2024 Winner of the Grateful American Book Prize, Stuart Brody, on His Inspiring Social Studies Teacher

Stuart Brody: One man that stands out was my ninth grade social studies teacher. His name was Phil Galati, World War II veteran. He just was so passionate about history and I … you know, when you’re younger, you sometimes wonder why would adults get excited about these things? That’s part of the magic. You see them getting excited and you wonder, well, what do they know about this that I, you know, don’t, or that we as kids don’t quite get yet. And so here I was, you know, 15 and he really encouraged me to start getting involved in reading about politics and then actually getting involved in politics. So Philip Galati, if he’s out there, somewhere, I hope he sees this interview and realizes that one of his students from, you know, 55 years ago — if I can admit that — is still thinking about it.

Narrator: This author interview was produced through a partnership of the Grateful American Foundation and WETA. For more author interviews, please visit AdLit.org.