Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
Today I walked into an independent bookstore in downtown Boise, Idaho with $16.99 (plus tax) in my pockets, smacked it down on the counter, and told a thin bald man with a snake tattoo on his neck, “Give me the new Pinkwater book, NOW!” His green-flecked eyes large with wonder, he pointed a shaking index finger to shelving behind me in the ‘young adult’ section and there it was, “Bushman Lives!” (Nice dust jacket by the way).
You made money, the publisher made money, a REAL book store owned by an actual human being made money (he may be able to add a scorpion tattoo to his neck), a bank did NOT get its cut for mediating the transaction, someone at the US Mint kept their job, I got a great book to read to my son (at least half of which we have read online, thanks to your graciousness) and from what I can tell you have stuck to your principles and refused to pander to the artifice of plot that is the death knell of so many other writers.
God Bless you Mr. Pinkwater. You have made my day.
Sincerely,
Bert V.
Boise, Idaho
I want everyone who reads this to copy the first paragraph of the handsome post above. Share it with others. Memorize it. Do as Bert did. It need not be Boise, Idaho, and the tattoo on the neck of the bookshop employee need not be a snake. It can be anything, a bunny, a duck with the word ""mother"" underneath, it doesn't matter. Emulate Bert's enlightened conduct, and you will feel that your life has meaning...or I will.
