We want children, parents, neighbors, distant relatives named Yolanda or Herman, total strangers, dogs, bookstore proprietors and even literary critics to read.
We want everyone to read.
We want talk show hosts, SUV drivers, veterinarians, tap dancers, ducks, magazine editors and brain surgeons to read.
We want everyone to read.
We want presidents, vice presidents, sumo wrestlers, accountants, stock brokers, magicians and donut salesmen to read.
We want everyone to read.
We want pickle manufacturers, automobile manufacturers, hat manufacturers and those people who somehow get the toothpaste into toothpaste tubes to read.
We want everyone to read.
We want priests, sinners, voters, mothers-in-law, necromancers, insurance adjustors, soothsayers and anarchists to read.
We want everyone to read.
We want investment bankers, scientists, jugglers, detectives, teachers, clowns, environmentalists and dolphins to read.
And we want everyone who reads this proclamation to think about all the ways the pleasure of reading and the power of literacy help to extend our human capacity to think, to imagine, to analyze, to interpret, to understand, to invent, to predict, and to celebrate the promise of life in the 21st century.
