Richard Doyle, Newburyport native and retired history teacher, is out promoting his new book, “Winston Churchill was a Catholic Priest: Memoirs from Thirty-Seven Years as a Public High School Teacher.”
Doyle, who retired six years ago to southern NH, taught history at Newburyport High School for 37 years. He shares the distinction of being a published author from the history department at NHS with Jean Foley Doyle (no relation, but they were colleagues in the department).
“What other school could ever say that?” he asks.
The memoir is not just a chronicle of “let’s say unusual – answers to questions on tests and quizzes:” he also provides insight into the science of teaching.
“I jotted down notes off and on for 37 years” Doyle says, adding that his book is the modern “Up the Down Staircase,” the 1965 novel by Bel Kaufman. As in the book, which was adapted for a movie, Doyle found that he could touch the lives of his students.
“We needed another, “he says,” because the concept has changed.”
For one thing, his book is not fiction; and for another, things in education have changed a lot since he came on the scene.
Doyle also learned a lot about publishing, which he really liked. “I like behind the scenes.”
Meanwhile he’s doing readings and signings here after doing the same thing in Florida, where he and his wife spend their winters.
He’s still getting humorous entries for a possible second edition. He recently ran into a former student who asked, “Didn’t you used to be Mr. Doyle?”
He says he’s still also waiting to hear from Oprah. And he has sent the book to five different movie studios with a note saying, in part, “Better hurry up because I want Robert Redford to play me.”
Another book is in the works, this time about his mother’s family in Newburyport. And her family name is spelled “E-r-i-c-k-s-o-n,” he stresses. “It’s Swedish – it’s Newburyport.”
Everything is about Newburyport.
