Today is December 15. It's my father's birthday, may he rest in peace. My classes at Hunter College are over. I returned to Hunter to finish the BA degree I left undone over 30 years ago. My father urged me throughout his life to finish my degree, and at times, I said I would do it eventually, and at times, I felt it wasn't necessary. Now I'm doing it.
I am working on the final paper for English class, an analysis of Shakespeare's Othello.
For the first time in my life, I just might earn an A grade in English. It was always hard for me to do well in English class. I feel my maturity has helped, though it's still not easy.
My father had a great love for literature and constantly urged me to read more. I have difficulty reading, especially certain kinds of material. It's a focus problem and probably a problem with processing certain kinds of information. At the end of his life, he worked as a volunteer teacher for Literacy Partners. He loved teaching adults to read, and he brought the love of literature to them. He loved his students, and they loved him. When his failing health prevented him from teaching anymore, he kept in touch with his former students.
I found a resolution from the NY State Senate about my father. I'd love to tell him about my current experience. I know he would be very happy.
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LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Harry Reingold upon the occasion of
Literacy Partners' naming of its annual Volunteer Teacher's Award the
Harry Reingold Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor
WHEREAS, Individuals who distinguish themselves in their profession and
in service to others merit the highest commendation; and
WHEREAS, Harry Reingold truly merits the high honor of Literacy Partners' naming of its annual Volunteer Teacher's Award the Harry Reingold
Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor; and
WHEREAS, The second Harry Reingold Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award
will be presented at the Second Annual Reingold Volunteer Fund Benefit
to be held at TAI on Thursday, June 20, 2013; and
WHEREAS, Harry Reingold was a real New Yorker; he was born and brought
up in Brooklyn; he attended and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High
School; and
WHEREAS, He worked his way through college as a cab driver, a chauffeur for the United Nations, and a post office clerk; and
WHEREAS, He graduated from New York University and went into advertising and started his own agency, Harry Reingold Advertising; and
WHEREAS, Harry was crazy about books and, from the time he learned to
read never went anywhere without a book; riding a bus or subway without
something to read was just not possible for him and, as a teenager, when
he was home with a fever, his mother told him to stay in bed, but when
she left the house he snuck out to the corner store where he had just
enough money to buy a second-hand paperback; and
WHEREAS, At a social dinner he met Marilyn Collins, then one of the
heads of Literacy Partners, and when she told Harry about that non-profit organization and its goal to teach some of the two million illiterate New Yorkers to read and write, he immediately decided to become a
volunteer; and
WHEREAS, He enrolled in a course at Literacy Partners, which has
provided more than 30,000 adults with free educational services and,
after a short time, he was sent to teach in Harlem; once a week, he
would leave his office and rush uptown where he taught and learned to
care about his pupils; forming more than just a teacher-student
relationship, Harry and the people in his classes, all adults, became
friends; and
WHEREAS, They shared stories about their lives, their problems, and
their hopes for the future; growing up in East New York, as he had, they
were able to make comparisons and had much in common; and
WHEREAS, Harry Reingold was a Literacy Partners volunteer teacher for
six years and only stopped teaching when his health would not allow him
to continue; his students never forgot him, and kept in touch with cards
and photos; and
WHEREAS, Harry loved to read, and to write; a number of his articles
appeared in the magazine AD AGE, and he co-authored the published novel
LOVERS with his wife, the writer Carmel Berman Reingold; and
WHEREAS, Literacy Partners has justly and fittingly honored Harry
Reingold by naming its annual Volunteer Teacher Award the Harry Reingold
Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor the work of and the dedication of Harry Reingold upon the occasion
of Literacy Partners' naming of its annual Volunteer Teacher's Award the
Harry Reingold Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Carmel Reingold and to Literacy Partners.
Literacy Partners' naming of its annual Volunteer Teacher's Award the
Harry Reingold Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor
WHEREAS, Individuals who distinguish themselves in their profession and
in service to others merit the highest commendation; and
WHEREAS, Harry Reingold truly merits the high honor of Literacy Partners' naming of its annual Volunteer Teacher's Award the Harry Reingold
Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor; and
WHEREAS, The second Harry Reingold Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award
will be presented at the Second Annual Reingold Volunteer Fund Benefit
to be held at TAI on Thursday, June 20, 2013; and
WHEREAS, Harry Reingold was a real New Yorker; he was born and brought
up in Brooklyn; he attended and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High
School; and
WHEREAS, He worked his way through college as a cab driver, a chauffeur for the United Nations, and a post office clerk; and
WHEREAS, He graduated from New York University and went into advertising and started his own agency, Harry Reingold Advertising; and
WHEREAS, Harry was crazy about books and, from the time he learned to
read never went anywhere without a book; riding a bus or subway without
something to read was just not possible for him and, as a teenager, when
he was home with a fever, his mother told him to stay in bed, but when
she left the house he snuck out to the corner store where he had just
enough money to buy a second-hand paperback; and
WHEREAS, At a social dinner he met Marilyn Collins, then one of the
heads of Literacy Partners, and when she told Harry about that non-profit organization and its goal to teach some of the two million illiterate New Yorkers to read and write, he immediately decided to become a
volunteer; and
WHEREAS, He enrolled in a course at Literacy Partners, which has
provided more than 30,000 adults with free educational services and,
after a short time, he was sent to teach in Harlem; once a week, he
would leave his office and rush uptown where he taught and learned to
care about his pupils; forming more than just a teacher-student
relationship, Harry and the people in his classes, all adults, became
friends; and
WHEREAS, They shared stories about their lives, their problems, and
their hopes for the future; growing up in East New York, as he had, they
were able to make comparisons and had much in common; and
WHEREAS, Harry Reingold was a Literacy Partners volunteer teacher for
six years and only stopped teaching when his health would not allow him
to continue; his students never forgot him, and kept in touch with cards
and photos; and
WHEREAS, Harry loved to read, and to write; a number of his articles
appeared in the magazine AD AGE, and he co-authored the published novel
LOVERS with his wife, the writer Carmel Berman Reingold; and
WHEREAS, Literacy Partners has justly and fittingly honored Harry
Reingold by naming its annual Volunteer Teacher Award the Harry Reingold
Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor the work of and the dedication of Harry Reingold upon the occasion
of Literacy Partners' naming of its annual Volunteer Teacher's Award the
Harry Reingold Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award in his honor; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Carmel Reingold and to Literacy Partners.
