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Mrs. Kathryn Pace Cameron
b. 3 Sep 1909 Madison College, B. S. English, English Department Head |
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1955 Anchor, p.10 | 1965 Anchor, p.27 | ||
11/02/03 |
Prologue: I had
all but forgotten this story, but my memory was refreshed by a fellow conspirat
…… uh ….. classmate.
If said classmate wishes it, I will reveal the name.
Mrs. Cameron taught Senior English Literature. It seems that the classroom was
on the top floor of the 32nd Street side of NNHS, all the way in the
back, which is to say the Saunders Stadium side. I don’t know where she began
her trek to the classroom each day, but she would frequently arrive a nanosecond
before the bell and literally gasping for air. Well, of course The Merry
Pranksters recognized this opportunity and wasted no time in crafting their plan
to befuddle “Krazy Kathy”.
At the beginning of each class and before she could catch a breath, a different
Prankster would immediately ask some contrived question about last night’s
assignment. This task would be randomly rotated among the Pranksters to
preclude her suspecting a plot.
Old Trooper that she was, Mrs. Cameron would endeavor to answer the question,
speaking quickly and in staccato between breaths in an effort to decrease her
oxygen deficit. If it appeared that she was gaining, another question would
immediately be asked by another Prankster. The objective was to keep her on the
respiratory defensive well into the class period and hope that she would forget
any notions of a pop quiz. It never occurred to us that she might drop dead of a
heart attack. She must have been a tough old bird, as she survived another 21
years.
Epilogue: Sadly, I can remember little of the curriculum of that class, but for
some strange reason I have a very vivid mental image of a quotation which was
posted over the door. It was by Alexander Pope and stated, “An honest man’s the
noblest work of God.” I suppose, if there was any one thing to take with me
into the future from that class, I could not have selected a better one than
that.
- Dave
Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/13/04
Thanks, Dave!
She taught
English Literature, so this is an easily recognizable midi of a
classic of the genre.
"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" courtesy of
http://www.moviethemes.org/midis/midisp-z/romeo.mid,
at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/13/04
Thanks so much, Dave!
Birth and Death
Dates courtesy of the Social Security Death Index via Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA -
11/02/03
Thanks, Dave!
Stacked Books clip art courtesy of http://clipart.peirceinternet.com/educ.html - 05/05/08