Howard D. Mehlinger

The Best That I Can Recall: a Reminiscence Howard D. Mehlinger

This book tells the life story of a man who was born to first and second generation immigrant parents, was raised in two small Kansas towns, and became an influential proponent of educational reform worldwide. The book follows his career from his beginning as a high school social studies teacher and football coach to the developer of curriculum materials used in high school classrooms throughout the United States to his role as an active player in the Cold War to his eventual position as a university administrator and professor. The book provides details of the author's efforts to reform American education within a single high school, within a university, across the United States, and among educational systems abroad; descriptions of his exploits will help the reader understand why reforming education is a difficult process. The book also contains a love story; a tale of courtship and marriage followed by descriptions of some of the joys and challenges of raising three children. This author provides a vivid description of what it means to care for a spouse suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The result is a heart-wrenching account of a man providing tender care for the one he loves, one who no longer knows or loves him.