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Today's edition of The Inter-Mountain marks the welcome return of a longtime local contributor -- political columnist Dr. David Turner.
Turner wrote political commentary for this newspaper for more than a decade prior to ending his column during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
We are delighted that the good doctor has decided to resume his political column. His first effort, printed on this page, takes stock of the current state of the 2024 presidential election.
In the coming weeks, Turner will offer his insights into state and local politics as well.
Upon his retirement from Davis & Elkins College in 2021, where he was the Thomas Richard Ross Professor of History and the Humanities and had served 35 years as a professor, the college described him as "a beloved tenured professor and well-known personality in the community."
Turner, the former chair of the D&E History and Political Science Department, authored the 2004 book "Davis & Elkins College: One Hundred Years, Honoring Our Traditions, Celebrating Our Future."
He also wrote the forward to U.S Army retired Major Steven E. Cook's 2019 book "Don't Cry for Us, Saigon."
During his tenure as a professor, Turner was honored with the Sears Award for Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership, and Lois Latham Award for Teaching Excellence.
Many students remember Turner singing historical songs during class.
"'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too' was one I used to sing when I thought class was dragging," Turner told a D&E publication. "It's a campaign song that explains some of the context of the information in class. A couple others are 'Who Shall Rule this American Nation' and 'Get on the Raft with Taft.' They all were a way of pointing out what I was saying. If the students remembered these, then I must have been on the right track."
The students definitely remembered. The following is a sampling of the many comments former students posted on a D&E Facebook page dedicated to Turner's retirement:
"Only person I'd wanna hear singing at the top of their lungs at 8 a.m.! Happy retirement, Dr. Turner!"
"Absolutely one of my favorite professors! Having you as a professor actually made me want to learn history. Every teacher I had in high school was so boring and all they cared about were the dates. Doc gave us an understanding about history like no one else!"
"Amazing teacher. I became interested in history because of Doc. My favorite memory was of him standing on the desks singing to us."
"I changed my entire schedule to get into his class second semester. He influenced me so greatly; I came out of the class enthralled and caught up in history through the stories he shared. I teach the same way."
After a long career of educating and inspiring students, Turner is still looking to help people learn and make them think through his political columns We are proud to once again present his work in The Inter-Mountain.