Kara Keeling
I have only just found this, so my condolences come very late, but are nonetheless heartfelt. John was one of my most memorable students at CNU back in the late 1990s. I am so very sorry to hear of his passing, as I remember many conversations with him in the Adolescent Literature class he took with and many times in the hallways and my office over the next several years as he finished his degree. I was always sure he would be a gifted teacher, particularly given his good work in CNU's Writing Center. I particularly remember him growing his hair long, and telling me that when he got his job as a teacher he would cut the ponytail and put it in a shadow box with items from his military service. My husband, Dr. Scott Pollard, likewise remembers John as swearing he would finish the novel Don Quixote, then choosing to stop before the last chapter: "If I never finish it, DQ will never die," he told us. I wish so very much that the final chapter of John's life was not written. In sorrow, and with many fond memories, Dr. Kara Keeling English Department Christopher Newport University