Writing has always been important to me.  Ever since the first grade when I read the story of King Arthur, good writing has conjured images of romance, drama, comedy and tragedy that are far more vivid than anything movie or television screens can present. With this love in mind, I was recently offered the opportunity to facilitate a reading group called “Read About It!.”  Sponsored by the Pennyslvania Humanities Council, it provided four memoirs to each group member that highlighted the adventures of four people of different backgrounds as they have lived in America.  These authors were: James McBride, who wrote of having a Jewish mother and black father; Esmeralda Santiago, who described her childhood in the Puerto Rico of the 1950′s/60′s; Firoozeh Dumas, who was an Iranian girl growing up in Whittier, California; and Frank McCourt, who is an Irish immigrant to the USA.  Their books were respectively, The Color of Water, When I Was Puerto Rican, Funny in Farsi and Tis.  This rich treasure trove of new images led me to jump on the opportunity with both feet. Each of these stories brought insights to the group’s readers about how America with its particular ways of doing things looks to outsiders.  Seeing what is “natural” to us from the perspective of others led the group to reconsider what it is that we do and why.  As a result, a lot of learning has gone occured. Such is the power of reading.

For more infomation about this program and similar ones offered by the Humanities Council, go to: http://www.pahumanities.org/.  It’ll be worth your time and perhaps benefit your community at large.  I know it has here in my town of Mercersburg.