Sorts of ties

The letters, to parents and to children, are wide-ranging and kind. And short. One offers a piece of advice on the only three kinds of things anyone need ever do: Things we ought to do (go to school, be nice), things we’ve got to do (getting dressed), and things we like doing. In another, he writes: “I am tall, fat, rather bald, red-faced, double-chinned, black-haired, have a deep voice, and wear glasses for reading.” The English teacher distinguishes flowers from weeds; he’s more like a botanist and interested in both. He asks children to pray for him as he’ll pray for them. Age matters less than people think because parts of him are still 12 and others were already 50 when he was 12. Aslan comes from the Turkish word for lion.