One part mentor, one part inspiration, one part friend.
Professors Everett Kisinger and Glenn Hanson were all that — and then some — to a young Dave Kurlinkus in the first part of the 1970s.
“I met Everett Kisinger first, when I was a freshman clarinet player in the marching band. I played in the Marching Illini for all of my seven years at Illinois, all through undergrad school and grad school, and the reason, in large part was EDK, as we called him,” says Winnebago County’s chief of staff and deputy state’s attorney.
”Every fall, we would gather to practice on the band practice field — music rehearsal on Mondays and marching practice the rest of the week. He was a remarkable conductor. I think he taught a class on marching formations called ‘Band Pageantry.’
“Since I was around so long, we became friends. He attended a small surprise party for my birthday, which was a thrill for me.
“At our last football halftime show together, I was chosen to present him with a plaque honoring him as the Pride of the Illini. Later that year, he retired and I graduated. You could never find a finer teacher and friend.
“I met Glenn Hanson my sophomore year when I was accepted into journalism school. He taught a course called Typography, which was required of all journalism majors.
“He must have had a lecture section of 70 to 80 students with lab sections of 15 to 20. By the end of the first lab section, he learned all of his students’ names.
“He was an artist and a designer. He had a knowledge of graphic design that was unlike anyone I have ever met.
“He was a tremendous teacher. After taking his second course in graphic design, I became his typography lab assistant and later his graduate assistant. He taught me how to be a teacher, and he inspired me to get a teaching degree — one of four I received at U of I — and to become a high school journalism teacher.
“I corresponded with him a little after I left and remember getting letters from him when I left teaching for law school.
“I still remember bringing him a little bucket of beer from the Thunderbird on some special promotion they had going on. He was a good man and a great friend.
“I had many good teachers at Illinois, but these two will always stand out for me."
