It’s always very encouraging to hear from readers of the Port Arthur News when I’ve struck a chord and written something that echoes the sentiments of many.

To this day, I’m still meeting people out and about that agreed with my calling out the lack of a good bookstore, or craft store, in the area. But nothing made my day more than to receive a very validating message from someone whose direction has helped feed my inspiration to read, write, and live at the level of my language. My senior English teacher, Mrs. Reynolds.

Dear Michael,

I am a voice from your past and a member of your fan club. After I read today's column, I knew I had to contact you for several reasons.

First, I agree wholeheartedly with your column and know many people who feel the same deprivation that you include: no bookstore, no craft store. and (I would add) no fabric store (I also miss Hancock's) in our area. I've even heard that a survey was taken tht showed our area lacks sufficient readers to warrant a bookstore. Surely, that idea is only a rumor, but if it is not, who was surveyed? I know many readers because I am an English teacher and do all I can to foster reading.

Next, I am so glad to learn that you actually took my reading list to heart and have enjoyed discovering its treasures for yourself. What a joy it is to learn that you are a serious reader! When you describe your love of Barnes & Noble, you are expressing my exact reaction to it, including the delicious cup of coffee. I could have written the

sentiments in your column myself.

I have always been a loyal fan of your work at the Port Arthur News, and I used to enjoy keeping up with your progress through your brother John, who was very proud of you and always willing to discuss your work with me when I had him for senior English. I remember a picture you took of the new bridge and its surroundings that is one of the best pictures I have ever seen and, I believe, won you an award(s).

Over the years, I have seen you at NHS but have not been able to speak to you much because you are always too busy to chat. That is why I decided to write to you today. Also I want you to know that I retired this year after a career of 35 years of teaching English. Your mention of my reading list is a special retirement gift to me because it tells me that some of my former students do still value the skills and knowledge that they gained in my classroom. Certainly, you have used your talents fully. I wonder if you still write fiction and poetry. You were my Creative Writing award student, and I remember how proud your parents were that you got that award. I think of you any time I hear the word Beatles or any of their music. Since you

graduated from high school, I have had several other students who love the Beatles, but your passion for them is the one that really stays in my mind: I even recall a story you wrote in which John Lennon was a character encouraging a young man.

Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading and enjoying your columns

and photography. Please tell your new wife that I think she is a very lucky woman, and though I don't really know her except through your columns, I think you have a treasure in her as well. Best wishes to both of you. Sincerely, Helen Reynolds.

I have made several correspondences with Mrs. Reynolds since receiving that first one, and as I talked with her, I let her know of the many requests I’ve received regarding her recommended reading list. Alas, with mine tucked away in storage, I’ve finally received another copy, so here goes a few from her highly recommended list:

Arthurian Tales, Pride and Predjudice (Jane Austin); The Bible; Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes); Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe); David Copperfield (Charles Dickens); Autobiography (Benjamin Franklin); The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne); The Iliad and The Odyssey (Homer); Moby Dick (Herman Melville); Mythology; Oedipus (Sophocles); Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift); Walden (Henry David Thoreau); Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain); The Aeneid (Virgi).