Garth Boomer had been a seminal influence on this author's practice and thinking as a young English teacher in the 1980s. When asked to present the Garth Boomer Memorial address in 2009, the author realised that he would be speaking on his fiftieth birthday, thus the desire to take the opportunity to reflect on his teaching life was overwhelming. To prepare for his first trip to Tasmania a good friend gave him a copy of Richard Flanagan's book "Wanting". Flanagan's opening keynote at the conference set a tone for elegant storytelling the author hoped to emulate in this keynote. The text of this article is essentially the same as the speech given at the conference.