she know I'm Tom Woods, and I get
an A?
Back then, I didn't know what good writing was. Most people don't, and embarrass themselves when they write. But she let me rewrite my papers until they were good.
And that rewriting process wired my brain to produce and recognize good writing. I didn't understand why she
was demanding certain things. I do now. I absolutely do now.
I would love to tell her that she helped make me into a bestselling author. I suppose there's a chance she might be horrified, because she probably held the political views of most English teachers. But I rather suspect that any teacher is happy to hear from a successful student who attributes his success to
her.
I have a video presentation on how to become a better writer that I'm giving away as a free bonus when people get Amanda Craven's excellent new program on how and where to get paid for writing.
Much of it is based on what Mrs. Hannum taught me.
Forward your receipt for Amanda's inexpensive program to bonuses@tomwoods.com and I'll send it right to you.
This offer expires in 48 hours.
The link:
Tom Woods