One morning last September, Tommie Lindsey awoke to a phone call that was so shocking he thought he was still dreaming. On the other line, a stranger from Chicago said he’d been awarded $500,000 for the creativity and promise he’d shown during 15 years as a public school speech and debate teacher in a working-class suburb of San Francisco. Then, as quickly as this mysterious benefactor had appeared, he was gone. He told Lindsey that he’d never hear from him again. He was free…

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Read more stories by Andrea Orr.