Spring 2012 - Web - Nbed.nb.ca

What schools did you attend
I skipped the first three years of school. My mother taught me to read
when I was three, so I learned at home until she enrolled me in grade 4
at Victoria School when I was eight. The next year my family moved
south to Sussex, where I completed grade 5. We returned to Moncton
the following year, and I finished my schooling at Victoria School and
Aberdeen High School. I actually had, therefore, only eight years of formal
schooling before entering Victoria College at the University of Toronto
in 1929.
What kind of a student were you
I once said that I viewed my early education as “a form of penal servitude.”
I tended to devour history books when I was in grade 4, and when I was
in grade 10 my highest marks were in History (98%), Composition (95%),
English Literature (92%) and Grammar (90%). When I returned to Victoria
School following the year in Sussex, I did not do very well in arithmetic,
and at Aberdeen High School my marks in grade 10 were not very good in
Bookkeeping (51%), Arithmetic (47%) and Geometry (33%).
What was your favorite subject Least favorite
Favourite subjects: History and English, including Grammar. In grade 7
I began studying Latin and continued this all the way through grade 11.
I was interested in music at an early age, and when I was about nine
I developed plans to write eight concerti. At about the same time, after
reading Sir Walter Scott, I dreamt of writing a sequence of historical
novels. After making my way through the novels of Dickens and Thackeray,
this changed into ‘a sequence of eight definitive novels.’ I called this
my ‘ogdoad’, and later it guided the development of my writing career as a
literary critic.
Which teacher had the greatest influence on you
In elementary school –
Perhaps this was Miss Stannard in grade 4. She was aware
of my interest in history and predicted that I would one day
write a history book. I do remember that at age ten, on
340 High Street in Moncton, I started trying to imitate the style
of J.A. Cramb’s book on German imperialism.
In high school –
I discovered that one of my English teachers kept my
compositions, and I was touched by that. I hope it is not
too immodest to say that I delivered the valedictory at the
Aberdeen High closing exercises on June 25, 1928, and that
I received the Knights of Pythias prize for the highest standing
in grade 11 English Composition, as well as the prize in English
for grade 11, which was six months of free tuition at Success
Business College. And I did enroll at SBC after graduating,
completing a three month course there before heading off
to college.
What motivated you to achieve at school
I was fairly ambitious as a young person, but I was not at
all athletic. I determined early on to devote my talents and
energies to the life of the mind and the imagination.
Parting comments
“Control what you can control and influence what you cannot
control”. Powerful words that when truly understood and lived
by allow us to manage anything life throws at us.
Least favourite subject: Mathematics
What advice would you give teens going through school today
I think it is important to realize that achievement in any field requires
constant practice. One cannot play the piano well without a great deal of
practice; one cannot think without a great deal of thinking.
How did school influence your career choice
One of the books we read in grade 11, my final year at Aberdeen High,
was Palgrave’s Golden Treasury of Song and Lyrics. In this anthology
I discovered the works of John Milton, and encountering Milton was an
important factor in my decision to become an English teacher.
What do you love about your career choice
I loved having the freedom to read and write. I loved being able to
teach, especially undergraduates.
If you were not doing this what other career would you be doing
As already suggested, I toyed with the idea of becoming a fiction writer,
and in fact I did begin writing a novel in the 1940’s. I soon discovered,
however, that my talents lay elsewhere.
Spring 2012 23