Another: Several years ago, my niece was in a music class when the teacher played a song by that great dead folk singer, Pete Seeger. She, innocent that she was, put her hand up and said that Pete Seeger was not dead...Her uncle performed regularly with him. She was told, essentially, to sit down and shut up.

When she mentioned this to me, I told her that she was right, Pete was healthy as of a few days previous, as I had spoken to him. She went back and the teacher told her "Your uncle is a liar." The next time I saw Pete, I advised him of this interchange and he wrote a note to my niece, beginning "My name is Pete Seeger. I am a folksinger and, to the best of my knowledge, I am not dead....."

My niece showed the teacher the note, she stopped that line of chatter but did flunk my niece for the term. After all, what a nerve, to be right when an adult said she was wrong.