Jim Fletcher didn't tell you; he showed you.
He taught Humanities for 26 years at my high school.
One of my favorite teachers of all time, Jim once took me and a group of friends to Atlanta--on two separate occasions--to see the ballet, and to visit a monastery in nearby Conyers. For months after, I corresponded with one of the monks. I remember that they baked bread.
We also visited his home near the school, so he could introduce us to his vast collection of classical recordings (which were really classical, since it was still the vinyl era), and he fed us dinner and we thought it was cool to be in an actual teacher's home. I found him to be a shy man with a gift of teaching and dry humor. (Dry humor runs in my family, so it worked in his favor.)
An accomplished musician, Jim played tympani for the local symphony and, when needed, at our church.
Though his death was expected, it's still hard to imagine. I trust he's playing tympani now, listening to his classical favorites and hanging out with monks who bake bread.
A correction to the St. Thomas address: 2100 Hilton Ave., Columbus, Ga. 31906
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My name is Cassie. I'm the girlfriend of Jim Fletcher's youngest son. I'm in school to get my Master's in Secondary English, and I just wanted to say how much it touches me to see your sweet post about Jim as a teacher. I had the pleasure of knowing him for 5 years, but am sad knowing this wasn't nearly enough time. It means so much to see blog posts and comments about what a wonderful teacher he was. He was one of my mentors when I started graduate school, and it's amazing that through the Interent his legacy lives on!
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