Good Mr. King

I hadn't thought deeply about Allan U. King for several years, but somehow he was always in the back of my mind.  Complex mathematics haven't crossed my path in quite some time. Yet, any time I spied a fractal or summation somewhere I couldn't help but be reminded of the gentle, inspiring teacher who left an indelible print on my life.  Math was never my favorite subject.  I was not one of those lucky souls to whom it came naturally.  I had to work at it.  Mr. King's wife was the editor of Forest Hill High's newspaper, The Talon, and instructor of a Semantics and Logic class, which I took my sophomore year.  She described herself as a "word person, not a number person."  Ditto for me, to this day.

But Mr. King brought it all to life.  I started with him in 10th grade with geometry.  The proofs we had to work through were daunting, but he taught us how to think.  He gave us daily "Think" exercises.  Math was becoming interesting, almost fun.  By 11th grade and trigonometry, I was enjoying it.  With the wrong teacher, it might've been deadly.  King opened it up, demystified it, but never took away its magic.  And I never forgot this trig pneumonic :

"Silly Old Hitler

 Caused Awful Headaches

 To Our Airman."

Sine = O(Opposite)/H (Hypotenuese)

Cosine = A (Adjacent)/H (Hypoteneuse)

Tangent = O (Opposite)/ A (Adjacent)

Isn't that great?

Allan King was also a human being.  Really cared about people.  His students.  Other faculty.   He was always a positive force, encouraging.  Some of my other memorable high school teachers were more about intimidation or eccentricity.  King was salt of the earth genuine.  His death on Jan.7th was a real blow to many.  I read that he taught at Forest Hill for over thirty years.  Imagine how many stories can be told.

P.S. - The same week we lost Mr. King, Rush drummer Neil Peart passed away.  This was not unrelated as, well, music is math.  Rush's complex compositions really helped me along as I studied for Mr. King's and others' exams.  I recall "hearing" Rush, roaring through my cranium as I would jam on a trig test.