May Clark, Jason Lambert and The Toadstool Bookshop at 12 Depot Square in Peterborough will present a tribute in honor of Tim Clark at the bookstore Saturday June 18, at 11 a.m.
A collection of Clark’s columns written for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript has just been published under the title “Beginning Educator: Navigating A Second Career In Teaching.” Clark died last November, just before publication. The columns he wrote were “intended to tell you about a teacher’s life. My life. It will be the kind of news that normally doesn’t make the paper.”
His wife May writes in the forward, “‘Beginning Educator’: these are the words that are printed on the first teaching certificate a new teacher receives from the State of New Hampshire. The second certificate, and every renewal thereafter, says ‘Experienced Educator.’ When Tim became an ‘Experienced Educator’ three years after he received his first certificate, he decided not to change the title of the twice-monthly columns he’d been writing for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript newspaper, because he felt like a beginner still. He felt like a beginner throughout his teaching career, and for his whole life, he never stopped learning. Tim taught for 13 years at ConVal High School, following a nearly 30-year career in journalism. He began this journey at 50, fairly set in his ways, used to the routines of a job he loved, and a touch arrogant about his ability to adjust to life in a public high school. He almost didn’t make it through the first 12 weeks of school, but by March of his first year, he thought he might survive.”
May Clark and Lambert, both teachers themselves, will be at the store to read from his columns and talk about Tim Clark’s life. This event is free and all are welcome. For information, call the bookstore at 603-924-3543.