Min asked me recently how I became such a bookworm. And then the classic question: “Did your mom read to you a lot?”

“Yes,” I said. “Didn’t yours?”

“Yes.”

Well, then. That doesn’t exactly solve the question of how I became a reader and Min became a gamer. (He’s watching UFC as I type this.) There go all those community nurse handouts about the importance of reading to your children.

How did I become a reader? I think it has something to do with (a) the lack of cable television for the Crawford Bay portion of my hick-town childhood and (b) the fact that my parents read ALL the time. My dad has a pocket book with him for every Mom-has-to-stop-at-the-grocery-store-and-it-might-take-an-hour emergency.

With that sort of framing, how can you avoid becoming a reader?

So Happy Father’s Day, Dad, and thanks!