The question was burning on the tip of my tongue: “Ms. Benson, would you say that your experience teaching here was a catalyst to the writing of your novel?” Her would-be response: “My experience, Chris, was something that words could never express.” And our class would burst into laughter – gut-bursting, tear-jerking laughter. Last Thursday Kate Benson, an English Teaching Fellow for the 2004-2005 school year, hosted a book reading of her new novel, Two Harbors at the Andover Bookstore. I could not muster up the courage to ask the question, an inside joke amongst her third period English 200 students, in front of the crowded Bookstore. However, it was a class reunion of sorts. Most of my old class made the trek downtown, despite the cold. After all, how often is it that your former English teacher releases a novel of her own? Two Harbors has already received critical acclaim. Joyce Carol Oates called Benson “a natural storyteller” while Edmund White called her story the “purest first novel of the year.” The story follows a small-town girl’s quest to delve into her past and find her mother, who abandoned her for Hollywood. Romance, heartbreak, betrayal, redemption – it is a novel with all of the signs of greatness. Celebrity status changes the way you look at your teachers. The voice that had once assigned thesis due dates was now one that people would drive miles to hear read. In fact, it is now a voice anyone can pick up and read at any bookstore across the country. Ms. Benson picked three of her favorite segments in the novel, giving a taste of the engaging relationships in her story. It was not surprising that the bookstore sold out of Harbors immediately afterwards. While Ms. Benson now teaches at St. Marks, she is still remembered very fondly on campus. Brooks Canaday ’07 recounted, “If I was ever having a bad day, English was something I looked forward too – Ms. Benson was a huge part of that. I’m not just saying this, I totally mean it.” In addition to teaching English, she served as the house counselor of Bancroft Hall. Said Carolyn Williams ’06, a boarder in Bancroft last year,
