Addendum to Previous Post

I wrote that blog post about 3:00 am.

About 10 a.m., I began to listen to a tape by Pat Conroy called MY READING LIFE.

He talks about his great passion for books, the mother who instilled his love of books in his life, and books/authors that had a profound effect on him.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter One that thrilled my very SOUL:

In my junior year, she (his mother who was going to class with him) developed a schoolgirl crush on Col. James Harrison, who taught American literature. He filled his lectures with a refined erudition, a passion for good writing, and a complete dedication to the task of turning his cadets into well-spoken and clear-thinking young men. But Mom fell head over heels for the lovely man the day Colonel Harrison read the Whitman poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." With the softest of voices, he read to his class the poet's moving elegy on the death of Abraham Lincoln. Halfway through his recitation, he confessed to us that he always wept whenever he read that particular poem. He apologized to the class for his lack of professionalism. He wiped his glasses and, with tears streaming down his face, he dismissed the class and headed toward his office. The grandson of a Confederate officer had been moved to tears by a poem commemorating the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. For me that day will last forever. I had no idea that poetry could bring a grown man to his knees until Colonel Harrison proved it. It ratified a theory of mine that great writing could sneak up on you, master of a thousand disguises: prodigal kinsman, messenger boy, class clown, commander of artillery, altar boy, lace maker, exiled king, peacemaker, or moon goddess. I had witnessed with my own eyes that a poem made a colonel cry. Though it was not part of a lesson plan, it imparted a truth that left me spellbound. Great words, arranged with cunning and artistry, could change the perceived world for some readers. 

OH, my goodness....

I do love a good book that has such power to evoke strong powerful feelings just by putting WORDS together.

I wish I could do that with words, but I can't so I'll be satisfied with reading the words of others!