Gary Ludwig
I'm 73 years old and have entered the phase in my life where I start losing my mentors. "Big Ed" had a profound influence on my life that I mostly kept to myself over the years. My wives were told about him because he helped develop my character. My 11th grade history class with him consisted of all the "losers" who had no definite plans for the future - to necessarily bound for college - but maybe. Then there were the "hoods" who were only waiting for the day when they could quit and get a "real Job". The administration gave us malcontents to Ed because he "didn't" fit in high school either. What Ed did was ignore the textbook, sit on the window sill and narrate vocal masterpieces about the history of America. The "hoods" sat silently, the "unprepared for life students" sat silently, and even the normally arrogant and various troublemakers sat and listened to "Big Ed". He came to school with his flaming red hair, plaid vest, unique walk, and that constant smile.
He would ask us "What's the difference between an orange? A banana because grapes only have small seeds. Ha Ha Ha! This was Ed's way of getting our minds to work - at least that was my suspicion. You see, I was the smartest kid in the room but couldn't admit it or I'd get beat up after school for being smart. Because I was the smartest kid in the room I listened intently to Ed's lectures - and that's what they were. He taught me about civil rights, justice, politics, the Civil War, he touched it all. He was always getting into trouble with the administration because he ignored the curriculum. I became a writer, have written two novels, a couple of true crime books, some local history, and had some writing jobs -
both print and broadcast. I still have no degree, but I am a successful author and publisher plus advertising hack. I owe so much to Ed Ettinger and I'll miss his spirit. I was only exposed to him one hour a day for ten months, but during that period of time I learned so much. He was truly the most briliant man I ever met
Saturday March 3, 2018 at 1:37 pm