Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Dennis Reid for our 16th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual talk with someone who shares their favorite book. Dennis lives in Skamokawa and serves as the PUD commissioner for District 3. We sat down at the PUD office for our conversation. As we began, Dennis shared the book Deep River by author Karl Marlantes, a historical novel centered on three siblings who leave Finland in the 1900s to escape Russian authorities and settle in Southwest Washington.

Dennis read the book about three years ago after someone suggested it might interest him. The story focuses on our region and the Finnish immigrants who settled here, which Dennis found appealing. "Just the localness of it," he said, was something he could relate to, having lived his life in this same area. Dennis also mentioned that he found learning about the Native Americans and the logging industry of the 1900s informative, as well as the loggers and how they carried out their work.

Dennis further shared, "I learned that most of the Finns were Socialists, learned about the unions at that time, the Wobblies (IWW labor union). Just a lot of interesting things in the book; things I didn't know before reading it."

Besides Deep River, Dennis estimates that he reads about 25 to 40 books each year. He said, "I usually read more fiction than non-fiction books," and he typically enjoys reading thriller-type books. He also mentioned best-selling military and espionage authors, Brad Lee and Brad Baldacci, as writers he enjoys.

However, during his school years, Dennis faced numerous challenges in finding time to read. In the early mornings and right after school, he worked on a farm-usually a dairy farm-to earn his keep. "I got lousy grades in school," Dennis said, but he remembered one high school English teacher who required him to correct tests using a word-power program. This extra work from the teacher proved helpful. "It made me learn even though my grades didn't show it," he said. Dennis encountered many difficulties, yet he persevered and eventually found time to enjoy reading.

As a father, Dennis made it a point to read to his children. "I read aloud every evening to my kids, up to at least around middle school age," he said. Dennis wanted his kids to experience the joy of books and their wonderful stories from an early age.

Wonderful Wahkiakum readers, whether your reading is informative, revealing, or thrilling, may you always find joy in it, wherever you are in life.