Dr. James T. Piper (1944-1997)

If you didn't already know, I'm sad to be the one to report that Dr. Piper died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1997.

Dr. Piper was a biology teacher at Parkway South Jr. High School and then at Parkway South Senior High School. Infamous for the rumors he spread about keeping residence in a tent near the airport and driving a Porsche, he taught both biology to freshmen and sophmores. He made class a more interesting by using colorful sidewalk chalk for cell diagrams, slides from his stint as a National Park Service Ranger, wild tales from a summer spent hunting for Bigfoot in Alaska, wolf stories & photos from his doctoral research, and bribed us with extra credit for keeping an eye out for current articles about biology. Later, Dr. Piper added an Animal Behavior class when students wanted to take one. He was also the teacher who signed the official form as a sponsor to make OMTFC an officially recognized club at Parkway South.

If you have fond memories of Dr. Piper and want to do something in remembrance, I'd suggest donating to the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center (used to be the Wolf Sanctuary) or a suicide prevention program/organization such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.