The censor

-On the list!-

When I was attending school during what would be the final year before the fine architectural building known as Reagan Junior High was razed, to be replaced by the soulless structure now known as Sweetwater Middle School, we had a grand library in which I could hungrily search for the next literary marvel to devour. 

We called the librarian Miss Waller. She could have been a Mrs., but, as an eight-grader, this was not something I pondered. 

Miss Waller had her own way of censoring books in the junior high library, not by omitting them fully, but by taking an ink pen and marking out the unsavory, to her, I suppose, parts. I'm assuming it was a task she took upon herself. I can't imagine this was an order from our stately, elderly principal, Mr. Whittenburg. It was rumored among us children that he had been seen crying on the last day the school was open, when students ran through the halls defacing the walls and tearing open lockers.

In censoring books the way she did, Miss Waller had made her own reading list. The list of books we must read! I only had to pull out a book and see how much ink was in it to know if I wanted to read it. The more ink, the better.

I was a little thrilled to learn that John Irving's The Cider House Rules is on the list of books that might be considered for prohibition in Texas. Whether the list really means anything, or if there's even really a list, is questionable. I've seen reports of the list, but I haven't seen an original document. I suspect that a bland politician is using his non-actionable, highly publicized inquiry as a way of trying to get his face and name on display.

But as for authors, they should only be so lucky as to have made the list! I'm glad one of my favorite writers is being placed in the limelight, once again.

A little bit of ink can go a long way.