A Thought on the Birthday of Merriam-Webster

I see that today is Merriam-Webster’s birthday.

I have vivid memories of the second edition of that dictionary.

Throughout my childhood my family was on the move, my father either slipping out of town ahead of trouble, or toward some imagined better place, we never lived anywhere for two years running, I never attended a school two years in a row.

But among the very few constants was that in every town there was a library. I lived in libraries. And in every one of those libraries, usually on a stand reserved for it alone was that second edition of Merriam-Webster’s International.

I would look up a word.

It would inspire me to look up another word.

An hour or more might pass before I came to the listing for the narwhal.

At which point I knew I was done for the day. From there I’d wander the stacks till I found the book I needed at that moment…

I’m sure the bloated vocabulary and the left turns of my thinking that I acquired in my library life would put me on track to the life I have today.

So, thank you Merriam-Webster!

And thank you libraries, and librarians!

Thank you, so much!