Brown Wrapper Godfather

    There is one more story about Miss Gillette, my 11^th grade English teacher, I'd like to share. The book, The Godfather, was published my junior year of high school. The whole country heard about the book as soon as it came out. It quickly rose to the top of the best-seller lists. And why wouldn't it? The Godfather is a well-written juicy story about America, family, loyalty, and oh yeah, crime, and a few ever titillating naughty bits. Everywhere one turned The Godfather was being hyped – television, radio, newspaper, magazines, and talks of a movie were already buzzing.

       The book was not something I thought I would be interested in. From the media, I thought I already knew the whole story. Hype always made me turn the other way – just like why I have never read The World According to Garp. I knew the page numbers of the naughty bits – I could sneak a peak sometime when I was at the library. It did not occur to me to read The Godfather when everyone else was doing so.

        Then one day, Miss Gillette had a copy of The Godfather on her desk at school. And she said that she recommended it to all of us – it is a good read. No doubt Miss Gillette was also specific in her recommendation, but all I recall now is her saying it is a good book.

        At home that night, I mentioned that Miss Gillette told us we should read The Godfather. Mom's eyebrows went up a little, and she said that she would like to read the book first, since a teacher had recommended it, and Mom would decide if it was okay for me to read also.

        So Mom read The Godfather. And then she wanted to write a letter to the school complaining about a certain teacher who would tell her students to read such a lewd book!

        Oh my gosh!

        Mom was serious. And she talked about it for quite a while – how could an educator suggest such a book to high school kids?!

        At a family gathering at our house, I'm thinking it might have been Easter Sunday, Mom was saying once again how inappropriate it was for a teacher to tell students to read The Godfather. Mom's older brother, my Uncle John, was then curious – he said he would have to read the book himself. Mom said, “don't buy it, I'll give you my copy, and that will get it out of the house.”

        Then Mom took her copy of The Godfather and put it in a brown paper lunch bag, saying, “You can't be seen carrying this lewd book around with you – better to put it in a plain brown wrapper and have people thinking you are an alcoholic who is hiding his bottle instead!”

        Really and truly.

        I should ask Uncle John today if he remembers reading The Godfather and what he thought of it at the time.

        And quite frankly, I think the school would have sided with Miss Gillette if Mom had actually brought her grievance any further than just venting at home about it.

        In 1994, Book of the Month Club offered a 25^th anniversary edition of The Godfather which looked just like the original first edition. I bought a copy and, gasp! I read it. And enjoyed it! Not sure if I ever told Mom.

        Another Mario Puzo book I read after that is The Fortunate Pilgrim – a story I like much better than The Godfather and one I recommend highly.

        Miss Gillette had another chapter in our family's story – she was my brother Eric's AP teacher for senior English. By then, she was married and was called Mrs. Stevenson. But her goth nature was still apparent. And Mom kept an eye on her.

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