LBHS

Robert Payne

Teacher Biography
Quis sum?

 

Magister Rob Payne was born and spent his formative years in upstate New York.  Seeking a sunnier clime, he moved to the Sunshine State to attend the University of Florida.  There he earned his undergraduate degree in Classical Studies (Latin and Greek language and literature).  He has taught in Florida schools for twenty years.  Although he has taught and tutored math, humanities and even Greek, his one passion remains Latin and the prolific heritage of the civilization of ancient Rome. 

In the classroom Magister Payne strives to strike a balance between inviting his students to rise to high academic expectations and holding the interests of kids in a challenging subject.  In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales the parson, wanting to be a strong moral example to his congregants, asks rhetorically of himself, “If the gold should rust, what then shall the iron do?” In parody of this, Magister Payne is always asking of himself, “If I’m bored with what I’m teaching, how interested can the kids be?” Yes, Latin is serious, but it can also be seriously fun and interesting.

Outside of his professional life, Magister Payne is a traveler (various locales in Europe and one--so far--in Asia), a writer (one published novella, Eon Dream, and one poem, Dream Tide), an artist, a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, a linguist (with special interests in Latin, Greek, Akkadian, Etruscan, Sanskrit, Germanic languages and the scholastic reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European), a classically trained—but still amateur--samurai swordsman (Toyama Ryu Batto-Do) and, above all else, the very fortunate husband of Karen and the “daddy” of Tanith Kerry O’Keefe-Payne, his little girl—his clearest light, his purest joy in this world.