Editors, Vineyard Gazette;

How sad to see the passing of this wonderful man! Back in the 80’s, as a relatively new teacher at MVRHS, my colleague Greg Joannidi and I decided to call up David McCullough and ask him to come into our U.S. history classes to talk about the Panama Canal, a topic that we were currently teaching. David graciously agreed to spend a day in our classes. In those days, we had 45-minute classes so we combined those that met at the same time but others were stand- alones. David taught the entire day. At the end of the day, he was exhausted and said that this experience re-enforced his commitment to teachers.

What a storyteller he was, even using the chalkboard to draw diagrams of the canal.

Another time, we were on one of our Closeup DC trips where we took about a dozen students to learn about U.S. government “up-close” by spending a week in Washington, D.C. saturated in the learning.

As a few of the students and I were cutting through Lafayette Park, there was David McCullough giving an interview to a CNN reporter. When he spotted me, he called me over, paused the interview, and introduced me as “one of his favorite teachers on Martha’s Vineyard.” Then he took time to meet the students individually because he wanted to be sure that he greeted his neighbors from the Vineyard.

What nice memories of a man who never forgot the Vineyard. I am so very glad that I knew both he and Rosalee.

When Rosalee died, I couldn’t imagine how David would ever live without her and so he has now joined her. Best to you, David, and thank you for never forgetting your neighbors.

Margaret Harris

Oak Bluffs