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On a book reading by Sam Weller


Patty and I went to a book reading on Wednesday night by our Columbia colleague and good friend Sam Weller (that's me on the left, Sam on the right, and no, I hadn't even started drinking yet):


The event was to promote Sam's new book called 'Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews' (available from Amazon in the USA here). The reading was at a great independent bookstore in Lincoln Square, Chicago, called The Book Cellar, so if you live anywhere near there, forget Amazon and buy the book there.

Sam wrote the official biography of Bradbury, published a few years ago, but he estimated that he only used about 10% of the interview material that he had gathered from hundreds of hours talking to the great man. This new book was born from that material. At the Book Cellar reading, Sam entertained the audience of about 50 people with readings from the interviews and personal anecdotes about Ray Bradbury, in the setting of the Book Cellar, which also has a cafe and bar:


I spoke for a while to Suzy, the wonderful owner of The Book Cellar. In the age of Borders and Amazon (which we all use, let's admit it), and Kindles and Ipads, thank god for people like Suzy who decide to dedicate themselves to the personalised version of selling words printed in ink on paper.

And while I was talking to Suzy, I remembered that when I was still living in London and dating Patty by long-haul jumbo jet trips, the first ever event that she took me to in Chicago was a reading by Sam Weller from his book 'Secret Chicago'. As the 'young kids' say nowadays, OMG.

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