Posted by Ed Kiser on November 14, 2014 at 07:31:52 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: Ship's Baby passed away yesterday posted by Mike Dennis on November 14, 2014 at 04:49:36:
As for the popularity of "Harry Potter", when it first hit the scene, and I observed my granddaughter's reaction and desire to read what seemed to be a rather large book, I was encouraged that she actually was wanting to READ - something, anything. Because reading may seem to be the forte of my generation (born in the mid '30's) which was before TV came and got in the way of our attention, it is hard for me to realize the new generations with their TV, video games, internet, cell phones, social media just don't seem to want to read. So in that sense, "Harry Potter" performed a turn-around miracle.
It is been a long time frustration of mine in that I have somehow failed to pass on to any of my subsequent generations my love and admiration of the Ransome family of stories. I have felt that I learned so much from those readings that I fear my heirs will not acquire that learning, at least not from these books. I have several complete sets of the AR books, but no one seems interested it receiving them once have have no earthly need for them. So they become part of the "overhead" of estate settlement, with disposal becoming the solution to what were my treasures. It saddens me that I tried but failed to pass on any interest in these stories.
When I have tried to do so, I am faced with objections like, "But there is no magic". (Thank you Harry...) Somehow, I found some magic, not the wizard kind, but the beautiful kind, the magic that makes me marvel at statements like: "Softly, at first, as if it hardly meant it, the snow began to fall." (WHCH5)
And the beauty of this, from PMCH2...
And the reformed pirates took their visitors upstairs to their
bedrooms, lit their candles for them, asked them if they had every-
thing they wanted, and left them for the night. In spite of the
big telescope lying handy, Dick decided not to wait for the stars.
Dorothea blew out her candle and settled herself in the middle
of the big spare-room bed. An owl called in the woods. "Not a
barn owl, but a tawny," thought Dick, listening to the sharp
"Gewick! Gewick!" as he fell asleep. A smell of new-mown hay
drifted from the meadows on the further side of the river. "There
isn't a lovelier place in all the world," thought Dorothea. London
last night, and now Beckfoot. The summer holidays had begun.
I'm afraid this could lead to quoting the entire contents of all twelve books, which for some reason is not all that appropriate, so I regret that other "favorite" passages remain unquoted here.
It was Ransome that encouraged me to learn Code, and that promoted me to leadership position among my peers when the Scoutmaster suggested I teach it to the troop, and they loved it. Tried to encourage my kids to learn Morse, and their response was negative with reasoning as... "why? We just use our cell phones."
Went camping with the Boy Scouts, and I was the only one who knew how to build a decent campfire. Bought a sailboat (twin hull, catamarin, "Cheshire Cat") and rigged it and sailed it well that first time I was on any sailboat, thanks to Ransome. My kids were a bit aphrehensive about even getting on that boat, "looks like it could turnover." (Never did with me.) Perhaps the nautical buzzwords were a turn off, like Dick at first not know knowing what a halyard was. No point in trying to tell my kids to be careful to get the pintles into the gudgeon, as that would just generate a disapproving look and sigh.
But the future for these twelve is in the hands of those that follow us, if we have taught them to appreciate such. How to generate that interest has escaped me, sadly...
Who will pick up the torch once it slips away from our failing hands?
Ed Kiser,
Kentucky [kisered@aol.com]