'Teaching Life' by Dale Salwak
BOOK REVIEW
A life immersed in literature and teaching.
AFTER 35 years in the trenches as an English professor at Citrus College in Glendora, author Dale Salwak has learned a few things. In his latest book, "Teaching Life," he assembles an epistolary memoir intended as a guiding light to neophyte academics.
The letters are all addressed to "Kelly," the pseudonym Salwak has given to a student who died in a 1978 car accident en route to a meeting with him. But "Kelly" is really a composite of all the students he's ever taught who have expressed a desire to become English professors. In heartfelt missives, he responds to Kelly's imagined queries for advice and direction as she undertakes her early teaching years with the wisdom he's gleaned during decades in the classroom.
The memoir's tone is a cross between that of a grandfather passing along life lessons to a granddaughter and that of a minister reminding his flock about the purpose and importance of their lives. This ministerial voice firmly believes in the almost sacred role played by college professors and conveys Salwak's immense passion and reverence for the vocation.
Meanwhile, the grandfatherly voice opines on life events outside the classroom, including how to deal with the death of a parent, and marriage: "[I]t's preferable not to marry early in your career but . . . if you do, it's advisable to marry someone in academia with similar or complementary interests," Salwak counsels.
It's clear that Salwak sees the English professor's role as crucial in helping to keep our humanity alive and our civilization thriving. His devotion shines through in the hands-on chapters, in which he imparts concrete suggestions, including advice on lecturing and the use of technology in the classroom, as well as specific methods of getting students to interact and become engaged with the material at hand.
"A syllabus is more than a chronological listing of assignments," he warns would-be professors. "It is a covenant of trust between you and the student, and a covenant is only as strong as the integrity of the person making it."
Salwak's description of the exhaustive preparation he undertakes before teaching a new class shows how seriously he takes his profession; implicit is the fact that he would hold "Kelly" and all others to the same rigorous standards.
Sentimental tone
