I went to school for 18 years, which was at least four years too many. Ronald Gross has written a book I could have used in about 1972 that says the way to learn things is to pick something you’re interested in and follow it where it takes you — to libraries, free universities, art centers, churches, groups of people interested in the same thing, wise people in your neighborhood, and even, sometimes, school.
The best part is the stories of particular lifelong learners like Ted Marchi, who learned to build roads because his part of Nebraska needed some; Helen Baker, who became a leading expert on juvenile rights with persistence and without a law degree or college education; and Malcolm X, who taught himself a lot of what he
