The Guide on the Side

He led with distinction until his retirement 27 years later, then served in interim administrative positions throughout the South until he retired for good to his mountain home in Cashiers, North Carolina.

 

Early in his career, he became active in professional education organizations and earned the reputation as an astute, savvy, dedicated “school person” who gave freely of his time and prodigious talents to help colleagues grow and institutions serve more effectively the needs of their students.

 

Only occasionally did he return to North Mooreland Road, but to those who worked with him and whose careers he impacted, memories of Ned Fox – who passed away July 29 at 83 after a period of declining health – remain vivid and poignant.

 

Ned held forth at Collegiate for 12 years as an English teacher, department chair, summer school director and, from 1972-1976, head of the Boys School.

 

Old-timers remember his intellect, passion for his discipline, high standards and small kindnesses. Ned was our English guru, the go-to guy for all things grammar-related. He co-authored a workbook entitled Words, Phrases, Clauses and its companion piece, Junior Words, Phrases, Clauses. He was innovative and creative. He challenged students to think deeply and aspire to excellence. He took young teachers and aspiring administrators under his wing and, through example as much as words, convinced them that their calling was noble and good.

 

“Ned truly welcomed me into the Collegiate community,” said Betty Hunt ‘58, who taught math from 1968 through 2005, and has substituted regularly since her retirement. “He was really special. He valued my opinion. He valued me as a person. That gave me the foundation that caused me to want to stay at Collegiate.”

 

Alex Smith ’65, who served his alma mater as a teacher, coach and, for many years, vice president for development, knew Ned as a teacher and colleague.

 

“Ned allowed me to be creative,” Smith said. “I wanted to teach woodworking. Ned was all in on that. I had the idea of a summer camp and (in 1972) started Camp Cougar (the school’s first non-academic summer program). He made me read Moby Dick, which I thought was as big as a phone book. I really resisted it, but when I read it (in senior English), it turned out to be the most incredible book I ever read.”

 

In July 1972, Ned hired Lewis Lawson to teach English. Lawson had only one year of teaching experience (history and government at Christchurch) and most recently had worked as a construction company office manager in Wytheville, Virginia. Ned wanted a teacher, yes, but he wanted someone who would become involved in the life of the institution and motivate students.

 

“Ned took a risk on a total neophyte in the teaching of English,” said Lawson, who retired in 2014 after 38 years on North Mooreland Road. “I’m indebted to him for hiring me.”

 

That first year, the two team-taught junior English, and Lawson received an education that inspired his career.

 

“Academics came first with Ned,” Lawson said. “He did anything and everything he could to help teachers. He used the Socratic method. He often began class with a question like, ‘Cite lines from Beowulf that explain how evil enters the world.’ Or he might begin class with a philosophical approach, maybe something like, ‘How is immortality explained in John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10?’ Then he stood there until somebody answered. If there was no response, he kept waiting. It resulted in the students having to come to class prepared. They knew they were being held accountable.

 

“Kids had to scratch and claw. They couldn’t wing it. Ned always found ways to incorporate everyone in the discussion. The kids, if they were willing to stick with the rigor and challenge, eventually understood from other students’ responses that they could do it too and were able to overcome their shyness or reticence or insecurity and rise to the occasion.

 

“Ned classes were true seminars. He created a circular environment where everybody learned from each other. He infused humor into the classes. He understood that it was the Boys School and part of that personality was what made a class click. Having that rapport with students created a special relationship.

 

“Ned wasn’t the sage on the stage, lecturing from his college notes or reading from a text. He was the guide on the side. He showed that you don’t have to fill it up with yourself. He found ways to bring out the best in students. Ned modeled the idea of curiosity and desire to learn. That gave me the drive to keep going back to school in the summer to become better. I did that all the way to the end.”

 

Pete McEachern taught math at Collegiate from 1972 until 1979 when he joined Ned at Charlotte Latin. From 1989-1999, he headed schools in South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia, then returned to Latin where he has been ever since.

 

“Ned was the ultimate school man,” said McEachern, who, during his first stint in Charlotte served as both Middle and Upper School head as well as the school’s first development director. “He was the boss, the mentor, and the second father. He always talked about taking a child where he or she is and going from there. I translated that to each place I went.”

 

When Ned went to Latin, he lifted the school from a period of instability.

 

“There’d been a vacuum,” McEachern added. “Ned had a vision. He took what we had at Collegiate and developed faculty, set up policies and procedures, and created the right culture.”

 

While McEachern spent 21 years under Ned’s guidance, many at Collegiate have had little contact with him for four decades.

“Yet he made an impression that’s lived 40 years,” McEachern observed. “That’s such a credit to Ned.”

      -- Weldon Bradshaw