The Magic of an Inscribed Book

Mary Schmich loves them.

From a piece of hers in the Chicago Tribune...

From the heap of abandoned books, two plaintive words stared up at me: "Dear Mary."

I picked up the book the way you might a pet you'd accidentally run over. The sight of one of my dearest friend's handwriting, wishing me a Merry Christmas from so many years ago, made me a little misty.

How had I been so cavalier? What kind of brute gets rid of books inscribed with names, dates, love, admiration? Even worse, what if the book-giver found it in a bookstore one day and saw I'd treated it as if it were as disposable as, say, newsprint?

There's a story of some famous author who once, while perusing a used-book shelf, spotted a book he'd written. He opened it. When he saw he'd inscribed it to a dear friend, he bought it. And gave it to the friend again.

My friend Nancy fell into a similar inscription trap after giving away a book signed to her by the colleague who wrote it. A couple of years later, the colleague, in search of his own book to give as a gift, bought a used copy on amazon.com. When it arrived, he discovered an inscription: to Nancy. And he let her know it.