Sunday evening we had a family gathering to celebrate the 3rd birthday anniversary of a granddaughter.  I know a few people who are weirdly technical about people just saying “birthday.”

   They are quick to remind me that we all only have one “birthday” – the rest are anniversaries.  I usually just want to say to them, “If you want to split hairs and get all technical about how things are customarily said, I could probably make your life pretty miserable in short order.”

   Anyway, Phoebe turned three.  We had outdoor and indoor decorations, karaoke singing, brisket and mac and cheese, a walk in the neighborhood to see Halloween decorations, cake and ice cream, and the opening of gifts.

   Among the gifts Phoebe received was a book from us entitled, “I Am 3 & I Spy Everything” (Josephine Madron- 2026).  I was pleased to see that she was pleased and interested in the book.

   A friend of mine (he has sometimes referred to me as an almost adequate friend), likes to repeat a motto that I believe he learned from his wife, who used to be a school administrator.  The motto is:  “Readers are Leaders.”

   I’ve referred to him here before.  He is very well read,  especially when it comes to World War 2 history,  baseball history,  and motion picture history.  And his “super power” is that he has a remarkable memory.

   Learning to read opens up the world to a person.  Statistics I have read indicate that Utah has a 9% illiteracy rate.  That’s better than the national average of 14.7 percent.   Kofi Annan said, “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.”

   I was reminded recently of a story from my grandpa’s life.  Grandpa died in 1973,  just before his 95th birthday…umm… anniversary.   Many years ago, grandpa  and some of his brothers had sheep over by Maple Grove near Scipio. The story has come down that they had a hired man working for them over there.  The man was having some trouble at home with his wife.

   One day the guy showed up at the sheep camp and had with him a letter from his wife.  He carried the letter with him for a day or two.  He was agitated about it.  The problem he had was that he couldn’t read.  He also wanted to maintain privacy about his troubles at home.

    He finally approached one of the owners of the sheep company, presumably a great uncle of mine, with a request.  He proposed the idea that the guy who could read would take the letter and read it out loud.  But while he was reading, the non-reader hired man would stand behind the reader with his hands over the ears of the reader, thereby preventing the reader from hearing the words of the letter.  That strategy, he thought,  would keep the information private.

   Whether that story is based on fact, I don’t know for sure.  But it’s been carried down for a lot of years in my family.  I was acquainted with the two sons of that non-reading man.

   One of those boys spent a lot of time at the milkhouse at our small dairy cow operation.   It was said of his older brother that he might have been the only graduate of the high school who never learned to write his last name.

   I’ve noticed that the movie “Sense and Sensibility” – a Jane Austen book story, is playing at one of the theaters in Sanpete right now.  I haven’t seen it yet, but it has reminded me that I saw “Pride and Prejudice” on stage at the Ruth Hale theater in Pleasant Grove last month.  That reminded me that I’ve been intending to read a Jane Austen novel for more than 50 years now.

   I know a young Sanpete woman named Emma – a namesake of a Jane Austen title character.  She has been encouraging me to watch the Keira Knightly movie version of “Pride and Prejudice.”

   I’m not opposed to it.  I mean, it is Keira Knightly after all.  I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.   I think I’ve evolved, for better or worse,  in getting over the resistance to Jane Austen stories based on the idea that they’re just “girly stories.”

   Otherwise, I’m currently reading several books.  Yes, I often keep a few going at a time, even if it’s a slow process.  I have space to perhaps mention a couple of them.

   I’ve had one borrowed from a friend (not the same one mentioned before) for a year or more.  I know he sometimes reads this column.  So if you’re reading this B.K. –  and you want the book back immediately, let me know.  Otherwise, you will get it back – eventually.

   I’m still reading it and enjoying it.  It’s titled “Luckiest Man – The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig”  (Jonathan Eig – 2005).  It’s a great baseball biography.

   I loved this legendary story in the book about Gehrig’s beginning as the starting first baseman for the Yankees.  Wally Pipp showed up at the stadium and complained of a headache.  The manager, Miller Huggins told him, “Wally, take the day off.  We’ll try that kid Gehrig at first today and get you back in there tomorrow.”

   Pipp never got back. As the book states, “Gehrig played every game, in sickness and health, through streaks and slumps, with broken bones and high fevers, from Babe Ruth to Joe DiMaggio, for almost fourteen years.”

   The book indicates that the story that has become legend may not be as simple or as accurate as has been told.  But parts of it live on with the phrase, “Don’t get Pipped!”  The moral of the story is: “Take a day off and you’ll suffer for it..”

   I’m also reading “Sunset Pass” by Zane Grey (1931).  It’s the first Zane Grey book I’ve read.  He’s been called the greatest novelist of the American West.

   Probably his best known book is “Riders of the Purple Sage.” (1912)  It is set in the canyons and deserts of Utah.

   We stayed a night or two with my wife’s aunt and uncle in New Jersey many years ago.  They insisted on giving us their bed.  On Uncle Bill’s side of the bed were  lots of  (I’d say 30 – 50)   Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey western novels.  That’s when I decided I wanted to read those authors.  It’s taken a long time to get to Zane Grey.

   Favorite Zane Grey quotes: ” Fishing is a condition of mind wherein you cannot possibly have a bad time.”  “I can write best in the silence and solitude of the night, when everyone has retired.”  “Never insult seven men, when all you’re packing is a six-shooter.”

   Let’s find more moments for reading Sanpete.  I think Dr. Seuss was right, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  (from: I Can Read with My Eyes Shut)  — Merrill