Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 30, 1993                   TAG: 9305300182
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BRIAN T. HENRY RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG (AP)                                LENGTH: Medium

HE TEACHES THE CLASSICS, BUT PLAYS CLASSIC ROCK

Adam Potkay, assistant professor of English at the College of William and Mary does these things, but he also sings, writes lyrics and plays electric guitar for Spiral Jetty, a post-punk guitar band that recently released its fourth album, "Band of Gold."

Watching Potkay teach immediately reveals that he does not follow the norm. He wears a mischievous smile and if anyone in class, including himself, says something amusing, he laughs boisterously.

Constantly restless, he strolls back and forth in front of the class, stopping only to write on the chalkboard or to quote from a literary work.

On pleasant days, Potkay occasionally takes his smaller classes outside to the Crim Dell Amphitheater.

"Having class outside reflects his laid-back style of teaching. Being outside was a more proper setting for him, and he seemed more animated," said Rich Kraemer, a junior English major.

English professors frequently tell anecdotes about writers, but Potkay only bothers with juicy ones, such as how Samuel Johnson once told James Boswell that a man is only happy when drunk.

Potkay, 32, also relates his personal experience to the literary works he assigns, as when he once compared his occupational situation at William and Mary to Samuel Johnson's character, Rasselas, who constantly looks to the future or to the past, hoping to achieve a better state.

"I started playing acoustic guitar at 14 or 15 during summer vacations at the Jersey Shore," said Potkay, who grew up in Trenton, N.J. "I just got a cheap guitar. Anyone that's 15 can get a cheap guitar."

As his skills improved, Potkay became more devoted to music.

"The first time I started playing the guitar seriously was when I was 16, and at the same time I also knew that I wanted to be a professor. So I had these things hand in hand the whole time. Throughout the '80s, not only was I in the band, not only were we playing up and down the coast from Maine to Washington, but I was in grad school."

The music of Neil Young, David Bowie, and the Velvet Underground were early influences, and this is apparent on Spiral Jetty's "Band of Gold." Potkay's vocals on the song "Coat of Hair" closely resemble Lou Reed's.

Spiral Jetty toured mostly in the New Jersey-New York area, but the band also played extensively in Europe and generated a following of devoted fans, particularly in England.

The group will play a few shows this summer along the East Coast to promote its new album.

But many English students would like to see Potkay stay in Williamsburg.

"Anybody that can keep me awake through David Hume [an 18th century British philosopher] is incredible," said Mindy Seeds, a junior English major. "It's obvious that he loves what he's teaching us. I think he's zany and compelling, and he adds character to the department."