What Dan Read

What Dan Read Welcome to What Dan Read, we're so happy you're here. This account is a place for sharing all things Dan, libraries, and growing up Pelzer.

Learn more about Dan’s story at , , and in our LinkTree in Bio.

📚 Q***r Authors Dan Read and Loved 🏳️‍🌈 We’re marking by celebrating stories that inspire, challenge, and connect us, ...
06/03/2026

📚 Q***r Authors Dan Read and Loved 🏳️‍🌈

We’re marking by celebrating stories that inspire, challenge, and connect us, written by LGBTQIA+ authors. The goal is to uplift voices that deserve to be heard, especially in times when those voices face obstacles.

Looking for your next read? Start with one of these that Dan read.
Let’s keep celebrating and sharing stories together. Happy Rainbow Book Month, and Happy Pride!

Drop your own favorites in the comments below. ⬇ 🌈 📚

I get asked often, "What would your Dad think of all the interest in his list?"Dan would be thrilled that the rest of th...
06/01/2026

I get asked often, "What would your Dad think of all the interest in his list?"

Dan would be thrilled that the rest of the world is catching on to what he already knew: that Columbus has a world-class library system. He’d love that people have been inspired to go to the library to check out more books. And he would want the people who find joy in his list to elect officials and support policies that protect library funding. 📚

🗞 FLASHBACK FRIDAY 📰I still smile when I think about the story Jim Higginswrote about for the MilwaukeeJournal Sentinel...
05/29/2026

🗞 FLASHBACK FRIDAY 📰

I still smile when I think about the story Jim Higgins
wrote about for the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel in December.

Our conversation brought back so many happy
memories and included comments from Jonathan Eig
and Carmen Maria Machado—authors my dad read
and loved.




📷 Hannah Schroeder / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
1) Dan’s daughter, Marci Pelzer, reads from the original
What Dan Read list.
2) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
3) Marci Pelzer highlights Dan’s grand total of 3,599
books read.
4) Marci Pelzer holding Dan’s Peace Corps service
card. Dan’s list began while serving in Nepal in the
Peace Corps.

Scott Turow isn’t just a bestselling author—he’s also leading a class action lawsuit against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, f...
05/27/2026

Scott Turow isn’t just a bestselling author—he’s also leading a class action lawsuit against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, fighting alongside five publishers to stop Meta from training its Llama IA models on millions of books without permission or compensation. Today, we’re tipping our hats (and maybe waving a well-worn paperback) to our new literary hero. Time to revisit his 2005 courtroom thriller “Ordinary Heroes” from Dan’s list. Because 20 years later, the hero we need is both on the page and in the courtroom.

✨Remembering Barney Frank✨On 3/23/16, after completing, “Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Ma...
05/20/2026

✨Remembering Barney Frank✨

On 3/23/16, after completing, “Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage,” Dan added Barney Frank’s memoir to his growing list of books he’d read.

Barney Frank was a titan of American politics. He served with unmatched wit, intelligence, and tenacity for over three decades. As a pioneering openly gay congressman, he broke barriers while fighting passionately for equality and civil rights. Frank’s legacy as a brilliant liberal icon, dedicated public servant, and champion for the vulnerable remains an enduring inspiration.

This one is for the plum lovers. Dan was a big fan of recipes and cooking shows, but he seldom cooked. With summer peek...
05/18/2026

This one is for the plum lovers. Dan was a big fan of recipes and cooking shows, but he seldom cooked.
With summer peeking its way into view, I’m already thinking about plum season.
It always reminds me of Dad.

He clipped the plum torte recipe from The Week in September 2016, and my husband and I were eager to try it. We’d already missed plums at our grocery store in Milwaukee, so when we found some at a Denver farmer’s market, we stuffed our carry-on full.
The recipe, originally from the New York Times, is their most requested, and it lives up to the hype. I’ve yet to find someone who doesn’t love it.

After Dan wrote this letter, we always had a frozen one to bring to him at Thanksgiving each year since.

I’m quite certain Dan never did bake his own plum torte. 🥧

What’s your go-to fruit pie you look forward to all winter?

05/15/2026

🎧 MARCI PELZER CHATS WITH AUDACIOUS HOST, CHION WOLF 🎙️

Thanks to and for producing this beautiful interview. Taped in August, about a month after Dan’s passing, it brought back bittersweet memories, and I know Dan would have loved it. Public radio people really are our people.

Listen to the full podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Bexley, OH

Website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8v4dru46WI, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-

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