Goodbye to an Encyclopedia
After the book launch of my latest novel, Sunflowers Under Fire, I said goodbye to an encyclopedia. It wasn’t easy, saying goodbye to an old friend. The Encyclopedia Brittanica had graced my bookshelves for more than half my life. My parents had bought the 24 volumes when I was sixteen from a door-to-door salesman. And they also bought the next ten Books of the Year.
A Valuable Gift
I don’t know the cost, but I’m sure to them it was a small fortune. They didn’t make much. Dad was a blue collar worker in a meat-packing plant and Mom was home running her rooming house and almost farm-sized back garden. So I know that what they’d done was invest in my future.
We didn’t have a lot of books in the house. Mom couldn’t read. Dad was the one who loved reading but he was too busy working at the factory and then after work, helping mother at home. I can count on one hand the number of times he went to the library. He stopped going when Mom bawled him out for getting a parking ticket there.
Realizing the value of the gift, I resisted giving away my encyclopedia. I know that seems overly dramatic but it’s how I felt at the thought of giving them away. It seemed an ungrateful move.
Mom and Dad are no longer around, so I can’t explain why the encyclopedia had to go. You see, I have a problem. I LOVE BOOKS. Since I keep buying books and find it hard to part with them, I had run out of room in my office.
Also, times have changed. People don’t consult bound encyclopedias. At least I don’t, not with the internet so handy. Even associations like the Rotary Club and other worthy organizations no longer want them for their fundraising book sales events. They’re too hard to unload.
The Ad
To be sure, I checked Ebay and there were some sets for sale but nothing seemed to be moving very fast. So, needing to make room for all my other books, I decided to advertise the whole lot for FREE on CraigsList and Kijiji.
I got a number of calls. One from a writer. He lives on Cortez Island, a place that draws people who love nature and the arts. I knew one guy who tried to support himself there by selling candles. Cortez is also famous for its Gestalt therapy programs in the 1970s. There were a few sex scandals. It’s that kind of place.
But I digress. Anyway, this writer called and asked if he could have the encyclopedia for his friends, who were heading to Mexico on a boat and wanted to have the volumes to home-school their two teenage children. I thought, How perfect. There’ll still be some use for my tall, burgundy, leather-covered books of knowledge. I wondered though what these teens might make of a resource that only went so far. Like, if they wanted to know what happened past 1969. But then I thought, maybe they’d dock places where there was wifi, so they could fill in the rest of history by roaming the net.
All’s Well That Ends Well
Nonetheless, Mom and Dad would be surprised I gave their investment away for nothing. But I think they’d be pleased that the encyclopedia was going to two young people, roughly the age their daughter was when she got them. It’s win-win. Happy about that.
Comments
Did you have an Encyclopedia? Do you still have it? And do you use it? Would love to hear your thoughts on the books that once were the cat’s meow in people’s homes.
Oh, Diana, your parents got more than their investment with you for a daughter who writes books! They would be proud of you for passing them on to another family and for keeping and using them all these years..
As a child I did not have encyclopedias at home but made sure my children had a set at home along with a Childcraft set. For years I moved them from place to place. After the children were gone they were moved to the attic and might still be there. I will have to check! I like your solution of giving them away.
It was so hard, Jo. Hard to explain. Though my parents have been gone for a while, it’s like I let go of a bit more of them by giving the encyclopedia away. I’m tearing up as I write. I’m such a mush. But as I said, it’s nice to know they’ll still be of some use. You have an attic. We have a crawlspace. Amazing what we keep. All the sentiment and nostalgia contained in these places. Have to get down to the crawlspace soon. Crawling is not my favourite activity. 🙂
Our family had a set of encyclopedias as well. It seemed to me it was a point of pride, and as you said, an investment for their children. I’ll bet the books are still in my parent’s basement. Maybe one day I’ll be finding them a new home as well. Hope I find one as good as the one you found for your set.
Yes, you’ll have to look when you visit next time. I was thrilled to get those loved books a good home. I wonder how much they cost back then. And what a job, selling them.