For the love of books

“There are two of Ron Wendt’s books in the 50 percent sale area. I’d really like to buy them,” I told my husband, Gary, as I slid into the booth at the Fireweed Grill, previously called the Caribou Café, in downtown Glennallen.

We had ordered a few moments earlier and were now waiting while our cheeseburgers cooked. It has been our routine for the last three years when we drive to and from our previous home in Slana to stop for lunch at Eureka Lodge, the Fireweed Grill, or sometimes Sheep Mountain Lodge. When we lived in Slana for 12 years, we always carried our own lunch and snacks, but now with a less hectic lifestyle, we stop and stretch and smell the roses more often.

“We’ll see,” was his noncommittal reply to my bookish query.

He’s concerned that our home is overrun with books and has asked that for each additional book I bring home, one is removed.

We finished our cheeseburgers and stopped by the sale table on our way back to the truck so I could show Gary the two books. He said we didn’t need them, but I wanted him to have them since for several years he subscribed to Ron’s “Alaska Tales & Trails” magazine and still treasures his collection. Wendt passed away in 2007.

When I walked inside to pay, I was happily surprised to discover the books were only $2 a piece.

I have loved books for as long as I can remember. My parents read to me from a very early age. When I was in first grade, they gave me an over-sized, full-color picture dictionary for my birthday. Oh how I treasured that book and spent hours poring over the details. I still have it.

As a young girl growing up in Glennallen, I remember looking at books in the little log cabin library. My family also had a shelf of wonderful children’s books at home and when I was older we acquired the Harvard Classics and a set of encyclopedias.

As a teenager, my favorite magazine was American Girl, which I discovered through the 4-H program. I also got involved in the Scholastic Book Club orders for our freshman class. Most of the books available were all paperback and cost anywhere between $.50 and $1.25. I had saved my money from babysitting and studied the monthly catalog before placing each order. Several of us went together and I filled out the order blank. When the books arrived, I made sure each person got their order.

In my sophomore year, I worked in the school library one period each day. I learned the Dewey Decimal system and began to realize the immensity of the book world. Each day I briefly looked over the returned books as I re-shelved them. It was during my high school years that I found two of my all-time favorite books — Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow and Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman.

When I married, my husband came with his own collection of books, everything from poetry and cookbooks to a set of do-it-yourself handyman encyclopedias. When we started having children, I found that I would rather spend money on books than clothes for them. Grandmas and friends added to their collection. Now, our 8-year-old grandson and 5-year-old granddaughter enjoy these same books in their home.

When our kids were 8 and 10, my parents bought them a set of World Book encyclopedias. Many reports were researched and information gathered through those burgundy and ivory bound volumes sitting prominently on a shelf in the dining room. Although that whole world of information has now been available for several years through a click of the mouse, I still find myself reaching for them.

Through the years, some of our homes have had ample bookshelves, while in other homes, most of the books stayed in boxes. Just before our move to Slana in 1999, I was determined to sell some of our books at our garage sale. Although we had a very successful sale and downsized our amount of belongings, books were not among them. As I sorted through the books, I found there were two categories: the ones I had read, liked and wanted to keep, and others that I had not yet read, but still wanted to, and therefore also wanted to keep. I think only two books went to the garage sale!

For six years we ran a bed and breakfast in our Slana home. Some guests inquired as to why and how we acquired so many books. I explained that many were given to us, some were purchased new and others for a fraction of the price at thrift stores, yard sales, and library book sales.

Most of our books ended up in piles on the floor after our November 2002 Denali Fault earthquake. Re-shelving them gave me reason to review the many titles and reorganize. Besides the gardening section, we had the financial, the medical and health, religious, travel, teen, children, Alaska, political, and fiction sections. We even lent out a few to neighbors and friends, since Slana had no library. I considered affixing checkout cards and sharing even more.

When packing up for our return to Palmer three years ago, I finally culled four large boxes of books for a future garage sale. But, I admit I’ve acquired several additional titles in the meantime.

Ron Wendt’s Strange, Amazing True Tales of Alaska contains more than 80 individual stories, some just a few paragraphs long and others a few pages, all very interesting. I read a couple aloud to Gary during the return drive to Palmer. I finished reading the one titled “Hauntings of the Gakona Roadhouse” a few miles before we passed Gakona Lodge and asked him to slow down so I could look at the old lodge with renewed interest. With my mind on the stories, I didn’t notice the miles melt away.

That was the best $2 I’ve spent in a long time. The spines of these two new books are only a quarter-inch wide so hopefully Gary won’t notice when I don’t get rid of two other books from our collection.

Maraley McMichael is a longtime Mat-Su Valley writer and resident.