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“OUR HAMLET” Stories

 

Lina Flynt Bauersfeld
One of Hamlet's Best Teachers Ever

by: Al Thompson
with lots of help from:
Frank Murphy, Audrey Brown Driggers and Eddie McInnis

I can still remember most of the teachers who taught me from first grade through high school. One of the most memorable teachers I had was Lina Flynt Bauersfeld.

Mrs. Bauersfeld first started teaching at Hamlet High School around 1929. My aunt, Flora Thompson Cobb, remembers being taught English by Lina Flynt. Lina Flynt (she married Sam Bauersfeld sometime during our early high school years, so I remember her mostly as Mrs. Flynt) also taught my two sisters, Melba and Rosalyn. I can remember in one of my first encounters with Mrs. Flynt she told me she had taught my Aunt Flora and that she hoped I could live up to her standards. She would on certain occasions remind me of this fact, usually to motivate me to do better.

One of the first things most of us remember about Lina is her portrayal of the witch scene in the beginning of Shakespeare’s MacBeth. She would shake her head, mess up her hair and then, with an eerie voice, say, "Fair is foul, Foul is fair, Hovers through the fog and filthy air." We could often persuade her to reenact that scene. Each time the front of the classroom became her stage. Lina attended our 10th Year Class Reunion and we again persuaded her to bring that scene alive once more for us. We laughed together, with her, and we gave her a standing ovation.

Mrs. Bauersfeld placed a very high priority on her students knowing how to spell and to define the meaning of words. Each month we would have a test on the words in the Word Power section of The Reader’s Digest. Each time I read The Reader’s Digest today, I always go over the words in Word Power and I remember Lina Bauersfeld.

Lina would often come into class and want to give us a pop quiz on the day’s assignment. Often we could convince her that we were not yet on that lesson or that we were having trouble with another topic. She would help us with that topic and forget about the quiz.

There was also the time that several of the boys in the back of the classroom during English class would start shaking their feet and legs, causing the windows to shake. Mrs. Bauersfeld would turn toward the windows, smile, and say, "I think a storm’s coming!" This little prank was repeated several times during the course of our high school years. Mrs. Bauersfeld never caught on to what was really going on. Or at least she never let on that she did.

Lina Bauersfeld had a great impact on most of her students. Several of my classmates have shared with me some other amusing as well as inspirational stories about Lina.

Frank Murphy remembers that once, he and Ann Cato were rehearsing for debates. Lina invited them to her apartment so that her husband Sam could hear them. Sam slept soundly throughout their speeches, even snoring a little. When they were finished, Lina went over and shook him hard to wake him, and said, "Sam, Sam, tell us what you thought! We value your opinion!"

Frank also remembers once Lina was standing over by the window in the senior classroom, reading aloud from some work of literature. As she read, she undid her skirt button in order to tuck in her blouse more securely. Somehow, she managed to drop her skirt, and it fell to her ankles! Who but Lina would continue to read the literature aloud, unperturbed, with her skirt at her feet, and s l o w l y reach down and retrieve it! Literature came first!

Audrey Brown Driggers shared a very inspirational story about a great lesson Mrs. Bauersfeld taught her even before she sat in her classroom. When Audrey was in the 10th grade, another student said some unpleasant things to her. Audrey proceeded to tell the girl in rather unlady-like language exactly what she would do to her if she cared to step outside. Mrs. Bauersfeld heard the exchange, pulled Audrey aside and asked her her name. She had already taught her brother and sister and other family members, so she asked Audrey what her parents would think of her if they knew how she had reacted. Instead of telling her parents, Mrs. Bauersfeld suggested Audrey write a 500-word theme on how to handle her temper under pressure. On the first day of 11th grade English the following year, Mrs. Bauersfeld called the roll. When she go to Audrey, she paused briefly and gave her a knowing smile. She had not forgotten! And Audrey tells me she is less likely to get upset under pressure because of the great lesson Lina taught her that day.

That knowing smile was a trademark of Lina Bauersfeld. I remember MacBeth, Word Power, pop quizzes, and that knowing smile. And I remember Hamlet.

 

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“OUR HAMLET” Stories