Without TV in most countries, Bill tended to read a lot and listen to BBC on the shortwave radio.
His reading included classic books, the New Yorker, the Economist, the Scientific American, the Skeptical Inquirer, and one grammar book - Strunk and White's The Element of Style. Notice the red markings. No book was sacred. He highlighted articles and books alike. After he picked up Arabic, Bill tended to use the Arabic "Adorno" for marking ownership on personal belongings.
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| Red highlighting! Arghh. |
Bill wanted his kids to be good writers and story tellers too. He tried...he really tried. Unfortunately, they weren't as prone to work at the craft.
Bill acquired the following The Annotated Alice book in Nigeria in early 1970s. At that time he tried to bribe his kids into memorizing Lewis Carroll poems: Jabberwocky - Justin, The Walrus and the Carpenter - Robin, and How Doth the Little Crocodile - Noel. I'm not sure the payoff was compelling enough to the kids to really work at.
Bill Loved a good story teller. He loved listening to Alistair Cooke on BBC.
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