Book seals special bond between teacher, student

Bill Green, 56, of Strawberry Point left teaching in 1996 but knows learning lasts a lifetime.

So, this maintenance man, who has been a custodian, a production worker, an Internet entrepreneur, a video store operator, a grocery store produce man, even a farmer raising 1,000 frying chickens in a year with his family, has added author to his repertoire.

Bill has self-published “Thank you, Mr. Brown, and Merry Christmas,” a 32-page inspirational story between a “special” student and her teacher. It's based on a manuscript he wrote in a weekend seven years ago.

“Actually,” he says, “I was between positions and I was reflecting on my life as a teacher and a student. You never know if you've ever touched anybody's lives.”

But Bill's elementary school teachers in Lamont, where he grew up, touched him.

And he knows in his 15-year teaching career at Britt and West Delaware in Manchester, where he taught remedial math to second through fifth graders, he had an influence.

Today, at the Good Neighbor Home in Manchester, he works side-by-side with some of his former students, now nurses and aides.

“This is a very good job,” says Bill, who one minute drives a resident to kidney dialysis and the next repairs a toilet. “I love it. This is probably the most rewarding position I've ever had.”

Rewarding, Bill says, because everybody appreciates everybody else. Not like in education, where teachers and students can find themselves at odds.

Then again, a teacher and student can magically connect. That's how it is with the fictional Nancy, a fourth grade special education student who narrates the book, and her teacher, Mr. Brown.

“Mr. Brown probably wasn't a stupendous teacher, but he was kind and he cared,” Bill says. “The message to students is, don't ever give up. Do your best.”

The book sells for $14.99 on Amazon.com or on Bill's Web site, www.greenstreetgifts.com, which also features a variety of prints by the book's illustrator, David Prehm, a New Hampton art teacher. They taught together in Britt.

Bill spent $5,000 for 1,000 copies of the book. He's sold more than 500 and hopes to break even with a few more sales.

“There's more to life,” he says, “than making a ton of money.”

Which, of course, now includes reaching readers who often ask if Bill is Mr. Brown, the teacher, or Nancy, the student.

“I'm both. And I'm neither,” Bill grins “Any author leaves something about themselves in their books.”