Monday, March 24, 2014
I remember Ellen Bay coming to our house to visit, when I was about six or seven years old.
I remember she had scarlet red nail polish on with matching lipstick - never seen before in the Filippo house! I knew she was special, even then.
She was teaching English along with my dad, Sam Filippo. She told me one day she would be my English teacher. Oh, oh!
Cut to the 1970's and Ellen Reinhardt is my English teacher. She is handing out permission slips, necessary to be signed by parents before we could read and discuss the controversial Catcher in the Rye. Ellen didn't hand me one. Said I didn't need permission from my folks. She knew my dad would never object to any literature that was being taught in class.
I wasn't sure what she met at the time. But when I went home and told my dad I didn't receive a permission slip to read this strange book, he laughed. Ellen made my dad laugh out loud! Wow!
That's how special she was.
