Heavenly Manna

 Heavenly Manna

I attended a small Presbyterian college in North Carolina, Davidson, where the Dean of Students, the Rev. Dr. William Holt Terry—whom we all called “Will”—taught me how to make biscuits.

Part of my job on the College Union Board was to organize the annual Short Courses, which were non-credited classes offered by members of the Davidson community for us students to take for fun. By far the most popular course was Will’s “Southern Cooking” which he hosted in his home, across the street from campus. It was limited by the size of his kitchen to a half-dozen students, but since I had an inside role as organizer I signed up me and my friends—only to learn there was a waiting list!

I did manage to get us all signed up the next year, however, and we practiced making biscuits and other Southern delicacies under Will’s hands-on guidance, peppered with wit and graciously administered with glasses of wine. 

I think of Will every time I make biscuits, and I’m grateful for going to a college where my dean taught me how to make what for me is manna from heaven.

I give thanks to God for the life of Will Terry, Davidson Class of 1954, who was born in 1932 and died in 2015, age 82.