Book-centric

So I get the ultimate stack of books from the library and I’m in the middle of a funny, lighthearted romance when Life comes calling. And suddenly I’m not in the mood for lighthearted and haven’t read anything in a week.

Ain’t that the way it goes?

I’ll come back to Take a Hint, Dani Brown at some point but right now the best I can do is flip through a magazine.

The only thing you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.

Albert Einstein

My dad taught me to read before I started school. When I was a kid we used to go to the library on Saturday mornings while my mom did the grocery shopping. Both he and mom were avid readers, but he’s the book lover and book collector. My mom died six years ago, and now, at age 94, it looks like my dad is in his final chapter.

There’s no need for details because it’s a common story: a fall, a reckoning. Families go through this every day.

Thankfully he’s still reading – eyesight good and curiosity undiminished. He reads books we bring to him (Einstein, Lincoln, physics, time and poetry are popular subjects) and his magazines, including Harper’s and The Atlantic. I also recently started sending him the Sunday NY Times which has been a big hit. He’s a native New Yorker and I think the physical paper is so comfortable and familiar to him. Not to mention it speaks his language – political, intellectual, opinionated.

In addition to being a reader, my father is a writer and an artist. Short stories and poetry; painting and screen-printing; calligraphy and drawing. He’s a doodler, too. The illustration at the top is his, he used to sign his letters with little doodles like this. Charming. Eccentric. Book-centric.

To be continued…