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Prof. James T. "Colorado" Sky

           James H. (“Colorado T.”) Sky gives a deep chuckle when he describes how his students at Franklin Pierce College react when they see him on the first day of class.

            “I get [students who] prostate themselves immediately,” said Sky, “and I get those who scream something about the anti-Christ and hide under their desk, [and] I get the designated gawkers, the ones who just kinda stare.”

            This isn’t surprising given that it isn’t often a “fiftyish” lifelong biker, who looks every inch of it, walks in to teach College Writing.  With sleeve tattoos peeking out from under his long-sleeved shirt, a beard that grizzles past his shirt collar, an eye patch covering his left eye and a deep graveled voice, the short but solid Sky makes an intimidating first impression. And it’s a first impression students can judge on, too, because it doesn’t get any easier for them after the introduction.

            “I show no mercy,” said Sky. “I tell them they’re going to work harder for me than they are for any other sections and I jump on them. Not all of them make it but very few of them bail.” Once they get over the initial shock, however, Sky’s students mostly rise to the challenge.

            “It’s refreshing to a lot of [students] to come in and not be able to negotiate,” said Sky. “I’m not inflexible, and I’m not unreasonable, but you don’t saunter into my class fifteen minutes late and decide to do what you’re gonna do.”

            Sky, who graduated summa cum laude from FPC in ‘99, came back after earning his Masters as a teaching assistant at Wright State University in Ohio.

            “It was weird because coming because there were students still here who had been freshmen my senior year and now they’re seniors and here I am, back on the faculty,” said Sky.  “That was a surprise to a number of them; it was kind of a surprise to me, too.”

            The fact that he became a lecturer in the humanities (his official FPC title) isn’t all that surprising, however, considering Sky’s background. A third-generation biker, he also comes from a long line of teachers; his mother is in early childhood education, and his grandmother was a teacher.

            “Teaching and the biking are like the family businesses...the family trades,” said Sky. “But they go together well.”

            Sky knew he wanted to be a teacher when he saw Sidney Poitier in To Sir with Love back in the ‘60s, but he didn’t pursue his teaching career right away. First he did a stint in the Marines and then a little bit of just about everything. He was a tattoo artist, a disc jockey, a bartender, a tow truck driver and “repo man,” drove a tractor trailer, and various other occupations, and in the meantime, he was “unemployed as a freelance writer.” 

            First published in 1969, Sky’s writing and poetry has appeared in a number of journals and magazines internationally. He was awarded the Eberhart Prize for Poetry twice and the Silver Spoke Prize for both Journalism and Fiction.  His most recent book, River of Stone, is a collection of short works, the product of over thirty years on the road.

            Sky has a deep passion for language that comes through in his teaching.

            “My students say I make it fun, I don’t. I just point them toward the fun,” said Sky.  “It’s like ‘I’m standing knee-deep in the English language, splashing around having a grand old time, you know, and what are you doing out there? C’mon in, the language is fine.’ It’s beautiful.”

            Sky’s life experience also filters into his teaching, and he tries to impart his philosophy to his students.

            “Literacy, discipline and balance. I learned literacy at home before I started school, I learned discipline in the Marine Corps, and that all discipline comes from self-discipline, and I learned balance on the bike. It has made me understand that no one is more than one heartbeat away from death,” said Sky.  “I urge [students] to get it right the first time, because there might not be a second opportunity. Make every mistake in the language, but only once.”