Archived article from May 10, 2004
Also in this article: Scholar keeps parents’ research, memory alive Changes in family structure led to modern era Challenging theories about adolescent girls and their reading experiences TV insiders offer a behind-the-scenes view Scholar keeps parents’ research, memory alive In 1962, the husband-and-wife team of Victor and Mildred Goertzel published a book that received national attention for its findings on the childhoods of notable figures. The lives of young Eleanor Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, along with 397 other prominent people, inspired parents to provide what the Goertzels found to be a common trend among these achievers: a love of learning in the household. Decades have passed since the Goertzels’ “Cradles of Eminence” hit bookshelves, but many educators, particularly of gifted children, remembered it and were continuing to recommend it as a resource for parents. The book, however, was out of print, which left interested new readers with a less feasible option of buying one of the few existing copies for about $200. The demand found its way to the Goertzels’ eldest son, who saw updating the book as an opportunity to pay tribute to his parents, who both died recently. “With a name like Goertzel, you’re bound to be found on the Internet,” says Ted Goertzel, a professor of sociology in Camden, who had collaborated with his parents previously on “Three Hundred Eminent Personalities: A Psychosocial Analysis of the Famous,” published by Jossey-Bass in 1978. Goertzel, with help from his niece, Ariel Hansen, a recent graduate of Haverford College, has produced a second edition of “Cradles of Eminence” more than 40 years after its publication. The text, published by Great Potential Press, includes case studies of such 21st-century icons as Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods and Hillary Rodham Clinton. For Goertzel, returning to “Cradles of Eminence” was like going home. He was the reason his parents began researching childhoods of famous people, Goertzel said. It wasn’t his early successes, however, that compelled their research; it was his struggles. An underachiever in school who had difficulty making friends, Ted demonstrated a great thirst for knowledge and learning, presenting a challenge for his parents. Before the Goertzels’ book, most research indicated that gifted children should be self-sufficient and free from emotional problems. Victor Goertzel, a clinical psychologist, and Mildred, a high school English teacher who directed a school for emotionally disturbed children, thought they should know how to best support the development of their three sons, all of them deemed gifted. At the time, there were no online chat rooms or support systems for parents facing these challenges. (The Goertzels later founded the National Association for Gifted Children.) Mildred took to the local public library in Montclair, where she devoured biographies of prominent people who, for the most part, endured difficult childhood experiences. With Victor’s input, the Goertzels used the biography, a resource rarely considered by education and psychology scholars, to serve as inspiration for parents to foster great potential in their children. “Getting the book out was a way to keep the memory of my parents alive and now it’s available for those who want it,” says Goertzel, who teaches ethics and policy in criminal justice, sociology of communications and political sociology to undergraduates. He is also the author of numerous books, including “Linus Pauling: Personality, Science and Politics,” co-authored with his parents and son, Ben, a mathematician; “Turncoats and True Believers: The Dynamics of Political Belief and Disillusionment;” and “Fernando Henrique Cardoso: Reinventing Democracy in Brazil.”
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