Banned Book Week Day 5: Who in your life has most influenced your love of books and your right to read?

In honor of Banned Books Week (September 26 through October 1, 2016), GHPALS members are reporting their answers to five prompts suggested by the Banned Book Week coalition.(See our post Banned Books Week.)

Today the prompt is Who in your life has most influenced your love of books and your right to read?

Our members' answers:

• Carl Barks and Don Rosa These two men wrote and drew wonderful stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and the triplets, Hewey, Dewey and Louie, that have enchanted me for years. Other writers and artists have contributed their work, but Mrs. Rosa and Barks are the best.
• My Aunt Vivian. Every birthday and Christmas she gave me a wonderful book. She introduced me to Marguerite Henry, whose books I loved even though I didn't like horses. She gave me Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels when I was 12 and it was magic to me.
• My parents because they were always reading. Reading was as natural to us as breathing. When comics were being attacked as bad for children, I heard my mother defend them to a neighbor. "At least she's reading," Mom said. I married a reader. My kids are readers. Too bad we all have different tastes in books. As my husband says, "We'd be rich if we didn't read."
• Mom and Dad They read to me when I was little and bought the new Nancy Drew book for me whenever I saw one.
• My Grandma (Mom's Mom) She watched me after school and always read whatever I had to read. We had some good talks, even about books she thought were way over my head. She used to complain that we were reading garbage instead of books that had stood the test of time. I remember one conversation about us having to read Grendel instead of Beowulf. And the time she saw the syllabus for my "English literature class" and spotted Russian and French novels on the reading list. She went with me to school open house and asked the teacher why an English Lit class wasn't teaching English literature. All she got in response was a blank look. Naturally at the time I was embarrassed and humiliated, but now I'm proud of her.
• Mr. Caldwell, my Sophomore high school English teacher. He was fired halfway through the school year because he didn't believe in the school's reading list. Thanks to him I read John Locke and some classics before another teacher took over the class and the curriculum was dumbed down.
• Georgette Heyer. I devoured her books and through her discovered Jane Austin and James Fennimore Cooper. Heyer is considered a romance writer, which is a crying shame since her books are so much more. She was a true heir to Austen.

The Banned Books Coalition developed prompts to stimulate discussion during Banned Books Week. Tomorrow we'll post the answer to Which banned book character would you want to have lunch with?