by Dr. Ryan Neinstein
Labor Day was first proposed by Matthew Maguire, a labor union
secretary in 1882 in New York. It is a “tribute to the contributions
workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our
country” and the idea that they deserved a rest for that work.
Remember you are human beings not human doings so enjoy the day!
A little story about reading and America
In 1954, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey wrote the problem
with American children’s reading was that children’s books were
terribly boring. “Reading troubles,” Hersey writes, “come from a
failure to help children to want to read.” Remember, Hersey points
out, “reading has to compete for the interest of children with
television, radio, movies, comic books, magazines, and sports.” So to
be able to compete and to help children to want to read. The call was
answered by an editor at the publishing house Houghton Mifflin, who,
after reading the article, called the illustrator Dr. Seuss and
challenged him: “write me a story that first graders can’t put down.”
A little over a year later, on April 19, 1957, Houghton Mifflin
released Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat. Using just 236 unique words,
Dr. Seuss wrote a blockbuster. The book was called “the biggest event
in children’s reading for centuries.” John Hersey said the book was a
“masterpiece…a gift to the art of reading.” “It’s the book I’m
proudest of,” Dr. Seuss said, “because [it] proved to a number of
million kids that reading is not a disagreeable task.”
This month I am reading Robinson Crusoe, he is the hero of Daniel
Defoe’s famous adventure model from 1719 about a man castaway on a
Caribbean island for 26 years. I decided to mix in some good old
fashioned adventure to my reading mix. I just finished Tuesday’s with
Morrie and if you have not read it since high school or ever I highly
suggest it because learning how to live is more important than
learning how to die and it will resonate with everyone.