Lincoln Public Schools

Ted Sorensen came home to Lincoln High School this fall.

On a crisp November morning, he arrived to spend an entire day at the high school where he had graduated 45 years earlier.  He spoke to a roaring gymnasium filled with Lincoln High students.  He talked with them, one-on-one, answering their questions.  He reminisced about the time he was too shy to kiss a girl on the Lincoln High stage.

And he humbly accepted the honor of having the school's soon-to-be-renovated auditorium share his name: The Ted Sorensen Theatre.

"I've had the opportunity to travel to several dozen countries and speak in more than a dozen of those places," Sorensen told the audience of cheering students and staff.  "But no audience thrills me more than the one right here."

In introductory remarks, Lincoln High speech and theater teacher Patsy Koch-Johns called Sorensen an American hero.  "He walked the same halls as you walk - performed on our stage," she told the captivated high school students.

Certainly one of Lincoln High's most famous graduates, Sorensen gained fame as the "Poet of Camelot," speechwriter and political advisor to President John F. Kennedy.

More recently, he wrote a best-selling book, "Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History," a memoir that credits the basis of his distinguished career to the strength of the education he received at Lincoln Public Schools: specifically, his lessons at Sheridan Elementary School, Irving Middle School and Lincoln High School.

"I know how lucky I am, in so many ways, that I have received a great education - in a great school," Sorensen said.  "Education has been the great equalizer in our country.  It has given everyone a great opportunity to succeed."

Susan Gourley, Superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools, thanked Sorensen for his generous words.  "We are grateful to you for giving us a renewed appreciation for the historical importance of our school district," Gourley said, "and for reminding us how great educators can toss a pebble into the pond of Lincoln - and create ripples that change the course of the world."

Sorensen expressed his "deep gratitude" for the kind thoughts - for the day - and for the honor.  "I have been all over the world," he said.  "I have worked as a lawyer, a speechwriter, a public servant.  But in my heart, I never left this town.  This is my home."