The late Loften Mitchell once asked if I had read a particular play of his. I stammered. But he merely chuckled and said "No! Your friends and family don't read your stuff until after you're dead!"
My car's trunk is almost full. Some things will go to Goodwill, others to the public library. Others will end up at my local used book store. I hate giving away books, but I have to face the fact that I won't be reading some of these titles.
The classic plays and literature I will keep; but there is no reason to keep some of these obscure sales training books from the 1950s, 60s and 70s (most positive thinking books say the same thing anyway). I don't think I need these manuals from long-gone appliances. In addition, I am chucking most of the the "Beware of the Boogieman" conspiracy books written by Liberals, Conservatives, Christians, Atheists, Environmentalists, Educators, Afrocentrists, Eurocentrists, you name it (I don't discriminate, but I am elimnating most of these titles just the same. I came to the conclusion long ago, that writing a book on a problem isn't the same as working to solve it. Talk shows and speeches don't count unless you get your proverbial hands dirty. Too many philosophers; too few workers).
Then there are the books written by authors with whom I have a personal connection. I'll keep those. In the near future I will take the plunge and add a reader or tablet to the nerdly arsenal of electronics that I really don't want but need. I am not an early adopter of anything; I let everybody else deal with the headaches of version 1.0 or 2.0. But in this case, I will relent.
After all, I am eliminating most of my printed books. I want to read the new work from my friends, formers students and associates (and I hope they would do the same for me), while we're all still alive.
Always B Positive
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