![Samuel Pickering and his wife Victoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Samuel_Pickering_and_his_wife_Victoria.jpg)
Samuel F. "Sam" Pickering Jr. (born September 30, 1941) is a
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
and
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
emeritus of English at the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
in
Storrs.
His unconventional teaching style was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Keating, played by
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
in the film ''
Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English ...
''.
Pickering specializes in the
familiar essay,
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
,
nature writers, and 18th and 19th century
English literature.
Pickering has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles.
Life
Samuel Pickering was born and raised in
Nashville,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, where he attended
Montgomery Bell Academy
Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861&nb ...
. He received his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree (B.A.) from the
University of the South
The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...
and a second B.A. from
St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He briefly returned to his
alma mater, Montgomery Bell, to teach, a year before attending graduate school, receiving a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
degree (M.A.) at St Catharine's. He attained a second M.A. and a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
degree (Ph.D.) from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. In addition, he was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...
degree from
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia.
History
Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...
in 2002.
Career
One of Pickering's students at Montgomery Bell Academy,
Tom Schulman
Thomas H. Schulman (born October 20, 1951) is an American screenwriter best known for his semi-autobiographical screenplay ''Dead Poets Society'' based on his time at the Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA), a college-preparatory day school located i ...
, later wrote the script for the film ''
Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English ...
'', basing the
pedagogy
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
of
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
' character very loosely on Pickering's eccentric style. Pickering has eschewed publicity raised by the film and has since regarded the unorthodoxy of his classroom behavior as more goalless than that depicted in ''Dead Poets Society'', in which unorthodoxy is employed deliberately as a way to preach the values of non-conformity and ''
carpe diem''. Instead, Pickering has commented that "I did such things not so much to awaken students as to entertain myself."
Pickering has often considered his teaching style purely purposeless and impulsive, and he criticizes those who have subsequently asked him about his
philosophy on education, responding that people, regarding such large social questions, have trouble with "the realization that mostly it's all meaningless. I don't know why people want answers."
Pickering's writing has been characterized as equally sporadic, meandering, and amusing, with a common teaching and writing guideline of "You have to lie to give the illusion of the truth."
His non-fiction work typically takes a humorous tone and revolves around the everyday absurdities and pretensions of civilization.
Regarding his writing process, Pickering has said:
Pickering was an assistant professor at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
from 1970–1978, associate professor at the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
from 1978-1984, and has been a professor at the University of Connecticut since 1984. A
Fulbright recipient, Pickering has lectured in classrooms in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Syria, and has held research posts at the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...
as well as the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. Since the end of 2013, Pickering has been titled "
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
" on the University of Connecticut's website.
Bibliography
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* Children’s Literature. Vols. 8-10 (co-editor, 1979–81)
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See also
* ''
Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English ...
''
*
Inspirational/motivational instructors/mentors portrayed in films
* 2002, Honorary degree in Doctor of Letters from
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia.
History
Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...
References
External links
Pickering's resuméPickering's Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickering, Samuel F. Jr.
Pickering, Samuel F Jr
Pickering, Samuel F Jr
Princeton University alumni
People from Nashville, Tennessee
University of Connecticut faculty
1941 births
Pickering, Samuel F Jr
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Sewanee: The University of the South alumni
Fulbright alumni