An open book

Where does the love of reading come from? It begins with parents who read bedtime stories aloud and after a while encourage the young listener to do the reading. As early as six I also read more complicated comics like Our Boarding House and Walt Kelly’s Pogo. I still know the words for their annual Christmas carol, “Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla Wash. and Kalamazoo.”
At noon hour, I’d be home from school for lunch then listen on radio to Bing Whittaker and the “The Small Types Club.” I think his stories only lasted fifteen minutes and would end at 1 p.m. with Whittaker telling all of us to hurry back to school, saying “Sssssscoot!”
My joy for books continued with high school teacher Isobel Cowie who I have previously cited. She once lugged to class a record player so we could listen to Dylan Thomas reading his work, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” I still play it, sometimes not even at Christmas.
My love of language was further burnished by organizations like CBC back in the day when they had stars like Peter Gzowski who used the English language with aplomb and excitement both at the same time.
For an author like myself, reading a book continues to be a part of most days. I can read a newspaper online, but not a book. While traveling by car we recently listened to “War” by Bob Woodward. His topics skipped from one to the other so car rides were the perfect way to proceed.
But I prefer reading a published book. I like the heft of it in my hand. I like turning the pages. I like postponing errands to read just one more chapter. I like using the bookmark made by my grand-daughter and leaving the book near my chair ready to open at the very spot I left off whenever I want.
I also like re-reading books I previously enjoyed such as any volume about Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro. I find myself reading too many American books but I just finished the new biography of Ronald Reagan by Max Boot and recommend it highly. My favourite Canadian authors include Robertson Davies, Roy MacGregor, Marian Engel, Michael Bliss and Ian Brown, to name just a few.
Does Donald Trump read books? Hard to imagine. He seems to have no attention span for more than a few words uttered. His words only, of course.