Comments on: Jack O’Connell / Resurrectionist Week: O’Connell on His “Baptism”

By: John A Arkansawyer

John A Arkansawyer — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:33:56 +0000

Did poor Mary Kate ever get her book? Did you loan her your copy? (I was hoping this story might end up with you two married or something.)

By: Jeff Pert

Jeff Pert — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:47:59 +0000

I LOVED this book, and also purchased it through the Scholastic Book Club in third or fourth grade. I have a copy on my bookshelf today, thanks to eBay. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

By: Tim Kyger

Tim Kyger — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:51:04 +0000

Like probably everyone here, I was an early reader. And the writers I read first as a kid were Martin Caidin, Willy Ley, and Fletcher Pratt, all of whom were writing non-fiction about why it was important for the human race to move into space, and how it could be done. They all mentioned this thing called “science fiction.”

My Dad went to Vietnam in late 1961, and my Mom and I (no brothers or sisters) moved for the duration to her hometown of New Lexington, Ohio, population 5,000, where I completed first grade and went through second. The only science fiction I read during those early-reading years was the “Mike Mars” series about a USAF astronaut (written by Donald Wolheim). I wasn’t fully aware that that was what it was.

Dad returned in November 1963 and we moved to Dayton, Ohio, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Before we could move into our permanent quarters, we lived for two weeks in “Wood City,” where the barracks for enlisted personnel were.

That’s where the base library was, too.

I decided to try to take a look at this “science fiction” stuff I’d heard about. There wasn’t a “kids section” of the library like there might be at a regular public library, so the first sf book I ever checked out and read ended up being Asimov’s /I, Robot/.

There was no going back. I was hooked. The first one was free, little boy…

By: Dave Larsen

Dave Larsen — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:55:07 +0000

You got that right! My own baptism was Andre Norton’s Galactic Derelict. Hell, I didn’t even know what those words meant! But it changed my entire life: made me a reader. I don’t know how many times I’ve read that book over the last 45 years, but it doesn’t matter. It’s always the same, always wonder-filled. And I can still see the spine of the novel, inevitable on the junior high library’s shelves. I always will see it and remember that moment, its smell and clarity. Cool. Great post.

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:48:07 +0000

I love stories like this.

And you’re right – a lot of people will have their own moment of baptism. Different time, different place, different book, but I’m sure that, just like me, they read this post with a big ol’ smile on their face.