In Memoriam: Richard Kinney

Richard Kinney was an English teacher at Taft High School in Lincoln City, Oregon. He was a well-educated man, fond of Shakespeare. A funny, wise man who guided many a dissatisfied student (and who isn't dissatisfied in high school) through their four years. He was an expert at Dante's Inferno, and a true lover of the English language. Mr. Kinney could quote to you from a dozen sources on any topic. And, if things were rough, he'd tell you "don't let the bastards get you down,"...in Latin.

Mr. Kinney was a lover of drama. He could do almost anything, it seemed. He could teach you Elizabethan style dances. He could explain all seven levels of hell. But what set him apart to the students that loved him was his honest concern.

When I heard Mr. Kinney had died, taken his own life, I raged against the news. I had just stopped to visit him two days earlier, missing him by moments and leaving a note in his mailbox at school. His death is an open wound on my soul--how do you let go of your mentor? Mr. Kinney got me through some of the most difficult times of my life, and was one of my strongest supporters. I loved his wit and wisdom, and I will miss him all of my life.

I hold in my hand the very volume of Shakespeare I studied under his tutelage, still containing the bookmark I wove during class--Mr. Kinney was the only one who understood I busied my hands as a means to clear my mind. And from it I quote, my remembrance, the lines I studied and wrote upon for him, the lines that will always remind me of him;