Colorado Academy - Telesis Yearbook (Denver, CO)

Page 140 text:

Of course we did not agree with everything he said. Though seniors, our minds did function occa- sionally. But what he did say, whether we agreed with it or not, was said from logical, rational, intelli- gent sources, not from middle-aged dogma. The man thought, and there is no generation gap when perspicacity, lucidity, and integrity are concerned unless the perceiver of that gap does not possess those qualities. The only gap between Slevin and his students was that between the admired and the admirers. To summarize, then, it did not really matter if Slev- in taught us anything about Hamlet or Moby Dick. Much more importantly, he showed us not just how to think, but how to live by thought. Though in his dedication he, like Eliot, feels that human kindfCan not bear very much reality, the 69 Telesis editors are sure that every senior who studied under him aspires toward his steadfastness of mind. For those students Slevin, as Frost has it, has made all the difference. We can think of no better way to end our farewell than with Marlow's words in Con- rad's Heart of Darkness: ... You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie. Not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies, - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do. Temperament I suppose. .-Q i 6 bm'