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For a Humble GiantAs one of his students, it was a life-altering experience to be taught
by and know John Lovas. Those two ideas don't often go together, but to
sit in his classroom day after day was to get to know him. With all of
his expertise as an educator, his humility and openness are what stood
out most to me. He didn't put up walls between him and his students. To
be able to do that and fulfill the teacherly roles of coach and critic
at the same time was a masterful feat. I suggest that that was to a
large degree what made him so effective, and so inspiring to me
personally. I remember the day he came back to De Anza with a handout
of a timeline of events during a day spent that past weekend lobbying
politicians in Washington. It was so simple. His sharing it with us was
so disarming, such an act of trust. It was also a really fun example of
how to use language. One time I wrote a letter to the editor which was
published in La Voz, the college paper. He complimented me on it one
evening and we discussed it and many other things for close to two
hours outside his office as is got dark. To see a teacher so excited
about learning was a magical experience. He was so engaged and turned
on by things that he really couldn't help sharing with others. It took
his teaching to another dimension. One that has seldom if ever been
reached by other teachers I've had in my life. His shoes will never be
filled, but I hope at the very least that the Linguistics classes
remain part of De Anza's offerings, and that they include the fantastic
text by Trask called "Language Basics".
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