An original origin story
It Began With a Book
Most of us don't really think about how our interests, passions, talents were first formed. They just developed along the way in life from our parents, or being introduced to a teacher, or class. Something set off the fire in us.
My interest in photography began with an introduction to a special book in 1963 when I was 2 years old. It was a big, hardcover Time Life book called The World We Live In.
I don't remember much when I was 2 years old, but I still have strong memories of the colorful, vivid illustrations from this book.
A copy of this book still sits on my shelf. Inside the cover is a note from my Mom telling me how much I loved it when I was a child. My personal memories are fleeting snippets of my parents sitting next to me telling me about the pictures that were apparently capturing my attention.
Lighting the Fire
Artwork like this probably found its way into my developmental DNA. I had no idea what I was seeing, but it captured what imagination I had at the time.
My Mom said as I was learning to read that I had little interest in the words. She said I seemed to even have trouble reading, but I was intensely focused on the pictures themselves.
Destroyed by Fire
In another post I will detail how something happened that not only physically destroyed this book, but changed all of our lives forever.
My favorite book was lost along with most everything we owned in a fire in June 1965.
Thankfully we were not in the house when it caught fire so everyone was safe. Still, it was a devastating event that took away something from each of us. At 5 years old I didn't fully understand what happened, but I knew this book was gone. Gone, and then totally forgotten as time passed.
The Book Returns
I don't remember exactly how long after the fire, or on what occasion that I got a big
wrapped gift from my Aunt Lucy. It had been so long after the fire that I pretty much had forgotten about this special book.
I pulled off the last bit of wrapping and there was my book from the past. My Aunt had found it at a local yard sale. She remembered that my Mom had been looking to replace the one we lost in the fire.
It was obviously a pre-owned copy of that Time Life book with dog-eared pages, mysterious stains on some pages, and notes scribbled on some pages. It was like reuniting with an old friend who suddenly steps back into your life without warning.
This book still sits on my shelf today. Every so often I'll take it down to look at those wonderful pictures that sparked my interest in photographing the natural world.
UPDATE: I recently looked up this book on Amazon. What I found most interesting were the comments and reviews. There are many collective memories from people who remember this book from their childhood.
One has to wonder if the book served as an inspiration for future teachers, writers, geologists, or perhaps photographers.
Comments