Samuel F. Pickering (born September 30, 1941) is a professor of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.[1] His unconventional teaching style was one of the inspirations for the character of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society.[2] Pickering specializes in the familiar essay, children's literature, nature writers, and 18th and 19th century English literature.[3] In addition to teaching, he has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles.
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Early life
Samuel Pickering was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, where he attended Montgomery Bell Academy. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) from the University of the South and a second B.A. from St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He briefly returned to his alma mater, Montgomery Bell, to teach, a year before attending graduate school, receiving a Master of Arts degree (M.A.) at St Catharine. He attained a second M.A. and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) from Princeton University. In addition, he has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Oglethorpe University.
Career
One of Pickering's students at Montgomery Bell Academy, Tom Schulman, later wrote the script for the film Dead Poets Society, basing the pedagogy of Robin Williams' character very loosely on Pickering's eccentric style. Pickering has eschewed publicity raised by the film and has since regarded the unorthodoxy of his classroom behavior as more goalless than that depicted in Dead Poets Society, in which unorthodoxy is employed deliberately as a way to preach the values of non-conformity and carpe diem. Instead, Pickering has commented that "I did such things not so much to awaken students as to entertain myself."[4] Pickering has often considered his teaching style purely purposeless and impulsive, and he criticizes those who have subsequently asked him about his philosophy on education, responding that people, regarding such large social questions, have trouble with "the realization that mostly it's all meaningless. I don't know why people want answers."[4]
Pickering was an assistant professor at Dartmouth College from 1970–1978, associate professor at the University of Connecticut from 1978-1984, and has been a professor at the University of Connecticut since 1984. A Fulbright recipient, Pickering has lectured in classrooms in Jordan and Syria, and has held research posts at the University of Western Australia as well as the University of Edinburgh.
“ | I tie all kinds of things together because I like to drift. That’s the way life is. Some folks don’t like that. Often, I just write about—I mean, Scott Sanders came here—he’s a nice man—he gave a talk on one of his books. He talked about all the tools he could use in the books. So, I wrote an essay called “Tool Less” because I can’t use any tools. [laughs] So I wrote about that and I proved that the people who couldn’t use tools were more flexible. They were very nice people . People who used tools thought that things could be made and fashioned to last. People who didn’t use tools knew that nothing lasts so they were not zealots of any kind. He thought I was a complete savage and a fascist at that. [laughs] So, that was the occasion for that. - Samuel Pickering, Jr.[3] | ” |
Personal life
Pickering is married and has three children. He divides his time between Storrs and his summer home in Nova Scotia.
Bibliography
- The Moral Tradition in English Fiction, 1785-1850. Hanover: Published for Dartmouth College by the University Press of New England. 1976. ISBN 0-87451-109-7.
- John Locke and Children's Books in Eighteenth-Century England. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 1981. ISBN 0-87049-290-X.
- Children’s Literature. Vols. 8-10 (co-editor, 1979-81)
- A Continuing Education. Hanover: Published for the University of Connecticut by University Press of New England. 1985. ISBN 0-87451-353-7.
- The Right Distance. City: Univ of Georgia Pr. 1987. ISBN 0-8203-0906-0.
- May Days. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. 1995. ISBN 0-87745-522-8.
- Still Life. Hanover: University Press of New England. 1990. ISBN 0-87451-515-7.
- Let It Ride. City: Univ of Missouri Pr. 1992. ISBN 0-8262-0869-X.
- Moral Instruction and Fiction for Children, 1749-1820. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1993. ISBN 0-8203-1463-3.
- Trespassing. Hanover: Published by University Press of New England. 1994. ISBN 0-87451-640-4.
- Walkabout Year: Twelve Months in Australia. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. 1995. ISBN 0-8262-1043-0.
- The Blue Caterpillar and Other Essays. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 1997. ISBN 0-8130-1482-4.
- Living to Prowl. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1997. ISBN 0-8203-1940-6.
- Deprived of Unhappiness. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1998. ISBN 0-8214-1234-5.
- A Little Fling and Other Essays. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 1999. ISBN 1-57233-062-7.
- The Last Book. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 2001. ISBN 1-57233-147-X.
- Waltzing the Magpies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 2004. ISBN 0-472-11377-1.
- The Best of Pickering. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0-472-11378-1.
- Letters to a Teacher. New York: Grove Press. 2005. ISBN 0-8021-4227-3.
- Indian Summer. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. 2005. ISBN 0-8262-1596-3.
- Edinburgh Days: or, Doing What I Want to Do. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. 2007. ISBN 9781570036910.
- Autumn Spring. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 2007. ISBN 9781572335967.
- A Comfortable Boy: A Memoir. Macon: Mercer University Press. 2010. ISBN 9780881461824.
- A Tramp's Wallet. Macon: Mercer University Press. 2011. ISBN 9780881462357.
- Journeys. Huntsville: Texas Review Press. 2011. ISBN 9781933896496.
- Dreamtime: A Happy Book. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. 2011. ISBN 9781611170382.
See also
References
- ^ Janie Franz. "A Visit with Pickering". Critique Magazine. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
- ^ Bill Henderson (January 12, 1992). "Robin Williams and Then Some". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
- ^ a b Janie Franz. "On Writing". Critique Magazine. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
- ^ a b "Project MUSE - Interview with Sam Pickering". Muse.jhu.edu. doi:10.1353/fge.2003.0026. Retrieved 2012-09-17.