Clark Bouton never stopped looking for new ways to teach.
Bouton, who died Feb. 22 at age 79, even became a psychoanalyst to learn what keeps people from learning.
He had a long battle with cancer and died at a local hospice.
A private celebration of his life will be held later.
Bouton taught at the University of Colorado and the University of the District of Columbia, California State University at San Jose and Drake University.
As well as teaching about teaching, he taught sociology and political science, his major field of study, and interdisciplinary courses in political and social theory. His last class was at Manual High School, where he taught constitutional law last year.
“Clark wanted to help teachers teach in a different way from the standard lectures and exams,” said his wife, Denny McGihon of Denver.
“Learning usually requires letting go of what you believe” in order to learn something new, she said.
“The biggest thing he taught me was that it was OK to question authority and the political system,” said his stepgranddaughter, Jennifer McGihon of Alexandria, Va. “He always wanted to engage us in debates, and I finally felt comfortable with debating.”
Clark Bouton wrote papers and held workshops and seminars in several states and for six years was a psychoanalyst.
After retiring from the University of the District of Columbia, he returned to Colorado and was active in health care reform legislation, traveling the state to get input from people about health care needs.
Bouton “wasn’t a rabble rouser,” said his wife, but he did write letters to the editor (including one supporting rights for gays) and joined protests, including one in 2003 when he called the administration of then-President George W. Bush “the most secretive, manipulative and divisive that I can recall and I’m in my 70s.”
Clark W. Bouton was born in Peoria, Ill., on April 19, 1931.
He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago and earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago and the University of Paris.
His first marriage, to Phyllis Loew, ended in divorce. He married Denny McGihon in 1977.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons: Robert Bouton of Washington, D.C., and Michael Bouton of Whitefield, N.H.; two stepsons: Christopher McGihon and Charles McGihon, both of Alexandria, Va.; a stepdaughter, Anne McGihon of Denver; and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Lee Ella Bouton, who died of cancer in 2005, and his son David Bouton, who died of heart disease in 2009.Inside.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
