On My Last Flicker
by
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"Festina lente!" In looking back, only two teachers come to mind during my Fishburne years. One was Captain J. B. Garnet who "taught" Latin; but ever so slowly. And boring!!! If one could have bottled and sold the air from that classroom, insomnia itself would have felt the need to take a nap! Indeed, by the middle of the class period, the half of the class that had not fallen into the arms of Morpheus had, if in varying degrees, fallen prostrate (the more deeply affected, "prostate") at the feet of Somnus! And the dear Captain hardly ever called anyone "up" for this behavior, his having been guilty of nodding off occasionally himself. Captain Garnet, in fact, appeared to the cadets to be only a few years shy of being older than the subject he taught. And he had that far away look in his eyes as if nostalgically reliving the crossing of the Rubicon. Indeed, one subjected to a year of Latinitis under his tutelage might well have been convinced that he had not only originally coined the phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day;" but was probably also responsible for the delay! The class only "covered" 190 pages of the 301 page textbook, thus averaging about a page and a smidgen each day. Now, for those returning to Fishburne for the '47-'48 term, that bode well; for they would begin on page 191 during their second year. However, for those of us not returning, our "well" was a little shallower and more arid, especially if placed in an alien (that is "alert") Latin environment in our new school. "Quod erat demonstandum." Now oral translation from the text was a key part of the class plan. Snickers would abound as some poor recovering insomniac was called upon to do so. The poor Captain, after a cadet's long pauses, found himself having to contribute every other word. Add to the mix the usual southern drawl and "Veni, vidi, vici!" came out sounding like Barney Fife+ in an ill-fitting toga! It was "Dick, Jane and Spot" all over again! +Of the TV "Andy Griffith Show" If anything ever came close to the Captain's raising an eyebrow, it was the snickering of a host of cadets toward the cadet; who, upon a rude awakening, dazed and startled; forgot exactly where he was, and thought he was hearing the "speaking (of) unknown tongues" - in a foreign language! Or, in the words of Ovid: "Nil homini certum est!" Or "You had to be there to believe it!" "Requiescat in pace!" "Festina lente." "Make haste slowly." "Quod erat demonstandum." "Which was to be proved." "Veni, vidi, vici!" "I won!" Caesar. "Nil homini certum est." "Nothing is sure to man." Ovid. "Requiescat in pace." "Let him rest in peace."
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About the Book
This book, the sequel to the author's autobiographical first book, A Flicker of Life, published in 2000, serves to fill in some of the gaps of the original book. The reader is spared the tragedy of the orphanage, so prominent in the first book, but shares in so many other events: the largest thing he ever caught with a fishing rod - a dog! his "date" with a New York Rockette at age 11; his loss of the girl at Betterton, (Worseton?) Maryland; the one and only bawdy house he ever visited (Don't worry, parents.); a moose curing his mother's skin ailment; his running -literally - into General George C. Marshall in 1944 and the consequences thereof; riding in a runaway pickup truck in the middle of a cow pasture, fully occupied by its denizens; a haunted bathroom - pregnant wall and a garden of mushrooms included; an introduction to the man who was responsible for Rome's not being built in a day. Add reminiscences of a family now gone - and in its wake a "flicker" who, by necessity, must have his two books serve as the children and grandchildren of those so deeply loved and so sorely missed. Peace, September 11, 2001.
About the Author
The author was born in the small hamlet of Badin, North Carolina on March 9, 1932. His father died of tuberculosis in July, 1931, leaving behind a widow and two children and one on the way (yours truly). The author spent from September, 1934, to May, 1937, at Mills Home Orphanage in Thomasville, North Carolina. Until April of 1943 he lived in the small town of Albemarle, North Carolina. When his mother married again, he joined her and his new stepfather in Arlington, Virginia, where he resided until September, 1946. He spent the year 1946 - 1947 at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, as his mother joined his stepfather, who had been assigned to the occupation forces in Berlin, Germany. Upon their return in 1947, the family moved to North Miami, Florida; then later to Hialeah, Florida, where he resided until 1950. From 1950 to 1952 he attended Pfeiffer College (now University) in the village of Misenheimer, North Carolina. He received his AB degree from Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1954. His mandatory tour of duty in the army from 1954 -1956 found him at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for his basic training; then in Tokyo, Japan for the remainder of his service. In 1956 he began his thirty year teaching career in the town of Asheboro, North Carolina, primarily in the junior high (now "middle") school area. The last twenty years he was associated with the academically-talented program. For several years he served as the first Director of Secondary Social Studies in the Asheboro system. He received his MA degree of education from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1959. Upon his retirement the author began several new projects: first, the study of his genealogy; second, the writing of episodical events in his life; third, the writing - both words and music - first, of secular songs and later concentrating primarily on the writing of hymns. All of these events were the foci of the author's first book, A Flicker of Life. He continues this journey with On my Last Flicker.