Today in the ArtZany Radio studio, Paula Granquist welcomes teacher and author Jim Holden to share his new publication Retracing Footsteps: Memories of Teaching at Northfield High School.
Jim Holden’s new book, Retracing Footsteps: Memories of Teaching at Northfield High School is a nostalgia trip back to the tumultuous 1970s and ’80s when Jim taught English at Northfield High School. It is an attempt to give readers a sense of what school life was like during those tumultuous years of social unrest, racial tension, war protests, and many school innovations. The book is geared especially to former NHS students, teachers, and staff; but he also hopes it will be of interest to other Northfield residents who lived through those years.
Jim Holden taught in a variety of settings during his 41-year career, beginning at Minnetonka Junior High School, a year in England, and then in two high schools (Minneapolis Central and Northfield). But he also taught in the education departments at Gustavus and St. Olaf Colleges and in the Cannon Valley Elder Collegium. In his retirement he has written a number of books, including one based on his experience coaching tennis at Northfield High School titled, Tennis in the Northland: A History of Boys’ High School Tennis in Minnesota. In addition, he has written a memoir of that year teaching in England called, A Yank in Queen Elizabeth’s Court and a book about fishing called, Heron Thieves, a Bat out of Hell, and other Flyfishing Stories, Essays, and Poems.
