Why Dinosaurs Went Extinct

I have a theory and it is as impossible to prove as it is to disprove. Ready? I think the reason why dinosaurs went extinct is because they never learned to read. Seriously, they were too busy watching old reruns of Jurassic Park and King Kong vs. Godzilla to crack open a book. Plus, with their little dinosaur arms, it was hard for them to turn the pages.

OK, obviously I am being facetious, but the point I want to make today – in honor of National Libraries Week, which just passed virtually unnoticed – is that reading is becoming a dying art.

No, I am not talking about scrolling on your phone, because that doesn’t count. On the contrary, I am referring to picking up an actual book, getting comfortable in your favorite easy chair, and feeding your intellect.

E-books, which are gaining in popularity but still lag far behind physical books in every country but China, are fine. So are audiobooks that you can listen to while driving. However, at least to me, nothing compares with an actual hardback or paperback book sitting on your lap.

Professional educators will tell you that what you read doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you are actually unplugging the TV and disengaging from social media so you can expand your mind. Our brain cells need stimulation… and watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills doesn’t exactly cut it. In fact, you may as well stick your head in a blender, because most of the pablum on TV these days will destroy your gray matter faster than a brain-eating amoeba.

So that you know that I practice what I preach, I currently have more than a dozen books on the shelf above my bed, just waiting to be read. They range from sports to history, which are my two favorite subjects. I am half-way through a biography of “Bad Bill” Dahlen, a turn of the 20th century baseball player, and when I finish that I plan to delve into “A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan”.

Patiently waiting their turn are books about the 1908, 1948, and 1961 baseball seasons… and biographies about Thomas Edison and Harry S. Truman. “The Last Good Time: Skinny D’Amato and the Notorious 500 Club”? Got it! “Dean and Me” by Jerry Lewis? Yep, that too. “Three Days in Moscow” and “Three Days in January”, both by Bret Baier? Absolutely!

If surveys can be believed, 44% of American women and 30% of American men list reading among their hobbies. Since those numbers trail Spain, Italy, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and France, something tells me that we have some work to do… especially since “reading for pleasure” rates have dropped from 23 minutes per day to just 16 over the past 20 years.

When I was a kid – and no, dinosaurs weren’t still roaming the earth – two of my favorite places were the local ballfield and the local library. And when my dad would take me to a used bookstore in Camden, New Jersey, I was in 7th heaven… and would leave with a shopping bag full of books. Maybe, just maybe, that is why I excelled academically throughout elementary school, high school, and college.

Before we go the way of the dinosaur or our minds turn into big bowls of mush, let’s all try to spend a little more time with our nose in a book. And if you need to borrow one, just give me a call (but you’d better like baseball and biographies).