Several years ago, while still the Superintendent of Britton-Macon Area School, I shared books with my staff on opening days. I presented a different one for the final eight years of my tenure: Tuesdays with Morrie, Who Moved My Cheese, all the Tom Brokaw “greatest generation books”, and numerous others. Mitch Album’s Tuesdays with Morrie was my first in September of 1999.
Ruth had given me an autographed copy of the book the previous Christmas. I didn’t read it because my dad was ill at the time, and I wasn’t ready to read about the death of a loved one. Dad died in June of 1999, and I read the book during a trip to Vegas prior to the opening of the new school year. It reminded me of my last nine months with him. I called my secretary and asked her to purchase several copies of the book so I could share it with my staff on the opening day of school.
They liked the book, and one teacher asked if he could purchase a set to use with his English class. I said, “Yes”, but I’m not sure how many years he used it.
I cried during most of my sharing. I spoke about my dad and my Uncle Harry dying that summer. They were best friends since their teens, married sisters, raised their families under similar conditions, grew old and ill together and died within ten days of each other. Uncle Harry on June 17th and Dad on the 27th.
I’ve been sorting through several things in my condo over the past few weeks. It’s my first attempt at paring things down. I’ve got hundreds of books that will be better suited in a library or thrift store. I’m not going to read them again.
In any case, I ran across a book, The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease. If you look him up, you’ll find something like this.
During his time working for the Springfield Daily News, Trelease began weekly volunteer visits to community classrooms to talk to children about journalism and art as possible careers. Trelease noticed that many of the students in these classrooms did not read much for pleasure, whereas those who did most often came from classrooms where teachers read aloud daily and incorporated Sustained Silent Reading into the daily class routine. Trelease began to think that there may be a connection between reading to a child and its desire to read. It turned out that there was in fact a correlation. However, the information and research were published in education journals or written in academic language that exceeded the understanding of the average parent or teacher. So, Trelease was inspired to write and self-publish the first edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook in 1979.
One of my teachers, Sue, attended a Trelease workshop after I shared Album’s book. At the conclusion of the workshop, Sue spoke with Trelease about me providing copies of Album’s book for my staff. He called me the following summer, told me of his conversation with Sue, and asked me to retell the tale for him. When we finished speaking, he asked me for permission to include the story in the next edition of his book. I said, “yes” and you’ll find his version of my story on pages 172 and 173 of his fifth edition.
I received an autographed copy and a thank you from Trelease just prior to the opening of school in 2001. I haven’t read the entire book, but it’s a treasure I plan to keep. I chose to share a simple story about my dad and my uncle that was similar to Album’s final days with Morrie. The similarities spoke to me and that’s why the book became important. It was truly special.
It’s one thing to attempt to inspire the people that work with you and something more when they publicly recognize your efforts. I’m thankful for both.
