1. Paranormal Stories. I loved stories about the Bermuda Triangle. The missing air patrol – how could they have just vanished? And I loved the stories about abandoned ships that were found with warm cups of coffee sitting on the table and bacon frying in the pan but no sign of people. I also read everything about UFOs, Atlantis, ghosts, Big Foot and the Abominable Snowman, and Loch Ness monster. I also had a book that told about unexplained mysteries like people who walked under a ladder and disappeared. But sometimes you might hear their voice if you stood near where they disappeared.
2. Bible Stories at the Dentist’s Office. My family never went to church when we were growing up (or ever). My sister and I went to Sunday School a little bit with our babysitter but overall my exposure to Bible stories was minimal. My dentist office had these big books of illustrated Bible stories which I loved and looked forward to reading every time I had to sit in that waiting room. Of course now I’m drawing a big blank on the stories I liked except Androcles and the lion. The other part I remember is when Jesus floated up into the sky to Heaven. This caused me a bit of worry because I wanted to know how far he floated and was he scared when he got up high and could this happen to me and what sort of outer space/heaven transition was there and how long did it take to get there?
3. Guiness Book of World Records. Is there any kid who didn’t LOVE this book? I always wanted to find a record I could break. Remember the photo of the guy with the crazy long curled fingernails? I also remember The Who had the loudest rock concert. I was always fascinated by the oldest living people and the oldest lady who’d had a child. One of the editors was on the Daily Show and he was funny. He said people send them all sorts of weird stuff like huge pieces of skin or stuff he didn’t even want to talk about.
4. 1972 World Book Encyclopedia. We had a set of encyclopedias that were handy for homework projects. No Google in the Seventies. There was a human body section with several clear pages with a slice of the human body so you could see bones on one page, muscles on another page, guts on another page.
