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07/22/2004: "Take and Read"

The house I grew up in had books on all the shelves and reading was a regular pastime with my parents and my two older brothers. In school days my social circle was small and their homes were much the same. But when I got to college it became apparent to me that many people, successful, inteligent people, didn't really read. I spent more time reading for fun than reading for school in those days, and chose academic courses for the promising reading lists they had. Of course, I spent more time drinking than reading, but that's off topic. And now I spend time in other people's homes, and often find there only the most disheartening kinds of books -- pop finance, pop fiction, pop medicine. My mother read cookbooks for fun but I can't imagine anyone would read a book about high blood pressure in that spirit. And what a loss: to lock yourself into only the life you're living, when it's possible to see the world through the eyes of another, time and time again.