Chapter 21: John H. Lounsbury: My Champion, My Ally, My Friend

Like many, John H. Lounsbury welcomed me with open arms … encouraging our relationship with ease and sincerity. In all honesty, I had an inside advantage, my mother, Lorraine L. Morgan. She and John had been allies and friends for years.

John was my champion, my ally, and my friend. Across the years, he played many roles, too: writer and editor, speaker and listener, as well as leader, mentor, and thoughtful scholar. From the very beginning, he was a gift in my life.

As we all know, John cared deeply about young adolescents, and he respected middle school teachers. He wanted schools and society to be childcentered places for learning and growing. At the core, he believed that middle schools and middle school teachers must consider and respond to the developmental characteristics and needs of the youth they serve—young adolescents. Years later, I heard myself echoing a similar value. That educational institutions—middle schools and universities alike—must be “in the service of their students.”