I wanted to write this a few days ago, when I first heard the news. But it’s been hard, folks. It still hasn’t fully sunk-in that this has happened.

It was June of 1988 when I first met Gene Saunders, during a summer enrichment program at Rockingham County Senior High. I took the drama elective during the program and Gene – or “Mr. Saunders” as I’m still feeling inclined to call him – was our instructor.

I can still tell you the names of every single person that I took that elective with. Just as much as I can tell you what we all thought of Gene Saunders: we liked him immediately.

The program ran for a month, and in that time Gene put us through all the paces of serious theatre: improv, cold reading, lights and sounds, sets and props, makeup… the works.

Under Gene’s direction, we found out ...