Daniel relaxes with a little Tolstoy
It was 1963 and I was an 8th grader at St. Margaret’s Catholic School. It was the year that Peter, Paul and Mary were telling us that the answers were “Blowing in the Wind,” but unfortunately I had no idea what the questions were. Sister Philip Mary suggested that I might check the philosophy section at the Hartford County Library. In retrospect, she was probably only suggesting the likes of Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, but I fell first upon J.B. Philip’s text, “Your God is Too Small.” I panicked! If he’s right, I thought, I’m looking at some serious Purgatory time!
At Sister Philip Mary’s prodding, I continued to read. There was Kierkegaard, Sartre, Teilhard de Chardin, Camus, Kant, Dostoyevsky. You may be curious if I understood what I was reading…well…not exactly. I could always latch on to just one sentence with which to begin an after-school conversation though. Thus began my fascination with books…
So today, at Cherokee Creek, I still feed that facsination by helping our boys get their hands on the books they want to read. PaperbackSwap.com and book donations from parents and friends have allowed us to secure hundreds of books for our boys, newly awakened to the power of words and books. Hardly a day goes by that I do not receive a request for a book about pandas, or fly fishing, or WWII fighter jets, or card tricks—or a book by J.K. Rowling, or Gary Paulsen, or John Grisham, or Orson Scott Card. The possibilities are endless!
And just when I thought I had seen it all, picture this scene from last week: a boy comes up to my office and says, “Sharon, can you get me a book of short stories by Leo Tolstoy?” I’m telling you that my heart skipped a beat! Peter, Paul and Mary belted out lyrics in my psyche! And in my mind, Sister Philip Mary admonished me to take this lad seriously! And so seven days later, I was handing over Count Leo Tolstoy, one of the world’s greatest novelists, to an eager 13 year old. An observing colleague asked, “how much do you think he’ll understand?” “It doesn’t matter,” I responded, “I hope that a spark will ignite, and this young man will latch on to just one sentence…”
Cherokee Creek Boys School is a therapeutic boarding school for middle-school boys, ages 11-15, located in Upsate South Carolina.
Sharon,
Do you remember any of the “1 sentences” from the philosophers you read? Owen grabbed “The Art of Happiness” from my shelves a while back and I’ve always been curious what his take away was. Also Depak Chopra. Clearly philosophical writings are timed right for these pre-teens. When I was growing up it was Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, I think was the title. You’ve provoked me to ask him for a sentence. Thanks for sharing. Janet
Love it! It reminds me of the “circle dancing” part of (Kundera’s) The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. Just that one part – the description of the whole group watching and then taking hands and slowly joining in the stomping and dancing of the angels – still haunts and comforts me to this day. I can hear a great drum beat, between the words of a few magnificent sentences.
Awesome, Sharon. I’ve got goosebumps from the thrill of your boys venturing into the unlimited possibilities through stories of others… and now I can’t get that refrain out of my head… and “the answer, my friend, is living in all men. The answer is in the hearts of me.” (adapted version for our Sunday masses in College) Thanks for leading our boys into young men with heart and soul! I appreciate it more than I can say.
Great story of passing on the gifts that were ginen to you by a teacher with purpose. When I was a senior (in catholic school) it was time to think about the future. My sister sat me down with a catalogue from trade schools and said what do you want to be?
I relayed this to my social studies teacher and she said” your kidding me!! Why don’t you apply to such and such…. She got me an application to her Alma matter.. I was accepted. … And a turning point was made.
I applaud all of you teachers , and mentors, who make such a huge difference in a Childs life. Hunter fell in love with reading at Cherokee creek. Thanks, Sharon … And Sister
Brings tears of joy, what a great story.
Thank you so much, Ladies! It’s great to hear from you!
Sharon, I enjoyed your blog post.
You have done so much to foster and direct good, meaningful reading among our boys, not just in the area of language arts but in all three academic classes!
I do not know how many times I have had a boy walk up and start talking to me about some “great book” he was reading. So many times when I ask, “Where did you get this book? ” and say then, “I do not remember checking this book in,” the comeback is simply, “Oh, Sharon got it for me.”
Your tireless efforts are on display in the number and variety of worthwhile books on our library shelves, both in my classroom and downstairs in the lodge.
Too many of those good books would not be there were it not for your unwavering, mostly unacknowledged support of literacy at our school.