Cultivating a Love of Books

A colleague and I stop for coffee on Mondays at a Starbucks in Portland, Maine, next to where a man who appears to be homeless sits and spends most of his days reading. The two of us are on our way to teach writing to incarcerated women at the Maine Correctional Center.

The man is always surrounded by books, and we routinely ask about the title of his current book. One day my friend Mira Ptacin gave him the memoir she wrote, “Poor Your Soul.” When we returned the next week, Mira asked how he liked the book. His review was accurate, and he suggested some changes.

We know nothing about him except that he likes to read. Maybe that is enough.

Linda Holtslander
Peaks Island, Maine
The writer is a retired librarian.

- The New York Times