Kerry M. Wood, Class of 1955.
Kerry Wood now retired, taught school for 37 years. After graduating from St. Anthony College Preparatory High School in 1955, he was the first SAHS alum to continue onto Yale University. While there have been others since, this was a huge step for both Kerry and the school.
Kerry M. Wood retired after teaching for 37 years - a member of the SAHS Class of '55, he has written his memoir to recount his life.
After he retired Kerry wrote his memoir "Past Imperfect, Present Progressive" as a way to recount his days and share some of the many lessons he has learned along the way.
Below is a description of his book and a review posted by one of Kerry's students who purchased his book. Kerry can be reached through his web site at Kerrymwood.com and you can purchase a copy of his book "Past Imperfect, Present Progressive
Book Description
Past Imperfect, Present Progressive is a gallimaufry of reminiscences by a vocal member of the Silent Generation. Kerry Wood traces his childhood during the late Depression and World War II to adulthood and seniority in stories and poems born of experiences as a four-year-old consigned to a military boarding school, an awkward adolescent, an undergraduate at Yale, and a career high-school teacher. Enjoy moments of melancholy punctuating a lifetime of exuberant playfulness, in such unlikely areas as Shakespearean tragedy, English grammar, poetry analysis, Scrabble, spelling bees, and service in the lowest ranks of the U.S. Army.
From the Author
I am confident that my memoir will be entertaining and interesting not only to my extended family, former schoolmates, students, and colleagues but also to word buffs, products of Catholic education, stroke survivors, ironists, fellow poetasters, and present, past, and future teachers of English/Language Arts. It is the product of a six-year labor of love--reflections of family, friends, teachers, and students whose acquaintance I have been fortunate (or unfortunate) to make. Frank McCourt would enjoy it because I am a "teacher man" of Irish extraction, if not birth. Doris Kearns Goodwin would spot her influences. Light verse persons Willard R. Espy and Richard Armour, both dead now, have sent me congratulatory letters for chapters they read during their lifetimes.
Reviewed by Grant Finlayson, San Francisco, CA
I am another of the the thousands of students whom Kerry Wood taught during his 37-year high school teaching career. My past acquaintance with the author inspired me to pick up the book, but its literary artistry and perspective made it one of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking reads of my year. I recommend it with enthusiasm to anyone who enjoys good writing, and would like to experience vicariously the life of a man of uncommon intelligence who chose the path of a public high school English teacher.
The book is full of linguistic delights: short stories, varied experiences recalled with tenderness and ironic wit, and in particular the skillfully rendered verse. One favorite was a tender poem recalling a moment when it struck the author that his young son saw in him unlimited capacity to fix any problem - to reach the sky and retrieve a lost helium balloon - and his poignant reflection that over time in the eyes of his son he would only "grow shorter." On a lighter note, I loved the playful double-dactyl rhymes capturing the author's affectionate tolerance for the idiosyncrasies of students - with flowing meter, pleasing alliteration, and gentle humor. Some of the lines keep coming back for the sheer pleasure of allowing them to roll off the tongue ("Writes his reports with a powerful pen," for example). I can't recall enjoying language this much since the bedtimes years ago when I used to read Milne to our children (when they were young).