A Talk with Expert Shakespeare Instructor John Lin
by Matthew, Meredith Public Library Adult Services Librarian
Anna Greenwood (former Library Aide here in Meredith and now Youth Services Librarian at the Minot-Sleeper library in Bristol) and I spent a fun and informative afternoon interviewing John Lin about his background, teaching career, extensive Shakespearean studies, and the joy of learning he shares with the attendees in the Shakespeare group that he leads at the Meredith Public Library. When you read this article and hear about John's enthusiasm for the subject, you'll discover why he is such a great instructor.
John revealed an interesting paradox at the beginning of our interview. In his words, "I was a terrible English student in high school and I tell my high school English students that all the time to motivate them and inspire them to recognize at one stage of one's life, you might not be interested in something, but later on, a lot can change."
That was certainly true in John's case. After flirting with both pre-med and philosophy as college majors, he eventually found an appreciation of literature and earned an undergraduate degree in English which lead to teaching in a private school in Connecticut. During summers there, he earned a master's degree in English.
Through a professor in that master's program, John was introduced to a program at Oxford University in England where he got to spend an additional three years studying Shakespeare full time. The program was located a mere 40 minutes away from Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, which is also home the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. John would go there to attend plays. After the shows, he would visit the Dirty Duck Pub and interact with the actors (often still in costume) he'd just seen on stage.
Life brought John back to teaching in various schools in New Hampshire. He recently retired after teaching for 14 years at the private Holderness School. Anna asked John to what extent he taught Shakespeare to students throughout his teaching career. John responded, "There was a time earlier in my teaching career where Shakespeare and British writers in general featured more largely in the curriculum." He then explained that the focus shifted towards more contemporary American texts that were both shorter and less challenging than the Bard.
Our discussion turned towards the Shakespeare group at the library. John said, "It's been one of the joys of my retirement!" He explained further that it was also completely unplanned. When he originally proposed the idea of a Shakespeare class at the library several years ago, John thought they would just tackle one or two plays, starting with Hamlet. Over twenty people showed up that first day. The group has been so successful that they have declared a goal to go through the entire Shakespearean repertoire. They are well on their way to succeeding. Members of the group are so enthusiastic that John led several of them on a trip to England so they could see the plays performed in the same area they first debuted hundreds of years ago.
What is a typical session at the library like? The group covers one act per week so each play takes five weeks. John explains, "We sometimes watch several versions of the same scene. We do a lot of reading out loud so we want to get the words and the texts in our bodies. We want to feel how these words sound saying them to somebody else." The sessions run on Wednesdays from 1 PM to 2:30 PM. No background in Shakespeare is necessary. The current play is always available at the desk for $5.
Anna asked John for his opinion on which Shakespeare play is most underrated. John instantly replied, "Pericles." He explained further, "It is a strange play which can be divided into two parts and in which the events take place over a broad geographical area in the Mediterranean over the course of dozens of years. Magical things happen. The plot is absurd; it defies every logical sequence of events and yet, you believe it. You will shed a tear if you watch this play." John also told us that Pericles is one of several Shakespearean plays which creates authorship controversy in academic circles.
We discussed CliffsNotes (a mainstay to anyone who has studied classics in high school and college) and websites such as No Fear Shakespeare which provides the plays re-written in modern American English along with annotations. John said that many members of the group here in the library take advantage of these resources to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of the plays. John also praised group member Rudy VanVeghten who has been attending the sessions for years. "Rudy is a font of information...He will publish to the group at any given time background, history, genealogy, references…it's really helpful."
The three of us talked about why interest in Shakespeare has endured for so many centuries and how the plays speak to us today. I said, "It's really the universality and timeliness of all these [plays] and that's why they endure." Anna commented, "A lot of my favorite rom-coms from when I was a teenager are Shakespeare adaptations which I didn't realize until I was older." John agreed with both points saying, "Absolutely...The themes, whether they're of jealousy, of courtship, of family relationships - they are universal."
To hear the complete audio interview (including Shakespearean controversies, favorite quotes, iambic pentameter, and Matthew's infamous sonnet as well as many more details of John's stories than we have room for in this article), please visit the library website at www.MeredithLibrary.org and look for Episode #31 (Part 1) and Episode #32 (Part 2) of the Check It Out library podcast. From the library homepage, follow this path: click on News & Events…Meredith Library Podcast Studio…Check It Out. You can also ask at the circulation desk and we can show you several ways to find the podcast.