When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my grandpa Wagner sent me a book. It was “The Book of Baseball.” I wish I still had it, because I taught myself the game of baseball by reading this book. Because she could see my interest, my big sister took me to the little league tryouts across town. I think we rode bicycles to get there. My first team was “the Bees” and I loved the game. I think I was 9 or 10. In those days it was not uncommon for a 6, 7, 8 9 or 10 year old to explore and play unsupervised all over the city.
I played three positions: right field, pitcher, and third base. I would ride my bike across town to practices and games. I set up a car tire in my front yard and would pitch into the center working on my various pitches. I taught myself golf from Ben Hogan’s classic book on the subject.
I remember checking out a book on karate, and becoming enamored with the physical discipline espoused and recommended calisthenics. In particular, I remember focusing on pushups. I did pushups like mad for a whole day, and remember being so sore the next day that I was almost feverish and sick from the shredded chest muscles as I walked to school the next day experiencing the regret of over exuberance.
My Mom used “sending me to my room” as a standard disciplinary action. The only thing to do in my room was read and re-read my book collection, or stare at the world map I had on my wall. After a few years of this, I had basic geography down pat. So, I developed a habit of enjoying reading and studying maps. I had an “11th grade reading level” according to the test at the time, in 3rd grade, even though I was a year younger than my classmates having begun school at 4 years of age.
My favorite pastime at school was to go to the library and peruse the encyclopedia collections which were organized by topic in alphabetical order. I loved pulling various encyclopedias at random and opening a page and reading what was there; closest thing to the “Internet” in those days. I also loved reading Readers Digest, TV Guide, National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, and Popular Science magazines. I still have a pile of maps I collected from National Geographic magazines that were included in every issue; maps of the world, maps of countries, of oceans and rivers, the moon, other planets, regions, eras, cultures and so on. Funny, I liked reading the advertisements nearly as much as the articles. The marketing world of the early 70s was very different than today.
I guess the point of today’s blog entry is to exhort you to make regular reading a daily habit. It really is a great way to learn and expand your mind. Currently, I am trying to re-read a page a day out of a great book called “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. A wonderful little book originally written in 1911 as a primer on good writing technique. This book demystified good writing and proper English for me. It was and is so succinct and to the point. Reading it was a great relief compared to the endlessly boring and insufferable English text books typically foisted upon me as a student.
My dad always said that education was simply forced reading. So, embrace the suck, and incorporate more reading, non-fiction preferably, into your array of 365 commitments.
Ben Wagner (50)
Member 365 Commitment
