[Nepeta]

There are some amazing tidbits in those two links. This is the first I had read about Stanley Ann's later visit to Kenya.

The tale of the Young Genius Barack reads like the mythology of the youth of the gods, or of North Korean dictators:

"According to Maurer, one day Obama had a term paper due, so he went home over lunch, typed it out and handed the finished paper in that afternoon. "He wrote it on the typewriter," Maurer marvels, still impressed by Obama's seemingly effortless ability to formulate and organize complex ideas. "It was just amazing he could think that coherently and not rewrite the paper."

Not bad for someone who still struggles with complete sentences!

[Fred Nerks]

I don’t know why it should cross my mind just now, but Herr Schiklegruber was a vegetarion who loved animals...

[Greenperson]

Maurer marvels, still impressed by Obama’s seemingly effortless ability to formulate and organize complex ideas. “It was just amazing he could think that coherently and not rewrite the paper.”
******

Back in those days, teachers didn’t have the luxury of the Internet and Google, so likely it was MUCH harder to find the source document from which students may have plagiarized. I read somewhere that Ann used to type his homework for him when they lived in Indonesia. I wonder if that’s because he wouldn’t do it himself and she couldn’t imitate his handwriting. What child in the 60s, in a third world country, handed in typewritten homework?

I’d like to sit him down at a typewriter and see what he can do. Does he use a computer? Has anyone EVER seen him at a keyboard?

[bgill]

one day Obama had a term paper due, so he went home over lunch, typed it out and handed the finished paper in that afternoon

School lunch periods are about 30 minutes. It's a 5-7 minute walk from the Punahou school to his apartment building. Round trip would be 10 to 14 minutes out of that 30 minutes so we're down to about 15-20 minutes to run upstairs, get out the typewriter, type up the report, and explain to anyone at home what he was doing out of school. BTW, I have some beachfront property in Arizona for sale if anyone is interested.

How about it was already typed up but he'd forgotten it at home and had to sneak off campus at lunch to go get it.