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Fanfare, v. 2, issue 1, whole no. 7, August 1941
Page 6
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v 1 fanfare STF Recollections by sinn-yk-uhss "Like to read, hah?" asked the old buck, as he somewhat irritatedly eyed the sloppily dressed kid that had been asking for the loan of a book. "Yuh," said the kid, "an' Harry said you had a lot an' probably would let me take some of 'em." Such was the beginning of a long session of book borrowing. The kid was eight, and the old buck was eight time eight, or more. The kid is still around, but the old buck has been dead for some years now, but yet alive in the kid's memory, if unknown and unsung elsewhere. For it was among the long since borrowed books that the kid was first infected with the virus of scientifiction. The needle was the one masterpiece of the great master that had at all captured the fancy of the American public. Jules Verne's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA! Picture the impact of this DIFFERENT story on the eager mind of the kid. Here was a book, yes sir, a real printed book with a cloth binding that no one could say was paper-covered trash and take away, half read---but still a story that really went places; in which no love story interfered wth the action; whose vivid narrative was laced with scientific names, scarce understood, but avidly read and treasured. Enlarge that picture to include the depths of misery and blank incomprehension that were the kid's when he found out that there was no more by that author, and that such stuff was just tolerated, not welcomed, among the libraries of his elders, on the basis that they tended to give on pipe-dreams. And so, there was a glimpse into the mysterious workings of the minds of older folks. If anything was agreeable, there was but one thing to do about it, and that was--squelch it! How sadly true that discovery was, and how persistently it still permeates the New England air, even today. Whether it is the lingering Puritan influence or what, is a matter for a little speculation. However, the name VERNE, was stamped in letters of fire upon the kid's brain, and eager was the serch and long, before he came upon more of the works of the great master. Next, there came a real discovery, and it happened peculiarly, among other things besides reading, was a habit of following paths, simply to find out where they went. The more used they appeared, the more fascinating. Being in grade school at the time, there was sometimes a liesure half hour that could be used in this pastime, and it was while idly wandering down one of these paths, an old favorite, that an EVENT of great importance took place.
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v 1 fanfare STF Recollections by sinn-yk-uhss "Like to read, hah?" asked the old buck, as he somewhat irritatedly eyed the sloppily dressed kid that had been asking for the loan of a book. "Yuh," said the kid, "an' Harry said you had a lot an' probably would let me take some of 'em." Such was the beginning of a long session of book borrowing. The kid was eight, and the old buck was eight time eight, or more. The kid is still around, but the old buck has been dead for some years now, but yet alive in the kid's memory, if unknown and unsung elsewhere. For it was among the long since borrowed books that the kid was first infected with the virus of scientifiction. The needle was the one masterpiece of the great master that had at all captured the fancy of the American public. Jules Verne's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA! Picture the impact of this DIFFERENT story on the eager mind of the kid. Here was a book, yes sir, a real printed book with a cloth binding that no one could say was paper-covered trash and take away, half read---but still a story that really went places; in which no love story interfered wth the action; whose vivid narrative was laced with scientific names, scarce understood, but avidly read and treasured. Enlarge that picture to include the depths of misery and blank incomprehension that were the kid's when he found out that there was no more by that author, and that such stuff was just tolerated, not welcomed, among the libraries of his elders, on the basis that they tended to give on pipe-dreams. And so, there was a glimpse into the mysterious workings of the minds of older folks. If anything was agreeable, there was but one thing to do about it, and that was--squelch it! How sadly true that discovery was, and how persistently it still permeates the New England air, even today. Whether it is the lingering Puritan influence or what, is a matter for a little speculation. However, the name VERNE, was stamped in letters of fire upon the kid's brain, and eager was the serch and long, before he came upon more of the works of the great master. Next, there came a real discovery, and it happened peculiarly, among other things besides reading, was a habit of following paths, simply to find out where they went. The more used they appeared, the more fascinating. Being in grade school at the time, there was sometimes a liesure half hour that could be used in this pastime, and it was while idly wandering down one of these paths, an old favorite, that an EVENT of great importance took place.
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