An icon has fallen in Maynard, Arkansas. From 1968- 2007 Herb Early was an abiding presence in the lives of Maynard School District’s young people.

A dedicated and skilled English teacher and administrator, his success was founded on compassion and empathy as much as intellect. Herb had a very rare rapport with Maynard High School students. His depth of feeling for his students was parochial and appreciated. Born at Vernon in Ingram Township to families of generations standing in Randolph County, he well understood the culture from where they came. It was his culture also.

He was in his very own way a disciplinarian but recognized the reality of human frailties. for some students he was a buffer from the harshness and despair of their home lives. Not a counselor by title, He was precisely that for many troubled young people.

Mentoring in an exofficio but very real capacity, he helped many Maynard boys to become outstanding young men. He was especially close to his kinsmen Greg Rainwater.

Greg was beyond doubt one of Maynard’s most distinguished alumni. A public-school teacher, administrator, and athletic coach he was also a very dedicated Baptist minister. Like his mentor, he lived a life of service. Herb’s reaction to Greg’s death at age 50 was that of a parent losing a child. Greg was the son he never had.

Ligie Waddell Jr. was a major benefactor of Herb’s mentoring. He too is engaged in a life of service. a school administrator and Church of Christ

Herb Early

By Harmon Seawel

minister, his mentor took great pride in him.

On a very short list of the most intellect people I have ever known, he was also endowed with a caustic wit and an exalted, irreverent sense of humor. He had a tendency to not always go by the book. Examples abound. A matter of teacher misconduct was brought before the Maynard school board. It seems that a teacher had said in class that, “the Republicans and Church of Christ are all hypocrites.” A lifelong Democrat and member of the Church of Christ, I remarked that, “I resented half of that statement.” Herb, a Republican long before being a Republican was cool and a staunch Baptist, did not miss a beat before replying, “I do too but a different half.”

Our mutual cousin, Hite Barnett raised a query with the veteran Maynard educator, “What do you know Herby, _____ ______ has got religion.” Herb Reflected only briefly. “Hite, did it seem like it helped him or made agin im?”

Leon Percy and some other Maynard boys missed school to go to Alabama with Ralph Hill. They came to the office for a reckoning over their absences. Herb declared that going to Alabama with Ralph Hill had to be an educational experience and excused their absences. I totally agree with his decision. Since the statute of limitation has run, I will tell one more at the risk of being “churched.” Preacher Fears and elder Harpole were my Maynard employees. Perhaps they can intercede.

I came home at midmorning and found a dressed dear reposing in crushed ice in the bathtub. Interrogating son Chester, I got the story. Herb had clandestinely told Chester he was tired of deer eating up his fall garden and suggested he do something about it. it occurred to me that only at Maynard would the principal recruit the superintendent’s son to kill a deer as an authorized activity.

I knew that Herb often paid expenses for Maynard’s students who otherwise would have missed vital experiences for lack of money. Carl Harris tells me that it was more extensive than I realized, and that Herb often passed the money through others to avoid calling attention to himself. During my years at Maynard, 1969-1999, there were many veteran teachers who engaged the welfare of students beyond the classroom. Herb was one of the most dedicated.

There is no measuring the worth of a good teacher. Lives are changed. Some are salvaged from ruin. Others are inspired to lives of service.

In Herb’s thirty-nine years his influence was great. It lives on in the continuing generations of those whose lives he touched.