CLTA Remembers
Herb Greenburg

Many of you knew Herb Greenberg, a colleague, a contributor to our profession, and “The Old Poster Peddler.”

Herbert Greenberg became a full-fledged Francophile while studying at the University of Geneva during his junior year in college. On weekends he would leave Switzerland and head across the border to soak up anything and everything French. “He was a Frenchman through and through, or at least he wanted to be. He loved everything about France including the language,” said wife Anne Greenberg of Santa Rosa.

Greenberg taught French at Santa Rosa High for 25 years, retiring in 1984. He continued in the classroom as a substitute teacher for many years.

Greenberg earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University. Before becoming an educator, he served three years with the Department of State in Iceland. During World War II, he served with the Marines in the Pacific.

During his more than two decades at Santa Rosa High, Greenberg immersed his students in French, not speaking a word of English in the classroom. It befuddled students not willing to follow the rigors of learning a difficult foreign language.

Many of his students went on to become French teachers themselves,” said his wife.

After he retired from active teaching, Greenberg maintained a busy schedule as a volunteer, substitute teacher and avid long-distance cyclist. He also started a business called the Old Poster Peddler, a mail-order company that provided posters and other visual-aid materials to foreign language teachers across the United States.

For many years, Greenberg volunteered as a third-grade tutor at Burbank Elementary School, helping students who struggled with math. In recent years, Greenberg used money he earned as a substitute teacher to pay for buses so that the school’s low-income students could take field trips for cultural and educational enrichment.

CLTA encourages everyone contribute to the Memorial Fund Norm’s name.