junior high school and high school students do not require a Rhodes Scholar for a teacher because, at that age they are not buckets to be filled with profound information, but rather, they are fires to be ignited.

my favorite teacher in high school was a man named Michael O'Sammon, though to me, out of profound respect, he was always Mr. O'Sammon. he was never just O'Sammon or worse yet, Mike, as i sometimes heard his colleagues call him.

he had but one working eye, this favorite teacher of mine. his other was made of glass and stared, slightly off color and out toward right field, but it seemed real enough for us to believe it saw us too. how he lost his eye i never knew, nor did i have the courage or rudeness enough to ask.

i say he was my favorite, and why is that?

on my rambling essays or fumbles of attempts at creative writing, he would write on the margins in red ink simple words like "great" or "i love this part." he once wrote, near the top of the paper, for all to see, "i wish i could write this well."

he captured my heart that year, and years later, when i became an English teacher, i often repeated his comments on the papers of students who had loaned me their heart.

i loved this man, Mr. O'Sammon, his one-eyed smile, his soft voice, and his inspiring remarks on my papers, but i never became his teacher's pet.

he smiled at all of us. encouraged all of us. complimented all of us. ignited all of us.

and, by June's graduation day, i believe, we all loved him.