The Dictionary
The Dictionary
In Tularosa school, first or second
grade. I was in the bathroom and
got called to the principal’s office
where I was worried I would
be punished for some infraction.
Instead, the principal presented
me with a dictionary. He had seen
me carrying an old battered one
around the school—my early love
of knowledge and words—and gave
me the signed dictionary. It became
a prized possession. Later, my parents
purchased us a set of Encyclopedia Britannica
which must have set them back a fortune
and which I enjoyed reading “for fun” in my
thirst for knowledge.
My early childhood educational tools included a set of "The American Peoples' Encyclopedia" which was marketed by Sears back in the late '40's or early '50's, and some of my father's books on NJ and Revolutionary War history, and some of my mother's on metaphysical/psychic stuff. I did not understand much of what I read at first, of course. One of my sister's friends, ten years older than I was, gave me a hardback copy of "Huckleberry Finn" in fourth grade. That was my introduction to fine literature. Thank God for free public libraries, our local ones in Mercer County NJ enriched my mind in amazing ways.—Bill Adams
When I was in junior high, I would go to the public library across the street from the school and check out a book in the morning. Most times, I would have it read by the end of the day and was ready to repeat the cycle the next day.