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My mother and her father were my key influences. My grandfather was born in 1904 and was the first member of our family to go to college. He had a love of books, reading, and learning throughout his life, and encouraged me to read when I was a tiny toddler. He used to put newspapers on the floor for me to crawl on, and he'd get down there with me and point out words and pictures. Because of his teaching, when I went to kindergarten in 1965, I was the only kid who could already read proficiently. He would buy me books for every occasion - birthdays, Christmas, and best of all, just because. I often spent summers at his farm, and could be found every day hanging out under the big willow tree reading another book! When he died, he left me his entire book collection - 1000s of them.
He had passed his love of reading to my mother, who still reads voraciously. She's now in her mid 70s and has an EB1150 that gets daily use. She's thinking about getting a Nook. My dad also likes to read, but has more limited taste in topics. He tends to stick to biographies and military themes (spent 27 years in the Army). Mom and Dad don't tend to share their reading materials!
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