To Kill A Mockingbird
At the start of the year Sam was watching a college basketball game. I was in the room, watching a little, and reading a little from the paperback I'd brought along.
"You read a lot," he said.
"How many books do you read a year?" He asked.
"A lot," I said. "Watch the game."
Because it's hard to read when someone is talking directly at you and the book was getting good.
"You should count 'em," Sam said.
So I have.
Ten in January.
On numbers five and six in February.
(Paperback and on the phone).
And the numbers are high so far because of the garbage weather and because I've been on stupid airplanes and in friggin' airports.
But I did a real good thing along the way.
I threw a classic in here and there.
I re-read Travels With Charley by Steinbeck and then, spurred by the fact that there is gonna' be a follow-up, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
And that's the thing about books, folks...
...I'd read them as a young man.
They're completely different now.
I'd forgotten about how good each book was.
In Charley, Steinbeck is the guy who is lost.
In Mockingbird, everyone in society was lost.
Both books had started me on my way as a writer...and I hadn't even known it.
I remember feeling so angry when I read To Kill A Mockingbird the first time.
How could people treat blacks that way?
We need to change the damn world!
As an older gent...there's a shake of the head.
A bunch of sentences, a book, a series of books...
...none of it really matters.
But it does!
I'm not the kid who thinks a single book can change the world, but I'm not the cynic who thinks...'Why bother?' either....
Lee and Steinbeck wrote timeless classics.
Brilliant, brilliant words...one after another...that did change the world around them.
"I have no idea how you can read so much," Sam said. "Don't you get bored?"
I know that Sam had just finished Of Mice & Men in one of his classes.
"Did you get bored reading that?"
"No. It was pretty good," he said. "It just takes a long time to do."
Yep.
Sometimes it takes time to find the worth in something.
When's the last time you read To Kill A Mockingbird?
Do yourself a favor and pick it up again.
"You read a lot," he said.
"How many books do you read a year?" He asked.
"A lot," I said. "Watch the game."
Because it's hard to read when someone is talking directly at you and the book was getting good.
"You should count 'em," Sam said.
So I have.
Ten in January.
On numbers five and six in February.
(Paperback and on the phone).
And the numbers are high so far because of the garbage weather and because I've been on stupid airplanes and in friggin' airports.
But I did a real good thing along the way.
I threw a classic in here and there.
I re-read Travels With Charley by Steinbeck and then, spurred by the fact that there is gonna' be a follow-up, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
And that's the thing about books, folks...
...I'd read them as a young man.
They're completely different now.
I'd forgotten about how good each book was.
In Charley, Steinbeck is the guy who is lost.
In Mockingbird, everyone in society was lost.
Both books had started me on my way as a writer...and I hadn't even known it.
I remember feeling so angry when I read To Kill A Mockingbird the first time.
How could people treat blacks that way?
We need to change the damn world!
As an older gent...there's a shake of the head.
A bunch of sentences, a book, a series of books...
...none of it really matters.
But it does!
I'm not the kid who thinks a single book can change the world, but I'm not the cynic who thinks...'Why bother?' either....
Lee and Steinbeck wrote timeless classics.
Brilliant, brilliant words...one after another...that did change the world around them.
"I have no idea how you can read so much," Sam said. "Don't you get bored?"
I know that Sam had just finished Of Mice & Men in one of his classes.
"Did you get bored reading that?"
"No. It was pretty good," he said. "It just takes a long time to do."
Yep.
Sometimes it takes time to find the worth in something.
When's the last time you read To Kill A Mockingbird?
Do yourself a favor and pick it up again.
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