Flashback: 'You are never a failure'
TV presenter Ron Boszhard (54) also made cabaret and theater programs. Already in the fifth grade of the Oranje Nassauschool in Amsterdam, master Paul de Vries foresaw his career in the spotlight.
Picture: Fred van Diem
“He was kind of a hippie. Do you understand what I mean? Free-spirited and flouting the rules - as far as that was possible at school, of course. He made us laugh and made us feel good. We were full individuals to him, each with his own talents. He didn't put it on a yardstick. If you were good at acting, or handy with cars, that was just as valuable as being good at spelling.
In fifth grade, Paul showed me that I also counted, although I was lousy in most subjects
That was a revelation to me, because in fourth grade I had a teacher who wanted me to go to LOM school. Everything in that message says: you do not comply. Fortunately my parents did not think it was a good idea. In fifth grade, Paul showed me that I also counted, although I was lousy in most subjects. I could do other things.
There was chemistry not only between him and me, but also between him and the class as a whole. That was really something special. Until shortly before his death, we held a reunion every other year that he and we faithfully attended. On the very last, everyone felt that, I made a film report. Everyone has said something, including Paul. He was already very weak then, but he remained that dear master we knew until the very last. A month later he passed away.
I learned so much from that man. Also real maths and games, but especially how to deal with people
I learned so much from that man. Also counting and spelling, as good and as bad as that went, but especially how you should deal with people. That you have to see who someone is, what his strength is and that everyone is valuable. And that you also have to propagate that.
In my program Bomb! I work with children. I try to approach the youth in the spirit of Paul: with respect, enthusiasm and with the message: you are never a failure.
Paul made sure that I eventually went to the Kleinkunstacademie. He even wrote it on a report at the time: Ron should go to drama school! I will never know if I would have taken that step if I had been parked at the LOM school. I might not have gotten away with typing and telling jokes. Paul had a good laugh about that. That meant that I was in a cabaret group in high school and wanted to continue in there.
While I am telling this, I have a piece of lava rock in my hands, which Paul once gave to everyone. It is always here in the living room. He had a story that I honestly forgot. But that does not matter. Paul is always there a bit. ”
Paul de Vries
Paul de Vries (1953-2012) wondered in his last days whether he had been a good teacher. “He was,” says former student Fred Wijdogen. “He visualized education with self-excavated fossils. He had difficulty with the new teaching, with administrative hassle behind the PC. His life's work was a mural together with his pupils, so that you can literally walk through history at school. ”
