Comments on: Eggers & Calegari: Easy Does It

By: Christy Conroy-Lucio

Christy Conroy-Lucio — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:05:11 +0000

My daughter is a middle school teacher in the East Bay and I couldn’t be prouder of her. But I do worry–I am a Public Defender and I believe her job is just as hard and more dangerous than mine. This semester she received death threats from a former student and the district didn’t really back her up. But, I digress…the real reason for my comment is this: I often tune into your show, Josh, halfway through and then I really enjoy it, but sometimes I can’t figure out exactly the book, show, movie, etc…you are talking about. It would be a great help for you to do a recap at the end–showcasing the book, show–whatever. Today I watched the fabulous interview with Cousteau’s son, however, b/c I tuned in a little late I had to go on line to figure out when the show was going to be on. I don’t always have time for this, so PLEASE can you just recap at the end for busy people like me??? Thanks,
If I had more time I’d volunteer to be your intern–what a blast!

By: Josh Kornbluth

Josh Kornbluth — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 09:01:52 +0000

Hey, Daniel: I’m so glad you liked the show! And yes, 826 Valencia is amazing (as is A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books — we need to keep supporting our great independent bookstores)! …

Janet: I really hope you do become a high school English teacher. Perhaps money does make the world go round, but your kind of passion to teach is what brings students around. …

Julie: I didn’t know you came from a public-school-teaching family, too! Cool. … As for your guest suggestions: Leo LaPorte seems really cool; I’ll learn more about him. And as for Michael Sullivan of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, as well as fellow Troupers Ed Holmes and Amos Glick: well, as you know, I couldn’t be a bigger fan of all of them. I would love to have them on the show someday! …

Lisa: Thanks for underscoring how wonderful 826 Valencia is — and their need for volunteers! …

And Vallerie: Thank you so much for the important work you do! I hope that one day soon you and your colleagues will be paid like CEO’s — and that CEO’s will have to buy their own white paper.

By: Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 08:25:11 +0000

Great show. I did not learn of 826 Valencia until two weeks ago when the sales clerk at Clean Well Lighted Place for Books told me about it. I drove straight there and what a wonderful place.

I purchased a collection of essays and I hope my two young sons will take some workshops there. Help get the word out–tell your friends about 826 Valencia!

By: janet anderson

janet anderson — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:12:28 +0000

There is another side to the sword of education.
I would give anything to be a high school english teacher. I wake up pondering ways to bring books to life, coming up with lessons plans. Unfortunately, I make less than the average teacher in the silicon valley (and yes, i have a “white collar” corporate job) and can’t afford the further education to follow my heart’s desire.
So until a financial miracle happens (or i receive grant/scholarship leads-no loans, payback means food funds!)…i will continue to dream and maybe one day the tree in the backyard will grow money so i can remain poor, but happy, for the remainder of my days.
Does this mean that money really does make the world go round? and can one buy happiness? hmmm….

By: Julie Bernstein

Julie Bernstein — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 06:26:11 +0000

Hear hear, Josh. My mother has been a middle school teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools for over 20 years. Like your late father, her students love her, but times for most teachers, as well as their students, are tough. My mother once told me that when she was growing up in the fifties, it was a mark of pride to say that your mother was a teacher. Sigh…

On a totally different topic, I have a couple of suggestions for guests for your show:

Leo Laporte. He is a local tech expert who hosts an extremely popular podcast, This Week in Tech. He loves doing television also - hosts Call for Help out of Canada - and has an excellent voice, great sense of humor, and is very understandable to non-techies.

Michael Sullivan from the Mime Troupe. You know him of course, and he has a new show coming out. Actually anyone from the Mime Troupe would be great; maybe you could get Ed and Amos to do a Cheney and Bush schtick.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 04:51:31 +0000

Working as a volunteer at 826 Valencia and having
attended the adult seminars (including the one where,
you Josh, were on the panel), I would like you to present
more of what 826 Valencia does for the community.
The special events they have and what wonderful work
they do. I know of no other organization that works so
closely with the schools. Dave mentioned no one came
to the tutoring originally…but he did not mention that now,
on week days, you can’t even move around because
there are so many students seeking help.
Tutors are much needed during school hours, after school,
and even in the evenings when workshops are given.
You know all this, and that most of what is done is with a
small, intensely working Staff and many Volunteers.
Volunteers…they can never have enough of them.
And as they said, the teachers need all the help they can
get…they are a phone call away.
So please have them on again to talk about their miraculous
program and all the wonderful books that they publish
which are written by the children.
Thanks again…and I enjoy watching your program very much.

By: Vallerie Hunt

Vallerie Hunt — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:54:48 +0000

When your paycheck is less than it was from the year before (due to increase health care costs) and you have to purchase your own white paper for math projects, and you have 33, two to three page writing papers to correct, I wonder, “Why, Why am I doing this?” The only reason that the powers that be can get away with the conditions and salaries of teachers is that these teachers are mostly women.