Last week, I had the opportunity to
interview Dr. Raphael Dagold, the Wilmington
Friends School English teacher. Dr. Dagold
teaches English 10 here at Friends, and joined
our community in the fall of this year.
Upon taking Dr. Dagold’s class, I beca-
me interested in his work as a teacher and pub-
lished author. I decided to do some of my own
research and read his online biography, and I
learned a lot about his life. Dr. Dagold has pub-
lished two books, and won numerous poetry
awards. When I decided to write a newspaper
article on his life and work, I emailed him to
for an interview, and asked him a few questions
about himself.
INTERVIEWER: Hello Dr. Dagold, thank you
so much for meeting with me for an interview.
I read your online biography and learned a few
things about you, but I don’t quite have every-
thing I need for my article. I learned that you
like to cook, read and go to coffee shops and
museums. Most of these activities seem very
fitting, considering your profession as an Eng-
lish teacher. Is my description of your hobbies
correct?
DR. DAGOLD: Hi Liza, thank you for having
me. No, your description is in fact incorrect.
My hobbies consist of bobbing for apples and
skydiving. I actually have my own apple bob-
bing basin engraved with my name. I like to
skydive on clear days when there are no clouds
in the sky. I actually am not a big reader.
INTERVIEWER: Oh. I see. As someone who
doesn’t like to read, why did you pursue En-
glish and become an English teacher? Perhaps
there was a motivation behind achieving a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature
from Swarthmore College, a PhD in Litera-
ture and Creative Writing from the University
of Utah, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in
poetry. Perhaps you love to write, or you just
enjoy being around creative students?
DR. DAGOLD: It pays well.
INTERVIEWER: Gotcha. Dr. Dagold, could
you tell me a little bit about your family? I hear
most of your family is from Baltimore, but you
have strong Eastern European heritage.
DR. DAGOLD: Yes, well, a lot of my family is
from Baltimore, however I have 3 major polit-
ical figures in my family. Unfortunately I can-
not currently share further details about them.
I am also closely related to Amelia Earhart. I
am still looking for her. She’s out there.
INTERVIEWER: Oh. Good to know. What
about pets, do you have any pets? Your biogra-
phy tells me that you are a cat person, and have
always preferred them to dogs.
DR. DAGOLD: Oh no. I’ve never liked cats. In
fact, I am a huge llama person.
DR. DAGOLD: I actually
owned a few before moving to
Philadelphia a few years back.
Unfortunately upon moving
into my apartment, I was
reminded of a city ordinance
stating that llamas are not per-
mitted in Philadelphia apart-
ments. Saying goodbye to my
llamas was one of the hardest
things I’ve ever done.
INTERVIEWER: That is just
awful Doc. I am so sorry to
hear that. Sounds like who-
ever wrote the biography
where I gathered my previous
information was seriously
mistaken. May I ask what you
did before coming to work at
Friends? I read that you taught
tenth grade at a school in New
Jersey.
DR. DAGOLD: Not even
close. I actually have no teach-
ing background prior to work-
ing at Wilmington Friends.
Have you heard of the Mars
Mission? You know, the initia-
tive to send humans to Mars
in the future? Well, I worked
with NASA on that. I was ac-
tually a part of an undercover
exploration group specializing
in clearing the planet’s surface
of UFOs in preparation for
humans.
INTERVIEWER: Wow. That
is incredible. Thank you for
sharing your story with me
Dr. Dagold. I think it is very
important that the student
population learns more about
your life and career before
coming to Friends. However,
if I were you, I’d try to get in
contact with whoever wrote
your online bio. It seems
they’ve gotten some of the
facts wrong. Again, thank you
for meeting with me.
DR. DAGOLD: Thanks again
for having me, Liza.
