Ebook199 pages4 hours
The Priority List: A Teacher's Final Quest to Discover Life's Greatest Lessons
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
In this “beautiful, heartfelt, and ultimately important story about love, kinship, gratitude, and miracles” (Elizabeth Gilbert, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a beloved high school English teacher with terminal brain cancer undertakes a cross-country journey to reunite with his former students in order to find out if he made a difference and discovers what is truly important in life along the way.
David Menasche lived for his work as a high school English teacher. His passion inspired his students, and between lessons on Shakespeare and sentence structure, he forged a unique bond with his kids, buoying them through personal struggles while sharing valuable life lessons.
When brain cancer ultimately stole David’s vision, memory, mobility, and—most tragically of all—his ability to continue teaching, he was devastated by the thought that he would no longer have the chance to impact his students’ lives each day.
But teaching was something Menasche just couldn’t give up. Undaunted by the difficult road ahead of him, he decided to end his treatments and make life his classroom. He turned to Facebook with an audacious plan: a journey across America—by bus, by train, by red-tipped cane—in hopes of seeing firsthand how his kids were faring in life. Had he made a difference? Within forty-eight hours of posting, former students in more than fifty cities replied with offers of support and shelter.
Traveling more than eight thousand miles from Miami to New York, and visiting hundreds of his students, David’s fearless journey explores the things we all want and need out of life—family, security, independence, love, adventure—and forces us to stop to consider what truly matters in life. Evocative, moving, and inspirational, Priority List “is a rousing testimony to the ways in which, in the face of death, living fully in the present moment becomes possible” (Publishers Weekly).
David Menasche lived for his work as a high school English teacher. His passion inspired his students, and between lessons on Shakespeare and sentence structure, he forged a unique bond with his kids, buoying them through personal struggles while sharing valuable life lessons.
When brain cancer ultimately stole David’s vision, memory, mobility, and—most tragically of all—his ability to continue teaching, he was devastated by the thought that he would no longer have the chance to impact his students’ lives each day.
But teaching was something Menasche just couldn’t give up. Undaunted by the difficult road ahead of him, he decided to end his treatments and make life his classroom. He turned to Facebook with an audacious plan: a journey across America—by bus, by train, by red-tipped cane—in hopes of seeing firsthand how his kids were faring in life. Had he made a difference? Within forty-eight hours of posting, former students in more than fifty cities replied with offers of support and shelter.
Traveling more than eight thousand miles from Miami to New York, and visiting hundreds of his students, David’s fearless journey explores the things we all want and need out of life—family, security, independence, love, adventure—and forces us to stop to consider what truly matters in life. Evocative, moving, and inspirational, Priority List “is a rousing testimony to the ways in which, in the face of death, living fully in the present moment becomes possible” (Publishers Weekly).
Author
David Menasche
David Menasche (1973–2014) grew up a skate punk with a love for literature and a lack of direction. He taught English at Miami’s magnet school, Coral Reef Senior High School, for fifteen years. In 2012, he was awarded Teacher of the Year by his region. He lived in New Orleans.
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Reviews for The Priority List
Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars
4/5
5 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I heard this as an audiobook. My appreciation of the story was hampered by the stilted reading. Menasche sounds like an incredible teacher, and I'm always on the lookout for information on how to be a good teacher. However, the (sidebars?) comments by students on how great a teacher he was overwhelmed the story. I was glad to hear that he chose to discontinue therapy after 6 years of side effects. Too many people follow Dr's decisions and give up their right to die with some semblance of a life.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Unique way of connecting with his former students who all seem eager to connect with him once he is ill. Wife seems to be really disconnected . Whatever happened to ... Till death do us part! Read this book in one Sunday afternoon!!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As a tea her, I enjoyed reading David's story. His dedication is amazing. I only hope that he continues to beat the odds so that he may continue to inspire others.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My lower score for this book is reflective of my expectations of the book than the actual writing. It is actually a well written book. This is the story of a teacher, David Menasche who is diagnosed with brain cancer. Mr. Mensche loved teaching and he was quite popular and made a great influence with many of his former students. After he was nearly blind and his health had deteriorated and could no longer teach he decided to take an adventure by traveling to meet some of his former students. The title of the book came from one of his class assignments where he would ask students to make their own lifes priority list. This is the story of his struggle with cancer and those meetings with former students.
Book preview
The Priority List - David Menasche
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