GUEST COLUMN: Why Governor Tim Walz reminds me of a beloved rural Iowa teacher

Gov. Tim Walz (pictured left) and Carroll High School teacher James Knott at two phases of his life.

By JACQUI CLARY
Special To The Iowa Mercury

Watching a former teacher, Governor Tim Walz, speaking in front of cheering crowds this week got me a little nostalgic for my high school days in rural Carroll, Iowa and reminded me of my favorite teacher Mr. Knott. Never Jim and God forbid Jimmy —always Mr. Knott.

Do teachers make good politicians? Would Mr. Knott, a late Carroll High School teacher, have made a good politician? He’d have my vote.

Governor Walz has a certain charisma and so did Mr. Knott. Gov. Walz smiles a caring smile and you just know he knows what he’s talking about and he wants you to know, too.

He’s teaching and guiding us.

Mr. Knott’s smile was different, but he knew what he was talking about, too.

When I saw Gov. Walz bound onto the stage bringing his energy, enthusiasm and charisma, it reminded me of Mr. Knott drawing his student’s attention to him as he stirred up enthusiasm in our classroom and in our minds.

Mr. Knott used the classroom as his stage with his arms waving books in the air while his voice was just below a shout. He kept our attention with occasional pauses to interject “use your heads.” He’d urge us to listen to him not only with his words, but his excitement, his passion. When he saw we’d finally gotten his point, he would fake exhaustion. And with a southern dialect or an Irish brogue and with just the right amount of sarcasm exclaim “a room full of geniuses.”

We got it. He was proud of us.

We would mentally pat ourselves on our backs knowing we’d passed his test. He knew what he was talking about, and now we did, too. It was hard work and hard work is good work.

Just like Tim Walz Mr. Knott was a military veteran. Mr. Knott told us he’d been stationed in Alaska and how we didn’t know cold until you’ve spent a winter in Alaska. Not only was it cold, it was desolate, deserted and spooky. It was, to hear him say it, the end of the world. He said that he and other airmen would see strange lights in the sky. Were there possible UFO’s above their base invading their radar? Were there really little green men somewhere out there? He had our full attention and trust. We were curious. We wanted more. That was the beginning of a class. We listened and learned.

He lectured us on how to read between the lines and follow the truth. Critical thinking. Oh, and he never suffered fools gladly. Reminiscent of the Greek storyteller, Aesop, were his stories on politics, social issues and religion. To navigate and discern fact from fiction. To discover the truth with conviction.

Mr. Knott discussed religion, too. The importance of having faith and establishing a belief system. Something to comfort us in our dark moments.

It was a turbulent time then in the late 1960s. It’s a turbulent time now.

We had wars, riots, equal rights issues, too. These were hot topics for teenagers who were staring adulthood in the face with uncertainty about their futures and the future of their country. The best teachers can help coach students on how to navigate their restless world.

If we are lucky, morals, ethics and life lessons are instilled by our parents. If we are even luckier we have teachers who practice them.

Thank you, former teacher Governor Tim Walz, for my journey down memory lane and thank you Mr. Knott. You would have liked each other.

(Jacqui Clary, who lives in metro Denver, Colorado, is a native of Lake City, Iowa (“a town with everything but a lake”). Clary grew up in Lake City and Carroll, Iowa. She is a 1967 graduate of Carroll (Iowa) High School. Clary earned a degree is journalism and taught writing at Metropolitan University.)

(Douglas Burns, a fourth-generation Iowa journalist from Carroll, is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Read dozens of the most talented writers in Iowa in just one place. The Iowa Writers' Collaborative spans the full state. It’s one of the biggest things going in Iowa journalism and writing now — and you don’t want to miss. This collaborative is — as the outstanding Quad Cities journalist Ed Tibbetts says — YOUR SUNDAY IOWA newspaper. )