Mike Billington's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading-literacy-teaching"
Barbara Bush was a champion for literacy
I have been a writer for most of my life but before I ever put pen to paper I was - and still am - a reader.
I know, I know... that sounds old fashioned in a digital world in which sound and images fly at us from television sets, laptops, and cellphones but it's true. So, while most Americans boast that they haven't actually read a book since high school or college, I still carry a couple of them in my backpack as I go for my daily walk and I have a couple hundred on my Kindle.
Which brings me to the point of this blog: I'm writing this now by way of commenting on the passing of former First Lady Barbara Bush and an incident that occurred back when I worked as a business columnist for the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.
In those days, I focused a fair number of my columns on the importance of education, specifically the need for those who want to be successful to read a wide variety of books. In one of those columns I wrote about South Florida teachers who were so committed to that idea that they were spending their own money to buy books for students who couldn't otherwise afford them.
After writing it I then wrote a letter to Mrs. Bush and included a copy of that column because, as First Lady, she was a champion for improved literacy. I must admit that I didn't actually expect to hear back from her; my letter was little more than an effort to let her know that there were people out in the world who agreed with her position. I was, therefore, more than a little surprised to receive a letter from the White House saying that she appreciated the fact I had let her know about these remarkable teachers and that she had personally written to each of them to thank them for what they had done on behalf of their students.
I mention this because she didn't have to do that. As First Lady she received thousands of letters from people on a range of issues. But while she could have simply filed my letter, she took the time to respond to me and to those teachers - I hadn't asked her to write them - because literacy was a cause she truly did believe in. It wasn't, for her, some public relations issue - something that her advisers dreamed up but which she didn't really care about.
I thought about that letter of mine and her responses to me and those teachers when I heard the news of her passing and it struck me once again how deeply committed to literacy she really was. Since then I have heard from many friends and readers who took a moment to share similar stories. Some are teachers, a few are librarians, and at least one is a doctor at a hospital where Mrs. Bush spent time reading to children when she visited it.
Now, I have to also admit that I did not agree with many of the policies of her husband or her son when they occupied the White House. That said, I also have to say that I was terribly saddened at her passing because her death means the world has lost a real advocate for the cause of literacy.
Reading is, as Tina Fey once said, the foundation of everything. If you can read you can learn mathematics, write computer codes, pen a novel or a movie script, or simply spend a quiet hour or two relaxing with a good book.
Barbara Bush understood that.
I just wish more people did.
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KCABGK
I know, I know... that sounds old fashioned in a digital world in which sound and images fly at us from television sets, laptops, and cellphones but it's true. So, while most Americans boast that they haven't actually read a book since high school or college, I still carry a couple of them in my backpack as I go for my daily walk and I have a couple hundred on my Kindle.
Which brings me to the point of this blog: I'm writing this now by way of commenting on the passing of former First Lady Barbara Bush and an incident that occurred back when I worked as a business columnist for the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.
In those days, I focused a fair number of my columns on the importance of education, specifically the need for those who want to be successful to read a wide variety of books. In one of those columns I wrote about South Florida teachers who were so committed to that idea that they were spending their own money to buy books for students who couldn't otherwise afford them.
After writing it I then wrote a letter to Mrs. Bush and included a copy of that column because, as First Lady, she was a champion for improved literacy. I must admit that I didn't actually expect to hear back from her; my letter was little more than an effort to let her know that there were people out in the world who agreed with her position. I was, therefore, more than a little surprised to receive a letter from the White House saying that she appreciated the fact I had let her know about these remarkable teachers and that she had personally written to each of them to thank them for what they had done on behalf of their students.
I mention this because she didn't have to do that. As First Lady she received thousands of letters from people on a range of issues. But while she could have simply filed my letter, she took the time to respond to me and to those teachers - I hadn't asked her to write them - because literacy was a cause she truly did believe in. It wasn't, for her, some public relations issue - something that her advisers dreamed up but which she didn't really care about.
I thought about that letter of mine and her responses to me and those teachers when I heard the news of her passing and it struck me once again how deeply committed to literacy she really was. Since then I have heard from many friends and readers who took a moment to share similar stories. Some are teachers, a few are librarians, and at least one is a doctor at a hospital where Mrs. Bush spent time reading to children when she visited it.
Now, I have to also admit that I did not agree with many of the policies of her husband or her son when they occupied the White House. That said, I also have to say that I was terribly saddened at her passing because her death means the world has lost a real advocate for the cause of literacy.
Reading is, as Tina Fey once said, the foundation of everything. If you can read you can learn mathematics, write computer codes, pen a novel or a movie script, or simply spend a quiet hour or two relaxing with a good book.
Barbara Bush understood that.
I just wish more people did.
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KCABGK
