Franklin & Betty J. Parker, Christmas 2012 Thoughts, 63 Heritage Loop, Crossville, TN 38571. bfparker@frontiernet.net
One Christmas 2012 surprise was
to find Alabama-born Betty's biographical sketch in Alabama
Authors (to
access: copy, paste on browser, click on): http://www.lib.ua.edu/Alabama_Authors/?p=1861
Let's hope the last-minute end-of-2012
Obama/Republican-Congress fiscal-cutting compromise holds and improves, that in 2013 it will
join such high liberal moments as: Lincoln's 13th Amendment salvaging the USA
slavery sin, Teddy Roosevelt's first backing of the income tax,
women's voting act (1920), FDR-Frances Perkins Social Security Act (1935), and
the Civil Rights Act (1964). More insights on:
Frank's unforgettable
pre-Christmas 2012 moment came Oct. 5 when he was inducted into West Va.
Univ.'s College of Human Resources & Education's (WVU-HRE) Hall of Fame,
Morgantown, where he taught 18 years, 1968-86, before retiring at age 65.
The presenter said to a large
audience (in brief): Parker taught at WVU and several
other universities for 44 years, wrote or edited more than 20 books, hundreds
of articles and book reviews, and held office in national organizations
including being president of the History of Education Society. He studied
cultures and schools on three continents and was a Senior Fulbright
Research Scholar in Southern Africa.
He has degrees from Berea
College, Berea, KY; University of Illinois, and Peabody College of Vanderbilt
University, Nashville. Berea and Peabody of Vanderbilt gave him
Distinguished Alumnus awards. One colleague said of Parker that his
professional life and human concerns exemplify values every university
holds dear. [End of presenter's remarks].
Frank's remarks of thanks,
summarized below, brought thunderous applause: "Thank you from
the bottom of my heart for this day's honor. You have made this day a
most memorable one…. Last year (2011) when my 84-year-old former WVU-HRE
Dean was asked to suggest possible Hall of Fame nominees, he named me.
His death soon after added sorrow to my surprise and feeling of humility.
"Compiling my requested
life's work was a somber reminder of things done which I could have done better
and people who helped along the way I should have thanked more.
"Puzzling over life's
strange turning points reminded me of Robert Frost's: 'Two roads diverged in a
wood. I took the one less traveled by and that made all the
difference."
After thanking Betty, his wife of
62 years, as "co-researcher, co-author, co-everything," Frank said
that in teaching History and Philosophy of Education he stressed its heroes:
Socrates, Plato, Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Dewey, others, including Horace
Mann (1796-1859), 19th century Massachusetts public school system creator,
model for all other state public school systems. He stressed that he
always quoted Horace Mann's ringing challenge to students and teachers:
"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humankind."
"The best teachers,"
Parker added, "uplift young lives, correct mistakes, help build a better
future, student by student, class by class, generation by
generation." WVU-HRE, he said, "will long remain a place of
magic, of knowledge, encouragement, inspiration; a place to dream and try, to
hope and aspire." "Here," he said, "those preparing
to teach acquire skills that inform, lead, heal, lift lives, improve people,
help create a better future, and enrich our country and the
world..."
On http://www.uplandsvillage.com under Life Style, we Parkers are on left side of pool.
For more about the
Parkers: bfparker@frontiernet.net
For Library of Congress and WorldCat listings of our
publications (Frankln Parker, 1921, and Betty J. Parker, 1929-) copy on your
browser and click on:
Access the Parkers' many articles through google.com,
or bing.com,
or any other search engine by typing as subject: FranklinParker, or Betty
J. Parker, or Franklin and Betty J. Parker, or Betty and Franklin Parker, or
bfparker, or bfparker@frontiernet.net,or bandfparker@frontiernet.net
For some 35 of authors' articles in blog form, copy and
paste on your browser and click on:
http://bfparker.hubpages.com/hubs/hot
The 35+ articles titles on 4 pages will appear. Click
on the one you want to open and read. If this does not work let us know: bfparker@frontiernet.net
24 of authors' book titles are listed in:
For a funny skit on authors' 61st wedding anniversary,
access:
For a Year's Eve Dec. 31, 2012, version of above funny skit, access:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8967946846408369801#editor/target=post;postID=4052694467764754564 END.
