In the wake of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ death, a forthcoming authorized biography of the technology innovator by Aspen Institute president Walter Isaacson rose to the top of online pre-order bestseller lists and its publisher moved up its release date. Jobs died Wednesday, at 56, after a years-long... Read more →
‘I Am In Here’ – Autism
There’s a terrific new book entitled: I am in here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak But Finds Her Voice by Elizabeth M. Bonker and Virginia G. Breen. The title is a line from the poem Me written by Elizabeth when she was 9. The story is yet another example of a nonverbal... Read more →
The Official Steve Jobs Biography Coming This November From Walter Isaacson
The Steve Jobs biography will be available November 21, 2011 according to Barnes and Noble, reports 9to5Mac. The 448-page book by Walter Isaacson, head of the Aspen Institute (which together with The Atlantic, co-hosts the annual Aspen Ideas Festival), was based on over 40 interviews... Read more →
On C.S. Lewis And Keeping The Faith
It is shaping up to be a good summer on the boardwalk. It is unofficially summertime in case you are wondering, especially since today is a ski day in Aspen. I spent Memorial Day afternoon in Santa Cruz riding the roller coaster, twice, the double shot, the log roll, and the awesome flying thing, exactly... Read more →
Monster Bugs
Last night I pulled out the dozen or more non-fiction children’s books I have for Emma. “Pick two,” I instructed, fanning them out for Emma to see. Emma pointed to Monster Bugs & Escape North – The Story of Harriet Tubman, bypassing Volcanos, Whales, Big Cats, Thomas Jefferson... Read more →
Flashback To Freak Power in Aspen
Click here to read the whole story…. Read More →
CON GAMES: On Writing The Post-Papyrus Novel
During the dark ages of technology—this would be 1984 or so—I found myself lucky enough to go to the first-ever Microsoft conference on CD-ROM, AKA “CD-ROM: The New Papyrus,” held in Seattle, Washington. It would be impossible to exaggerate the level of excitement (and, ultimately, hype) at... Read more →
Paul Andersen: Homegrown Aspen Writers
It was amazing to see at the Aspen Historical Society’s recent book sale and cookie exchange how many homegrown authors are here. It’s not because writing is easy and lucrative; it’s because there’s plenty to write about here. If the number of authors is any measure of intellectual... Read more →
CON GAMES: How Charles Dickens Saved My Life
In the wee small hours of the morning — about 10:05 PM Mountain Time last night — I turned to the final page of the novel “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens: no small feat, when you consider the final page in my phat falling-to-pieces paperpack is number 734. With this amazing book,... Read more →
Comment on High Speed Rail by Michael Conniff
“Trains are some of the coolest things on the planet, and very American, especially those that blow through small towns late at night and let loose with that primal, lonesome, familiar cry. I went to bed by the 11 pm train until I turned 16, and I have missed it ever since. It’s nostalgic. It’s... Read more →