Books My Friends

Books have always been a part of my life. I was never a popular kid and was not into sports and so the pages of a tome became my best friend. I am a self-admitted introvert and I am not sure if my lack of social interaction as a child fed that or I was just born wired that way. Never less books and I get along just fine.

My Dad loved to frequent the local Goodwills and Salvation Armys and there you could find Whitman Hardcover books for nineteen cents apiece. My room and a corner of the basement were full of the great works published on paper I had acquired. 

Later in high school I had some great teachers who exposed me to fantastic literature. The Car Thief, Lord of the Flies, Butterfly Revolution, Hiroshima, 1984, Animal Farm, Watership Down, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, the list goes on and on! Of course, I must mention Mr. Fisher and the works of Vonnegut. Wow. Thank you to my educators. 

Since I left those halls, I have made friends with Ayn Rand, Stephen King, Tennessee Williams, Chuck Palahniuk, and Daniel Woodrell.

Some of my greatest adventures, fantasies and accomplishments have been inside the covers of a book.

Roy Richard
June 2023