To All the Readers Who Taught Us to Love Books

For Valentine’s Day, some members of the Catapult staff thank the people who encouraged their love of books and reading.

Perhaps a love of books and reading is owed not only to one’s nature, but also to how one was nurtured. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the editors of Catapult magazine asked the wider Catapult staff: Who inspired your love of reading and books, and what would you like to say to them? We believe that reading and encouraging that love is an act of care and community, so we thank all those who have read before us—and taught us to do the same.

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Nicole Caputo — Creative Director, Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Press:
“A love note to Mom and Dad for bringing me to the library and the bookshop in town frequently, for encouraging me to read and illustrate, to paint the walls in our home, to wander in the woods, to create stories, to write them down and for surrounding me with beautiful books.”

Wah-Ming Chang — Senior Managing Editor, Production Vice President, Company Culture:
“Thanks, 姊姊, for hiding that stash of romance novels in your closet for me to snoop through!”

Dan López — Assistant Editor, Counterpoint Press:
“Much love to the mid-nineties South Florida regional book merchandiser for now-defunct big-box drug store Phar-Mor. It was thanks to your work that I discovered Sphere by Michael Crichton, the first ‘grown-up’ book I ever read, kicking off a lifelong passion for books. P.S. I can now read faster than twelve pages an hour, but my love of techno thrillers remains unabated.”

Laura Berry — Production Editor:
“Mom: Thanks for reading good books to me before, and good books with me now. Long live the mother-daughter book club.”

Eliza Harris — Editorial Assistant, Don’t Write Alone:
“To Will, for convincing me to read serious books by pointing out the tiny bits of romance in them. Thank you, dear friend, for tricking me into expanding my literary horizons.”

Megan Fishmann — Vice President/Associate Publisher, Publicity:
“I wouldn’t have my career in publishing today if it wasn’t for my senior year English teacher, Judith O’Hanlon, who not only encouraged my poetry obsessions (Anne Sexton, Syliva Plath, basically all the sad poets), but also supported my dreams with her selecting me as the editor in chief of our student run literary magazine, Amaranth. Whether she was letting me set up poet-tree readings to live music (yes, I was that girl) or bringing me with her outside of school to see incredible poets read (Galway Kinnell!), she always let me be my weird self and never made me feel ashamed or awkward about all my many loud passions. I am so grateful for her support and mentorship, she was a wonderful teacher to me, one I’ll never forget.”

Stella Cabot Wilson — Associate Editor, Don’t Write Alone:
“Mrs. Leys was my second and third grade elementary school teacher. She wore long skirts, tall cozy socks, and drapey sweaters. And in her class, I wrote my very first poems. One day, a raptor rescue center visited our classroom and we stared in awe at an inquisitive falcon with carmel-colored drawers. We were each given a feather from a wild bird to examine and write about. At a different lesson, we took a walk and were told to pick up a stone and write about it. My poem was: ‘A good rock settles in your hand and that means it is calling out your name.’ Thank you, Mrs. Leys, for your enthusiasm and encouragement—and for knowing that every child has creativity in their hearts.”

Allisen Hae Ji Lichtenstein — Assistant Editor, Magazine:
“To my mom and dad, thank you both for your love for language and books. You inspired and nurtured my curiosity with trips to the library and bookstores. And you both always seemed to have a book or newspaper in hand. Thank you for helping me fall in love with stories.”

Tajja Isen — Editor in Chief, Magazine:
“You don’t need to read the Redwall books in order, but as a child, I was totally unwilling to accept that principle. I owe my parents big time for their willingness to drive me back and forth across the greater Toronto area so I could acquire and read the books in the intended sequence. Books had taken over my life long before that—also thanks to my parents and how dedicatedly they read to me, though I’m not sure they anticipated just how strongly it would take—but I understood both my love for literature, and my parents’ support of my passions, in a whole new way when it was backed up by hours and hours of driving. Thanks, mom and dad, for creating a monster and then continuing to feed it.”

Samm Saxby — Editorial Assistant, Soft Skull Press:
“Mama Saxby and Mrs. Outley nurtured my love of reading and helped me to realize my vivacious passion for writing. My mama and my third grade teacher made it their business to ensure that young me had access to various forms of storytelling all while encouraging my belief in the magic of the written word. My mama and my third grade teacher valued the gift of imaginative thinking; Mama Saxby and Mrs. Outley made me feel like reading and writing are my superpower—I’m forever grateful and appreciative of these two earth-angels<333”

Matt Ortile — Executive Editor, Magazine:
“Remember when you told me to do my chores, but I refused, because I was in the middle of reading the Big Climactic Moment of H*rry P*tt*r and the H*lf-Bl**d Pr*nc*, then you yelled at me, seized the book from my hands, and flung it across the foyer? First of all, how dare you? Second of all, I need you to know that I kept reading it—and still read books to this day—and ignore my chores (even as an adult!) (until I can no longer ignore them . . .) just to spite you. I even write books now! For a living! My life as a writer and reader has been the best kind of revenge because you can’t exactly be mad at me for never failing to read and learn and grow, just as you taught me, as you hoped I would. I love you, Ma.”

Olenka Burgess — Production Manager:
“To my dear Bunia: your endless stacks of books on art and mythology taught me to get lost in exploration, find purpose in dreams, and seek solace in the unfamiliar, while your endless journals filled with quotes and sketches taught me not only to treasure the beauty of words but also to read the world as deeply, weaving a thread through disparate sources of inspiration to cultivate a personal web of meaning.”

Cecilia Flores — Editorial Assistant, Soft Skull Press:
“To: Miranda Mellis, Dropping out of a fancy liberal arts college left me belly-up. You met my float with a tidal welcome, ushering me into a curated syllabi that has never resisted: Anne Carson, J.M. Coetzee, Thalia Field, Brian Teare, Fanny Howe, and Jacques Ranciere—just to name a few. Thank you for the concepts of elision and ekphrasis, which I may never understand, but are just two of several invitations you’ve given me that will never end.”