Veneration for Life

An excellent story on schoolyard gardens; thank you very much (“Edible Schoolyards,” Feb. 23). When I was a kid growing up in Southwest (now South-Central) Los Angeles, I attended John Muir Junior High on Vermont Avenue. We had a wonderful agricultural department and what seemed like a very large “farm” for growing crops.

The teacher was Mr. K. Holland, whom we all admired greatly. We learned to love the soil and were amazed at what crops our tender care could produce. My introduction to agriculture (as a city kid) led me to Pierce College of Agriculture (now Pierce Junior College) in the then-agricultural San Fernando Valley, and eventually to UC Davis and veterinary school. I sincerely believe that this road began at John Muir growing living things.

CHARLES W. JENNER

Los Alamitos