Zander
Explorer
I have a soft spot for older fantasy films and was watching one of Kerwin Mathews' on a streaming service last night. I don't know much about Mathews so looked him up on Wikipedia. Turns out the Hollywood actor had taught English at a high school in Lake Geneva, WI around 1952 to 1954 (exact dates unknown) before moving to California.
Picture: Mathews a few years later
Gary was living in Lake Geneva at the time and would have been around 14 to 16 years old and therefore in high school. He would eventually drop out of high school but yearbooks indicate he was still in education at 16. Could Mathews have been his English teacher?
Picture: Gary in later life
I couldn't find at which Lake Geneva high school Mathews had taught. At the time, the city's population was most likely somewhere between 4300 and 4900, the 1950 and 1960 census figures respectively. Using the 2020 ratio of high schools per US head of population, you would expect Lake Geneva to have had only one high school (actually less than one; closer to half) in 1952 to 1954. So chances are good it was the same school.
So far, the timing works and the location looks promising.
I have no idea how many English teachers a US high school in a town of about 4300 to 4900 people would have, but I imagine 1 to 4. If 1, then Mathews would have had to have been Gary's teacher. If 4, then there would be a 1 in 4 chance (assuming, conservatively, that Mathews was there only for a year and had the same students all year). Even if Mathews had not been Gary's teacher, there is a good chance Gary would have known who he was.
I'm assuming that all high school students at the time studied English. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.
If you know the definitive answer to the question of whether Kerwin Mathews was Gary's English teacher, for example from a quote by Gary confirming that, I would be most interested. If I have made a mistake in my analysis above, for example, if you know there were two high schools in Lake Geneva at the time, that would be helpful, too.
Picture: Mathews a few years later
Gary was living in Lake Geneva at the time and would have been around 14 to 16 years old and therefore in high school. He would eventually drop out of high school but yearbooks indicate he was still in education at 16. Could Mathews have been his English teacher?
Picture: Gary in later life
I couldn't find at which Lake Geneva high school Mathews had taught. At the time, the city's population was most likely somewhere between 4300 and 4900, the 1950 and 1960 census figures respectively. Using the 2020 ratio of high schools per US head of population, you would expect Lake Geneva to have had only one high school (actually less than one; closer to half) in 1952 to 1954. So chances are good it was the same school.
So far, the timing works and the location looks promising.
I have no idea how many English teachers a US high school in a town of about 4300 to 4900 people would have, but I imagine 1 to 4. If 1, then Mathews would have had to have been Gary's teacher. If 4, then there would be a 1 in 4 chance (assuming, conservatively, that Mathews was there only for a year and had the same students all year). Even if Mathews had not been Gary's teacher, there is a good chance Gary would have known who he was.
I'm assuming that all high school students at the time studied English. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.
If you know the definitive answer to the question of whether Kerwin Mathews was Gary's English teacher, for example from a quote by Gary confirming that, I would be most interested. If I have made a mistake in my analysis above, for example, if you know there were two high schools in Lake Geneva at the time, that would be helpful, too.
