Bookmark: Sentiment inspires readers to cherish their worn-out books

Your tattered old books remind you of parents and grandparents, childhood, higher education, traditions or travels or memorable moments. Your worn books are more than objects: they are physical reminders of love.

In response to a column I wrote a few months ago about conserving used books, readers sent in dozens of stories and photos — more than I have room to post here. Here’s a sample, and a big thank you to everyone who wrote.

Chuck Haga from Grand Forks, North Dakota (and a beloved former Star Tribune columnist) sent in a photo of “Common Plants of Itasca State Park,” published by the Bell Museum. “The back cover is torn and there are stains everywhere – sweat, coffee, rainwater, blueberry pie, bug spray – but he’s been on 40 or more trips to the park with me,” he wrote.

Carolyn Light Bell, Minneapolis: “I have thrown away, donated, and donated to small libraries many of my paperbacks and yellowed books. But my tattered ee cummings ‘Complete Poems, 1913-1962’ represents a part of my life that I cherish deeply. J I once replaced the old one with a new one, trying to dress up my bookshelf, but it turned out that I couldn’t bear to part with that old book.

Karen Kelly, Edina: “My copy of DH Lawrence’s ‘Women in Love’ doesn’t have its cover because of the beatings she took late one night in 1980. Senior year at Vanderbilt, trying to write an article at 2 a.m. morning that was (duh) supposed to be due at 8. one of my housemates was in the same boat. In a moment of hard-hitting, stress-reducing melodrama, she made me laugh when I got up and started to banging my book against the corner of a brick wall. I saved this book not because I intend to read it again someday, but because it is a treasured keepsake of a treasured friend and of a precious moment.”

Rebecca Loader, Minneapolis: “Mum gave my great-aunt Bertha a copy of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ for Christmas 1933. Everyone has read this book. The red cover has torn and the pages have become brittle. the spine has cracked. detached and some of the photos have detached from the binding.

“Mom got the book when Bertha died, and I first read it when I was 12. Along the way, pages 170-171 acquired several mysterious spots: Does Bertha s “Pricked her finger while she was sewing and left blood dripping? Did Bertha spill coffee? The stains only added to the mystery of the book.

Molly Koivumaki, Chaska: “The childhood book I can’t part with is The Night Before Christmas, which I received for Christmas in 1964 when I was five.

“On the inside cover of the book, my mother wrote my name, Molly Anne Baird, and put my name and those of my siblings on the illustrations of four mice and three gifts.

“1964 was a difficult year for our family. Mom stayed in the hospital most of the summer. At one point the doctor told dad to take the children to the hospital so she could say goodbye, but she absolutely refused to say goodbye. She lived another 50. She passed away in 2014. It’s a wonderful gift to see her beautiful handwriting, truly a family treasure.

Paula Baudhuin, Minneapolis: “My sister, who died at age 54 in 2004, and I shared books for decades. These books are full of underlines, comments and questions. When I pick up these books now, it’s almost like I’ve found my sister.”

Richard Terrill, New Hope: “My copy of ‘Walden’ with all my notes in it is now a sheaf of mostly loose pages. I bought a new copy thinking of transferring the notes from the old one. But I never have. Right next to them both on the shelf, I see the rubber band holding ‘A Sand County Almanac’ has snapped.”

Dinesh Shenoy, Minneapolis: “I’ve had my copy of ‘Fahrenheit 451’ for probably 30 years. Every time I read it I have to tape some pages or the binding, but I’ll never buy a newer copy. Having my childhood copy makes me recalls what a huge mental jolt it gave me as a teenager and has been a major influence on me throughout my life.”

Ivy Wright, Duluth: “My copy of ‘101 Famous Poems’ is copyrighted 1916. It belonged to my grandmother, who would have been 25 that year. I save it for the fact that she owned it, read it in bits and pieces, and was the most important person in my childhood.”

Janet Fee, Apple Valley: “At age 13, in 1974, I got my first summer job. With my first paycheck, I bought my first book. I had always been a reader, but until then all my books had been through the library. Dove’ by Kathleen Woodiwiss. As an adult, at one point, I had over 4,000 books, but this one I will never part with.”

Thomas R. Smith, River Falls, Wis.: “My most treasured tattered book is a Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, received as an honor award in my senior year of high school. But that’s not why I cherish it. As I prepared to leave home for college, the first in my working-class family to do so, my father, with fondness and no doubt also with some sadness, printed my name and hometown on his blanket in his hand en bloc to identify it as mine. In the process, Dad inscribed his memory into this volume.”

Laurie Hertzel is the editor of books at the Star Tribune. @StribBooks.