Ken E

I appreciate the note on Miss McMurphy. I too would have said that her first name was 'Miss' - although when I quoted her (frequently) in later life, I thought her name was 'Eleanor!' Doris sounds fine.

I do not recall her as having an impact on me in literature. It was in grammar and composition where she made her lasting mark on me. I still remember back in Grade 9 when I got a 53!!! in a test in grammar (Bonnie R that was got 85!) This was quite an epiphany for me as I realized that 1) I was not quite as smart as I thought I was and 2) I was not going to be able to learn everything in class, and would have to study.

I have never been a teacher, but I have had numerous interns who I have terrorized about the quality of their writing, citing various dicta of Miss McMurphy: "Due to" is a subjective completion; maintain the parallel structure of the sentence, etc.

I also recall that it was to her that somebody once ran for protection in Grade 11 when John C Forester-Greaves was on the warpath...