I have just
now (February 2, 2008) finished very carefully reading and re-reading all 25 of
the "PERSONAL MEMORIES" on John Ward's great St. Joseph's College Old Boys'
Association Website and have noted four remarkably consistent characteristics
which leap out as distinct, indelible threads running throughout all of them:
Our colleagues' memories are so VIVID! Not only do they recall our Lay Teachers
and the Irish Christian Brothers so clearly by given-name and nick-name, attire,
demeanour, but also by their characteristic turns of phrase, their gestures,
their strengths and weaknesses and by individual events/episodes which
occurred. These often very strong personalities have certainly made a lasting
impression on us all, mainly for the good, I believe.
Secondly, I detect a deep sense of appreciation for the high standard of
education which we did receive at the College, despite the at-times excessive
corporal punishment--common at schools in those days--which was meted out by
some of the Staff, Lay Teachers as well as Brothers. For so many of our College
contemporaries have gone on to great achievements in the personal, professional,
academic, artistic, business, social and political realms, and most do credit
the College for giving us all a great basis, a foundation, a platform for our
subsequent successes.
Thirdly, almost all of our "Memoirists" refer to the same great Teachers who
helped us all along the way: Messrs. McGrahan, Crosby, McPhee, Creamer,
Carrington, LeBrun, Charles and dear old Brother O'Leary. Personally, I will
single out two Teachers whose highly positive impact has remained with me
throughout my life: Bernard Howe, German and French Teacher non-pareil, and Mr.
Singleton, the Cambridge graduate whose brilliant History classes I took in the
Upper Fifth and Lower Sixth Forms (1957-59). He was a great breath of fresh air,
whose take on History was to focus not at all on the hitherto-experienced
narrow, evermore-deadening preoccupation with dusty and disconnected facts,
figures and dates, but rather on Social History, the fascinating Social and
Everyday Experiences of Daily Living. Mr. Singleton took us on many field trips,
especially to ancient castles and churches in and around the Fylde. The one to
Whalley Abbey in 1957 I especially remember, as it sowed the seed for my
life-long fascination with architecture. His dedication to his students is
legendary: In my last "A" Level Exam year, 1959-60, he and Mr. Howe both took up
new teaching appointments at a brand-new school in the Liverpool area, but Mr.
Singleton was more than happy to continue helping seven of us with our History
Exam. preparations on Saturday mornings, compensated only by our gratitude and
by the great success we all achieved in the 1960 exams.
Bernard Howe is one of the most interesting people whom I have ever met: Just as
sublimely witty as he was intelligent, he brought the best out of us all,
encouraging us not simply to learn to love Foreign Languages, but Language
itself and the Culture and Customs within which Language is inextricably
embedded. Every single day, he would sweep into class, bubbling with
multi-lingual puns--a melange of French, German, Latin and bits of other
languages--and have us rolling in the aisles for the entire hour. It was only
after I had myself become a teacher and later professor of Foreign Languages and
English Literature that I came to realize how immensely he has affected my life,
both professionally and personally. He was a man of great compassion, especially
for the underdog, and his fiery celebration of the intrinsic value of all
Languages and all Cultures remains vitally with me still. He arranged and led
the annual College summer trips to Austria--I was lucky to participate in three
(1957-59)--which were not only terrifically enjoyable but, quite literally,
life-changing in the sense that we were exposed at the age of 14 or 15 to a
totally new Culture, one filled with omni-present music, spectacular Alpine
scenery, fascinating local arts and crafts, a completely different cuisine, and
one of the world's culturally, artistically and architecturally most resplendent
capital cities: Vienna.
My life has been enriched, immeasurably, by these two outstanding Teachers,
without whom I would never have been prepared for my successful Bachelor's
(University of Birmingham, 1963), Master's (1969) and Ph. D. (1976) degree
courses (University of California, Santa Barbara). I am now semi-retired, very
happily creating and teaching new Shakespeare courses for the Osher Lifelong
Learning Institute at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,
on the idyllic Central California Coast.
Finally--and this is THE clearest common characteristic running through ALL of
our Memoirists' accounts--the indisputable fact is that they all write SO WELL!
Limpid, persuasive writing is THE indicator of clear, critical and logical
thinking, founded upon the developed ability to analyze, to synthesize and to
present one's central points in a manifestly coherent, persuasive and elegant
fashion. This is the ultimate proof that the education which we all received at
St. Joseph's College was second to none. We are, indeed, very fortunate to have
been educated there.
A CONCLUDING NOTE: All St. Joe's Old Boys remember so well our Outstanding
Contemporaries. Mine are legion: Tom Kelly, Bernard Smith, Eddie Welch, Bill
Moss, Les Downs, Desmond Maley, Pete Sinclair, Paul Aukland, the Hindle
brothers, Chris Ledgerd, Frank Cornwell, the Ball brothers, Adrian and Alex
Dunn, Philip Bowman, Charlie Harrison, Tom McNally, Dave Cunningham, the Naylor
brothers, Simon and Dominic Brown, Michael Fenech, the Luscombe brothers, Kevin
Hickey, the Brophy brothers, Eddie Stark, Jackie Ellwood, John Wilkie, Michael
Foster, Ian Creamer, Maurice McCarthy, Christopher Parkinson, John Binns and,
above all, Pete McCarthy and Brian Shirley, Head Boy, 1959-60.
LET'S ALL MEET UP AT THE REUNION IN FEBRUARY 2010: 50 YEARS SINCE WE LEFT OUR
ALMA MATER!
St. Joseph's-ly,
Peter J. Raleigh (1953-1960)