Teachers

Teachers have always played an important role in my life. I had an unusual early education because of my disability. During the mid-60s, when I was a child, children with disabilities were only beginning to be included in mainstream classes, at least in the rural areas of  the South where I grew up. For the first six years of my formal education, I had a homebound instructor, Dora Shiflett. She, more than anyone, inspired my love of books. She also assisted in the writing of my first poem. Although she is no longer living, I think she would be proud to know that I had become a novelist and poet.  She is the Dora to whom I dedicated Tomato Girl.

This article is a tribute to one wonderful teacher. She sounds a lot like Dora...