Joel Chandler Harris is well-known in some parts. Probably mostly for being the author of the “Uncle Remus Tales” books. But he was also known for being the editor of the Atlanta Journal- Constitution in the late 1800’s; and later, as the owner of the sprawling Victorian mansion on Atlanta’s west side as “The Wren’s Nest,” now a “house museum.” My wife and I enjoyed a weekend visit there, some years back.
I grew up in a family that placed a great emphasis on both reading and doing well in school. My four younger brothers and I did not necessarily have a lot of “toys,” growing up, but we did have a lot of children’s books, to grab our imaginations and build on our reading ability. Which paid off, “big-time,” on both accounts, over time.
Children’s books were relatively inexpensive, back then. Over time, I remember we eventually had an entire shelf of the “Hardy Boys Mysteries;” and later the “Nancy Drew, Girl Detective” series. Then came the “Tom Swift, Boy Scientist” series, all of which I devoured.
My favorite series of all, however, I think, was the short, six-volume set of “Brains Benton,” a “teen genius who solved crimes,” that came later. I well remember riding my bike down to “Sylva’s Book Store” on Bull and Park Streets, on the south end of Forsyth Park, across the street from what was then the Sears, Roebuck store.
(That was before Sears relocated to Savannah’s newest shopping mecca, Oglethorpe Mall, in 1969, when the latter opened up on Savannah’s growing Southside, and forever changed shopping habits in town, nearly killing Broughton Street. That building later housed other tenants, but has now been vacant for a long time.)
The “Brains Benton” series were fascinating to me, and new volumes were published every few months or so. I remember that they were priced at $1.00 each, the same as volumes of Hardy Boys and the other two we had grown up with. That may sound like a small amount to today’s readers, but for a 12year old boy whose weekly allowance was a quarter, it took me an entire month to save up enough to buy the next volume! Which I happily did.
I devoured all of those books, and many others. I remember reading the “Uncle Remus Tales” back then, too, and found both the language and story lines exotic and mesmerizing – as they would be to a city boy who was not familiar with life on a farm, particularly from 100 years ago. (Although I had a close friend in upper-grammar school who did live on a farm, on what was then Savannah’s westside. But that will be a subject for another column, one day.)
Our parents bought us all sorts of children’s books, and we loved them all! Hillary Smith, this year’s summer intern, wrote in her column of July 2nd about the “summer reading lists” students of her younger years were often given, to keep their reading ability and interest up, in-between May and September, when school was out for the summer.
It was a wonderful column, and I am so glad she wrote it! But I do wish she had recommended giving at least 30 minutes a day, instead of 10-20 minutes, to enjoy one’s summer reading schedule.
The biggest surprise I remember having, one summer, when I has maybe 12 or 13 years old, was when my mom brought me a big thick book with a blue cover, which she highly recommended, “Penrod” by Booth Tarkington (1914). He was born 100 years before I graduated high school, so seemed at the time as “so old,” I didn’t think he could possibly be interesting! So I kept putting it off.
The book was much thicker than most of the ones I was used to reading, so perhaps that too made it seem intimidating; but I didn’t realize at the time that the number of pages was dictated by the size of the font used, which was larger than normal, made to make it easier to read for young readers. Which I was glad for, later on.
I don’t remember what exactly enticed me to pick up that book and start reading, that afternoon; probably just that I simply had nothing else to do and was bored, so decided to see what it was about.
After the first few pages, I was hooked! I read and read and read, and did not want to put it down to come to dinner, later on, when one of my younger brothers was sent to summon me. But I quickly resumed my reading after dinner.
It was about the adventures of an imaginative young boy in the late 1800’s, and his attempts to woo a young girl in the neighborhood; and was absolutely hilarious! I loved it, and could not put it down – the sign of a really good book.
I later discovered that Booth Tarkington (1869—1946) has often been compared to America’s premiere humorist, Mark Twain. Because of my early experience with “Penrod,” I have read several others of his books, and shared several of them with younger family and friends.
That is what great reading does – it excites the mind, stimulates the imagination, and hopefully opens the doors to new perspectives!
I highly recommend it.
Rafe Semmes is a proud graduate of (“the original”) Savannah High School and the University of Georgia. Hewrites on a variety of topics, and may be reached at rafe_semmes@yahoo.com.