Vance O. McNair

I ran into Mr. Mc Nair's obit tonight because something my oldest daughter said reminded me of him, and I had to throw his name into Google.

3 thing I think of about Mr McNair
1. When asked how long an essay needed to be, he answered "as long as your leg". Consistently.
2. His mantra on writing: Clear, Concise, Complete.
3. Mr. McNair was a rare teacher. He believed, heart and soul, in his kids.

Also:
Diagramming impossibly long sentences from the NY...

Mr. McNair started our first class by giving us those ratty old textbooks and telling us to shove them in our locker for the rest of the year.

He taught us to write by making us use the things he taught us.

From what everyone says here, I wasn't the only one he listened to, helped, mentored.

He put up with me for years dropping in after school to talk. He was just the best, ever, and I was lucky and grateful to have him.

Mr. McNair was a great man and an awesome teacher. He was one of my absolute favorite teachers, I remember him fondly. My sympathy and prayers go out to his family.

I am sorry to hear this news. Mr. McNair made diagramming sentences fun and challenged us to use language in a refreshing fun way. He was a great man and my thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Mr. McNair was truly one of the best. It was through one of his many mind stimulating games that I really learned to follow directions, be patient, stay focused and not " follow the crowd". I still relay the story to others. He was an amazing teacher.

Mr. McNair left a lifelong lasting impression on me. He was by far one of the greatest teachers! I have thought of him often over the years. I only wish my children had been lucky enough to have him as a teacher/mentor. What a wonderful, wonderful man...

Mr. McNair was one of the most awesome teachers anyone could have. He made classroom time interesting and fun, everyone wanted to have him for a teacher. The world lost a wonderful man/teacher and heaven gained another angel. Mr. McNair will be sadly missed, he was one of the few through life a student could never forget, he was never just a teacher, he was everyone's friend. If there was a problem, he took the time to talk to you no matter how busy he was, never pushed it off to the...

So sorry. Mr. McNair brought light into revery room he ever entered. He will be sorely missed.

I am late getting this news, but am enormously saddened and wanted to let you know how very much "Mr. McNair" meant to me. He was an extraordinary teacher and an even more wonderful person. He not only challenged me intellectually, but was personally one of the very brightest spots in an often emotionally difficult time in junior high school. If Mr. McNair was doing his "They're Coming to Take Me Away" routine, or playing elaborate jokes on you, or sending you down the hall with pranks...