BETWEEN THE LINES: Reading now a passionate pastime
As Christmas approaches, one of the gifts I enjoy giving and receiving are books. In my youth, I had no natural bent to read, so it must have been an acquired taste.
The turning point began in high school with my introduction to English and American literature. I took a liking to the poems of Byron, Keats, Shelley, Poe and others.
Considerable credit must be given to my high school English teacher Harry Dawson, whom I will never forget. When my father was transferred from New Jersey to Houston, the misplaced Rice University graduate with a master’s degree became my English teacher for the next three years.
Lord knows what he was doing teaching in southwest Houston, but it was my good fortune to have him as my teacher for my high school days. I was not a stellar student of his by any stretch of the imagination, but I managed to improve each year.
In the early 1960s, Dawson was an imposing figure. Looking every bit the part of a Marine drill sergeant with his short crew cut, and standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, he was not a person to be messed with. My English teacher had high standards from which he never wavered. Consequently, I was forced to come up to his level of expectations.
Over the years, I have continued to purchase books that interest me, which now are housed in four bookcases, one of which is all Christian literature.
Thank goodness technology has caught up and solved that nightmare. With the advent of Barnes & Noble Bookseller’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle, people now can carry their own personal library in their hand. It always was a challenge for me not to lose my bookmarkers, which had more to do with me using small pieces of paper that I could find anywhere. Now these products automatically return you where you left off.
Better yet, if I lost my newly purchased Kindle Fire, all of my books can be archived in the "cloud" — storing data via the Internet.
Over the past two decades, most of the books I bought came from recommendations by trusted sources. One of those is Thomas Sowell. If a reader is looking for clarity of thought, the award-winning economist and weekly columnist is the person to consult. Each year at this time, the Harvard graduate recommends to readers his favorite books.
I have already purchased three off this year’s list, one of which is a gift for my brother for his birthday. My older sibling is an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals after having visited my grandfather in Kansas one summer. Stan "The Man" Musial was his idol. George Vecsey has written a biography on the baseball player.
My two selections were "Race and Economics" by Walter Williams and Theodore Dalrymple’s "Life at the Bottom." The latter work was written by a British physician who worked with lower-income families in predominantly white neighborhoods. The author gives a first-hand account of the tragic results of England’s welfare system.
It is unfortunate most Americans get information from the sound bites of mainstream media or our elected officials rather than researching the facts themselves.
Laughlin is a Christian Libertarian. He is an economist, teacher, father, husband and most recently a grandfather. He has written a weekly column for The Tribune for 13 years. He and his wife Gina reside in Meadowlakes. To contact him, email ablaughlin@nctv.com. He is an independent columnist, not a staff member, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Tribune or its parent company.