Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Kirk McKnight for our 14th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual talk with someone who shares their favorite book. The current editor for The Wahkiakum County Eagle, Kirk invited me to his workplace for our conservation.

As we talked, Kirk shared Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins, a semi-autobiographical book which tells about the author's time with an engineering consulting firm. Kirk first read this book around 2008.

At that time in his life Kirk was "reading books left and right." In addition to reading, Kirk was also exploring the world of writing during this time. He was writing scripts, which allowed his creative juices to flow out to see where they might take him. Whether it was reading or writing, Kirk was exploring what was out there.

Kirk remembers being enthralled with Confessions of an Economic Hit Man as he read it. "I practically couldn't put it down," he said. "I was so engulfed by it." The author shares about his life working in a consulting firm trying to convince leaders of underdeveloped countries to accept loans for large projects, ultimately intending to trap them into a system of control and manipulation for various American interests. Kirk said how he was fascinated by all the various plots and twists the author went through as a consultant. "I could see it through the author's eyes the situation he was going through," Kirk said.

As a result of this particular book and its appeal to him, Kirk mentioned, "I read the author's other books." He went on to read and enjoy The Secret History of the American Empire. While he liked the follow-on books by the author, none of them impacted him as much as Confessions did. Kirk felt what the author revealed in Confessions was so highly politically explosive and fraught with potential legal actions against the book's publisher. "It leaves the publisher holding a very big bag," Kirk said.

As we talked further, Kirk shared that he mostly listens to books now, and uses the Libby app. He has listened to all of the Dune book series by Frank Herbert and, subsequently, Frank's son, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. Kirk also enjoyed reading Ready Player One (and enjoyed the movie), and is currently reading Ready Player 2. Both books are written by author Ernest Cline.

As Kirk reflected back to his high school days, he remembered one day in his Creative Writing class having a substitute teacher when, out of the blue, the substitute encouraged him to submit his current classroom writing to a Writer's Olympics – an event meant to challenge and encourage students with their creative writing skills. Kirk followed through and entered. This simple encouragement by a teacher and the Writer's Olympics was significant. As Kirk said, "It gave me courage to move forward with my writing." He later went on to write professionally, including two nationally published books he authored, The Voices of Hockey and The Voices of Baseball. Both books share interviews and stories from play-by-play broadcasters surrounding their experiences covering Major League Baseball and professional hockey.

While you may not be an author or writer, you can be a wonderful Wahkiakum reader. May you enjoy a book you practically can't put down, whether through reading or listening.