Went up to Lenoir last night to see Professor Elliott Engel and listen to his talk on Edward Thatch, a distant relative of Margret Thatcher. Edward was perhaps better known by his nickname, “Blackbeard”. Edward became a pirate although he didn’t really intend to, he just wanted to be a privateer. What’s the difference? And how many people did he kill? Really? Wow! And why did he live in North Carolina? And what is a “swash-buckler”? Or “kit and caboodle”? Ever wondered about any of these things? And which is proper when referring to the Caribbean Sea: cara BEE an, or ca RIB ian? Huh?
Well, let me tell you. Gather ‘round. Actually – now that I think about it for a moment, you really need to see professor Elliott Engel. He held a large crowd in the palm of his hand in the Broyhill Civic Center last night as they (we) listened in rapture to his revelations. It’s not often you see an entire auditorium filled with people who have their eyebrows raised and their mouths open. Professor Engel is probably used to that.
Dr. Engel lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at UCLA. While at UCLA he won that university’s Outstanding Teacher Award. His lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations around the country.
If you missed him, he will be back next February. He has spoken in Lenoir every year for the past 20 years. See you there.
