The Rural We: Bob Elmendorf
Instruction in Latin and Greek is alive and well, offered by Bob Elmendorf in Columbia County.
For groups of young people in the Chatham, New York area, learning Latin has been a fun, stimulating extracurricular activity, thanks to Bob Elmendorf, who has taught Latin and Greek (pro bono) to home-schooled teens for the last 12 years. The polymath (the term comes from the Greek word polymathós, which means “one who knows many things”) has traversed many diverse paths, but he takes great joy in teaching, working with the youth and getting to know the students’ families. He is a widely published poet in literary magazines and has self-published two books of poetry on Amazon.
I’m from Plattsburgh, New York and went to Union College, which my family has attended for four generations. I majored in Latin and Greek, philosophy and English. It’s good for nothing — it’s just an education. I decided to study Latin and Greek because I took some courses taught by Professor Hans Joachim Freund at Union College. He used to say: “You cannot understand anything written before 1900 without an understanding of the Greco-Roman Judeo-Christian heritage.” It made sense to me, so I switched my major from English to Latin and Greek.
I went for a master’s degree in liberal studies, mixing together poetry writing, creative writing, and taking a lot of English courses. I never ended up getting paid to teach Latin or Greek. I went in different directions, ran a Big Brother Big Sister program in Plattsburgh, and did systems analysis work for the New York State Department of Tax and Finance.
I was at a weekly protest against the Iraq War in Chatham where I met families who had kids in home school. The parents asked me, “Why don’t you offer Latin in home school?” This was at least 15 years ago. I started offering it for home schoolers. We first met in the library in Chatham, then moved to the Episcopal church, which gave us a home for the next 10 years. Before Covid, I had 21 students. I taught five kids in one family, and four that were related in another family. I had just the greatest students, so bright and hardworking, each with their own gifts and unique personalities. They were funny and they listened. I was a big storyteller, telling them about all my wonderful professors and what they would say. We read Plato, which influenced a couple of kids — one got into philosophy, then into law. You didn’t know where it was headed. A lot of the kids would say they wanted to be a Latin teacher like me.
I got into teaching Greek, too — taught some adults mixed with the teens. The adults loved being with the teens, and the kids got a kick out of having the adults in class. Once, at Christmas time, the kids and adults came in and sang Christmas carols to me.
I started writing poetry in college. I got encouraged by my professor, kept on writing and never quit. I would work on it when I got home from State work and was published in about 50 really small magazine. I’ve self published two books of poetry on Amazon and did a reading at the Quaker meeting house.
I’m starting up my free Latin classes for kids this fall. Although there will be some homework, there is a lot of laughter in class and we translate often as a group.
For more information about Latin and Greek instruction, contact Bob Elmendorf by email or call (518) 610-3735.
