THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 11, 1995 TAG: 9510110660
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDELL
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
Every so often, a discussion erupts on whether people or books are the better company.
Most days, I prefer people by a mile, but at times a book has so engrossed me as to shut out all else.
Often, one is a bridge to the other. That observation arose during a telephone chat with Glenda Simpson, chairwoman of the book sale this coming weekend by the Chesapeake Friends of the Library.
In 1965, she was legal secretary in Norfolk to divorce commissioner Moses Ehrenworth, an erudite Moses in the law. Her work took her into the court clerk's office.
One day, she was talking to Norfolk Clerk of Court Billy Prieur on business and he noticed she was carrying a novel, ``The Detective.''
Prieur asked how the book was, borrowed it, and, returning it, brought her one to read.
``Soon after, I was on my way to lunch and met him and some judges entering the restaurant, and he insisted I join them,'' she recalled.
``After being in awe of them for the whole hour, I began to feel comfortable and ate with them, at their invitation, fairly frequently. Sometimes other clerks and the commonwealth's attorney were there.''
The talk, she remembers, was brisk and wide-ranging and often centered on books.
Prieur's political foes depicted him as fierce, unrelenting. She found him witty, intelligent, courteous, an honorable man who seemed to treat every one the same.
``I was sad when he died,'' she said.
Shortly after arriving in Norfolk in 1963, I had a similar bonding over books with City Manager Tom Maxwell. I'd done several brash, critical editorials on City Hall and thought Maxwell a dour sort.
Both of us attended the dedication of the Larchmont Library. After the ceremony, he began perusing books on the shelves, a bear picking through honeycombs.
This intrigued me. I had thought he pored over account ledgers. We fell to talking, amid books, and discovered we loved the novels of Alexandre Dumas, especially ``The Three Musketeers'' and its sequels.
We were delighted to find that as boys we had mispronounced the name of the youngest Musketeer, D'Artagnan, as ``Dee-Artigun,'' the way we saw it on the page.
We talked often, well into his retirement, calling each other Dee-artigun. He was a treasure trove of Norfolk's past. I'm grateful to the D'Artagnan for bringing us together as is Glenda to the Detective for introducing her to Billy Prieur.
The sale will take place in Great Bridge in the shopping center at the corner of Battlefield Boulevard and Cedar Road. Hardbacks cost 50 cents each, paperbacks, 25 cents.
The sale Friday will be from 2 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. The last hour Sunday, books will be a dollar a bag.
Friday's sale is for members only; but one may join the Friends for $5 at the door.
You'll meet interesting folks.
Every so often, a discussion erupts on whether people or books are the better company.
Most days, I prefer people by a mile, but at times a book has so engrossed me as to shut out all else.
Often, one is a bridge to the other. That observation arose during a telephone chat with Glenda Simpson, chairwoman of the book sale this coming weekend by the Chesapeake Friends of the Library.
In 1965, she was legal secretary in Norfolk to divorce commissioner Moses Ehrenworth, an erudite Moses in the law. Her work took her into the court clerk's office.
One day, she was talking to Norfolk Clerk of Court Billy Prieur on business and he noticed she was carrying a novel, ``The Detective.''
Prieur asked how the book was, borrowed it, and, returning it, brought her one to read.
``Soon after, I was on my way to lunch and met him and some judges entering the restaurant, and he insisted I join them,'' she recalled.
``After being in awe of them for the whole hour, I began to feel comfortable and ate with them, at their invitation, fairly frequently. Sometimes other clerks and the commonwealth's attorney were there.''
The talk, she remembers, was brisk and wide-ranging and often centered on books.
Prieur's political foes depicted him as fierce, unrelenting. She found him witty, intelligent, courteous, an honorable man who seemed to treat every one the same.
``I was sad when he died,'' she said.
Shortly after arriving in Norfolk in 1963, I had a similar bonding over books with City Manager Tom Maxwell. I'd done several brash, critical editorials on City Hall and thought Maxwell a dour sort.
Both of us attended the dedication of the Larchmont Library. After the ceremony, he began perusing books on the shelves, a bear picking through honeycombs.
This intrigued me. I had thought he pored over account ledgers. We fell to talking, amid books, and discovered we loved the novels of Alexandre Dumas, especially ``The Three Musketeers'' and its sequels.
We were delighted to find that as boys we had mispronounced the name of the youngest Musketeer, D'Artagnan, as ``Dee-Artigun,'' the way we saw it on the page.
We talked often, well into his retirement, calling each other Dee-artigun. He was a treasure trove of Norfolk's past. I'm grateful to the D'Artagnan for bringing us together as is Glenda to the Detective for introducing her to Billy Prieur.
The sale will take place in Great Bridge in the shopping center at the corner of Battlefield Boulevard and Cedar Road. Hardbacks cost 50 cents each, paperbacks, 25 cents.
The sale Friday will be from 2 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. The last hour Sunday, books will be a dollar a bag.
Friday's sale is for members only; but one may join the Friends for $5 at the door.
You'll meet interesting folks. by CNB