Requiem for the Memory of a Teacher.
On June 1st, a high school friend forwarded me a letter to the editor that had recently been published in our local paper. The author criticized the paper’s recent treatment of President Trump, contrasting it to how it treated Joe Biden in the 2024 election. It was a fairly typical opinion piece, nothing especially surprising or insightful.
Below is this letter.
Every now and then, LNP | LancasterOnline publishes something so infuriating it prompts me to respond. As someone who is close with several Gold Star families, I appreciated the May 25 editorial preceding Memorial Day, which had the print headline “ ‘We will remember.’ ” It explained an important perspective with which most people may not be familiar.
Then I got to the last paragraph:
“Men and women have died for our democracy, which now hangs in the balance, threatened by a growing authoritarianism. Honoring their service should remind us of the role we all must play in protecting that democracy.”
Now, talk about throwing paint on the canvas of a beautiful painting!
The LNP | LancasterOnline Editorial Board just had to throw in another dig at President Donald Trump, marring what had been, up to that point, a nonpartisan, objective and informative editorial.
Please explain how democracy “now hangs in the balance,” more than it did when the government and its media mouthpieces were lying about the fitness of then-President Joe Biden and forgoing a primary election to replace him. (Even U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders recently admitted that the Democratic Party’s machinations, including how it handles primaries, represent a “threat to democracy.”)
Please explain how what we have now is any more authoritarian than the COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates that precipitated mass business closings, layoffs and firings.
Also, the juxtaposition of “Men and women have died for our democracy“ with the ensuing “which now hangs in the balance” suggests to me that the LNP | LancasterOnline Editorial Board is calling for people to offer the same fervor of self-sacrifice in the former toward the latter. Is the editorial board essentially calling for insurrection? What irresponsible journalism!
[edited out]
Manheim Township
Then I saw the author’s name. I gasped. It was a former teacher of mine.
Teachers hold a special place in our memories. They’re often frozen in time and larger than life, shaped by how they influenced us when we were young. I remember this civics teacher well: serious, dryly humorous, but most of all, passionate about democracy. They taught us to think critically, to take civic responsibility seriously, and to pursue social justice. That message stuck with me.
The person who wrote that letter feels unrecognizable. But to be fair, I never truly knew this person, only the image projected in the classroom. That image has stayed with me for thirty years. I’ve changed. Surely they have too.
Still, I find myself reflecting not on the person, but on the enduring power of a teacher’s example. As graduation season arrives, let’s take a moment to honor not just the educators guiding students today, but the lasting images they create. Those images live on. They shape lives.
And I’m thankful for the ones who left good ones behind.
