Eric Mandel

Regular guy; freethinking baby boomer with insatiable curiosity. Attended college in the good ol' late 60’s; graduated an idealist with a degree in American and Russian history. Took several years to become a skeptic. Got a job as a bureaucrat that I was never crazy about. Left job after 30 years a compassionate cynic with a nice pension. Tried my hand at teaching high school English. Wrote critically acclaimed book, The Accidental Teacher (http://www.theaccidentalteacher.net), about my experience teaching without a net as I struggled to engage my students without alienating administrators. Mixed results.