JB: I bet. Great story, thank you, Nancy. No one would ever accuse you of being a couch potato. What have you been up to since you retired from teaching? And how has that morphed since COVID-19?
NSP: Since retirement, I've been trying to teach my grandchildren how to whistle, tell stories, listen to stories and catch with a baseball glove. It's as simple as that and yet it feels to me that those things have mythic proportions.
In these recent weeks of COVID-19, I find myself finally understanding my mother's odd behaviors that came out of the Depression. I was always a bit annoyed with her and could never understand all the rubber bands that she saved on doorknobs around the house. Or her collection of glass jars. Or her well stocked pantry of canned goods. Her answer to me over the years and still now at age 96, "Nancy, you never know when it might come in handy." And how right she is. All those worn-out shoelaces and ragged T-Shirts that I hadn't noticed that I had been saving, are coming in handy now as I clumsily try to sew face masks.
During these days with the Skokie Library closed and my beloved Bookmobile not out and about in the neighborhood, I find that I am rereading books that have been forgotten on my bookshelves. At first, it seemed intolerable not having something new and fresh to read. But these old books - it's been like rediscovering lost friends. What an unexpected and luxurious gift to hold Charlotte's Web and Olive Kitteridge in my hands once again.
JB: Despite being a Baby Boomer, I wholeheartedly subscribe to "you never know when it might come in handy." And I love that your mask sewing has validated your mother's frugality; I hope you told her! I'm also suffering terrible withdrawal pangs due to the inaccessibility of our beloved Skokie Public Library. I understand that you morphed your own longing into a story. What can you tell us about that?
NSP: The inspiration for "For the Love of Books" came from my book club. During one of our recent Zoom sessions, we were all bemoaning being shut out from the library. How would we spend these days without access to our supplier of the written word? I looked at their faces lined up in boxes on the Zoom screen; described by our leader, Linda, as our "mug shots." I saw what an adventurous bunch we could be and that under dire circumstances we might not shy away from making mischief of a good kind. And the story popped into my head. It's written as if it really happened but it is a dream escapade and total fiction. But filled with truth.
JB: Here's the story, if any of our readers are interested in checking it out. I'm proud to say that I'm an on again-off again member of the aforementioned book club. And hearing about the story and then reading it was the catalyst for requesting this interview. Do you have anything you'd like to say to teachers who are struggling to do their jobs in this pandemic?
NSP: The only support or encouragement I can offer is that in the midst of this pandemic, there is no doubt that parents have made discoveries about the importance and the challenges of the work of teachers. I hope our society will find concrete ways to show admiration and gratitude for our teachers, now and down the road when children are back in their classrooms.
JB: Amen to that! What haven't we chatted about yet? What would you like to talk about before we wrap this up?
NSP: I've really enjoyed reflecting on your big and little questions about my life. Thank you for listening. And last, a shout-out to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Bonnie Damm, my 7th grade language arts teacher from Birney Jr. High in Southfield, Michigan. I've been looking for her for a long time without success. When I told my 2nd graders about her, they sweetly decided to make Lost Teacher signs to hang up in the park near school, which of course did not help my search. Maybe your article will lead us to Bonnie Damm.
Lost Teacher Sign: ...'She is friently, nice, all wayse smilig. She tot Nesy Shapiro Pikelny. She looked like this in 1965'...
(Image by Nancy Shapiro-Pikelny) Details DMCA
JB: Wouldn't that be something? Thanks so much for talking with me, Nancy. It was a total pleasure. It's easy to see why you were such a hit** at Solomon Schechter Day School for so many years!
Another Lost Teacher sign: 'Reward 20 Dolers. Nancy Shapiro-Piklny wants her. She misses her.'
(Image by Nancy Shapiro-Pikelny) Details DMCA
Yet another Lost Teacher sign: 'Where seen last: Birney Jr. High, 1965. Reward: seeds to plant a rose garden.'
(Image by Nancy Shapiro-Pikelny) Details DMCA
***
*Said son, Noam Pikelny, then a high school freshman, has gone on to become a world-class banjo player.
**My son, Michael, was lucky enough to be one of Nancy's students in the late '90s.
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