Was there a real-life model for the teacher in “Dead Poets Society” who was more unique than the movie?

Who is Professor Samuel Pickering, Keating's model?

But screenwriter Tom Schulman's case was closer to real life. This is because he actually met the person who would become the image source for John Keating at his alma mater, Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. That person is Professor Samuel Pickering, a doctor of English literature and an author.

Keating, an alumnus of Montgomery Bell Academy, later earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge in England before returning to his alma mater to teach.His career itself is similar to Keating's, and his teaching style is similar to that of the movie. It's exactly like that. I'd say it was actually more unique. Keating would encourage students to get up on top of their desks, but Pickering would take the desks out of the classroom and stand on them, and sometimes he would teach while standing on trash cans. Regarding these acts, he answered calmly, ``I didn't do it to entertain the students. I just did it to entertain myself.'' No wonder. Unlike in the movie, Pickering was only 24 years old and a new teacher when he was assigned to Montgomery, and his students were 15 years old. For example, there is an age difference between a student teacher and a first year high school student. ``I was still a kid, and my students were still kids,'' Pickering said. But he also says: "I'm the most ordinary man in the world, and I don't think I was a special teacher. I was just young and full of life at the time."

“Dead Poets Society” © Photofest / Getty Images

In other words, although he himself denies it, Pickering demonstrated to his students through his own actions the spirit of "Seize the day," which is never found in textbooks. The encounter with Pickering was a powerful experience for Tom Shulman, and led to the birth of John Keating, a charming character that will go down in film history.