When you hear the word “legend,” who do you think of? People often refer to an athlete or an actor as “legendary.” Babe Ruth’s baseball career made him a legend. Michael Jordan’s exploits on the basketball court have become legendary. John Wayne is often referred to as a legend of the silver screen.
As a senior in high school, I took a class called AP Humanities. In it, I learned about the legendary artists of the Renaissance, including Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Raphael. As a 17-year-old kid enjoying my senior year, I didn’t realize it, but the man at the front of the class, the man teaching me about these legends of the past, was in fact a true Darlington legend himself. His name was Mr. Awsumb.
I first came to Darlington in 1981 as a seventh-grader. I graduated in 1987, went to Georgia Tech, and immediately returned as a teacher and coach. In my 32 years at Darlington, both as a student and a teacher, many men and women have influenced me greatly, but only a few attained the exalted state of legendary figures of our school. These are men of extraordinary character, men who taught here for 40+ years and influenced literally thousands of lives in the process. For anyone who was around this school in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s, the following names will resonate as the Mt. Rushmore of Darlington.
Awsumb
Van Es
Neville
Buice
Sadly, the first of these legends has passed away. In AP Humanities, Mr. Awsumb taught us about the great artists. We learned about their paintings, sculptures and also about architecture. Most of it was centered around the great artists of Europe. I always remember him speaking passionately about his love of Paris and how amazing an experience it was to see everything in the Louvre. Notre Dame was one of his favorites as well, and he described it with so much fervor, that you wanted to get on a plane at that moment and fly to France to see it in person. He taught us about the wonders of Florence...of the David and the Duomo.
Anyone who ever took the class can remember sitting the dark of Mr. Awsumb’s classroom on the second floor of Zelle, listening to the whirring sound of the fan in the old slide projector, looking at slides of the Venus de Milo or the Pieta. But the class wasn’t just about looking at sculptures. Mr. Awsumb would describe what it was like to see these paintings or sculptures or cathedrals in person and explain to us their value as aesthetically pleasing works of art.
But he did more than that…he would tell us about how these works made him feel and why they were important to him. So while he was talking about the Renaissance and telling us about the wonders of Florence, I was dreaming of sitting high above the Arno River, overlooking the red tile roofs of the city, with Brunelleschi’s Dome dominating the skyline. His description of it made you yearn to be there and see it for real. He should have been paid a stipend by liberal arts colleges for all the Darlington graduates who left his class to pursue a major in Art History.
A true legend’s influence always extends far beyond the classroom as well. I remember him inviting many players from my soccer team over to his house for dinner. Seven or eight of us, sitting at the long dinner table at his house on campus, making sure we were on our best behavior because of the respect we had for him. As my team made a run in the state playoffs to the Final Four my senior year, we always saw him on the sidelines at our games, and he constantly recognized our victories in class the next day.
Soon after I graduated, a postcard arrived in my mailbox that summer. On the front was a picture of the cathedral of Notre Dame. On the back was a note from Mr. Awsumb. He wrote to me that he was really enjoying his vacation in Paris and how he hoped I would make it there one day to see Notre Dame in person. It made a huge impression on me. The fact that he took the time to send me a postcard all the way from Paris made me feel like I was special to him, and that he truly cared about my interest in Europe and the art he had taught me. As an adult looking back, I realize how amazingly thoughtful it was of him to do what he did. He probably never knew what an impact the simple act of sending me a postcard had, but it really did resonate with me as a teenager and still to this day. There is power in a handwritten note, especially one from Paris.
When I heard of Mr. Awsumb’s passing, a flood of memories came into my head, many of which I have just written of. I thought of just how influential a man like he was. My story and relationship with him is just one story out of all the students he came into contact with. In 47 years of teaching, if you consider that he was in close contact with at least 100 students every year, then you can quickly understand the impact he had.
It made me consider the question I raised earlier. What makes someone “legendary?” It has to do with talent and time. You must be really good at what you do and you must do it for a really long time. Mr. Van Es was the greatest math teacher ever at Darlington but more importantly, he was a man of the highest character. As principal of the Middle School, his rapport and support of kids and of his faculty are without question the thing of legend. Mr. Neville was a man of the highest moral standard. He was a true Southern gentleman and the most honorable man I’ve known. Mr. Buice (who will retire this year!) was easygoing and friendly and had an uncanny knack for explaining complex topics and making them seem simple. He was the pioneer of technology at Darlington in a time before anyone had ever heard of the internet.
Babe Ruth…Michael Jordan…John Wayne…Michelangelo…Da Vinci. These are men that the world refers to as legends. Van Es…Neville…Buice…Awsumb. These men are “our” legends. They are the legends of Darlington. And there’s one simple reason why “my” legends had such a profound impact on my life. Babe Ruth never invited me and my teammates over for dinner. Michael Jordan never showed up at any of my soccer games. And as far as I can recall, Michelangelo never sent me a postcard from Paris. But Mr. Awsumb did.
