Everybody says what you say, that it's all symbolic, the rabbits are telepathic, not really talking, but nevertheless, it bugged me so bad. Just a quirk of mine.
Mr. Crowley was amazing. He was one of those teachers who, if the principal or other teachers had *really* known what he was doing, probably would have been "disciplined" or suspended for various things. He was in his early 40s, I think, and wore little glasses like John Lennon and had a huge head with very little hair on it. He was very innovative and also didn't believe kids (we were 11- and 12-year-olds) should be sheltered from stuff. (He was totally nonplused when I decided to read Shogun, which is full of sexual references and blood-letting... as long as I could discuss it, it was OK.) He was very frank and had no problem with kids reading whatever they wanted to and presented a lot of very "unvarnished" facts to us. He also encouraged a huge amount of creative expression in his students -- not just in writing but in history, math, even how to play games.
My friend Marialana and I adored this man so bad that the next year, when we went up to the middle school as seventh-graders, we would go down to the elementary school after school and visit him. For his birthday that year, we created a massive scrapbook in tribute, filled with all kinds of odd collages, lists, poems, stories. The year after that, the sixth grade was moved up to be part of the middle school and Mr. Crowley came with them. Dee (M's nickname) and I then started hanging out with him after school, in his classroom. I had a lot of cool conversations with him about "adult stuff" no other kids were interested in, like my obsession with the Beatles and Vampire Lestat. (Mr. Crowley at one point did a dramatic reading from VL for me, pointing out rather blatantly how sexual/homoerotic it was... although I didn't "get" that for at least 3 years!) He was just very cool.
Gradually we lost touch with Mr. Crowley but eventually Dee got back in touch with him. I think he left town for a while to travel around the country/world -- which would be typical of him, he used ot tell us stories of his wanderings. Anyway, in talking to him, Dee found out that the entire time he was traveling all over, he brought our scrapbook with him, as one of his most treasured possessions. I couldn't believe it!
I would love to find this man again, needless to say!
Mr. Crowley
Mr. Crowley was amazing. He was one of those teachers who, if the principal or other teachers had *really* known what he was doing, probably would have been "disciplined" or suspended for various things. He was in his early 40s, I think, and wore little glasses like John Lennon and had a huge head with very little hair on it. He was very innovative and also didn't believe kids (we were 11- and 12-year-olds) should be sheltered from stuff. (He was totally nonplused when I decided to read Shogun, which is full of sexual references and blood-letting... as long as I could discuss it, it was OK.) He was very frank and had no problem with kids reading whatever they wanted to and presented a lot of very "unvarnished" facts to us. He also encouraged a huge amount of creative expression in his students -- not just in writing but in history, math, even how to play games.
My friend Marialana and I adored this man so bad that the next year, when we went up to the middle school as seventh-graders, we would go down to the elementary school after school and visit him. For his birthday that year, we created a massive scrapbook in tribute, filled with all kinds of odd collages, lists, poems, stories. The year after that, the sixth grade was moved up to be part of the middle school and Mr. Crowley came with them. Dee (M's nickname) and I then started hanging out with him after school, in his classroom. I had a lot of cool conversations with him about "adult stuff" no other kids were interested in, like my obsession with the Beatles and Vampire Lestat. (Mr. Crowley at one point did a dramatic reading from VL for me, pointing out rather blatantly how sexual/homoerotic it was... although I didn't "get" that for at least 3 years!) He was just very cool.
Gradually we lost touch with Mr. Crowley but eventually Dee got back in touch with him. I think he left town for a while to travel around the country/world -- which would be typical of him, he used ot tell us stories of his wanderings. Anyway, in talking to him, Dee found out that the entire time he was traveling all over, he brought our scrapbook with him, as one of his most treasured possessions. I couldn't believe it!
I would love to find this man again, needless to say!