Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow [Paperback]

Lawrence Meyers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2009

For 35 years, Edwin Barlow taught mathematics at his beloved Horace Greeley High School in Upstate New York. For 35 years, thousands of students passed through his classroom. Yet when he died, he remained as much an enigma as the day he arrived, for he deliberately shrouded his life in rumor and mystery.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The biggest problem with American education is we don't have nearly enough Mr. Barlow's". --Steve Kroft, "60 Minutes"

"A fascinating, well-researched, and insightful exploration of a brilliant but tortured soul. I couldn't put it down."

"I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is fabulous...many of the stories had me in stitches"

"Meyers goes beyond his subject's public persona to create a compelling portrait of this unusual man".

"Sincerity is the reason for the book. It's the strength of this project, and its glory --- this is a labor of love that was worth undertaking"

Book Description

I probably read more books than some people have hot meals. Most are well-crafted, no author with an ounce of sense would send me a book that is not. Very occasionally, though, I get something that is truly outstanding. "Teacher Of The Year" is in that class. Even though the year is still young, I just know that this book is going to make my annual top 10 list.

Who was Edwin Barlow? That's a great question. To many people he is a complete unknown, to those that knew this enigmatic character he was either your mentor, or tyrant depending on your view. He was a teacher, and a teacher from the old school. I suffered through the English Grammar School system, and I am pretty certain my Latin and English teachers were related to Edwin Barlow.

Edwin Barlow was also the first person to be awarded the `Teacher Of The Year' title. I know author Lawrence Meyers through some Internet email interactions. He is one smart cookie. And Edwin Barlow was one of his high school teachers.

Lawrence has worked long and hard on this biography. Mister Barlow was a deeply private person, and a man that deserves to be recognized. He shunned attention, he lived a monastic life, he terrified his students, and he likely was the best teacher in living memory. He lived the life of a pauper with few possessions, yet in death it was revealed that his estate was more that $400,000, most of which went to help an educational foundation.

Lawrence has taken a novel approach to the format of this book. "Part One: The Mister Barlow I Knew" is exactly that. It is Lawrence's own high school memories and also their relationship afterwards. Some of the stories had me in stitches. Mister Barlow comes across as a tyrannical despot bent on terrorizing his pupils. He had a particularly interesting bedside manner, referring to students that displeased him, which was a frequent occurrence, as `vegetables' or `clods'. My favorite quote though has to be, "Ms, Jones only prostitutes wear purple, get out of my class!"

Somehow I doubt that these tactics could be used in schools these days.

"Part Two: The Mister Barlow You Knew" is a collection of stories by other people who knew him, both as former students, and also colleagues and contemporaries. Once again he comes across as an enigma. Little is revealed about the private life of the man. He seemed to spend virtually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, skulking in his lair at Horace Greenly High School. On Sunday mornings, for example, he could be found at his desk doing the New York Times crossword.

"Part Three: The Mister Barlow Nobody Knew", pulls the veil aside. Lawrence, through grit and determination, followed every lead he could find, and eventually started to unearth the strange story of Edwin Barlow. A World War II veteran, wounded twice. A man with deep-seated religious beliefs who, for a time, gave serious thought of becoming a member of the clergy. A plan dashed by his experiences in the war, Edwin Barlow could not in good conscience join the cloth with blood on his hands. Education became his chosen profession.

The final part of the book, "Understanding Mister Barlow..." analyzes the enigma through his readings and writings. Much can be gleaned about a man by the books he read. Edwin Barlow had a real passion for "Alice In Wonderland". In fact, in a rare interview, when asked if he could be anyone in the world, his reply was Lewis Carroll.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a fabulous story, and the quality of writing is excellent.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: H.H. & Sons (March 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982018312
• ISBN-13: 978-0982018316
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 8.9 x 5.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lawrence Meyers studied with Edwin Barlow at Horace Greeley High School, and thereafter graduated Cornell University with a B.A. in Chemistry and attended USC's School of Cinematic Arts. He has written 23 hours, and produced 60 hours, of TV programming including Picket Fences, The Pretender, Roar, When I Grow Up, The Outer Limits, Andromeda, The Net, and Crossing Jordan. He sold two feature film scripts, Superkids (with Stan Lee as producer), and 1001 Nights (with Toby Jaffe as producer).

Larry has written for finance websites The Motley Fool, SeekingAlpha and InvestorPlace, and his work appears at Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance, Zacks, and MSN Money. His investment articles have generated over 2 million unique page views.

He became the first journalist to cover the companies and stocks in the short-term consumer lending sector. In 2006, he co-founded a private equity venture that provided low-cost short-term loans to consumers and working-capital loans to other lenders.

Today, Larry is regarded as a national expert on alternative consumer finance. He consults for hedge funds and private equity via his Council Member status at Gerson Lehman Group, and as a member of Coleman Research Group's Executive Forum. His Op-Eds have appeared in over two dozen newspapers. He also brokers financing, strategic investments, and distressed asset purchases between private equity firms and businesses of all stripes.
His investigative journalism has provided clarity for policymakers, and the public, on fragrance chemistry, vaccine manufacturing, fisheries, statins, biofuel, tobacco taxation, siloxane D5, and a popular keratin hair-straightening treatment. He also pens articles on popular culture. The venues for these works are Breitbart.com and BloggerNews.net.

Larry's second book, Inside the TV Writer's Room: Practical Advice for Succeeding in Television has been praised by both established and aspiring writers for its unique insight into the creative process.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy, High School and War June 12, 2009

By Jonathan Harland

Format:Paperback

Teacher of the Year by Lawrence Meyers is a great mixture of the fun and the serious. As I was reading this delightful book, I found myself laughing aloud at times and deep in thought a few moments later. Much of the enjoyment for me had to do with my own memories of high school. The setting of the story, Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York, could be almost any suburban high school with its range of student cliques, teenage pressures and influence of local folklore. It is easy to empathize with the author's challenging experiences while trying to survive adolescence. I suspect that most readers will find the characters and situations familiar, although they probably never had a teacher quite as frightening as Mister Barlow. I never did, but by the end of the story I found myself wishing that I had.

The book is also a serious commentary on a spectrum of subjects including education, methods of discipline, philosophy, religion, and the personal ramifications of having served in combat during World War II. It includes rich literary references and chapter appendices. Some sections might especially appeal to educators or members of the clergy since there is a discussion of the relationship between these two professions. Other sections, such as those covering the War in Europe, would appeal to veterans or anyone else with an interest in history. One advantage of the book is its organization; it is easy to focus on the chapters that are most relevant to your interests. As for myself, I will be reading it again cover to cover. Teacher of the Year, the Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow, is a nostalgic and intellectual journey for anyone who believes in the importance of teachers.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mister Barlow: The Eccentric Genius of Horace Greeley High School, by Suzanne Kellner-Zinck April 12, 2009

By Suzanne Kellner-Zinck

Format:Paperback

I was a student of Mister Barlow's by choice in both 9th and 11th grade. I was never very good at math and still couldn't do alegbra if asked today. It wasn't that Mister Barlow didn't do his job, for he did that and more. It is just that algebra was very rarely required in my life and so it is forgotten. To be honest I do believe that the lessons of Mister Barlow's classroom as the author of this book proclaims have much more to do with life skills, than the actual subject matter he taught.

Mister Barlow made it very clear that paying attention was the most important aspect of any learning as well as using the method of having us take dictation when he was teaching a new subject. Learning through the senses of visual, auditory and kinesthetic (movement through the writing) would enable his students to more easily learn the content of his lessons no matter their learning style.

He damanded respect and as such taught us to respect ourselves and the monetary investment our parents made in terms of the taxes paid when in class one day he made a comment to one of the students in class: "Mr. "X" your parents are not paying $3,000 a year in taxes for you to stare out that window. FACE THE FRONT OF THE ROOM NOW AND LOOK AT THE BLACKBOARD!".

I went to a small school outside Boston to study Elementary Education with Moderate Special Needs, and when I would visit home I would usually go visit the high school. On a few occassions I stopped by and spoke with Mister Barlow who had much wisdom to share. He told me that he knew that anyone could teach the smart kids, it was the ones (such as myself) who had learning difficulties that required a master of a teacher to get the most out of them.... He also let it be known that he knew that Bill Huppuch was there to give the love after he was a bit more stern on the students. Bill Huppuch came to teach in the resource room my Freshman year (1975)and was a sweetheart of a man who knew how to break down the difficult task of writing long term papers or studying for midterm and final exams into easy to do chunks. Later on Bill Huppuch went on to direct the special school within Horace Greeley High School for the kids who took technical classes at the nearby tech school.

There was on really funny occassion that I experienced in his class during 11th grade. I had his class right after homeroom and it so happened the Student President was in his homeroom. The door was shut and that was never the case with Mister Barlow. If anything the door was wide open until the clock hit the dot of the start of class when it was closed to anyone who may be late. Because the door was shut we didn't really know what to do so we just waited outside his classroom for a few minutes till one of the kids decided to open the door. As each of us filed into the class he told us to get a pass from the principal for being late. We all came back and handed him his passes as we filed by his desk in the back of the classroom. As I handed my pass to him I was giggling. He first responded by glaring at me. I went to my seat and as I sat there he said: "Miss Kellner, control your emotions, there is nothing funny about what happened." It didn't matter to me, I laughed and laughed and he never did get me to control my emotions that day. He never intimidated me and he never made me feel badly about myself, no matter the comments. I adored the man and his teaching skill and obvious care for his students he demonstrated to anyone who noticed all the time he spent at that school after hours. I never saw him there during the weekend, for I had no reason to be at school on the weekends, however, I did see him very late in the afternoon still there still correcting papers.

It was unfortunate that my stories of his class scared my two younger sisters from ever taking his class because as far as I am concerned almost 34 years later, he was perhaps the smartest teacher I have ever had the priviledge to study with and was way ahead of his time in how he used the principles of learning in his classroom.

As a successful business woman who has learned how the mind works through my professional training as a hypnotist and NLP Master Practitioner and trainer, I can honestly say that there were perhaps a few others who came close to what this man offered so early in my development.

I would suggest anyone read this book who would like to learn a bit of wisdom and learn that even those that we tend to put on a pedestal also have their inner deamons and hidden secrets, and yet, look at what they have to give to the world despite it. I would suggest we all have our gifts to give to the world, and as Mister Barlow encouraged Lawrence Meyers, the author of the book to follow his "calling" even if Mister Barlow thought he wasn't using his native intelligence in the manner Mister Barlow would have desired, success and a life of joy follow living your dreams by using your gifts. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Special Man in a High School full of Special Contributors March 31, 2009

By sidetracked scientist

Format:Paperback

For a score of years post WWII, public education in Chappaqua, New
York, where Hillary and Bill have a home, was a model of an
expanding bedrooom community with grass roots support for a deeply
interested and dedicated leadership and uniquely qualified and
interested collection of faculty at all levels. It was on the
northern fringes of the hustle and bustle of New York City, still an
hour-and-a-half by train (pulled by steam locomotives changing to
electric engines at North White Plains). It still has a couple of
Quaker Meeting Houses and some of its houses still trace their
origins to before the revolutinary war.

It was comfortable with itself. Denizens left their front doors
unlocked without fear and allowed their children to roam pretty
freely for miles by foot, bicycle or car, secure in the knowledge
that if something untoward was in progress a friend, neighbor or
policeman (who probably was also a friend and neighbor) would notice
and help or, if necessary, call for it. When the inevitable
unpleasant problem arose, the community circled the wagons and
quietly made it go away, usually in a fashion that exhibited as much
concern for the "unfortunate" offender as the victims. Not exactly
the Camelot that is sometimes painted of the post-war period, but a
good try.

Into that community, Mr. Barlow arrived from his deprived Boston
roots and deeply scarring War experiences in the Normandy landings
and Northern France as a highly qualified, very serious and
completely dedicated math and physics teacher with a unique style
and very secretive personality. But he was multidimensional despite
his focus on math, science and secrecy....

If you were listening in classes and assmeblies, he frequently poked
fun at himself in sentences of polysyllabic words, often of literary
origin. He was quite widely read. Enjoyed music. He learned and
offered a class in Russian during the height of the cold war. He
gave selflessly not just to his assigned students during school
hours, but as Mr. Meyers chronicles was his own case, from his
"free" time after a student's graduation when trouble in college
arose. Mr. Barlow's dedication to teaching was such that other
Horace Greeley students who were never Mr. Barlow's students were
similarly favored. Indeed, his private life style permitted him to
fund his own version of a scholarship program where he saw need.

He brought to his teaching an unmatched concern for bringing the
best out of the students he was priviledged to have in his class,
and he considered it a priviledge to have even the least of them,
notwithstanding when his methods and motives were questioned by
students who felt abused and parents who felt he was unfair to their
child. His success was such that the school administrators and other
faculty generally supported him even as some of his personality
traits became more troubling. Throughout, his motivational tools
were sarcasm, verbal assault (without vulgarity and with some
imagination), peer pressure and guilt, adjustments to the methods to
which he was probably exposed in the military and by its drill
instructors in boot camp.

But to those students who paid attention and saw through the tactics
to their impact, his outbursts were just that, tactical, a further
tool to increase pressure to achieve your full potential. It was
obvious that he was constantly assessing your individual capacity
and would accept nothing less than its full utilization. The scale
and nature of the tactics was always adjusted to the individual.
Many of us discovered how much more we could do if we only got past
our blind-spots, self-doubts and fears of failure.

This book is a wonderful chronicle and exposition of the life of a
man seeking to overcome his own blind-spots, self doubts and fears
by being an extraordinary and dedicated teacher. Read more ›