When I was a youngster in grades one through four, within the public elementary school system, I was a very poor and uninterested reader. My attention level was very low and as a consequence, I did not retain very much of what I read. “Dick and Jane” stories just didn’t grab or interest me at all. My school teachers knew I was far more capable of reading and retaining that which I read than I was actually accomplishing. In short, I was a serious under-performer when it came to the subject of reading. Becoming a better reader, my parents and teachers agreed,…would benefit me greatly and therefore make me a better student. Mom and Dad and all of my teachers were in total agreement…Dave needs to become a better reader!

I am sad and embarrassed to tell you that there was one dissenting vote to this foregone conclusion,…that would be, of course,….Me. I just didn’t like to read and that was the way that it was….Period! Sitting still and doing nothing else but reading quietly in a chair, at a desk, or on a couch just wasn’t my idea of an exciting and interesting way to spend 30 or more minutes of any day.

My Dad, Al Severn, was a great and fine man, husband, and father. I loved and trusted him in everything. He was a disciplinarian and expected excellence in all of his three children’s efforts both academically and socially. Dad took me aside one day, sat me down, and had a private “man-to-man” talk with me. I was in the fourth grade. He asked me, what was the subject matter about which I was most interested? What topic(s) truly arrested my attention? And, what was it that I truly wanted to learn more about? My answer came swiftly and without hesitation. “Northwest Indian History” and more specifically “Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Indians of Idaho, Washinton, Oregon, and Montana.” My dad mused over my answer without any judgment or challenge to it. After several minutes, he said, “All right, Buckshot, (that is what he called me)…Lets go to the public library.”

Soon thereafter, dad and I were signing me up as a card-carrying member of the Boise, Idaho downtown public Library….The Real Deal. I am talking about that huge building filled with all kinds and types of books where you went in without speaking loudly, asked the employed librarian for assistance, found the book you were looking for (using the Dewey Decimal System) and checked it out in your own name,…and could even take it home overnight or even longer until the date you were required to return it to the library. I vividly remember how importantand knowledgeable this check out experience made me feel.

Dad accompanied and assisted me along with the librarian to the Indian history section of the stored and shelved books. I chose two books on Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indian Tribe. I, as a new member of the Public Library, using my very own personal Library Card and its preassigned number, operating under my own strength and direction and using my own personal decision making authorized power,…checked out the two books to myself and my accompanying personal responsibility. I felt really,…really important! There was no way I could not read these books and return them on time. My word, and my reputation, were on the line! I mused to myself….“This is the kind of stuff that adults and other important people do!” I felt really grown-up, important, and secure in my own skin. I realized I was being prepared and readied for my future adult life.

I devoured the two books, and remembered most all of what I read. I realized that the Nez Perce Indians lived and existed in and around many of the special Rocky Mountain physical locations where Dad had previously taken me and my family on hunting and fishing trips.

History came alive to me and made it all the more important as I read these books and others like them. My earthly father had kindled within my own heart and mind an unquenchable desire to read, and then to read some more…To read about the events in and around an area where the Indians caught or speared wild salmon or killed wild animals for their sustenance and then to subsequently go to the exact same location and stand on the very same spot where the historic Indians actually stood and fished or hunted,…just made all of the true difference to me and my learning experiences. The same is true in all other areas of learning. Whenever you read about the efforts, activities, accomplishments, or failures that occurred on or at a special place, geography, physical location, or battlefield and subsequently have walked on that same battlefield of history and observed the very spot where the actions occurred. Everything you have read is all the more meaningful to you personally. You will never forget what you have learned from reading, study, and observation concerning the place, people, and activities that you have come to know actually happened.

My Dad would always say to me… “Dave, if you cannot read well and remember what you have read,…then you will not be able to learn very much. Unfortunately, if you don’t know very much, you will not be able to do very much and your chances for achieving great success become less and less as you age….the corollary to this statement of truth is just as applicable,…the more you know, the more you can use, and the more you use the more successful you will become.” Dad’s words and counsel are well remembered and have helped me greatly to achieve my personal success throughout my entire life. You would do well, yourself, to follow his words and guidance.

Learning, understanding, and finally applying that which you know are all by-products of your personal reading habit.

The more you learn and come to know, the more you will be able to use and apply. That will, in turn, give you a step-up on all of your competition as you forge your way ahead on your own road to success.

Of all of the things and activities any human being can and should do to better themselves, reading,…is the most important. The old saying remains true to this very day. “One must know himself in order to grow himself.” Growth is an inside out proposition. Expanding on the inside of yourself prepares and positions you to apply that which you have learned. Application of real and evaluated knowledge is what gives you the opportunity to move on with your life to the highest levels of success in your chosen field of endeavor.

Leadership is nothing more than influence in and on the lives and minds of other people. You simply cannot influence another human being without using the learned knowledge that you have gained from reading, listening, observing, and associating with people more knowledgeable than you.

All true and real leaders of other people are, in fact, serious students and readers!

Peace and Love to All of You…………………..Poppa Bear