Books Matter: Fiona Bond

March is National Reading Month, a whole month designated to encouraging Americans – and by extension Wacoans – to read! The Act Locally Waco blog is beating the drum for National Reading Month by hosting a blog series throughout the month of March, called “Books Matter.” Every day throughout March we will be sharing a post about a Waco resident and a book that matters to him/her.  Thank you to students from the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media and professor Amber Adamson for help with this fun project.  To read all the blog posts so far, click here. 

By Katie Barbur

The Lost Letters of Pergamum is a story of adventure, of brotherhood, of courage and sacrifice. 

Fiona Bond is the Executive Director of Creative Waco, an arts advocacy organization based in the art gallery Cultivate 7Twelve, her favorite book is The Lost Letters of Pergamum.

“It’s by Bruce Longenecker, who happens to be my husband,” Bond said. “It’s a book about the first century world and it’s a series of letters. And it is, as Bruce’s mom used to say, it’s not a true story, but it could have been true. So it’s historical fiction, essentially. But it is based on a series of fact and conjecture, which pulls together a story which kind of impacts the New Testament world.”

Bond said there are a number of reasons why the book matters to her. 

“I think it captures what it means to live in love, courage and sacrifice,” Bond said. “The other aspect of the book that makes it really special to me is that we hear from people from all over the world.”

Bond said she recommends Wacoans read The Lost Letters of Pergamum, because it is a book that takes readers into a completely different cultural context. 

“I think that’s important for us to immerse ourselves into because it helps us to understand the New Testament better,” Bond said. “But it also helps us to understand the other cultures that make up this culture.”

Bond said it’s important for Wacoans to read. 

“It allows us to step outside our context,” Bond said. “That’s just good therapy.”

Bond said for her, books have always been a way of looking at the world through someone else’s lens. 

“Whether it’s a story, pure fiction, nonfiction, a biography, whatever,” Bond said, “to see the world and to have the gift of seeing the world completely from someone else’s perspective, is something we should hold very precious.”