By Jim Raykie
Herald Editor
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I realized early in life, before the right-brain and left-brain theory became popular in the 1960s, that the right portion of my brain dominates my personality.
In basic terms, people governed by the right portion of their brain are creative and visualize the whole, and back into the parts. Left-brainers are analytical, gather all of the parts, and build them into the whole.
Usually artists, musicians and writers are right-brainers, and mathematicians as well as biologists, chemists and other scientists are left-brainers. If I didn’t realize before my days at Farrell High School that I was a right-brainer, I found out soon after my sophomore year.
I struggled mightily in biology, chemistry and physics. Surprisingly, I excelled at general math and geometry, but I was terrible in algebra.
My chemistry teacher and later a friend, Tom Nevant, unknowingly provided a defining moment for me one morning during his chemistry class. Tom, who died in late July a week before his 86th birthday, was a fine man and one of my favorite teachers, chemistry aside.
We were working in the lab, and my cousin Joe Raykie and I were supposed to be creating a gas or something that didn’t support combustion. The test of how well we did was to put a long, lighted match into a glass tube.
The match, of course, was to go out, and Tom steadfastly stood by each of the pairs as they put the match to the test. To his utter shock, ours exploded, shattering the glass. Maybe that mess explains why I forged a career as a writer and Joe as a school administrator.
But whether it was that day in class or throughout my association with him in later years as a teacher and principal at Farrell High, Tom was a congenial guy who brought a smile to the faces of people around him. He could be stern in his own way, but I’ll remember him as a man who led a life filled with common sense and deep respect for others.
I often thanked him for that day in class, and we laughed about it throughout the years. When I would see him, he would greet me with a smile and a robust “Stop the presses!” It was his unique way of saying hello, and I looked forward to hearing it. He was as kind to others as well.
We inducted Tom into the Farrell Alumni Hall of Fame last fall, and as one might expect, his speech was short and to the point. Humility was one of his great qualities, whether it concerned his leadership at the school or his acceptance of the “Medal of the Jubilee of Liberty” with full colors for his meritorious service during World War II.
When I stopped to visit with Frank Sincek at the high school one morning in the mid-1980s, Tom was praising a story that he had read in The Herald as I opened the door. After his usual greeting, he added as he ambled to his office, “Good writer, but lousy chemist.”
He retired as principal of Farrell High in 1989, ending a nearly 25-year association with his alma mater. Tom may no longer be with us, but I’ll remember him in his trademark cap and his “Stop the Presses” greeting. I smiled when he said it, and I will when I think of him.
My condolences to his wife, Serena, his four sons, and the rest of their family.
The editor’s e-mail bag
I got the following e-mail from Myron Ralston, a Sharpsville High School graduate who lives in Ohio.
“I live in suburban Cleveland, but I am a proud native of Sharpsville. I want to let you know that I enjoy your writings in The Herald. I know that you often speak of Farrell and that is easy to understand since that is where you grew up, but I enjoy those stories and the mention of things in regard to Sharpsville, Sharon, and other parts of the valley and Mercer County.
“I understand that you live next door to Robert Curtis in Sharpsville. I had Bob for gym many years ago at Sharpsville High School. It was a pleasure several years ago when Bob attended the Sharpsville High School Class of 1963 40th reunion in 2003. He is a fine gentleman ... ask him to tell you about the health classes he and Mrs. Stoner facilitated back in 1963 at Sharpsville High.
“I recently had the pleasure of talking to Mrs. Stoner about those classes and we had a good laugh. Talking about sex in a co-ed situation was revolutionary back then ...”
Jim Raykie is the editor of The Herald and his column appears on Mondays. His e-mail is jraykie@sharonherald.com or you can find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com
