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Books That Touched My Life

Some books linger in our minds and hearts long after we have finished reading them. The ideas, stories, and people in these books, fiction and non-fiction, shape, enhance, and influence how we see the world. Sandwich Reads Together is reaching out to Sandwich residents and asking them to tell us about a book which touched their lives. We are grateful to the Sandwich Enterprise for publishing our 'Book That Touched My Life' column of reader interviews. If a book has touched your life, please let us know!

Jonathan A. Shaw, Chairman of the Sandwich Historical Commission, read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

I first discovered the book and its author, George Orwell, in 1951. At that time I was fourteen and living in Boston halfway down the back side of Beacon Hill with my mother, for a couple of years earlier my father had died in a military plane crash. I had been sent by her to buy some groceries from the Jewish grocer nearby who had a corner store no larger than a small living room. In addition to groceries he had a rack of eight or ten paperbacks. I was attracted to one of these paperbacks for it had a lurid cover (lurid for 1951!) that showed a busty young woman wearing a pin that read Anti-Sex League. Being fourteen and hence interested in sex, I thought the book might have some possibilities. The book was George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I think it cost 35 cents. I bought it, and I read it. There was enough sex in it to make the cost worthwhile, however, there was also a lot else. Continued...

Bob King, restauranteur, read Marjorie Rawling's The Yearling

When I was in the sixth grade my teacher began a tradition with her class of reading aloud to us after we returned from lunch. We started the year off with Charlotte’s Web, followed by Stuart Little, which I enjoyed very much, but it was the last book of the year, Marjorie Rawling’s The Yearling that had a profound impact upon me. Continued...

Carol McManus - performer, director, and social worker - read E. M. Forster's
A Passage to India

Set during the English colonial period, A Passage to India attempts to answer the question: Can an Englishman and an Indian be friends? At the time, many thought this was impossible. Continued...

Cynthia Denmet, teacher and activist, read There Are No Children Here by
Alex Kotlowitz

Reading this poignant story changed the way I look at the world... I became aware of the whites-only privileges my family and I share. Kotlowitz’s story is a valuable tool for understanding the disparity of life experiences of children of color in America. Since reading this book, I’ve become passionate about human rights and multicultural education. Continued...

Mark Wiklund, writer and artist, read String Too Short To Be Saved by Donald Hall

The title of the book comes from the label on a cardboard box that Mr. Hall found in his grandparent’s attic. The label read ‘String Too Short to be Saved,’ and inside the box were small bits and strands of thread and yarn and string, all of them too short to be useful, all of them saved. Sadly, much of rural way of life that Mr. Hall has written about – purposeful, sometimes hard scrabble, but dignified, and graceful - has passed. Memoirs are sometimes all that’s left. Continued...

Emily Fluke, student and hockey player, read Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

"Today, I have many friends, regardless of their race. This book showed me that being open to diversity can give you a whole new perspective on life." Continued...

Mary Beers, director of education at Green Briar Nature Center, read The Beggar's Christmas by John Aurelio

"The book that I keep going back to year after year is Beggars' Christmas by John Aurelio. I first read the book in 1980. My copy is a worn paperback edition... I cannot read this book without crying at the end. Time and again." Continued...

Karol Maybury, social psychologist and parent, read See Jane Win - How 1,000 Women Became Successful Women by Sylvia Rimm

"I wondered what was it that made young women emotionally sturdier than others? Why did some have a stronger sense of self? What was it that girls needed in order to succeed in adulthood? Then I discovered this marvelous book." Continued...

Terry Sullivan, retired civil servant and interpreter at Plimoth Planatation, read Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero

"Prothero believes that public school students should be educated about all religions. America is one of the most religiously diverse nations on Earth. Religion influences world affairs. Yes, in order to be effective citizens, we need to understand our own and as well as other religions." Continued...

Lt. David Guillemette, Sandwich Police Department, read Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley

"These (men) were soldiers who, like my own father who served in World War II, rarely talked about their military experiences. In reading this book, I realized that here was a broad experience that my father shared with so many others of his generation. Flags of Our Fathers helped me to better understand him." Continued...