Dear #Positivity Friends,

Well, my kids have returned to school and mornings in our house are once again a crazy blur of sneakers and backpacks and school lunches. After spending so much time together during the summer, I always miss them when they head back to school. Yet I love how eager they are to get their school supplies and meet their new teachers and see their friends again—these are the same things I looked forward to every year when I was a kid.

At the same time, I have to admit that school is very different for my kids than it was for me. Case in point: When I was young, we entertained ourselves in class by passing goofy notes or tossing pink erasers at each other’s heads. Today, most kids are madly tapping on their cellphones, hence the white-hot debate raging in school districts around the country over whether to ban cellphones in the classroom. 

Here's another difference: When I was a boy, artificial intelligence would have seemed a very cool fantasy to me, something straight out of “The Jetsons.” But in just the last two years, AI has become the #1 factor shaping the future of education around the globe. Some educators—from grade school teachers to university professors—are simply trying to figure out how to prevent their students from using AI to do their homework for them. Others are opening academies and charter schools where kids study core subjects using AI-based curricula for two or three hours a day and spend the rest of their time learning “life skills” such as financial literacy or rock climbing. There are no teachers in these classrooms; instead, there are well-paid “guides” who coach and support the students throughout the day.

To be clear, I’m not a cranky old man shaking my fist at the future. I’m thrilled for my kids to grow up in a world so ripe with promise. I just don’t want them to miss out on having that favorite teacher—a real live human being—who got them excited about learning and helped them see their own potential. The smell of a freshly sharpened pencil is kind of hard to beat, too!

As always, I hope that you’re enjoying my newsletter. If you miss any edition, you can find it on my website. Pass this newsletter along and encourage your family and friends to sign up!



With hope and positivity,

What did Dan Pelzer read? Apparently, the former United States Marine and social worker from Ohio read just about everything. Beginning in 1962, Pelzer kept a list of the 3,599 books he read so he could remember all the literary adventures he’d experienced. After his death in July 2025, his children discovered his 109-page, handwritten list and knew they had to share it. So they set up a website to post the list in honor of the man who followed one reading rule: Once a book is started, it must be finished. As a memorial to their favorite customer, the Columbus Ohio Metropolitan Library created a searchable database of the titles of the books Dan read and where they are available to borrow. His daughter Marci Pelzer said, “Nobody loved the library more than Dan. He always had a book in his hand.”

Steal Like an Artist

by Austin Kleon

Whether you want to wake up your inventive side, boost your productivity, or just get out of a rut, you’ll find just what the doctor ordered on nearly every page of this book. Austin Kleon believes the best artists and creators build on what others have done before them. Using provocative, actionable prompts, he inspires you to open your mind to what’s already out there and use it to make something new. This book is small, but it packs a mighty creative punch.