Prefo， ce
，et me tell you about a man I know.
When he started out in life， he didn t seem to have much
0ing for him. His parents spoke imperfect English. Being poor，
hey couldn t give him any \"advantages.\" Most of his school-
aates were like himself--slum kids or not much better. Though
ealthy enough， he grew up shortish and no great shakes as an
thlete. His mother may have liked his face， but it would never
， in a beauty prize. Worst of all， he turned out to have no head
3r business.
In only one way was he above the average. He liked words.
te liked their shape， their sound and the way they fitted to-
ether to make clear or surprising or useful statements. He liked
a read， write， speak and listen to them.
Because he had few other talents， he concentrated on his
hility to handle words. As the years rolled by， he was astonished
find that he was making for himself a reasonably interesting，
espectable and successful life， And he was accomplishing this
lmost entirely through his capacity to speak， write， read and
sten a little better than most others，
He s an old man now. But not a day passes that he does not
less the English language and offer up a prayer for its health
nd welfare.
That old man--sure， you guessed it--is the writer of these
nes， Because I owe so much to the power of the printed and
poken word， I ve tried to pay back a little of my debt by per-
~ading young people that that power really exists. It can help to
lake ) our life more interesting. But more to tile point， if you
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