Today my post is inspired by another SOLSC post, https://pencilonmybackporch.home.blog/2023/03/10/grandpas-gifts/comment-page-1/#comment-3769. Thank you Fran!
My immediate family of origin is pretty small. Growing up I had two uncles, one aunt, and two first cousins. One of my uncles, Fremont, never married. He was a university professor in Seattle and he LOVED books. And so every birthday I got a book from him. They were always age-appropriate, but also they were great! Among the books he gifted me were the first two Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers (so different from the movie; if you've never read them I highly recommend them), A first edition of The Outsiders (which my sister lost!), and The Return of the Twelves by British author Pauline Clarke. My sister was also the recipient of books from him. One of the best was Friday's Tunnel by John Verney.
When I got older I wondered how a man with no children of his own could pick such wonderful books for young readers. I think he probably went to a bookstore and told the clerk that he wanted a book for a girl such-and-such years old. It was very thoughtful of him.
As far as books, his house was filled with them. He lived with his parents, my grandparents, until they passed away, and then stayed in the house on his own. Without my grandmother keeping some control over the space, the books took over more and more of the house. When he passed away my parents and my other uncle struggled with finding new homes for the thousands of books he left.
Uncle Fremont also wrote books, all in his academic fields of political science and public policy. He was curious about many things. He also had a beautiful singing voice and was a popular wedding soloist in Seattle. He was a quiet man who didn't force himself on people. When my husband and I visited the family in Seattle, my other uncle made quite a lot of plans for us, but Fremont did not. I had ask him if he would give us a tour of the University of Washington where he taught. We had a lovely time with him that day.
Books make a perfect for anyone at any age. Your uncle was a wise man to give gifts that could take you to places you may never have seen.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sweet, quiet tribute to a man who had a rich interior life that he wanted to share (maybe sparingly with some, but lovingly) with you. I can just imagine the joy he got from singing people into their lives together.
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