I've been reading everything I could get my hands on for about 55 years now. I grew up in a family of readers, and all my family members enjoy sharing and discussing books. I'm happy that my two children and five grandchildren all love to read or be read to.
I majored in English Literature at George Washington University in the 1960s,...
more »I've been reading everything I could get my hands on for about 55 years now. I grew up in a family of readers, and all my family members enjoy sharing and discussing books. I'm happy that my two children and five grandchildren all love to read or be read to.
I majored in English Literature at George Washington University in the 1960s, and I've been making a living editing and writing ever since then. I work for a small publisher as editorial production manager, so I spend most of my waking hours in the company of books, authors, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. I rest my eyes by listening to audiobooks and checking out large print books from the library.
I read a lot of fiction and I try to keep up with serious new fiction. I'm also more interested than ever in memoirs and political histories. It's hard to choose a favoirite author, but over the years, I've found that Henry James never palls and always reveals something new. I'm reading a fictional biography of James now called The Master; David Lodge's book, Author, Author, was a terrific novel about James and his disastrous outing as a playwright.
Children's literature continues to fascinate me. I was raised on Little Golden Books, Winnie the Pooh, The Wind in the Willows, fairy tales, and many other classics. I re-read Little Women many times and enjoyed Alcott's other books. Black Beauty, the Terhune collie series, Call of the Wild, Swiss Family Robinson--all books I remember from chlldhood. When my family lived overseas, I started reading Arthur Ransome's books about the Swallows and Amazons and their adventures in England between the wars. I have been collecting the Ransome books and now have a complete set, but they're too old-fashioned for most kids now.
When I was in college I discovered The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, and much more recently, Pullman's His Dark Materials. Sometimes what I read seems to blend with "real life," and I hope I'm discussing books for years to come.
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