Diane Paul Rushing

Since 1971? Hmmm. . . Schools: Millsaps, Ole Miss, Miss. State and Delta State (graduate work). Workplaces: Germany (at Bosch, making seat belt buzzers for Mercedes Benz on an assembly line); Starkville (sterilizing boll weevils in the science department); Merigold, Miss. (working at the winery and tea room); Ouray, Colorado (teaching high school English and working in my pottery studio in the summers). Sam and I live in the tiny town (900 people) of Ouray, which is located in southwest Colorado at an elevation of about 8000 feet. I have taught English and psychology at the small high school here for the past 18 years and love it more every day. My mentors are my two great English teachers at GHS: Mrs. Mary Haynes and Mrs. Nell Thomas. My average class size is about 18 and the kids are very respectful and work hard. They think I talk funny, but that's okay. On a more personal level, I drink gin and tonics on Friday nights, good wines on Saturday nights, and iced tea on school nights. I prefer good dogs to small children and invariably vote Democrat. I love to read and I love to write, as you can see, but my favorite pastime is travel. I forgo nice clothes and fancy cars to travel all over the place, from India to Italy, every year or two. I love to ski in nearby Telluride and even do some ice climbing here in Ouray, although I suck at both. I still love Sam, my husband of 36 years, who graduated from GHS in 1970, and I'm pretty sure he still loves me too. We have a great life, and even more important, we have the good sense to know it.

My best memories are of the football games at Greenville High School and the dances at the National Guard Armory down by the levee. Lord, those were fun, especially with the requisite followup at Strazi's Drive in. I remember the loop everyone drove every Sunday afternoon, which went down Washington, cut over to Main at the corner that came out by Bass, cruised through Strazi's, then continued down to the levee. I remember how good the rolls in the cafeteria were. I remember going to Wells Drug Store for lunch when I could afford it, which wasn't often. I recall watching and wondering about the few brave blacks who came to our school in the late sixties and early seventies and am not proud of how little I did to make them more comfortable. (I remain in close contact with Janis Moore, who has taught deaf children in California for nearly 30 years now.) I remember how cool Mr. Pullen was. I remember clearly the first time I heard a teacher read a cussword out loud; it was Mrs. Thomas sharing the new novel, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I resented having to memorize the Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and still do a little. I remember parking at the fountain down by the levee and listening to the latest eight track cassettes, among other activities there. I remember the honking, the drinking, the driving and the laughing that defined our lives in Greenville, Mississippi and am damned glad I had the opportunity to (mis)spend my youth there.