Wealth of Books

My great-great-grandmother Bridget Mannion, from County Galway, Ireland, did not give me wealth or books, but instead she gave me the idea that books are a form of wealth. There is only one photograph of Bridget in my family and I have a photocopy of that image. In the photo she wears a shawl covering her head and in her hands is an open book.  According to the family story, the book was not hers, but was a prop that was offered by the photographer so my great-great-grandmother could present herself as a woman of wealth.  Bridget never owned a book. She never learned how to read.

  Bridget's daughter Nora left Ireland at the age of 16, after her mother died and her father remarried. When Nora arrived in Boston, Massachusetts she changed her name to Dora and hardly ever spoke of her family back in Ireland. Dora, like her mother, never learned to read.

It wasn't until my grandmother came along that reading became part of the family culture. 

As a child, I loved to read, but we didn't own very many books. Often, the books we had were borrowed from school or the public library.  Once I was old enough to work, going to the bookstore to buy books was one of my favorite things to do. I felt the wealth in books wasn’t in the status, but in the knowledge and experience gained. Now with children of my own, I make sure the lives are full of books. 

Books inform my identity in many ways, as an educator, parent, artist, and Jew. Books on all these subjects can be found around the house, in my tote bag, and in the trunk of my car- in case of emergencies. Over the years, I have actually gotten rid of many of the books I once purchased. With moving, small apartments, and changing interests I just couldn't bring them all with me. I found overtime that only ones that brought me great happiness or were useful for reference needed to be kept, otherwise a hoarding situation might have  ensued. I have gone back to borrowing many of the books I read from the Public Library and have started reading online. But just the same, there are a multitude of bookcases in the house with another on its way from Ikea to fit a stack of books that need a home.

As an educator there are always books to acquire and read. Being home during this Covid-19 pandemic, I teach online, and have found that some of the books that have been most helpful for me to use with my students are “how to draw books”. Years ago, when I was preparing to apply to art school to get a degree in filmmaking, I discovered I needed to learn how to draw so I could create an artist portfolio to apply to the school. Desperate to learn how to draw and unable to afford classes, a friend handed me Stan Lee’s How to Draw the Marvel Way. In all honesty, that book allowed me to put together a decent enough art portfolio to get into art school. Since then I have kept a copy of that book on the shelf of every school I have taught at knowing that it would be helpful to some students. A few copies of the book have found their way out of the art room and never returned but I ungrudgingly have  purchased new copies of the book to have on hand for new students. 

As a parent, books have been a wonderful tool to assuage my worries and develop new strategies for best caring for my children. Long gone are the baby books, now I have now gone into the territory of Sharon Maxwell’s The Talk: What Your Kids Need To Hear From You About Sex. Two of my favorite all-time parenting books are How to Talk So Kids Listen and Siblings Without Rivalry both by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. As loving as my mother is, she raised me when she was herself so young. Instead of her using her words, she would chase me with a wooden spoon or put me in a corner as disciplinary tactics. Wanting to create new family traditions in discipline, parenting books have been a wellspring of information.  If only my mother had read Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka,  who knows how I would have turned out. Yet in her desense, she would read to me at night and those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

Another memory associated with books was when the summer before my first year at college (prior to art school). At the time I did not know I wanted to be an artist. I was with my mom at a store called  Building 19. It was a slightly dirty, full of odd things, warehouse type of store. I randomly came across an oversized hardcover illustrated book on the History of Art. It was $20 and I didn't really have the money for it at the time, but  it was so beautiful and looked like something a college student would own, so I purchased it. Over the years, the book lost its jacket cover and I have used packing tape to keep the binding together. It is a much-loved book that became a gateway into the world of art history and it's making. It is such a delight to have ownership of art books. To have books in hand and look up close at reproductions of Michelangelo, Joseph Cornell or  Meret Oppenheim is such a treat for me. And now on my bookshelves I have the privilege of my name being listed in a few books published by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for assisting artists who created installations in the Contemporary Gallery.

Around the time I was completing up one of the last installations I worked on at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, I met my husband to be. Three months after dating, we were engaged. A month after the engagement I decided to convert to Judaism. Luckily for me my family, although devout Catholics, were very supportive of the process. The conversion process was a wonderful time filled with new books and learning. I love the idea that I chose to be part of a community that is called the People of the Book.  I love the cycle of learning and starting every new year with the same stories of the Torah with new perspectives and connections. 

With the pandemic keeping my family and me in doors, it has pushed us to consider writing our own books. I am currently in the process of writing a book with a fellow art educator on Art and Graphic Design.  Approaching a book from the inside is a whole new dimension into the world of  books. Also, My 12 year old daughter, Amalya,  is working on a mystery novel and it is such a joy to see where her words are taking her.

 Just like you never know what a person may mean to you when you first meet them, books hold that same Intrigue and possibility. There have been certain books in my life that have completely changed my way of thinking and being. Books have influenced my career trajectories and daily interactions with others.

There is no heirloom book for me to hold, but I still feel connected to my great, great grandmother I never met. I feel there is a mutual understanding of what an open book can mean- to have access to the written word means a wealth of opportunity and experiences. An open book is a portal to worlds. I agree wholeheartedly with Emily Dickinson that “There is no frigate like a book”.  I like to think that  Bridget would be proud to know where her third generation grandchild has gone into the world of books. The drawing is a self portrait holding a book close to my chest, as a way of showing I am the owner of a wealth of books.