4 hours ago
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Library showcases precocious man's monolithic speechmaking database
Columbus, Ohio — After the decease successful July of their father, Dan Pelzer, astatine the property of 92, John and Marci Pelzer discovered thing bonzer successful his things — a precise agelong database of each publication helium had ever read.
Dan, a societal idiosyncratic from Columbus, Ohio, was successful the Peace Corps erstwhile helium started the database successful 1962. And implicit the adjacent six decades, his whale-sized appetite for books took him connected a travel done the likes of James Michener, Jack Kerouac and Homer.
He learned astir everything, from saints to sinners and supplication to prey. In total, from 1962 to 2023, helium work a staggering 3,599 books. The database of each the titles is simply a publication successful itself: 109 pages long, single-spaced.
"When I looked done the list, it seems similar a microcosm of his life," John told CBS News.
"He wanted to larn astir the satellite and larn astir different people," Marci added.
Dan borrowed astir each his books from the Columbus Metropolitan Library. When the room unit heard astir Dan's list, they decided to stock it connected societal media. The room went done each rubric successful his postulation and made it disposable successful its ain list.
"So the adjacent clip you request inspiration, possibly you tin find it from Dan," the room said successful a video posted to societal media.
Columbus Metropolitan Library CEO Lauren Hagan told CBS News the public's effect to the database has been "just incredible," adding that radical person been "absolutely" coming successful to cheque retired the books Dan read.
"People are intentionally going up to the displays," Hagan said. "The postulation to the societal media station is successful the millions."
Dan wasn't an academic. He was a humble begetter who is present arguably becoming 1 of the country's astir fashionable bibliophiles.
"I emotion that it's perpetuating the speech astir who my dada was, due to the fact that helium was conscionable specified a fun, caring, intelligent, quirky, unsocial guy," John said.
Steve Hartman is simply a CBS News correspondent. He brings viewers moving stories from the unsocial radical helium meets successful his play award-winning diagnostic conception "On the Road."
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