Mr. Elijah Graham Pillow

b. about 1932

Jefferson High School, Roanoke, VA, Class of 1949

College of William and Mary, B. A.

English, General Science, Physics, Junior Science Club Sponsor; Beacon Advisor

Mr. Pillow was one of the first surprises awaiting me as an NNHS "mouse".  I was assigned to his General Science 3-4 class in the Fall
of 1961.  He called us all by our last names with titles - "Mr. Clark, Mr. Glazer, Miss Buckley" - as though we thirteen and fourteen year
olds were adults.  We soon learned that expected us to behave accordingly, as he had no intention of pampering us.

I always thought he might be more comfortable teaching in a college situation, where the students might demonstrate a higher level
of maturity.  Sure enough, he left NNHS to join the faculty at the newly opened Christopher Newport College.  The 1969 Trident shows
him as "Assistant Professor of Physics".

- Carol Buckley Harty ('65) of NC - 04/26/04

In the Fall of 1964, Mr. Pillow would become partly responsible (some might say “to blame”) for my meeting the lady whom I would eventually marry in January 1970. I was attending Christopher Newport then-College on a part-time basis and taking two classes. One was College Algebra and Trigonometry, taught by Raoul Weinstein, NNHS ’57 (of FL). The other was College Physics with Mr. Pillow. My old cohort in crime, John Scull ('64 - of VA) (see http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/buckroe-amusement.html for just one example), was in both classes with me. As we were both battle-scarred veterans of Emilie Holladay and J.K. Alvis, we were coasting through these classes and, therefore, had wayyyyy too much time on our hands.

Then, we discovered Contract Bridge. After that, each free moment was spent organizing a foursome or playing a rubber in the Student Lounge. Only trouble was … all these people seemed inexplicably to be far more interested in attending classes and studying than in filling out a bridge foursome during a free period. After endless hands of Honeymoon Bridge, we agreed that something had to be done. But what?

Well, the problem was that the potential players were preoccupied with homework, whereas we were breezing through these classes with little effort. Looking back, it was a no-brainer: “Hey, we will do your Physics homework problems for you for 15 minutes; then you give us the remaining 45 minutes filling out a foursome.” It was the old “quid pro quo” stratagem. Enter the aforementioned lady, who loved bridge, but hated Physics. A match made in Heaven. This arrangement served us well for the remainder of the semester, after which I had to follow my parents to Maryland while awaiting an appointment to the Naval Academy.

Incidentally, the deadly combination of Contract Bridge and adult beverages resulted in my earning a “C” for both classes - and that was a “gift”. However, the marriage lasted for 31 years.