November 27, 2021

The title character of “Mr. Cosmos” is my fifth-grade science teacher from Newbury Elementary School in Massachusetts—a man so wonderful he would leap on his desk and do interpretive dances to demonstrate how sap rises in a tree or how a chrysalis transforms into a beautiful butterfly. In the essay, eleven-year-old me faints in the hall, grieves John Lennon, and mummifies a baby doll in spectacular fashion while now-me thinks about the things that save us. The essay is now available online at New Ohio Review—and if you prefer, I’ll even read it to you.