This talk was televised on C-SPAN and meant and means a lot to me. The Soft Edge had just been published in September 1997. I had already done a major talk about the book at the World Trade Center Borders on October 15, 1997. Tina - my wife and publicist - had been been in contact with C-SPAN about their interest in videotaping and broadcasting a talk I would be giving about The Soft Edge. The question was when and where.A few days before Christmas, we got the call from C-SPAN - they had a crew available to tape a talk on December 30, in New York City. Not exactly the best time of the year to give a public lecture about any book, let alone a book about the history and future of media. But I called the Borders store manager, and said, this might sound crazy, but how would you like to have me back in your store after just two months - something almost never done - to give another talk about The Soft Edge, except this one would be taped for later viewing on C-SPAN. The store manager said yes - The Soft Edge had been selling very well in the store - and we were in business.
That Borders at the World Trade Center was thereafter my favorite book store. In June 1999, I gave another talk there, this one about my next book, Digital McLuhan. That talk was covered in an article by Jesse McKinley in the New York Times.The store was lost, with so many other good people and precious things, on September 11, 2001. I'm glad that C-SPAN has preserved a little more than an hour in that store, forever, below...
