Good, bad or indifferent I think we all have people we remember as being pivotal in our lives. For me there were two women who are responsible for my love of reading.....and my love of books has been one of the greatest enjoyments and assets in my life.
For starters I owe my love of reading to my second or third grade school teacher, Ms. Hilda Bowman. She taught at Mifflin Elementary, and I still have a school picture of her, I thought she was an old lady when I was in her class, but looking back she was actually a young woman. She always read to the class, and the book that absolutely facinated me was "The Boxcar Children". Each afternoon she would read us a chapter, and within a few days I was chomping at the bit to finish that book. I went to the library and got the book and finished it. Something about the story grabbed and held me, and after that I couldn't wait to find another book to enjoy.....and another. Ms. Bowman gave me something precious that has remained with me my entire life.
The second woman who really enhanced my love of reading was a Cleveland newscaster, Dorothy Fuldheim. She is exactly who I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember watching her on the One O'clock club with Bill Gordon in the summer when I was out of school. Every Thursday Dorothy would do a book review. Always beautifully dressed, and often wearing an orchid corsage on her wrist, she would discuss the book of the week. Even though her reviews were not aimed at the average ten or twelve year old, I often got the book from the library because she had piqued my interest. I can't believe there were many girls my age looking forward to 'Thursday afternoon book reviews by Dorothy Fuldheim.....but there you are. When she did interviews on the news I watched with rapt attention. She met and talked with the most important people of the fifties and sixties, not intimidated by their fame or fawning in her interviews as she dug for the truth. I thought she was amazing then, and I still do. This was not a woman who wiggled her way into a career....Dorothy Fuldheim was not the short skirted weather girl on the evening news. A woman with the expression and mane of the Metro Goldwyn Mayer lion that roared in the opening movie credits throughout my youth, Dorothy's career was based upon her wit and intellect. So, of course, if she said "read this book" I read that book!
Of all the things one can enjoy I consider reading the greatest blessing. I have traveled the world.....met kings and queens.....flown airplanes and captained submarines.....all through the pages of a book. I am grateful to these two women for giving me the gift of curiosity and the ability to satisfy it through reading.
I hope my grandchildren are lucky enough to have a Hilda Bowman.....and the country could sure use a strong woman in the spotlight with the strength and intellect of a Dorothy Fuldheim. I was so fortunate to be in a generation that had an abundance of interesting role models instead of sour faced runway models. I am forever in their debt, and I will always try to pay it forward. Life is good.
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