Cultivating Change

If Lou Gehrig were alive today, he would be 106 years old. The Ironhorse is more than a baseball hero to me. Yankees legend Lou changed my literary life.
Mrs. Martin was her name and she was my elegant Elementary school librarian when I was a nine year old in 1993. The glasses-wearing, brainy professional was a typical librarian middle-aged woman. I helped her sort books on the wooden shelves and correct pupils’ papers twice a week. Working in the library was my dream job as a child. I wanted to grow up and become the next Mrs. Martin, minus the funky four eyes. My favorite part of the job was the task of arranging books by category. Back in those days, the library was still all about the Dewey decimal system. I tried to memorize certain call numbers and familiarize myself with the location of each subject.
I was drawn mostly to the periodical section when I initially started working in the library. The glossy magazines displayed vivid photos of sports stars. The section was sanctioned off to the side of the smooth library counter and complete with comfortable beanbag chairs. I used to scan Sports Illustrated For Kids and eventually, I became a subscriber of the ‘zine. I also got my own blue beanbag chair for my room at home.
One day, Mrs. Martin showed me an order list of non-fiction biographies she was about to send away for to add to the school collection. I noticed several of the books were Baseball Legends sports biographies. I don’t remember how it came about, but I somehow persuaded my instructor to order the Lou Gehrig offering by Norman L. Macht. I wanted the hardcover for myself and she agreed to charge me a reduced price for the book. The money came from my parents, and in the next shipment, I had in my hands the navy story with an illustration of Lou himself on the cover. I read the entire publication from beginning to end. Lou Gehrig became my favorite player even though I never saw him play. I always heard of Gehrig prior to my blue book introduction but once I learned who this legend was, I could not stop reading about him.
I began leafing through a variety of stories and taking out more and more library books. I developed a particular passion for the literary world. Writing became my next venture. I started with fictitious tales of children playing sports. The ideas were inspired by Matt Christopher’s baseball books. Then I delved into living athletes, sparked by Gehrig’s intriguing and heartfelt life. I no longer desired to be a librarian. I wanted to become a sports writer and joined the newspaper in junior high and high school. My writing expanded throughout the course of those years, but I yearned for something bigger. My junior and senior years, I took journalism and became the Editor of the paper. In college, I lobbied for a Sports Editor position and successfully ran the section for a semester.
So, here I am still writing and reading. Lou Gehrig changed my life because it was his story that made me the writer I am today. I really do believe that one book gave me the goal and motivation to be an avid reader and writer.
Gehrig performed more than enough memorable feats on the field, but it was his biography that provided a lifetime memory for me. I still have the hardcover and the condition is still like new. The pages are as stiff and perfect as they were when I originally reviewed them. The hard-backed Pride of the Yankees’ tale sits unchanged 16 years after it changed me.

Parting points: “I think it needs a second source and a quote from someone non-partisan”- Susan Keats, 90210 episode “Nancy’s Choice”