Shawn Vestal: His thank-you turns back the pages of time

‘You ever had the feeling you wish you had said something to someone?”

This is Bruce Jackson’s question, and the someone he had in mind was his fourth-grade teacher from Linwood Elementary School in 1971, and the something he wished he had said was how much of an influence she’d had on him when he was just a boy with bangs writing poems about mice.

Jackson recently published a children’s book that he wrote 33 years ago. One of the ways he wanted to mark the occasion was by thanking the teacher who inspired his lifelong interest in poetry, Joan Butler.

And though Butler taught hundreds of students in Spokane over a roughly 30-year career, when she heard from Jackson, she knew who he was.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s that boy with big brown eyes,’ ” she said.

Butler, now in her 70s, said it’s not uncommon to come across former students in town, “but I’ve never heard anybody say, ‘I’ve published a book and I want to give you a signed copy.’ ”

They reunited recently, which left both teacher and student elated. Butler will be there today when Jackson reads from his book, “Oscar, Jerome & Otis O. Kay,” at the Spokane Federal Credit Union, 601 W. Mallon Ave., at 11 a.m.

Though he had fond memories of fourth grade, Jackson struggled in school after that, eventually dropping out of North Central. At age 17, he began working at Lawton Printing Services, where he’s still employed. But poetry and the lyrics of his favorite songwriters – Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, John Lennon – were always an important part of his life, and he kept writing his own poetry.

He wrote “Oscar, Jerome & Otis” in 1982, a story about the cowardly knight who learns that true courage doesn’t have to involve killing a dragon. At the time, he was a new father in his early 20s, thinking hard about his own challenges.

“I knew it would take courage to raise a child,” he said.

For around a decade, Jackson’s story remained 11 typewritten pages without illustrations, for various reasons.

“Then,” said his companion, Cindy Taylor, “he met me. And I’m pushy.”

She started by sending the manuscript off to New York publishers in the 1990s, but the unsolicited manuscript didn’t find a home. “It was disheartening, but I didn’t give up,” Taylor said.

A friend of Jackson’s, Dave Steenhard, eventually began to illustrate the story, a process that took more than a decade in itself. By 2009, Jackson had copyrighted the book and was looking into self-publishing, but he couldn’t afford it.

“We just didn’t have the money,” he said. “I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck my entire life.”

In 2014, a friend received an inheritance and offered to pay for the publication through Liberty Lake’s Crown Media and Printing. Jackson received the first copies on Christmas Eve.

“I was stunned,” he said. “I was speechless.”

The book is now carried in several independent bookstores locally, including Auntie’s and the Well-Read Moose in Coeur d’Alene, and he’s sold somewhere around 200 copies. He said the book has been well-received, and that whenever it’s gotten some attention – such as a reading or a notice in a local magazine – there’s been a surge in interest from buyers.

One of the first things he wanted to do after the book was published was reach out to Butler. He has saved poems and other assignments from fourth grade, with Butler’s comments of encouragement. He has saved his class photo from that year and remembers all his classmates. He has saved a note she sent home to his mother, commending him for his “marvelous” work.

“I already had been reading poetry because of my mother, but Joan gave me the dream of writing poetry,” he said.

He recalls that Butler put him on TV for a special project at KSPS.

“I read the poem ‘Mice,’ ” he said.

Taylor helped him track down his former teacher, Googling Butler until they found she was still living in Spokane. They couldn’t find a phone number for her, but discovered that Butler is the chairwoman of the Spokane Police Advisory Committee. In January, they called the police department for help.

“I was in Mexico,” Butler said. “I get this message from the chief of police’s office, saying, ‘One of your former students is trying to contact you.’ So I called them from Mexico.”

When she returned to Spokane in April, they got together for a personal visit that left them all feeling glad they did. The three of them discussed the visit together in an interview this week.

“We walked out of there on cloud nine,” said Jackson, who turned to Butler and added, “It made me feel so good to have made you feel so good.”