Inspired Reading for Summertime

Summer is the time for students to enjoy backyard barbecues, beach parties and long afternoons spent reading, for pleasure and to prepare for the coming school year.

KARIMA A. HAYNES asked three Los Angeles City Council members who represent the San Fernando Valley to recommend a book they read in high school or college that influenced their lives and continues to have an impact on the work they do today.

CINDY MISCIKOWSKI / District 11; Encino, Tarzana, Van Nuys, north Sherman Oaks, Woodland Hills

The book that I would like to recommend and that did influence me when I was in high school was John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage.” I was in high school during the time that John Kennedy was our president, so that it was a very popular book to read in government classes. It really stood out as a book that tells many, many different stories about one person making a difference and one person’s standing alone on principles, sometimes at high cost, and going against the crowd in whatever environment they were in.

The book inspired me to go into public life.

When there is a vote, and [an issue] still feels wrong to me, I think about the principles in that book and the idea of one person standing firm against the tide.

LAURA CHICK / District 3; Canoga Park, Winnetka, Woodland Hills, Reseda, west Van Nuys

The book that stands out in my mind is “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. It is not a very long book, but it is packed with life-changing material.

I first read it in my senior year in high school when I was 17. It very much inspired me to want to find work in life that was going to have a positive impact on other people or to find ways through doing work--whether it would be for pay or as a volunteer--that impacted the world beyond just myself.

The author was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. He was a psychiatrist. The book talks about how our existence and our time here in the world can be given a greater meaning and purpose through the work that we do; that we can make life better for other human beings.

It really influenced what I have done as a community volunteer, the path I have walked as a mental health professional and my work in government.

MIKE FEUER / District 5; Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Van Nuys

I have two books to recommend: “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”

I read “To Kill a Mockingbird” [by Harper Lee] when I was in elementary school. I felt that it had an immediate impact on me. It was important to me because it emphasized having the courage of one’s convictions. It also was a real call to action to assure that everyone in society has their rights protected. It’s important to stand up for your own rights as well as to take a stand for the underdog when the cause is just. The messages were very compelling for me, even at such a young age. They have always stuck with me. I carry those convictions with me as I serve on the City Council.

A very different book that I read as a freshman in college was “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig.

It is a book of philosophy, told as a story of the interaction between a father and son. The book caused me to reflect on personal values and principles, the importance of focusing on what is immediately before you and not losing sight of the nuances of everyday life. The idea is to consider the issues that are at hand, even as one is moving forward.

There are many journeys in life, and it made me think about the importance of the journey in itself, rather than merely focusing on what may lie at the end of the road. There are many times in my work as a council member where that lesson has come in handy. If you only look to the end of the line--to the goals in the future--you miss the point of what life is on a daily basis.

Like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the book also made clear the importance of applying values and principles in everyday life.