Bill Speer

As I look back on my early school years now, Mrs. Stahl was a godsend.

Tough as nails if you didn’t behave, but fair and caring otherwise, this third-grade teacher understood me. It was she who I credit with encouraging my passion to read, and she who I credit for steering me into my professional career as a journalist.

I wish, years later, I would have made an effort to have thanked her for her encouragement. That opportunity long since has passed, but I thought of her a lot this week after reading news reports that Americans don’t pick up a book to read for pleasure much anymore.

Back in third grade, Mrs. Stahl made it mandatory that every student would read each day in her class, where the walls were lined with bookcases and books. Once she discovered my love for a good book, she would have some titles awaiting me on her desk that she would recommend I try.

One of those books was about a boy who started his own neighborhood newspaper. After reading the book and talking with her about its contents, it was she who suggested that perhaps one day I would write as well.

That night I could hardly sleep imagining what it would be like to write a story. Who would be my characters? What would the plot be? Where would the story take place? I’m sure I dreamed a thousand dreams that night thinking about it.

Mrs. Stahl not only encouraged me to read, but by doing so I was able to travel the world on each page of a book and learn about far away places. Through books, new worlds were at my fingertips and new experiences learned in every chapter.

I loved to read. After a day of school and a game of baseball with the neighbors outside, I would come in, have dinner, and many days retire to the bedroom to continue reading a good book.

At the time my favorite books were the Hardy Boys, and I couldn’t wait for each report card grading period when I would be allowed to purchase a new book if my grades were good. That was all the incentive I needed to keep those grades stellar.

My wife enjoyed similar experiences filled with fond memories with her reading habits and later, as parents, we made it a high priority with each of our boys to instill in them a love for reading.

Now, as parents of their own, they have done the same with their daughters and of course, Grandma and Grandpa have spoiled all four granddaughters with books aplenty over the years.

So what has happened to trigger a 40 percent decline over the past 20 years in pleasure reading in America today?

While certainly a number of factors are to blame, the biggest culprit is that little box in your purse or pocket that vibrates with every text, call or news update. Cell phones and digital media viewing have stolen precious minutes away from people who would have used that time in the past to pick up a good book.

It’s a shame, but really not all that surprising.

After you read this today, take a moment later to stop right where you are if you are out in public. How many of the people you see around you are looking at their phones, tablets or computers?

I’m as guilty as anyone. I know today I make much more use of digital media than I did 10 years ago. The difference, however, is that I still carve out time each day in my week for reading and studying.

I can’t imagine ever a time in my life where books and reading would not be important.

I’ll even offer some suggestions of books you might consider reading as autumn shows signs of heading to the region. While normally my genre for books is mysteries or suspense thrillers, here are three titles of books with a little more substance to them that I have enjoyed this year. They include:

— “Defying Jihad” by Esther Ahmad and Craig Borlase. This non-fiction story out of Pakistan will have you leaping from page to page.

— “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger is a fascinating tale of four Native American orphans who venture together across the Midwest in pursuit of a sense of community.

— “Cold Mountain” by Charles Frazier is a riveting story of a soldier’s return to his home after the end of the Civil War.

Yes, you still will find me often looking at the screen of my phone.

But trust me, I still enjoy discovering new adventures on the pages of a book even more.

Bill Speer retired in 2021 as the publisher and editor of The News. He can be reached at bspeer@thealpenanews.com.