DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997                 TAG: 9704030066

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: GROOVY SAPIEN

SOURCE: CAITLIN STINE, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

TEACHER IS AT HOME WITH LITERARY GIANTS

NO, IT'S NOT Chaucer's ``The Canterbury Tales,'' but English teacher Leonora Reiley has explored enough places to write about her own pilgrimages.

From Edgar Allan Poe to Charles Dickens, Reiley, 36, has visited the homes of many famous literary figures. Not only that but she also has visited Graceland and has bought a drink in an Athens, Ga., bar for Michael Stipe, leader singer for the music group R.E.M.

Reiley grew up in Virginia Beach and lives in Tabb. She attended Kellam High School and later majored in English at Old Dominion University.

This is Reiley's first year at Granby, but she taught at Maury for 11 years. She teaches analytical writing, acting, theater and study for tests.

``I try to be a creative teacher,'' Reiley said. ``I get a lot of inspiration from National Public Radio and from my students.''

From National Public Radio, she gets writing topics for papers and ideas for argumentative writing. She lets students come up with their own topics, too.

``She's a cool teacher,'' said Lucia Treto, 15, a junior at Granby. ``She's in line with our generation.''

Outside school, Reiley reads cookbooks and plays with her 3-year old daughter, Madison. Her husband, John, is a manager at the Coast Guard Exchange in Yorktown.

People on the road may see her driving her white 1988 Mazda 626 littered with bumper stickers, including ``Save Barney from Newt'' and ``Fight Prime Time. Read a Book.''

Her favorite authors include Anne Tyler and Lee Smith. She said she enjoys work by Southern women.

Reiley's favorite book is Zora Neale Hurston's ``The[sic] Eyes Were Watching God,'' a classic African-American novel. Reiley said she would like to visit Hurston's home in Florida to see the things described in the novel.

She's already made pilgrimages to several authors' homes, including William Faulkner's house in Oxford, Miss.; Flannery O'Connor's house in Georgia; three of Poe's houses; and Charles Dickens' house in London. Reiley believes Faulkner's house is the most fascinating.

``It had his boots, a typewriter and a bottle of whiskey,'' she said. ``It was like I imagined it would be.'' MEMO: Caitlin Stine is a junior at Granby High School in Norfolk. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot

Granby High English teacher Leonora Reiley enjoys visiting the homes

of famous writers.

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