Comic strips and teachers
Re: “Player’s promise to teacher goes viral — Praise-filled letter in the fourth grade is impetus for a special moment,” Saturday news story.
Comic strips and teachers, we can learn from them all. I reveled in reading the Bland Middle School students’ letters thanking their favorite teachers. Though in my 93rd year, I’m sure I can name every teacher I had — good or bad — from grade one through senior year of high school, so important were they in shaping my life!
To then read the front-page article of Ennis Rakestraw Jr.’s letter sent to his fourth grade coach Derek Gammon and learn what an impact that letter had on the coach’s life was heartwarming, to say the least.
Finally, I, like de Vinck, was forbidden to read comic strips as a young child. And, like de Vinck, I read all of my cousin’s comics. And to this day, my only two must-reads are Peanuts and Family Circus, both offering life lessons.
Anne R. Healy, Richardson
Thank you, Mrs. Fawcett
I will never forget the day when my ninth grade government teacher, Mrs. Fawcett, got my attention in a lesson on tough love. I was a student at Lakehill Preparatory in East Dallas.
One warm spring day, I leaned back in my chair while counting the holes in the ceiling tile above me. Suddenly, like a clap of thunder, Mrs. Fawcett slammed her hand down upon her podium. The room shook with a mighty force. The windows rattled, and I do believe that paint chips flew off the walls. Several other lollygagging classmates and I bounced upright at our chairs like we had been shot out of a cannon.
In a thundering Zeusian voice, Mrs. Fawcett bellowed, “Mr. Norton! If you want to fail my class, you’ll have to try harder than that, so you might want to make it easy on yourself and pay attention!”
“Yes, ma’am,” I meekly replied.
I will never forget that fateful day. She died several years ago, and I never got the opportunity to thank her for that lesson because I knew that she cared about me and her students. Today, I teach high school government and I think of her often.
Thank you, Mrs. Fawcett. You meant so much to me.
Andrew L. Norton, Mesquite
Columns bring joy
Re: “Comic strips offer stability in crazy world — There are lessons in those slivers of drama, humor and delight,” by Christopher de Vinck, Saturday Opinion.
I never fail to read de Vinck’s columns, and he never fails to impress me in many different ways.
I’ve been a newspaper reader, including the comics, most of my life. I remember lying prone on my grandmother’s living room floor reading either The Houston Chronicle or The Houston Post, including the comics pages. I also read comic books when I could. My first periodical subscription was for Donald Duck comic books!
This column brought me so much joy. Thank you, Mr. de Vinck, for the memories!
Marybeth Bloch, Bedford
Daily chuckles lift mood
I could not agree more with de Vinck’s column about comic strips and our moods. I started reading your paper at an early age and my mom told me to read the comic strips because they would put me in a good mood. I have been doing it every day since and she is right. I get several chuckles every morning.
Scott Davis, Gainesville
DART could clean up
Re: “Crisis may put target on DART — City could consider diverting funding to address pension gap,” Saturday news story.
Does DART really have the funds to tackle the city’s pension crisis? I think not. We rode the DART train to the Stars game on Wednesday from the Mockingbird station. First of all, the down escalator was not working. Second, the elevator was filthy, and, third, the platform was trash-strewn.
When we returned to the station after midnight, the up escalator was not working, so we again got on the elevator, which did not have any lighting (and not a DART officer in sight). I can’t imagine how much worse DART rail would suffer if it cut any percentage of sales tax funding. Just shifting mismanagement of one entity to another will not solve the problem.
Mike Davis, Dallas
Crypto coverage appreciated
Re: “Crypto is not what you think it is — SEC wants to oversee cryptocurrencies as securities, but they may be something else,” by Rob Curran, Friday Opinion.
Thanks for this column. I work in the tech and web 3 sector and am a longtime Texas resident, so thank you for shining a light on what’s going on with this case and the potential threat from classifying Ethereum as a security.
Media coverage of the crypto world has, for the most part, been very much focused on the scammers with poor coverage on the importance of the technology. Please keep up the good work.
Greg Johns, Highland Village
Rent in Topeka and Dallas
Re: “Topeka to hire away Perez — Assistant city manager awaits formalities to take top job in Kansas,” Saturday Metro & Business story.
Was it planned or just a wild coincidence that the front page of the Saturday Metro Section had the story of Dallas assistant city manager taking a job in Topeka while on the Editorial Page the cartoon depicts Dorothy returning to Oz, complaining of having to pay $1,400 a month for an apartment in Topeka? Was the cartoon a too little, too late plea for Robert Perez to stay put in Dallas?
With a reported $250,000 salary, I’ll bet he will find nice affordable housing in Topeka. Congratulations and good luck, Mr. Perez, on the advancement of your career. Just wondering if the cartoon may backfire as potential new hires discover that they will need to spend $3,500 a month for a nice Dallas apartment.
Ted Gold, Plano
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com