Dan Ritchie

"I grew up as a country kid from a mill town in North Carolina and had the good fortune to receive a scholarship to Harvard. I believe the libraries there had ten million volumes when I was a student and I'm told they now have over 20 million.  The Widener Library was an inspiration to me and the Houghton Library there had a trove of historic books and manuscripts which greatly influenced me. Those libraries changed my life and my view of the world in ways I could not have imagined.  Between the historic books and manuscripts, and the most up-to-date information available, those libraries gave me some of the greatest experiences of my life."

It's so challenging to think of my favorite books.  Here are some of my favorites which first come to mind:

• The Bible - I have had my gloved hands on a Gutenberg Bible and have read the King James version.
• Shakespeare's First Folio by William Shakespeare - I have been able to hold an original and have read the full version.

In terms of reading only, here are three more:

• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution  by Gregory Zuckerman
• The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela