Quote have I loved
Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terebithia and so much more, in her words upon becoming National Ambassador for Young People's Lit:
"Read for your life," Paterson told the young people in the audience. "Read for your life as a member of a family, as a part of a community, as a citizen of this country and a citizen of the world."
Even more happily, I find Scripps Howard was there and talked to my high school boss at the late Cheshire Cat Bookstore, Jewell Stoddard.
Five minutes later, still Googling –
Thrilled to come across a reference in an old Marc Fisher chat to Mark Lewis, a D.C. teacher who spent hours in the Cheshire Cat during my time there. The reader's chat comment: "Really enjoyed your column today about Mark Lewis. I was a kid working part-time at the Cheshire Cat bookstore in the mid '90s, and Mark was in all the time, looking for recommendations and new stuff on the shelves. Sometimes he'd run into a student or two of his, and the kids would light up."
So curious to know who the commenter was because that was when I was there, and the description nails it. Lewis' students went crazy to run into him there, and the occurrence wasn't rare. He was a terrifically nice guy and one of our store's favorite customers. If you read a single column today from a paper, read Fisher's '05 column about Lewis here.
Update five more minutes later: Adding post tags, just found I blogged that Fisher column in '05. This marks the first time ever I've blogged something twice without realizing. Still on the high of thinking about Lewis, I'm okay with that and glad I remember him the same way.
Update 10 more minutes later: Just posted these links to Cheshire Cat colleague Amanda's Facebook page and had another realization: What if the commenter in the chat was maybe me? The commenter was from Arlington, where I certainly lived in '05. I am getting old. Time for bed.
