COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Marci Pelzer fondly remembers her father, Dan Pelzer, as an avid reader who left behind an impressive legacy.
“He would say, ‘Oh, you gotta read this book. It was a real page-turner,'” she remembered. Dan Pelzer, who passed away on July 1 at the age of 92, meticulously documented every book he read since 1962, creating a list that spans 110 pages.
“When he started his book list, he was in the Peace Corps in Nepal,” Marci Pelzer said. “And he actually handwrote his list on the back of the worksheet they gave him to learn the language, so that’s part of what we have—his language worksheets from Nepal.”
Marci shared her father’s extensive book list on LinkedIn, where it quickly garnered attention. “I put it on LinkedIn and then right away, I got 20,000 hits,” she said. “And I started thinking I bet the library would know about this because the library was so important to him. And that’s where it really took off.”
Dan Pelzer’s reading tastes were diverse.
“He found ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce to be pure torture,” Marci said. “And I would say he always talked about how much he loved John Grisham. And he would read all the classics and lots of really complex and complicated philosophy and religion texts.”
Despite his varied reading preferences, Dan Pelzer appreciated a good story and was known for his curiosity.
“I remember him calling up and saying, ‘Do you know about this Bono fellow who wrote this song called Achtung something? Really bright young man. He’s done a lot for the world,'” Marci recalled. “And he didn’t know about U2, but he connected to Bono‘s philanthropy and humanitarianism.”
Dan Pelzer was a regular at the Livingston and Whitehall library branches and continued to visit his care center until he could no longer read.
“He was always a dedicated library patron. He never spent money on books. He believed in the library,” Marci said.
The book list has inspired many to reflect on their own love of reading and the library. “So touching,” Marci said. “People remembering their own experiences reading with their parents at the library. Librarians who knew him. Former coworkers. It’s been really special, really wonderful.”
Dan Pelzer’s lifetime of reading is now inspiring others to pick up where he left off. See Dan’s full list at what-dan-read.com