Rare Books and Future Hopes

You don’t have to know me for very long to know that I love books. When we were young, my best friend and I (the nerds that we were) would get super excited to go to the library and check out every new Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley High book we could get our hands on. Then we’d sit, hanging off her porch, reading.

Fast forward 20 years and I’ve made a career out of reading and writing. To this day, nothing calms me down like spending a couple of hours in the library or in a bookstore, a stack of books or magazines in front of me. It’s where I go when I need to sort things out, when I need to find inspiration, when I need to make things make sense again.

So it’s no surprise that my brother Carmine knows this. He’s Luca’s godfather and at Luca’s baptism a couple of weeks ago, he gave the baby one of the best gifts I could ever think of: A rare copy of his favorite book.

The book, a 1960 edition of The Call of the Wild, is special in lots of ways: It’s the first major book Carmine, and coincidently his fiancé Karen, ever read, it’s about nature and animals, two of John’s favorite things, and it puts reading itself at the forefront, making books as important as anything else.

At the party, Carmine gave an awesome toast and then read the inscription he’d written in the book’s inside cover. It touches on the same hopes and dreams I ­have for Luca and is just so beautifully written:  

“This book you are holding will one day be reduced to dust. The paper pages and leather and metal were not made to last; and that is ok. It’s true value is not in these materials. The treasure lies within the content. Between the folds of this book, you will discover essential lessons that I hope will one day carry you on your journey.

It will teach you to persevere through hard times and honor the bonds you make with those along the way. It is a call to discover life and yourself in an experience of the highest possible degree. Push your limits, be uncomfortable, and make it so your actions echo well beyond the shelf life of what is physically resting in your hands.

Quiet your mind and you will hear the call. May you go forward, forever unafraid to give it answer.”