Today was a great day. Earlier this year I invited the historian David Kennedy from Stanford University to come to Alta High for a day. Kennedy is probably the leading authority on the Great Depression and World War II era, He wrote Freedom From Fear which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and he also writes probably the most used AP U.S. History textbook, The American Pageant. So I picked him up at the Alta Club downtown at 6:30 this morning. Pretty swanky place. He told me that "The Stanford Club" got him his lodging there. He did three presentations this morning and then met privately with my ten top students after lunch for a question and answer session. The whole day went really well and I was thrilled with the great questions and comments my kids had. Not bad at all for public school students. They actually stayed after school for an hour to continue the discussion with Professor Kennedy with none of them seeming anxious to leave. It was downright heartwarming for a teacher. We Murphy's decided to celebrate our Irishness this evening by going to MacCools Public House for dinner. Had me some Buffalo Shepherd's pie and a pint of Guinness. Just in case anyone from Ireland reads this and questions whether Buffalo Shepherd's Pie is authentically Irish, just let me say that's what we Americans do - we take other people's stuff and make it better. I know this for a fact because I have tried to find decent Chinese food in Chinatown in San Francisco and found that it paled in comparison to Panda Express. The only thing that would have made the day better would be if I had been able to get a run in.
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