Book Minute

Let’s celebrate National Teddy Bear Day with a nod to President Theodore Roosevelt. On a hunting trip in 1902, “Teddy” had not bagged a bear, so an aide cornered a black bear and tied it to a tree suggesting the president take a shot. Considering the idea unsportsmanlike, he refused. Roosevelt’s act of mercy made national news and inspired a shop owner to create a stuffed bear, calling it “Teddy’s Bear.” The rest is toy history. As for the president, he earned a spot on Mount Rushmore and often quoted the Bible, once saying: “If a man is not familiar with the Bible, he has suffered a loss which he had better make all possible haste to correct.”