I also read all sorts of books, from dense, opaque-to-the-uninitiated philosophy to romp-filled sci-fi adventure.

As a boy and young man, I read to be entertained and to explore more of the world and worlds of ideas than existed in my American heartland existence. Sci-fi masters like Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke didn’t just amuse me, though. They made me a thinker. They made me WANT to explore beyond the simple presentation of big ideas they presented.

A decade ago, I taught a man to read. I gained firsthand knowledge of the crippling intellectual loss of never having read books, not even simple ones. My illiterate friend suffered from a shuttered vision almost impossible to exaggerate.

Once he began to read for entertainment, his whole life changed.

Now excuse me while I go find a nice fluffy read to fill my mind. ;-)