Christopher North was (according to Wikipedia and we all know how reliable a source that is) a Scottish writer of the nineteenth century. He gave us such fine phrases as “The sun never sets on the British Empire (actually Rudyard Kipling rephrased North’s original remark which went “His Majesty’s dominions, on which the sun never sets”) and my personal favorite “Laws were made to be broken.” Christopher North however was not the writer’s real name. His real name was John Wilson. Because I am Scottish and my name is John Wilson, Jr. I have adopted the pseudonym Christopher North, Jr. when using my own words to express an idea in class but want the class to think the thought was actually expressed by someone important. So for example in class I might say, “As Christopher North, Jr. once said ‘Words sing to the poets where they only talk to you and me'” As an aside, the picture I have attached below is not really of me but of that other John Wilson.
Wow! I am extremely impressed with your blogs. Not only is the site visually appealing, I like how you weave the present class discussion with history. I hope your students appreciate your techniques as much as I do. You make an interesting point – that at any given time in history we can view the behaviors of explorers, writers, scientists, etc. as those who abuse or exploit the resources of the time – but upon reflection, those exploits were necessary for society and culture to advance.
I’m sorry. I posted my comment in the wrong spot. I meant to respond to the Lewis and Clark and the Digital Age post.
Mr Wilson, I dont know if you are a genius or scary.