Jerry Hopkins: Good books
Vacations, the Sabbaths, holidays and time-off are good for us. We need times away from the routine and regular labors of life that we might return to those with new vision, vigor and vitality. For those involved in education and related activities, these breaks are usually set aside as vacation times when we can get away to rest and refresh. Our family has not often taken extended vacations. One summer several years ago we took a week. We drove up to Branson, Missouri to be together for a few days, enjoy some special events, and to do some shopping. The important thing about the trip was the time that we spent together, talking, eating, enjoying one another. As families we need such recreation times and especially to talk with one another, to gain deeper understanding and greater appreciation for intellectual things.One day we were shopping in a specialty store when I was drawn to a display of books by the author Harold Bell Wright. The name was familiar, but I didn’t remember anything about him. One of the books aroused some interest and seemed to be familiar, but I didn’t recall its significance immediately. That book was The Shepherd of the Hills. I picked up this “Collectors Edition” of the book and leafed through it, reading some, glancing through the biographical information included in the newly re-issued volume. I bought the two books displayed — That Printer of Udell’s and The Shepherd of the Hills.In the evening I began reading The Shepherd of the Hills that had seemed so familiar. As I read the book, memories began to come of an earlier time. As a young person in the eighth grade I had a teacher who encouraged me to read. Mrs. Mildred Randolph believed in reading and she often insisted that her students read good books, encouraging us to think about what such books taught. Most important she encouraged us to write, not just to read, but to write about what we read. In the summer after my eighth grade experience, I often rode my bicycle along the country lanes in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains in Kentucky. One of the roads along which I traveled frequently that summer lived my teacher. I stopped occasionally to visit with her and share my reading.This was vacation time, but it should not be, Mrs. Randolph insisted, a time when we did not read, think and write. We should continue reading and thinking through the summer, particularly we should write. One of the books that she loaned me that summer of 1960 happened to be The Shepherd of the Hills. She insisted that I read this book and that I think about it, particularly that I write something about its message. Somewhere in my files I have a young person’s report on this book that I read in the summer of 1960 because my teacher insisted that I needed to read a “good book.” I recall that she specifically said that we should not waste our time during the summer by not reading and thinking. She again insisted that we should write something. You need to read “great books” and this is one of those books that you ought to read and profit from. Now, many years later, I was again reading this book with new eyes, new understanding, and a deeper appreciation for the message of the author.#placement_588539_0_i{width:100%;margin:0 auto;}At the first reading I didn’t know very much about the author Harold Bell Wright. All I had was the hardback book loaned to me by my teacher. I took her counsel and I read the book. It was a well-crafted story and powerful in its lessons. The setting was the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. This was important for me because I lived in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. There are similarities that all mountain peoples share wherever they are. Through the years I have come to appreciate other books about the mountains — The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Night Comes to the Cumberland, Cold Mountain, Heaven is a Long Way Off, The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, To the Far Blue Mountains, The Thread That Runs So True, The Enduring Hills, and many other similar books and novels. The authors of these varied stories come from different backgrounds, a variety of experiences and varied cultural settings, but all are in some way associated with the mountains and their unique environment.Wright’s story was published in 1907 presenting the lives, loves and hardships of the people living in the Missouri Ozarks in the late 1800s. This unique and inspirational story became an immediate bestselling book. It became so popular that people began travelling to the area of Branson so eloquently presented in Wright’s novel. Reenactments of the story began in the early 1920s, staged on the homestead of the main characters near the log home known as “Old Matt’s Cabin.” In time the growing crowds and curiosity seekers resulted in Old Matt’s Barn being opened as a gift shop. Guided tours were initiated, and ultimately a play was inaugurated. This story has intrigued people for well over 100 years now.In light of these memories at this time of Thanksgiving when we once again have some “time off” from life’s routine work and labor, I would like to join my old teacher’s urging to read, to think and to write about what we read. This is how we can grow and gain great truth in life’s journey and how we can ultimately profit more from our community conversation. I would like to encourage you to join me in reading, writing and sharing what we learn with one another. This is one of may reasons why I write these columns and share what I’m thinking.I would like to hear from those who enjoy such novels and books about the mountains. If you have read the novel and have some thoughts about it, I would appreciate you sharing your thoughts about The Shepherd of the Hills with me. Share your ideas and views about the mountains with me.
