VOCABULARY

Defense Lawyer, Alan Jackson: “Was the defendant gesticulating?”

Katie McLaughlin, a firefighter and paramedic: “I don’t know what that means?”

Alan Jackson: “Gesticulating?”

McLaughlin: “Yes. I don’t know what that means.”

Alan Jackson: “Was the defendant waving her arms?”

__Testimony during the re-trial of Karen Read, Mass. vs. Read, May 2025.

I was fortunate. The course “Greek and Latin Roots of English ” was required for every incoming Freshman at Hunter College in Manhattan. It was so popular that private and public High Schools in Manhattan made it a dual enrollment, college credit course. 

The class was WAY over-tallied, so there were few chairs to spare, but–as I remember– it was not a big deal for competitive, tough-minded New York kids: a few minutes after registered college students took their seats, a line of uniformed High School girls and their teacher entered and headed to the back of the room to stand the entire class, and much to the dismay of other slower college students were often quicker to raise their hands to answer. 

I took two Latin courses afterward, including translating the epic poem, The Aeneid.

The green book in the photo is my book from Hunter College days; the other is a newly published version.