{"id":89856,"date":"2025-07-24T23:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T23:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/89856\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T23:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T23:18:11","slug":"what-dan-read-goes-viral-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/89856\/","title":{"rendered":"‘What Dan Read’ goes viral around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the classics to new reads making waves, Dan kept track of more than 3,500 books in a handwritten list that has now been shared around the world.<\/p>\n

COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Storytime at the Whitehall branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library gathers families and future readers, welcoming the youngest learners in our community to a lifetime of discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like mermaids,\u201d said Yael Solomon, describing the kind of books she likes at 4 years old. \u201cI like catching a dinosaur.\u201d<\/p>\n

A visit to the library\u00a0<\/a>inspires readers of all experience levels, including one who has gone viral for the list of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Dan Pelzer, a Marine veteran and Peace Corps volunteer, was a lifetime patron of the Columbus Metropolitan Library \u2014 most recently at the Whitehall Branch. He passed away<\/a> on July 1, leaving a list of the 3,599 books he read during his 92 years.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I just keep thinking about how crazy it is that we\u2019ve spread the list to so many people,\u201d said Marci Pelzer, Dan\u2019s daughter, in a Zoom interview from her home in Wisconsin. \u201cOur intention was to hand it out at his funeral. Then, we got the idea to have a QR code. Then, I put it on LinkedIn and it kind of took off and then when the library got a hold of it, it just went crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy dad, Dan Pelzer, died July 1 at the age of 92, leaving me the list of the thousands of books he read since 1962. ALL…<\/p>\n

Posted by Columbus Metropolitan Library<\/a> on\u00a0Monday, July 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“What Dan Read<\/a>” is now going viral.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first year, he read ‘The Odyssey,’\u201d Marci said. \u201cSo, he was all over the place every year on his book list, and that\u2019s what makes it fun to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the classics to new reads making waves, such as Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy’s memoir “I\u2019m Glad My Mom Died,” Dan kept track of each book in a handwritten list that has now been shared around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t interested in important books,\u201d Marci said. \u201cHe was interested in someone being able to tell a good story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan instilled a love of reading in his family by bringing Marci and her brother to the downtown Columbus library every Saturday, enrolling them in the Summer Reading Challenge and simply sharing the joy of a good book with everyone he knew.<\/p>\n

\u201cDan would always want you to know when he read a \u2018real page turner,’\u201d Marci said. \u201cSo, we hope people who are inspired by Dan\u2018s message will also read a real page turner.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the message shared after Dan\u2019s passing earlier this month as a way to honor a life well-lived and well-read.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last book he read was ‘David Copperfield,’ which I think is so appropriate,\u201d Marci said.<\/p>\n

“What Dan Read” is inspiring more readers, including young Yael as she begins her reading journey.<\/p>\n

Motivated by hearing about Dan\u2019s 3,599 books, she is proud to show off all the different kinds of books she wants to read, including “Peppa Pig” and “Transformers” \u2014 even though they had never met.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t read this one,\u201d Yael said brightly as she picked up a book about Princess Tiana.<\/p>\n

Dan Pelzer\u2019s motto was “Read what you love,” and that’s what Yael said she plans to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d Marci said. \u201cIt\u2019s like the dialogue with him about books can continue indefinitely and spread around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the classics to new reads making waves, Dan kept track of more than 3,500 books in a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":89857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,171,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-89856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114910770294478159","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}