Reflections on Turning 59:
Sometimes I am arrogant enough to think my death will mean that no one will be reading books the way I do--and the world will suffer--and I mean that far less selfishly and less egotistically than that may sound. Feel free to laugh.
I mean that I have read and have trained and have practiced to be a Reader, so I should be able to recognize and understand what is true and what is not true--and others will not have trained so long or so hard or so well as I have.
That's been my motivation as a teacher since 1990 (and even before, as a friend): to share, to guide, to model.
Reading well takes practice and guidance and more practice.
I think I have been a true reader since my early teens, and I have worked at it for decades and decades, trying to teach my own students to Read Like Readers, but more importantly to Read Like Writers.
I still need to write the books I want to write.
Not done yet. That's the battle-cry.
