中英文稿

今天，我想談?wù)勛x書(shū) 如何改變我們的人生，?以及這種改變的局限性。?我想談?wù)勛x書(shū)如何 給了我們一個(gè)?人際關(guān)系的共享世界。?我也想談?wù)勥@種關(guān)系 為何總是偏頗的，?為何讀書(shū)終究是一件 孤獨(dú)、獨(dú)自樂(lè)樂(lè)的事。

改變了我的人生的一位作家?是偉大的非裔美國(guó)小說(shuō)家 詹姆斯·鮑德溫。?20世紀(jì)80年代， 我在密歇根州西部長(zhǎng)大，?當(dāng)時(shí)的美國(guó)亞裔作家中 對(duì)社會(huì)變革感興趣的不多。?所以我求教于詹姆斯·鮑德溫，?我想這是填補(bǔ)這一空白， 加強(qiáng)種族意識(shí)的方式。?但也許是因?yàn)橹?自己不是非裔美國(guó)人，?我從他的言論中 感到了挑戰(zhàn)和譴責(zé)，?尤其是這些話(huà)：?“自由派會(huì)表現(xiàn)出 所有合宜的態(tài)度——?但他們沒(méi)有真正的信念。?在緊急時(shí)刻，你希望他們履行諾言，?他們卻突然不見(jiàn)了人影?！?他們出于某種原因不見(jiàn)了蹤影。?我是從字面上理解這些話(huà)的，?我應(yīng)該去哪里？

我去了密西西比三角洲，?美國(guó)最貧窮的地區(qū)之一，?這個(gè)地方深受一段 強(qiáng)有力的歷史的影響。?20世紀(jì)60年代， 黑人冒著生命危險(xiǎn)?爭(zhēng)取受教育的機(jī)會(huì)和投票權(quán)。?我希望加入這一變革，?幫助青少年從中學(xué)畢業(yè)， 并繼續(xù)進(jìn)入大學(xué)深造。?我到密西西比三角洲時(shí)，?這個(gè)地方仍然很貧窮，?仍實(shí)行種族隔離，?極其需要變革。

我所任教的學(xué)校?沒(méi)有圖書(shū)館，也沒(méi)有輔導(dǎo)員，?但卻有一名警察。?有一半的老師是代課老師，?學(xué)生打架時(shí)，?學(xué)校就把他們送到 當(dāng)?shù)氐目h監(jiān)獄。

就是在這所學(xué)校， 我認(rèn)識(shí)了帕特里克，?他十五歲，留過(guò)兩次級(jí)， 正在上八年級(jí)。?他很安靜、內(nèi)向，?好像總在沉思。?他很討厭看到別人打架。?有一次，我看見(jiàn)他跳到 兩個(gè)打架的女孩之間勸架，?結(jié)果被撞倒在地上。?帕特里克只有一個(gè)問(wèn)題，?他不愿意來(lái)上學(xué)。?他說(shuō)，有時(shí)候?qū)W校 太令人沮喪了，?因?yàn)榭傆腥舜蚣埽?有老師辭職。?他媽媽打兩份工， 沒(méi)精力敦促他去上學(xué)。?所以我把叫他來(lái)上學(xué) 這事給攬了過(guò)來(lái)，?因?yàn)槲夷菚r(shí)22歲，非常樂(lè)觀(guān)。?我的辦法就是到他家里去，?跟他說(shuō)：“嘿， 你為什么不來(lái)上學(xué)？”?這招還真管用。?他開(kāi)始每天都來(lái)上學(xué)，?并且在我的課上開(kāi)始有進(jìn)步了，?他寫(xiě)詩(shī)、看書(shū)，?每天都來(lái)上學(xué)。

在知道了該如何?跟帕特里克建立良好關(guān)系的同時(shí)，?我被哈佛法學(xué)院錄取了。?要再次面對(duì)同一個(gè)問(wèn)題： 我該去哪里？?我該在哪落腳？?我心想，?密西西比三角洲是有錢(qián)的人和?有機(jī)會(huì)的人?都會(huì)離開(kāi)的地方，?而留下來(lái)的?都是沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)離開(kāi)的人。?我不想成為離開(kāi)的人，?我想成為留下的人。?但另一方面， 我感到孤獨(dú)又疲憊。?所以我說(shuō)服自己， 如果我取得法學(xué)學(xué)位，?就可以在更大的范圍內(nèi) 做更多的改變。?于是我離開(kāi)了。

三年后，?我即將從法學(xué)院畢業(yè)時(shí)，?我的朋友打電話(huà)告訴我，?帕特里克跟人打架 并殺了一個(gè)人。?我很震驚，?一方面我不相信，?但另一方面我也知道這是真的。?我乘飛機(jī)南下去看帕特里克，?我到監(jiān)獄里去探望他。?他告訴我這是真的，?他的確殺了人，?但他不想多談這件事。?我問(wèn)他學(xué)校怎么了，?他說(shuō)當(dāng)年我走后，他就輟學(xué)了。?然后他想告訴我一些別的事情，?他低著頭說(shuō)，他有了一個(gè)?剛出生的女兒。?他覺(jué)得作為父親讓女兒失望了。?我們的談話(huà)就這樣結(jié)束了， 非常匆忙、尷尬。

我走出監(jiān)獄時(shí)， 內(nèi)心里有個(gè)聲音說(shuō)：?“回來(lái)吧。?如果你現(xiàn)在不回來(lái)， 你就永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)回來(lái)了”。?于是，從法學(xué)院畢業(yè)后， 我又回去了。?我回去看帕特里克，?我回去看我能否 幫他處理他的案件。?這次我見(jiàn)到他時(shí)，?我想到了一個(gè)好主意，說(shuō)：?“嘿，帕特里克， 給你女兒寫(xiě)封信吧，?這樣你就可以記著她了?！?我遞給他一支筆和一張紙，?于是他開(kāi)始寫(xiě)信了。

但是當(dāng)我看到他遞給我的信時(shí)，?我很吃驚。?我辨認(rèn)不出他的筆跡，?他犯了些簡(jiǎn)單的拼寫(xiě)錯(cuò)誤。?作為一名老師，?我知道學(xué)生可以在很短的時(shí)間內(nèi)?取得很大進(jìn)步，?但我從未想過(guò) 學(xué)生會(huì)大退步。?更讓我痛心的是，?他寫(xiě)給女兒的信的內(nèi)容。?他寫(xiě)道：?“我為我犯的錯(cuò)和 不能陪伴你感到抱歉?！?這就是他覺(jué)得他該對(duì) 女兒說(shuō)的所有話(huà)了。?我問(wèn)自己，怎么能說(shuō)服他 他還有更多話(huà)可以說(shuō)，?他在有些方面是不需要道歉的。?我想讓他覺(jué)得?他有值得與女兒分享的東西。

在接下來(lái)的7個(gè)月里，?我每天都去看他，給他帶些書(shū)，?我的購(gòu)物袋成了 一個(gè)小圖書(shū)館。?我?guī)Я苏材匪埂U德溫，?我?guī)Я宋譅柼亍せ萏芈?C.S.劉易斯的書(shū)。?我?guī)狭藰?shù)木指南、鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)指南，?字典成了他最喜歡的書(shū)。?有時(shí)候，?我們倆會(huì)靜靜地 坐下幾個(gè)小時(shí)看書(shū)。?還有的時(shí)候，?我們會(huì)一起看書(shū)，一起讀詩(shī)歌。

我們從三行俳句詩(shī)開(kāi)始， 讀了上百首三行俳句詩(shī)，?這些詩(shī)看似簡(jiǎn)單但都是杰作。?我會(huì)跟他說(shuō)：“跟我分享一下 你最喜歡的詩(shī)句吧。”?有些很有趣。?這是小林一茶的詩(shī)：?“蜘蛛別慌，?我打掃房子，?很隨意。“?還有這首： “睡了大半天，?卻沒(méi)人?處罰我！”?而這首優(yōu)美的詩(shī)， 描寫(xiě)的是初雪的場(chǎng)景：?“小公鹿?相互舔舐?毛絨上初霜?！?這些俳句，從視覺(jué)角度?也看起來(lái)神秘又華麗。?留白與文字本身同樣重要。

我們讀了W.S.梅爾文 寫(xiě)的一首詩(shī)，?這是他看到妻子 在花園里勞作后寫(xiě)的，?他意識(shí)到他們將 一起度過(guò)余生。?“讓我想象我們隨心所欲，?再次歸來(lái)，屆時(shí)將是春天，?我們會(huì)像往昔那般青春，?磨舊憂(yōu)愁將已消逝如朝霧?晨光總要慢慢破云而出。“?我問(wèn)帕特里克 他最喜歡哪一句，?他說(shuō)， “我們會(huì)像往昔那般青春，”?他說(shuō)這讓他想起一個(gè)地方， 在那里，時(shí)間停下腳步，?時(shí)間不再重要。?我問(wèn)他有沒(méi)有 這樣一個(gè)地方，?那里時(shí)間永恒不變。?他答道：“我的母親?！?當(dāng)你和別人一起讀一首詩(shī)時(shí)，?這首詩(shī)的意境會(huì)發(fā)生變化，?因?yàn)樗謩e成了你 和那個(gè)人的詩(shī)。

然后我們讀書(shū)， 我們讀了很多書(shū)，?我們讀了弗雷德里克·道格拉斯 的回憶錄，?他是個(gè)美國(guó)奴隸， 自學(xué)讀書(shū)寫(xiě)作，?因?yàn)橛形幕?他得到了自由。?我從小到大視 弗雷德里克·道格拉斯為英雄，?覺(jué)得他的故事 勵(lì)志且充滿(mǎn)希望。?但這本書(shū)卻讓 帕特里克陷入恐慌。?他著迷于道格拉斯 講述的一個(gè)故事：?圣誕節(jié)期間，主人會(huì) 給奴隸杜松子酒喝，?以此向他們證明 他們掌控不了自由，?因?yàn)樗麄儠?huì)醉得 在田野上跌跌撞撞。?帕特里克說(shuō) 他對(duì)此很有同感，?他說(shuō)，監(jiān)獄里有些人 就像奴隸一樣，?不愿去想他們的處境，?因?yàn)檫@太痛苦了，?思考過(guò)去太痛苦，?思考久遠(yuǎn)的未來(lái)也太痛苦。

他最喜歡的是這段話(huà)：?“無(wú)論什么都行，只要讓我擺脫思考！?我無(wú)時(shí)無(wú)刻不在思考自己的處境， 這令我飽受折磨。?沒(méi)有任何法子能讓我擺脫這些想法?！?帕特里克說(shuō)道格拉斯 勇于去寫(xiě)，不斷思考。?但帕特里克不知道， 我覺(jué)得他很像道格拉斯，?雖然閱讀讓他感到恐慌， 但是他卻堅(jiān)持看書(shū)。?他在沒(méi)有燈光的 水泥樓梯間看書(shū)，?比我先讀完了一本書(shū)。

然后我們接著讀 我最喜歡的書(shū)之一，?瑪里琳·魯賓遜的《基列家書(shū)》，?這是父親寫(xiě)給兒子的 一封很長(zhǎng)的家信。?他喜歡這段話(huà)：?“我寫(xiě)這封信給你的 原因之一是要告訴你，?如果你曾經(jīng)自問(wèn) 你這輩子做了什么……?你是上帝賜予我的恩典，?一個(gè)奇跡，你的存在甚至超越奇跡?！?

這本書(shū)所用的語(yǔ)言， 表達(dá)的愛(ài)、渴望、呼聲，?重新點(diǎn)燃了帕特里克 寫(xiě)作的欲望。?他在筆記本上 寫(xiě)滿(mǎn)了給女兒的信，?一本接著一本。?在這些美好、文字細(xì)膩的信中，?他想象自己和女兒 在密西西比河上劃獨(dú)木舟。?他想象他們找到了?一條清澈的山間小溪。?當(dāng)我看著帕特里克寫(xiě)信，?我心想，?現(xiàn)在也要問(wèn)一下大家，?有多少人給覺(jué)得 對(duì)不起的人寫(xiě)過(guò)信？?不把這些人放在心上更容易。?但帕特里克每天 都去面對(duì)他的女兒，?全神貫注、 一個(gè)字一個(gè)字地寫(xiě)，?想要對(duì)她負(fù)責(zé)。

我也想在自己的人生中，?以這種方式冒險(xiǎn)，?因?yàn)檫@種冒險(xiǎn)表現(xiàn)出了 一個(gè)人內(nèi)心的強(qiáng)大。?退一步來(lái)說(shuō)， 我想捫心自問(wèn)，?我有什么資格講 帕特里克的故事？?帕特里克是那個(gè) 在苦海中求生的人，?而我這輩子 沒(méi)有一天挨過(guò)餓。?我經(jīng)常想這個(gè)問(wèn)題，?但是我想說(shuō)的是， 這故事不僅跟帕特里克有關(guān)，?它也跟我們有關(guān)，?它講述著人與人之間的不平等，?它講述著?帕特里克以及 他的父母和祖父母?被這個(gè)富足的世界 拒之門(mén)外。?在這個(gè)故事里， 我代表了那個(gè)富足的世界。?我講這個(gè)故事時(shí)， 并不想隱瞞自己，?隱瞞我所擁有的權(quán)力。

我講這個(gè)故事， 是想顯露這種權(quán)力，?然后問(wèn)這個(gè)問(wèn)題：?我們?nèi)绾文芸s短 我們之間的距離？?讀書(shū)是縮短這種距離的一種方法，?它為我們提供了一個(gè)可以?平等分享的寧?kù)o世界。

你現(xiàn)在可能會(huì)在想， 帕特里克怎么樣了。?讀書(shū)是否改變了他的命運(yùn)？?是的，但也不完全是。?帕特里克出獄時(shí)，?他的人生之旅極其艱辛，?因?yàn)樗邪傅祝?雇主拒絕聘用他，?他母親，也是他最好的朋友，?43歲時(shí)因心臟病和 糖尿病去世。?他一直無(wú)家可歸， 忍饑挨餓。

所以我覺(jué)得，很多對(duì) 讀書(shū)的評(píng)論都是夸大其詞。?帕特里克并未因讀書(shū)識(shí)字 而免遭歧視，?也沒(méi)能使他母親免于病逝。?那么讀書(shū)到底有什么用呢？?我想用幾個(gè)答案 來(lái)結(jié)束今天的演講。

讀書(shū)使他的內(nèi)心世界?充滿(mǎn)神秘、想象力?和美好的事物，?讀書(shū)給予他歡樂(lè)的畫(huà)面：?深山、大海、小鹿、秋霜。?給予他體驗(yàn)自由自在的 大自然的文字，?讀書(shū)給予他傾述 所失去的東西的語(yǔ)言。?詩(shī)人德里克·沃爾科特寫(xiě)的 那首詩(shī)是多珍貴?。?帕特里克記住了它：?“我擁有的歲月，?我丟失的歲月，?漸長(zhǎng)的歲月，如女兒漸長(zhǎng)?再也容不進(jìn)停泊的，我的臂彎?！?

讀書(shū)賦予了他勇氣。?我記得他一直在看 道格拉斯的書(shū)，?盡管這令他很痛苦。?他一直保持清醒， 即使這清醒讓人心痛。?讀書(shū)是一種思維方式，?這就是為什么讀書(shū)很難—— 因?yàn)槲覀儽仨毸伎肌?帕特里克選擇思考， 而不是拒絕思考。?最后，讀書(shū)給了他 與女兒交談的語(yǔ)言，?讀書(shū)激發(fā)了他寫(xiě)作的欲望，?閱讀與寫(xiě)作之間的聯(lián)系 是如此的強(qiáng)大。?在我們開(kāi)始讀書(shū)時(shí)，?我們就開(kāi)始找到了表達(dá)情感的文字。?他找到了形容父女倆 共處情景的文字，?他找到了合適的文字?來(lái)表達(dá)他對(duì)女兒深沉的愛(ài)。

讀書(shū)也改變了 人與人之間的關(guān)系，?它給了我們 彼此親近的機(jī)會(huì)，?跳出我們的思維框架。?讀書(shū)消除了我們 不平等的關(guān)系，?給了我們短暫的平等。?當(dāng)我們以讀者的身份 遇見(jiàn)一個(gè)人時(shí)，?我們初次?帶著新鮮感見(jiàn)到這個(gè)人，?我們不可能知道 他喜歡哪些文字，?有什么往事， 心里有什么悲傷。?你面對(duì)的是他內(nèi)心 最深處的秘密，?然后你開(kāi)始想知道： 那我的內(nèi)心世界里有什么？?我有什么值得與別人分享的？

在帕特里克給女兒的信中，?有些話(huà)我特別喜歡， 我想用這些話(huà)來(lái)結(jié)束演講：?“河流的某些部分被陰影遮住，?不過(guò)光線(xiàn)會(huì)從樹(shù)木的縫隙透進(jìn)來(lái)……?許多桑葚懸掛在一些低矮樹(shù)枝上。?你伸長(zhǎng)了手想去摘?！?還有這封很優(yōu)美的信， 他在信中寫(xiě)道：?“把眼睛閉上，聽(tīng)那些字詞的聲音?我把它背得很熟，?我想讓你也知道它?！?

謝謝大家。

（掌聲）

?

I want to talk today about how reading can change our lives?and about the limits of that change.?I want to talk to you about how reading can give us a shareable world?of powerful human connection.?But also about how that connection is always partial.?How reading is ultimately a lonely, idiosyncratic undertaking.

The writer who changed my life?was the great African American novelist James Baldwin.?When I was growing up in Western Michigan in the 1980s,?there weren't many Asian American writers interested in social change.?And so I think I turned to James Baldwin?as a way to fill this void, as a way to feel racially conscious.?But perhaps because I knew I wasn't myself African American,?I also felt challenged and indicted by his words.?Especially these words:?"There are liberals who have all the proper attitudes,?but no real convictions.?When the chips are down and you somehow expect them to deliver,?they are somehow not there."?They are somehow not there.?I took those words very literally.?Where should I put myself?

I went to the Mississippi Delta,?one of the poorest regions in the United States.?This is a place shaped by a powerful history.?In the 1960s, African Americans risked their lives to fight for education,?to fight for the right to vote.?I wanted to be a part of that change,?to help young teenagers graduate and go to college.?When I got to the Mississippi Delta,?it was a place that was still poor,?still segregated,?still dramatically in need of change.

My school, where I was placed,?had no library, no guidance counselor,?but it did have a police officer.?Half the teachers were substitutes?and when students got into fights,?the school would send them to the local county jail.

This is the school where I met Patrick.?He was 15 and held back twice, he was in the eighth grade.?He was quiet, introspective,?like he was always in deep thought.?And he hated seeing other people fight.?I saw him once jump between two girls when they got into a fight?and he got himself knocked to the ground.?Patrick had just one problem.?He wouldn't come to school.?He said that sometimes school was just too depressing?because people were always fighting and teachers were quitting.?And also, his mother worked two jobs and was just too tired to make him come.?So I made it my job to get him to come to school.?And because I was crazy and 22 and zealously optimistic,?my strategy was just to show up at his house?and say, "Hey, why don't you come to school?"?And this strategy actually worked,?he started to come to school every day.?And he started to flourish in my class.?He was writing poetry, he was reading books.?He was coming to school every day.

Around the same time?that I had figured out how to connect to Patrick,?I got into law school at Harvard.?I once again faced this question, where should I put myself,?where do I put my body??And I thought to myself?that the Mississippi Delta was a place where people with money,?people with opportunity,?those people leave.?And the people who stay behind?are the people who don't have the chance to leave.?I didn't want to be a person who left.?I wanted to be a person who stayed.?On the other hand, I was lonely and tired.?And so I convinced myself that I could do more change?on a larger scale if I had a prestigious law degree.?So I left.

Three years later,?when I was about to graduate from law school,?my friend called me?and told me that Patrick had got into a fight and killed someone.?I was devastated.?Part of me didn't believe it,?but part of me also knew that it was true.?I flew down to see Patrick.?I visited him in jail.?And he told me that it was true.?That he had killed someone.?And he didn't want to talk more about it.?I asked him what had happened with school?and he said that he had dropped out the year after I left.?And then he wanted to tell me something else.?He looked down and he said that he had had a baby daughter?who was just born.?And he felt like he had let her down.?That was it, our conversation was rushed and awkward.

When I stepped outside the jail, a voice inside me said,?"Come back.?If you don't come back now, you'll never come back."?So I graduated from law school and I went back.?I went back to see Patrick,?I went back to see if I could help him with his legal case.?And this time, when I saw him a second time,?I thought I had this great idea, I said,?"Hey, Patrick, why don't you write a letter to your daughter,?so that you can keep her on your mind?"?And I handed him a pen and a piece of paper,?and he started to write.

But when I saw the paper that he handed back to me,?I was shocked.?I didn't recognize his handwriting,?he had made simple spelling mistakes.?And I thought to myself that as a teacher,?I knew that a student could dramatically improve?in a very quick amount of time,?but I never thought that a student could dramatically regress.?What even pained me more,?was seeing what he had written to his daughter.?He had written,?"I'm sorry for my mistakes, I'm sorry for not being there for you."?And this was all he felt he had to say to her.?And I asked myself how can I convince him that he has more to say,?parts of himself that he doesn't need to apologize for.?I wanted him to feel?that he had something worthwhile to share with his daughter.

For every day the next seven months,?I visited him and brought books.?My tote bag became a little library.?I brought James Baldwin,?I brought Walt Whitman, C.S. Lewis.?I brought guidebooks to trees, to birds,?and what would become his favorite book, the dictionary.?On some days,?we would sit for hours in silence, both of us reading.?And on other days,?we would read together, we would read poetry.

We started by reading haikus, hundreds of haikus,?a deceptively simple masterpiece.?And I would ask him, "Share with me your favorite haikus."?And some of them are quite funny.?So there's this by Issa:?"Don't worry, spiders, I keep house casually."?And this: "Napped half the day, no one punished me!"?And this gorgeous one, which is about the first day of snow falling,?"Deer licking first frost from each other's coats."?There's something mysterious and gorgeous?just about the way a poem looks.?The empty space is as important as the words themselves.

We read this poem by W.S. Merwin,?which he wrote after he saw his wife working in the garden?and realized that they would spend the rest of their lives together.?"Let me imagine that we will come again?when we want to and it will be spring?We will be no older than we ever were?The worn griefs will have eased like the early cloud?through which morning slowly comes to itself"?I asked Patrick what his favorite line was, and he said,?"We will be no older than we ever were."?He said it reminded him of a place where time just stops,?where time doesn't matter anymore.?And I asked him if he had a place like that,?where time lasts forever.?And he said, "My mother."?When you read a poem alongside someone else,?the poem changes in meaning.?Because it becomes personal to that person, becomes personal to you.

We then read books, we read so many books,?we read the memoir of Frederick Douglass,?an American slave who taught himself to read and write?and who escaped to freedom because of his literacy.?I had grown up thinking of Frederick Douglass as a hero?and I thought of this story as one of uplift and hope.?But this book put Patrick in a kind of panic.?He fixated on a story Douglass told of how, over Christmas,?masters give slaves gin?as a way to prove to them that they can't handle freedom.?Because slaves would be stumbling on the fields.?Patrick said he related to this.?He said that there are people in jail who, like slaves,?don't want to think about their condition,?because it's too painful.?Too painful to think about the past,?too painful to think about how far we have to go.

His favorite line was this line:?"Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking!?It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me."?Patrick said that Douglass was brave to write, to keep thinking.?But Patrick would never know how much he seemed like Douglass to me.?How he kept reading, even though it put him in a panic.?He finished the book before I did,?reading it in a concrete stairway with no light.

And then we went on to read one of my favorite books,?Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead,"?which is an extended letter from a father to his son.?He loved this line:?"I'm writing this in part to tell you?that if you ever wonder what you've done in your life ...?you have been God's grace to me,?a miracle, something more than a miracle."

Something about this language, its love, its longing, its voice,?rekindled Patrick's desire to write.?And he would fill notebooks upon notebooks?with letters to his daughter.?In these beautiful, intricate letters,?he would imagine him and his daughter going canoeing down the Mississippi river.?He would imagine them finding a mountain stream?with perfectly clear water.?As I watched Patrick write,?I thought to myself,?and I now ask all of you,?how many of you have written a letter to somebody you feel you have let down??It is just much easier to put those people out of your mind.?But Patrick showed up every day, facing his daughter,?holding himself accountable to her,?word by word with intense concentration.

I wanted in my own life?to put myself at risk in that way.?Because that risk reveals the strength of one's heart.?Let me take a step back and just ask an uncomfortable question.?Who am I to tell this story, as in this Patrick story??Patrick's the one who lived with this pain?and I have never been hungry a day in my life.?I thought about this question a lot,?but what I want to say is that this story is not just about Patrick.?It's about us,?it's about the inequality between us.?The world of plenty?that Patrick and his parents and his grandparents?have been shut out of.?In this story, I represent that world of plenty.?And in telling this story, I didn't want to hide myself.?Hide the power that I do have.

In telling this story, I wanted to expose that power?and then to ask,?how do we diminish the distance between us??Reading is one way to close that distance.?It gives us a quiet universe that we can share together,?that we can share in equally.

You're probably wondering now what happened to Patrick.?Did reading save his life??It did and it didn't.?When Patrick got out of prison,?his journey was excruciating.?Employers turned him away because of his record,?his best friend, his mother, died at age 43?from heart disease and diabetes.?He's been homeless, he's been hungry.

So people say a lot of things about reading that feel exaggerated to me.?Being literate didn't stop him form being discriminated against.?It didn't stop his mother from dying.?So what can reading do??I have a few answers to end with today.

Reading charged his inner life?with mystery, with imagination,?with beauty.?Reading gave him images that gave him joy:?mountain, ocean, deer, frost.?Words that taste of a free, natural world.?Reading gave him a language for what he had lost.?How precious are these lines from the poet Derek Walcott??Patrick memorized this poem.?"Days that I have held,?days that I have lost,?days that outgrow, like daughters,?my harboring arms."

Reading taught him his own courage.?Remember that he kept reading Frederick Douglass,?even though it was painful.?He kept being conscious, even though being conscious hurts.?Reading is a form of thinking,?that's why it's difficult to read because we have to think.?And Patrick chose to think, rather than to not think.?And last, reading gave him a language to speak to his daughter.?Reading inspired him to want to write.?The link between reading and writing is so powerful.?When we begin to read,?we begin to find the words.?And he found the words to imagine the two of them together.?He found the words?to tell her how much he loved her.

Reading also changed our relationship with each other.?It gave us an occasion for intimacy,?to see beyond our points of view.?And reading took an unequal relationship?and gave us a momentary equality.?When you meet somebody as a reader,?you meet him for the first time,?newly, freshly.?There is no way you can know what his favorite line will be.?What memories and private griefs he has.?And you face the ultimate privacy of his inner life.?And then you start to wonder, "Well, what is my inner life made of??What do I have that's worthwhile to share with another?"

I want to close?on some of my favorite lines from Patrick's letters to his daughter.?"The river is shadowy in some places?but the light shines through the cracks of trees ...?On some branches hang plenty of mulberries.?You stretch your arm straight out to grab some."?And this lovely letter, where he writes,?"Close your eyes and listen to the sounds of the words.?I know this poem by heart?and I would like you to know it, too."

Thank you so much everyone.

(Applause)