A teacher enlarges people in all sorts of ways besides just his subject matter.”
Wallace Stenger: Crossing to Safety
I came across this book when reading about Mary Anne Schwalbe in The End of Your Life Book Club, written by her son, Will. Mary Anne was nothing short of incredible: among other worthy endeavors, she was the founder of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and she built libraries in Afganistan! She loved the book Crossing to Safety so of course I read it myself (and it is one of my favorites!)
“How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these? Where are the things that novelists seize upon and readers expect? Where is the high life, the conspicuous waste, the violence, the kinky sex, the death wish? Where are the suburban infidelities, the promiscuities, the convulsive divorces, the alcohol, the drugs, the lost weekends? Where are the hatreds, the political ambitions, the lust for power? Where are speed, noise, ugliness, everything that makes us who we are and makes us recognize ourselves in fiction?”
The book, as you might infer is about teachers and writers and enduring friendship and not a lot of what is in the above quote. It celebrates the best in life without being sentimental. Pick it up and let me know what you think.
And, do one thing to show the world the best version of yourself today.
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