Educating the Next Generation of Leaders

Since his retirement in 2000, Good has donated these books to the Archives and Research Collections Centre (ARCC) at Western Libraries. However, while he was able to provide them with the first three editions of Wordsworth & Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads, the 4th edition had been elusive. Until now.

When John Lutman, The James Alexander and Ellen Rea Benson Special Collections Librarian, recently told Good that he had tracked down the 4th edition in England, Good wasted no time in giving Lutman the money to purchase the two volumes to complete the set. The books will arrive at the ARCC in the next couple of weeks.

Lyrical Ballads is a collection of poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge, first published in 1798 and generally considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. Good says each edition is different and will allow graduate students and scholars a rare opportunity to study the differences.

Good and his wife Eva (BScN’65) have made numerous personal gifts to Western, as well as donations through his family’s foundation, Good Foundation Inc.

For instance, last year Good donated his Selmer bass saxophone to the Don Wright Faculty of Music. His family’s foundation provided funds to help with the renovation of Conron Hall and Talbot (Paul Davenport) Theatre. The foundation also provided funds to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities to purchase anew projectors.

“Often little things can affect the quality of the student experience,” says Good. “In my case, I would hope that for certain music students to have tried a peripheral instrument like a bass sax is one plus in their Western education. The same would be true of a student of 19th century literature who might actually get to hold and look at Wordsworth's work in the form that he saw it when it was published--something quite different from reading two-column text in a clumsy anthology. It is also possible to trace first-hand changes he made in his published texts over his lifetime.”

“I donate to Western because I have experienced the importance a gift to a student at Western can make,” says Barber. “I never forgot the help I received and I promised myself when I was in a position to do so that I would help in any way I could.”

For Barber the best way to give back was to donate monthly to The Western Fund. Barber found that being a monthly donor was the most affordable and convenient way to give back. It allowed her to spread her support out in affordable payments throughout the year and the process was easy.

Further, the fact that The Western Fund supported the highest priority needs of Western students was key. “Regardless of where it is specifically going, I feel very satisfied knowing that it is going where students need it most.”

Barber also appreciates how The Western Fund is dispersed across campus. “I see the new buildings and the students able to focus on learning. I am conscious of the benefits and it’s nice to know that I play a part in making it happen”.

Barber would like to help others see the importance of every gift, regardless of the size. She’d also like to help others see they are likely in a position to give at some level because a gift of any value is combined with the support of others ensuring each contribution does add up. “Together our gifts make a big difference.”