Daniel replies:

You're not the first person to pay me this very high compliment.  I can't say it was my object to make you a lifelong reader...but I have always thought that writers, and artists of all kinds, ought to respect the people who read or otherwise experience the art.  I think I have done that, mostly...and I think that is why many people, encountering my work, have found out that they like to read.  So I am going to assume that you are intelligent, and disliked things you were given to read that seemed to suggest that you were not.  It's a big honor to have a reader like you.