Yes, it's the Bard. He's a haloed figure lost to most of us as a real person. But not to all scholars who love his an have studied him for many, many years. I am taking a class that will discuss Pericles, Coriolanus, Merry Wives of Windsor, in the next month. No matter what play or plays of Shakespeare's we were talking about the professor who teaches the class -- a retired professor who is doing this gratis out of his great love for sharing the Bard's brilliance -- the classes would be a joy. Never heavy but always erudite, full of delight, ready to listen to various views, the teacher is a man doing what he loves most. I wrote recently about Bill Cunningham as a person who is at one with his profession. Cunningham is more "one pointed," as the yoga meditators say, but Steve, the Shakespearean, brings to his classes the meaning of light in the word "delight". Someone who presents documentary films has a soul-deep joy in doing what she does. These people are rare and should be treasured when they are discovered. I sit through the Shakespeare class with a smile on my face and I leave the documentary classes smiling too. Oh, how I wish others had that light in them! Isn't sharing what you know well and love the ultimate reward of a long life well lived?
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