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teacher, Miss McDermott. In everyone's life, I suppose, there are two or three persons who have exercised a profound influence and left a permanent imprint. In mine, Elizabeth McDermott was the first.
She was extremely attractive, tall, willowy and beautiful. She had flaming red hair which was still red when she was an old lady. Unlike many schoolmarms of that day, she wore bright colors. From time to time, I would try to sketch her in a dress that seemed particularly beautiful. She was gay and at the same time, as in the case of the best teachers, she took a deep interest in her students and their work. (Many years later, when the four Rockefeller brothers were boys, she tutored them in art. Their parents sent them to Europe with her and she conducted them on a tour of the famous galleries. She once told me thatof the four it was Nelson who seemed to have the deepest appreciation for fine art and responded instinctively to the best works.)
In school, she would place a bouquet or a basket of varicolored fruits on her desk and say, "Now paint what