Raymond Murray has taught English at Darlington since 1986. During his tenure, he has also served as a college adviser for 10 years and coached Middle School football, junior varsity baseball, varsity softball, and varsity golf. For his service and dedication, he has received Darlington's James Douglas Brown Jr. Award, Richard M. Yankee Excellence in Teaching Award and Oscar Betts ’19 Master Teacher Award. He holds a B.A. from the University of the South and an M.A. from the State University of West Georgia. Raymond and his wife, Laura, have three children, Alex ('02), Brett ('04) and Caitlin ('07).
How did you end up at Darlington?
Well...I was teaching in Virginia and I taught in a little country day school for a while, and then I taught in a large public school that just went through the ninth grade. A lot of my students, after they got out of the ninth grade, went to a boarding school close by called Woodberry Forest. I was out there because they had invited to see them play sports, and I got really interested in working in a big boarding school. Then, I started sending out applications.
This part of the world seemed to be the most favorable to me. I'd gone to school at Sewanee in Tennessee, and I applied at schools in Nashville, Atlanta, and Chattanooga. I was staying with an old college friend of mine, who was born and raised in Cartersville, and he said, "Have you ever applied at Darlington?" and I said, "No." I wasn't sure that I wanted to live in a town the size of Rome, and he said, "It's a cute little town," so I came up here and met the headmaster of the time, a guy named Brad Gioia, who was also a Sewanee graduate and we started talking. Mr. Moss, who was also a Sewanee graduate was here and one thing led to another and I applied here.
I started working here in 1986, so this is my 29th year.
What are your favorite materials to cover in your English 3 and English 4 classes?
Well, English 3 is pretty easy. I like to get into the late 19th Century into the last part of the 20th Century; I really think that's it. I like teaching Mark Twain. I like teaching some Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, and particularly Hemingway. I'm a fan. I just like that whole era of work.
English 4 is divided into two parts. Within the first part, I get to teach a course that I designed called "The Art of Reading Poetry," which is basically about half American poems and English poems, along with some poems that I don't think you'll get in any of the other classes. My second semester is the "Foundations of Drama." We start with Greeks and end with the Americans of the 20th Century, and you can see how certain forms of drama sort of evolve. You know, drama is meant to be seen. We read some of the early ones, but I show some of the great plays of the 20th Century, particularly Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams.
Do you have any interesting hobbies outside of Darlington?
Interesting is kind of subjective, so I play golf, and I was the golf coach here for 16 years -- a lot of people don't know that. I've always liked it. I'm not as good at it as I used to be, but I still go out and hack around, but I don't collect things. I particularly like old movies. I used to teach cinema here, too. A lot of people don't know that either. I wouldn't mind doing that again. I especially like the movies of the 1940s and 1950s, really kind of the dark, mystery kind of movies. "The Big Sleep" is one of my favorites.
