Mary Carroll Smith was my teacher at St. Mary’s High School in Lawrence, MA.   The subjects were English and Latin and she had an enormous influence on me.   She nurtured in me a love of reading and a life of scholarship, which I later pursued by completing a doctoral degree and a subsequent career as a university professor.   In addition to serving as a role model for a life of scholarship, she was a nurturing presence during the formative years of my adolescence.   I am forever grateful that she graced my life.