Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Teacher and author Kimarlee Nguyen of NYC succumbs to coronavirus

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High school English teacher and emerging author Kimarlee Nguyen of New York City succumbed to the coronavirus on April 5, 2020.

Sadly, many New York City educators have succumbed to the coronavirus. One of these is Kimarlee Nguyen, a high school teacher at Brooklyn Latin School. Kimarlee passed away on April 5, 2020. She was only 33 years old.

Kimarlee was born and raised in Revere, Massachusetts, to parents who survived the Khmer Rouge. After graduation from high school, she enrolled at Vassar College, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English. She recently earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Long Island University, Brooklyn.

Kimarlee taught English at the Boston Latin School since 2014, and she was beloved by her students. “She was a role model, an influence, and a source of hope,” asserts student Sulagna Sarkar. “I remember once walking in when visiting her. She began to ask everything from how was the family, to how school was. It showed not only did she listen when we would go to her, but she cared,” the student continued. “She was everything for a person that was struggling in our school. She was understanding and loving. She loved us all like her own children and she was loved, even if she didn’t know it, by ten times as many people because that’s just who she was,” Sulagna concluded.

In addition to being a beloved teacher, Kimarlee was also a rising star as an author. Her work has been published in Drunken Boat, Hyphen, and Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. “She was such a fierce defender for the right for marginalized people to have a voice, particularly southeast Asians,” expressed fellow author Cherry Lou Sy. “She was a champion for that cause.” Kimarlee was a recipient of the Teacher and Librarian Scholarship from the Key West Literary Seminar in 2017. She was named a 2018 Emerging Writer Fellow by The Center for Fiction. The young teacher was one of nine chosen from over 500 applicants. Each writer selected garnered a grant of $5,000, the opportunity to work on a manuscript with a distinguished editor, and the chance to read at public events at The Center.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this memorial at Kundiman.

William Taylor Adams: Teacher, author, and Massachusetts politician

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William Taylor Adams: Teacher, author, and Massachusetts politician

It is not unusual for talented educators to make a mark in other professions. This is true of William Taylor Adams. He was a dedicated teacher who was also a celebrated author and successful politician.

William was born on July 30, 1822, in Medway Massachusetts. As a child, he attended schools in Boston and West Roxbury. He also completed a year at “Able Whitney’s private academy” after he completed his high school education. During these years, William was described as an excellent student.

As a young man, he inaugurated his career as an educator in 1843 at the Lower Road School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was highly thought of there. After three years, he left the classroom to work in the family business, the Adams House Hotel in Boston. But by in 1848, William missed teaching so much that he returned to the classroom. That’s when he accepted a teaching position at the Boylston School in Boston. By 1860, he was named the headmaster of the school. When the Bowditch School was founded, William taught there as well. In all, William’s career as an educator spanned 20 years.

When he was 28 years old, William published his first book It was a volume for juvenile readers, released under the pseudonym Warren T. Ashton. The book, published in 1853, was entitled Hatchie, the Guardian Slave. The following year, he produced the first in a series of books dubbed the Boat Club Series, which was an instant hit. He is probably best known, though, for his books in the Blue and Gray Series. These books featured settings in the Civil War. In total, William wrote more than 100 books, most of them for adolescent boys. Most of his books were published under the pseudonym Oliver Optic.

In addition to his work in the classroom and as an author, William enjoyed success as a politician and legislator. He served as a member of the school board for the town of Dorchester. Later he completed a 14-year stint on Boston’s school board. In 1869, William was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served there representing the 5th Norfolk District until 1870.

This amazing educator, author, and politician passed away March 27, 1897, in Dorchester. He is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Dorchester. To read more about him, click on this link to his biography published by the University of Massachusetts.

New York English teacher and celebrated author Frank Nappi

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New York English teacher and celebrated author Frank Nappi.

Many excellent teachers have earned accolades in fields outside of the classroom. One of these is Frank Nappi, a high school English teacher from New York who has earned national fame as an author.

Frank was born in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York, on Feb. 27, 1967. As a young boy, he attended Farmingdale High School in Farmingdale, New York. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University, a private university located in Hampstead, New York.

After he earned his degrees, Frank taught English and Creative Writing at Oceanside High School, a public school located in Oceanside, New York. His career as an educator there spanned 31 years.

Frank published his first novel, Echoes from the Infantry, in 2005. The tale, a story about a World War II veteran, earned national attention. Frank garnered a silver medal for outstanding fiction from the Military Writers Society of America for the effort. His second novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler, a story about baseball, earned high reviews, too. A movie adaptation entitled A Mile in His Shoes was based on the story. He has also published Sophomore Campaign (2012) and the dark thriller Nobody Has to Know (2012), both of which have earned accolades.  He also wrote Welcome to the Show, published in 2016.

Probably the book that Frank wrote that is most intriguing for teachers, though, is I Became an Elementary School Outlaw, published in 2019. The tale is a delightful memoir of a little boy who becomes a teacher when he matures. The story depicts the angst of growing up and fitting in, and is told with humor and insight.

Today Frank lives on Long Island, New York. To read an interview with this amazing educator, see this link to a 2013 interview with Sandra Bornstein.

Educator Lucy Foster Madison becomes popular 20th century novelist

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The “Peggy Owen” series written by teacher Lucy Foster Madison was very popular with young girls in the early 20th century.

Many fine educators earn accolades for endeavors outside of the classroom. One of these is Lucy Foster Madison, a teacher from Missouri who became a famous novelist.

Lucy was born in Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri, on April 8, 1865, just as the Civil War was coming to a conclusion. When she was just a teenager, both her parents and her brother died, leaving Lucy to raise her two younger sisters by herself. In 1881, she graduated with high honors from high school in Louisiana, Missouri.  After her high school graduation, she completed courses at the State Normal School of Kirksville. There she studied Latin, French, and music under private tutelage. Lucy became a school teacher first in Louisiana, Missouri, and later in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1893, Lucy entered a short story competition sponsored by a New York newspaper. She won second place with her entry. This event launched her career as a writer of novels and short stories. Her “Peggy Owen” series for girls were popular in the 20th century. Some of the outstanding books she published between 1899 and 1928 are A Maid of the First Century, A Maid at King Alfred’s Court, A Colonial Maid, A Daughter of the Union, Peggy Owen: Patriot, Peggy Owen at Yorktown, Peggy Owen and Liberty, Joan of Arc, Lafayette, A Life of Washington for Young People, and Lincoln.

In 1924, Lucy Foster Madison and her husband moved to a farm near Hudson Falls, Washington County, New York. In 1932, the former teacher suffered a stroke and passed away a few days later. She was 66 years old.

To read some of Lucy’s works on Project Gutenberg, click on this link: Lucy Foster Madison.

Teacher Mary Elizabeth Vroman: First Black woman to join the Screen Actors’ Guild

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Mary Elizabeth Vroman: The first Black woman to be inducted into the Screen Actors’ Guild.

Many talented educators can also claim fame as accomplished authors. This is true of Mary Elizabeth Vroman, an elementary school teacher who was also the author of several books and short stories, including “See How They Run,” an award-winning short story that became the basis for a movie entitled Bright Road.

Mary was born circa 1924 in Buffalo, New York, and was raised in Antigua in the British West Indies. Like three generations of women educators in her family before her, Mary attended Alabama State Teachers College, now known as Alabama State University, in Montgomery, Alabama, where she graduated in 1949. After her graduation, Mary accepted her first teaching position at an elementary school in rural Alabama. She later taught in Chicago and New York. Her teaching career spanned twenty years.

Mary published her first short story, “See How They Run,” in the June, 1951, issue of Ladies’ Home Journal. The story, based on her experiences in the classroom, generated five hundred enthusiastic letters from readers. Like most of her works, the story depicted the challenges of poverty and disadvantage. The plot revolves around a young, idealistic teacher who encourages her students to escape their poverty through education, and compares the forty-three third graders in the story to the blind mice in the familiar children’s nursery rhyme. Mary describes the teacher’s struggle to provide academic, financial, and emotional support for her students and their families so that they can achieve success. The piece earned the coveted Christopher Award in 1952 for its humanitarian quality. It was reprinted in the July, 1952, issue of Ebony.

Next, Mary served as a technical adviser and assistant screenwriter for the 1953 film version of the story. The title of the piece was changed to Bright Road, and starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. Mary’s work on the film earned her admission to the Screen Actors Guild; she was their first African American woman member.

Vroman’s “See How They Run” tells the story of a young, idealistic teacher encouraging her students to escape from their impoverished environment through education. Comparing the 43 third graders in the story to the blind mice in the familiar nursery rhyme, Vroman details the teacher’s struggle to provide academic, financial, and emotional support for them and their families so that they can achieve success was published in the Ladies’ Home Journal in June, 1951. The piece earned the 1952 Christopher Award, and it was subsequently made into a 1953 film entitled Bright Road. Her work on the film earned her admittance to the Screen Writers Guild, the first African American woman to become a member of the distinguished organization.

Mary was married to Brooklyn dentist Dr. Oliver M. Harper. Sadly, Mary Elizabeth Vroman passed away on April 29, 1967, from complications following surgery. She was only 42 years old.

To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this link at the Encyclopedia of Alabama.