The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 22, June 3, 2007, Article 14

BOOK BURNING PROTESTS LACK OF INTEREST IN BOOKS

Len Augsberger forwarded the following article highlighting a sad
state of affairs in the used book business.

"Tom Wayne amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10
years he has run his used book store, Prospero's Books.

"His collection ranges from best sellers like Tom Clancy's "The Hunt
for Red October" and Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," to obscure
titles like a bound report from the Fourth Pan-American Conference
held in Buenos Aires in 1910. But wanting to thin out his collection,
he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift
shops, which said they were full.

"So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books protest what he sees
as society's diminishing support for the printed word.

"'This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today,' Wayne told
spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books.

"The fire blazed for about 50 minutes before the Kansas City Fire
Department put it out because Wayne didn't have a permit to burn them.

"Wayne said next time he will get a permit. He said he envisions
monthly bonfires until his supply -- estimated at 20,000 books --
is exhausted.

"Wayne said he has seen fewer customers in recent years as people more
often get their information from television or the Internet. He pointed
to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that
less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure,
down from almost 57 percent in 1982.

"Dozens of customers took advantage of the Sunday's book-burning,
searching through those waiting to go into the fire for last-minute
bargains.

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

[If you can't even give them away, what DO you do with them?  Surely
there are individuals and libraries somewhere that would take on some
books, but finding them and shipping the books is time-consuming and
expensive.  It's easy to see the storekeeper's frustration as well
as the horror of the thought of books being destroyed. -Editor]

Dick Johnson adds: "You may have seen the picture or read the news
story this week of the book dealer in Kansas City, Missouri who
could not dispose of some books anyone wanted. So he burned them.
He said he was protesting society's diminishing support for the
printed word.'

"Well, there is a numismatic angle to this story, albeit slim. It's
not that he included some numismatic books in that flaming pyre
(although I could name a few candidates for such destruction). The
numismatic connection is that his store was owned by my relatives
from 1918 to the mid 1970s.

"Great Uncle Arthur Johnson first ran a grocery store in that same
building beginning in 1918. Years later when a hardware store on the
opposite corner became available he sold the grocery store to his
brother Albert Johnson and Arthur moved the hardware store into his
building. Eight of my relatives worked in those two stores across
the street from each other over the years, including my grandfather,
plus half a dozen aunts, uncles and then cousins, with the second
generation taking over in 1954.

"In 1994 I traveled back to Kansas City. My sister drove me around
to some of the old family sites. The hardware store was a bookstore
by then, but the grocery store was still in business. We went inside
and to our surprise they were still using the same old cash register.
It still had Uncle Albert's name on it!"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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