On Her Nightstand: Wendy Stein

Wendy Stein

On Her Nightstand

By Wendy Stein

Hi, I’m Betty Stein’s granddaughter. If you by chance were at her memorial service in August, you heard me share that those words were more than an identifier, they were what I thought my name was outside the family when I was growing up. My grandmother was known far and wide, and I am both honored and humbled to have this opportunity to carry on her column. And a little bit terrified.

Fortunately, I also feel a little qualified, because I share my grandma’s love for reading. I grew up before we had devices in our hands all the time, and instead I carried a book everywhere. I would have hated to have had two free minutes when I could have been reading but there was nothing handy. And I’m a chronic rereader. I could make a list of the books I’ve read and reread until the pages were literally falling out, which is ridiculous, since I always have stacks of unread books waiting for my attention. But sometimes you must read “Little Women” again, right?

Grandma mostly read and moved on, but she felt some books had to be read more than once to be sure you got the full impact: books like “Fahrenheit 451”, “The Red Badge of Courage”, and “All Quiet on the Western Front”. What was her favorite book? “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. She admired the warmth and humanity in Atticus Finch and his relationship with his children. She also loved poetry, one of our great divides - if it’s not a haiku or a limerick, it’s not my jam.

I’m looking forward to learning what the women in our community are reading. I‘m always ready to add more books to that pile on my nightstand or my coffee table. I do know people were sometimes intimidated about talking to Grandma and wanted to have worthy answers for her about what they were reading. Let me assure you, you should have no such qualms with me. I am a devoted subscriber to Entertainment Weekly, and my favorite genre is YA (young adult). Grandma did read a fair amount of YA also, on the recommendations of her students so she could discuss books with them.

Right now, I’m reading “The Commitment” by Dan Savage. It’s a memoir about same-sex marriage, but it was published in 2005 and it’s interesting to read it through the filter of time remembering how not that long ago it wasn’t legal most places. It’s one of the (many) books I brought home from Grandma’s incredibly diverse collection.

Grandma loved writing this column. I’ll do my best to fill her shoes! a