I truly cannot imagine the person I’d be if I hadn’t landed in the classes of my high school drama and musical theater teacher, Sandy Miller, known to me as Mrs. Miller, who has passed on. I was still a pretty conservative kid when I met her in my second year of public school, already freeing myself of evangelical dogma but a big Reagan fan concerned with the “communist threat” and firmly anti-abortion. Not only did Mrs. Miller teach me about acting, give me the role of Sandy in “Grease,” introduce me to the work of playwrights like Sam Shepard, gently challenge my beliefs, and acquaint me (through a class trip) with New York City, she even took me in for a time when things were particularly terrible with my mom in my senior year.
I’m sad that I can’t make it to her memorial, but I’ll be lighting a candle. My deepest sympathy to her family and my wishes for her spirit to fly free.🕯️