Gemini Ink kicks off our inaugural What are you reading? series with Gemini Ink staffer Carolene Zehner. Each week we’ll ask a local writer, book lover, or fan of Gemini Ink to contribute what they are reading at the moment. If you’re interested in contributing, e-mail us at communications@geminiink.org.

Preparing to celebrate her first year anniversary as Registrar/Operations Manager at Gemini Ink, Carolene Zehner has enjoyed getting to know the literary side of San Antonio. Observing the readers, the writers, the teachers and the thinkers has been an enriching experience, she says. At home, she is a metalsmith creating jewelry and tabletop pieces.

Who’s the author? The book?
E.B. White is an author who has enriched every stage of my life. As a child with Charlotte’s Web and as a young adult with his Elements of Style, it seems I always had a book of his at hand.  When I grew up, I learned of his work at the New Yorker and read all of his essays. Recently I came across the Letters of E.B. White and grabbed it.  This reads much like an autobiography and is a history of his 50-plus years at the magazine.

Who would appreciate this work?
This book is for any fan of the Algonquin group, the New Yorker, or Wilbur.

Favorite quotes?
Never totally without a sly shot of humor, the serious side of E. B. White says “a writer writes as long as he lives. It is the same as breathing except that it is bad for one’s health.”  His direct levity:  “The next grammar book I bring out I want to tell how to end a sentence with five prepositions. A father of a little boy goes upstairs after supper to read to his son, but he brings the wrong book. The boy says, “What did you bring that book that I don’t want to be read to out of up for?”