Goodbye to Doc

Originally a contraction of “God be with ye,” goodbye connotes an anticipated absence, the duration of which is not always clear. For instance, goodbye can suggest a temporary truancy, as in “See you tomorrow,” or goodbye can convey an absolute finality, as in “Rest in peace.”

Absolute finality scares me, so when I say goodbye to someone, I assume that I will see that person again. Still, it is with great regret that I say goodbye to my esteemed colleague Arnold “Doc” Lipkind.

If I were to compile a list of attributes that would make a great teacher, I’d be sure to include a military background, a liberal arts education complemented by a quiver of degrees, an enduring passion for subject matter, and a commitment to students and to teaching that would inform the self. This is a fair description of Doc Lipkind.

An accomplished scholar and academician, Doc did both his undergraduate and graduate work in Political Science at the University of Hawaii before earning a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Montana.

Doc joined the Navy for five years before teaching English at high school in Montana and then joining the ranks of higher education as a professor of English, Political Science, and Education at the University of Montana. Doc and his wife Linda then moved back to Hawaii where he worked as Dean and Academic Vice President at Hawaii Pacific University for 14 years.

After moving here to be close to their son, Doc worked at Incline Village High School teaching American Literature, Ninth Grade Honors, and Advanced Placement, started a book club at Sierra Nevada College, and continued to author the more than 350 poems, stories, and screenplays he has published.

When Doc brought his granddaughter to interview at Lake Tahoe School, we immediately hired him as our Academic Dean. Here he has served the school in a variety of capacities including sheparding us through our various accreditations, teaching creative writing, mentoring our school-wide declamation contest, writing our curriculum guide, and teaching Middle School Social Studies.

But recently Doc has been beset by a number of niggling ailments, and while none of them are life-threatening, Doc has found it more and more difficult to sustain the level of academic rigor he demands from both his students and himself. So after a number of heartfelt conversations with Linda, he decided that he needed to step down from his responsibilities at Lake Tahoe School in order to concentrate on being healthy.

I will miss Doc’s erudition, his emphasis on decorum, and his willingness to step into whatever role would best serve our community. It is hard to imagine Lake Tahoe School without Doc, but his retirement will allow him the opportunity to devote his considerable powers of concentration to recovering.

So I bid goodbye to Doc with mixed emotions: gratitude for all he has contributed to Lake Tahoe School, sorrow that he will no longer be directly responsible for our successes, and optimism that he will fully regain his health.

But I know that I will see Doc at school again, that this goodbye is not final. That is why Doc Lipkind is the first faculty member in the history of Lake Tahoe School to be named Emeritus.

I hope that this honor will reinforce what Doc already knows: that whenever he feels better, Doc is welcome to come back to school, to his students, and to his admiring colleagues.

--Steve McKibben
1/22/06