Dusty Books

Predictable. I had money in my pocket, and I walked past a used bookstore everyday. Which meant, even though I am a painfully slow reader, my personal library got its start to the tune of a couple of books a week.

Many of them were suggested by the owner, the wife of a retired University of Maryland professor. She had an amazing knowledge of her inventory, and she was almost always right when she suggested something. She was the one who got me interested in Graham Greene — something way out of...