When I was in the 5th grade, 1965-66, I got pneumonia and had to stay home from school for several weeks. I was a voracious reader then but can't remember many of the books in particular. But when I had pneumonia I couldn't use either the school library or the local municipal library. And I had a lot of time on my hands staying in bed all day. So my Dad got me books. And while I don't remember the titles/authors I do remember the subjects: mainly biographies.
A book on Edison of course but another on Steinmetz, too. Charles P. Steinmetz, born in Europe, emigrated to the USA. An engineer of the highest grade who worked for General Electric. People like Tesla dreamed up the new and formerly impossible but men like Steinmetz made those ideas real. I'm not sure most appreciate the nearly endless grind in getting a product to work, then making it better and always, making it cheaper. The development side of R&D is underappreciated.
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Thomas Edison
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Charles Steinmetz
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Lou Gehrig
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And finally I remember a book on Lou Gehrig who I had never heard of before (this was in the Milwaukee area, the Braves were about to depart for Atlanta. Henry Aaron, Rico Carty, Warren Spahn and Eddie Matthews were the baseball names I knew). But from then on Lou was my favorite historical player (at least over Babe Ruth).
I don't know how my Dad picked out the books, he was never one to waste time on stuff, maybe he just asked the librarian to suggest books but the books were wonderful. I developed an enduring interest in reading biographies. So expect more "book reports" like the one on Wes Schum from yesterday.
https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/book-report-wes-schum-amateur-radios.html
I also remember talking to the Maple Dale grade school librarian, Mrs. Shoup, near the end of 8th grade. She mentioned that she was encouraged that I liked to read books but she wasn't so sure about my taste (I read a lot of science fiction). And I was thinking to myself: "weren't you the one who picked all of these books ? Why pick stuff you don't think is worthwhile for kids ? :)
Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm
