I started reading voraciously in the 5th grade. Once a month in grade school we were allowed to fill out a book order form with our No. 2 pencils and then wait most impatiently for the new books to arrive a few weeks later. Some of my favorite books are from that era. “My Side of the Mountain”, by Jean Craighead George, is one of them. It’s a story about Sam who escapes to the woods from the big city and learns how to live off the land with his pet Peregrine Falcon – Frightful! A perfect, children’s fantasy book with a happy ending, but it inspired me to learn woodsman-ship and outdoor survival skills. In fact, my Grandfather had a beautiful farm in the Catskills which is where I imagined Sam’s adventures took place and where many of mine started.
I started reading voraciously in the 5th grade. Once a month in grade school we were allowed to fill out a book order form with our No. 2 pencils and then wait most impatiently for the new books to arrive a few weeks later. Some of my favorite books are from that era. “My Side of the Mountain”, by Jean Craighead George, is one of them. It’s a story about Sam who escapes to the woods from the big city and learns how to live off the land with his pet Peregrine Falcon – Frightful! A perfect, children’s fantasy book with a happy ending, but it inspired me to learn woodsman-ship and outdoor survival skills. In fact, my Grandfather had a beautiful farm in the Catskills which is where I imagined Sam’s adventures took place and where many of mine started.
