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.