tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14771681.post3360559231514378893..comments2023-05-14T14:02:34.984+01:00Comments on LIGHTBOX: A French TeacherMark Granierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14771681.post-18094042566314127682011-12-27T12:57:48.991+00:002011-12-27T12:57:48.991+00:00Must thank you again Kieran, as, in my magpie fash...Must thank you again Kieran, as, in my magpie fashion, I have now brought into the poem your wonderful recollection of Fruity's views on the Irish approach to asparagus.Mark Granierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14771681.post-51216108440409427512011-12-25T11:52:52.419+00:002011-12-25T11:52:52.419+00:00Thanks for the recollections Kieran, and for confi...Thanks for the recollections Kieran, and for confirming my impression that Fruity was one of the fiercest teachers there. Of course, a good measure of violence and/or sadism was par for the course in those days (as enthusiastically dispensed by our beloved leader, KD, with his pet 'biffers' and ritual humiliations). That said, we probably got off very lightly compared to those at the mercy of the CBs. <br /><br />BTW, I must be that rare exception, a St. Conleth's boy who doest's speak French with a flawless accent, since I never learnt French, or much of anything else, in any class I dozed through.Mark Granierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14771681.post-51724753318644373872011-12-21T22:39:36.167+00:002011-12-21T22:39:36.167+00:00Dear Mark,
many thanks for this posting and for t...Dear Mark,<br /><br />many thanks for this posting and for the powerful poem. <br /><br />I well recall seeing fellow classmates, for the slightest transgression, being flung across the room, punched, or having themselves pulled up out of their seats by the hair of their sideburns. One particular incident of rampant fury will remain burned in my memory until the day I die. <br /><br />Any St. Conleth's boy who was taught French by Fruity speaks it with a flawless accent, though only on account of the fact that he would take your face in his powerful hands and, in a usually painful way, mold your jaw and tongue into the required shape to allow a perfect sound to be formed. <br /><br />I also vividly recall Fruity scoffing at the Irish for their inability to eat artichokes! I remember him laughing at his recollection of some restaurant diners chewing endlessly on the leaves, rather than on the soft flesh at their base. His recounting of this incident was delivered with unashamed contempt at his host country's culinary ignorance. <br /><br />To this day I shiver when thinking of him, and remember him with deep awe and true horror.<br /><br />Kieran Owens, Class of 1974Kiddohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13643897853718144997noreply@blogger.com