Nicolas Cage Discusses His Father, Former SF State Dean August Coppola

HUFFINGTON POST -- “He initially taught at Long Beach State and then became dean of Creative Arts at San Francisco State,” Cage says. “Here’s the interesting thing about my father in relation to education: he was pretty frustrated with the educational system, so when I went to him in high school and said ‘Dad, I'm not a good match for this. This isn’t me. I want to go to work. I want to act. High school isn’t working for me.’ “He actually said, ‘Go ahead and take the (GED) exam, and get out.’ So what one would expect, that he would insist I go to college, wasn’t the case. He encouraged me to follow my dream and go on.”