Gordon T. Allred 1932 with a | quest for 0 vat deal of ‘ > has been |} & 2ducation. & r career in |e _ where he 8 Je b by by pr. Dean T. Hughes is presently an author and part-time visiting professor at Brigham Young University. He taught at University principal, > honor of H. Taylor Iso served ation and ah House zht years, ‘of Washington and Central Missouri State, or College | -*where he received the “Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award.” Iniversity Since 1979 he has published six books: _ © € ab but ¢ it en a Under the Same Stars As Wide as the River Romance and Psychological Realism in William Godwin’s wi Novel Vv Nutty for President aoe A Hooper Haller eason, ting ~ ‘ | an ee eS : Honestly, Myron four more are set to come off the press before the end of next year. Photo by Jeannie Young Many students have been influenced by Dr. Gordon T. Allred, not the least of whom are three of his eight children, | to r, Kathy, Tony and Amy, currently his students at WSC. He has been on the English department faculty since 1963, | BA. Weber State College and has devoted much of his spare time to free-lance writing. He has published numerous magazine articles and books, several short stories, poetry, and was co-author of a ntionally syndicated medical column for 12 years. He received the Presidential Distinguished Professor Award at WSC in 1981; second prize in 1980-81 Cortez Honors competition; first place in the Utah Fine Arts Creative Writing Contest for a novel titled Starfire; and the Sigma Delta Chi MA. University of Washington ~) | Ph.D. University of Washington € minds | Post-Doctoral - Stanford, 1975 eve, but |) Bo and Yale, 1978 e Award for the book Kamikaze. SS 3 to SL e. te by EE SS by Dean 5, if made T. Hughes Gordon Allred is the man who once wrote: “.. . me roadihbut I’m pretty sure he has repented, or even if he hasn’t, I have forgiven him. And I like him get anyway. Actually, I shouldn’t open with a “cheap shot” . in like that. Gordon and I are very good friends. I was first his student, then his assistant, and then the with his friend. And now our families are friends. For that reason it’s not easy to “divide up” his influence on me. The fraternal refuses to slide loose from the pedagogical. But then, that says ara. At e ere love veral | ; into understanding. What ; ) painstaking way he read my writing. He certainly made me feel that I was worth the work, but he challenged every word I wrote. He made me think about what I was doing: from making sentences to controlling emotional impact. own Later I worked for him as a reader. I felt - Stevens responsible to read student papers as carefully as I : as fone knew he always did. Apparently, however, I lacked "| “found myself modeling on Gordon's approach.” my teacher; I was his student assistant; we were I recently turned to full-time writing, but before that I taught at a university for eight years. Certainly a person’s style of teaching is largely his or her own, and yet I found myself modeling on Gordon’s approach. I tried to be approachable, not distant, and not to be stingy with my time. I also improve his methods. I have taken classes from professors with more slickness of style, but never I do remember is the some of his tact. One day one of his students sly, but |) barged into his office and began to wave lethal knuckles in the air, threatening to Karate poor Gordon into the next world. Later that day Gordon I spent a full afternoon with Gordon Allred. I only remember a few of the things he said, but I have retained a clear sense of the significance of the conversation. I remember an intelligent man who ‘knew what the questions were.’’ He had found his way of dealing with those questions and was willing to describe his own process to me. He was friendship -- from the first day of class. I came to Weber State with a fairly solid | re explained to me that one needed to watch one’s words when one commented on one’s students’ writing. It was a good lesson to learn -- and what better way to learn it than at Gordon’s expense? remembered Gordon’s constant pursuit of a “‘better way.” He is a systematic teacher, always trying to grounding in creative writing. It would be hard to say now what particulars Gordon added to my assed his Le SEAS something about the kind of professor he is. One back | fels the sense of his personal interest -- his a ES oe 2° grinned grimly into the gathering gloom. . oe eir life or OR from a better teacher. When I try to name the most influential professors I had at Weber State, four names come to mind: Larry Evans, Jennings Olson, Robert Mikkelson and Gordon Allred. They are certainly different sorts, but what they share is a fascination with truth. They start with differing the realities that don’t “‘fit’’ their systems. If there is one thing I have tried to do with my writing, even with novels that touch on religion, it is to face realities without resorting to simplistic or maudlin conclusions. A long time ago, at a time when I was in turmoil, trying to discover what made sense to me, friends. In which of those capacities did he give me his time that day? It doesn’t really matter, does it? everyone who knows him improved by experience I think the measure of a quality teacher is the same as for a quality human being. We talk about teaching as though it were a bag of tricks, a style, or a system. To some degree it is. But what we learn from someone is inevitably mixed with the nature of that person. Honestly, I cannot imagine anyone getting to know Gordon Allred fairly well -as most of his students do -- and not being somewhat improved by the experience. His essential goodness is inseparable from the act of his teaching. I thought of starting this whole thing by saying that I knew Gordon clear back when he had hair. But I decided I wouldn’t. Jokes about baldness are really less and less funny to me all the time. What I’m hoping now is that I won’t continue to follow Gordon’s example in all ways -- some roads a man has to walk alone. He can have that one. I’ve gone far enough along it already. Page 3