I got tricked into a habit of reading

His name was Willie. He was a ghost who did the most fascinating magic tricks.
I know that because he was in a book I read. It was the first book I ever read. I don’t remember the title of the book. It came in one of those Scholastic book orders that we got in school. I was in either kindergarten or first grade.
I remember falling in love with that book. I was so determined to find out what that ghost was up to that I pushed myself hard to learn to read the words. It was a life-changing moment the first time I read that little book all by myself. It was at that moment I knew I could read. I had read my first book and the world opened up for me in a new way.
Not only had Willie helped me learn to read, he also taught me some neat tricks. I learned to write messages with lemon juice and then make them appear with heat. There were other simple tricks, but that’s the only one I can remember nearly four decades later.
I guess it only makes sense that I would grow up to be a writer since I have had a life-long love of reading. In reality, it’s quite ironic. I was never any good with grammar. I never got higher than a “C” in any grammar classes.
The English language and I have never played well together. Even now I am more its adversary than ally. Every day I sit down at my computer and do a dance across the blank page much like two knife-wielding gang members would do handcuffed together in a dual. On most days I’m lucky enough to spill more ink than it does blood.
Still, my love for writing and journalism in general stems from my passion for reading. Throughout my primary and secondary school years, my reading levels have always been way ahead of the curve. For a kid who hated school and did poorly in every other subject, that made me something of an academic oddity.
I read my first full-length novel in the fifth grade. And yes, it was a Lone Ranger book. When I got into junior high, I was really into reading books based on movies I had seen (or vice versa). I was a regular at this little book store we had in my hometown. One day while looking through the used books, I found a copy of “Raise the Titanic” by Clive Cussler. I sank my teeth into it. I went back and got all of the previous Dirk Pitt adventures I could find. Cussler was instantly my favorite author. I have read almost every book he has written.
As much as I love to read and as advanced a reader as I am, one problem I have is my speed. I am a very slow reader. I can’t read any faster than one does reading aloud. It’s painful at times to be so slow, but on the other hand I absorb much more of what I’m reading because it has the time to sink in.
Sandy, my wife, is a very voracious reader. She can read really fast. It’s not unusual for her to knock out a book in an evening or two. The same book might take me weeks to tread through. And our passion for reading has been passed to our children. All four of them like to read, though some are better than others at it. I really enjoy the bonding time on those rare moments when I have the time to sit and read to my children. I remember my mother doing that for me. It was great. Every young child who is read to does better in school. At least that’s what numerous studies tell us.
For most of the last two years my reading time has been severely curtailed due to an hour-long commute to work. I have taken advantage of that time to listen to audio recordings of books. I now count that as reading. That’s two hours a day I get to enrich my life during a time that would normally be bogged down in tedious boredom.
One of the great discoveries I have made during this time is the Harry Potter series. When the books about the boy wizard first came out, Sandy and I were staunchly opposed to them. After all, the Bible cautions us to stay away from witchcraft and magical things. We railed against Potter without knowing what it was all about.
Finally, Sandy’s sister started reading them and convinced Sandy to do likewise. She got hooked. Last year I finally listened to the series during my commute. I, too, became a fan. Author J.K. Rowling is an incredible storyteller and one of the greatest authors of our age. What captured me was not all the trappings of wizardry and magic, but the incredible way in which Rowling crafts her tales. Pardon the pun, but her style is spellbinding.
Two other writers I admire for much the same reason are Orson Scott Card (“Ender’s Game”) and the late, great Western writer Louis L’Amour. I have also read and loved several of Alan Dean Foster’s books, especially his “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” books.
But the one book I have read and loved the most is the Bible. I have a habit of beginning my days reading a bit over a cup of hot tea and then going into a time of prayer. I have read the Bible all the way through about four times now and I have no plans to quit.
Looking back, it’s hard to believe that this world of words has made such a huge impact on my life, all because I was curious to know what a little ghost named Willie was up to in a children’s magic book.
Thank you Willie. I hope our paths will cross again some day. And I hope you encourage more kids to read, no matter how far out of print you probably are by now.