We’ve all met unforgettable people in our lives. Some were great in their fields. Some were just people we loved or who had a certain something that drew us to them. This is about one of the unforgettable people in my life.
Chester Tucker was one of the simplest and yet most important men I ever knew. He taught American history to eighth graders at Monnig Junior High School. No, actually, what he did was teach eighth graders to think. Vastly more important than learning a bunch of facts.
Chester raised four kids on the pittance the school system paid him. From the old school, he didn’t believe in wives’ working outside the home, so they lived on his pay while she stayed home to take care of kids and keep house.
One of the first things Chester did that fall was read us two different accounts of the drive from our school to his house. In the first account, he talked of the beautiful scenery, the quaint and lovely brick paving on Camp Bowie Boulevard, and other things he considered to hold beauty or other interest. The second account described the bad paving of the uneven bricks and every other negative thing he could think of to say about the trip and the route.
The point of the exercise was to expose us to the concept of slanted reporting. It was the exact same route in both stories, but one was delightfully cheerful, while the other cast everything in as negative a light as possible. I can’t speak for his other students, but the demonstration certainly hit home for me. Ever since that day I have read and listened to every news account, novel, movie, television show, etc., with my eyes and ears open for the prejudicial slant hidden beneath the surface.
Chester also had the courage to point out inconsistencies and outright falseness in the popular presentations of history. He incurred the wrath of the administration once for telling his students that Columbus did not discover America. That’s been a popular idea for so long it was almost heresy to dispute it.
When an associate superintendent came to call him on the carpet, he pointed to the maps rolled up above his classroom blackboard and asked the man if those were provided by the school district. After an affirmative answer, he went up and pulled down a map showing the likely routes of Leif Ericson and others who crossed the Atlantic long before Columbus was born. Case closed.
Another of his corrections that required a lot of courage involved the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He made the statement that they were never legally ratified.
He based his contention, with which I happen to agree, on the facts, first that the North took the position that a state could not secede from the union, and secondly that each Southern state was required to ratify those amendments as a condition of being readmitted to the union and being allowed representation in Congress. Regardless of the merits of the three amendments, the Northern position on that is untenable. Either we were never out of the union or else we were. For a century and a half, though, they have managed to have their cake and eat it, too.
One doesn’t have to agree with everything this man taught in order to recognize him as a great teacher and wonderful man. I had other good teachers, but I never had one in high school or at Duke University or Texas Christian University who came close to him in my estimation.
Ø Who are some of your unforgettable characters?
Ø How have some or all of these people affected your life?
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David N Walker 
I had Mr Tucker for Texas History & Geography. he was by far the best teacher I ever had, basically teaching a college prep course; exams were all short essay. I credit him with much of my success (I became an attorney).
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Thanks, Sharon. He was very special.
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I build many of my characters from composites of people who attitudes, mannerisms, speech caught my attention. At some point, someone I know influences one of my characters. It really does make them realistic.
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Thanks, Max. I think we all do that, whether we’re consciously aware of it or not.
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Hi David,
One of my communication professors was my role model in college and is the one person I offer credit to for my writing career. She challenged me to dig deeper in my analysis, my reporting, my research, and the writing that resulted. She critiqued my work with the sharp eye of an eagle, and never seemed to relent. At the time, I wanted to scream! I thought she had it in for me. I grew very thick skin back then.
Then, one day, after reviewing an article I wrote for persuasion class, she said to me, “You should submit this to a magazine.” The confidence this one sentence created in me that day has continued to be that motivating fire that keeps me writing.
Happy to report we still keep in touch!
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Nice comment Suzie. Most educators get little enough respect and thanks, I’m sure it thrills them to hear an ex-student say they had such a profound effect on her.
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I too had a teacher, Mr. Tessler (English) in high school who left a lasting imprint on my life. That of any student who had his classes, really. I have never met anyone *so* enthusiastic about teaching and reaching people as he was, and still is no doubt. It’s something I’ve tried to achieve my entire life.
Great post, thanks for reminding me. 🙂
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Thanks for your comment and for sharing Mr. Tessler with us. I hope you’ve had an opportunity to tell him how important he was to you.
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It is interesting to read some of why you thought so much of Chester. I never had him as a teacher, but I understand why you respected him so much. I particularly like his technique of writing the two accounts of his drive from school to home … and the wonderful point it made.
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Thanks, Sis. I’ve always thought that was an wonderfully effective way to get his point across.
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I can’t say I’ve experienced anybody like Chester Tucker. My husband has taught me to pay more attention to what is going on around me and how to use that information to make better decisions. My father taught me to fight for what I want and to be the human equivalent of a pit bull.
Intellectually, though, I never really had a teacher like Mr. Tucker. I am pretty much self-taught. And I’m sure it shows. LOL
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Thanks for your reply, Catie. Being self-taught makes you appreciate what you know, but having a teacher who taught me to THINK was priceless. Far too few of them.
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