"Teacher of the Year" Investigates Legendary Teacher's Mysterious Past and Struggle with Faith
CHAPPAQUA, New York, May 4 /
Christian Newswire/ -- For 35 years, Edwin "Blackie" Barlow's (1922-1990) profound, explosive classroom methods dazzled students at Horace Greeley High School. During that time, he buried any trace of his redemptive life story behind a set of ever-shifting personas.
Now, Lawrence Meyers, a television writer-producer and entrepreneur, reveals the story behind this "secular saint" in his new book, "Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow."
The book examines a teacher who was both feared and loved by his charges, including the method behind his controversial style. "Mister Barlow didn't tolerate intellectual laziness, verbally disemboweling us for any error," Meyers recalls. "What nobody understood at the time was that he was actually teaching us the Cardinal Virtues, the Summa Theologica, self-transcendence, and Scholasticism from a lay perspective in a secular school – all under the guise of a demanding math instructor."
Former Greeley Vice-Principal Larry Breen adds, "His classes were not merely invitations to learn, they were command performances."
Barlow lived as he taught, following a monastic lifestyle, which included the donation of his entire $478,000 estate to charity. The bequest generated articles in The New York Times and The Reporter Dispatch. However, his life provided few clues for the author's investigation. "I literally had nothing but scraps of paper with which to begin," said Mr. Meyers. "Fortunately, he left behind a rich oral history accessible through his students."
Meyers spent ten years pursuing the story because, "His fierce classroom presence contrasted the endless generosity shown to students privately. I knew his hidden past held the kind of unforgettable life lessons one learns in Sunday School or the seminary."
Meyers concluded, "His is a remarkably human tale -- a man whose faith was shattered by war, and how he rebuilt his life to become an inimitable force in American educational history."
Steve Kroft, a Greeley graduate and anchor of CBS' "60 Minutes" agrees. "The biggest problem with American education is we don't have nearly enough Mr. Barlow's."
"Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow," published by H.H. & Sons, is now available at Amazon.com, bn.com, and the author's website,
www.MisterBarlow.com.
