It was a good walk to the library but one that I gladly took because the librarian handed me the greatest read of my young life—L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.
It was pure magic to see the young girl escape from a dreary Kansas to the wonders of Oz. I read it in long evening sessions until lights out and then picked it up when the sun came up in the morning. When I finished it I was a little sad, until the librarian said that they had several others in the series, like Glinda, the Good Witch of Oz. I was in heaven after learning there were four other books that expanded the story. I read them all. I also realized from the bibliography of L. Frank Baum that there were others, but they weren’t available at our library. So the same librarian wrote to the Salt Lake City Library and they were kind enough to provide two of the others.
Reading was my salvation in the three and a half years that I spent behind barbed wire. Though my body was imprisoned, there was no limit to where my mind could go through books. I have never stopped reading; and it has given me a lifetime of delight.
About the contributor: Jon Yatabe was born in Berkeley in 1937 and grew up in Redwood City, where his father (Tak Yatabe) grew flowers. He was four when his family was sent to Topaz. His father joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and fought in Europe. The Yatabes settled in Berkeley after the War. Jon graduated from UC Berkeley and received a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. After a long career in Washington and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he retired and divides his time between Alaska and Colorado (where he loves spending time with his grandchildren).
“Escaping Topaz” was excerpted with edits from Chapter 17 of Jon Yatabe’s memoir, A Letter to my Grandchildren. Copyright 2019, Jon Yatabe. All rights reserved.