What Kids Are Saying About John Gallaher

John Gallaher came to work with my high school students yesterday. It was like church...no, it was like what church should be. I could go on and on and on about how much the day meant to me...but instead, I'll share what the kids had to say...verbatim.

• He made me want to explore my imagination and be more creative.
• I like how he talked about his wife and children. It made him seem more like an every day person.
• He is so funny.
• I love how he connected art and religion.
• I agree that schools do kill creativity.
• I love his poems, even though some are hard to understand.
• I think he should come and speak again.
• He's pretty much amazing.
  
• He made me realize how Sarah Palin's comments are actually offensive.
• He is inspiring.
• He has a natural air of being an artist.
  
• I love how he says that not everything has to have meaning.
• He taught me to not always search for the answer, but to enjoy the exploration.
• I love how he talked about that Wally Steven guy. I want to read his book too.
  
• I really want to buy Johnny G's books because he is an amazing speaker and from what I have read, an amazing writer.
• I love that he made us write and it didn't feel like an assignment.
• He showed us that we can be creative in all aspects of life.
• I need to go and see him read.
• I like when he dropped the f-bomb. It was necessary.
• He is even crazier than Miss Sullivan.

Thank you to everyone who made John's visit possible. I look forward to having more writers come and dazzle my 17-year-olds.

I'm always a poet. It's not really a choice. I am thinking of a Henry Miller quote, something like, "The writer does not want to write: he wants the world to be a place in which he can live the life of the imagination."

Thanks John for helping me and my students return to that place. We will never forget our day together.