Raising Sheep Dogs in a World of Wolves & Sheep
Continuing a dialogue on how to raise strong men with strong literature…
Mike Baron writes,
“A lot of young folks ain’t readin’. Just ain’t readin’. Weren’t raised that way.”
Alas, so true…. But part of the reason – for young boys at least – they’re not given much of anything they’d actually like to read. Give ‘em what they crave, and it will lead to all that “toxic masculinity” dontcha know.
Mike’s second complaint goes beyond mere illiteracy into the horrendously bad manners seeping into public discourse. Perhaps if we go back to teaching our boys that it is indeed manly to be a gentleman and not an ignorant, knuckle-dragging, obscenity-spewing boor (and by the way, boys, you will have better luck with the young ladies that way – no girl worth spending time with appreciates jackassery) and teach our young ladies that girls who talk like street sluts won’t interest a young man worth your time either, we can remedy some of this. Gotta start ‘em early, though.
I always go back to the wolf, sheep and shepherd dog groupings (see my recent posts). We’re raising way too many of the first two, and nowhere near enough of the last. A good “shepherd dog” has to be an effective communicator. Illiteracy, as well as crudity and coarseness, are obstacles to communication.
About the Author
David Churchill Barrow
David Churchill Barrow is a Massachusetts “Swamp Yankee” descendant of William Bradford and Myles Standish of Pilgrim fame, who grew up on a farm that has not been sold since first built in the early 1700s. In that farmhouse still hangs the commission of James Churchill as a captain in the Massachusetts militia signed by John Hancock, and the sword of Thomas Churchill, a Navy engineer who served in the Blockade of the Confederacy. David’s father, David Bradford Barrow, was a Marine gentleman farmer who commanded a flame-thrower tank in the Battle of Saipan in WW II.
David’s childhood was mostly spent in the woods and swamps of Southeast Massachusetts, building forts and pretending to be Daniel Boone, the Little Drummer Boy of Shiloh, or just an unnamed “Minuteman” making ready to “fire the shot heard round the world.” He has lived and breathed history since first opening his eyes.
He met his wife MaryLu in high school. They were married in 1979 and have three adult children. MaryLu is a former elementary school teacher working on her first children’s book. Today they live just outside Tampa, Florida, with their Berger Blanc Suisse Attila and their two cats, Minnie and Tink.
David has written non-fiction historical pieces and columns for The Tampa Tribune (now the Tampa Bay Times), The Marine Corps Gazette and the “Lore of the Corps” section of The Marine Corps Times. He has been a regular contributor of both short stories and posts to Liberty Island Magazine since its inception. He and MaryLu co-authored Silver and Lead and are working together on a YA novel centered around the so-called “Boston Massacre.”
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