Change

Plenty of things change in our lives, at least they have done so for me.  My preference in reading material is a good case in point.  I experienced a change in attitude about books and authors a few years ago.  One of the reasons came about through the good graces of my old high school math teacher, Miss Hanson, from about 55 years ago, a teacher with whom I’d become reacquainted in Bismarck.  She had stayed in contact through the many years with her old colleagues, Mrs. Vitus, my English teacher and Mr. Vitus, my social studies teacher/superintendent.

Miss Hanson called one day saying the couple was in town, that she was meeting them for breakfast, and would we like to join them?  Well, certainly, all three of these people had a lot to do with my educational formation, especially Mrs. Vitus.  Because of her demanding classroom methods, I learned much about language and literature and went on to earn my own college major in English.  

Our visit ranged over several topics that morning, including the reading material that we enjoy in our leisure time.  No, Mrs. V did not expound on the latest critical readings of William Shakespeare or William Blake’s seminal position in the history of poetry or Ralph Waldo Emerson’s lead in the transcendentalist movement in 19th century literature.   She and her husband both said they read and enjoy Louis L’Amour’s books.

I found that a bit surprising, especially when they added  they’d even visited some of the areas featured in L’Amour’s stories.  He said, “If L’Amour said a rock stood in a certain place, it was there.”  The couple spent a good deal of their time traveling around the country in one of several Dodge vans they had owned which he’d converted into campers.

The point of all this is that was another step in setting aside any snobbish ideas I may have had about his books and spend more time reading his stories. While my taste in reading covers a wide range, I definitely add plenty of the West in it.  So much so that I’ve become a book reviewer for the Western Writers of America from whom I receive books from my editor in Santa Fe to look at and make comments on. 

Presently, several books wait for my review, none being novels.  A lady sheep shearer wrote one called Raw Material: Working Wool in the West which reminds me of the sheep we raised and sheared on our farm.  I look forward to reminiscing about it in the pages of this book.  Another, Black and Kiddo: A True Story of Dust, Determination, and Cowboy Dreams promises some good reading about difficulties working on the land, as does another, My Ranch, Too: A Wyoming Memoir.  The fourth book represents a good deal of research, Wild Migrations: Atlas of Wyoming’s Ungulates. It tells a detailed story of  the migration of elk and other hoofed mammals in that region.

A one-time musician named Frank Zappa is quoted as saying, “So many books, so little time.”  Fortunately, I’ve lived longer than Zappa who was only 52 years old when prostate cancer took his life and I hope to read a few more.  The author of The Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin says it well, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies … The man who never reads lives only one.”

What am I reading presently?  A paperback by Louis L’Amour, The Sky-Liners has caught my interest, as has a long involved one by Dan Brown, Origin.  Add to them several magazine subscriptions that arrive regularly, plus some internet material.  Reading is a great way to fill time as well as the space between my ears.