Rest in Peace, Principal Vernon.

That's the last time, Bender. That's the last time you ever make me look bad in front of those kids, you hear me? I make $31,000 a year and I have a home and I'm not throwing it all away on some punk like you. But someday when you're outta here and forgotten about this place and they've forgotten about you, and you're wrapped up in your own pathetic life, I'm gonna be right there. That's right. And I'm gonna kick the living shit out of you."

Admit it. When you read those lines just now, you could almost hear Principal Vernon speaking them aloud as he jabbed his finger into Judd Nelson's chest. See, that's what a good actor does—he perfects his craft to the point where his character leaps off the written page and straight into your past.

So it seems another childhood hero has fallen. First it was Dean Wormer. Now it's Principal Vernon. Paul Gleason, the man who took playing a prick to new heights in such gems as The Breakfast Club, Trading Places and Die Hard did just that over Memorial Day weekend. A talented actor who starred in countless movies, TV shows and broadway plays, he will forever be linked with the brat pack-laced movie that defined our generation.

He was The Man Who Raided Barry Manilow's Wardrobe and gave us the answers to That Question next Saturday during detention. He was right outside those doors ready to come in here and crack skulls. He also learned that it was physically impossible for Bender's pot to catch on fire because it was in Johnson's underwear.

So as the curtain closes on a brilliant career, we're left with the indelible image of Principal Vernon holding a scribbled note left on the desk of an empty library. And we pause to remember what it was like to laugh during high school.

Dear Mr. Vernon,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is we did wrong, but we think you're crazy for making us write an esay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basketcase, a princess and a criminal. Does that answer your question?

Sincerely yours,

The BDS

P.S. Thanks for the laughs