Through the years I’ve wondered about my tendency to gather books, magazines, flyers, and brochures. Why do I feel drawn to them?

During the decades I lived in two big cities (Boston and San Francisco) my daily routine often included an end-of-the-day emptying out of my bag (never a purse—too small—always a bag). This usually meant stacking 2-3 books on the kitchen table and sorting through a cache of papers. I could generally trace the source of the books to my day jobs in publishing. As for the papers, they were an eclectic assortment of postcards and handouts gathered in restaurants and bars, newspapers and flyers that found their way into my hands, or small posters carefully removed from the sides of buildings, telephone poles, and bathroom walls.

Sometimes it was the words and ideas that caused me to stuff the paper into my bag, other times it was the visual impact of the item. Dreams of creating art out of these found objects flickered in my mind, but really what I enjoyed most was reading the ideas and words of others, often unfiltered and full of meaning.

After a thorough review of my father’s extensive poster and handbill collection (fourteen folios worth), I can definitively say that I now understand where I inherited this tendency to collect all manner of words printed on the fiber of trees. My father began collecting posters on the streets of New York City in 1968 and continued for the next fifty years. An equal-opportunity compiler, the posters he gathered cross ideological and political lines and the subject matter ranges from political protests to movie posters to meditation retreats to flyers for lost pets. If it caught his eye, he picked it up (or rolled it up).

It’s a good thing that I no longer live in a big city where I am tempted all day long to stuff anything interesting I come across into my bag (nowadays that bag is full of Kleenex for my preschool students, water to keep hydrated and snacks for my kids). Neither is there any physical room left for expanding anyone’s paper collection, either my father’s or my own–the time has come to appreciate what has already been gathered.

In that spirit, here are some highlights from my father’s collection. I’ll continue to share images here periodically. Please let me know in the comments if you would like me to feature any subject in particular (art, music, writers, politics, Native American issues, prison issues, spiritual events);