Readers write: Shared reading memories, appreciation of new Daily format
Letters to the editor for the Oct. 23, 2017 weekly magazine.
Old books intended for use by staff members in the bank's early years are seen inside Coutts private bank in London on Oct. 10, 2017.
Peter Nicholls/Reuters
Shared reading memories
I was enchanted by Robert Klose鈥檚 Sept. 4 Home Forum essay, 鈥淗ow I became a reader of books.鈥� It brought back memories of my more than threescore years of reading, even as a small child. Having experienced the pleasure of book ownership at a much younger age than Mr. Klose, my introduction to reading was on a far less sophisticated plane than 鈥淭he Cask of Amontillado.鈥� My first love was Robert Louis Stevenson鈥檚 鈥淎 Child鈥檚 Garden of Verses,鈥� followed by the Beatrix Potter animal stories, Nancy Drew mysteries, and eventually the English classics of Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and the Bront毛 sisters.
I, too, recall the flashlight-under-the-covers routine after lights out. I, too, remember intuiting the difference between a primer and a story. Perhaps my becoming a reader was more of a planned affair than Mr. Klose鈥檚, if only because my father saw to it, feeding me a steady diet of poetry and prose throughout my childhood. As an adult, my reading tastes have run more to history and biography. But there have been a few novels that have captivated me from the opening lines, none more so than Alan Paton鈥檚 transcendent story 鈥淐ry, the Beloved Country,鈥� whose first two sentences of shimmering prose I memorized long ago. You and I, Mr. Klose, we were two lucky kids!
Anne Carr Bingham
Salem, Conn.
Appreciation of new Daily format
You鈥檝e convinced me! It鈥檚 taken a while, but I am now appreciating your daily five-story format. Initially I resisted the idea of you being the one to choose which articles to highlight. But I鈥檓 now a convert and concur with your choices 99 percent of the time. And your ongoing People Making a Difference series is heartwarming. In fact, my husband and I have just registered to help out next April with Grenada鈥檚 National Learn to Swim Week program, which was profiled in your Aug. 21 & 28 issue of the Weekly. The Monitor is a big influence in our lives. Many thanks for keeping it up to date, relevant, and purposeful.
Elaine Zavodni-Sjoquist
Portland, Maine