Reading the story of "El Lector"
"El Lector" tells the story of a girl whose grandfather is revered 'lector.' Their lives change when the factory owners replace the readers with radios.
Image Courtesy Randome House Books
Minnesota writer William Durbin has written a number of historical novels for young people. Now he is writing about factory workers in the 1930's who hire a man to read to them
Image courtesy William Durbin
El Lector is about a time before iPods, a time before television, even before radio. And oddly enough the idea came to William Durbin through the radio, while he was driving back from a conference in South Dakota. He heard a story about how hispanic cigar makers near Tampa used to hire a man, "El Lector," to read to them as they worked.
Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill talked with Durbin about what attracted him to the story.
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