SUPER REX MEMORIES
Author, teacher dies at 87
You know you grew up in Windsor when you remember Super Rex. Arnot (Arnie) McCallum, creator of Super Rex, is being remembered as an inspiring teacher, author and storyteller. McCallum, 87, died Feb. 6.
“I remember Super Rex and I remember Arnie and I remember him coming into the classroom and being animated and telling his stories and really bringing his characters to life and how that really built a love of storytelling and a love of reading,” Lisa Kolody, executive director of the Windsor Essex Community Foundation said Tuesday. “I think that’s his legacy for Windsor-Essex and a lot of us from that generation.” Kolody, who remembered McCallum coming to Gordon McGregor public school when she was a child, saw a reference to his obituary on social media Tuesday and tweeted that he was an inspiring teacher and leader.
That’s the sad part. It’s kind of iconic. Maybe it’s a Windsor-Essex thing that we all know who Super Rex was.
“That’s the sad part. It’s kind of iconic. Maybe it’s a Windsor-Essex thing that we all know who Super Rex was,” she said. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens posted on social media that “McCallum inspired many young minds in our community through his many years as a teacher. Although he never taught me directly, I will remember Super Rex forever! I’m sure I’m not alone!” McCallum started as a grade school teacher at Hugh Beaton and King Edward schools and later became the English co-ordinator for the public board.
When he retired in 1989, he told the Windsor Star he had created Super Rex on the spot after being asked to speak to a Grade 2 class with no preparation.
“My only chance of survival with those 32 little faces looking up at me was to talk about something they love — a pet. So I told them about my dog Rex,” he said of his German shepherd.
And when he asked the children to write letters to Rex and one child rightly noted that dogs can’t read, McCallum said he told them: “If you’ll write, I’ll read it to him.” He said he answered hundreds of letters from children a year and Super Rex soon had songs, contests and a band of cat and dog characters to promote reading in schools as he visited classroom after classroom. In retirement he wrote and published books of poems and stories for children including I’m Not A Brat! and The Gorilla Did It! A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. He is survived by his wife Marcia, a brother and nieces and nephews.