The pictures I publish here are from the Martin H. Ainley Archives Centre at Saint John’s-Ravenscourt School (SJR) in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
As indicated by this short paragraph in the Eagle yearbook, Martin Ainley, or “Ace” as we students knew him, arrived to teach and become a boarding master at SJR in 1958-59. I was sent to SJR as a misbehaving teenager in 1961, and although I didn’t know it then, my time with Martin paved some of the road to success in my life. Of course, he did not accomplish that Herculean task all by himself, my wife Linda deserves most of this credit, but that’s the heart of another blog (ETH Blog 5).
The simple fact of the matter of my being ‘sent’ to SJR was that my parents simply did not know how to deal with me. Had I stayed home in Edmonton instead of attending SJR as a boarding student for the next 3 years, my high school years, I am convinced I would have wound up in jail or dead. I was not on a good behavioral path.
“Ace” was my French and Latin teacher as well as my Boarding Master, the latter title meaning that he and his family lived in the school, near the Form V (Grade 10) boarders’ dormitories. Part of his duties called for him to check in on us at ‘lights out’, during which times I quickly came to realize that there was no wool to be pulled over those calm yet piercing, steely eyes of his. Avoiding Martin while sneaking out for a smoke was akin to being dropped behind enemy lines and looking to find the Résistance.
I could easily have chosen to write an Encourage the Heart blog about Martin, but I decided to post it here, in Enable Others to Act because I believe his great gift to me was in enhancing my self-determination. In 1961, I carried around a set of nasty baggage: I was judgmental, competitive, somewhat angry and very much focused on myself; I acted impulsively with little thought to the consequences of my actions. By 1964, I was still struggling with all those attributes, but I did pay a lot more attention to that simple life equation: responsibility = accountability, and I have Martin to thank for that great gift.
Until then, I had never met an adult whose attitude was: “Well, what do you think will happen when you do that? It’s your choice, you’re in charge.” What I was used to was: “You idiot! Only you would think of doing something that stupid!” The whole concept of self determination was a novel one indeed; and although I still have my moments, I have “Ace” to thank for teaching me this fundamentally important lesson.
I returned to SJR as a French teacher (hmm … same as Martin), with an M.A. (hmm … same as Martin) seven years later and Martin was now a neighbour (yes, I became a Boarding Master too; Linda and I had a small apartment in Thompson House … that had actually been my Form VI classroom! Too weird for words!) and Martin made it a point to befriend me. It is a testament to his adaptability that I could have been a challenging student and now be his colleague and friend.
Linda and I only stayed a year, we went on to climb other mountains, but “Ace” remained in my heart, I went back to a class reunion some 20 years after my graduation and I remember paying a public tribute to Martin as he was being honored, in person, so I know I was able to tell him what he meant to me. As a matter of fact, a number of younger alumni came up to me afterwards and told me I had been speaking for them, too, so Martin obviously helped a lot of us get on the right personal path.
I also remember responding to a request from SJR for ‘memories’ of Martin. My response was an attempt to explain that Martin does not exist in my memory, he exists in my very being … to this day. I know Martin read and understood that message because he showed me the publication some years later. Again, I am so glad he knew what he means to me.
As I say, a beautiful man. Thank you for enabling me, Martin.
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