The Poet Laureate of McKaig, Maryland and other Poems (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781463753016)

Born 8/8/1938, weighing 8 lb. 8 oz, john Carlton hagerhorst has led a singular life. Beginning school during WW II, he graduated primary school the same year we stopped teaching writing, making him 1 of the last academically taught American writers. He attended a diff. school each year until 5th grade, with 4th grade being in Columbia S. C., and 5th & 6th grades at Cooke, Wash. D. C. He remembers his 5th grade teacher as that red-haired bitch who failed him for the 1st semester so she could remind the kids often that he was a failure while he continued to work at the top of the class. Her failure of him was also his realization that he was a good writer. She had demanded a 500 wd. essay on why something he had done was wrong and what he was going to do in the future to keep from doing it. He saw nothing wrong with that he was doing and fully intended to continue the action, so, unable to lie, chose to write 500 wds on her poor teaching & how the profession would be improved if she left. It drove her berserk but she found nothing wrong with the work itself, making him realize the power of his words was what did her in. He remembers his 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Kaukonen, with warmth. Besides acknowledging his abilities, she directed a life-long study by saying, wistfully, we knew nothing about evolution but that it existed. Young Johnnie took up the torch, determined to find out, for her, all about evolution. He succeeded 30 yrs later. His remaining school life was dramatically unsuccessful. He was unceremoniously expelled when he turned 18. The Air Force gave him a career as a RADAR air traffic controller and the opportunity to get his GED & two years of college English through the college GED, along with the opportunity to segue into work in the FAA as a control tower operator. He had enough of that after 7 yrs and left to enter the world of art and literature. After an amazing series of almost unbelievable events including 2 wives and 6 children, he is finally staying in 1 place long enough and doing 1 type of work long enough to produce a book. He has also developed an understanding of who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. He calls it energetic secularism and plans to publish a book on the subject soon.