~ SPECIAL ENGLISH TEACHERS ~



I believe that most aspiring writers have a special English teacher or two in their past who recognized their talent and encouraged them to continue writing. For me, there are two such teachers who made a difference in my life and gave me the courage to explore, develop and enjoy this craft. I say “Thank You,” to these unforgettable teachers:




DR. MARY MURPHY- Professor, Retired Framingham State College, MA


Creative Writing. My freshman year, my favorite class.
There was a small group of us and each week we would all write a poem, essay, short story, etc. and bring it to class to share with the other students. We would have a roundtable discussion where each piece was read and evaluated at length. These sessions allowed us each to see our strengths and weaknesses as writers and gave us valuable feedback. Dr. Murphy held the torch that guided us through these discussions. She gave us lifelong tools for being able to look at a piece of work and size it up. At the end of the semester, she presented some of us with a gift that I have personally treasured for over 20 years: a sterling silver teaspoon from her private collection. It was a gift to bring us good luck in our writing. It has.



MARION GOODMAN-Teacher, Framingham South High School, MA


Writing for Fun. My freshman year, my favorite class.
This was primarily a group of upperclassman. I had special permission to take this class and I’m glad I did. Mrs. Goodman was a very smart, experienced and straight-forward teacher, who taught us the nuts and bolts of writing: form, style, theme, grammar, punctuation, syntax….things most people consider to be boring! Not me! I loved learning the pieces that made a puzzle come together. She was so inspirational and gave us the opportunity to “write for fun.” The assignments were varied and allowed us to try new venues and explore our serious side, our comedic side, our inside and our outside. To this day, some of my favorite poems were written for this class.



All poetry on this website (C) Anastasia Clark


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