The author's late son Greg, who became known as Stephan Sure, started life as a teacher's and parent's dream. Not so much because he "behaved well" but because he was a natural wordsmith. Stephan's knack for clever language was visible through the years in crisp repartee and hilarious storytelling, but his secret life as a writer didn't fully surface until after his untimely death. During his lifetime, he was out of the closet as a gay man, but not as a writer. No one could nudge him past his insecurities toward a path that would have led to recognition of his short stories, poems, and Wildean aphorisms. His story is intertwined with learning experiences at home and in the schools. Although it's the particular account of one young gay person, teachers will sense in it resonances of the experiences of students, relatives, and friends who felt, as Stephan put it, that society is "selling me used words" and offering "the coffee table version of truth." In this article, the author shares an honest and moving tribute to his son, the author Stephan Sure.