When I saw this tribute to books from Letters to Star Trek, I was transported! It’s from the fertile mind of Gene Roddenberry, TV screenwriter and creator of Star Trek:

“I consider reading the greatest bargain in the world. A shelf of books is a shelf of many lives and ideas and imaginations which the reader can enjoy whenever he wishes and as often as he wishes. Instead of experiencing just one life, the book-lover can experience hundreds or even thousands of lives. He can live any kind of adventure in the world. Books are his time machine into the past and also into the future. Books are his “transporter” by which he can beam instantly to any part of the universe and explore what he finds there. Books are an instrument by which he can become any person for a while—a man, a woman, a child, a general, a farmer, a detective, a king, a doctor, anyone.

“Great books are especially valuable because a great book often contains within its covers the wisdom of a man or woman’s whole lifetime. But the true lover of books enjoys all kinds of books, even some nonsense now and then, because enjoying nonsense from others can teach us to also laugh at ourselves. A person who does not learn to laugh at his own problems and weaknesses and foolishness can never be a truly educated or a truly happy person. Also, probably the same thing could be said of a person who does not enjoy learning and growing all his life.”

What a fantastic description of all the ways that books free us to fly! As Gene says so well, books “beam” us to other worlds. Like time machines, they transport us to distant realms, overcoming time and space. What a gift books are! And as writers, how lucky we are to be able to share our books and stories with readers! Write on!

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