Turning the Final Page

My area’s Barnes & Noble bookstore is beginning the process of clearing its selves in order to go out of business. When someone buys the last remaining book later this year, I fear the repercussion will be much worse than just another empty store front at the Prescott (Arizona) Gateway Mall.

Thanks to my dear Amy, a self-proclaimed book addict, I’m finding myself spending more time in between the covers of a hardcover or paperback book. I’ve read books on living after a divorce; guides to being a good father; and information on the criminal, educational, moral, and emotional damage children suffer when their father is absent and disinterested. I’ve read biographies of George Washington, John Adams, Grover Cleveland, John Dillinger, Babe Ruth, Harry Carey, Bobby Knight and Edward R. Murrow. I’ve read the actual letters and speeches of Abraham Lincoln and an intriguing investigation of the rivalry between John Wilkes Booth and his brother Edwin. I’ve read the autobiographies of journalism icons Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw; and how numerous television, radio, print and photo journalists reacted during the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I’ve read about the 1906 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox and the 1954 Milan (Indiana) High School basketball state championship team, the inspiration for the movie Hoosiers. I’ve learned the tricks of professional poker and blackjack players, bowlers, and magicians. I’m currently on the ninth book of an 11 book fantasy series with rangers and knights fighting warlords and robbers and I’m a quarter of the way through The Resolution for Men, the companion book to the movie Courageous (see My Vow to be Courageous).

I’ve read the works of authors John Flanagan, David McCullough, SQuire Rushnell (why he capitalizes the Q, I do not know), Laurie Beth Jones, Carl Sagan, Tony Dungy and filmmaker Ken Burns.

I’ve read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, The Quest for Character by John MacArthur, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, Leadership Secrets from the Bible by Lorin Wolfe and the writings and recollections of John, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Paul, Moses and others printed in the Bible.

Waiting patiently for my attention is the autobiography of Charles Kuralt; the biography of Ronald Reagan; the guide to active and effective teaching by Ron Clark; the creation, characters and controversies at ESPN; the myths and facts regarding the death of James A. Garfield; and the weird and often comical plight of accused Cold War spy Judith Coplon.

Advances in technology are the supposed cause of Barnes & Noble’s demise. Amazon is selling books electronically to Kindles and Nooks. However, devices like computers and “E-Readers” are obsolete a few months after they’re sold and eventually lose their charge and “crash.” Barring fire or flood, words on pages bound in a book stand the test of time.

If literature is “Food for the Mind”, how long before our brains starve? - if they haven’t already.