Who is Aaron Tarkington from Hocus Pocus and what is their importance?

Aaron Tarkington was the founder of Tarkington College and early settler in the Mohiga Valley of New York, where much of the action takes place. He was a builder of covered wagons that took many settlers into hostile Western lands during the early land rush years of America's formation. Because a genetic condition known as dyslexia runs in the Tarkington family, the clan has never been properly educated, despite the fact they are self-taught men and women. Dyslexia causes a person to see words in reverse order, rather like a mirror in effect. Because this disorder requires the person afflicted with it to slowly reverse the words in their minds, they tend to be very slow readers. Aaron's disorder drives the very genesis of the story, because once he becomes a wealthy man, Aaron decides he will build a college that does not discriminate against anyone for any reason such as genetic inheritance. Aaron leaves his lands to build a private college that will remain very small in nature and never fail to self-sustain by selling off parcels of the valley to private investors from time-to-time and using the proceeds to fund the college in perpetuity.