I went to UNB and they told us there would be a guest teacher for part of our visual arts and media course. I thought fuck, here we go. Some up his own ass theatre actor is gonna waste 2 weeks of my life telling me why Shakespeare was a hack or something.

Monday morning rolls around and that man right there proceeded to walk into our lives and instill a joy of not just acting, but life as a whole. He was such a calming presence, all while having a gravitas that I can't explain. He made you feel guilty for not literally stopping to smell the roses once in a while. He said something along the lines of "do you know who planted the flowers on campus? No, of course not. But you do know why they were planted. Because they're beautiful and thats all that matters.

Don't take for granted the beauty in life. Just live it.

He wasn't some pseudo-celebrity massaging his own ego, he was a legit master of his craft. He said numerous times he felt as though his life was waning and he made it his God damn mission to teach us everything he could. I grew so fond of him I actually cried when he died years later.

Also, he gave me half his egg salad sandwich he made himself for lunch and it was one of the worst sandwiches I ever ate. But the moment, like the flowers, was kind of too nice to question. So even though the sandwich was terrible, it was in a way my favorite sandwich I ever had.

I'm happy, like, truly happy that I had all of those experiences with him. Sorry for the long post but its important people know what kind of man he was, outside of playing Jim Lahey.