I’m old, as well.
I grew up in a house full of books. I have lived with books my entire life. I still have a few thousand volumes.
I also go to my local library every week or so. I’ve lived with the adages, “My books take me where my heart and mind want to go;” and “So many books; so little time.”
I mentioned Mencken as an example of a journalist on an earlier post. He started out as a reporter, but then became more of a journalist as he developed his craft and inserted his acerbic wit into his work. Great writer, Mencken.
You mentioned Shirer. Again, someone who started out as a reporter but morphed into more of a journalist. I’ve read his books. Good reads.
There are many others.
The best? Mark Twain.
Reporting went from the essential Who, When, What, Where, Why, and How to the more personal, wherein the writer introduced him- or herself into the story. That encouraged the move away from reporting and towards chronicling and then journalism, and editorializing as the most offensive.
I like reading authors who can write well and tell a good story (and history can be told through the pen of a creative writer far better than it can through the pen scratches of a mere reporter of facts).
“So many books; so little time.”
And so little space in my cramped old farmhouse to STORE them all. I’ve had to resort to boxing the least interesting ones up and taking them to my lockup. Then of course I want one of them, and I buy a new copy rather than dig through the boxes.... So it goes.
Yes, I like Mencken. I’m on the fence about calling him a journalist, because he published everything as soon as he wrote it. But I roundly approve of his opinions.
I just this week had my yearly eye exam. Thank God they’re still good, even as the rest of me falls apart. If I can’t read I’ll be suicidal in a week.