Book excerpt: touching eternity explores how teachers can make a long-term impact on the lives of their students. Written in an accessible narrative style, this case study of one high school art teacher and his former students invites readers to engage in fundamental and essential issues in teaching as well as in educational research. Rather than drawing conclusions, this book is uniquely designed to raise questions about the consequences of teaching and learning. “An extraordinary accomplishment. I know of no other book like it in the field of education. Its pages reflect Dewey’s observation that one of the greatest of educational fallacies is that the student learns only what he or she is being taught at the time.... This book breaks new ground.” —Elliot W. Eisner, Lee Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of Art, Stanford University “The strength of this masterfully written book lies in its determinate inconclusiveness. It leaves many questions hauntingly unanswered so that they continue to gnaw at the reader long after the book has been put down...Barone skillfully encourages teachers to debate these questions and interrogate these themes. touching eternity is a book that demands our attention.” —Peter McLaren, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA, and author of Che Guevara, Paulo Freire, and the Pedagogy of Revolution “Now more than ever, we need a book that shows us the subtle but long-term effects of a teacher who tells students, ‘Follow your heart.’” —Susan Ohanian, author of Caught in the Middle: Nonstandard Kids and a Killing Curriculum