Some are found at the front of the classroom, lecturing, quizzing, assigning, cajoling. They open the doors and wait for us to walk through them. But sometimes we find them before they find us. That's the nature of inspiration, really. Maybe you start at point A, which was really someone else's point C, and by now you can't quite retrace your progression back to its origins.
Divergence is inevitable, at least after a time.
Maybe I don't feel the same way I once did about his writing, but I would never have thought to write for The Aggie if it weren't for him. The teacher may not know he has a student, but I thank him all the same. High-five to Jen Rofe for a good column last week on teachers.