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political rally in Lewisporte over twenty-five years
     later—I was quickly told from the floor that he was in the audience.
    The school system in Toronto went to grade thirteen. In Newfoundland it went to
     grade eleven. So there were many courses that I took in Toronto that did not
     qualify for high school graduation (junior matriculation) in Newfoundland.
     Hence, I was back in school in the fall. That year spun by and I tried hard to
     concentrate and pursue my studies, which were made more enjoyable by our main
     teacher, Mr. Paddock.
    One of the courses, taught by another teacher, was Algebra. During these years
     mathematics was split among the three components of Algebra, Trigonometry, and
     Geometry. The class was having great difficulty understanding this subject and
     following the teacher’s lessons. At Christmas, I think only three out of
     forty-two passed the exam. After the break at Christmas, a number of students
     approached the teacher and explained the dilemma, which of course should have
     been clear to him, yet he seemed oblivious to our plight and was just soldiering
     on as if all was well with the Algebra world. Things still did not improve, and
     given that he was also the principal of the school, there was little else we
     thought we could do. Luckily for me, my parents had just completed a room
     “upstairs” in our one-storey house. This became my place for study, and I would
     spend hours there pouring over the Algebra book trying to understand the
     material. Istill remember the names of the authors written on
     the cover of that infamous book—Hall and Knight—and they were not my favourite
     people. Sometime during that period from January to June, I figured it out and
     understood enough to pass the province-wide exams. I passed the other subjects
     and now had to decide—where do I go from here?
    I remember that my father had mentioned university, and Mr. Paddock had also
     mentioned it. There were not many from my class interested, and I didn’t know
     how interested I really was. The thing was, I really was not mechanical at all,
     and just getting involved in the jobs like I had in the summertime would be
     low-paying and uninteresting as careers. And I still remembered Mr. Paddock’s
     question—what are you going to do with the rest of your life? And of course I
     had heard that a brand new campus was about to open and that there was money
     available if you were studying to be a teacher.
    Well, I applied and was accepted. Off to St. John’s and a boarding house.
    Mr. Paddock passed away a few years ago. When his family informed me of this, I
     wrote his son the following:
    Thank you for calling me and informing me of the passing of your father. I
     was unaware of his illness and, of course, like you, the news came as a
     shock.
    I feel obligated to write this note to you because your father was a very
     special person in my life.
    In everyone’s life there are many people who influence you. And in my case
     that is also true. But two people tower over the rest. One is my father and
     the other is your father.
    Your father taught me in high school in Lewisporte in the early sixties. He
     instilled in us the necessity to think and to think logically and more
     importantly to think critically—and to assemble the facts before forming an
     opinion. These lessons were the most important I have ever learned and were
     and are of immeasurable value to me. There wasanother great
     idea that I learned from him that has guided almost everything I do and that
     is fairness. I saw this in how he treated others and in how he taught. It
     was wonderful to behold. In one subtle move on his part when I was in
     grade 11 (I told him about this later and he said he didn’t remember—I doubt
     that) he changed the course of my life, forcing me to reflect on who I was
     and what, if anything, I should be doing with my life.
    You may know that I had cause to call on him when I was premier.