THE COOL KID’S GUIDE TO READING: A novel approach to child-rearing

Whoa, hey! This isn’t Sunday, the day known far and wide (and occasionally deep, and now and then sideways) as Cool Kid Day.

It's Thursday.

How did this happen? What am I doing here?

Wait. Now I remember. I asked to be here.

Today is special. A long time ago, something happened on this date that is the No. 1 reason I love to read.

And we’re talking a long, long time ago. Were talking 2,491,344,000 years ago.

No, that’s not right. I mean 2,491,344,000 seconds ago.

I got two different things mixed up.

Over 2 billion years ago on this date, Mrs. Cool Kid asked me to fix the leak in the toilet. I’ll get to it, sweetie. Just chill.

But that’s not the reason I’m in these swank digs on the Day of Thor.

Ere thus to the point of said reason be:

Over 2 billion seconds ago on this date, my father was born.

The Cool Kid reads a lot because when I was young my dad, Marvin R. Waters the Very First, not only had a lot of books, he had a lot of cool books. And he shared them with me.

While other 13-year-olds were having to read John Knowles, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nathaniel Hawthorne, I was getting to read Don Pendleton, Ed McBain and Richard Stark.

So now you have a leg up at the next Margaritas trivia night. Why is The Cool Kid so cool? He was raised on bad-ass paperbacks.

Have you ever read Stark’s novels about the thief Parker? If you haven’t, try one.

Reading those books is like running barefoot over broken glass with an arctic gale in your face.

And after you read one, the next time you see my dad you can give him your thanks. Or a $20 bill, if you prefer. He’s not picky.

To contact writer Marvin R. Waters II, call 744-4240 or email rwaters@macon.com. To contact his father, let the phone ring a long time or keep pounding on the door.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 10:03 PM with the headline "THE COOL KID’S GUIDE TO READING: A novel approach to child-rearing ."