Important events that shaped history formed only vague memories for a Williamsport man who reads about them to fill in the gaps.
About a year ago, Richard Groulx picked up a book at the James V. Brown Library about Gen. George Patton, best known for his leadership during World War II.
"He was a very good general," Groulx said. "A great leader, more aggressive than any other. They should have listened to him more than they did."
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Richard Groulx
While he likes to read about World War II and those involved in it, he also expanded his book choices to find out more information about World War I.
"I knew very little about it," he said.
By borrowing books from the library, a variety of genres are available to him.
"If you want to know something, you can find it in a book," Groulx said. "Someone somewhere wrote something about it."
Another genre of interest for him has been murder mysteries, learning about why people kill others and how they get away with the murders.
One of the problems he has found is that different detective divisions do not work together because they would rather keep the information for themselves, even though it could result in the faster capture of a criminal.
Other genres the man has read over the years include books about the habitats of animals.
"They have different ways of surviving," he said. "They all have different little quirks."
Groulx, who used to work for the state Department of Transportation by repairing heavy equipment, said he reads constantly.
"I always have to have something to read about because it's very interesting and educational," he said.
