JIm Nugent was my godfather and a former Jesuit priest. He began teaching me Latin when I was 5 years old. He taught me radio theory and helped me get my FCC license in my mid-teens. He owned the 7-11 store kitty-corner from Edmonds H.S., plus several other business interests.
I took two or three years of Latin from Mr. Nugent. A colorful character, for sure! Very opinionated. I can still say some of the Latin declensions! He drilled them into our heads.
When I was at Meadowdale, Mr. Nugent commuted from the Kitsap peninsula via the Edmonds ferry. He had beater cars on both sides. One day, he drove up and his old VW Microbus was covered with tar! Seems that the night before, a train had hit a tar truck near where the Microbus was parked.
He had a big piece of property on the Hansville highway outside of Kingston. He invited me and John Mills over one day. I remember being surprised at how gracious he was outside of the school setting.
I didn't know he owned the 7-11 (maybe that was later), but I'm not surprised. He was was a very bright guy.
Jim was an exceptional and unique individual. His years in a Roman Catholic monastery gave him focus and intent. His problems? Controlling weight was a biggie. Acknowledging diverse opinions was another. He and I were as close as any two colleagues could be, and I miss him a lot. He always felt he was improving me, and I was quite sure I was improving him.
I think I had Mr. Nugent for Latin for about 20 years. It seemed like it. Starting in Meadowdale Jr High. I learned a lot from him. I think I had Latin I, II, and III from him. He had a robust sense of humor. I will leave it at that, except to say that I think he would have enjoyed being a Roman citizen at the height of the Roman Empire. I still have the mimeographed Latin I textbook by Harry F. Reinert, Jr. that he assigned in 9th Grade (1963) , mostly because of the slogan on the title page:
LINGVAMATERSCIENTIÆ
(Reproduction of pseudoarchaic inscription
from a later era)
LANGUAGE IS THE MOTHER OF KNOWLEDGE
(A cute way to say that Reinert probably made up the slogan)
That phrase has followed me forever since I read it. I have returned to it many times in my life. Language is the mother of knowledge. Language underlies what we know. What we know is determined by the language we use. People who use a different language know things differently. They think differently because their language is the mother of the knowledge they know. That is why Native Americans view the world entirely differently than Euro Americans. That is why people who are bi-lingual, like people who understand English and Spanish, can communicate with more people than mono-lingual people, and thus can have more power. Religions each are a body of knowledge and each has its own set of terms and concepts. People who believe in one religion tend not to use or embrace the language or knowledge of other religions. For example, the term "Holy Ghost" may have meaning in Christianity, but no meaning in Buddhism. Thank you to Mr. Nugent for conveying that fundamental concept to me. It has so many implications that help us understand bigotry, racial and religious intolerance, and hate crimes. It all stems from and is based upon the language and vocabulary used. Change the vocabulary and you can change the world.
I also remember Mr. Nugent because he tried to make Latin, which is basically a "dead" language, come alive, by teaching about the people and culture of the ancient Roman Empire. "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres." "All Gaul is divided into three parts." Those are the opening words written by Julius Caesar himself in an autobiography of his military campaign in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. By learning Latin, we learned the knowledge of the Roman people, how they thought, what they liked to eat, what they did for fun. I still remember Mr. Nuguent reading us a recipe from a grand Roman banquet where one of the main courses was "baby mice baked in butter served in a sow's udder." That probably wouldn't be too popular today.
He read to us of the Roman games from a 1958 book called "Those About To Die" by Daniel P. Mannix, which told of the brutal and sadistic, and sometimes sexually cruel public spectacles held to entertain, appease, and sometimes bribe the populous. "Ave Imperator, Morituri te Salutamus" which translates to "Hail, Emperor. We who are about to die, salute you." was a phrase spoken by gladiators to the emperor prior to their the beginning of their fight to the death. It gives the coin toss at the beginning of football games a new meaning. It also shows us that MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, is just a couple of notches below the Roman Games. LINGVAMATERSCIENCÆ. Politicians sponsored gladatorial contests to try to win votes. As part of the event they sometimes would use small catapults to launch roasted fowl into the stands for people to eat. He read us a passage about a twisted sponsor of a Roman game who catapulted live poisonous snakes called asps into the stands, which landed on a few unlucky people in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Romans seemed to invoke the concept of "Fate" a lot. All of this is stuff I remember learning in Mr. Nugent's class.
He taught us about the incredible spectacle at the Roman Coloseum, where they flooded the arena and held mock naval battles. I remember him describing one battle where they put Christian women on an island in the middle of the lake in the Coloseum and had captive slaves swim to the island to ravage and kill them. Then they sank the island and released hungry Nile crocodiles into the water to have lunch on the remaining women and the slaves. If any of them tried to swim to safety they were dispatched by archers who stood in a ring around the lake. Mr. Nugent then pointed out what incredible engineering feats it was to create such events, by showing us photographs of the Coloseum today where you can see the elaborate tunnel system under the main floor of the arena used to bring people and animals into the area, and he pointed out how all of that was underneath the main floor of the Coloseum which also could support the lake. It makes Lady Gaga's performance at this year's Super Bowl, seem lame by comparison. LINGVAMATERSCIENCÆ. That is just some of what I learned from Mr. Nugent, and I thank him for giving me an awareness of the reality of a totally different world from the one we live in now, and for teaching me that Language is the Mother of Knowledge.
James Stein
JIm Nugent was my godfather and a former Jesuit priest. He began teaching me Latin when I was 5 years old. He taught me radio theory and helped me get my FCC license in my mid-teens. He owned the 7-11 store kitty-corner from Edmonds H.S., plus several other business interests.
Douglas Berg
I took two or three years of Latin from Mr. Nugent. A colorful character, for sure! Very opinionated. I can still say some of the Latin declensions! He drilled them into our heads.
When I was at Meadowdale, Mr. Nugent commuted from the Kitsap peninsula via the Edmonds ferry. He had beater cars on both sides. One day, he drove up and his old VW Microbus was covered with tar! Seems that the night before, a train had hit a tar truck near where the Microbus was parked.
He had a big piece of property on the Hansville highway outside of Kingston. He invited me and John Mills over one day. I remember being surprised at how gracious he was outside of the school setting.
I didn't know he owned the 7-11 (maybe that was later), but I'm not surprised. He was was a very bright guy.
Michael Hilton (Teacher)
Jim was an exceptional and unique individual. His years in a Roman Catholic monastery gave him focus and intent. His problems? Controlling weight was a biggie. Acknowledging diverse opinions was another. He and I were as close as any two colleagues could be, and I miss him a lot. He always felt he was improving me, and I was quite sure I was improving him.
Linda Dodge (Williams)
I love it...Mr. HiltonKevin Cloud Brechner
I think I had Mr. Nugent for Latin for about 20 years. It seemed like it. Starting in Meadowdale Jr High. I learned a lot from him. I think I had Latin I, II, and III from him. He had a robust sense of humor. I will leave it at that, except to say that I think he would have enjoyed being a Roman citizen at the height of the Roman Empire. I still have the mimeographed Latin I textbook by Harry F. Reinert, Jr. that he assigned in 9th Grade (1963) , mostly because of the slogan on the title page:
LINGVAMATERSCIENTIÆ
(Reproduction of pseudoarchaic inscription
from a later era)
LANGUAGE IS THE MOTHER OF KNOWLEDGE
(A cute way to say that Reinert probably made up the slogan)
That phrase has followed me forever since I read it. I have returned to it many times in my life. Language is the mother of knowledge. Language underlies what we know. What we know is determined by the language we use. People who use a different language know things differently. They think differently because their language is the mother of the knowledge they know. That is why Native Americans view the world entirely differently than Euro Americans. That is why people who are bi-lingual, like people who understand English and Spanish, can communicate with more people than mono-lingual people, and thus can have more power. Religions each are a body of knowledge and each has its own set of terms and concepts. People who believe in one religion tend not to use or embrace the language or knowledge of other religions. For example, the term "Holy Ghost" may have meaning in Christianity, but no meaning in Buddhism. Thank you to Mr. Nugent for conveying that fundamental concept to me. It has so many implications that help us understand bigotry, racial and religious intolerance, and hate crimes. It all stems from and is based upon the language and vocabulary used. Change the vocabulary and you can change the world.
I also remember Mr. Nugent because he tried to make Latin, which is basically a "dead" language, come alive, by teaching about the people and culture of the ancient Roman Empire. "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres." "All Gaul is divided into three parts." Those are the opening words written by Julius Caesar himself in an autobiography of his military campaign in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. By learning Latin, we learned the knowledge of the Roman people, how they thought, what they liked to eat, what they did for fun. I still remember Mr. Nuguent reading us a recipe from a grand Roman banquet where one of the main courses was "baby mice baked in butter served in a sow's udder." That probably wouldn't be too popular today.
He read to us of the Roman games from a 1958 book called "Those About To Die" by Daniel P. Mannix, which told of the brutal and sadistic, and sometimes sexually cruel public spectacles held to entertain, appease, and sometimes bribe the populous. "Ave Imperator, Morituri te Salutamus" which translates to "Hail, Emperor. We who are about to die, salute you." was a phrase spoken by gladiators to the emperor prior to their the beginning of their fight to the death. It gives the coin toss at the beginning of football games a new meaning. It also shows us that MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, is just a couple of notches below the Roman Games. LINGVAMATERSCIENCÆ. Politicians sponsored gladatorial contests to try to win votes. As part of the event they sometimes would use small catapults to launch roasted fowl into the stands for people to eat. He read us a passage about a twisted sponsor of a Roman game who catapulted live poisonous snakes called asps into the stands, which landed on a few unlucky people in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Romans seemed to invoke the concept of "Fate" a lot. All of this is stuff I remember learning in Mr. Nugent's class.
He taught us about the incredible spectacle at the Roman Coloseum, where they flooded the arena and held mock naval battles. I remember him describing one battle where they put Christian women on an island in the middle of the lake in the Coloseum and had captive slaves swim to the island to ravage and kill them. Then they sank the island and released hungry Nile crocodiles into the water to have lunch on the remaining women and the slaves. If any of them tried to swim to safety they were dispatched by archers who stood in a ring around the lake. Mr. Nugent then pointed out what incredible engineering feats it was to create such events, by showing us photographs of the Coloseum today where you can see the elaborate tunnel system under the main floor of the arena used to bring people and animals into the area, and he pointed out how all of that was underneath the main floor of the Coloseum which also could support the lake. It makes Lady Gaga's performance at this year's Super Bowl, seem lame by comparison. LINGVAMATERSCIENCÆ. That is just some of what I learned from Mr. Nugent, and I thank him for giving me an awareness of the reality of a totally different world from the one we live in now, and for teaching me that Language is the Mother of Knowledge.