kirkcudbright | passage

Thanks to teh Facebooks, I found out that my high school psychology teacher, one Donald Palmisano, died today of esophageal cancer (the same thing that killed our neighbor six years ago). Mr. Palmisano was a flamboyent Italian-American who taught us psychology through opera, since that has all the great themes and emotions - misplaced trust, misplaced mistrust, passion, betrayal, and the ability to sing while dying of tuberculosis. He swore a knowledge of opera had practical benefits as well, like impressing your date. "This situation reminds me of La Boheme." "Oh Paul, I didn't know you knew opera." "I know...many things."

Anyway, the local paper did a nice profile last month. I haven't seen him since 1982, but he was one of two high school teachers who made a lasting impression on me. (The other once confessed that he became a high school chemistry teacher because he liked to blow stuff up. He also hosted the high school science fiction club.)