His standing within the literary community may never have been greater than in 2006 when he delivered a passionate defense of bookstores and words, words on paper, at publishing's annual national convention. Responding to a recent New York Times essay predicting a digital future, he scorned this "pretty grisly scenario" and praised the paper book as the site of an "encounter, in silence, of two minds."
"So, booksellers, defend your lonely forts," he concluded.
His speech was applauded, discussed and widely quoted, far more than the talk given at the same breakfast gathering by then-Sen. Barack Obama.
2 comments:
I liked the end of the obit:
His standing within the literary community may never have been greater than in 2006 when he delivered a passionate defense of bookstores and words, words on paper, at publishing's annual national convention. Responding to a recent New York Times essay predicting a digital future, he scorned this "pretty grisly scenario" and praised the paper book as the site of an "encounter, in silence, of two minds."
"So, booksellers, defend your lonely forts," he concluded.
His speech was applauded, discussed and widely quoted, far more than the talk given at the same breakfast gathering by then-Sen. Barack Obama.
And the winner was James Salter.
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