Steve Leveen
Steve Leveen devoted his first career to celebrating literacy, cofounding the first company in America to create products for readers (Levenger) and serving on the board of the National Book Foundation. He is now devoting his encore career to biliteracy, championing bilingualism in America as a path to a stronger and healthier nation. A monolingual until midlife, Steve has chosen Spanish as his adopted language and is an avid learner.
Steve divides his time between South Florida, where he successfully practices his Spanish, and Maine, where he is somewhat less successful in sounding like a local. America’s Bilingual Century is his third book. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a PhD in Sociology from Cornell University.
“John Armato, a Public relations executive, cherishes his growing Library of Candidates. When people ask him if he's actually read all those books, he asks them if they've actually eaten all the food in their kitchen. "It is good to put up a supply of books; it increases the odds that you'll have what you want when you're hungry for it," he says”
“I'm imagining that paper books will evolve to become something akin to candles we have them in our homes and cherish their light but don't light our homes with them. Readers of Lincoln's era would likely be surprised at how well-lit our homes are and I think it's likely that we will be surprised at how well-read future book readers will be.”
“In our land of opportunities and distractions, it's hard to devote our attention to the quiet pleasures of reading. It's as if we live our lives in a noisy restaurant and can't have the intimate conversation we most yearn for.”
“Plan to the extent that feels right to you at a particular time in your life, but always be open to serendipity.”
“A library is a fueling station for your mind.”