To the editor:
These streets of Stratford-upon-Avon are dotted with a broad range of history and significance well beyond the fact that they had a guy write some fancy stories that thrill the world. Walking past the Guild hall, the foundations of New House, or the various booths and squares that William Shakespeare did is not to be taken lightly. Old thoughts come to the surface. Did Shakespeare use a few choice words when he received the dumpings of the garbage pail on his head while passing on the street below? Did he enjoy a meat pie and a glass of ale on the same shore of the Avon where I sat this afternoon swilling a large coffee? Or, did he take a moment to savor the sunset over the Church spire. He permeates the environment of this city though it has been many, many years since he strolled the stones and bricks of the city.
I learned of the passing of one of the County’s own icons this past week. She was not a Bardic wit nor a vaunted celebrity beyond the streets of the city. And she would be the first to scold the folly of pretending that she was anything more than a humble teacher. yet, her legacy goes far beyond her own footsteps. Caroline Gentile for many years was the University of Maine at Presque Isle. She set standards, debated merits, and challenged many an administration during her years as a teacher and patron of the University. Thanks to her benevolence there is now a true fitness center for the community to enjoy.
I never did take a class from her. But her voice and lessons filled many years of my early learning. Her students were often my gym teachers. The admonition to never wear your street shoes on the gym floor was relentlessly drilled into all of us whether we went to her classroom or not. Even now, I still cringe just a little as I walk onto the floors at Wieden Gymnasium or Presque Isle High’s gym. The person I knew was a proud defender of students. Often she took the time to listen and participate in the life of students at the school: Challenging each student to develop the necessary convictions that served as the example rather than the result.
Wherever she went she challenged the idea that a tiny school in the backwoods of Northern Maine could not meet the challenges of any academic program. Her heart was in Physical Education. Each year she pushed hundreds of students through the basics of moving the body around and in the process thinking of how the body and the mind worked together.
The time has long past when UMPI could consider offering a master’s program in the physical education field. Our world has moved on. Ms. Gentile stood firm in demanding that we consider the body as well as the mind and today we are humbled by her generosity and spirit. For a modest teacher she made all the students that she taught proud of who they were.
Echoes of her work still sound faintly as the familiar is replaced with the unfamiliar. Most of the students at the school today no only the name. And perhaps that is the best legacy one can leave, a name that stands for quality and perseverance. No, she would say that she is no famous Shakespeare. What she did do was set a standard for learning, living, and loving life. One that, like so many other ghosts, remains long after our footsteps fade on the streets of our home. She always enjoyed coming to the plays at the school. She was an ardent champion of students and ideas. And for that we are the wealthier for the kindness. Ms. Gentile showed what living life was about. Enjoy it and move forward!
Stratford-upon-Avon, England
