A day of loss

Two of my favorite actors - Patrick McGoohan and Ricardo Montalban - have departed this sphere for the next station along the way.

I have always loved the work - and philosophies - of Patrick McGoohan. I loved "The Prisoner" when I was young, and was thrilled that the series is now available online in preparation for a remake.

I knew Ricardo Montalban as a teenager, as my father acted with him. I recall having lunch with some family of his down by Monticello, Utah, while he was filming "Blue", a much-maligned but very worthwhile Western. When you're 16, and can spend a day out in the desert hunting potshards and arrowheads with the likes of Montalban and Jimmy Westerfield, that's a day you never forget. He was most gracious.


Joe DeSantis (Carlos) and Ricardo Montalban (Ortega) in "Blue"

May both of these fine actors rest in peace, secure in the knowledge that their careers have left the world better than it was when they entered it - and may their families be blessed with comfort during their time of loss.

Writer's Block: Back to School

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The question is so very germane to my life at this moment. My experience at an eastern Prep School was so disturbing that I have been moved to start a school of my own.

Academic excellence is one thing, but when it is focused on to the exclusion of all else, the social and moral climate of the students, especially in a boarding-school environment - can become abysmal.

More than ever, school is a trial for many, many students. Overcrowding, underfunding, poorly-qualified teachers and the "No Child Left Behind" initiative are creating educational environments where teachers and administrators have no time to tend to the social development of their charges. Classrooms and hallways are rife with abuse, and many children fear for their safety or end up enduring years of abuse at the hands of bullies and cliques.

I dream of a school where children can learn in an atmosphere of absolute safety and impeccable excellence. Where they are taught from the day they enter the campus, that each member of their class has unsurpassable value and the potential to become great. Where teachers are hired to function as counsellors and facilitators as well as academicians. And where students who graduate will be ready, prepared and willing to build a world that works for everyone, with nobody left out.

Explore the vision at http://www.academyofgreatness.com