This special issue of "English in Australia" invited the wife (Jacqueline Manuel) and daughters (Sophia and Amelia Brock) of Paul Brock, who served fifty years as an educator, to provide this reflective piece on his influence as a leader in education, a writer, a teacher, a scholar, a mentor, and an advocate for medical research and disability services. Their reflections point to Brock as an enduring testament to the force of his intellect and vision, the ethical depth of his professional and personal life, his compassion and humour, and his indefatigable commitment to social justice, inclusion, and the betterment of our individual and collective lives through education. Manuel states "I wondered how I could begin to do justice to the magnitude of Paul's life, but of course, I can't." Instead, she shared some reflections on Paul's life as it epitomised why English teachers matter: as the curators and custodians of the most "essential and fundamental aspects of culture" (Murdoch, 1970); as the "ironic points of light" in a "beleaguered" world (Auden, in Mendelson, 1979, p. 86); and as an enabling wise presence in the lives of those they teach.