{"id":2272,"date":"2018-03-16T08:34:47","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T13:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=2272"},"modified":"2018-03-16T08:34:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T13:34:47","slug":"searching-for-boxes-of-my-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/searching-for-boxes-of-my-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Searching For Boxes of My Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>

AUSTIN \u2014 I spent the first day of Spring Break driving around a compound of at least a dozen massive warehouses, looking for my books, in an industrial park in North Austin. The sales manager left me a voicemail when I missed her call: \u201cJust look for the Customer Pickup\u201d sign.<\/p>\n

I could not find that sign anywhere. Finally I found a glass entrance door with the name of the company stenciled upon it. I parked and went to the door. It was locked. What the heck? Did they take off for Spring Break? I called the main number, and after three tries (Welcome to America) a human answered. She was clearly harried and did not want to deal with me. \u201cJust go round the back. You will see the sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I explained I had been looking for the sign for nearly 30 minutes. But I said I would try again. This time, I got out of my car and examined the dozen or so bays, most of which had unmoored 18-wheeler boxes sidled up to them. I jiggled a door. Locked. Finally, I found an open bay door with rubber strips hanging down to keep out the weather. I told a fellow inside I was here to pick up my books.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat books?\u201d he asked. \u201cIt\u2019s called \u2018Yours Faithfully, J.A.\u2019,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have that book,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This was not good news. I had driven five hours the day before to pick up 17 boxes of books. Had there been some mix-up and the books were not ready?<\/p>\n

A fellow drove up in a Cadillac SUV, got out and peered over the roof at me. \u201cHow can I help you?\u201d he asked. I explained the situation. \u201cYou\u2019re at the wrong building,\u201d he said and pointed east a few hundred yards. \u201cThat\u2019s our main building.\u201d<\/p>\n

I drove there, quickly found the \u201cCustomer Pickup\u201d sign and watched as a friendly fellow loaded up 17 boxes of my biography of H.B. Fox, which finally was coming into print. I sliced open a box and pulled out a copy. New books have a lovely smell, a promise of pleasant hours spent together. At least, that\u2019s what I hope folks who buy my book will conclude. Then I drove a few hundred feet down the parking lot, which was empty except for me and those box trailers, opened the lid of my little SUV and\u2026<\/p>\n

Took a selfie.<\/p>\n

Of course I did. That is what you do now, to mark special moments. This is a skill I have acquired over a few years, despite short arms and a lack of coordination. By coincidence, I was wearing the same outfit worn when my buddy, O. Rufus Lovett, shot my portrait for the back cover. Our daughter, Abbie, immediately noticed: \u201cYou match the back cover.\u201d Not much gets by that girl.<\/p>\n

I headed to my brother Scott\u2019s place to deliver his copy and take him to lunch. He designed the book and did a fine job. Middle daughter Meredith is steadily pushing sales on social media. My Beautiful Mystery Companion pitched in to help edit it, as did several friends. I am setting up book signings anywhere that will have me. This is a family affair.<\/p>\n

\n

So now I enter the second phase, which is peddling \u201cYours Faithfully, J.A.: The Life and Writings of H.B. Fox, the Circleville Philosopher.\u201d It\u2019s a good read, I humbly say, primarily because Fox was a funny, trenchant writer. My main job was to let that voice come through the pages of this book. As a bonus, 65 pages are devoted to reprinting more than 50 years of his columns, which at one time had a readership of one million.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the pitch. Consider buying the book. On the same website on which you are reading this piece, there is a \u201cBooks\u201d tab. Click on it, and \u201cYours Faithfully\u201d is at top. You can pay via PayPal or credit card. Or holler at me via Facebook or email (garyborders@gmail.com<\/a>), and I\u2019ll get a signed copy to you somehow.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, my signature is worth more on a check. But there you go.<\/p>\n

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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