Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Working in the Shadows author Gabriel Thompson visits The Richard Stockton College of NJ




My 11:20 Rhetoric and Composition class met Gabriel Thompson, the author of one of their assigned novels . This is the second semester that I have included his book, Working in the Shadows, in my syllabus. During the winter break I emailed Gabriel to see if maybe he would be interested in making the journey down the GSP from NYC to speak to my class. I was thrilled when he promptly wrote back.
Hi Rosemarie,

Definitely intrigued! I'm relocating to California in May, so wonder about doing something before then, perhaps in early April? I wonder if the school could pay for travel? I don't own a car and so would buy train ticket I assume, and would be great if school could cover that.

Let me know!
Gabriel

What luck to catch him before he leaves for California! I thought.

After several back and forth notes and the basic red-tape forms from the college, which agreed to pay him a stipend, we settled on March 21. Well that was yesterday, and Gabriel enthralled a room full of normally sleepy, distracted, fidgeting undergrads. He sat comfortably at the front table and spoke to the 35 plus students in attendance as if they were sharing a meal while swapping stories. He had an innate sensitivity to the group, stopping here and there to answer questions. Good questions! As the "teacher on the sidelines" I enjoyed an unusual perspective and left class that day with a bit more bounce in my step. Too many times I think we teachers misread our students' faces as lackluster, bored, disinterested, puzzled, impatient. Yesterday I was able to interpret those same faces as intent, processing, weighing, connecting.

To my colleagues: I highly recommend adding flesh and blood author time to your curriculum.
To Gabriel: Thank you for taking the time to inspire my class.
To my class: Take that inspiration and continue to add to it! Keep reading!!


1 comment:

Deneen said...

I found him to be a terrific, down to earth speaker. He was so comfortable and at ease with discussing his experiences and yet made it seem as if it was never about him at all, but always about the "real workers". I found his loyalty to the workers refreshing and was very happy to have been able to sit in on the discussion. I enjoyed the book and it left a lasting impression on me, but hearing him discuss it somehow made it more real.