Give the gift of knowledge

The other day I saw a greeting card displayed on the check out counter at Waynesburg University Eberly Library saying “Give the gift of knowledge”; the most precious gift, after the gift of life.

And this is the gift I received today; I received two books sent from Amazon.  One is Churchill by Himself edited by Richard Langworth; the other is Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric.  I checked out these two books October from the two local libraries and I've been allowed to renew repeatedly since no one requested for them.  I told Janice I began to feel guilty in keeping the renewal.

The two books come with two gift notes from Janice (see photo).  Daughter knows father the best.  In the first 10 years of my coming to America, all I read was medicine or science, and then I began to read scientists who can write, the likes of E.O. Wilson, James Watson, and Richard Hawkins.  It was Lincoln and Churchill that led me to discover the beauty of English language.  I have been reading these two literary giants for almost 30 years and am still reading; reading them or about them.  Churchill is a Nobel laureate in literature, Lincoln would deserve it had he lived after 1900, the year the Nobel Prize began.

In the book (inside) cover of Farnsworth’s rhetoric, one read “Masters of language can turn unassuming words into phrases that are convincing, effective, and memorably beautiful.  Lincoln and Churchill had this power; . . .” I immediately know this is my type of book.

I am reading “366 Days in Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency”—a free online eBook (published in 2010) loaned from Amazon through my Prime membership.  I have read “tons” of books by Lincoln and about Lincoln, and I still discover something new every month, if not ever day.  When Lincoln made the unprepared farewell address at Springfield railroad depot that began his 12-day inaugural train journey to D.C.  Mary Lincoln was not there.  She did join Lincoln at Indianapolis.   I never knew why.  I even read one book saying Mary threw a tantrum and refused to go with Abe that morning.  I read “Mary was shopping in St. Louis and joined him at Indianapolis.” in this “366 days” book  This shows how Mary was treated unfairly in history.  Mary also went to NY City with Robert (eldest son, the future Harvard man) for a shopping spree for two weeks to make sure she had the First Lady dress and accessories and returned to Springfield two days late.  The poor Abe went to the train station and came home alone two days in a row.