Just returned from Battenkill Books, and I have to say, the outpouring of people buying books to honor Rose has left me uncharacteristically speechless. I signed nearly 100 books this afternoon, and Connie ran out. More are coming tomorrow morning, and I’m going back to sign more books tomorrow afternoon so that they will get out in time for Christmas.Some people don’t need the books by Christmas, and Connie is taking those orders too. Mother Marilyn was on the phone most of the day, and some of the people she talked to were in tears. “It is intense, very emotional,” she said. People are buying “Going Home,” and my other books as well, including”Rose In A Storm,” a novel inspired by Rose.
This has caught me by surprise, even though it is the perfect tribute to Rose and her independent spirit to push us right up to the edge of the 1,000 books we set as a goal to sell by New Year’s. We probably got there today. The move to honor Rose and support a wonderful independent bookstore seems to have caught several waves, although it caught me by surprise. People clearly want there to be bookstores and are awakening to the consequences of a world without them. Battenkill is the perfect embodiment of the human bookstore, a repository of community, ideas and souls. I think e-book readers are bringing millions of new readers to the world of story-telling, and into bookstores as well. It doesn’t have to be one or another. Hardcover books sales are up again, for the first time in years. People want to talk to human beings in this era of disconnection.
And yes, people dearly love Rose, I am seeing that by the thousands of e-mails still pouring in from all over the world and the many messages on Facebook and other social media. Nothing would be a greater gift to me than for my books and the memory of Rose to help turn the tide in favor of independent bookstores like Battenkill. That would be a Merry Christmas, and will inspire me to put Rose’s life and memory to good use. I am not pushing anyone to buy books they don’t want or need, but my spirits are sure soaring, and I thank you for that. Just what the doctor ordered.
If you want books by Christmas, you have until Friday night (maybe Saturday) to order them from Connie and Marilyn. You can do so by calling these tired but happy people at 518-677-2515 or by e-mailing through Paypal at [email protected]
The Battenkill campaign is dear to me, and the spirit of my farm and the life, and how sweet it is that we are continuing to build this community, this dialogue together, and to find such positive and affirming ways to do it.