I graduated in 1980. I had the good fortune to have Mary Hellen Lowry for senior english. She also taught my father John Hollins Sr. senior english in 1951.
We spent well over a month studying Hamlet as Ms. Lowry thought it was the greatest literary masterpiece ever written. She required every student to create a Hamlet notebook that included all material we studied in the class. She told us that one day we might need it. She was very prophetic!
During my sophomore year at Auburn in the fall of 1982 we studied Hamlet for all of one week. To prepare for the exam, I only studied Ms. Lowry's Hamlet notebook. The final exam was a breeze. After handing out the results of the exam my professor called me up after class for a meeting. She explained to me that no one had ever made a 100 on the exam before and she wanted to know what I did to prepare for the test. I explained to her that Ms. Lowry was the best teacher that I ever had and that she required us to create a Hamlet notebook that we used as our study guide. I handed the teacher a copy of my Hamlet notebook and she responded that I was very fortunate to have been taught by Ms. Lowery. I called my father and told him the story. He said I had to call Ms. Lowry.
After class I called Ms. Lowry and told her my story. She was thrilled beyond words. She said "Mighty fine Hollins! Mighty fine! This is your finest hour and I am proud of you as I know your father is too!"
This was the last conversation I had with Ms. Lowry. She died a few years later. Without a doubt she was the finest teacher I had in high school, college, or law school. My father who passed in 2016 felt exactly the same way about Ms. Lowry.
Ms. Lowry was a blessing to everyone she touched. We are all better people because of her influence.
submitted by John Hollins Jr. '80