Note: I presented these brief remarks on November 1, 2022, at the inaugural Sam Gladding Wake Author Series at Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. The speaker was Margaret (Peggy) Supplee Smith, author of Great Houses and their Stories: Winston-Salem’s Era of Success, 1912-1940.
As a friend of Sam and Claire Gladding, I am grateful for the opportunity to tell you a little about Sam today.
I tend to say that I AM a friend of Sam’s (not WAS). That’s because Sam lives on in many important ways. Today is an excellent example. Sam loved writing and writers and books. No one knows, understands and appreciates that like Claire. Claire cleared the way in their life together to make room for the countless hours he devoted regularly to writing.
Sam embraced the teacher-scholar ideal at Wake Forest. Well, he embraced Wake Forest. He loved Wake Forest. That is why he devoted enormous time and energy to writing a history of Wake Forest that covers the years of President Hearn’s presidency.
Sam was the professor a student deserved to have at Wake Forest. Sam loved teaching and mentoring students—college and graduate students—in and out of the classroom. And, students loved him. Often, when Sam and I would be enjoying lunch on campus or just walking around campus, students would come up to him to speak with him. Some were young people in their first year of college, others were graduate students preparing for their new counseling careers. Sam was always the same. He smiled and joked and listened closely to them. He let them know they were, indeed, important to him.
Sam was devoted to doing it all—teaching, mentoring, writing, and traveling the world to inspire those who shared his dedication to all things counseling. But, I will tell you that being a writer was a very strong part of his identity, of how he saw himself. As a writer, he could reach, connect with people everywhere. And, he surely did.
One of Sam’s last big writing projects was his autobiographical Off the Courthouse Square. I think it was a gift, in a way, to his family, especially sons Ben, Nate and Tim. It is the story of Sam’s first 21 years. Reading that book is a wonderful introduction to Sam.
I will close now as it is time for an introduction to another writer. Our inaugural speaker in the Sam Gladding Wake Author Series.
It's KPC Again 