The Log from the Sea of Cortez: Trevor Storrs

Posted At : September 5, 2008 1:00 AM
Related Categories: Science & Social Science

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Taken from the appendix to The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck, published by Penguin Books.

Read by Trevor Storrs: "Over the years, working in the field of HIV/AIDS, I have seen great joy brought to individuals shunned and dying through the power of a gift as small as a smile." Trevor has lived in Alaska for the past 11 years and has been graced with the privilege of meeting several Alaskan "Eds" in his career in social services. He gets great pleasure in helping people find ways to give gifts to those in need: www.globalgiving.com provides ways to give and recognize others' accomplishments like a birthday, wedding, or graduation.

In The Log from the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck writes about his friend Ed's unique "ability to receive, to receive anything from anyone, to receive gracefully and thankfully and to make the gift seem very fine. Because of this everyone felt good in giving to Ed -- a present, a thought, anything.
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It is so easy to give, so exquisitely rewarding. Receiving, on the other hand, if it be well done, requires a fine balance of self-knowledge and kindness. It requires humility and tact and great understanding of relationships. In receiving you cannot appear, even to yourself, better or stronger or wiser than the giver, although you must be wiser to do it well.
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[Ed] could receive and understand and be truly glad, not competitively glad."

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