Childhood Memories

We moved to the city when I was six. My dad always said he gave up the farm because of the symphony and the library.We used to go to the public library every Saturday morning, mom and dad upstairs and us kids downstairs. We could borrow four books for two weeks, so we'd have two batches going at once.I read Treasure Island in French and about forty times in English. I read a prequel called The Adventures of Ben Gunn and a sequel called Back to Treasure Island.(Years later, I read Rien Poortvliet's books in Dutch. My parents had spoken Low German to each other when they didn't want us to know what they were saying. I never learned to speak it, but I could understand more than they thought - and Dutch is a lot like Low German.)I read Kidnapped and The Black Arrow. I read The Treasure Hunt of the S-18 and The Return of the Alaskan and Master of Morgana - I always liked boats. My little brother liked Freddie the Pig, so I read that whole series too.I especially liked Edwin Tunis' books about colonial living and craftsmen, etc. I liked books on how to make things. (My other passion is tools, but I'll leave that for another chapter.)Today I have an extimated seven hundred books in my living room, and many more hidden away in cupboards and closets.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

I had to Google Elsie. Did you know she's available at Project Gutenberg?

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

When I was a kid, our local newspaper used a machine the size of a piano that chunked little lead slugs together to format the pages.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC