- Leaning Tower of Literacy?
Sometimes keeping a promise is difficult – especially when it is a promise to yourself. Case in point: Nyel and I vowed that, for every day it rained, we would clean out one of those interminable boxes that have been lurking in our back storage area. Yesterday it rained…
It might have been the fourth or fifth rainy day since we made our promise so, as you might expect, the ‘easiest’ boxes have been done. Yesterday’s box was full of old paperback books, pamphlets, travel brochures, books written by family friends (some going back to the 1910s), instructional leaflets – well, you get the idea.
And, on the surface, it should have been easy. We haven’t seen the inside of that box for at least fifteen years. Logically, we should have been able to pitch the whole thing. But, no…
First of all they were books! And printed stuff! Sacred, somehow. Secondly, among them were books and articles written by people we knew. Or by people my folks knew. There was even a 1983 edition of “Emmy Magazine” with the lead article “Th-Th-That’s All, Folks” TV Animators on the Ropes by my son, Charles M. Howell IV.
Even though I have other copies, I couldn’t bear to throw out this one. After all, it’s a collector’s item! It was written just about the time Charlie turned from the drawing end of animation to the writing end. Who knew then that eventually he would end up a three-time Emmy winner (speaking of Emmies) for his work as script writer/story editor/ producer of “Pinky and the Brain?” That magazine was a definite keeper.
Then there were several over-sized paperback ‘coffee table’ type books about Washington’s coast or small towns in the Northwest that featured photographs of our house. Couldn’t throw those away. And what about “The Roxbury Latin School Quinquennial Catalog and Alumni Directory, 1645-1976?” My father graduated from Roxbury Latin in 1926 and had been given this treasure when he went to his 50th reunion. Keep.
And, there was the Teacher’s Manual to Accompany “Understanding Our Feelings, An Adventure in Classroom Role-playing” written in 1969 by Sydney LaRue. Me, in another incarnation. My first published book!
Well… that was how it went. I’m happy to say that we did empty the box and have set most of its contents aside for Friends of the Library. Most. We have places in mind for the rest. Promise kept!
But wouldn’t you know? It’s raining again today…
Sydney, though not to the same extent, I’ve been there done that. I’ve even got the T-shirt! as recent as this week, finishing up our last move from Cali to Beaverton. Nessasary yes, easy no! fun sometimes.
all we can do is one at a time untill done. Progress is sometimes measured by the no. of boxes we have at the end, vs what we started with. Good luck!
Sydney, you’re reminding me more and more of your mom, and how she would clean closets before leaving on a trip. Exfoliating books, especially those by or including family, friends, homes, etc., is excruciating. I keep moving printed matter out of the “boxes” to another box, hoping a better solution (magical space) will appear. I’m currently pitching file folders. Recently found a poem and note from your ancestor, Willard, which I automatically placed in a file of Things To Be Dealt with Later. My father spent his latter years writing to larger libraries (with archives of authors), offering books and papers–sometimes they even paid him, which was his ultimate goal, even if shipping the books cost more than the reward. And then he left the rest for me to deal with….