Significant Influence and Close Friend who passed in 2009. Professor of Secondary Education–English, U of A. He fine-tuned my fledgling notions of how to teach the subject before I entered the classroom. He was wise beyond his years and had once been in a class taught by Robert Frost at Harvard. He published my first educational article and sent me ‘problematic’ student-teachers over the years afterward. I sent him a Christmas card every year from 1972 to 2008 and he often sent back a yearly newsletter. We stayed in contact by phone discussing subjects like Emily Dickinson and poetry. One winter he hosted me to the Edmonton Symphony season (I drove) and we lunched at Gabbanas before every show. Many a civilized conversation there about poetry, literature, language, classical music, and the arts. It was, perhaps, befitting that I had the distinct pleasure of giving his eulogy at his funeral. One of his highest compliments was for my Inside Poetry (2nd ed.) which included one of his best poems. He thought it was a major opus and an important, definitive book on poetry. High praise from an educator I greatly respected and still miss.