Everyone has had teachers who made a big impact on our lives. Perhaps they were able to reach us or get through to us particularly well. Perhaps they were the ones who took the extra time to work with us or to listen to us. Perhaps we simply learned a lot from them or came to love learning because of them. However they do it, they change our lives for the better in powerful ways, and we’re never the same. I had a teacher like that. His name was Morris Peterson. He was my Spanish teacher in high school. Far more than that, he was a mentor who had a profound impact on my life and a friend. I could probably fill a volume with all that he taught me. I learned a great deal about languages, literature, history, and the world from him. He introduced me to a broad range of topics, including philosophy and formal logic (who doesn’t love syllogisms?). He helped me to realize the full extent of my interest in the world, languages, and history – interests that led me to become a global studies major in college, to take extensive German and Spanish language coursework, and to study abroad numerous times in college and law school. Equally important, I learned a lot about life, including about the importance of lifelong learning, seeking new and varied experiences with a sense of adventure, and seizing the day.
Mr. Peterson
After I went away to
college, we saw each other less often, though we still attempted to stay in
touch over the years. Morris, his wife, Beth, and their son, Max, moved
first to Wisconsin, then to New Hampshire, Switzerland, and El Paso,
Texas. Last year, after living in different states and another country
over the last twenty years, the Petersons moved to Arizona – less than a mile
from our old house, in fact. I had the opportunity to visit the Petersons
at their new house late last year. It’d been a few years since I’d last
seen him, but we picked up right where we left off with the same wide-ranging conversations. Morris, who had been battling multiple myeloma
since 2009, passed away a few months later.
I've been thinking a
lot about Mr. Peterson (as I’ve long called him out of a mixture of respect and
habit, even occasionally after he told me I could call him Morris), especially
over the past many months. He was truly a remarkable man. He was
extremely bright, full of knowledge and wisdom, interesting, generous, and caring. He
had a passion for reading and learning, which he helped kindle and stoke in
me. He was also a benefactor of sorts to me, providing me with a
considerable part of my library at home, including many hand-me-down books from
both periods when he tried to downsize his own library and times when he just
wanted to share particular books with me. Perhaps the latter was actually
the case all along.
I wanted to do
something in honor of Morris this year. There is a local 501(c)(3) called
Books for a Better World (http://www.booksforabetterworld.org/home).
Its mission over the years has been to bring a variety of Spanish-language
books to schools for children (K-4th grade) living primarily in rural areas in
Mexico and Central America for the purpose of enriching their lives in a
way that only literature can and to encourage them to become avid readers and
lifelong learners.
The founder was also a Spanish teacher. It seemed to me to be a relatively fitting way to remember Morris in light of his love for, and substantial time spent in, Mexico and his affinity for books, learning, and the Spanish language. Please consider making a donation using the above link. If you would like to donate in honor of Morris, please end your donation in $__.95, representing the year (1995) Mr. Peterson took up a teaching post in a small town in Northeast Iowa, connecting with students and expanding their horizons along the way.
The founder was also a Spanish teacher. It seemed to me to be a relatively fitting way to remember Morris in light of his love for, and substantial time spent in, Mexico and his affinity for books, learning, and the Spanish language. Please consider making a donation using the above link. If you would like to donate in honor of Morris, please end your donation in $__.95, representing the year (1995) Mr. Peterson took up a teaching post in a small town in Northeast Iowa, connecting with students and expanding their horizons along the way.
Thank you for supporting us in this effort.
Until next time,
Angie and Jarrett
