The Lion Tamer

I thought I knew Art Goddard. He was an educator, musician and a gentleman. What I didn't know about Art was his exploits in the European theatre of war in World War II. His little book is an easy read and reads like a letter home from the front lines, filled with both sobering and humorous anecdotes of what life was like for a foot soldier, from the invasion of Sicily and a humorous confrontation with George Patton, to the liberation of the Hitler death camps. He is reflective of his generation, men who were fashioned by a depression era childhood and shaped by a war won with American know how and determination. Certainly his experiences and interest in history, which was his specialty, and knowledge of languages allowed him to bring the subject alive in the classroom during his career as a teacher, and preside over otherwise rambunctious 7th graders as "a lion tamer." Unfortunately, WWII as a hands-on experience in preparation for a career in education, isn't experienced by teachers today, and they are the poorer for it. I highly recommend his autobiography. Michael Craig