Monday, October 15, 2007

www.whiteville.com

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff writer

I cannot recall not knowing how to read.

I grew up in a family that depended on words for our food; still, while words put dinner on the table, they were dessert, too. Most everyone in my family always read as much for pleasure as out of need. I married a bookworm, and much of our house is filled with books and bookshelves.

I try to read at least two newspapers every day – real newspapers, not those infuriating Internet versions, although I read those, too. I read my Bible daily, and there’s usually some kind of non-fiction book near my chair at home. I feel cheated if I don’t get to read at least a chapter from a favorite novel at bedtime.

I know there was a time I couldn’t read, because it’s a learned skill; Mother always loved describing how I suddenly picked up a newspaper one day and began reading aloud, stumbling over some words but getting most of them right.

Reading has just always been a part of my life, and I fervently pray it always will be.

So I was both shocked and disgusted by the recent study that showed how few Americans read a book last year. One in four people admitted not reading a single book last year.

Every time I turn around, there’s another study pointing out that fewer Americans read newspapers, opting instead for broadcast and Internet news. Since these studies are often performed at the behest of the broadcast and Internet companies, I don’t place a lot of stock in them, but I still worry that we’re forgetting how to read.

At the same time, sometimes I’m almost ashamed that I can read, and that I love to do so.

I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing John Corcoran last year. John was in Whiteville to help promote the Literacy Council, the volunteer organization that teaches children and adults to improve their reading skills (or in some case, teaches them to read). Brianna Johnson and the rest of the staff – not to mention all the volunteers down there – are heroes, in my humble opinion.

It takes guts to fight an uphill, underfunded battle, just as it takes guts to walk up to a total stranger, as many adults do, and say, “I can’t read.”

John Corcoran did just that; John had a learning disability, and used wits and charm to work around his illiteracy. He even managed to teach school, as well as found and run a successful real estate firm.

John learned any number of survival tricks, such as getting other people to read aloud and memorizing what other folks read to him in private. He did what he had to do, just as so many others who can’t read do what they must to get by.

Some have learning disabilities, like John; others have comprehension problems, and give up. There aren’t so many people these days who quit school to help out at home, and there have been darn few in the last quarter-century who failed to at least gain the most rudimentary of reading skills.

These folks have something of an excuse; that’s more than I can say for the one in four Americans who can read, but didn’t bother to read a book last year.

Don’t hand me the line about time. I’ll cheerfully compare time cards and volunteer schedules and church services with anyone.

Don’t try to tell me you don’t enjoy it. I don’t enjoy many of the things I read; I read them because I want to know how things work, what people are thinking, and how what’s being written could affect me and my family. Most devoted readers, though, often want to read something else when they’ve finished the mandatory stuff. It helps you decompress.

So please, folks, read. There are libraries and used book sales and bookstore galore that are just begging to be used.

And there are an awful lot of people who wish they had the ability which you take for granted.

– Jefferson Weaver is a staff writer with The News Reporter. He may be reached at 642-4104, ext. 227, or via e-mail at jeffweaver@newsreporter.biz.