I was meeting Dr. Murray and his wife, Minnie Mae, at the train station so I could help them settle in their hotel before the workshop the next day. Driving to the station, I couldn't help thinking, “Don Murray is a scholar. I am a teacher; what if I say something stupid?” (A preeminent scholar and journalist, Donald Murray visited Denver in the early nineties to work with a group of teachers and staff developers of whom I was one.)

I had read his work, A Writer Teaches Writing, and stood in awe of his succinct writing voice that was provocative and practical. I had read his Pulitzer Prize-winning essays and marveled at his ability to evoke complex emotions in few words. I knew of his highly respected research and publications in English Education at the University of New Hampshire. I had worked with his disciples -- Tom Newkirk, Don Graves, Mary Ellen Giacobbe, Lucy Calkins – and now was about to meet the master. What if he asked a question I couldn't answer? My hands trembled as I greeted him and, frankly, I couldn't wait to deposit him at his hotel knowing that I couldn't say something stupid if I was alone in my car!

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