Who was your best ever, life-changing teacher?

I was lucky, I had a couple of them. The first one was in grade 3. This beautiful flame-haired and slightly crazy teacher taught us with energy and stories. She recognised something in me and affirmed it, and more than any other teacher, she was the one who turned me on to the power of writing, of imagination, and of doing your best. Shortly afterwards we left the state (in a hurry) and that was the end of that.

I was lucky enough to meet her again last year, in a writing workshop where, ironically, I was presenting and she was the "student". Before I had said anything to her, she remembered me, and wrote me a poem (!). She was still reaching out and affirming my strengths all these years, half a lifetime later. What a remarkable teacher, what an extraordinary human being. It was such a blessing to be able to reconnect long enough to express my deep gratitude to her.

Who was YOUR best ever teacher?

(PS: you're allowed to say Mr Jones who was the PE teacher in Grade 9 because he had awesome guns).