Recently, I began reading Theodore Roosevelt’s complete works, a multifaceted American who was an ornithologist and expert on bears, police commissioner, cowboy, soldier, governor, and president. His works are wonder-filled, writing excellent, but the key is just … reading, which he also loved.
Truth is, it really does not matter what you read, so long as you read. Years ago, the world passed more slowly. Many found joy retiring to a cozy chair or pulling the chain on a bedside light – to read. That joy is still there, beside a ready book.
In the old days, for me, that meant history, science fiction by Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury, fiction like Kenneth Roberts’ “Arundel,” “Rabble in Arms,” and “Northwest Passage,” “Battle at Cowpens,” and Michael Shaara’s “Killer Angels.”
Later, it was reflective volumes, history again, Robert Frost’s poetry, good biographies, collections of letters, books aimed at making sense of our world with timeless wisdom. For comedy, there is P.G Wodehouse, Erma Bombeck, and “Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K. Jerome
For calm with a touch of humor, James Harriet’s four volumes on being a rural veterinarian are winners, or leatherbound volumes with funny names, like “The Uncommon Law.”
On serious nights, I pore over biographies on our Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and Grant –three of whom I never tire. I add military intrigues, tales well told, and assessments of respected military leaders, MacArthur, Ike, Patton, Colin Powell, plus speeches by Ronald Reagan.
Main point is, if you are like me, no matter how hurly-burly, stressful, tense, terse, or tiring a day may be – it ends well, and good dreams follow, if you retire reading.
Maybe there is one other point to be made, in a time when Maine and other states “graduate” children who can barely read, no interest in books: Reading is vital for life, teaches how to imagine, and encourages words to draw pictures in your mind.
If there is one gift you can give that costs nothing, it is time – and no time is better spent than reading to young or old as opportunity arises. Reading is peace and joy, empowerment and education, amusement and mind-nudging, calming and catalyzing, a cause for wonder and wandering through a well-described world.
Wrote Joseph Addison, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body,” notably another topic for another day. More passionately, Frederick Douglas, who thought thoughts still important today and caught Theodore Roosevelt’s attention, said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
If that is not an invitation to pick up a book, find a chair, or pull that little chain on your bedside, and begin reading, it is hard to find a better one. And if you are reading this little missive, you probably already know what I mean. Happy reading!
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
