WHAT YOU READ IS PERSONAL

I’m an inveterate -- as in longstanding, chronic, confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool, incorrigible -- reader of newspapers. Always have been. It's that tactile feeling of holding them physically in your hands, turning the pages. You can put them down, and pick them up later where you left off.

I know that sounds corny, if that's the right word. But newspapers fill a need for me beyond TV or radio.

What I look forward to is in my area, is The Toronto Daily Star. The Globe and Mail. Especially the weekend editions. I’ve been asked why I don’t give up the expense of buying them, instead of relying on free TV or radio that cover the news well enough, it's a good question. I have no answer.

Then again, maybe I have. It seems I absorb information better when reading the printed page . I’m not in a hurry; the newspaper isn’t going anywhere. What I read stays with me, flashing back every now and again, reminding me how life goes on.

Watching news on television takes concentration. You look away, and miss something you might have found important. It’s there one moment; and gone the next.

Author’s comment: Don’t get me wrong. I watch television and listen to radio, the latter mostly in the morning. Over breakfast. Even before. But daily newspapers give you an intangible feeling life is staring at you right in your face.