In Honor Of Mrs. Crabtree

I love to read. It's been a passion of mine since the fourth grade and I owe it all to Mrs. Crabtree, my childhood next door neighbor. My mother, brother and I moved to Raleigh NC about a year after my dad passed away from a sudden and unexpected heart attack. It left us all pretty traumatized. I remember the first summer we moved to Raleigh, I was driving my mom crazy. Not knowing anyone in the neighborhood, I kept bugging her to be my playmate. Evidently, Mrs. Crabtree noticed this and took pity on my mom. As the children's librarian for the Raleigh library, she knew the solution. One day there magically appeared in our living room a tall stack of books. My mom encouraged me to give them a try, but I had no interest in reading at that point, so they sat on my bedside table for about a week. Finally, desperate for something to do, I picked up the top one. It was like a bear trap snapping closed on me. In over 45 years it's never let go. Mrs. Crabtree knew what a young boy would love, and provided me with a steady stream of books -- Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine, Black Beauty, Tom Swift and...Well just about anything related to Tom Swift I loved. I share this now because one of the things I most love is to discover a new author, fiction or nonfiction, it doesn't matter. I love all of it, but it seems harder these days to find a fiction writer that I really like. And last week I found a new one -- at least new to me though he's been around for many years, but somehow our paths had never crossed. In our local library's foyer, there is a small bookcase where they keep a steady stream of used books for sale for the outrageous price of 25 cents. That's where I found MATILDA by Paul Gallico. I picked it up a couple months ago figuring one day I'd get around to giving it a try, which I did about a week ago. Bear trap time again. I found the storyline to be quirky, humorous and refreshing. (Matilda is a kangaroo who becomes an amazing middleweight boxing champion.) And the best of all good news! Gallico has written at least 18 other books. I borrowed THE MAN WHO WAS MAGIC from the library this past week and finished it in less than 48 hours. Tonight, I'm going to give MANXMOUSE: the Mouse who Knew No Fear a try. In my 5 minutes of research -- (http://www.paulgallico.info/gallicobiog.html) -- that I did to write this personal reflection, I learned that Gallico died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday. A couple other of his well known books include THE SNOW GOOSE and MRS. 'ARRIS GOES TO PARIS. No doubt I'll get to those in due course.) Thank you Mrs. Crabtree, wherever you may be. You started me on a habit over which I'll never get.