"...The majority never read anything twice. The sure mark of the unliterary man is that he considers 'I've red it already' to be a conclusive argument against reading a work... Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life." -- C. S. Lewis, An Experiment In Criticism

Carole and I read Jan Karon's Mitford series of books when they were originally published in the 1990's. We are currently reading and enjoying them again. It is amazing how much we have forgotten about the stories since we first read them.

I will often reread a series of novels that I had previously enjoyed. When I read them back-to-back I often understand things that I overlooked the first time. When I originally read them as they were being written I had forgotten some things in the previous novel by the time the next one appeared in print. Also, reading them again is like spending time with friends that I have not seen in a while.

The same thing is true with non-fiction. I have read Heavenly Days! The Story of Fibber McGee and Molly by Charles Stumpf and Tom Price, many times over the years. It is the story of Jim and Marion Jordan's radio career. I read it again last year while researching and writing a series of articles on the history of radio programs broadcast from Chicago. I also read other books about radio programs that originated from that city. One of the things I understood for the first time was how closely the people in Chicago broadcasting worked together. They helped and encouraged each other, and often appeared on each other's programs. I knew that the Jordan's had created and starred in a radio program titled "Smackout" set in a rural store. I knew that Chester Lauck and Norris Goff had starred in a radio program titled "Lum and Abner" set in a rural store. What I didn't realize was how closely related the two programs were. Lauck and Goff had been friends with the Jordan's before the two series began. "Lum and Abner" debuted as a local program in Hot Springs, Arkansas. When it was picked up by a network, Lauck and Goff moved to Chicago. The cast and writers of both programs inspired each other. Marion Jordan had created a popular little girl character named Teeny. She performed as Teeny on her program and appeared as that character several times on the rival "Lum and Abner" program. What I fully realized for the first time while rereading books about Chicago radio programs was that people working in early broadcasting did not consider success to be a zero sum equation. They did not view the success of somebody else as a threat to their potential success. Instead they realized that the success of others created increased demand providing more opportunities for everyone.

Until I reread the book on Fibber McGee and Molly I had forgotten that Jim and Marion were the entire cast of the Smackout program. They performed all the characters. When I visited the archives at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago I had the opportunity to read the radio scripts used by Jim and Marion during the Smackout broadcasts. In the script used by Marion all the lines of the female characters were marked, and each character was marked differently. For example, when Marion played herself, her name was circled. When she played Teeny, that character's name had a box drawn around it. I realized that was so she could tell rapidly at a glance which voice she should be using. That is a technique I will keep in mind. I directed a Holy Humor Sunday church service where several clowns were going to read jokes hidden in a prop Bible. I used a different colored highlighter marker to indicate their lines. It turned out that one of the clowns couldn't tell which lines were his because he is color blind. If I had known Marion's method of marking lines I could have made it easier on him.

What books have you not read in a while? Which ones should you read again? What books can you read in combination to help you discover new concepts?