THE SAGE OF PETALUMA: Autobiography of a Teacher

Peddiwell's autobiography faces the likelihood of ad hominem attacks. An educator and linguist, Peddiwell's values were received during the turn of the century. He outlines here the precise constitution of his mind and achievements. His ploy is that exactness precludes vanity. He discusses himself as if a figure of rhetoric, declining his character in the dative, ablative, past perfect, etc. An orphan boy in Montana, he knew that his mother died at his birth and his father died fighting rustlers. His first schooling was with the Dacotah Sioux, who gave him self-direction, or wakan. Later, at Tum-a-Lum Academy, he received a homiletic education which was half classical and half moral preachments. Even before taking his M.A., he spent many memorable days teaching spelling and oral recitation. His eventual dean-ship of Petaluma's School of Education is scanted over in a few thin chapters and relies mainly upon a sanctimonious recital of his jousts with the authorities. As for the sobriquet ""sage of Petaluma"" --well, the justification of this is not evident.