An Introduction

When the Putnam Valley Board of Education was looking for someone to succeed Gary Tutty as Superintendent beginning in July of 2007, they initiated a process that began with an application.  Of all the questions contained in that application, the one I was most intrigued with (and the one I had never seen on any other application I had filled out in my career) incorporated a reference to what was currently on my reading list.

That question was as revealing to me as I am sure my answers were to the Board of Education.  To me, asking such a question of a potential district leader is indicative of the value Putnam Valley places on reading, not only with its children, but with those who work with their children.

I, too, believe in the value of reading.  Words kindle the imagination.  Heroes in history and fiction both come alive in the written word.  Robin Hood was not Erroll Flynn in my mind, nor did any biography I read of Daniel Boone in my youth come with a portrait of the American explorer.

Because I believe we should model what we wish our youth to engage in, I decided to construct a reading list, which I hope will not only provide some insight into me as a person, but pique some interest in the works noted.

Reading List

Fiction:

Emma, Jane Austen
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Non-fiction:

Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrosse
Team of Rivals:  The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin

Poetry:

Poets:

John Donne
Robert Frost

Favorite poem:

“The Red Wheelbarrow,” William Carlos Williams

Recently read:

Fiction:

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Non-fiction:

Riding with the Blue Moth, Bill Hancock

Guilty Reads:  Anything by John Gierach