Marilyn Johnson is the author of two books: "This Book Is Overdue!" about librarians and archivists in the digital age and "The Dead Beat," about the art of obituaries and obituary writers. She is a former editor and staff writer for Life and other magazines, and lives with her family in New York.
Below: Marilyn Johnson reading from "This Book Is Overdue!" at the Village Bookstore in Pleasantville, NY. Photo by Margaret Fox.
Marilyn's contribution to Typing In Public:
If this contribution has piqued your interest, feel free to build on it: Post your own version of the story's continuation here in comments, on Twitter, on Flickr, or text us at (805) 628-2283. You can also wait for the May 15th SLO event and type it all on a real live typewriter.
oh my goodness!! I had no idea you had already brought the typewriters to the cafe. Your photos are so fun and it is so cool to see the regulars typing away. I am in LOVE with this project!
ReplyDeletethank you for making us a part.
... For eight years they sat untouched, dust collecting on their bindings, obscuring their titles and diluting their once vivid colors. Sixty-four volumes collected over more than twenty years. The survivors of the printed word. All others had been destroyed, burned in trashcan fires for warmth and light in the last few years of the battle between humans and technology. One in particular, I knew, had nearly been ripped apart before she saved it. It would be waiting on the left side of shelf, nestled between a worn copy of East of Eden and The Giving Tree. Before she died, the librarian told me about this place, this secret anthology hidden in a tiny refuge. This book, she said, would restore the world's hope. It took more than two years to make my way here. Heart pumping frantically, I took my flashlight from my backpack and turned it on. But my flashlight's scan of the shelf stopped abruptly. For where the book should have been, where she promised it would be, was a note.
ReplyDelete