Zane Grey and The Legacy of Mable Mckelroy
This isn't a normal marketing post but there is an important lesson inside, be sure to read all the way to the bottom.
I just found out that my Aunt, Mable McKelroy passed away on December 28th, 2006. Mable was one of the most loving, caring and wonderful people I ever knew and she made an impact on me that ultimately made an impact on you.
There were three things that I wanted to be when I was a little boy helping my Grandma and Aunt Mable pick up buckets full of pecans along the Red River on the border of Texas and Oklahoma. I wanted to be a Cowboy, a Soldier and a Policeman. I'd done all three by the time I was 25.
We moved from Oklahoma to Idaho with a cult and a lot of things changed for me, for example, I was no longer allowed to watch television, interact with people that were not part of the group or dream much.
But that wouldn't stop Aunt Mable. One a very memorable trip to Oklahoma to visit, Aunt Mable heard I wasn't allowed to watch television so she took me aside and introduced me to her cowboy hero, Zane Grey, she gave me three books that changed my life forever because they did two important things, they made me a reader for life and they ignited my imagination with a fire that still rages today. That fire is the same fire that propels the books I write, the ads I create and the quality of life I enjoy.
I love Aunt Mable for that.
The books that set me afire so long ago I remember as clearly as Aunt Mable's face and the adventure in her eyes:
Those three books lead me to literally thousands more in every genre and I continue to read with great passion today.
I hope you will too, even if it is only one book this year.
If you read this do me a favor, pick up a book, any book and read, let your mind expand and grow.
And think about my Aunt Mable and yours because if you will she'll have touched your life too.
And that is what Aunt Mable did best.
Aunt Mable, I love you, I'll miss you and I'll see you in the breaks by the river every time I go. Thank you for everything but especially the wonderful gift of being a reader.
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