“Joe” had retired and moved to town after more than 50 years of working as a farm hand. His work had been hard and the hours long, but he kept at it, kept fit and kept saving his wages.
He accumulated enough to buy a house and to live a reasonably comfortable life in a small prairie town. Yet his enjoyment of this new phase was marred by one major factor: Joe thought of himself as stupid. This assessment damaged his self-esteem to the point where it coloured his every action and interaction with others.
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He had what he felt was a shameful secret, an embarrassment so acute that he had successfully hidden it from friends and acquaintances for decades.
Joe couldn’t read.
Fortunately, town life afforded him an opportunity he hadn’t had on the farm, and he had the courage to contact the local literacy program.
“Someday I’d like to read the newspaper,” he told his tutor. “I’d like to read what everyone else is reading and talking about. If I could read the paper, I could be as smart as everyone else.”
His tutor, who incidentally thought Joe was a genius for having made his way in life without the advantage of literacy, began lessons to help him realize his goal. But not before he had sworn her to secrecy about his identity and what he considered to be his affliction.
This contact with newspaper appreciation at its most basic level came to mind when I read a recent survey by the Readership Institute at Northwestern University in Illinois. It listed these examples of readers’ comments as indicators of a newspaper’s worth: “I think people who do not read this newspaper or one like it are really at a disadvantage in life.” “Reading this newspaper adds to my enjoyment of other things I do.” “This newspaper is good at telling stories about things that happen and how they turn out.” “Even if I disagree with things in this newspaper, I feel like I have learned something valuable.”
Those are the sorts of comments we’d like readers to make about this newspaper.
Among the many ways we try to earn such input is by providing thought-provoking and entertaining columnists. This week, the new face on page 7 belongs to Wendy Holm, an agrologist, resource economist and author who lives in Bowen Island, B.C.
You may recognize Holm from her work on the Canada-Cuba Farmer to Farmer Project and on the issue of water exports vis-ˆ-vis the North American Free Trade Agreement. Holm will provide a commentary each month on agricultural issues.
She and we will welcome your comments.
