I made the annual pilgrimage back to Bainbridge this past weekend to see family. A time for reflection and sharing of stories. A time to revisit memories of canoe regattas and family picnics past. My sister asked me if I knew that Dan Rice had just passed away. My jaw dropped and I recounted to her that on my dining room table was a post-it note that said “Dan Rice – Red Pony�. I had written it a couple of weeks earlier as reminder for me to get a letter out to this wonderful teacher whose lessons were indelibly written in the memory of one of his students from 1972. I wanted to let him know that forty-plus years later, I found myself thinking about the Red Pony one morning. I remember getting my Red Pony book report back with the word “SUPERFICIAL� written across the top in caps. I was crushed. I think it was the first time I’d gotten a paper back with any sort of criticism on it. I had followed the same formula that had served me well up to that point in my education, rehashing the story line - what had happened to who and when. Well, that wasn’t what Mr. Rice wanted. He wanted us to analyze the book and tell him what it meant. So there I was looking in the mirror, shaving and analyzing the Red Pony within the context of events, relationships and careers that had transpired in that forty-year span. Thank you Mr. Rice for challenging us to dig deeper and to think critically. Thank you for treating a bunch of hormone infused, angst riddled adolescents as adults in your eighth-grade English class. Thank you for opening up a world of ideas with questions such as “What is king in America?�
I think about another story that we read. It ends with the prized possession of a young boy, a figurine of a horse, getting swept into the ocean by a wave. As the wave recedes, there in its place appeared on the beach a perfectly matched pair of tiger paw shells. I think of Mr. Rice getting swept into the ocean of time. There in his place are the lessons and memories of a life lived well. God’s peace to the family, friends and students of Dan Rice as we grieve your passing.