Clinton stumps for books
By Dave
March 11th, 2009 | Leave a comment
Former President Bill Clinton made an appearance Wednesday at the Association of American Publishers in New York City, talking at length about many of his favorite topics and occasionally throwing in something about books.
Publishers Lunch was late, but the meal’s delay was blamed on the former Commander in Chief:
“Appearing 30 minutes late (which is basically on time, but explains the delay in serving today’s Lunch), former President Clinton noted that due to midtown gridlock, ‘I got to walk and virtually run the last five blocks’ to get to the Yale Club. To the applause of the group Clinton noted in his introduction, ‘I’m the last of a dying breed; I’m still trying to keep our independent bookstore in Chappaqua, N.Y., alive.’ When he got around to mentioning books again about 15 minutes later, Clinton said ‘I would argue that books are more important in the age of blog sites and Tweets and whatever. … We need perspective and linear argument. That’s why I think books are important.’ ”
The Publishers Lunch posted, then added this postscript:
“Clinton at the end of his 45-minute talk at the AAP annual meeting returned to the primacy of books: ‘We need them for persepctive; facts are not enough. … You ought to feel that you are in a noble profession. You ought to pollute it as a little as you can and make some money. … I don’t care what will happen with technology, we’ll all still need to read.’ ”
Sorry, no free LUNCH (subscription required)
