From Soman Chainini: “I think the greatest exercise a person can do when they’re stuck is to remember what their favorite children’s book was. A book that you read over and over and over again. Somewhere in that book is the clue to not only what makes you tick, but also to your life’s purpose.”
Mine was The Phantom Tollbooth. I often say to my friends and colleagues that journalism is “the practice of sustained learning,” which is something I’ve borrowed from an old FJP collaboration in 2011 or so. The seeds of that idea, for me, are found riddled throughout the chapters of The Phantom Tollbooth. It’s a beautiful book that nestles its readers deep within the crevasses of curiosity and intellectual courage — with a good dash of absurdism.
Sandy 