Barbara Furne Simmons ’69

I sat in Founders, waiting for Miss Katherine Lever to commence our English course on John Milton. A white-haired, bespectacled woman, with a professorial bun, her clothing a collection of sensible shoes, blouses and skirts, Miss Lever mentioned we each would lead one class.

I scheduled my appointment with Miss Lever, nervous about guiding others through Paradise Lost.

Miss Lever said, “Don’t worry about knowing answers to Milton’s lines…. ask questions, ones that will help open up the text to deeper meanings.” She quoted Rilke to me: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.”

I’ve remembered her advice long since my sophomore year. As a teacher, I helped students ask questions of the text, of themselves. I remembered when I suffered losses to love the unsolved in my heart, the questions themselves. A life lesson, Miss Lever.