Deborah Nothmann:  

Life I have lived in Israel since 1950, most of the time in Haifa. Now mostly retired. Sometimes I edit or translate articles, books, short stories. When the spirit moves me, or I get really disgusted with the way things are going, I also write letters to the newspapers. Some of them get printed. In fact, my husband discovered that I appear on the Internet; the International Herald Tribune has me listed as the contributor of two letters. Hobbies: play the recorder, walk, watch TV(less and less), work on my husband's family tree (Nothmann), do some sewing, keep up my email correspondence. Go abroad once a year. Offspring: 1 daughter has 1 daughter. The other daughter has 12 kids. My husband is also more or less retired, sometimes called in as a technical adviser. School When looking back on my high school years, I think that those teachers who considered more than marks when contemplating a student, those who had a definite educational philosophy were probably the ones who enjoyed their work the most. And they were the ones who also transmitted their feelings to us. I don't remember all of them by name, but the ones I do are Dr. Ryder who taught biology and Mr. Ball, who tried to get me enthusiastic about modern history, or at least enthusiastic enough to raise my marks and so be sure of getting into college. Dr. Ryder once spent a whole period describing the birthing experience of his pet cat. I found it fascinating, but on the way out of the classroom I heard one girl say, "Is this going to help us pass the Regents exam?" Ryder won my loyalty for life. What's the use of studying biology unless you relate it to the real world? Another memorable faculty member was Mr. Pargot, the English teacher, who tried to get us to think. Likewise Mr. White, the fiery leftist who seemed not to recognize any of his students, but who once saw me on a street corner soliciting contributions to the organization of my choice. He put a dime in my box and, said, "Very good." His interpretation of and commentary on literature was based solely on his socio/political code. I don't remember a single comment on the literary merit or lack of it of any of the books we read that term. But I do remember him saying that he learned elementary physics when living on the lower East Side by calculating the probable trajectory of a ba...Expand for more